Cell switching method and related device

Abstract

The invention provides a cell switching method and a related device, which are applied to the technical field of communication. In the technical scheme provided by the invention, the terminal equipment in the terminal equipment group receives the terminal grouping information from the network equipment, reports the cell measurement result to the network equipment according to the terminal grouping information and / or executes the random access process according to the terminal grouping information, thereby completing the cell switching of the terminal equipment group. In the application, the terminal device performs cell switching of the terminal device group and / or executes a random access process based on the terminal grouping information indicated by the network device, so that the cell switching of the terminal device group can be efficiently realized, and the problem of relatively large switching delay caused in a scene that network resources are limited is further solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a cell switching method and related devices. Background Art

[0002] In a communication system, such as the 5th generation (5G) communication system, there is usually a need for user equipment (UE) to perform cell switching to improve the transmission performance between the UE and an access network (AN) device.

[0003] The commonly used cell switching methods are as follows: the UE's service network device sends measurement configuration information to the UE; the UE measures the neighboring cell and reports the measurement results to the service network device; after receiving the measurement results, the service network device determines that the UE's cell should be switched to the neighboring cell; the service network device sends a switching request to the neighboring cell network device, telling the neighboring cell network device that the UE needs to switch to the neighboring cell; the neighboring cell network device determines whether the UE is allowed to switch to the neighboring cell, and if allowed, sends a switching response message to the service network device; the service network device sends a switching command to the UE, instructing the UE to switch to the neighboring cell; the UE initiates a random access process, accesses the neighboring cell, establishes a connection with the neighboring cell network device and completes uplink and downlink synchronization, etc.

[0004] However, the above method has a large resource requirement, and in a resource-constrained scenario, there will be a problem of large switching delay due to resource shortage. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a method, an apparatus and a system, which can implement cell switching of UE, thereby improving the transmission performance between UE and AN equipment.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a cell switching method, which is applied in a terminal device. The method includes: receiving terminal grouping information from a network device; reporting a cell measurement result according to the terminal grouping information, and / or performing a random access process according to the terminal grouping information.

[0007] In this implementation, the terminal grouping information can be understood as information for indicating the relevant content of the terminal device group. For example, the terminal grouping information can indicate at least one of the following information: which terminal device group the terminal device group is, which terminal devices are included in the terminal device group, how many terminal devices are included, which terminal devices in the terminal device group can perform cell measurement, or which terminal devices can perform a random access process.

[0008] For example, the terminal grouping information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of a terminal device group, an identifier of a terminal device in the terminal device group, the number of terminal devices in the terminal device group, or an identifier of a first terminal device in the terminal device group. It can be understood that the identifier of the first terminal device can be an identifier of the first terminal device in the terminal device group, or an identifier of the first terminal device in other scenarios can be reused.

[0009] In this method, the first terminal device in the terminal device group can be understood as a special terminal device. The first terminal device can execute one or more operations in the cell switching process on behalf of other terminal devices in the terminal device group, so that other terminal devices do not need to execute these operations in the cell switching process and can still achieve the expected effects of executing these operations, thereby saving resource overhead and avoiding resource squeeze.

[0010] In some implementations, the network device may divide terminal devices having the same movement pattern into a terminal device group.

[0011] In some possible implementations, a terminal device receives measurement configuration information from a network device; wherein reporting a cell measurement result based on terminal grouping information may include: determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in a terminal device group based on the terminal grouping information; if it is determined that the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, reporting the cell measurement result obtained by measuring based on the measurement configuration information.

[0012] In the method, the measurement configuration information may include relevant configuration parameters for cell measurement, which are used to measure the quality of a cell (such as a current cell and a neighboring cell). The network device determines whether a terminal device in a terminal device group needs to perform a cell handover based on the cell measurement result reported by the terminal device. For example, when the signal quality in the measurement result of the neighboring cell is better than the signal quality of the current cell, the network device determines that the terminal device should switch from the current cell to the neighboring cell.

[0013] In some possible implementations, random access trigger information is received from a network device; wherein, executing a random access process according to the terminal grouping information may include: determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in a terminal device group according to the terminal grouping information; if it is determined that the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, executing a random access process according to the random access trigger information.

[0014] In this method, before the terminal devices in the terminal device group receive the random access trigger information, only the first terminal device may send a random access request message, and other terminal devices do not need to send a random access request message.

[0015] In the method, after the first terminal device sends a random access request message, all terminal devices in the terminal device group receive the random access trigger information.

[0016] In some possible implementations, the random access triggering information is carried via a common control channel; or, the random access triggering information is carried via a common control channel scrambled by a common RNTI.

[0017] In some possible implementations, the public RNTI is configured by a network device to a terminal device.

[0018] In some possible implementations, performing a random access process according to the terminal grouping information includes: sending a random access request message to the network device according to random access trigger information; and receiving a random access response message from the network device.

[0019] In some possible implementations, if the terminal device is not the first terminal device in the terminal device group, a random access response message sent from a network device is received.

[0020] In some possible implementations, the random access response message includes multiple temporary C-RNTIs, and the multiple temporary C-RNTIs correspond one-to-one to multiple terminal devices in the terminal device group.

[0021] In some possible implementations, the temporary C-RNTI corresponding to the terminal device is determined from multiple temporary C-RNTIs according to an identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0022] In some possible implementations, determining whether a terminal device is the first terminal device in a terminal device group based on terminal grouping information includes: when the terminal grouping information includes a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to indicate an identifier of the first terminal device in the terminal device group, determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group based on the first parameter; or, when the terminal grouping information includes a second parameter, and the second parameter is used to indicate whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group based on the second parameter; or, if the identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group is the first identifier, the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group; or, if the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0023] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including modules or units for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect. It should be understood that each module or unit can implement the corresponding function by executing a computer program.

[0024] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, including a processor, wherein the processor is used to execute the communication method described in any possible implementation of the first aspect of the first aspect. The communication device can be a chip or chip system used in a terminal device and a network device.

[0025] The device may further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and when the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the methods described in the above aspects may be implemented. The device may further include a communication interface, and the communication interface is used for the device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface.

[0026] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a program code for execution by a communication device, wherein the program code includes instructions for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0027] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, enables the communication device to implement the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0028] It can be understood that the effects that can be obtained from the second to fifth aspects can be referred to the description in the first aspect and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the method of an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system applicable to the method of the embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 3 This is an exemplary application scenario diagram of the cell switching method of the present application;

[0032] Figure 4 is a flow chart of a cell switching method;

[0033] Figure 5 A schematic flow chart of a cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 6 A schematic flow chart of a cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 7A schematic flow chart of a cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 8 A schematic flow chart of a cell switching method according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in yet another embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0040] In order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art can understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit the difference.

[0041] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

[0042] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0043] The technical solution provided in the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: the fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) or new radio (new radio, NR) system, long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) system, wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN) system, satellite communication system, future communication system, such as the sixth generation (6th generation, 6G) mobile communication system, or a fusion system of multiple systems, etc. The technical solution provided in the present application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and Internet of things (IoT) communication system or other communication systems.

[0044] A device in a communication system can send a signal to another device or receive a signal from another device. The signal may include information, signaling, or data, etc. The device may also be replaced by an entity, a network entity, a communication device, a communication module, a node, a communication node, etc., and the device is used as an example for description in this application. For example, a communication system may include at least one terminal device and at least one network device. The network device may send a downlink signal to the terminal device, and / or the terminal device may send an uplink signal to the network device. It is understandable that the terminal device in this application may be replaced by a first device, and the network device may be replaced by a second device, and the two perform the corresponding communication method in this application.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device.

[0046] The terminal device may be a device that provides voice / data, such as a handheld device or a vehicle-mounted device with a wireless connection function. At present, some examples of terminals are: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MID), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication functions, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or future evolved public land mobile communication networks (public land mobile The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0047] As an example but not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be referred to as wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also powerful functions achieved through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, and fully or partially independent of smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as devices that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various types of smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0048] In the embodiment of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the terminal device may be a terminal device, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to realize the function, such as a chip system, which may be installed in the terminal device or used in combination with the terminal device. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices. In the embodiment of the present application, only the device for realizing the function of the terminal device is used as an example for explanation, and the scheme of the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

[0049] The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and the network device may also be referred to as an access network device or a wireless access network device, such as a base station. The network device in the embodiment of the present application may refer to a wireless access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. Base station can broadly cover various names as follows, or be replaced with the following names, such as: NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, access point, transmission point (TRP), transmission point (TP), master station, auxiliary station, multi-standard wireless (motor slide retainer, MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), positioning node, etc. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node or the like, or a combination thereof. The base station may also refer to a communication module, modem or chip used to be set in the aforementioned equipment or device. The base station may also be a mobile switching center and a device that performs the base station function in D2D, V2X, and M2M communications, a network side device in a 6G network, and a device that performs the base station function in future communication systems. The base station can support networks with the same or different access technologies. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network equipment.In some deployments, the network device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a device including a CU, or a DU, or a device including a CU and a DU, or a device including a control plane CU node (central unit control plane (central unit-control plane, CU-CP)) and a user plane CU node (central unit user plane (central unit-user plane, CU-UP)) and a DU node. For example, the network device may include a gNB-CU-CP, a gNB-CU-UP, and a gNB-DU.

[0050] In some deployments, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a CU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, or RU. The CU and DU can be set separately, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a BBU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as an RRU, AAU, or RRH.

[0051] The RAN node may support one or more types of fronthaul interfaces, and different fronthaul interfaces correspond to DUs and RUs with different functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is a common public radio interface (CPRI), the DU is configured to implement one or more baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement one or more radio frequency functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is another interface, relative to the CPRI, part of the downlink and / or uplink baseband functions, such as, for downlink, one or more of precoding, digital beamforming (BF), or inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation, and for uplink, one or more of digital beamforming (BF), or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation. In a possible implementation, the interface may be an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI). In the eCPRI architecture, the division between DU and RU is different, corresponding to different types (category, Cat) of eCPRI, such as eCPRI Cat A, B, C, D, E, F.

[0052] Taking eCPRI Cat A as an example, for downlink transmission, based on layer mapping, the DU is configured to implement layer mapping and one or more functions before it (i.e., one or more functions of coding, rate matching, scrambling, modulation, and layer mapping), while other functions after layer mapping (e.g., RE mapping, digital beamforming (BF), or one or more functions of inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / adding cyclic prefix (CP)) are moved to the RU for implementation. For uplink transmission, based on de-RE mapping, the DU is configured to implement de-mapping and one or more functions before it (i.e., one or more functions of decoding, de-rate matching, de-scrambling, demodulation, inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT), channel equalization, and de-RE mapping), while other functions after de-mapping (e.g., one or more functions of digital BF or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / removing CP) are moved to the RU for implementation. It can be understood that for the functional description of DU and RU corresponding to various types of eCPRI, reference can be made to the eCPRI protocol and will not be repeated here.

[0053] In one possible design, the processing unit for implementing the baseband function in the BBU is called a baseband high layer (BBH) unit, and the processing unit for implementing the baseband function in the RRU / AAU / RRH is called a baseband low layer (BBL) unit.

[0054] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. Any unit in the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0055] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for realizing the function of the network device may be a network device; or it may be a device capable of supporting the network device to realize the function, such as a chip system, a hardware circuit, a software module, or a hardware circuit plus a software module. The device may be installed in the network device or used in combination with the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, only the device for realizing the function of the network device is a network device as an example for explanation, and the scheme of the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

[0056] The network device and / or terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water surface; it can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons and satellites in the air. The scenarios in which the network device and the terminal device are located are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the terminal device and the network device can be hardware devices, or they can be software functions running on dedicated hardware, software functions running on general-purpose hardware, such as virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform), or entities including dedicated or general-purpose hardware devices and software functions. The present application does not limit the specific forms of the terminal device and the network device.

[0057] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the method of the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 100 may include at least one network device, such as Figure 1 The network device 110 shown; the communication system 100 may also include at least one terminal device, such as Figure 1 The terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130 are shown.

[0058] The network device 110 and the terminal devices (such as the terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130) can communicate via a wireless link. The communication devices in the communication system, for example, the network device 110 and the terminal device 120, can communicate via a multi-antenna technology.

[0059] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system applicable to the method of the embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, the terminal device includes a processor 211, a memory 212 and a transceiver 213, and the transceiver 213 includes a transmitter 2131, a receiver 2132 and an antenna 2133. The network device includes a processor 221, a memory 222 and a transceiver 223, and the transceiver 223 includes a transmitter 2231, a receiver 2232 and an antenna 2233.

[0060] The processor 211 , the memory 212 , and the transceiver 213 communicate with each other through an internal connection path, and the processor 221 , the memory 222 , and the transceiver 223 communicate with each other through an internal connection path.

[0061] The receiver 2132 may be used to receive transmission control information via the antenna 2133, and the transmitter 2131 may be used to send transmission feedback information to the network device via the antenna 2133. The transmitter 2231 may be used to send transmission control information to the terminal device via the antenna 2233, and the receiver 2232 may be used to receive transmission feedback information sent by the terminal device via the antenna 2233.

[0062] It should be noted that Figure 1 and Figure 2 This is a simplified schematic diagram for ease of understanding. For example, the communication system may further include other devices, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices, and may further include one or more core network elements. Figure 1 and Figure 2 In practical applications, the communication system may include multiple network devices and multiple terminal devices. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of network devices and terminal devices included in the communication system.

[0063] Figure 3 This is an exemplary application scenario diagram of the cell switching method of the present application. Figure 3 In the application scenario shown in (a), both high-frequency cells and low-frequency cells are included, and the UE is within the coverage of both the high-frequency cell and the low-frequency cell.

[0064] When the current serving cell of the UE is a high-frequency cell provided by base station 1, if the UE is blocked (or strongly blocked) and the high-frequency channel between the UE and base station 1 fades (or strongly fades), or the high-frequency channel between the UE and base station 1 fades strongly due to weather reasons, the transmission performance between base station 1 and the UE will be seriously affected. In this case, the serving cell of the UE can be switched from the high-frequency cell to the low-frequency cell provided by base station 2, that is, the UE can perform cell switching.

[0065] In this embodiment, the high-frequency cell refers to the cell with a higher communication frequency among two cells with different communication frequencies, and the low-frequency cell refers to the cell with a lower communication frequency among the two cells.

[0066] As an example, a high-frequency cell may be a cell having a communication frequency greater than or equal to 6 gigahertz (GHz), and a low-frequency cell may be a cell having a communication frequency less than 6 GHz.

[0067] Figure 3In the application scenario shown in (b), the current serving cell of the UE is cell 1 provided by base station 1. When the UE moves along the arrow direction to the edge of the coverage area of ​​cell 1 and is about to enter the coverage area of ​​cell 2 provided by base station 2, or when the UE is located at the coverage service edge of cell 1 and is severely interfered, the serving cell of the UE can be switched from the high-frequency cell to the low-frequency cell provided by base station 2, that is, the UE can perform cell switching.

[0068] Understandably, Figure 3 In the figure, the high-frequency cell and the low-frequency cell are respectively provided by base station 1 and base station 2, which is only an example. The high-frequency cell and the low-frequency cell can also be provided by the same base station; the cell 1 and the cell 2 are respectively provided by base station 1 and base station 2, which is also only an example. The cell 1 and the cell 2 can also be provided by the same base station.

[0069] Understandably, Figure 3 The cell switching scenario shown is only an example, and the technical solution of the present application can be applied to any cell switching scenario.

[0070] In the embodiments of the present application, it can be understood that a cell can be understood as a carrier. For example, a base station provides a high-frequency cell service, which can be understood as the base station sending information through a high-frequency carrier. For another example, a UE is located within the coverage of a cell, which can be understood as the UE is located within the coverage of a carrier.

[0071] Figure 4 The present invention is a flow chart of a cell switching method. Figure 4 The method shown includes S401 to S406.

[0072] S401: The source cell decides whether to trigger neighbor cell measurement according to the air interface signal quality of the UE.

[0073] S402: When the source cell decides to trigger neighbor cell measurement according to the air interface signal quality of the UE, the source cell sends measurement configuration information to the UE. The measurement configuration information may indicate measurement resources for measuring the signal quality of the source cell and the neighbor cell.

[0074] S403, the UE performs measurement based on the measurement configuration information and reports the measurement result. For example, when the UE finds that the signal quality of the neighboring cell is better than the signal quality of the source cell, the event can be reported to the source cell.

[0075] S404: The source cell determines a cell switching strategy according to the measurement result reported by the UE, that is, determines whether the UE can be switched and determines a target cell for the UE.

[0076] S405: The source cell sends a handover command to the UE, informing the UE of the target cell to which it can handover.

[0077] S406, the UE initiates a random access process and accesses the target cell, thereby completing the process of switching from one cell to another.

[0078] Through analysis, the inventor found that a group of terminal devices located in the same physical area (such as a car) in the same period of time, each of which needs to execute Figure 4 The above handover process shown in will cause a large resource squeeze problem. For example, a group of terminal devices access a neighboring cell at the same time, but the resources used for random access are limited, and it is difficult to meet the access needs of so many terminal devices, resulting in multiple terminal devices needing to queue up for cell access, causing a large delay.

[0079] To this end, the present application provides a new technical solution, in which terminal devices are grouped, and only some of the terminal devices in the same terminal device group can perform one or more operations in the cell switching process on behalf of the terminal devices of the entire group, so that the entire group of terminal devices can finally achieve cell switching. In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device that performs one or more operations in the cell switching process on behalf of the terminal devices of the entire group can be called the first terminal device.

[0080] In some implementations, the one or more operations may include at least one of cell measurement, cell measurement result reporting, and initiating a random access request.

[0081] In some implementations, the same terminal device group may include multiple terminal devices whose motion trajectories have the same regularity. For example, multiple terminal devices located in the same vehicle may form a terminal device group.

[0082] In the technical solution proposed in the present application, terminal devices are grouped and the concept of a first terminal device is introduced to perform measurement reporting and / or random access operations on behalf of other terminal devices in the terminal device group, thereby reducing the number of terminal devices communicating with the network device and avoiding resource congestion.

[0083] In an embodiment of the present application, after the terminal devices are grouped to obtain the terminal device group, the network device can indicate some relevant information of the terminal device group to the terminal device so that the terminal device can perform operations in the cell switching process based on the relevant information.

[0084] In the embodiment of the present application, the relevant information of the terminal device group can be referred to as terminal device grouping information.

[0085] After the terminal device receives the terminal device grouping information, it can determine whether it is the first terminal device based on the terminal device grouping information. If it is determined to be the first terminal device, it can perform operations that the first terminal device can perform. If it is determined that it is not the first terminal device, it may not perform operations that the first terminal device needs to perform.

[0086] Figure 5 A schematic flow chart of a cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, the method may include S510 and S520.

[0087] S510: The network device sends terminal grouping information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the terminal grouping information from the network device.

[0088] It can be understood that the network device may be a source network device of the terminal device, or a network device currently providing a cell service for the terminal device.

[0089] It is understandable that the network device can send the terminal grouping information to one or more terminal devices. For example, the network device sends the terminal grouping information to multiple (or each) terminal devices in the terminal device group.

[0090] In some possible implementations, the network device groups the terminal devices, and the acquired terminal grouping information can be understood as information for indicating relevant content of the terminal device group.

[0091] Exemplarily, the terminal grouping information may indicate at least one of the following information: identification information of the terminal device group, used to indicate which terminal device group the terminal device group is; identification of the terminal devices in the terminal device group, used to indicate which terminal devices are included in the terminal device group; the number of terminal devices in the terminal device group, used to indicate how many terminal devices are included in the terminal device group; identification of the first terminal device in the terminal devices, used to indicate which terminal devices in the terminal device group can perform cell measurement, and / or which terminal devices can report cell measurement results. These terminal devices that can perform cell measurement and / or report cell measurement results are called first terminal devices.

[0092] In some possible implementations, the network device may also send cell measurement configuration information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives the cell measurement configuration information.

[0093] As an example, the cell measurement configuration information may be radio resource control (RRC) configuration information, and may include relevant configuration parameters of the cell measurement, which are used to measure the quality of the source cell and the target cell.

[0094] S520, the terminal device reports the cell measurement result according to the terminal grouping information.

[0095] As an example, the terminal device reports the cell measurement result according to the terminal grouping information, which may include: determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group according to the terminal grouping information; if it is determined that the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, performing cell measurement and reporting the cell measurement result.

[0096] As an example, the cell measurement result may be a cell measurement result obtained based on the cell measurement configuration information sent by the network device.

[0097] As an example, if it is determined that the terminal device is not the first terminal device in the terminal device group, the cell measurement is not performed, or the cell measurement is performed but the cell measurement result is not reported.

[0098] As an example, determining whether a terminal device is the first terminal device in a terminal device group based on terminal grouping information can be achieved in the following way: when the terminal grouping information includes a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to indicate an identifier of the first terminal device in the terminal device group, determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group based on the first parameter.

[0099] Optionally, the first parameter may be directly the identifier of the first terminal device, that is, the terminal device having the identifier is the first terminal device. The identifier may be a terminal device identifier in any form. For example, the identifier may be a local identifier of the first terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0100] As another example, determining whether a terminal device is the first terminal device in a terminal device group based on terminal grouping information can be achieved in the following way: when the terminal grouping information includes a second parameter, and the second parameter is used to indicate whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group based on the second parameter.

[0101] In this example, the second parameter is not the identifier of the first terminal device, but a terminal device with a specific identifier can be specified as the first terminal device. For example, a terminal device whose identifier contains a specific value (such as 0 or 1) is specified as the first terminal device. In this way, as long as the identifier of the terminal device contains the specific value, the terminal device is the first terminal device. In a more specific example, whichever terminal device's local identifier is configured as the above-mentioned special value is the first terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0102] As another example, determining whether a terminal device is the first terminal device in a terminal device group according to terminal grouping information may be implemented in the following manner: if the identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group is the first identifier, the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0103] In other words, a parameter is used to specifically indicate whether a terminal device is the first terminal device. For the terminal device, it determines whether it is the first terminal device in the terminal device group by the value of the parameter in the received configuration information.

[0104] As yet another example, if the terminal device is the first terminal device in a terminal device group, then the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0105] In other words, the xth terminal device in the terminal device group may be specified as the first terminal device. For example, x=1.

[0106] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the measurement report, the network device can determine whether the terminal device in the above-mentioned terminal device group needs to perform cell switching and execute the operations required in the cell switching process based on the measurement report.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present application, as an example, the network device may only send the cell measurement configuration information to the first terminal device.

[0108] In the embodiment of the present application, as an example, the network device may send the terminal grouping information only to the first terminal device.

[0109] In some examples of the present application, the network device may send cell measurement configuration information only to the first terminal device, so that only the first terminal device in the terminal device group measures and reports the cell quality, and other terminal devices in the terminal device group do not need to measure and report.

[0110] In other examples of the present application, the network device sends measurement configuration information to all terminal devices in the terminal device group, but only the first terminal device will measure and report, and other terminal devices in the terminal device group do not need to measure and report.

[0111] In other examples of the present application, the network device sends measurement configuration information to all terminal devices in the terminal device group, all terminals in the terminal device group perform measurements, but only the first terminal device reports, and other terminal devices in the terminal device group do not need to report.

[0112] From the above content, it can be seen that compared with the network device sending cell measurement configuration to all terminals and all terminals in the terminal device group performing cell measurement and reporting measurement results, the technical solution in the embodiment of the present application can save resources, thereby avoiding resource rush and reducing cell switching delay.

[0113] It can be understood that the network device in the embodiment of the present application can be replaced by the source cell of the terminal device.

[0114] Figure 6 A schematic flow chart of a cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, the method may include S610 and S620.

[0115] S610: Network device 1 sends terminal grouping information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the terminal grouping information from network device 1.

[0116] It can be understood that the network device may be a source network device of the terminal device, or a network device currently providing a cell service for the terminal device.

[0117] For the contents related to the terminal grouping information in this step, reference may be made to S510 and will not be repeated here.

[0118] S620: The terminal device performs a random access process according to the terminal grouping information.

[0119] It can be understood that before the terminal device performs the random access process according to the terminal grouping information, the terminal device can perform cell measurement and report the cell measurement result to the network device 1.

[0120] It can be understood that the network device 1 can send the cell measurement configuration information to the terminal device, and the terminal device performs cell measurement and reports the cell measurement result based on the cell measurement configuration information.

[0121] As an example, the network device 1 may send cell measurement configuration information to the terminal device, and the terminal device may perform cell measurement and report the cell measurement result based on the cell measurement configuration information. Figure 5 The contents of the embodiment shown.

[0122] As an example, the network device may send cell measurement configuration information to all terminal devices in the terminal device group, and all terminal devices perform cell measurement and report cell measurement results based on the cell measurement configuration information.

[0123] In an embodiment of the present application, before the terminal device performs a random access process based on the terminal grouping information, network device 1 may send a switching request message to network device 2 to inform network device 2 that a group of terminal devices need to switch to a target cell on network device 2.

[0124] As an example, the switching request message may include one or more of the following information: an identifier of a terminal device group, an identifier of a terminal device included in the terminal device group, the number of terminal devices included in the terminal device group, or indication information of the first terminal device.

[0125] In the embodiment of the present application, before the terminal device performs a random access process based on the terminal grouping information, after the network device 1 sends a switching request message to the network device 2, the network device 2 may send a switching response message to the network device 1. The switching response message may include one or more of the following information: whether the terminal device group is allowed to switch to the target cell; information (such as an identifier) ​​of the terminal devices in the terminal device group that are allowed to switch to the target cell, for example, when the load of the above-mentioned network device 2 is greater than or equal to the load threshold, only some of the terminal devices are allowed to access the above-mentioned target cell; information (such as an identifier) ​​of the terminal devices in the terminal device group that are not allowed to switch to the target cell, for example, when the load of the above-mentioned network device 2 is greater than or equal to the load threshold, some of the terminal devices are denied access to the above-mentioned target cell; information on random access resources used for the terminal device group to access the above-mentioned target cell.

[0126] The information of random access resources may include at least one of the following information: information of a random access preamble sequence, information of a time-frequency opportunity (RACH occasion) for sending a preamble, or information of a synchronization signal and PBCH block (SSB) corresponding to random access.

[0127] The random access preamble sequence may be a preamble specifically used for a terminal device group to perform random access.

[0128] The above RACH occasion may be a RACH occasion specifically used for a terminal device group to perform random access.

[0129] As an example, after receiving the handover response message from network device 2, network device 1 may send a handover command message to the terminal devices in the terminal device group, instructing each terminal device to switch to the target cell. For example, network device 1 may send RRC configuration information to each terminal device, which may include configuration parameters of the target cell. When the terminal device switches to the target cell, these configuration parameters may be used for random access.

[0130] Optionally, the network device 1 may reconfigure the terminal device group through the above RRC configuration information, such as introducing new terminal devices, or excluding some terminal devices (such as terminal devices that are not allowed to switch to the target cell).

[0131] In the embodiment of the present application, as an example, the network device 1 can also send a trigger signaling to the terminal devices in the terminal device group, and the trigger signaling is used to trigger each terminal device to perform a random access process. An example of the trigger signaling is a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0132] Optionally, the PDCCH may be a common PDCCH, and all terminal devices in the above terminal device group may receive the PDCCH.

[0133] Optionally, the PDCCH is scrambled by a public radio network temporary identifier (RNTI). The public RNTI may be configured by the network device 1 for the terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0134] Optionally, the network device 1 may configure the same RNTI value for all terminal devices in a terminal device group, and all terminal devices in the terminal device group use the RNTI value to receive the above-mentioned PDCCH.

[0135] In some implementations, only the first terminal device in the terminal device group sends a random access request message to the network device 2, and other terminal devices do not need to send random access request messages.

[0136] As an example, the terminal device performs a random access process according to the terminal grouping information, which may include: determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group according to the terminal grouping information; if it is determined that the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, sending a random access request message to network device 2.

[0137] It can be understood that the random access request message may include terminal device group information.

[0138] As an example, if it is determined that the terminal device is not the first terminal device in the terminal device group, no random access request message is sent.

[0139] After receiving the random access request message, the network device 2 may send a random access response message to the terminal devices in the terminal device group.

[0140] Optionally, the random access response message may include timing advance information, and all terminal devices in the terminal device group use the timing advance information to synchronously access the target cell.

[0141] Optionally, the random access response message may include cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) information of the terminal device, which may include multiple C-RNTI information, each C-RNTI corresponding to a terminal device. The C-RNTI information may be carried in the RRC configuration information instead of in the random access response message.

[0142] As an example, each terminal device in the terminal device group needs to receive the above-mentioned random access response message. That is to say, even if only the above-mentioned first terminal device sends a random access request message and other terminal devices do not send random access request messages, other terminal devices also receive the random access response message. All terminal devices can determine the receiving parameters of the above-mentioned random access response message, such as RA-RNTI, receiving time window, etc., according to the parameters indicated in the above-mentioned trigger signaling, so as to realize the reception of the above-mentioned random access response message.

[0143] Optionally, the terminal device can determine whether the received random access response message is sent to the terminal device group based on the preamble specifically used for random access of the terminal device group, because other terminal devices may also initiate random access, so there is a situation where network device 2 sends random access response messages to other terminal devices.

[0144] From the above content, it can be seen that compared with all terminals sending random access request messages, the technical solution in which only the first terminal device sends a random access request message in the embodiment of the present application can save resources, thereby avoiding resource rush and further reducing cell switching delay.

[0145] It can be understood that the network device 1 in the embodiment of the present application can be replaced by the source network device or source cell of the terminal device, and the network device 2 can be replaced by the target network device or target cell of the terminal device.

[0146] Figure 7 A schematic flow chart of a cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 As shown, the communication method may include S701 to S707.

[0147] S701, network device 1 sends measurement configuration information to a terminal device group. Correspondingly, the terminal device group receives the measurement configuration information.

[0148] In some possible implementations, before sending the measurement configuration information, the network device 1 first divides the terminal devices having the same movement pattern into a terminal device group.

[0149] Exemplarily, the network device 1 can determine which terminal devices have the same mobility pattern, such as the same position, the same moving speed, the same moving direction, etc., through positioning, Doppler information calculation and other methods, and divide these terminal devices into a terminal device group.

[0150] In this embodiment, after dividing the terminal device groups, the network device 1 sends the information of the terminal device group to each terminal device in the terminal device group through configuration information.

[0151] In some possible implementations, the configuration information may be RRC configuration information, which includes terminal grouping information and is used to notify each terminal device in the terminal device group of the information of the terminal device group.

[0152] Optionally, the terminal grouping information includes an identifier of a terminal device group.

[0153] Optionally, the terminal grouping information includes information of the terminal devices in the terminal device group, such as the number of the terminal devices, identifications of the terminal devices, etc.

[0154] Optionally, the terminal grouping information may also include a local identifier of any terminal device in the terminal device group, and the local identifier may be used to indicate the index or order of the terminal device in the terminal device group. For example, the identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group is k, indicating that the terminal device is the kth terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0155] Optionally, the terminal grouping information may also include the first terminal device in the terminal device group. The first terminal device is a special terminal device responsible for interacting with the network device on behalf of the terminal device group to exchange certain information, while other terminal devices do not need to interact with the network device to exchange such information.

[0156] Four implementations of indicating the first terminal device in the terminal device group are listed below.

[0157] In some possible implementations, the identifier of the first terminal device is directly indicated, and the terminal device having the identifier is the first terminal device. The identifier can be any form of terminal device identifier. For example, the identifier can be the above-mentioned local identifier, that is, the local identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0158] In some possible implementations, the identifier of the first terminal device is not indicated, but a terminal device with a specific identifier is specified as the first terminal device. For example, a terminal device with a local identifier of a specific value (such as 0 or 1) is specified as the first terminal device. In this way, as long as the local identifier of a terminal device is configured as the above-mentioned special value, the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0159] In some possible implementations, the identifier of the first terminal device is not indicated, but the xth (eg, x=1) terminal device in the terminal device group is specified as the first terminal device.

[0160] In some possible implementations, a parameter is used to specifically indicate whether a terminal device is the first terminal device. For any of the above terminal devices, it determines whether it is the first terminal device in the terminal device group by the value of the parameter in the received configuration information.

[0161] In this embodiment, after all terminal devices in the terminal device group receive the above-mentioned terminal grouping information, the network device 1 sends measurement configuration information to the first terminal device, or the network device 1 sends measurement configuration information to all terminal devices in the terminal device group. The measurement configuration information may include RRC configuration information, specifically including relevant configuration parameters for cell measurement, which is used to measure the quality of the current cell and neighboring cells.

[0162] S702, after completing the cell measurement, the terminal device reports the measurement result to the network device 1. Correspondingly, the network device 1 receives the measurement result.

[0163] Optionally, only the first terminal device needs to report the measurement result, and other terminal devices do not need to report. The reported measurement result is the cell quality measurement result of the current cell and the neighboring cell.

[0164] Optionally, other terminal devices may also report if certain conditions are met.

[0165] After receiving the measurement report result, the network device 1 determines whether the terminal device in the above terminal device group needs to perform cell switching.

[0166] S703, after determining that a cell switching is required, network device 1 sends a switching request message to network device 2, notifying network device 2 that a group of terminal devices needs to switch to its corresponding cell.

[0167] Optionally, the switching request message may include information (such as an identifier) ​​of the terminal device group.

[0168] Optionally, the switching request message may include information of the terminal devices in the terminal device group, such as the number of terminal devices, identifications of the terminal devices, information of the first terminal device (such as an identification), and the like.

[0169] S704: Network device 2 sends a switching response message to network device 1.

[0170] Optionally, the switching response message may include whether the terminal device group is allowed to switch to the cell corresponding to the network device 2.

[0171] Optionally, the switching response message may include information (such as an identifier) ​​of the terminal devices in the terminal device group that are allowed to switch to the cell corresponding to network device 2. For example, the network device 2 mentioned above has a high load and only some terminal devices are allowed to access the cell corresponding to network device 2.

[0172] Optionally, the switching response message may include information (such as an identifier) ​​of the terminal devices in the terminal device group that are not allowed to switch to the cell corresponding to network device 2. For example, the network device 2 mentioned above has a high load and some terminal devices are denied access to the cell corresponding to network device 2.

[0173] Optionally, the handover response message may include information about random access resources used by the terminal device group to access the cell corresponding to the network device 2, such as information about the random access preamble sequence, information about the time-frequency opportunity (RACHoccasion) for sending the preamble, and SSB information corresponding to the random access. The random access preamble sequence may be a preamble specifically used for a terminal device group to perform random access, or the RACH occasion may be a RACH occasion specifically used for a terminal device group to perform random access.

[0174] S705 , network device 1 sends a switching command message to the terminal devices in the terminal device group, instructing each terminal device to switch to the cell corresponding to network device 2 .

[0175] In some possible implementations, the network device 1 may send an RRC configuration message to each terminal device, including configuration parameters of the cell corresponding to the network device 2. When the terminal device switches to the cell corresponding to the network device 2, these configuration parameters will be adopted.

[0176] Optionally, the terminal device group may be reconfigured through RRC configuration information, such as introducing new terminal devices, or excluding some terminal devices (eg, terminal devices that are not allowed to switch to the target cell).

[0177] In some possible implementations, the network device 1 may also send a trigger signaling, such as a PDCCH, to each terminal device, where the trigger signaling is used to trigger each terminal device to perform a random access process.

[0178] Optionally, the PDCCH is a public PDCCH, and all terminal devices in the terminal device group can receive the PDCCH.

[0179] Optionally, the PDCCH is scrambled by a common RNTI. The common RNTI is configured by the network device 1 for the terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0180] Optionally, the network device 1 may configure an RNTI value for all terminal devices in a terminal device group, and all terminal devices in the terminal device group use the RNTI value to receive the above-mentioned PDCCH.

[0181] S706, the terminal device in the terminal device group sends a random access request message to the network device 2.

[0182] In some possible implementations, only the first terminal device sends the random access request message, and other terminal devices do not need to send it.

[0183] S707, the network device 2 sends a random access response message to the terminal device group. Correspondingly, all the terminal devices in the terminal device group receive the random access response message.

[0184] Optionally, the random access response message may include timing advance information, and all terminal devices in the terminal device group use the timing advance information to synchronously access the network device 2.

[0185] Optionally, the random access response message may include C-RNTI information of the terminal device, which may include multiple C-RNTI information, each C-RNTI corresponding to a terminal device. Specifically, assuming that the terminal device group includes N terminal devices, the random access response message needs to include N C-RNTI information, each C-RNTI information corresponding to a terminal device in the terminal device group. For example, the kth C-RNTI in the random access response message corresponds to the terminal device identified as k or the kth terminal device in the terminal device group.

[0186] In some possible implementations, the C-RNTI information may be carried in RRC configuration information, such as the RRC configuration information in S701 or S705, instead of being carried in the random access response message.

[0187] Optionally, the C-RNTI may also be replaced by a temporary C-RNTI (Temporary C-RNTI).

[0188] In this embodiment, each terminal device needs to receive a random access response message. That is, even if only the first terminal device sends a random access request message and other terminal devices do not send a random access request message, other terminal devices also need to receive the random access response message. All terminal devices determine the receiving parameters of the random access response message, such as RA-RNTI, receiving time window, etc., according to the parameters indicated in the above trigger signaling, so as to realize the reception of the random access response message.

[0189] Optionally, the terminal device may determine whether the received random access response message is sent to the terminal device group according to the preamble specifically used for random access of the terminal device group in S704. Since other terminal devices may also initiate random access, there are random access response messages sent to other terminal devices.

[0190] It can be understood that the network device 1 in the embodiment of the present application can be replaced by the source network device or source cell of the terminal device, and the network device 2 can be replaced by the target network device or target cell of the terminal device.

[0191] Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a cell switching method according to another embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the communication method may include S801 to S807.

[0192] S801, network device 1 sends measurement configuration information to terminal device 1 and terminal device 2. Correspondingly, terminal device 1 and terminal device 2 receive the measurement configuration information.

[0193] The terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 are terminal devices with the same movement pattern. The network device 1 divides the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 into a terminal device group, and the terminal grouping information indicates that the terminal device 1 is the first terminal device.

[0194] For details of this step, please refer to S701 and will not be described again here.

[0195] S802, after completing the cell measurement, the terminal device reports the measurement result to the network device 1. Correspondingly, the network device 1 receives the measurement result.

[0196] In some possible implementations, only terminal device 1 needs to report the measurement result.

[0197] Optionally, terminal device 2 may also report when certain conditions are met.

[0198] After receiving the measurement report result, the network device 1 determines whether the terminal device needs to perform cell switching.

[0199] S803, after determining that a cell switching is required, network device 1 sends a switching request message to network device 2, notifying network device 2 that a group of terminal devices needs to switch to its corresponding cell.

[0200] For details of this step, please refer to S703 and will not be described again here.

[0201] S804, network device 2 sends a switching response message to network device 1.

[0202] For details of this step, please refer to S704 and will not be described again here.

[0203] S805 , network device 1 sends a switching command message to terminal device 1 and terminal device 2 , instructing terminal device 1 and terminal device 2 to switch to the cell corresponding to network device 2 .

[0204] For details of this step, please refer to S705 and will not be described in detail here.

[0205] S806, terminal device 1 sends a random access request message to network device 2.

[0206] In some possible implementations, only terminal device 1 sends the random access request message, and terminal device 2 does not need to send it.

[0207] S807, network device 2 sends a random access response message to terminal device 1. Accordingly, both terminal device 1 and terminal device 2 receive the random access response message.

[0208] Optionally, the random access response message may include timing advance information, and all terminal devices in the terminal device group use the timing advance information to synchronously access the network device 2.

[0209] Specifically, the terminal device group includes 2 terminal devices, and the random access response message includes 2 C-RNTI information, and each C-RNTI information corresponds to terminal device 1 and terminal device 2.

[0210] In this embodiment, both terminal device 1 and terminal device 2 need to receive the random access response message. That is, even if only terminal device 1 sends a random access request message and terminal device 2 does not send a random access request message, terminal device 2 also needs to receive the random access response message.

[0211] It can be understood that the network device 1 in the embodiment of the present application can be replaced by the source network device or source cell of the terminal device, and the network device 2 can be replaced by the target network device or target cell of the terminal device.

[0212] It should be understood that in the present application, indication includes direct indication (also called explicit indication) and implicit indication. Wherein, direct indication of information A means including the information A; implicit indication of information A means indicating information A through the correspondence between information A and information B and direct indication of information B. Wherein, the correspondence between information A and information B can be predefined, pre-stored, pre-burned, or pre-configured.

[0213] It should be understood that in the present application, information C is used to determine information D, which includes information D being determined based only on information C, and information D being determined based on information C and other information. In addition, information C is used to determine information D, and it can also be indirectly determined, for example, information D is determined based on information E, and information E is determined based on information C.

[0214] In addition, "device A sends information A to device B" in each embodiment of the present application can be understood as the destination of the information A or the intermediate device in the transmission path between the destination and the device B, which may include directly or indirectly sending information to device B. "Device B receives information A from device A" can be understood as the source of the information A or the intermediate device in the transmission path between the source and the device A, which may include directly or indirectly receiving information from device A. The information may be processed as necessary between the source and the destination of the information transmission, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated here.

[0215] Fig. 9 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 As shown, the apparatus 900 may include a processing module 901 and a communication module 902 .

[0216] As a first example, the apparatus 900 may be used to implement Figures 5 to 8 A communication method implemented by a terminal device in any of the embodiments shown in FIG. 1 . For example, the processing module 901 is used to implement Figures 5 to 8 The communication module 902 is used to implement the processing steps performed by the terminal device in any of the embodiments shown in Figures 5 to 8 The steps of sending and / or receiving etc. are performed by the terminal device in any of the embodiments shown in the specification.

[0217] As a second example, the apparatus 900 may be used to implement Figures 5 to 8 A communication method implemented by a network device in any of the embodiments shown in FIG. 1 . For example, the processing module 901 is used to implement Figures 5 to 8 The communication module 902 is used to implement the processing steps performed by the network device in any of the embodiments shown in Figures 5 to 8Any of the illustrated embodiments includes steps of sending and / or receiving performed by a network device.

[0218] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in yet another embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 As shown, the device 1000 includes a processor 1001 and a communication circuit 1002. The processor 1001 and the communication circuit 1002 are coupled to each other. It is understood that the communication circuit 1002 can be a transceiver or an input-output interface. Optionally, the device 1000 may also include a memory 1003 for storing instructions executed by the processor 1001 or storing input data required by the processor 1001 to run the instructions or storing data generated after the processor 1001 runs the instructions. It is understood that the memory 1003 may be located outside the processor 1001, or inside the processor 1001.

[0219] As an example, the processor 1001 is used to implement the functions of the processing module 901 , and the communication circuit 1002 is used to implement the functions of the communication module 902 .

[0220] The apparatus 1000 may be a communication device or a chip used in a communication device. For example, the apparatus 1000 may be a UE or a chip used in a UE, or a network device or a chip used in a network device. It is understood that when the apparatus 1000 is a UE or a network device, the communication circuit 1002 may be a transceiver.

[0221] In some embodiments of the present application, a computer program product is also provided. When the computer program product is executed on a processor, it can implement the method implemented by the terminal device in any of the above embodiments, or it can implement the method implemented by the network device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0222] In some embodiments of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, which includes computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed on a processor, the method implemented by the terminal device in any of the above embodiments can be implemented, or the method implemented by the network device in any of the above method embodiments can be implemented.

[0223] In some embodiments of the present application, a communication system is also provided, which can implement the method implemented by the terminal device and the network device in any of the above embodiments.

[0224] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be the following devices or all or part of the circuits in the following devices for processing functions: central processing unit (CPU), other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0225] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware, or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a network device or a terminal device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also be present in a network device or a terminal device as discrete components.

[0226] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is executed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device or other programmable device. The computer program or instruction may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer program or instruction may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that integrates one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape; it may also be an optical medium, for example, a digital video disc; it may also be a semiconductor medium, for example, a solid-state hard disk.

[0227] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or provided for in any logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between the different embodiments are consistent and may be referenced to each other, and the technical features in the different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0228] It is understood that the various numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied in a terminal device, the method comprises: Receiving terminal packet information from a network device; Reporting a cell measurement result according to the terminal grouping information, and / or performing a random access process according to the terminal grouping information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The terminal grouping information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the terminal device group, the number of terminal devices in the terminal device group, an identifier of the terminal devices in the terminal device group, or an identifier of a first terminal device among the terminal devices in the terminal device group.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: receiving measurement configuration information from a network device; The reporting of the cell measurement result according to the terminal grouping information includes: Determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group according to the terminal grouping information; If it is determined that the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, the cell measurement result obtained by measuring according to the measurement configuration information is reported.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving random access trigger information from the network device; The performing of a random access process according to the terminal grouping information includes: Determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group according to the terminal grouping information; If it is determined that the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, a random access process is performed according to the random access trigger information.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The random access trigger information is carried through a common control channel; or, the random access trigger information is carried through a common control channel scrambled by a common RNTI.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The public RNTI is configured by the network device to the terminal device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that The performing a random access process according to the terminal grouping information includes: Sending a random access request message to the network device according to the random access trigger information; A random access response message is received from the network device.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: If the terminal device is not the first terminal device in the terminal device group, a random access response message sent from a network device is received.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The random access response message includes multiple temporary C-RNTIs, and the multiple temporary C-RNTIs correspond one-to-one to multiple terminal devices in the terminal device group.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: According to the identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group, the temporary C-RNTI corresponding to the terminal device is determined from the multiple temporary C-RNTIs.

11. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that The determining, according to the terminal grouping information, whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group includes: When the terminal grouping information includes a first parameter, and the first parameter is used to indicate an identifier of a first terminal device in the terminal device group, determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group according to the first parameter; or When the terminal grouping information includes a second parameter, and the second parameter is used to indicate whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, determining whether the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group according to the second parameter; or If the identifier of the terminal device in the terminal device group is the first identifier, the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group; or, If the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group, then the terminal device is the first terminal device in the terminal device group.

12. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a functional module for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: include: Memory and processor; The memory is used to store program instructions; The processor is configured to execute program instructions in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

14. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system comprises a terminal device and a network device, and the terminal device and the network device are used to implement the method according to claims 1 to 11.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a program code for computer execution, wherein the program code includes instructions for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

16. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises instructions for implementing the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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