Communication method, communication device, computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

A communication method, a communication device and a computer readable storage medium are provided. The method comprises: sending indication information of a timer start; wherein a timeout of the timer is a trigger condition of a link recovery procedure. The scheme provided in the application facilitates avoiding the terminal device from entering the link recovery procedure.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, various cell handover mechanisms have been introduced into wireless communication systems to meet the mobility needs of terminal devices and ensure their communication quality. However, existing handover mechanisms may experience untimely handovers, causing terminal devices to enter the link recovery process and resulting in data loss. Summary of the Invention

[0003] One of the technical objectives of this application is to provide a communication method, communication device, and computer-readable storage medium that helps to prevent terminal devices from entering the link recovery process.

[0004] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, the method comprising: sending indication information for starting a timer; wherein the timer timeout is a triggering condition for a link recovery process.

[0005] Optionally, sending the timer start indication information includes: sending the timer start indication information in response to the timer starting; or, sending the timer start indication information in response to the timer's running time reaching a first preset duration; or, sending the timer start indication information in response to the timer's remaining duration being less than or equal to a second preset duration.

[0006] Optionally, sending the timer start indication information includes: sending a measurement report, the measurement report including the timer start indication information; and / or, reporting the timer start indication information together with the channel state information.

[0007] Optionally, the indication information includes: the running duration of the timer, and / or the remaining duration of the timer.

[0008] Optionally, the timer includes T310 and / or T312.

[0009] Optionally, sending the timer start indication information includes: sending a measurement report of a first measurement identifier, the first measurement identifier being associated with the T312, the measurement report of the first measurement identifier including the T310 start indication information and / or the T312 start indication information; or, sending a measurement report of a first measurement identifier, the first measurement identifier not being associated with the T312, the measurement report of the first measurement identifier including the T310 start indication information.

[0010] Optionally, sending the timer start indication information includes: sending first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates that the timer is started and none of the candidate cells used for conditional handover meet the handover execution conditions or none of the candidate cells meet the event entry conditions corresponding to the handover execution conditions.

[0011] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, the method comprising: receiving indication information for starting a timer, wherein the timer timeout is a triggering condition for a link recovery process.

[0012] Optionally, the indication information includes: the running duration of the timer, and / or the remaining duration of the timer.

[0013] Optionally, receiving the timer start indication information includes: receiving a measurement report, the measurement report including the timer start indication information; and / or, receiving the timer start indication information together with receiving channel state information.

[0014] Optionally, the timer includes T310 and / or T312.

[0015] Optionally, receiving the indication information to start the timer includes: receiving a measurement report of a first measurement identifier, the first measurement identifier being associated with the T312, the measurement report of the first measurement identifier including the indication information to start the T310 and / or the indication information to start the T312; or, receiving a measurement report of a first measurement identifier, the first measurement identifier not being associated with the T312, the measurement report of the first measurement identifier including the indication information to start the T310.

[0016] Optionally, receiving the indication information for starting the timer includes: receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates that the timer is started and none of the candidate cells used for conditional handover meet the handover execution conditions or none of the candidate cells meet the event entry conditions corresponding to the handover execution conditions.

[0017] Optionally, the method further includes: relaxing the switching determination condition based on the indication information of the timer starting.

[0018] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, the method comprising: reporting channel state information of a serving cell and channel state information of N candidate cells, where N is a natural number and N is less than or equal to M, and M is the number of configured candidate cells.

[0019] Optionally, reporting the channel state information of the serving cell and the channel state information of N candidate cells includes: if the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold value, or if the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of any one of the M candidate cells, then the channel state information of the candidate cell is not reported.

[0020] Optionally, the channel state information of the N candidate cells is greater than or equal to the channel state information of the serving cell, and / or the channel state information of the N candidate cells is greater than or equal to a second threshold value.

[0021] Optionally, before reporting the channel state information of the serving cell and the channel state information of N candidate cells, the method further includes: receiving downlink control information (DCI), the DCI including reporting indication information, the reporting indication information being used to indicate the candidate cells to be reported and / or the type of channel state information to be reported.

[0022] Optionally, the channel state information includes: periodic channel state information and / or aperiodic channel state information.

[0023] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, the method comprising: receiving channel state information of a serving cell and channel state information of N candidate cells, where N is a natural number and N is less than or equal to M, and M is the number of configured candidate cells.

[0024] Optionally, if the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold value, or if the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of the M candidate cells, then N = 0.

[0025] Optionally, the channel state information of the N candidate cells is greater than or equal to the channel state information of the serving cell, and / or the channel state information of the N candidate cells is greater than or equal to a second threshold value.

[0026] Optionally, before receiving the channel state information of the serving cell and the channel state information of N candidate cells, the method further includes: sending downlink control information (DCI), the DCI including reporting indication information, the reporting indication information being used to indicate the candidate cells to be reported and / or the type of channel state information to be reported.

[0027] Optionally, the channel state information includes: periodic channel state information and / or aperiodic channel state information.

[0028] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, the device comprising: a communication module for sending indication information for starting a timer; wherein the timer timeout is a triggering condition for a link recovery process.

[0029] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including: a communication module, used to report channel state information of a serving cell and channel state information of N candidate cells, where N is a natural number and N is less than or equal to M, and M is the number of configured candidate cells.

[0030] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a communication device, including: a communication module, configured to receive indication information for starting a timer, wherein the timer timeout is a triggering condition for a link recovery process.

[0031] Eighthly, embodiments of this application also provide a communication device, including: a communication module, configured to receive channel state information of a serving cell and channel state information of N candidate cells, where N is a natural number and N is less than or equal to M, and M is the number of configured candidate cells.

[0032] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the computer program is run by a processor, the communication method provided in any of the above aspects is executed.

[0033] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program executable on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the communication method provided in the first or third aspect when running the computer program.

[0034] Eleventhly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program executable on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the communication method provided in the second or fourth aspect when running the computer program.

[0035] In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a chip (or communication device) storing a computer program, which, when executed by the chip, causes the methods provided in any of the above aspects to be executed.

[0036] In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a chip module on which a computer program is stored, such that when the computer program is executed by the chip module, the methods provided in any of the above aspects are executed.

[0037] In a fourteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods provided in any of the above aspects.

[0038] In a fifteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication system, the communication system including at least one of the following: means for performing the method provided in the first or third aspect, and means for performing the method provided in the second or fourth aspect.

[0039] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of this application embodiment has the following beneficial effects:

[0040] In the scheme of this application embodiment, the terminal device sends an indication message to start the timer, and correspondingly, the network device receives the indication message to start the timer. Therefore, the network device can promptly know that the timer has started based on the received indication message, and can timely and accurately assess the channel quality, thereby making a timely handover decision and preventing the terminal device from entering the link recovery process due to timer timeout. Attached Figure Description

[0041] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the signaling interaction of the first communication method in the embodiments of this application;

[0042] Figure 2 This is a signaling interaction diagram of the second communication method in the embodiments of this application;

[0043] Figure 3 This is a signaling interaction diagram of the third communication method in the embodiments of this application;

[0044] Figure 4 This is a signaling interaction diagram of the fourth communication method in the embodiments of this application;

[0045] Figure 5 This is a signaling interaction diagram of the fifth communication method in the embodiments of this application;

[0046] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first communication device in the embodiments of this application;

[0047] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the second type of communication device in the embodiments of this application;

[0048] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0049] It should be noted that the communication systems applicable to the embodiments of this application include, but are not limited to, 3rd generation (3G), Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4th generation (4G), 5th generation (5G), New Radio (NR), and future evolution systems or multiple converged communication systems. The 5G system can be a non-standalone (NSA) 5G system or a standalone (SA) 5G system. The solutions of the embodiments of this application can also be applied to various new communication systems in the future, such as 6G and 7G.

[0050] This application mainly relates to communication between terminal devices and network devices.

[0051] In this application, "terminal equipment" can refer to various forms of user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. Terminal equipment can also be a cellular phone, cordless phone, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle device, wearable device, terminal in a future 5G network, or terminal in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc. This application does not limit the scope of these examples. In some embodiments of this application, the terminal equipment can also be a device with transceiver capabilities, such as a chip system. The chip system can include chips and other discrete components.

[0052] In this application embodiment, the network device can refer to a device that provides wireless communication functions for terminal devices. The network device can be called an access network device, such as a radio access network (RAN) device or an access network element. The network device can support at least one wireless communication technology, such as LTE or NR. For example, network equipment can be a base station (BS) (also called base station equipment). In second-generation (2G) networks, equipment providing base station functionality includes base transceiver stations (BTS); in 3G networks, Node Bs provide base station functionality; in 4G networks, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) provide base station functionality; and in 5G networks, next-generation node Bs (gNBs) and further evolved Node Bs (ng-eNBs) provide base station functionality. gNBs communicate with terminal devices using NR technology, while ng-eNBs communicate with terminal devices using Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) technology. Both gNBs and ng-eNBs can connect to the 5G core network. In wireless local area networks (WLANs), equipment providing base station functionality is called an access point. (point, AP). The network device in this application embodiment also includes devices that provide wireless communication functions in future new communication systems. In some embodiments, the network device may also be a means of providing wireless communication functions for terminals, such as a chip system. For example, a chip system may include a chip, and may also include other discrete devices.

[0053] In some embodiments, network equipment may refer to a centralized unit (CU) of a base station, or a distributed unit (DU) of a base station, or a CU control plane (CU-CP) of a base station, or a DU user plane (CU-up) of a base station, etc.

[0054] In cell handover scenarios, when a terminal device learns through measurement that the channel quality of the serving cell is poor, it can report the channel state information of the serving cell and / or the channel state information of candidate cells to provide information for the network device to make a cell handover decision. When the channel quality of the serving cell is poor, especially when a timer related to the link recovery process is triggered, the channel state has significantly deteriorated, and the terminal device expects to perform a handover as soon as possible. However, the network device usually cannot detect this situation in a timely manner. Although the network device can indirectly determine the channel quality through the channel state information reported by the terminal device, due to factors such as the long period of the channel state information, the network device still cannot promptly and accurately detect the significant deterioration of the channel quality, thus failing to make a timely handover decision. If the terminal device does not receive a handover command when the timer expires, it will actively enter the link recovery process. Since the link recovery process can cause data loss, how to prevent the terminal device from entering the link recovery process is the technical problem to be solved by the embodiments of this application.

[0055] In view of this, embodiments of this application provide a communication method. In the scheme of this embodiment, the terminal device sends an indication message to start a timer, and correspondingly, the network device receives the indication message to start a timer. Thus, the network device can promptly know that the timer has started based on the received indication message, and the network device can timely and accurately assess the channel quality, thereby making a timely handover decision and preventing the terminal device from entering the link recovery process due to timer timeout.

[0056] The network device in this application embodiment can refer to a source base station. Alternatively, the network device can be a primary base station. Or, the network device can be a secondary base station.

[0057] The communication method provided in this application can be applied to single-connectivity scenarios, where only a single base station provides services to the terminal device. Alternatively, the communication method provided in this application can also be applied to multi-radio dual-connectivity (MR-DC) scenarios. Specifically, a primary base station and a secondary base station simultaneously provide services to the terminal device. The terminal device can send a timer start indication to the primary base station, for example, by reporting the timer start indication when sending a measurement report or channel state information to the primary base station. Alternatively, the terminal device can send a timer start indication to the secondary base station, for example, by reporting the timer start indication when sending a measurement report or channel state information to the secondary base station. This embodiment is not limited in this respect.

[0058] This application does not limit the type of dual connectivity, which can be LTE dual connectivity, LTE and NR dual connectivity, NR dual connectivity, etc. For LTE and NR dual connectivity, it can include EN-DC (E-UTRAN NR Dual Connectivity, i.e., the LTE base station acts as the UE's primary base station and the NR base station acts as the UE's secondary base station), NE-DC (NR E-UTRAN Dual Connectivity, i.e., the NR base station acts as the UE's primary base station and the LTE base station acts as the UE's secondary base station), NR-DC (NRNR Dual Connectivity, i.e., both the UE's primary base station and secondary base station are NR base stations), NGEN-DC (i.e., the LTE base station connected to the 5G core network acts as the UE's primary base station and the NR base station acts as the UE's secondary base station), etc.

[0059] First, some terms used in the embodiments of this application will be explained so that those skilled in the art can understand them.

[0060] 1. Timer. In this embodiment, the timer refers to a timer that triggers the link recovery process upon timeout. That is, if the terminal device determines that the timer has timed out, the terminal device will enter the link recovery process.

[0061] In this embodiment, the timer can be a Radio Link Failure (RLF) timer. For example, the timer can be a T310 timer (hereinafter referred to as T310). Alternatively, the timer can be a T312 timer (hereinafter referred to as T312).

[0062] The timer in this application embodiment can also be called a timer. Timer timeout can also be called timer expiration. It should be noted that the timer in this application embodiment can be a timer defined by an existing protocol, or the timer can be a timer defined in the future to trigger a link recovery process upon timeout.

[0063] 2. Link recovery process. The link recovery process in this embodiment refers to the process of restoring the communication link between the terminal device and the network device.

[0064] For example, the link recovery process can be used to restore the link between the terminal device and the main base station in a single-connection scenario or a dual-connection scenario.

[0065] For example, the link recovery process can be used to restore the link between the terminal device and the secondary base station in a dual-connectivity scenario. Specifically, in a dual-connectivity scenario, if a link failure occurs between the terminal device and the secondary base station, either the terminal device or the secondary base station can notify the primary base station to reconfigure the link configuration on the secondary base station side in order to restore the link between the terminal device and the secondary base station.

[0066] More specifically, the link recovery process can refer to the radio resource control (RRC) reconstruction process. Alternatively, the link recovery process can be the Master Cell group (MCG) failure handling, i.e., the handling when the terminal device sends MCG failure information to the secondary base station; or, the link recovery process can be the Secondary Cell Group (SCG) failure handling, i.e., the handling when the terminal device sends SCG failure information to the master base station.

[0067] It should be noted that the link recovery process in this application embodiment can be used to rebuild or restore the link between the terminal device and the serving cell. Alternatively, by executing the link recovery process, the terminal device can establish a connection with other cells (e.g., neighboring cells) besides the serving cell. This application embodiment is not limited in this respect.

[0068] It should also be noted that the embodiments of this application do not limit the specific process of link recovery or link reconstruction. For example, the link recovery process may include establishing a data radio bearer (DRB), establishing a context, etc.

[0069] 3. T310. The T310 is initiated when the terminal device detects a first number of consecutive out-of-synchronization indications. If the terminal device detects a second number of consecutive synchronization indications before the T310 timeout, the T310 stops timing.

[0070] 4. T312. In this embodiment, T312 can be a timer configured by the network device for the measurement identity. Specifically, the network device can configure a measurement identity (MeasId) for the terminal device, wherein one measurement identity is associated with a measurement object identity (MeasObjectId) and a report configuration identity (ReportConfigId).

[0071] The measurement identifier can also be called the measurement task, the measurement object can be the frequency point or frequency being measured, and the reporting configuration refers to the conditions for the terminal device to report the measurement report. The conditions for reporting the measurement report can be periodic or event-based. For example, an event can be at least one of the following: A3 event (i.e., the signal quality of the neighboring cell is higher than the serving cell by a preset offset), A4 event (i.e., the signal quality of the neighboring cell is higher than a preset threshold), and A5 event (i.e., the signal quality of the serving cell is lower than a preset threshold 1, and the signal quality of the neighboring cell is higher than a preset threshold 2).

[0072] If a network device is configured to use T312 in its measurement identifier association reporting configuration, it indicates that the measurement identifier is associated with T312. When the reporting conditions for a certain measurement identifier association are met, T310 has been started and the measurement identifier is associated with T312, then the terminal device starts the T312 associated with that measurement identifier. If T312 times out and the terminal device still has not received a handover command, the terminal device will trigger a link recovery procedure.

[0073] The specific embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0074] Example 1

[0075] Reference Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a signaling interaction diagram of a communication method in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1 The cell handover method shown may include step S11.

[0076] Step S11: The terminal device sends an instruction to the network device to start the timer; whereby the timer timeout is the trigger condition for the link recovery process.

[0077] Before step S11, the network device can configure one or more timers for the terminal device. If the terminal device determines that a timer has expired, the terminal device will initiate a link recovery process. Step S11 is executed before the timer expires. In one embodiment of this application, the timer start indication information can at least be used to indicate that the timer has been started.

[0078] Specifically, the terminal device can send a timer start instruction to the network device when the timer starts, or the terminal device can send a timer start instruction to the network device after the timer starts but before the timer expires.

[0079] For example, if a timer is detected to be running, the terminal device sends a timer start indication message to the network device. That is, in response to a timer starting, the terminal device sends a timer start message to the network device.

[0080] As a variation, the terminal device can send a timer start indication message to the network device after the timer has been running for a certain period of time. Specifically, if the terminal device determines that the timer is about to expire and has not received a handover command from the network device or has not met the handover conditions after the timer has started, the terminal device can request the network device to expedite the handover by sending a timer start indication message.

[0081] For example, if the timer's runtime is detected to have reached a first preset duration, the terminal device sends a timer start indication to the network device. The first preset duration can be predefined or configured by the network device. The runtime refers to the time elapsed since the timer started. In specific implementations, the first preset duration can be predefined by the protocol or configured by the network device, and this first preset duration can be a specific numerical value. Alternatively, it can be predefined by the protocol or configured by the network device as a first percentage, and the product of the first percentage and the timer's duration is the aforementioned first preset duration. Here, the timer's duration is configured by the network device.

[0082] For example, if the remaining time of the timer is detected to be less than or equal to a second preset time, the terminal device sends a timer start indication to the network device. The second preset time can be predefined or configured by the network device. The remaining time refers to the time remaining until the timer expires. In specific implementations, the second preset time can be predefined by the protocol or configured by the network device, and this second preset time can be a specific value. Alternatively, a second percentage can be predefined by the protocol or configured by the network device; the product of the second percentage and the timer duration is the aforementioned second preset time. In the above scheme, the terminal device does not immediately send the timer start indication when the timer starts, but rather sends it after a certain period of time. It should be noted that the duration of the timer and the triggering conditions for timer start are not limited in this embodiment.

[0083] Optionally, in S11, the timer start indication information may further include the timer's running duration and / or the timer's remaining duration. That is, the timer start indication information may also indicate the timer's running duration and / or remaining duration. As a variation, the timer start indication information may also indicate the timer's running duration and / or remaining duration. For example, the timer start indication information may include a first ratio value and / or a second ratio value, where the first ratio value is the ratio of the timer's running duration to the timer's total duration, and the second ratio value is the ratio of the timer's remaining duration to the timer's total duration.

[0084] In S11, the terminal device can report timer start indication information through either Layer 1 (L1) or Layer 2 (L2). That is, the timer start indication information can be carried in Layer 1 signaling or Layer 2 signaling. For example, the timer start indication information can be carried in medium access control (MAC CE) signaling. For instance, a new MAC CE signaling can be introduced to carry the timer start indication information. Specifically, the MAC CE signaling may include an indication bit, the value of which indicates whether the timer has started. Specifically, if the bit is 1, it indicates that the timer has started. If the bit is 0, it indicates that the timer has not started.

[0085] Alternatively, the terminal device can report the timer indication information through layer 3 (L3). That is, the timer start indication information can be carried in layer 3 signaling.

[0086] It should be noted that layer 1 can also be called the physical layer, layer 2 can be the MAC layer, and layer 3 can be the RRC layer.

[0087] As one implementation of S11, the terminal device can carry timer start information in the measurement report. That is, the measurement report can include timer start information.

[0088] As another implementation of S11, the terminal device can report the timer start indication information together with the channel state information. Specifically, the channel state information and the timer start indication information can be carried in the same signaling. This signaling can be Layer 1 or Layer 2 signaling.

[0089] Specifically, network devices can configure at least two timers for terminal devices. The following example illustrates this, where the network device configures a first timer and a second timer for the terminal device. For instance, the first timer could be a T310, and the second timer could be a T312.

[0090] In one example, if either the first timer or the second timer starts, the terminal device sends a timer start indication message to the network device. That is, if any timer starts, the terminal device sends the timer start indication message. Optionally, the timer start indication message may also include a timer identifier to indicate which timer has started.

[0091] In another example, the activation of the second timer depends on the activation of the first timer. That is, the second timer will only activate if the first timer has activated. In this case, if the second timer activates, the terminal device sends a timer activation indication. This timer activation indication may include a timer identifier. The timer identified by the timer identifier can be the second timer, or it can be the timer with the shorter remaining time between the first and second timers.

[0092] Furthermore, following S11, based on the timer start indication information, the network device can know that the terminal device's timer has started. In a cell handover scenario, the network device can make a handover decision as quickly as possible (e.g., the network device can send a handover command in advance). For example, after receiving the timer start indication information, the network device can relax the handover determination conditions to quickly determine the target cell, thereby enabling the terminal device to perform cell handover as soon as possible.

[0093] It should be noted that the specific processing steps taken by the network device after receiving the instruction to start the timer may depend on the network device's decision, and this embodiment does not limit this.

[0094] As described above, in the solution provided in this embodiment, the terminal device reports the indication information of timer start to the network device, so that the network device knows the timer start status, so that the terminal device has the opportunity to perform cell handover as soon as possible and avoids entering the link recovery process due to timer timeout.

[0095] For more details on Embodiment 1, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments below, which will not be repeated here.

[0096] Example 2

[0097] In Embodiment 2, after the terminal device establishes an RRC connection on the serving cell, it can establish one or more DRBs and then begin data transmission. The network device can configure measurements for multiple frequency points for the terminal device, for example, configuring measurements at the same frequency and measurements at different frequencies. Specifically, the network device can configure multiple measurement identifiers for the terminal device. Each measurement identifier is associated with a measurement object identifier and a reporting configuration identifier. At least one of the multiple measurement identifiers is associated with T312. This embodiment uses the first measurement identifier as an example for specific description. The first measurement identifier can be associated with T312, or it can be not associated with T312.

[0098] Reference Figure 2 , Figure 2 This is a signaling interaction diagram of the second communication method in the embodiments of this application. Figure 2 The methods shown may include:

[0099] S21, the terminal device sends a measurement report with a first measurement identifier to the network device. The measurement report includes an indication that a timer has started. Correspondingly, the network device receives the measurement report.

[0100] S22, the network device sends a handover command to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the handover command.

[0101] Prior to S21, the terminal device performs Layer 3 measurements based on the configuration of the first measurement identifier. Furthermore, the network device can configure one or more neighboring cells corresponding to the first measurement identifier for the terminal device via RRC signaling.

[0102] In one case, the first measurement identifier is associated with T312.

[0103] In this scenario, if the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions associated with the first measurement identifier are met, and T310 has been initiated, then the terminal device initiates T312. Further, the terminal device can send a measurement report of the first measurement identifier to the network device. This measurement report may include measurement values ​​of the serving cell and candidate cells.

[0104] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the measurement report also includes indication information for the timer to start. Specifically, the terminal device can report indication information for the start of T310 and / or T312 through the measurement report. That is, the measurement report of the first measurement identifier includes indication information for the start of T310 and / or indication information for the start of T312.

[0105] For example, when the reporting conditions of the first measurement identifier are met, if T312 has already been started, the terminal device compares the remaining durations of T310 and T312 and reports an indication that the timer with the shorter remaining duration has started. For instance, if the remaining duration of T312 is longer than the remaining duration of T310, the measurement report of the first measurement identifier includes an indication that T310 has started. If the remaining duration of T310 is longer than the remaining duration of T312, the measurement report of the first measurement identifier includes an indication that T312 has started.

[0106] In another case, the first measurement identifier is not associated with T312.

[0107] In this scenario, when the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions for the first measurement identifier are met, if T310 has already been activated, the terminal device will report the activation indication information of T310 through a measurement report. That is, the measurement report for the first measurement identifier includes the activation indication information of T310.

[0108] Furthermore, after receiving the measurement report, the network device can immediately initiate the handover preparation process. Specifically, after receiving the measurement report, the network device can select a target cell for the terminal device and send a handover request to the target base station. After receiving confirmation of the handover request from the target base station, it sends a handover command to the terminal device.

[0109] Furthermore, after receiving the handover command, the terminal device can perform a cell handover to access the target cell. Additionally, the timer on the terminal device can stop counting after receiving the handover command.

[0110] As described above, Embodiment 2 provides a solution for use in Layer 3 switching scenarios, where the terminal device can report the indication information for T310 and / or T312 activation through measurement reports.

[0111] For more details about this embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

[0112] Example 3

[0113] In Embodiment 3, the network device can configure one or more candidate cells for Layer 1 / Layer 2 signaling handover for the terminal device. This Layer 1 / Layer 2 signaling handover can be referred to as L1 / L2 triggered mobility (LTM). Furthermore, the terminal device measures the reference signal on the candidate cells used for LTM and reports the channel state information of the serving cell and each candidate cell to the network device via Layer 1 signaling or Layer 2 signaling.

[0114] The channel state information can be, but is not limited to, Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), etc. In this embodiment, the channel state information can be Layer 1 channel state information.

[0115] Reference Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating the third communication method in the embodiments of this application. Figure 3 The methods shown may include:

[0116] S31, the terminal device sends channel state information and timer start indication information to the network device; correspondingly, the network device receives the channel state information and timer start indication information.

[0117] In step S32, the network device sends a handover command to the terminal device. The terminal device then receives the handover command.

[0118] Prior to S31, the terminal device could perform physical layer measurements on the candidate cells configured by the network device for LTM and report the channel state information of the candidate cells (e.g., periodically report the channel state information of the candidate cells). In this embodiment, the terminal device can report the timer start indication information at the same time when reporting the channel state information.

[0119] In practice, although network devices are configured with candidate cells for LTM, terminal devices are also constantly monitoring the radio link status and performing Layer 3 measurements. If a terminal device determines that T310 has been activated when reporting channel state information, it can also report the T310 activation indication information when reporting channel state information.

[0120] In addition, if the network device configures a measurement identifier associated with T312 for the terminal device, and T312 has already been activated when the terminal device reports the channel status information of the candidate cells for LTM, then the terminal device can report the T312 activation indication information at the same time as reporting the channel status information of the candidate cells for LTM.

[0121] In this embodiment, a new MAC CE signaling instruction can be introduced to carry timer start indication information. For example, in S31, the terminal device sends a first MAC CE signaling and a second MAC CE signaling, wherein the first MAC CE signaling includes channel state information and the second MAC CE signaling includes timer start indication information.

[0122] Furthermore, after parsing the received MAC CE signaling, the network device learns that the timer has started. This allows the network device to relax its handover decision criteria.

[0123] For example, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the serving cell, as well as the channel state information of candidate cell 1 and candidate cell 2. If the network device learns that the timer has not started when the terminal device reports the channel state information, the network device will trigger a handover if the channel state information of candidate cell 1 or candidate cell 2 is better than that of the serving cell. If the network device learns that the timer has started when the terminal device reports the channel state information, the network device will trigger a handover if the channel state information of candidate cell 1 or candidate cell 2 exceeds a certain threshold, which is usually easy to reach.

[0124] Therefore, after receiving the indication that the timer has started, the network device can trigger the handover as quickly as possible. In S32, the network device sends a handover command to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to hand over to the target cell.

[0125] As described above, Embodiment 3 provides a solution from this application that is applied to a Layer 1 / Layer 2 handover scenario. The terminal device can report T310 and / or T312 activation indication information simultaneously when reporting Layer 1 channel state information.

[0126] For more details about this embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

[0127] Example 4

[0128] In this embodiment, the network device can configure Conditional Handover (CHO) for the terminal device. In the CHO mechanism, the terminal device autonomously decides the target cell for handover.

[0129] Reference Figure 4 , Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the fourth communication method in the embodiments of this application. Figure 4 The methods may include: S41 and S42.

[0130] S41, the network device sends a conditional switching command to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the conditional switching command.

[0131] Specifically, the conditional handover command may include at least one candidate cell for CHO and a conditional execution condition. The handover execution condition may include an event entry condition and an event duration condition. The handover execution condition is deemed satisfied when both the event entry condition and the event duration condition are met. If the event entry condition is met, the event duration condition is further determined. The event duration condition is typically the duration for which the event entry condition is met. For example, if the handover execution condition is that the signal quality of the candidate cell exceeds a preset threshold and needs to last for more than 80 milliseconds (ms), then the corresponding event entry condition is that the signal quality of the candidate cell exceeds the preset threshold, and the event duration condition is that it lasts for more than 80 ms. In some embodiments, the event entry condition is often also referred to as an "event." Examples include A3 event, A5 event, etc., but this embodiment is not limited to these.

[0132] In addition, the conditional handover command may also include information such as the configuration parameters of the candidate cells. This embodiment does not limit the specific content of the conditional handover command.

[0133] Furthermore, after receiving the conditional handover command, the terminal device can begin evaluating candidate cells. Once a candidate cell is determined to meet the handover execution conditions, the terminal device can use that candidate cell as the target cell and apply its configuration parameters to access the target cell. If none of the candidate cells meet the handover execution conditions, the terminal device will continue to maintain its RRC connection with the source base station.

[0134] In this embodiment, when the timer starts or at a certain time after the timer starts (for example, when the timer's running time reaches the first preset duration or the remaining duration of the timer is the second preset duration), if the terminal device finds that all candidate cells do not meet the handover execution conditions, or if all candidate cells do not meet the handover execution conditions, then S41 is executed.

[0135] S41, the terminal device sends a first indication message to the network device. The first indication message indicates that a timer has started and none of the candidate cells used for CHO meet the handover execution conditions, or none of the candidate cells used for CHO meet the event entry conditions corresponding to the handover execution conditions. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first indication message.

[0136] Therefore, the terminal device can notify the network device that the timer has started but the target cell has not been evaluated or that the probability of evaluating the target cell in the near future is very low.

[0137] Furthermore, after receiving the first indication information, the network device can reconfigure the handover execution conditions to relax the handover determination criteria. For example, the threshold value in the event entry condition corresponding to the handover execution conditions can be reduced. Alternatively, after receiving the first indication information, the network device can directly indicate a target cell to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can initiate the handover process based on the network device's indication, without waiting to evaluate a candidate cell that meets the handover execution conditions before performing the handover.

[0138] As described above, Embodiment 4 provides a solution for applying the present application to a conditional handover scenario, which can effectively avoid the situation where the terminal device cannot switch in time and thus enters the link recovery process because the handover execution conditions cannot be met after the timer is started.

[0139] For more details about this embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments in this document, which will not be repeated here.

[0140] Example 5

[0141] In Example 5, the network device can configure continuous LTM handover for the terminal device. In this scenario, after the network device configures multiple candidate cells (hereinafter referred to as candidate cells) for LTM for the terminal device, the terminal device performs Layer 1 measurement and reports the channel state information of each candidate cell. The network device makes a handover decision based on the received channel state information and then triggers the terminal device to perform LTM handover via MAC CE signaling. After the handover is completed, the terminal device continues to save the configuration information of the configured candidate cells and the configuration of the source serving cell, which then also becomes a candidate cell. The terminal device continues to measure and report the channel state information of the candidate cells, and the network device continues to make subsequent handover decisions. By adopting a continuous LTM handover mechanism, the network device does not need to configure candidate cells for each handover, which can reduce signaling overhead. For the terminal device, continuously measuring all candidate cells and reporting the measured channel state information is not only power-intensive but also wastes radio resources.

[0142] Therefore, in the solution provided in this embodiment, the terminal device does not need to continuously report the channel status information of all candidate cells. The terminal device can choose not to report or only report the channel status information of a portion of the candidate cells depending on different situations. By reasonably controlling the reported channel status information of candidate cells, the burden on the terminal device can be reduced while ensuring the communication quality of the terminal device.

[0143] This embodiment takes an example where the terminal device is configured with M candidate cells. The M candidate cells can be those configured in the continuous handover procedure. The continuous handover procedure can be the continuous LTM handover described above.

[0144] Reference Figure 5 , Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating the fourth communication method in the embodiments of this application. Figure 5 The method may include: S51.

[0145] S51, the terminal device reports the channel state information of the serving cell and the channel state information of N candidate cells to the network device, where N is a natural number and N is less than or equal to M, and M is the number of configured candidate cells. Correspondingly, the network device receives the channel state information of the serving cell and the channel state information of the N candidate cells.

[0146] It should be noted that the channel state information of the serving cell and the channel state information of the candidate cell in S51 can be reported simultaneously, or they can be reported separately. This embodiment does not limit this.

[0147] For example, the reporting period for channel state information of the serving cell and the reporting period for channel state information of candidate cells can be different, and the reporting period can depend on the configuration of the network equipment. Furthermore, the reporting periods for channel state information of different candidate cells can also be different.

[0148] For example, network devices can trigger terminal devices to report aperiodic channel state information of candidate cells through downlink control information (DCI).

[0149] The specific implementation of S51 will be described below by way of example.

[0150] Example 1: If the channel state information of the serving cell reported is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device does not need to report the channel state information of the candidate cell. Here, "channel state information greater than or equal to the first threshold" can be either CQI greater than or equal to the first threshold, or RSRP greater than or equal to the first threshold.

[0151] Specifically, before reporting the channel state information of candidate cells, the terminal device determines whether the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold. If the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device does not report the channel state information of the candidate cells. If the channel state information of the serving cell is less than the first threshold, the terminal device continues to report the channel state information of the candidate cells.

[0152] The channel state information of the serving cell used for comparison with the first threshold value can be the channel state information of the serving cell that has been reported most recently, or it can be the channel state information of the serving cell that is about to be reported.

[0153] The first threshold value can be predefined by the protocol, or it can be configured by the network device.

[0154] Taking Channel State Information (CQI) as an example, if the CQI of the most recently reported serving cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device may temporarily not report the CQI of the candidate cell until the terminal device reports the CQI of the serving cell which is less than the first threshold, at which point the terminal device will report the CQI of the candidate cell again.

[0155] As a variation, after reporting the channel state information of a serving cell that is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can pause the measurement of the candidate cell, and after reporting the channel state information of a serving cell that is less than the first threshold, the terminal device can continue to measure the candidate cell and report the measured channel state information.

[0156] Example 2: If the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device only reports the channel state information of the N candidate cells with the best channel state information out of the M candidate cells. Specifically, if the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device only reports the channel state information of the N candidate cells with the best channel state information out of the M candidate cells. If the channel state information of the serving cell is less than the first threshold, the terminal device reports the channel state information of all M candidate cells.

[0157] Taking CQI as an example, if the CQI of the serving cell reported is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device can only report the CQI of the N candidate cells with the largest CQI among the M candidate cells, until the terminal device reports the CQI of the serving cell that is less than the first threshold, and then the terminal device reports the CQI of all candidate cells again.

[0158] As a variation, if the channel state information of the serving cell reported is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device will only report the channel state information of the candidate cells whose channel state information is greater than or equal to the second threshold among the M candidate cells.

[0159] Unlike Example 1 above, in Example 2, when the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal device still reports a portion (e.g., N) of the channel state information. The N candidate cells are the N candidate cells with the best channel state information among the M candidate cells, where N < M. N can be predefined by the protocol or configured by the network device.

[0160] For more information on Example 2, please refer to the descriptions of other examples in this article.

[0161] Example 3: If the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of the M candidate cells, the terminal device will not report the channel state information of the candidate cells.

[0162] Specifically, if the terminal device determines that the channel state information (CSI) of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the CSI of all candidate cells, meaning that the CSI of the serving cell (e.g., CQI) is optimal, then the terminal device does not need to report the CSI of the candidate cells. If the CSI of the serving cell is only greater than or equal to the CSI of a subset of candidate cells, then the method described in other examples (e.g., Example 6 or Example 7) can be used to report the CSI of the candidate cells.

[0163] The channel state information of the serving cell compared with the channel state information of the candidate cell can be the channel state information of the serving cell that was most recently reported, or it can be the channel state information of the serving cell that is about to be reported. For more details on Example 3, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other examples in this document; they will not be repeated here.

[0164] Example 4: If the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of the M candidate cells, then the terminal device only reports the channel state information of the N candidate cells with the best channel state information among the M candidate cells.

[0165] Specifically, if the terminal device determines that the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of all candidate cells, then the terminal device only reports the channel state information of the N candidate cells with the best channel state information among the M candidate cells. If the reported channel state information of the serving cell is only greater than or equal to the channel state information of a subset of candidate cells, then the method described in other examples (such as Example 6 or Example 7) in this paper can be used to report the channel state information of the candidate cells.

[0166] As a variation, if the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of the M candidate cells, then the terminal device only reports the channel state information of the candidate cells whose channel state information is greater than or equal to the second threshold value among the M candidate cells.

[0167] For more information on Example 4, please refer to the descriptions of other examples in this article, which will not be repeated here.

[0168] Example 5: If the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of any one of the M candidate cells, then the terminal device will not report the channel state information of all candidate cells, or will only report the channel state information of the N candidate cells with the best channel state information among the M candidate cells, or will only report the channel state information of the candidate cells among the M candidate cells whose channel state information is greater than or equal to the second threshold value.

[0169] Taking CQI as an example, if the CQI of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the CQI of any candidate cell among the M candidate cells, the terminal device may not report the CQI of the candidate cells, or may only report the CQI of the N candidate cells with the largest CQI among the M candidate cells, or may only report the CQI of the candidate cells among the M candidate cells with CQI greater than or equal to the second threshold value, until the CQI of the serving cell is less than the CQI of all candidate cells, at which point the terminal device will report the CQI of all candidate cells.

[0170] Unlike the scheme in Example 4, in the scheme in Example 5, as long as the channel state information of one of the M candidate cells is better than that of the serving cell, the terminal device can not report or only report the channel state information of a portion of the candidate cells, which helps to minimize signaling overhead.

[0171] Furthermore, if the channel state information of the serving cell is less than that of the channel state information of the M candidate cells (that is, the channel state information of the serving cell is the worst), the terminal device can report the channel state information of all candidate cells.

[0172] For more information on Example 5, please refer to the descriptions of other examples in this article, which will not be repeated here.

[0173] Example 6: The terminal device reports the channel state information of N candidate cells, and the channel state information of the N candidate cells is greater than or equal to the channel state information of the serving cell.

[0174] Where N represents the number of candidate cells out of M candidate cells whose channel state information (CQI) is greater than or equal to that of the serving cell. That is, if the serving cell's CQI is better than that of a subset of the M candidate cells, the terminal device does not need to report the CQI of this subset. However, the CQI of the remaining subset of the M candidate cells must be reported. In other words, for candidate cells whose CQI is less than that of the serving cell, the terminal device may choose not to report the CQI of this (or these) candidate cells. For example, if M=8, and the terminal device finds that the CQI of 3 candidate cells is greater than or equal to that of the serving cell, then the terminal device reports the CQI of these 3 candidate cells, i.e., N=3, and does not report the CQI of the other 5 candidate cells.

[0175] Alternatively, the N candidate cells can be the N candidate cells with the best channel state information (CQI) among the M candidate cells whose CQI is greater than or equal to that of the serving cell. N can be predefined or pre-configured by the network device. For example, if M=10, and the terminal device finds that the CQI of 3 candidate cells is greater than or equal to the CQI of the serving cell, then the terminal device reports the CQI of the two candidate cells with the highest CQI among these 3 candidate cells, i.e., N=2. The CQIs of the other 8 candidate cells do not need to be reported.

[0176] It should be noted that "better than" in this document can mean "greater than". In other embodiments, "better than" can also mean "greater than or equal to".

[0177] For more information on Example 6, please refer to the descriptions of other examples in this article; they will not be repeated here.

[0178] Example 7: The terminal device reports the channel state information of N candidate cells, and the channel state information of all N candidate cells is greater than or equal to a second threshold value. For example, the channel state information being greater than or equal to the second threshold value can be either CQI being greater than or equal to the second threshold value, or RSRP being greater than or equal to the second threshold value.

[0179] The second threshold value can be predefined by the protocol, or it can be configured by the network device.

[0180] In one scenario, N candidate cells can be any of the M candidate cells whose Channel State Information (CQI) is greater than or equal to the second threshold. For example, if M=8, and the terminal device finds that the CQI of 3 candidate cells is greater than or equal to the second threshold, then the terminal device reports the CQI of these 3 candidate cells, i.e., N=3, and does not report the CQI of the other 5 candidate cells.

[0181] In another scenario, the N candidate cells can be the N candidate cells with the best channel state information (CQI) among all candidate cells whose CQI is greater than or equal to the second threshold value out of the M candidate cells. N can be predefined or pre-configured by the network device. For example, if M=10, and the terminal device finds that the CQI of 3 candidate cells is greater than or equal to the second threshold value, then the terminal device reports the CQI of the 2 candidate cells with the highest CQI among these 3 candidate cells, i.e., N=2. The CQI of the other 8 candidate cells does not need to be reported.

[0182] Example 8: If the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of K candidate cells out of M candidate cells, then the terminal device may not report the channel state information of all candidate cells, or the terminal device may only report the channel state information of the other candidate cells out of M candidate cells excluding K candidate cells, or the terminal device may only report the channel state information of the N candidate cells with the best channel state information out of the other candidate cells out of M candidate cells excluding K candidate cells, or the terminal device may only report the channel state information of the candidate cells out of M candidate cells excluding K candidate cells whose channel state information is greater than or equal to the second threshold value.

[0183] Where K is a positive integer. K can be predefined by the protocol, or K can be configured by the network device. For example, the network device can directly configure the value of K, or the network device can configure a percentage, and the terminal device can determine the value of K based on this percentage and the number of currently configured candidate cells (i.e., M). Alternatively, the percentage can be predefined by the protocol, for example, it could be 50%.

[0184] In Examples 1 to 8 above, the terminal device determines which candidate cells' channel state information to report.

[0185] As can be seen from the above, in some embodiments of this application, the terminal device can reasonably control the reported content.

[0186] Reasonable control over the reported content may include at least one of the following: not reporting the channel state information of M candidate cells; reporting the channel state information of the N candidate cells with the best channel state information among the M candidate cells; reporting the channel state information of candidate cells among the M candidate cells whose channel state information is greater than or equal to that of the serving cell; and reporting the channel state information of candidate cells among the M candidate cells whose channel state information is greater than or equal to the second threshold value.

[0187] In some other embodiments of this application, the terminal device can reasonably control the reported content when the first condition is met. Optionally, when the first condition is not met, the channel state information of M candidate cells can be reported.

[0188] The first condition may include at least one of the following: the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold value; the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of M candidate cells; the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of any one of the M candidate cells; or the channel state information of the serving cell is greater than or equal to the channel state information of K candidate cells among the M candidate cells.

[0189] Furthermore, the schemes in Examples 1 to 8 may only apply to the periodic reporting of channel state information (CSO) for candidate cells. For aperiodic CSO of candidate cells, if the network device triggers the terminal device to report aperiodic CSO of the candidate cell via DCI, the terminal device may still need to report the aperiodic CSO triggered by the DCI. For example, in Example 6, even if the aperiodic CSO of the candidate cell triggered by the DCI is less than the CSO of the serving cell, the terminal device still needs to report that CSO.

[0190] Alternatively, the schemes in Examples 1 to 8 can be applied to both the periodic and aperiodic channel state information reporting of candidate cells. Taking Example 6 as an example, if the aperiodic channel state information of the candidate cell triggered by DCI is less than the channel state information of the serving cell, the terminal device does not need to report the channel state information.

[0191] Example 9: The network device indicates the channel state information of the candidate cells to be reported and / or the type of channel state information to be reported. The type of channel state information can be periodic channel state information or aperiodic channel state information.

[0192] Specifically, network devices can send a DCI (Distributed Channel Information Framework) to terminal devices. The DCI includes reporting instruction information, and the terminal devices report according to the instructions in the reporting instruction information. The reporting instruction information indicates the content to be reported, including the candidate cells to be reported and / or the type of channel state information to be reported. The reporting instruction information can be a bitmap. The number of bits included in the bitmap can depend on the number of candidate cells.

[0193] Referring to Table 1, which provides an example of the reporting content indicated by a reporting instruction message. Table 1 uses candidate cells 1, 2, and 3 as examples.

[0194] Table 1

[0195]

[0196]

[0197] It should be noted that Examples 1 to 9 above can be used individually or in combination.

[0198] Therefore, in the solution provided in this embodiment, the terminal device does not need to continuously report the channel status information of all candidate cells in the continuous LTM scenario. By reasonably controlling the reported channel status information of candidate cells, the power consumption of the terminal device can be reduced and wireless resources can be saved while ensuring the communication quality of the terminal device.

[0199] It should be understood that the above embodiments can be used individually or in combination to achieve different technical effects.

[0200] It is understandable that, in specific implementation, the above method can be implemented using a software program that runs in the processor integrated inside the chip or chip module; or, the method can be implemented using hardware or a combination of hardware and software, such as using a dedicated chip or chip module, or using a dedicated chip or chip module combined with a software program.

[0201] Reference Figure 6 , Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first communication device in the embodiments of this application. Figure 6 The communication device shown can be deployed on the aforementioned terminal equipment. Figure 6 The device shown may include: a communication module 61.

[0202] The communication module 61 can be used to send an indication message to start a timer; wherein the timer timeout is the trigger condition for the link recovery process. Alternatively, the communication module 61 can be used to report the channel state information of the serving cell and the channel state information of N candidate cells, where N is a natural number and N is less than or equal to M, and M is the number of configured candidate cells.

[0203] In practice, Figure 6 The communication device shown may correspond to a chip with communication function in a terminal device; or to a terminal device including a chip or chip module with communication function, or to a terminal device.

[0204] Reference Figure 7 , Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the second type of communication device in the embodiments of this application. Figure 7 The communication device shown can be deployed on network equipment. Figure 7 The device shown may include: a communication module 71.

[0205] The communication module 71 can be used to receive an indication message for starting a timer, wherein the timer timeout is a trigger condition for the link recovery process. Alternatively, the communication module 71 can be used to receive channel state information of the serving cell and channel state information of N candidate cells, where N is a natural number and N is less than or equal to M, and M is the number of configured candidate cells.

[0206] In practice, Figure 7 The communication device shown may correspond to a chip with communication function in a network device; or to a network device including a chip or chip module with communication function, or to a network device.

[0207] For more information on the working principle, working method, and beneficial effects of the communication device in the embodiments of this application, please refer to the relevant description of the communication method above, which will not be repeated here.

[0208] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon. When the computer program is run by a processor, the aforementioned communication method is executed. The storage medium may include ROM, RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc. The storage medium may also include non-volatile memory or non-transitory memory, etc.

[0209] This application also provides a communication device, including a memory and a processor. The memory stores a computer program that can run on the processor. When the processor runs the computer program, it executes the steps of the communication method described above. The communication device can be the terminal device described above or a network device. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, computer, tablet computer, vehicle terminal, wearable device, etc., but is not limited to these.

[0210] Reference Figure 8 , Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application. For example, Figure 8 The communication device shown can be either the terminal device mentioned above or a network device. Figure 8 The illustrated communication device includes a memory 81, a processor 82, and a transceiver 83. The processor 82 is coupled to the memory 81 and the transceiver 83. The memory 81 may be located within or outside the communication device. The memory 81, processor 82, and transceiver 83 can be connected via a communication bus. The transceiver 83 is used to communicate with other devices. The memory 81 stores a computer program that can run on the processor 82. When the processor 82 runs the computer program, it performs the steps in the methods provided in the above embodiments, and / or, when the processor 82 runs the computer program, the transceiver 83 performs the steps in the methods provided in the above embodiments.

[0211] It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, the processor can be a central processing unit (CPU), but it can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0212] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous DRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous linked DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0213] The above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, by software, hardware, firmware, or any other combination thereof. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented, in whole or in part, as a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means.

[0214] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0215] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods, apparatuses, and systems can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the division of units is merely a logical functional division, and other division methods may exist in actual implementation; for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0216] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0217] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can be physically included separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software functional units. For example, for various devices or products applied to or integrated into a chip, each module / unit can be implemented using hardware such as circuits, or at least some modules / units can be implemented using software programs running on a processor integrated within the chip, while the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented using hardware such as circuits; for various devices or products applied to or integrated into a chip module, each module / unit can be implemented using hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (e.g., chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some modules / units can be implemented using hardware such as circuits. The components can be implemented using software programs that run on the processor integrated within the chip module. The remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. For various devices and products applied to or integrated into the terminal, each of its components / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. Different modules / units can be located in the same component (e.g., chip, circuit module, etc.) or in different components within the terminal. Alternatively, at least some modules / units can be implemented using software programs that run on the processor integrated within the terminal, while the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits.

[0218] The integrated units implemented as software functional units described above can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. These software functional units, stored in a storage medium, include several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute some steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0219] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone. Additionally, the character " / " in this article indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0220] In the embodiments of this application, "multiple" refers to two or more.

[0221] The descriptions of "first," "second," etc., appearing in the embodiments of this application are for illustrative purposes and to distinguish the objects being described. They have no order and do not indicate any special limitation on the number of devices in the embodiments of this application, nor do they constitute any limitation on the embodiments of this application.

[0222] While this application discloses the above information, it is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can make various modifications and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of this application; therefore, the scope of protection of this application shall be determined by the scope defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the terminal device side, the method includes: Send a timer start instruction to the network device; The timer timeout is the trigger condition for the link recovery process; The timer includes T310 and / or T312.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The instruction message to start the timer includes: In response to the start of the timer, an indication message for the start of the timer is sent; Alternatively, in response to the timer's runtime reaching a first preset duration, an indication message for starting the timer is sent; Alternatively, in response to the remaining duration of the timer being less than or equal to a second preset duration, an instruction to start the timer is sent.

3. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The instruction message to start the timer includes: Send a measurement report, which includes an indication that the timer has started; And / or, When sending channel status information, the indication information for starting the timer is also reported.

4. The communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The indication information includes: the running time of the timer, and / or the remaining time of the timer.

5. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The instruction message to start the timer includes: Send a measurement report with a first measurement identifier associated with the T312. The measurement report with the first measurement identifier includes indication information for the T310 to start and / or indication information for the T312 to start. Alternatively, a measurement report with a first measurement identifier not associated with the T312 may be sent, and the measurement report with the first measurement identifier may include indication information indicating that the T310 has been activated.

6. The communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The instruction message to start the timer includes: Send a first indication message, which indicates that the timer is started and none of the candidate cells used for conditional handover meet the handover execution conditions or none of the candidate cells meet the event entry conditions corresponding to the handover execution conditions.

7. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to the network device side, the method includes: The device receives an indication message to start a timer, wherein the timer timeout is a trigger condition for the link recovery process, and the timer includes T310 and / or T312. The indication message is received from the terminal device.

8. The communication method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The indication information includes: the running time of the timer, and / or the remaining time of the timer.

9. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein, The indication information for receiving the timer start includes: Receive a measurement report, the measurement report including indication information for starting the timer; And / or, When receiving channel status information, the indication information for starting the timer is also received.

10. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein, The indication information for receiving the timer start includes: Receive a measurement report from a first measurement identifier, the first measurement identifier being associated with the T312, the measurement report from the first measurement identifier including indication information for the T310 to be activated and / or indication information for the T312 to be activated; Alternatively, a measurement report is received from a first measurement identifier that is not associated with the T312, and the measurement report from the first measurement identifier includes indication information indicating that the T310 has been activated.

11. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein The indication information for receiving the timer start includes: Receive first indication information, the first indication information indicating that the timer is started and the candidate cells used for conditional handover do not meet the handover execution conditions or the candidate cells do not meet the event entry conditions corresponding to the handover execution conditions.

12. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein, The method further includes: Based on the indication information indicating that the timer has started, the switching determination condition is relaxed.

13. A communications device, characterized by Applied to the terminal device side, the device includes: A communication module is used to send an indication message for starting a timer to a network device; wherein, the timer timeout is a trigger condition for the link recovery process, and the timer includes T310 and / or T312.

14. A communications device, characterized by Applied to the network device side, the device includes: A communication module is used to receive indication information for starting a timer, wherein the timer timeout is a trigger condition for the link recovery process, the timer includes T310 and / or T312, and the indication information is received from the terminal device.

15. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is run by the processor, the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or the communication method according to any one of claims 7 to 12 is executed.

16. A communication device comprising a memory and a processor, said memory having stored thereon a computer program that is operable to run on said processor, characterized in that, When the processor runs the computer program, it performs the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

17. A communication device comprising a memory and a processor, said memory having stored thereon a computer program executable by said processor, characterized in that, When the processor runs the computer program, it performs the steps of the communication method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

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