Method and communication device for cell handover

Abstract

The invention provides a method for cell switching and a communication device, and relates to the field of communication. In the method, a network device can configure at least one cell sequence predicted by the network device and an exit triggering condition of the at least one cell sequence for a terminal, and the cell sequence is a target cell to which the terminal may be sequentially switched within a period of time in the future. In the embodiment of the invention, the terminal can continuously perform at least one time of cell switching according to the configuration of the network equipment, and can no longer use the cell sequence under the condition that the quit triggering condition corresponding to the cell sequence is satisfied. Based on the method, in a continuous switching process, a network side does not need to carry out measurement and report configuration for the terminal, and the terminal does not need to carry out measurement report, so that the switching time delay can be reduced while the signaling overhead is reduced. In addition, the terminal can determine that the cell sequence is not used any more under the condition that the current cell sequence is not applicable according to the quit triggering condition of the cell sequence, thereby avoiding switching to an improper cell.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a method and a communication device for cell switching. Background Art

[0002] Cell switching is an important part of mobility management. As artificial intelligence (AI) technology gradually merges with communication technology, the introduction of AI in mobility management is expected to improve the performance of cell switching. The main idea of ​​current AI-based mobility management is to measure the signal quality of the current surrounding cells, predict the signal quality of the surrounding cells during the time period to be switched, such as the reference signal receive power (RSRP), or predict the best switching cell in the surrounding cells during the time period to be switched. When the prediction is completed, the target cell for this switching can be determined based on the AI ​​prediction results, and then after entering the new cell, the above process is repeated to complete the subsequent cell switching. In the above process, each switch requires configuration of neighboring cells, switching trigger conditions, etc., and the signaling overhead is large. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present application provides a method and a communication device for cell switching, which can reduce signaling overhead during the cell switching process.

[0004] In the first aspect, a method for cell switching is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component of the network device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions.

[0005] The method includes: generating first configuration information; sending the first configuration information. The first configuration information indicates at least one cell sequence and an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, the cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that a terminal may switch to in sequence within a first time period, and when the exit trigger condition corresponding to the cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will become invalid.

[0006] It should be understood that the cell sequence may also include the current serving cell. The at least one cell sequence indicates a possible handover path of the terminal within the first time period, and a cell sequence indicates a possible handover path. It should be understood that the first time period is a certain period of time in the future. At least one candidate target cell in a cell sequence may also be referred to as a candidate target cell for continuous handover within the first time period.

[0007] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the network device can configure a cell sequence for continuous switching in the future for the terminal, and the terminal can perform continuous switching in the future according to the configuration of the network device. During the continuous switching process, the network side no longer needs to perform measurement and reporting configuration for the terminal, and the terminal does not need to perform measurement reporting, which can reduce the switching delay while reducing the signaling overhead. In addition, by configuring the exit trigger condition of the cell sequence for continuous switching for the terminal, the terminal can no longer use the cell sequence when it is determined that the current cell sequence is not applicable according to the actual situation, thereby avoiding switching to an inappropriate cell.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the at least one cell sequence is predicted based on an AI model. Based on this solution, AI-based mobility management can be implemented.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the first configuration information further indicates: a monitoring cell associated with the candidate target cell and a corresponding monitoring reporting condition, the monitoring cell is used to determine whether the corresponding candidate target cell is applicable, and the monitoring cell is different from the corresponding candidate target cell.

[0010] It should be understood that each hop can be associated with one or more monitoring cells, or all hops can be associated with the same one or more monitoring cells. Each hop can be associated with a monitoring reporting condition, or all hops can be associated with the same monitoring reporting condition. The monitoring cell associated with each hop does not belong to the candidate target cell of the hop, and the monitoring cell associated with each hop can be one or more.

[0011] Based on this solution, by configuring monitoring cells that are not candidate target cells, it is helpful to determine whether the cell sequence configured by the network side is appropriate. If the cell sequence is not appropriate, the cell sequence can be exited in time to avoid subsequent switching to an inappropriate cell.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving first reporting information, where the first reporting information indicates that a monitoring result of the monitoring cell meets a monitoring reporting condition.

[0013] Exemplarily, the first reporting information can be reported via radio resource control (RRC), medium access control control element (MAC-CE) or uplink control information (UCI).

[0014] Exemplarily, the first reporting information may be sent in the current serving cell, or may be sent after switching to a new cell. For example, after the RRC connection of the new cell is established, a corresponding RRC reconfiguration message is sent to indicate that a monitoring report needs to be sent, and then the new cell requires the terminal to report through RRC signaling UEInformationRequest.

[0015] Based on this solution, the terminal reports to the network device when the monitoring results of the monitored cell meet the monitoring reporting conditions, so that the network device can determine whether the terminal continues to use the previously configured cell sequence or reconfigure the cell sequence based on the terminal's report, thereby enabling the terminal to perform more appropriate cell switching.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the monitoring reporting condition is: the signal quality of the monitored cell is greater than a first threshold, and the signal quality of the candidate target cell corresponding to the monitored cell is less than a second threshold, and the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the exit triggering condition is: the signal qualities of the candidate target cells are all less than a third threshold or the average of the signal qualities of the candidate target cells is less than a fourth threshold.

[0018] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving second reporting information, where the second reporting information indicates that the terminal meets the exit triggering condition.

[0019] Based on this solution, the terminal informs the network device that it meets the exit trigger condition, so that the network device can determine based on the terminal's report that the terminal will no longer use the previously configured cell sequence, thereby configuring traditional cell switching for the terminal to avoid the terminal switching to an inappropriate cell.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the method further includes: sending first indication information or second configuration information, the first indication information is used to deactivate the first configuration information, and the second configuration information is used to reconfigure the cell sequence.

[0021] Based on this solution, the network device can deactivate or reconfigure the cell sequence when it is determined that the terminal does not need to continue to use the previously configured cell sequence, so that the terminal can perform more appropriate cell switching.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the first configuration information also indicates one or more of the following: a switching trigger condition, a usage condition associated with the at least one cell sequence, an effective time of the first configuration information, or a measurement parameter required to measure the candidate target cell, and the switching trigger condition is used to determine whether to perform a cell switch.

[0023] On the second aspect, a method for cell switching is provided, which can be executed by a terminal, or by a component of the terminal (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions.

[0024] The method includes: receiving first configuration information, and performing cell switching according to the first configuration information. The first configuration information indicates at least one cell sequence and an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, the cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that a terminal may switch to in sequence within a first time period, and when the exit trigger condition corresponding to the cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will become invalid.

[0025] It should be understood that the cell sequence may also include the current serving cell. The at least one cell sequence indicates a possible handover path of the terminal within the first time period, and a cell sequence indicates a possible handover path. It should be understood that the first time period is a certain period of time in the future. At least one candidate target cell in a cell sequence may also be referred to as a candidate target cell for continuous handover within the first time period.

[0026] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the network device can configure a cell sequence for continuous switching in the future for the terminal, and the terminal can perform continuous switching in the future according to the configuration of the network device. During the continuous switching process, the network side no longer needs to perform measurement and reporting configuration for the terminal, and the terminal does not need to perform measurement reporting, which can reduce the switching delay while reducing the signaling overhead. In addition, by configuring the exit trigger condition of the cell sequence for continuous switching for the terminal, the terminal can no longer use the cell sequence when it is determined that the current cell sequence is not applicable according to the actual situation, thereby avoiding switching to an inappropriate cell.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the first configuration information further indicates: a monitoring cell associated with the candidate target cell and a corresponding monitoring reporting condition, the monitoring cell being used to determine whether the corresponding candidate target cell is applicable, and the monitoring cell being different from the corresponding candidate target cell.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: when the monitoring result of the monitoring cell meets the monitoring reporting condition, sending first reporting information, the first reporting information indicating that the monitoring result of the monitoring cell meets the monitoring reporting condition.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the monitoring reporting condition is: the signal quality of the monitored cell is greater than a first threshold, and the signal quality of the candidate target cell corresponding to the monitored cell is less than a second threshold, and the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

[0030] In a possible implementation manner, the exit triggering condition is: the signal qualities of the candidate target cells are all less than a third threshold or the average value of the signal qualities of the candidate target cells is less than a fourth threshold.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: when the exit trigger condition is met, sending second reporting information, where the second reporting information indicates that the terminal meets the exit trigger condition.

[0032] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving first indication information or second configuration information, where the first indication information is used to deactivate the first configuration information, and the second configuration information is used to reconfigure the cell sequence.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the first configuration information also indicates one or more of the following: a switching trigger condition, a usage condition associated with the at least one cell sequence, an effective time of the first configuration information, or a measurement parameter required to measure the candidate target cell, and the switching trigger condition is used to determine whether to perform a cell switch.

[0034] For the beneficial effects of each implementation method in the second aspect, reference may be made to the description of the first aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0035] On the third aspect, a method for cell switching is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component of the network device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions.

[0036] The method includes: sending first configuration information, the first configuration information is determined according to the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, the first configuration information includes measurement object configuration, and the first configuration information is used by the terminal to predict target cells that may be switched to in sequence within a first time period; receiving prediction results, the prediction results are determined according to the first configuration information, and the prediction results indicate at least one first switching first cell sequence, the first cell sequence includes at least one first candidate target cell, and the at least one first candidate target cell is a target cell predicted by the terminal to be switched to in sequence within the first time period.

[0037] It should be understood that the cell sequence may also include the current serving cell. The at least one cell sequence indicates a possible handover path of the terminal within the first time period, and a cell sequence indicates a possible handover path. It should be understood that the first time period is a certain period of time in the future. At least one candidate target cell in a cell sequence may also be referred to as a candidate target cell for continuous handover within the first time period.

[0038] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the network side can make relevant configurations for the prediction of continuous switching for the terminal based on the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, and the terminal can predict the switching cell sequence within a period of time in the future based on the configuration of the network side, thereby realizing continuous switching prediction on the terminal side. Furthermore, by reporting the prediction results to the network side, the terminal can assist the network side in performing cell switching or determining a more suitable switching cell sequence for the terminal and related configurations for performing cell switching.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second configuration information according to the prediction result, the second configuration information indicating at least one second cell sequence, the second cell sequence including at least one second candidate target cell, the at least one candidate target cell being a target cell that the terminal may sequentially switch to within the first time period, and the second configuration information being determined according to the prediction result. The at least one second cell sequence may be the same as or partially different from the at least one first cell sequence.

[0040] Based on this solution, the network side can configure a cell sequence for subsequent continuous switching for the terminal according to the prediction result of the terminal, thereby enabling continuous switching on the terminal side.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the second configuration information may also include a switching trigger condition for conditional switching or a measurement reporting condition for traditional cell switching. For example, the second configuration information may include a switching trigger condition or a measurement reporting condition associated with each hop, or may only include a switching trigger condition or a measurement reporting condition associated with the next hop.

[0042] In a possible implementation manner, before sending the first configuration information, the method further includes: receiving cell switching prediction capability information.

[0043] Exemplarily, the cell switching prediction capability information includes one or more of the following: the number of consecutive switchings that the terminal can predict, the cell parameters that the terminal can predict, the effective time that the terminal can predict, the number of cells required for the terminal to measure, the cell parameters required for the terminal to measure, the time required for the terminal to measure, or the reference signal configuration required for the terminal to measure.

[0044] According to the cell switching prediction capability information, the network side can learn the prediction capability of the terminal and the parameters required for prediction, so that appropriate parameters can be configured for the terminal through the first configuration information to enable the prediction of the terminal.

[0045] In a possible implementation manner, receiving the prediction result includes: receiving auxiliary information, where the auxiliary information includes the prediction result. That is, the terminal may report the prediction result through the auxiliary information.

[0046] In a possible implementation manner, before receiving the prediction result, the method further includes: sending indication information, where the indication information is used to trigger the terminal to report the prediction result.

[0047] Based on this solution, when the network side requires the terminal to predict the cell sequence of continuous switching, it can send indication information to the terminal. The terminal will perform cell sequence prediction or report the prediction result only after receiving the indication information.

[0048] In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes a reporting trigger condition, and when the reporting trigger condition is met, the terminal reports the prediction result.

[0049] In one possible implementation, the reporting trigger conditions include: the cell signal quality in the first cell list is higher than the first threshold, and the first cell list is the cells configured by the network device, or, the cell signal quality in the second cell list is higher than the second threshold, and the second cell list is the cells accessed by the terminal (i.e., historical switching), or, the order of cells in the third cell list is the same as the order of cells in the fourth cell list, the third cell list is the cells accessed by the terminal, and the fourth cell is the cell configured by the network device.

[0050] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving first indication information, where the first indication information indicates that the terminal does not have a prediction result or cannot generate a prediction result.

[0051] Based on this solution, the terminal can avoid the network side waiting for the prediction result of the terminal by informing the network side that it cannot obtain the prediction result. The network side can promptly perform traditional cell switching configuration or conditional switching configuration for the terminal so that the terminal side can perform cell switching.

[0052] In one possible implementation, the prediction result also includes one or more of the following: cell information in the first cell sequence, the probability of correct cell prediction in the first cell sequence, the switching time point of each hop in the first cell sequence, or the predicted effective duration of the first cell sequence.

[0053] In a fourth aspect, a method for cell switching is provided, which can be executed by a terminal, or by a component of the terminal (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal functions.

[0054] The method includes: receiving first configuration information, the first configuration information is determined according to the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, and the first configuration information includes measurement object configuration; determining at least one first cell sequence according to the first configuration information, the first cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, and the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell predicted to be likely to be switched to in sequence within a first time period; and sending a prediction result, the prediction result indicating the at least one first cell sequence.

[0055] It should be understood that the cell sequence may also include the current serving cell. The at least one cell sequence indicates a possible handover path of the terminal within the first time period, and a cell sequence indicates a possible handover path. It should be understood that the first time period is a certain period of time in the future. At least one candidate target cell in a cell sequence may also be referred to as a candidate target cell for continuous handover within the first time period.

[0056] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the network side can make relevant configurations for the prediction of continuous switching for the terminal based on the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, and the terminal can predict the switching cell sequence within a period of time in the future based on the configuration of the network side, thereby realizing continuous switching prediction on the terminal side. Furthermore, by reporting the prediction results to the network side, the terminal can assist the network side in performing cell switching or determining a more suitable switching cell sequence for the terminal and related configurations for performing cell switching.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the at least one first cell sequence is obtained based on AI model prediction. Based on this solution, AI model prediction on the terminal side can be enabled.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving second configuration information, the second configuration information indicating at least one second cell sequence, the second cell sequence including at least one candidate target cell, the at least one candidate target cell being a target cell that the terminal may switch to in sequence within a first time period, and the second configuration information being determined based on a prediction result.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the second configuration information further includes a switching triggering condition, and the switching triggering condition is used to determine whether to perform cell switching.

[0060] In a possible implementation manner, before receiving the first configuration information, the method further includes: sending the cell switching prediction capability information.

[0061] In one possible implementation, the cell switching prediction capability information includes one or more of the following: the number of consecutive switchings that the terminal can predict, the cell parameters that the terminal can predict, the effective time that the terminal can predict, the number of cells required for terminal measurement, the cell parameters required for terminal measurement, the time required for terminal measurement, or the reference signal configuration required for terminal measurement.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the prediction result is sent in any one of the following ways: sending by reporting auxiliary information, sending according to instruction information of the network device, or sending after a reporting trigger condition configured by the network device is met.

[0063] In one possible implementation, the reporting trigger conditions include: the cell signal quality in the first cell list is higher than the first threshold, and the first cell list is the cells configured by the network device, or the cell signal quality in the second cell list is higher than the second threshold, and the second cell list is the cells accessed by the terminal (i.e., historical switching), or the order of cells in the third cell list is the same as the order of cells in the fourth cell list, the third cell list is the cells accessed by the terminal, and the fourth cell is the cell configured by the network device.

[0064] In a possible implementation, when the network device instructs to send a prediction result and the terminal has not determined the prediction result, the method further includes: sending first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates that the terminal does not have a prediction result or cannot generate a prediction result.

[0065] In one possible implementation, the prediction result also includes one or more of the following: cell information in the first cell sequence, the probability of correct cell prediction in the first cell sequence, the switching time point of each hop in the first cell sequence, or the predicted effective duration of the first cell sequence.

[0066] For the beneficial effects of each implementation method in the fourth aspect, please refer to the description of the third aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0067] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a module or unit for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0068] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a module or unit for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or comprising a module or unit for executing the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0069] In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, including a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store computer programs or instructions, and the processor being used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory to implement the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or to implement the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0070] In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a memory coupled to the processor.

[0071] In a possible implementation, there are one or more processors and / or one or more memories.

[0072] In a possible implementation, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be separately provided with the processor.

[0073] In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0074] In one implementation, the device is a network device. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0075] In another implementation, the device is a chip in the first communication device. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be an input / output interface.

[0076] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store computer programs or instructions, and the processor being used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory to implement the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or to implement the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0077] In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a memory coupled to the processor.

[0078] In a possible implementation, there are one or more processors and / or one or more memories.

[0079] In a possible implementation, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be separately provided with the processor.

[0080] In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0081] In one implementation, the device is a terminal. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0082] In another implementation, the device is a chip in a second communication device. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be an input / output interface.

[0083] In a ninth aspect, a processor is provided, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is used to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor executes the method in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects.

[0084] In the specific implementation process, the above-mentioned processor can be a chip, the input circuit can be an input pin, the output circuit can be an output pin, and the processing circuit can be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0085] In the tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising at least one of the communication device provided in the third aspect and the communication device provided in the fourth aspect, or comprising at least one of the communication device provided in the fifth aspect and the communication device provided in the sixth aspect.

[0086] In the eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction), which, when executed, enables a computer to execute a method in any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible implementations of any one of the aspects.

[0087] In the twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction). When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes a method in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects.

[0088] In a thirteenth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip executes a method in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any of the aspects.

[0089] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising an interface and a processor, wherein the interface is used to send and / or receive signals, so that the processor executes a method in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0090] Figure 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a mobile communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an AI-based mobility prediction provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which a cell switching method provided by the present application is applied to perform cell switching;

[0093] Figure 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] Figure 5A This is a schematic diagram of a switching scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] Figure 5B is another switching scenario schematic diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] Figure 5C This is another schematic diagram of a switching scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] Figure 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0098] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a switching scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] Figure 8 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0100] Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0101] Fig.10 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0102] Fig.11 It is a schematic diagram of a format of a prediction result provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0103] Fig.12 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0104] Fig.13 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0105] Fig.14is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0106] Fig.15 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0107] Fig.16 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0108] Fig.17 It is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0109] 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.

[0110] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in the present application is only a kind of association relationship describing the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, 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. In addition, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" refers to two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or its similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items 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. In addition, in order to facilitate the clear description of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, in the embodiment of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the words "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first", "second", etc. do not necessarily limit the difference. The words "corresponding" and "associated" in this application can be replaced with each other, or can be replaced with descriptions with the same or similar meanings.

[0111] It should be noted that the judgment conditions in the present application, such as greater than / higher than, less than / lower than, etc., can also be replaced by greater than or equal to, less than or equal to, etc. For the sake of simplicity of description, only greater than and less than are used as examples.

[0112] In the various method embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial number does not mean the order of execution. The order of execution should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0113] It is understood that in this application, "under the circumstances of...", "if...", "when...", "if..." and similar descriptions can be used interchangeably. Moreover, these descriptions all refer to corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, but do not limit the time, nor require judgment actions when implementing, nor do they mean the existence of other limitations.

[0114] It can be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented independently in certain scenarios without relying on other features, such as the solution on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects, or may be combined with other features according to needs in certain scenarios. Accordingly, the devices provided in the embodiments of the present application may also realize these features or functions accordingly, which will not be elaborated here.

[0115] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can refer to each other. In the various embodiments in this application, and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation methods, implementation methods, or implementation methods according to their inherent logical relationships. The implementation methods of this application described below do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application.

[0116] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) system, fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, new radio (NR) and other mobile communication systems that may appear in the future.

[0117] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the architecture of a mobile communication system provided by this application. Figure 1 As shown, the mobile communication system includes at least one terminal (for example, Figure 1 The terminal 110 shown) and at least one network device (eg, Figure 1 The terminal 110 can communicate data with the network device 120 via a wireless connection. When the area covered by the network device 130 meets the switching condition, the terminal 110 can switch from the network device 120 to the network device 130, thereby communicating data with the network device 130 via a wireless connection. It should be understood that Figure 1 The system shown may also include more terminals and network devices.

[0118] The terminal in the embodiment of the present application, such as the terminal 110, is also referred to as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc., and refers to a device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to a user. For example, the terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a PDA, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc.

[0119] The network devices in the embodiments of the present application, such as network devices 120 and network devices 130, refer to radio access network (RAN) nodes (or devices) that access the terminal to the wireless network, which can also be called base stations or access network devices. For example, the network device can be an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system or an access node (AP) in a WiFi system, a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in other communication systems that will evolve in the future, etc.

[0120] In one possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node (i.e., the network device in this application) may be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and DU may be set separately, or may be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art may understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, CU may also be referred to as O-CU (open CU), DU may also be referred to as O-DU, CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and RU may also be referred to as 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. It should be understood that this application does not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.

[0121] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal or network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and a memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through a process, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as a browser, an address book, a word processing software, and an instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0122] In addition, various aspects or features of the present application can be implemented as methods, devices or products using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "product" used in this application covers computer programs that can be accessed from any computer-readable device, carrier or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks or tapes, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), cards, sticks or key drives, etc.). In addition, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0123] Cell switching is an important part of mobility management. The basic method of traditional NR / LTE cell switching is based on rule judgment. The basic process is based on the terminal measuring the reference signals of the serving cell and the neighboring cell, and judging whether some mobility events configured by the network equipment are met. If they are met, the corresponding time and measurement results are reported. The network equipment determines whether a cell switching is required based on the measurement results of the terminal. If a cell switching is required, a switching instruction is issued to the terminal. The terminal completes the cell switching according to the switching command and initiates random access to the new cell.

[0124] To further reduce the handover delay, conditional handover (CHO) was introduced in release 16 (R16). The network device can configure a series of conditional handover and measurement configurations for the terminal based on the measurement results of the terminal. If the terminal meets the requirements of conditional handover during the measurement process, it can autonomously initiate random access to the target cell that meets the conditions. It is no longer necessary to report the notification of the event and the measurement results to the network device, nor is it necessary to wait for the handover command from the source cell.

[0125] As AI technology gradually merges with communication technology, there are many studies combining AI with the current air interface. When using AI in the air interface, there are two scenarios: dual-end AI and single-end AI, depending on the location of the AI ​​model. Dual-end AI means that the AI ​​model needs to be used in conjunction with the network side and the terminal side, and the models on both sides can be considered to be two parts of the overall AI model. Single-end AI means that the AI ​​model is located on the network side or the terminal side, which can be further divided into two sub-scenarios: network-side AI and terminal-side AI.

[0126] Since mobility also involves many measurement and reporting processes, as well as decision-making and prediction of the best target cell, the introduction of AI in mobility management is expected to further improve the performance of cell switching. In current research, a number of mobility enhancement studies based on AI have emerged. The main idea of ​​these studies is to predict the signal quality of the surrounding cells during the time period to be switched, such as the reference signal received power (RSRP), or to predict the best switching cell in the surrounding cells during the time period to be switched. After the prediction is completed, the target cell for this switch can be determined based on the AI ​​prediction results, and then after entering the new cell, the above process is repeated to complete the subsequent cell switch.

[0127] For example, Figure 2 A schematic diagram of AI mobility prediction is shown. The current serving cell of the terminal is cell 1, and the neighboring cells are cell 2, cell 3, and cell 4. The terminal can further combine the terminal's moving trajectory and / or speed, etc., based on the current measurement results of cell 2, cell 3, and cell 4, and predict the RSRP of cell 2, cell 3, and cell 4 in the time period to be switched based on AI model 1. According to the prediction results, the target cell for this switching can be determined. For example, if cell 2 has the highest RSRP, cell 2 can be used as the target cell for this switching. Alternatively, the terminal can further combine the terminal's moving trajectory and / or speed, etc., based on the current measurement results of cell 2, cell 3, and cell 4, and predict the best switching cell in the time period to be switched based on AI model 2.

[0128] exist Figure 2 In the example shown, after cell 1 starts serving the terminal, the network device corresponding to cell 1 needs to configure information related to measurement and switching for the terminal, such as configuring the frequency of the neighboring cell, switching trigger conditions, etc. After the terminal switches from cell 1 to another cell, such as cell 2, the network device corresponding to cell 2 also needs to configure information related to measurement and switching for the terminal. Similarly, subsequent switching requires the corresponding network device to perform relevant configuration for the terminal. This solution, which requires relevant configuration for each switching, will bring a large signaling overhead.

[0129] In view of this, the present application provides a method for cell switching, which can solve the problem of large signaling overhead during the switching process.

[0130] For example, Figure 3 Schematic diagram of a scenario of cell switching using the method for cell switching provided by the present application. Figure 3 , cell 1 is the service cell, and the network device 1 corresponding to cell 1 can predict the switching path of the terminal in the future based on the historical information of the terminal. For example, there are three possible switching paths: (1) Path 1: cell 1→cell 2→cell 4→cell 6; (2) Path 2: cell 1→cell 2→cell 6; (3) Path 3: cell 1→cell 3→cell 5→cell 6. Then, network device 1 can configure the switching path to the terminal, and perform measurement configuration and reporting configuration for the terminal at the same time (for example, including switching trigger conditions). The terminal can perform cell switching within a certain period of time in the future based on the configuration of network device 1.

[0131] For example, when cell 1 is a serving cell, based on the measurement results of cells 2 and 3 and information such as the switching triggering conditions, the terminal determines that cell 2 is the target cell for this switching, and then can switch to cell 2. When cell 2 is a serving cell, the network device corresponding to cell 2 does not need to perform measurement and reporting configuration for the terminal. The terminal determines that cell 4 is the target cell for this switching by measuring cells 4 and 6 based on the configuration of network device 1 received in cell 1, and then can switch to cell 4. Similarly, when cell 4 is a serving cell, the network device corresponding to cell 4 does not need to perform measurement and reporting configuration for the terminal. The terminal determines that cell 6 is the target cell for this switching by measuring cell 6 based on the configuration of network device 1 received in cell 1, and then can switch to cell 6.

[0132] exist Figure 3 In the example shown, only network device 1 is required to perform relevant configuration on the terminal, and the corresponding network device does not need to perform relevant configuration on the terminal every time switching to the target cell, thereby reducing the signaling overhead during the switching process.

[0133] The method provided by the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with the relevant drawings. It can be understood that the flowchart provided by the present application mainly uses the terminal and the network device (for example, network device #1, network device #2 or network device #3, etc.) as the execution subject of the interactive schematic to illustrate the method, but the present application does not limit the execution subject of the interactive schematic. For example, the terminal / network device in the flowchart can also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the terminal / network device to implement the method, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal / network device functions.

[0134] Figure 4 This is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided by the present application. The method may include S410 to S430, and each step is described in detail below.

[0135] S410, network device #1 generates first configuration information.

[0136] Network device #1 may first predict at least one cell sequence, and then generate first configuration information, and the first configuration information may indicate the at least one cell sequence. Any cell sequence may include at least one candidate target cell, or any cell sequence may include the current serving cell and the at least one candidate target cell. For example, Figure 3 The current serving cell is cell 1. The at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal may switch to in sequence within the first time period. It can be understood that the at least one cell sequence indicates a possible switching path of the terminal within the first time period, and a cell sequence indicates a possible switching path. It should be understood that the first time period is a certain period of time in the future.

[0137] For example, in Figure 3 In the switching scenario schematic diagram shown, the at least one cell sequence is: (cell 2, cell 4, cell 6), (cell 2, cell 6), (cell 3, cell 5, cell 6). Alternatively, the at least one cell sequence is: (cell 1, cell 2, cell 4, cell 6), (cell 1, cell 2, cell 6), (cell 1, cell 3, cell 5, cell 6).

[0138] For example, Figure 5A Another switching scenario is shown in FIG. Figure 5A, the current serving cell of the terminal is cell 1. The possible handover paths of the terminal in the future include: (1) cell 1→cell 2→cell 5→cell 8, that is, the terminal may switch from cell 1 to cell 2, then from cell 2 to cell 5, and finally from cell 5 to cell 8; (2) cell 1→cell 2→cell 6, that is, the terminal may switch from cell 1 to cell 2, then from cell 2 to cell 6: (3) cell 1→cell 3→cell 6→cell 9, that is, the terminal may switch from cell 1 to cell 3, then from cell 3 to cell 6, and finally from cell 6 to cell 9; (4) cell 1→cell 3→cell 7→cell 9, that is, the terminal may switch from cell 1 to cell 3, then from cell 3 to cell 7, and finally from cell 7 to cell 9; (5) cell 1→cell 4→cell 9, that is, the terminal may switch from cell 1 to cell 4, and then from cell 4 to cell 9. In other words, in Figure 5A In the scenario shown, the at least one cell sequence is: (cell 2, cell 5, cell 8), (cell 2, cell 6), (cell 3, cell 6, cell 9), (cell 3, cell 7, cell 9), (cell 4, cell 9). Alternatively, the at least one cell sequence is: (cell 1, cell 2, cell 5, cell 8), (cell 1, cell 2, cell 6), (cell 1, cell 3, cell 6, cell 9), (cell 1, cell 3, cell 7, cell 9), (cell 1, cell 4, cell 9).

[0139] For example, Figure 5B Schematic diagram of another switching scenario is shown. Figure 5B , the terminal's current serving cell is cell 1, and the possible handover paths of the terminal in the future are: cell 1→(cell 2, cell 3, cell 4)→(cell 5, cell 6, cell 7)→(cell 8, cell 9). In other words, the terminal may switch from cell 1 to one of cells 2, cell 3 and cell 4, from any of cells 2, cell 3 and cell 4 to one of cells 5, cell 6 and cell 7, and from one of cells 6 and cell 7 to one of cells 5 and cell 9. Obviously, in Figure 5BIn the scenario shown, the at least one cell sequence is: (cell 2, cell 5, cell 8), (cell 2, cell 5, cell 9), (cell 2, cell 6, cell 8), (cell 2, cell 6, cell 9), (cell 2, cell 7, cell 8), (cell 2, cell 7, cell 8), (cell 2, cell 7, cell 9), (cell 3, cell 5, cell 8), (cell 3, cell 5, cell 9), (cell 3, cell 6, cell 8), (cell 3, cell 6, cell 9), (cell 3, cell 7, cell 8), (cell 3, cell 7, cell 9), (cell 4, cell 5, cell 8), (cell 4, cell 5, cell 9), (cell 4, cell 6, cell 8), (cell 4, cell 6, cell 9), (cell 4, cell 7, cell 8), (cell 4, cell 7, cell 9).

[0140] In one implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the at least one cell sequence may specifically be: the first configuration information includes at least one cell list, a cell list indicates a cell sequence, and the cell list includes information about each cell in the cell sequence. For example, the cell information may include one or more of the following: cell identification, frequency point information, frequency band information, tracking area information, or subcarrier spacing information. That is, the cell list includes information about target cells that the terminal may switch to in sequence within the first time period. Alternatively, the cell list includes information about the terminal's current serving cell and information about target cells that the terminal may switch to in sequence within the first time period.

[0141] For example, for Figure 3 In the scenario shown, the at least one cell list may be: {identifier of cell 2, identifier of cell 4, identifier of cell 6}, {identifier of cell 2, identifier of cell 6}, {identifier of cell 3, identifier of cell 5, identifier of cell 6}. Alternatively, the at least one cell list may be: {identifier of cell 1, identifier of cell 2, identifier of cell 4, identifier of cell 6}, {identifier of cell 1, identifier of cell 2, identifier of cell 6}, {identifier of cell 1, identifier of cell 3, identifier of cell 5, identifier of cell 6}. Exemplarily, the identifier of a cell in the present application may be a physical identifier or a logical identifier. The present application does not specifically limit which type of identifier to use, as long as it can distinguish cells within a certain range.

[0142] In the present application, at least one candidate target cell in a cell sequence may also be referred to as a candidate target cell for continuous switching within the first time period.

[0143] Continuous handover means that at least one cell handover is performed continuously. If the handover to the current serving cell is defined as the first hop, then the handover from the current serving cell to the candidate target cell corresponding to the current serving cell is the second hop, and the candidate target cell corresponding to the current serving cell is the candidate target cell of the second hop. Figure 5A In the scenario shown, if the first hop is defined as the cell handover that has been switched to cell 1, the maximum value of N is 4, that is, Figure 5A The continuous switching includes at most four hops, where the second hop is cell 1→cell (2, 3, 4), the third hop is cell (2, 3, 4)→cell (5, 6, 7, 9), and the fourth hop is cell (5, 6, 7)→cell (8, 9). Of course, the switching from the current serving cell to the candidate target cell of the current serving cell can also be defined as the first hop, then the number of cells included in a cell sequence indicates how many hops of continuous switching can be performed. Figure 5A Taking the scenario shown in the figure as an example, if cell 1 → cell (2, 3, 4) is defined as the first hop, then the maximum value of N is 3, that is, Figure 5A The continuous handover includes at most three hops, wherein the second hop is cell (2, 3, 4) → cell (5, 6, 7, 9), and the third hop is cell (5, 6, 7) → cell (8, 9). This article mainly takes the handover from the current serving cell to the candidate target cell of the current serving cell as the first hop as an example to illustrate some contents.

[0144] Based on the above understanding, in another implementation, the first configuration information indicates that the at least one cell list may specifically be the following (A) or (B).

[0145] (A) The first configuration information includes at least one cell list, and one cell list includes information of a candidate target cell of one hop in a continuous handover within a first time period.

[0146] In one example, the i-th cell list in the at least one cell list includes information of the i-th hop candidate target cell in the first time period, where i is a positive integer.

[0147] This method does not limit the conditions for using the cell list. For example, no matter the terminal is in a high-speed or low-speed motion state, the at least one cell list can be used. In addition, this method is applicable to the scenario where any candidate target cell of the Xth hop can be switched to any candidate target cell of the X+1th hop, where X is a positive integer. Figure 5B Taking the scenario shown as an example, any one of cells 2, 3 and 4 can be switched to any one of cells 5, 6 and 7, and any one of cells 5, 6 and 7 can be switched to any one of cells 8 and 9.

[0148] by Figure 5B The scenario shown is used as an example for explanation. Assuming that the cell switch that has been switched to the current serving cell is the first hop switch, the at least one cell list can be four cell lists. Among them, the first cell list may include: the identification or frequency information of cell 1; the second cell list may include: the identification or frequency information of cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4; the third cell list may include: the identification or frequency information of cell 5, cell 6 and cell 7; the fourth cell list may include: the identification or frequency information of cell 8 and cell 9. Assuming that the cell switch from the current serving cell to the candidate target cell of the current serving cell is the first hop, the at least one cell list can be three cell lists. The three cell lists are respectively the second to fourth cell lists mentioned above.

[0149] It should be noted that if the cell switching from the current service cell to the candidate target cell of the current service cell is defined as the first hop, in one possible manner, the first configuration information includes at least one cell list, the first cell list includes the identifier or frequency information of the current service cell, and the i+1th cell list includes the information of the candidate target cell of the i-th hop in the continuous switching within the first time period, where i is a positive integer.

[0150] Similarly, if the cell handover that has been switched to the current serving cell is defined as the first hop, in one possible manner, the first configuration information includes at least one cell list, the i-th cell list includes information of the candidate target cell of the i+1-th hop in the continuous handover within the first time period, and i is a positive integer. In this manner, the first list in the at least one cell list may include the identifier or frequency point information of the candidate target cell of the current serving cell.

[0151] In another example, the at least one cell list is a plurality of groups of cell lists, the i-th cell list in each group of cell lists includes information of the i-th hop candidate target cell in the first time period, i is a positive integer, and each group of cell lists includes at least one cell list.

[0152] In this method, each group of cell lists can be used under different conditions. For example, one group of cell lists is suitable for the terminal in high-speed motion state, and another group of cell lists is suitable for the terminal in low-speed motion state. For one group of cell lists, any candidate target cell of the Xth hop can be switched to any candidate target cell of the X+1th hop, where X is a positive integer.

[0153] For example, Figure 5C A schematic diagram of a cell switching scenario is shown in FIG. Figure 5CThe handover path shown is: high-speed movement: cell 1→(cell 2, cell 3)→(cell 6); low-speed movement: cell 1→(cell 4, cell 5)→(cell 7), then the first configuration information may include a group of cell lists applicable to high-speed movement (cell list group #1) and a group of cell lists applicable to low-speed movement (cell list group #2). Assuming that the cell handover from the current serving cell to the candidate target cell of the current serving cell is the first hop, the first cell list in the cell list group #1 may include information of cell 2 and cell 3, and the second cell list may include information of cell 6; the first cell list in the cell list group #2 may include information of cell 4 and cell 5, and the second cell list may include information of cell 7.

[0154] It should be noted that if the cell switching from the current service cell to the candidate target cell of the current service cell is defined as the first hop, in one possible manner, the first configuration information includes multiple groups of cell lists. For one group of cell lists, the first cell list includes the identifier or frequency information of the current service cell, and the i+1th cell list includes the information of the candidate target cell of the i-th hop in the continuous switching within the first time period, where i is a positive integer.

[0155] Similarly, if the cell handover that has been switched to the current serving cell is defined as the first hop, in one possible manner, the first configuration information includes multiple groups of cell lists, and for one group of cell lists, the i-th cell list includes information of the candidate target cell of the i+1-th hop in the continuous handover within the first time period, where i is a positive integer. In this manner, the first list in the at least one cell list may include an identifier or frequency point information of the candidate target cell of the current serving cell.

[0156] (B) The first configuration information includes at least one cell list, wherein the cell list includes information of a candidate target cell of one hop in continuous handover within a first time period, and the first configuration information indicates an association relationship between cells in the cell lists of two adjacent hops.

[0157] This method further indicates the association relationship between cells in the cell list of two adjacent hops based on (A).

[0158] In one example, in (B), the i-th cell list in the at least one cell list includes information about the candidate target cell of the i-th hop within the first time period, and i is a positive integer. Then, the association relationship between the cells in the cell lists of two adjacent hops refers to the association relationship between the cells in the i-th cell list and the cells in the j-th cell list, and i is a positive integer. Assuming that the number of the at least one cell list is M, then j=i+1, and j≠N. That is to say, for any cell in the i-th cell list, which cell or cells in the j-th cell list can be switched from the cell. This implementation method can be applicable to the scenario where any candidate target cell of the X-th hop can be switched to some candidate target cells of the X+1-th hop, or some candidate target cells of the X-th hop can be switched to any candidate target cell of the X+1-th hop.

[0159] by Figure 5A Taking the scenario shown as an example, in a certain understanding, Figure 5A The continuous switching scenario shown can perform up to 3-hop switching, each switching is a hop, or each hop is a switching. The first hop is that the terminal switches from cell 1 to other cells, and the candidate target cells of the first hop include cells 2, cell 3 and cell 4, so the first cell list in the at least one cell list may include the identifiers or frequency information of cells 2, cell 3 and cell 4. The second hop is that the terminal switches from one of cells 2, cell 3 and cell 4 to other cells, and the candidate target cells of the second hop include cells 5, cell 6, cell 7 and cell 10, so the second cell list in the at least one cell list may include the identifiers or frequency information of cells 5, cell 6, cell 7 and cell 10. The third hop refers to the terminal switching from one of cells 5, cell 6, cell 7 and cell 10 to other cells, and the candidate target cells of the third hop include cells 9 and cell 10, so the third cell list in the at least one cell list may include the identifiers or frequency information of cells 9 and cell 10. Since in the second-hop handover, the terminal cannot switch from any cell among cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4 to any cell among cell 5, cell 6, cell 7 and cell 9, and in the third-hop handover, the terminal cannot switch from any cell among cell 5, cell 6, cell 7 and cell 9 to any cell among cell 8 and cell 9, the association relationship between the candidate target cells of each hop also needs to be indicated in the first configuration information. For example, cell 2 is associated with cell 5 and cell 6, that is, when cell 2 is used as the source cell, the candidate target cells can only be cell 5 and cell 6.

[0160] In one example, in (B), the at least one cell list is a plurality of groups of cell lists, the i-th cell list in each group of cell lists includes information of the candidate target cell of the i-th hop in the first time period, i is a positive integer, and each group of cell lists includes at least one cell list. Then, the association relationship between cells in the cell lists of two adjacent hops refers to the association relationship between cells in the cell lists of two adjacent hops in the same group of cell lists. For the association relationship, please refer to the first example in (B). No further details will be given here.

[0161] It should be understood that the present application does not limit a possible implementation manner of the first configuration information to (A) or (B), and the first configuration information may also be implemented in a manner equivalent to (A) or (B).

[0162] In addition to indicating at least one cell sequence, the first configuration information may also indicate an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence. When the exit trigger condition corresponding to a cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will become invalid. In other words, the cell switching relationship included in the continuous switching is no longer applicable, and the terminal may no longer use the cell sequence for continuous switching.

[0163] Among them, all cell sequences may correspond to the same exit trigger condition. Alternatively, the at least one cell sequence may each correspond to an exit trigger condition. Alternatively, each hop candidate target cell or each hop handover may correspond to the same exit trigger condition. Alternatively, each hop candidate target cell or each hop handover may each correspond to an exit trigger condition.

[0164] for example, Figure 5A The five cell sequences in the scenario shown may correspond to the same exit trigger condition. When the exit trigger condition is met, the five cell sequences will become invalid, that is, the terminal will no longer use the five cell sequences for cell switching. Figure 5A The five cell sequences in the shown scenario may each correspond to an exit trigger condition. When the exit trigger condition corresponding to a cell sequence is met, for example, when the cell sequence (cell 3, cell 7, cell 9) meets its corresponding exit trigger condition, the terminal no longer uses the cell sequence for cell switching.

[0165] Exemplarily, the exit trigger condition may be any of the following:

[0166] (1a) The signal quality of any candidate target cell in the hop candidate target cell is less than a first threshold;

[0167] (2a) The signal quality of the cell with the highest signal quality among the candidate target cells of the hop is less than a second threshold;

[0168] (3a) the average signal quality of the candidate target cell of the hop is less than a third threshold;

[0169] (4a) The signal quality of each candidate cell in the candidate target cell of the hop is less than its corresponding preset threshold.

[0170] The meaning of the above (1a) is that as long as the signal quality of any candidate target cell in the hop is less than the first threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met.

[0171] It should be noted that each candidate cell in the at least one cell sequence may correspond to a first threshold or a preset threshold, or the first threshold or the preset threshold corresponding to all candidate cells in the at least one cell sequence may be the same, or each hop candidate target cell may correspond to a first threshold or a preset threshold.

[0172] The signal quality described in the present application may include one or more of the following: reference signal receive power (RSRP), signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), or reference signal receive quality (RSRQ).

[0173] The present application also does not exclude that the signal quality is represented by other reasonable parameters. In addition, the first threshold, the second threshold, the third threshold, and the preset threshold may be equal or unequal, and the present application does not limit this.

[0174] It should be noted that the "candidate target cell for this jump" in the exit trigger condition refers to a specific cell as a candidate target cell for this jump, that is, the cell is a candidate target cell when it is the source cell. Alternatively, the "candidate target cell for this jump" can also be expressed as a candidate target cell of the serving cell. For example, Figure 5A In the scenario shown, the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2. For cell 2, the candidate target cells for the second hop are cell 5 and cell 6, but cell 7 is not included. Figure 5B In the scenario shown, the first-hop terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2. For cell 2, the candidate target cells for the second hop are cell 5, cell 6, and cell 7.

[0175] by Figure 5ATaking the scenario shown as an example, it is assumed that the exit trigger events corresponding to each hop are all the above (1a). The candidate target cells for the first hop include cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4. If the signal quality of cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4 are all less than the first threshold, the terminal considers that the at least one cell sequence configured by network device #1 is not suitable, and thus the at least one cell sequence is no longer used. If the signal quality of cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4 are all greater than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal considers that the at least one cell sequence configured by network device #1 is suitable, so that the at least one cell sequence can continue to be used, and can be switched to a cell among cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4. If the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2, it can continue to determine whether the signal quality of cell 5 and cell 6 are both the first threshold of the cell, and determine whether to continue to use the at least one cell sequence based on the determination result.

[0176] Exemplarily, the exit trigger condition may also be any of the following:

[0177] (1b) Among the cells associated with the continuous handover from the Xth hop to the Yth hop, the number of cells whose signal quality is less than the corresponding threshold is greater than the number threshold or the proportion of cells whose signal quality is less than the corresponding threshold is greater than the proportion threshold;

[0178] (2b) the proportion of cells whose signal quality is lower than the corresponding threshold among the candidate target cells of the serving cell is higher than the proportion threshold;

[0179] (3b) The signal quality of the serving cell is lower than the corresponding threshold;

[0180] (4b) Among the cells where the continuous handover from the start of the Xth hop to the end of the Yth hop resides, the proportion of cells whose signal quality is lower than the corresponding threshold is higher than the proportion threshold.

[0181] It should be understood that the threshold related to signal quality can be: all cells correspond to the same threshold, or each cell corresponds to a threshold, or each hop corresponds to a threshold. Similarly, the ratio threshold can be: each hop corresponds to a ratio threshold or each hop corresponds to the same ratio threshold. The ratio thresholds in the above items can be the same or different.

[0182] In (1b), X may be equal to 1 or an integer greater than 1, Y ≥ X, and Y may be the number of hops experienced + 1. The signal quality threshold, quantity threshold, and ratio threshold may be configured by the network device.

[0183] The cells associated with the continuous handover starting from the Xth hop and ending at the Yth hop may include: the source cell of the Xth hop and the candidate target cells of each hop from the Xth hop to the Yth hop. For example, see Figure 5A, the source cell of the first hop is cell 1, and the candidate target cells of the first hop are cell 2, cell 3, and cell 4. Assuming that the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2, then the candidate target cells of the second hop are cell 5 and cell 6. Assuming that the terminal switches from cell 2 to cell 5 again, the candidate target cell of the third hop is cell 8.

[0184] Assume that the trigger condition is (1b) above, X = 1. For example, see Figure 5A , when cell 1 is the serving cell, the signal quality of cell 1 and the signal quality of cells 2, 3 and 4 measured by the terminal in cell 1 can be counted. If the proportion of cells with signal quality lower than the corresponding threshold among cells 1, 2, 3 and 4 is greater than the proportion threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met. For example, if the proportion threshold is 1 / 3, then if the signal quality of at least two cells among cells 1, 2, 3 and 4 is lower than the corresponding threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met. If the signal quality of only one cell is lower than the corresponding threshold or the signal quality of the four cells is not lower than the corresponding threshold, the exit trigger condition is not met. If the exit trigger condition is not met, the terminal can switch from cell 1 to one of cells 2, 3 and 4. Assume that the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2, then cell 2 is the serving cell. When the terminal is in serving cell 2, it can count the signal quality of cell 1, the signal quality of cells 2, 3 and 4 measured by the terminal in cell 1, and the signal quality of cells 5 and 6 measured by the terminal in cell 2. If the proportion of cells with signal quality lower than the corresponding threshold among these 6 cells is greater than the proportion threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met. For example, assuming that the proportion threshold is 1 / 3, then if the signal quality of one or two cells among cells 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is lower than the corresponding threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is not met, otherwise the exit trigger condition is met.

[0185] Assume that the trigger condition is (2b) above. For example, see Figure 5A , when cell 1 is the serving cell, if the proportion of cells with signal quality lower than the corresponding threshold among cells 2, 3 and 4 is higher than the proportion threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met. For example, if the proportion threshold is 1 / 2, then if the signal quality of at least two cells among cells 2, 3 and 4 is lower than the corresponding threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met. If the signal quality of cells 2, 3 and 4 is not lower than the corresponding threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is not met. If the exit trigger condition is not met, and the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2, assuming that the proportion threshold is still 1 / 2, then when cell 2 is the serving cell, if the signal quality of one of cells 5 and 6 is lower than the corresponding threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met, otherwise the exit trigger condition is not met.

[0186] Assume the trigger condition is (3b) above. For example, see Figure 5A , when cell 1 is the serving cell, if the signal quality of serving cell 1 is lower than the corresponding threshold, the exit trigger condition is considered to be met. If the exit trigger condition is not met, and the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2, then if the signal quality of cell 2 is lower than the corresponding threshold, the exit trigger condition is considered to be met.

[0187] Assume that the trigger condition is (4b) above, X=1, and the ratio threshold is 1 / 3. For example, see Figure 5A , when cell 1 is the serving cell, if the signal quality of the cell is lower than the corresponding threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met, otherwise the exit trigger condition is not met. If the exit trigger condition is not met, and the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2, then if the signal quality of at least one of cell 1 and cell 2 is lower than the corresponding threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met, otherwise the exit trigger condition is not met. If the exit trigger condition is not met, and the terminal switches from cell 2 to cell 5, then if the signal quality of at least two of cell 1, cell 2 and cell 5 is lower than the corresponding threshold, it is considered that the exit trigger condition is met, otherwise the exit trigger condition is not met.

[0188] In a possible implementation manner, when a cell sequence meets its corresponding exit trigger condition, the terminal sends second reporting information to the network device, where the second reporting information indicates that the terminal meets the exit trigger condition.

[0189] Accordingly, after receiving the second reporting information, the network device can perform traditional switching configuration or conditional switching configuration for the terminal, and the terminal no longer uses the cell sequence for cell switching, but uses the traditional switching or conditional switching configured by the network device for cell switching. This solution can avoid the problem of switching to an inappropriate cell due to the cell sequence configured by network device #1 being still used when the sequence is inappropriate.

[0190] It should be understood that the network device here may be network device #1, or may not be network device #1. For example, the network device may be network device #3 in method 600 described below.

[0191] In addition to the above-mentioned at least one cell sequence and its corresponding exit triggering condition, the first configuration information may also indicate: measurement parameters and handover triggering conditions required for measuring the candidate target cell.

[0192] The measurement parameters required to measure the candidate target cell may include: relevant information of the reference signal of the candidate target cell. For example, the relevant information of the reference signal may include: the synchronization signal block (SSB) period of the candidate target cell, the SSB offset value, the BWP (Bandwidth Part, BWP) position of the SSB, the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) period, the CSI-RS time-frequency domain position, etc. It should be understood that the specific measurement parameters required to measure a cell can be referred to the prior art, and will not be described in detail here.

[0193] The handover triggering condition may also be referred to as a reporting configuration or included in the reporting configuration. When the handover triggering condition is satisfied, the terminal may perform a cell handover. In the present application, the handover triggering conditions corresponding to each hop (ie, each hop handover) may be the same or different.

[0194] Exemplarily, the switching trigger condition may be a trigger event of conditional switching in the prior art. The trigger event of conditional switching may be an A3 event (condEventA3), an A4 event (condEventA4), or an A5 event (condEventA5). An A3 event means that the target cell signal quality is higher than a certain value of the serving cell. An A4 event means that the target cell signal quality is higher than an absolute value. An A5 event means that the serving cell signal quality is lower than an absolute value and the target cell signal quality is higher than an absolute value.

[0195] It should be understood that the switching trigger condition may not be the trigger event of the conditional switching in the prior art, and the present application does not specifically limit the switching trigger condition.

[0196] Optionally, the first configuration information may further indicate: a target cell selection rule, wherein the rule defines how to select a target cell when multiple candidate target cells simultaneously meet the handover triggering condition.

[0197] For example, the target cell selection rule may be: select the cell with the highest signal quality among the candidate target cells that meet the handover trigger condition as the target cell; or, the first configuration information may include priority information of each candidate target cell, and the terminal may select the cell with the highest priority among the candidate target cells that meet the handover trigger condition as the target cell; or, based on the cell identification information, select the cell with the smallest or largest identification among the candidate target cells that meet the handover trigger condition as the target cell. It should be understood that the present application does not exclude other reasonable rules for selecting the target cell.

[0198] Optionally, the first configuration information may further indicate: an effective time of the first configuration information.

[0199] The first configuration information may explicitly or implicitly indicate the effective time of the first configuration information. In the present application, the effective time of the first configuration information is the first time period. Exemplarily, the starting time of the first time period may be the time when the terminal receives the first configuration information. Alternatively, the starting time of the first time period may be determined by an offset in the first configuration information, for example, the starting time of the first time period may be the time obtained by adding the offset to the time when the terminal receives the first configuration information. Exemplarily, the first configuration information may also include the end time or effective duration of the first time period. The units of the above-mentioned start time, end time, offset, and effective duration may be time units such as time slots / frames / subframes, or absolute time units such as minutes / seconds / milliseconds. In addition, the above-mentioned offset and / or effective duration may also be predefined or configured in advance.

[0200] S420, the network device #1 sends first configuration information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first configuration information from the network device #1.

[0201] S430: The terminal performs mobility measurement and cell switching according to the first configuration information #1.

[0202] According to the first configuration information, the terminal can determine the cell sequence for continuous switching in the future, and can measure the corresponding cells in sequence according to the measurement parameters required for measuring the candidate target cells. When the switching trigger condition is met and the exit trigger condition is not met, the terminal can switch to the corresponding cell according to the corresponding configuration. After switching to the target cell in accordance with each hop sequence in the cell sequence, the measurement of the next hop candidate target cell can be performed, and it can be determined whether the switching trigger condition corresponding to the next hop is met, and whether the exit trigger condition is met.

[0203] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the network device can configure a cell sequence for continuous switching in the future for the terminal, and the terminal can perform continuous switching in the future according to the configuration of the network device. During the continuous switching process, the network side no longer needs to perform measurement and reporting configuration for the terminal, and the terminal does not need to perform measurement reporting, which can reduce the switching delay while reducing the signaling overhead. In addition, by configuring the exit trigger condition of the cell sequence for continuous switching for the terminal, the terminal can no longer use the cell sequence when it is determined that the current cell sequence is not applicable according to the actual situation, thereby avoiding switching to an inappropriate cell.

[0204] In a possible implementation, after the terminal switches to the target cell, the network device corresponding to the target cell can determine whether it is necessary to re-configure the continuous switching according to the matching degree between the target cell and the candidate target cell. For example, if the matching degree is high, after switching to the target cell, the target cell may no longer re-predict the switching path of the continuous switching and perform relevant configurations on the terminal according to the re-predicted switching path; at the same time, the target cell prepares resources through the next hop candidate target cell through interfaces such as X2 / N2. For example, if the matching degree is low, the switching trigger condition configuration can be deactivated, the traditional switching method can be used, or the switching trigger condition configuration can be resent. The matching degree refers to the matching degree or similarity between the order or path of the cells actually switched by the terminal and the sent cell sequence. For example, if the switching sequence 1 is cell 1→cell 2→cell 3→cell 4, the switching sequence 2 is cell 1→cell 2→cell 3→cell 5, and the switching sequence 3 is cell 1→cell 3→cell 6, then the matching degree of switching sequence 1 and switching sequence 2 is 0.75, and the matching degree of switching sequence 1 and switching sequence 3 is 0.5.

[0205] This scenario can be applied to the scenario where the terminal first switches to a cell that is not a candidate target cell and then switches to a candidate target cell. Figure 5A For example, after the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2, cell 5 and cell 6 do not meet the corresponding switching trigger conditions or meet the exit trigger event. The terminal switches to cell 10 according to the instructions of the network side, and then switches from cell 10 to cell 5. In this scenario, the actual switching path of the terminal is cell 1→cell 2→cell 10→cell 5, and the switching path predicted by the network side is: cell 1→cell 2→cell 5, and the matching degree of these two paths is 0.75. If it is greater than 0.5, it is considered that the matching degree is high, and the terminal can continue to use the cell sequence configured by the network side for continuous switching.

[0206] The above scheme can determine whether it is necessary to reconfigure the cell sequence of continuous switching by the matching degree between the target cell and the candidate target cell or the actual switching path and the expected switching path, thereby ensuring that the terminal can switch to the appropriate cell while avoiding the signaling overhead caused by unnecessary reconfiguration.

[0207] Figure 6 600 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided by the present application. The method 600 is a specific implementation of the method 400. The method 600 may include one or more steps from S610 to S670, and each step is described in detail below.

[0208] S610, network device #1 obtains historical measurement results and historical switching records of the terminal.

[0209] The terminal can perform RRM measurement reporting according to the existing radio resource management (RRM) measurement configuration, and execute the traditional switching instruction on the network side or perform traditional conditional switching, thereby forming a series of historical measurement results and historical switching records on the network side.

[0210] For example, if the current serving cell is cell M, the historical measurement results may include: (1) RRM measurement results in cells M, cell M-1, cell M-2, etc., which have been historically stationed. The RRM measurement results may include measurement results such as signal quality of the current cell and neighboring cells of the stationed cells. Accordingly, the historical handover record is, for example: cell M-2→cell M-1→cell M.

[0211] Exemplarily, the number of cells or the number of handover hops involved in the specific historical measurement may be determined by the network side itself. That is, the network device #1 may determine how many cells the terminal needs to count the measurement results of and / or the number of cell handovers. For example, the network device #1 may count the historical measurement results within a period of time, such as the measurement results within 20 days, and the at least one cell sequence may be predicted based on the measurement results within 20 days.

[0212] Exemplarily, the interaction of historical measurement results can be carried out within the network side. For example, the source cell can interact with the target cell through the X2 / N2 interface when the cell is switched, or the current serving cell can request the historically switched cell to send the relevant data when the terminal was stationed / switched at that time through the X2 / N2 interface. This application is not limited to this.

[0213] In addition to the measurement results and switching records, network device #1 can also obtain the current or historical motion state (such as speed, acceleration, angular velocity, gyroscope data, etc.) and / or motion trajectory of the terminal. For example, the terminal can report the current or historical motion state and / or motion trajectory of the terminal when switching cells or measuring and reporting.

[0214] The above describes how the network side obtains historical measurement results and historical switching records based on the RRM measurement report of the terminal. In addition, network device #1 can also instruct the terminal to report historical measurement results and historical switching records by sending radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The terminal can report historical measurement results and historical switching records to network device #1 according to the instructions of the RRC signaling. For example, network device #1 can instruct the terminal to report historical measurement results and historical switching records in a UE Information Request message. Accordingly, the terminal can carry historical measurement results and historical switching records in a UE Information Request Response message. This method only requires the terminal to report to network device #1, and does not require the corresponding measurement results and switching records to be exchanged between cells where the terminal has historically resided.

[0215] S620: Network device #1 predicts at least one cell sequence according to historical measurement results and historical switching records of the terminal.

[0216] It should be noted that, in this application, the network device (ie, the access network side) predicts at least one cell sequence as an example for explanation. In practice, at least one cell sequence may also be predicted by the core network.

[0217] Exemplarily, network device #1 may first determine whether it is possible to predict the sequence of cells that will be switched within a certain period of time in the future. For example, network device #1 may determine whether it is possible to predict the sequence of cells that will be switched continuously within a certain period of time in the future based on the statistical characteristics of historical measurement data, such as whether the fluctuation of the change in signal quality satisfies a predefined trend, threshold conditions, or whether the cell path that is switched satisfies a predefined switching trajectory path, or whether the speed reported by the terminal satisfies certain conditions, or whether the trajectory reported by the terminal satisfies a predefined switching trajectory path, etc. Alternatively, network device #1 has a dedicated AI model whose model input is the corresponding historical measurement result, and whose output is a mark of whether it can be predicted or the probability that the corresponding prediction is accurate. If network device #1 determines that it can predict the sequence of cells that will be switched continuously within a certain period of time in the future, it predicts the sequence of cells that will be switched continuously within a certain period of time in the future.

[0218] Exemplarily, network device #1 may predict a cell sequence of continuous switching within a period of time in the future through an AI model. For example, the input of the AI ​​model may include historical measurement results, and may optionally include the current or historical motion state and / or motion trajectory of the terminal. It should be understood that the cell sequence predicted by network device #1 is at least one cell sequence in method 400.

[0219] In one possible situation, since the subsequent motion state of the terminal is uncertain, network device #1 can predict the at least one cell sequence according to the possible motion state of the terminal. That is to say, the at least one cell sequence is applicable to different conditions. For example, some cell sequences are applicable to the case of high-speed terminal motion, and some cell sequences are applicable to the case of low-speed terminal motion.

[0220] Combination Figure 5A For example, the scenarios shown in the figure are (cell 2, cell 5, cell 8), (cell 2, cell 6), (cell 3, cell 6, cell 9) and (cell 3, cell 7, cell 9) for low-speed terminal movement, and (cell 4, cell 9) for high-speed terminal movement. Figure 5C , cell 1→(cell 2, cell 3)→(cell 6) is applicable to the case where the terminal moves at high speed, and cell 1→(cell 4, cell 5)→(cell 7) is applicable to the case where the terminal moves at low speed.

[0221] S630, network device #1 sends first configuration information to the terminal.

[0222] The network device #1 may generate first configuration information and then send the first configuration information to the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives the configuration information from the network device #1.

[0223] As described in method 400, the first configuration information may indicate the at least one cell sequence and the exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, and may further indicate one or more of the switching trigger condition, the measurement parameters required to measure the candidate target cell, the target cell selection rule, and the effective time of the first configuration information.

[0224] In addition, the first configuration information may also indicate a usage condition associated with the at least one cell sequence. For example, the first configuration information may also indicate a speed level associated with the at least one cell sequence, and the speed level may be, for example, high speed or low speed.

[0225] In a possible implementation manner, the first configuration information includes:

[0226]

[0227] Among them, MeasIdToAddMod is a one-hop related configuration. measId is the identifier of the measurement configuration. measObjectGroup represents multiple groups of measurement objects, each group of measurement objects can correspond to the measurement objects corresponding to each hop in the cell sequence, that is, it can be a cell list described in the implementation method (2) of the first configuration information above, and each group of measurement objects can correspond to one or more cells belonging to the same hop. The number of groups of measurement objects contained in measObjectGroup can be understood as the length of the cell sequence. reportConfigGroup is the reporting configuration corresponding to the measurement object of each hop in the cell sequence. When conditional switching is adopted between each hop, it can represent the triggering condition of the conditional switching of each hop, that is, the switching triggering condition. MaxMeasObjectId and MaxReportConfigId are the maximum identification numbers of the measurement object configuration and the reporting configuration. SpeedClass indicates the speed class. ValidTimer indicates how long the first configuration information can be used after it takes effect.

[0228] In a possible implementation, the exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence may be the following SequentialEventA3 or SequentialEventA4. The exit trigger condition configuration of the at least one cell sequence is, for example:

[0229]

[0230] In the above, SequentialEventA3 is a configuration for judging whether the exit trigger condition is met according to the signal quality of the candidate target cell. Exemplarily, a corresponding judgment threshold is configured for each candidate target cell of the current jump. For example, Cell1Threshold and Cell2Threshold respectively represent the thresholds configured for the candidate target cell 1 and the candidate target cell 2 of the jump. MeasTriggerQuantity is the type of signal quality and the corresponding threshold. The signal quality type can be RSRP, SINR, RSRQ, etc. It should be understood that SequentialEventA3 can correspond to (2b) described above, and the proportional threshold in (2b) can be infinitely close to 0.

[0231] SequentialEventA4 is a configuration for judging whether the exit trigger condition is met according to the proportion of signal quality thresholds met in the switching sequence. Exemplarily, RatioThreshold represents the threshold value of the ratio. MeasThreshold represents the type of signal quality and the corresponding threshold value, and StartCell and EndCell represent the starting jump and the ending jump of the judgment. For example, in the case of the judgment from the Xth jump to the Yth jump as described above, StartCell corresponds to X and EndCell corresponds to Y. RatioThresholdGroup is the ratio threshold set for each jump according to the proportion of the signal quality of each jump that meets the signal quality threshold. MeasThresholdGroup is the signal quality type and threshold used for judging each jump according to the proportion of the signal quality of each jump that meets the signal quality threshold. It should be understood that SequentialEventA4 can correspond to (1b) or (4b) described above.

[0232] Exemplarily, the configuration of SequentialMonitorConfig can be carried in the reportConfig cell (similar to the trigger event of conditional switching), or can be carried in the MeasConfig cell as an independent cell, or the possible events in the configuration can be used as events under other existing cells (for example, put in the trigger event list of conditional switching as a new trigger event), without any restriction. In this embodiment, SequentialMonitorConfig is placed in the reportConfig cell as an example, so that it is bound to measObject one by one, and judgment can be made at each hop.

[0233] It should be understood that the terminal keeps storing the first configuration information until the cell series is reconfigured or the terminal no longer uses the at least one cell series or the first configuration information becomes invalid.

[0234] S640: The terminal switches to network device #2 according to the first configuration information.

[0235] The terminal measures the candidate target cell of the first hop according to the first configuration information. For example, if at least one cell sequence indicated by the first configuration information is associated with different speed levels, the corresponding candidate target cell in the first hop can be determined according to the terminal speed, and the cell measurement can be performed. At the same time, the terminal can also determine whether the exit trigger condition is met.

[0236] For example, Figure 5ATaking the cell switching situation shown as an example, the terminal measures the candidate target cells of the first hop, namely cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4. If it is determined that cell 2 meets the switching trigger condition and does not meet the exit trigger condition, it switches to cell 2. The network device corresponding to cell 2 is network device #2.

[0237] S650: The terminal switches to network device #3 according to the first configuration information.

[0238] This step is similar to S640, and details may refer to S640. In this step, the terminal switches from cell 2 to cell 5, and the network device corresponding to cell 5 is network device #3.

[0239] S660: If the terminal determines that the exit trigger condition is met, it sends second reporting information to network device #3.

[0240] The second reporting information indicates that the terminal meets the exit trigger condition.

[0241] Exemplarily, the second reporting information may be sent via RRC signaling, a medium access control control element (MAC-CE) or uplink control information (UCI).

[0242] The second reporting information may include the exit triggering condition that is satisfied (eg, SequentialEventA3 or SequentialEventA4). Optionally, the second reporting information may further include a specific measurement value when the exit triggering condition is satisfied.

[0243] Exemplarily, the exit trigger condition that is satisfied may be indicated in the header of the MAC-CE. Exemplarily, the network device #1 may configure the time-frequency domain resources for carrying the UCI and the bit meaning of the corresponding UCI in the first configuration information, for example, allocating and using 10 bits (bits) for carrying, the first bit indicates whether the exit trigger condition is satisfied, and the following bits may further indicate the specific measurement value.

[0244] S670, network device #3 configures traditional switching measurement-related configurations for the terminal according to the second reporting information, and the terminal uses the traditional switching mechanism to perform cell switching.

[0245] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the network device can configure a cell sequence for continuous switching in the future for the terminal, and the terminal can perform continuous switching in the future according to the configuration of the network device. During the continuous switching process, the network side no longer needs to perform measurement and reporting configuration for the terminal, and the terminal does not need to perform measurement reporting, which can reduce the switching delay while reducing the signaling overhead. In addition, by configuring the exit trigger condition of the cell sequence for continuous switching for the terminal, the terminal can no longer use the cell sequence when it is determined that the current cell sequence is not applicable according to the actual situation, thereby avoiding switching to an inappropriate cell.

[0246] It can be understood that one or more steps in S640 to S670 are executed only when certain conditions are met, and are not required to be executed. For example, if it is determined in S640 that the exit trigger condition is met, the terminal will no longer execute S650 to S670, but can report to network device #1 that the terminal meets the exit trigger event, and network device #1 can configure traditional switching measurement-related configurations for the terminal. For example, in S650, network device #2 can also determine whether it is necessary to resend the cell sequence for continuous switching configuration based on the match between the target cell and the candidate target cell. For details, please refer to the description of this content above.

[0247] In a possible implementation, the first configuration information may further indicate a monitoring cell associated with the candidate target cell and a corresponding monitoring reporting condition, wherein the monitoring cell is used to determine whether the corresponding candidate target cell is applicable, and the monitoring cell is different from the corresponding candidate target cell.

[0248] Each hop can be associated with one or more monitoring cells, or all hops can be associated with the same one or more monitoring cells. Each hop can be associated with a monitoring reporting condition, or all hops can be associated with the same monitoring reporting condition. The monitoring cell associated with each hop does not belong to the candidate target cell of the hop, and the monitoring cell associated with each hop can be one or more.

[0249] For example, see Figure 7 The schematic diagram shown is for Figure 5A In the handover scenario shown, the first hop monitoring cell may be cell 10 , the second hop monitoring cell may be cell 11 , and the third hop monitoring cell may be cell 12 .

[0250] Based on this solution, by configuring monitoring cells that are not candidate target cells, it is helpful to determine whether the cell sequence configured by the network side is appropriate. If the cell sequence is not appropriate, the cell sequence can be exited in time to avoid subsequent switching to an inappropriate cell.

[0251] For example, the network can predict the cell sequence for switching based on the AI ​​model. Since AI models are usually data-driven, they have the problem of generalization limitations. The same AI model may have different effects when the usage scenario or time period is changed. Therefore, in order to ensure the system performance after using AI, the corresponding AI functions or models can be monitored. Once the performance is found to be degraded, the corresponding AI model can be replaced or not used in time.

[0252] For single-end AI of AI mobility, the monitoring of the AI ​​model can be performed by the side using the AI ​​model. In the embodiment of the present application, the monitoring of the AI ​​model can be performed by the network side, but the network side needs to judge whether the result output by the current model is correct based on some necessary information input.

[0253] In methods 400 and 600, the output of the network-side AI model is a sequence of continuous cell switching for a subsequent period of time. Therefore, if you want to detect whether the output continuous cell switching sequence is appropriate, one way is to determine whether the exit trigger condition is met when the terminal uses the corresponding continuous switching sequence. However, this method only performs relevant detection on the cell sequence configured in methods 400 and 600, and cannot distinguish whether the output of the model itself is incorrect or the channel environment at the time is indeed poor (for example, encountering sudden obstruction, etc.). Therefore, in order to control the variables, the concept of monitoring cells can be further introduced, that is, some cells that are not in the continuous cell switching sequence are configured, and the terminal can also perform relevant measurements on these cells. If it is found that the signal quality of the monitoring cell is good, and the quality of the cell in the switching cell sequence is poor, it can be determined that there is a problem with the output of the model itself.

[0254] Optionally, when the monitoring result of the monitored cell meets the monitoring reporting condition, the terminal may also send reporting information (e.g., first reporting information) to the network device, where the reporting information indicates that the monitoring result of the monitored cell meets the monitoring reporting condition. In this manner, the terminal reports only when the monitoring result of the monitored cell meets the monitoring reporting condition.

[0255] Alternatively, the terminal may send reporting information to the network device, and the reporting information may indicate whether the monitoring result of the monitoring cell meets the monitoring reporting condition. In this manner, the terminal reports regardless of whether the monitoring result of the monitoring cell meets the monitoring reporting condition.

[0256] Exemplarily, the reporting information may be reported via RRC, MAC-CE or UCI.

[0257] Exemplarily, the reporting of the reporting information can be sent in the current serving cell, and can also be sent after switching to a new cell. For example, after the RRC connection of the new cell is established, a corresponding RRC reconfiguration message is sent to indicate that a monitoring report needs to be sent, and then the new cell requires the terminal to report through RRC signaling UEInformationRequest.

[0258] Exemplarily, the monitoring reporting condition is: the signal quality of the monitored cell is greater than a first threshold, and the signal quality of the candidate target cell corresponding to the monitored cell is less than a second threshold, and the first threshold is greater than the second threshold. The signal quality of the candidate target cell corresponding to the monitored cell is less than the second threshold, which may mean: the signal quality of the candidate target cells corresponding to the monitored cell is less than the second threshold or the average signal quality of the candidate target cells corresponding to the monitored cell is less than the second threshold. It should be understood that the first threshold and the second threshold here may be different from the first threshold and the second threshold described above.

[0259] by Figure 5A Taking the scenario shown as an example, the terminal detects in cell 1 that the signal qualities of cells 2, 3 and 4 are all less than the first threshold, and the signal quality of cell 10 is greater than the first threshold, then the event that the monitoring result of cell 10 meets the monitoring reporting condition is reported to network device #1.

[0260] In the scenario where multiple monitoring cells are associated with one hop, illustratively, the monitoring reporting condition includes: the signal quality of each monitoring cell is greater than the corresponding threshold, or the signal quality of any monitoring cell is greater than the corresponding threshold. Optionally, the monitoring reporting condition also includes: the signal quality of each candidate target cell corresponding to the monitoring cell is less than the corresponding threshold, or the signal quality of any candidate target cell is less than the corresponding threshold.

[0261] In the scenario where one hop is associated with multiple monitoring cells, illustratively, at least one of the candidate target cells of the hop is associated with one monitoring cell. If the signal quality of the candidate target cell is less than threshold #1, and the signal quality of its associated monitoring cell is greater than the corresponding threshold #2, then event #1 is considered to be satisfied. If the proportion of monitoring cells that satisfy event #1 in the monitoring cells is higher than a certain threshold, then the monitoring reporting conditions are considered to be satisfied. For example, the certain threshold may be 1 / 2. For example, if 2 of the 3 monitoring cells satisfy event #1, then the monitoring reporting conditions are considered to be satisfied. The certain threshold may be predefined or configured for network equipment. Optionally, there may be no such threshold. For example, as long as event #1 is satisfied once, the monitoring reporting conditions are considered to be satisfied.

[0262] Exemplarily, if among the cells associated with the continuous switching starting from the Uth hop to the Vth hop, the number of cells whose signal quality is the candidate target cell / (V-U+1) is less than the threshold #3, it is considered that the monitoring and reporting event is satisfied. Alternatively, if among the cells associated with the continuous switching starting from the Uth hop to the Vth hop, the number of cells whose signal quality is the monitored cell / (V-U+1) is greater than the threshold #4, it is considered that the monitoring and reporting event is satisfied. The above-mentioned cell with the best signal quality can also be replaced by a cell that meets the signal quality threshold. The signal quality threshold can be a common value, or a threshold can be configured for each hop.

[0263] Exemplarily, the cells associated with the continuous handover starting from the Uth hop to the Vth hop include: the candidate target cells of each hop from the Uth hop to the Vth hop and the monitoring cells of each hop. U can be equal to 1 or an integer greater than 1, V≥U, and V can be the number of hops experienced + 1.

[0264] Assume U = 1, threshold #3 = 0.8, Figure 7 Take cell {2,3,4} as an example. The first-hop candidate target cell is cell {2,3,4}, and the corresponding monitoring cell is cell 10. If the cell with the best signal quality in cells {2,3,4,10} is one of cells {2,3,4}, then the number of cells with the best signal quality that are candidate target cells / (V-U+1)=1, 1 is less than threshold #3, and therefore the monitoring reporting condition is not met. If the terminal switches from cell 1 to cell 2, the second-hop candidate target cell is cell {5,6}, and the corresponding monitoring cell is cell 11. If the cell with the best signal quality in cells {5,6,11} is cell 11, then the number of cells with the best signal quality that are candidate target cells / (V-U+1)=1 / 2, 1 / 2 is greater than threshold #3, and therefore the monitoring reporting condition is met.

[0265] Exemplarily, the monitoring cell configuration may be included in the information element of the measurement configuration, or the monitoring cell configuration may be an independent information element configuration, and is not necessarily associated with the measurement configuration of each hop in the sequence.

[0266] In one possible implementation, when the monitoring results of the monitored cells reported by the terminal meet the monitoring reporting events, the network device can re-predict the cell sequence and send second configuration information similar to the first configuration information to the terminal; the terminal can perform cell switching according to the second configuration information.

[0267] Based on this solution, when the cell sequence for continuous switching previously configured on the network side is inappropriate, the cell sequence for continuous switching can be reconfigured for the terminal, which is conducive to the terminal to perform appropriate cell switching. For example, in method 600, after the terminal switches to network device #2, it detects that the monitoring result of cell 10 meets the monitoring reporting condition, and then reports to network device #2 the event that the monitoring result of cell 10 meets the monitoring reporting condition. After network device #2 receives the reporting information from the terminal, it can reconfigure the relevant information of continuous switching for the terminal. It should be understood that in this scenario, since the reconfigured cell sequence or switching trigger event may be different from the first configuration information, the terminal may no longer execute S650 to S670.

[0268] In an example, the configuration related to the monitoring cell is as follows:

[0269]

[0270] Among them, measId, measObjectGroup, and reportConfigGroup are the same as those described above. measMonitorObjectGroup is a group of measurement objects corresponding to monitoring cells, in which one MonitorObject corresponds to a monitoring cell associated with one of the candidate target cells in the switching sequence. reportMonitorGroup is a reporting configuration corresponding to a group of monitoring cells, in which a reporting trigger event (i.e., monitoring reporting condition) for the monitoring results of the monitoring cells is configured. Each reporting configuration can correspond to a reporting trigger configuration for each monitoring measurement object, or can correspond to a reporting trigger configuration for multiple monitoring measurement objects. Exemplarily, the reporting event MonitorEventA3 can be configured in the reporting configuration, which is a trigger event based on whether the signal quality of the candidate target cell and the monitoring cell of the current jump meets the threshold condition. Threshold1, Threshold2 are the configured signal quality types and corresponding thresholds, and targetCell and monitorCell are the identifiers of the candidate target cell and the monitoring cell included in the judgment. Exemplarily, a reporting event MonitorEventA4 can be configured in the monitoring reporting event, which is a trigger event based on whether the ratio of the candidate target cell in a continuous switching and the best cell in the monitoring cell or the cell that meets the signal threshold in the switching sequence meets the threshold. RatioThreshold is the ratio threshold, MeasThreshold is the type of signal quality and the corresponding threshold. StartCell and EndCell are the identifiers of the starting hop and the ending hop of the continuous switching for statistics.

[0271] Figure 8800 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided by the present application. The method 800 is a specific implementation of the method 400. The method 800 may include one or more steps from S810 to S870, and each step is described in detail below.

[0272] S810, network device #1 obtains historical measurement results and historical switching records of the terminal. This step is the same as S610, and reference may be made to S610.

[0273] S820, network device #1 predicts at least one cell sequence according to the historical measurement results and historical switching records of the terminal. This step is the same as S620, and reference may be made to S610.

[0274] S830, network device #1 sends first configuration information to the terminal.

[0275] This step may refer to S630. Different from S630, the first configuration information may also include the monitoring cell associated with the candidate cell and the corresponding monitoring reporting condition. For the monitoring cell and the monitoring reporting condition, please refer to the above description, which will not be repeated here.

[0276] S840: The terminal switches to network device #2 according to the first configuration information.

[0277] The terminal measures the candidate target cell of the first hop according to the first configuration information. For example, if at least one cell sequence indicated by the first configuration information is associated with different speed levels, the corresponding candidate target cell in the first hop can be determined according to the terminal speed, and the cell measurement can be performed. At the same time, the terminal can also determine whether the exit trigger condition and the monitoring reporting condition are met.

[0278] For example, Figure 7 For example, the terminal measures the candidate target cells of the first hop, namely cell 2, cell 3 and cell 4. If it is determined that cell 2 meets the switching trigger condition, but does not meet the exit trigger condition and the monitoring reporting condition, it switches to cell 2. The network device corresponding to cell 2 is network device #2.

[0279] S850: If the monitoring reporting condition is met, first reporting information is sent to network device #2, where the first reporting information indicates that the monitoring result of the monitoring cell meets the monitoring reporting condition.

[0280] S860, network device #2 sends second configuration information to the terminal, the second configuration information is similar to the first configuration information, and is used to perform continuous switching configuration for the terminal. For example, the second configuration information may include a reconfigured cell sequence.

[0281] S870: The terminal performs cell switching according to the second configuration information.

[0282] For example, the terminal switches from network device #2 to network device #3 according to the second configuration information.

[0283] It should be understood that for how the terminal performs cell switching according to the second configuration information, reference may be made to the foregoing description related to the terminal performing cell switching according to the first configuration information, which will not be repeated here.

[0284] It should also be understood that when determining whether the monitoring and reporting conditions are met, the terminal can also determine whether the exit triggering conditions are met. There is no order of precedence between the two, and they are independent of each other.

[0285] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the network device can configure a cell sequence for continuous switching in the future for the terminal, and the terminal can perform continuous switching in the future according to the configuration of the network device. During the continuous switching process, the network side no longer needs to perform measurement and reporting configuration for the terminal, and the terminal does not need to perform measurement reporting, which can reduce the switching delay while reducing the signaling overhead. In addition, by configuring a monitoring cell that does not belong to a candidate cell for the terminal, the terminal can determine whether the cell sequence for continuous switching currently sent is appropriate, which is conducive to performing appropriate cell switching.

[0286] The solutions described above all predict the target cell by the network device, and do not involve prediction on the terminal side. To address this problem, the present application also provides a method for cell switching, which can implement prediction on the terminal side. For example, the cell switching path predicted by the terminal is Figure 5A The switching path shown is shown. The method is described in detail below in conjunction with the relevant drawings.

[0287] Fig. 9 This is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell switching provided by the present application. The method 900 may include S920 to S940, and may optionally include S910 and / or S950. Each step is described below.

[0288] S910: The terminal sends the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal to the network device #1. Accordingly, the network device #1 receives the cell switching prediction capability information.

[0289] The cell switching prediction capability information indicates that the terminal supports continuous switching prediction capability for a period of time, and the cell switching prediction capability information includes prediction capability parameters, which may include prediction capability parameters supported by the terminal and parameters required for terminal prediction. Exemplarily, the switching prediction capability information may be included in UE capability information (UECapabilityInformation) and sent, or included in an independent information element and sent, without limitation.

[0290] Exemplarily, the predictive capability parameters may include one or more items in Table 1.

[0291] Table 1

[0292]

[0293] S910 is an optional step, for example, some parameters in S910 may be default or default. For example, it may be defaulted that all terminals or terminals of certain types / specifications / models have the ability to predict continuous switching for a period of time. For another example, one or more of the number of predictable continuous switching, the number of predictable cells, the predictable cell parameters, the predictable effective duration, the required number of cells, and the duration required for measurement of all terminals or terminals of certain types / specifications / models are default or default (such as specified by the protocol).

[0294] S920, the network device #1 sends first configuration information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the first configuration information from the network device #1.

[0295] The first configuration information is determined by the network device #1 according to the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, and the first configuration information may include measurement object configuration.

[0296] For example, the measurement object configuration may include one or more of the following:

[0297] The effective duration or effective time period of the measurement, i.e., the duration or time period of the continuous measurement, may further include parameters such as the time point of starting the measurement and the time point of ending the measurement, which are used to determine the specific measurement time period;

[0298] The frequency to be measured;

[0299] The number of historical cells to be measured, or the number of handover hops to be measured, or a specific list of cells to be measured;

[0300] The interval / period of RS measured, etc.

[0301] In one understanding, network device #1 sends the first configuration information to the terminal, that is, network device #1 configures the terminal with an AI function or AI function entity for switching cell sequence prediction. It should be understood that the configuration information of the AI ​​function for switching cell sequence prediction may not be limited to the first configuration information, or may include other configuration information in addition to the first configuration information.

[0302] S930. The terminal determines at least one first cell sequence according to the first configuration information.

[0303] The terminal can predict at least one first cell sequence based on the measurement object configuration and related measurement results in the first configuration information. For example, the terminal can input the current measurement results and historical measurement results into the AI ​​model based on the measurement object configuration in the first configuration information to obtain a switching cell sequence for a period of time in the future, that is, at least one first cell sequence. The first cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, which is a target cell that the network device #1 predicts that the terminal may switch to in sequence within the first time period.

[0304] Exemplarily, while predicting the cell sequence, the terminal may also predict one or more of the following: cell information of the candidate target cell, the predicted correct probability of the candidate target cell, the switching time point of each hop in the cell sequence, and the predicted effective duration of the cell sequence.

[0305] The cell information may include one or more of the following: cell ID, cell physical ID (PCI), cell frequency, cell frequency band, cell subcarrier spacing, cell tracking area code (TAC), etc. The predicted effective duration of a cell sequence refers to the predicted effective duration of the cell sequence.

[0306] S940, the terminal sends the prediction result to the network device #2. Correspondingly, the network device #2 receives the prediction result.

[0307] The prediction result indicates the at least one first cell sequence.

[0308] Exemplarily, the prediction result may include one or more of the following: cell information in the first cell sequence, correct probability of cell prediction in the first cell sequence, switching time point of each hop in the first cell sequence, and predicted effective duration of the first cell sequence.

[0309] It should be noted that network device #2 is the network device currently connected to the terminal, which may be network device #1 or not. For example, the terminal needs 2-hop switching to predict continuous switching. Then: if the terminal obtains a prediction result based on the historical 2-hop switching when accessing network device #1, the prediction result can be sent to network device #1; if the terminal switches from network device #1 to other network devices, and then switches from the other network devices to network device #2, and obtains a prediction result based on the 2-hop switching, the prediction result can be sent to network device #2.

[0310] S950, the network device #2 sends the second configuration information to the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the second configuration information from the network device #2.

[0311] In one implementation, after receiving the prediction result, network device #2 decides to use traditional cell switching or conditional switching for continuous switching, then network device #2 can determine the second configuration information according to the prediction result and send the second configuration information to the terminal. For example, network device #2 can optimize the prediction result of the terminal according to some information, thereby generating and sending the second configuration information.

[0312] In one example, the second configuration information may be similar to the first configuration information in method 400, method 600, or method 800, and continuous switching including at least one switching may be implemented through one configuration. For example, the second configuration information may indicate at least one second cell sequence. The second cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, and the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal may switch to in sequence within the first time period. The at least one second cell sequence may be the same as or partially different from the at least one first cell sequence.

[0313] In another example, the second configuration information may be similar to the RRM measurement configuration in the current technology, that is, only the relevant information for one handover is configured. Unlike the current technology, the cell in the second configuration information here is determined based on the prediction result reported by the terminal. For example, the second configuration information may include the cell information that needs to be measured for this handover, as well as the handover triggering conditions for conditional handover or the measurement reporting conditions for traditional cell handover. For example, the second configuration information may include the handover triggering conditions or measurement reporting conditions associated with each hop, or only include the handover triggering conditions or measurement reporting conditions associated with the next hop.

[0314] It should be understood that the traditional cell switching is a cell switching in which the terminal sends a switching related measurement result and the network side sends a switching command.

[0315] In another implementation, after receiving the prediction result, network device #2 may decide to perform cell switching by blind switching. Then, network device #1 does not need to execute S950. It should be understood that blind switching means that the network device directly sends a switching command to notify the terminal to perform cell switching, and the terminal does not need to perform cell measurement or make a switching request.

[0316] It should be understood that the second configuration information may be a measurement / reporting configuration related to mobility in an existing LTE / NR system, that is, only one handover is involved. At this time, the terminal reports the continuous handover prediction result, and the network side uses the second configuration information to perform the measurement or reporting configuration required for the corresponding handover based on each hop handover in the prediction result. The measurement / reporting configuration involved in the second configuration information can be used only for one handover, and does not need to be used for multiple continuous handovers.

[0317] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the network side can make relevant configurations for the prediction of continuous switching for the terminal based on the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, and the terminal can predict the switching cell sequence within a period of time in the future based on the configuration of the network side, thereby realizing continuous switching prediction on the terminal side. Furthermore, by reporting the prediction results to the network side, the terminal can assist the network side in performing cell switching or determining a more suitable switching cell sequence for the terminal and related configurations for performing cell switching.

[0318] Fig.10 It shows the application Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for predicting a switching cell sequence and switching a cell. Fig. 9 For the same terms or concepts, etc., reference can be made to the description of the corresponding terms or concepts in method 900 .

[0319] S1010: The terminal sends the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal to the network device #1. Accordingly, the network device #1 receives the cell switching prediction capability information.

[0320] This step is the same as S910, and reference may be made to S910.

[0321] S1020, network device #1 sends first configuration information to the terminal according to the cell switching prediction capability information reported by the terminal.

[0322] This step is the same as S920, and reference may be made to S920.

[0323] In an example, the first configuration information may include the following content:

[0324]

[0325] Among them, measId represents the measurement ID; measObject is the measurement object configuration; reportConfig is the reporting configuration; AIFlag indicates that the current measurement object configuration can be used for AI switching prediction on the terminal side, that is, the terminal can perform AI switching prediction based on the measurement results of the measurement object in the configuration, or report the reporting method of the AI ​​prediction result configuration to the network device, so that the network device knows that the report is based on AI prediction.

[0326] For example, the reporting configuration may be that network device #1 enables the terminal to report the prediction result in the form of auxiliary information reporting, and the terminal decides whether to report the prediction result. For example, network device #1 may add an enable reporting of auxiliary information in the OtherConfig information element through RRC configuration, allowing the terminal to report the prediction result through UE auxiliary information.

[0327] Usually, the reporting of the terminal auxiliary information is triggered by the terminal itself. In one method, the network device #1 can configure the reporting of the auxiliary information, which needs to be performed based on the measurement object configuration, that is, whether the auxiliary information is triggered is associated with the measurement object configuration. In this case, the measurement object configuration is associated in the auxiliary information reporting, or the auxiliary information configuration is associated in the measurement object configuration.

[0328] Optionally, the first configuration information may also indicate a failure time / condition of the prediction function.

[0329] Expiration time: For example, after the terminal receives the first configuration information, an expiration timer is started. After the expiration timer times out, it is considered that the terminal can no longer provide relevant prediction capabilities, and the terminal may no longer perform relevant predictions for a period of time.

[0330] Failure conditions: For example, if the signal quality measured by the terminal is lower than a certain threshold, or the speed of the terminal is higher than a certain threshold, it is considered that the terminal is currently unable to provide relevant prediction capabilities, and the terminal may no longer perform relevant predictions for a period of time.

[0331] S1030: The terminal obtains a prediction result according to the first configuration information.

[0332] For this step, reference may be made to S930.

[0333] S1040: The terminal sends the prediction result to network device #2. Correspondingly, network device #2 receives the prediction result.

[0334] For example, if the cell sequence for a period of time meets the judgment threshold of the terminal itself, the terminal may be triggered to report the prediction result through auxiliary information.

[0335] For example, the format of the cell sequence reported by the terminal is as follows: Fig.11 The prediction results can include Fig.11 See Fig.11 , the first configuration information may include: a switching hop ID, a predicted candidate target cell ID corresponding to the switching hop, a predicted probability of the terminal switching to the aforementioned candidate target cell (i.e., the switching probability), and a predicted switching time point. The predicted switching time point may be an absolute time or an offset time relative to the reporting time, which is not limited in this application. It should be understood that the candidate target cell ID corresponding to the switching hop in the figure is not limited to one cell ID. The content after the switching hop ID is not required to appear, for example, it may not have the predicted probability of the terminal switching to the aforementioned candidate target cell.

[0336] The auxiliary information can be carried through RRC, and is not limited to being carried by MAC-CE, UCI, etc.

[0337] For the prediction results, please refer to the description in S940, which will not be repeated here.

[0338] S1050: Network device #2 sends second configuration information to the terminal according to the prediction result of the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives the second configuration information from network device #2.

[0339] For the description of the second configuration information, please refer to S950. Here, the subsequent steps are described by taking the case where the at least one second cell sequence indicated by the second configuration information is the same as the at least one first cell sequence and the second configuration information includes the handover triggering condition of the next hop as an example.

[0340] S1060: The terminal switches from network device #2 to network device #3 according to the second configuration information.

[0341] The cell sequence predicted by the terminal is Figure 5A When network device #1 is the source network device, the terminal can measure the candidate target cells (cell 2, cell 3, cell 4) of the first hop, determine that cell 2 meets the handover triggering condition, and then switch to cell 2. The network device corresponding to cell 2 is network device #3.

[0342] S1070, network device #2 sends the prediction result reported by the terminal in S1040 to network device #3. Correspondingly, network device #3 receives the prediction result.

[0343] This step can be performed after the terminal decides to switch from network device #2 to network device #3, or before that. For example, after receiving the prediction result, network device #2 can send the prediction result to the network devices corresponding to all candidate target cells, or can send the prediction result to the network device corresponding to the candidate target cell corresponding to the next hop.

[0344] S1080, network device #3 sends third configuration information to the terminal according to the prediction result of the terminal. Correspondingly, the terminal receives the third configuration information from network device #2.

[0345] The third configuration information may include a handover triggering condition of the next hop, or may be a traditional handover configuration, such as configuring neighboring cells to be measured and reporting events to be reported.

[0346] S1090: The terminal switches from network device #3 to network device #4 according to the third configuration information.

[0347] Refer to the example in S1060. After the terminal switches to cell 2, it can measure cell 5 and cell 6. If it is determined that cell 5 meets the switching trigger condition, it switches to cell 5. The network device corresponding to cell 5 is network device #4.

[0348] It should be understood that the subsequent cell switching can be performed with reference to S1070 to S1090, which will not be described in detail herein. It should also be understood that one or more steps in S1060 to S1090 are performed only when certain conditions are met, and in practice, one or some steps may not be performed depending on the actual network conditions.

[0349] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the prediction capability of continuous switching on the terminal side can be enabled, so that even if the network side does not have the prediction capability of continuous switching, the continuous switching prediction function within a period of time can be realized. In addition, by reporting the prediction results through auxiliary information, the network side can be assisted to more appropriately switch the cell sequence of the terminal and perform the relevant configuration of the cell switching.

[0350] Fig.12 It shows the application Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for predicting a switching cell sequence and switching a cell. Fig. 9 For the same terms or concepts, etc., reference can be made to the description of the corresponding terms or concepts in method 900 .

[0351] S1201, the terminal sends the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal to the network device #1. Correspondingly, the network device #1 receives the cell switching prediction capability information.

[0352] This step is the same as S910, and reference may be made to S910.

[0353] S1202, network device #1 sends first configuration information to the terminal according to the cell switching prediction capability information reported by the terminal.

[0354] For this step, reference may be made to S920.

[0355] In an example, the first configuration information may include the following content:

[0356]

[0357] Among them, measId represents the measurement ID; measObject is the measurement object configuration; reportConfig is the reporting configuration; AIFlag indicates that the current measurement object configuration can be used for AI switching prediction on the terminal side, that is, the terminal can perform AI switching prediction based on the measurement results of the measurement object in the configuration, or report the reporting method of the AI ​​prediction result configuration to the network device, so that the network device knows that the report is based on AI prediction.

[0358] In an example, the first configuration information may further include a reporting configuration. Different from S1020, the reporting configuration here is an aperiodic reporting configuration, and the terminal may carry the prediction result in the aperiodic report.

[0359] For example, the reporting configuration may include a bearer message for reporting, for example, the prediction result may be reported via RRC signaling, or MAC-CE signaling, or UCI bearer.

[0360] Furthermore, if it is a UCI bearer, it can be analogous to the aperiodic report of the physical layer, such as aperiodic CSI reporting, etc. Further, network device #1 can configure the UCI payload size, the time-frequency domain location of resource mapping, etc. If it is an RRC signaling bearer, the prediction result can be carried in the UEInformationRequest message for reporting.

[0361] The reporting configuration may also include the fields and formats corresponding to the reported information, such as Fig.11 Example of fields in .

[0362] Optionally, network device #1 can also configure the duration of the terminal response trigger report according to the X value reported by the terminal, for example, reporting after Y time units after receiving the trigger signaling; in addition to the configuration method, Y can also be predefined by the protocol. The meanings of X and Y are shown in Table 1.

[0363] Optionally, the first configuration information may also indicate a failure time / condition of the prediction function.

[0364] Expiration time: For example, after the terminal receives the first configuration information, an expiration timer is started. After the expiration timer times out, it is considered that the terminal can no longer provide relevant prediction capabilities, and the terminal may no longer perform relevant predictions for a period of time.

[0365] Failure conditions: For example, if the signal quality measured by the terminal is lower than a certain threshold, or the speed of the terminal is higher than a certain threshold, it is considered that the terminal is currently unable to provide relevant prediction capabilities, and the terminal may no longer perform relevant predictions for a period of time.

[0366] S1203: The terminal obtains a prediction result according to the first configuration information.

[0367] For this step, reference may be made to S930.

[0368] S1204, network device #2 sends instruction information to the terminal, wherein the instruction information instructs the terminal to report the prediction result.

[0369] This application does not limit the execution order of S1203 and S1204. In one example, after receiving the first configuration information, the terminal can predict the switching cell sequence, and after obtaining the prediction result, it does not actively report it, and reports it after receiving the indication information in S1204. In another example, after receiving the indication information, the terminal performs the switching cell sequence prediction according to the first configuration information, and reports the prediction result to the network device #2 after obtaining it.

[0370] In one example, if the terminal does not obtain a prediction result when receiving the indication information or within a period of time after receiving the indication information, it can also indicate to network device #2 that the terminal does not have a prediction result or cannot generate a prediction result.

[0371] Exemplarily, the indication information may be RRC, MAC-CE, or downlink control information (DCI) DCI, etc. Further, the indication information may be carried in a UEInformationResponse message.

[0372] Exemplarily, the terminal may report the prediction result after X or Y time units.

[0373] S1205: The terminal sends the prediction result to network device #2. Correspondingly, network device #2 receives the prediction result.

[0374] For the prediction results, please refer to the description in S940, which will not be repeated here.

[0375] S1206 to S1210, the configuration of the cell switching and the switching triggering condition on the network device side, can be specifically referred to S1050 to S1090, which will not be repeated here. It should also be understood that one or more steps in S1207 to S1210 are executed only when certain conditions are met, and in practice, one or some steps may not be executed according to the actual network situation.

[0376] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the prediction capability of continuous switching on the terminal side can be enabled, so that even if the network side does not have the prediction capability of continuous switching, the continuous switching prediction function within a period of time can be realized. In addition, by dynamically reporting the prediction results through the network side trigger, the network side can obtain the prediction results of the terminal side as needed. Furthermore, the scheme also allows the terminal to inform the network side when there is no prediction result or the prediction result cannot be generated, so that the network side can enable cell switching in time through other means.

[0377] Fig.13 It shows the application Fig. 9A schematic diagram of a flow chart of the method for predicting the switching cell sequence and switching the cell. Fig. 9 For the same terms or concepts, etc., reference can be made to the description of the corresponding terms or concepts in method 900 .

[0378] S1301, the terminal sends the cell handover prediction capability information of the terminal to the network device #1. Correspondingly, the network device #1 receives the cell handover prediction capability information.

[0379] This step is the same as S910, and reference may be made to S910.

[0380] S1302: Network device #1 sends first configuration information to the terminal according to the cell switching prediction capability information reported by the terminal.

[0381] For this step, reference may be made to S920.

[0382] In an example, the first configuration information may include a reporting trigger condition, and when the reporting trigger condition is met, the terminal reports the prediction result.

[0383] In an example, the first configuration information may also include fields and formats of the reported information, such as Fig.11 Example of fields in .

[0384] In an example, the first configuration information may include the following content:

[0385]

[0386]

[0387] Among them, measId represents the measurement ID; measObject is the measurement object configuration; reportConfig is the reporting configuration; AIFlag indicates that the current measurement object configuration can be used for AI switching prediction on the terminal side, that is, the terminal can perform AI switching prediction based on the measurement results of the measurement object in the configuration, or report the reporting method configured for the AI ​​prediction result to the network device, so that the network device knows that the report is a report based on AI prediction. Among them, the reporting configuration corresponds to the event that triggers the terminal to report the prediction result. Exemplarily, SequentialEventA3 is a signal threshold threshold based on the historical measurement cell or the switching cell to determine whether the report can be triggered. For example, when the signal quality of the historically measured cell is higher than A3-Threshold1, it can be reported, where MeasTriggerQuantity is the type and threshold of the signal quality. For another example, when the signal quality of the service cell historically switched to is higher than A3-Threshold1, it can be reported to trigger the report; optionally, a statistical threshold RequiredNumber can also be added, that is, how many times the handover or how many times the measurement results are higher than the threshold, can trigger the report. Exemplarily, SequentialEventA4 is a terminal that determines whether the switching order of the historical measured cells meets the conditions to trigger the report. For example, HOSequence is the configured switching order requirement. For example, for the cells in the measurement object, the configured switching order requirement is {cell 1, cell 2, cell 3}. When the historical switching order meets the condition, the report can be triggered; optionally, each hop in the handover can have more than one cell, for example, satisfying {[cell 1, cell 4], cell 2, cell 3}. At this time, either cell 1 or cell 4 may be called the service cell to be switched to, and satisfying one of them is sufficient.

[0388] Optionally, the first configuration information may also indicate a failure time / condition of the prediction function.

[0389] Expiration time: For example, after the terminal receives the first configuration information, an expiration timer is started. After the expiration timer times out, it is considered that the terminal can no longer provide relevant prediction capabilities, and the terminal may no longer perform relevant predictions for a period of time.

[0390] Failure conditions: For example, if the signal quality measured by the terminal is lower than a certain threshold, or the speed of the terminal is higher than a certain threshold, it is considered that the terminal is currently unable to provide relevant prediction capabilities, and the terminal may no longer perform relevant predictions for a period of time.

[0391] S1303: The terminal obtains a prediction result according to the first configuration information.

[0392] For this step, reference may be made to S930.

[0393] S1304: The terminal sends the prediction result to network device #2. Correspondingly, network device #2 receives the prediction result.

[0394] When the reporting trigger condition is met, the terminal can send the prediction result to the network device #2. For example, the prediction result can be a measurement report of RRM, which carries the content such as the event and the switching sequence that are met (for example, Fig.11 For example, the prediction result is not limited to the RRM measurement report of RRC, and may also be MAC-CE, UCI, etc.

[0395] For the prediction results, please refer to the description in S940, which will not be repeated here.

[0396] S1305 to S1309, configuration of cell switching and switching triggering conditions on the network device side, for details, please refer to S1050 to S1090, which will not be repeated here.

[0397] It should be understood that the subsequent cell switching can be performed with reference to S1070 to S1090, which will not be described in detail herein. It should also be understood that one or more steps in S1305 to S1309 are performed only when certain conditions are met, and in practice, one or some steps may not be performed depending on the actual network conditions.

[0398] According to the method for cell switching provided by the present application, the prediction capability of continuous switching on the terminal side can be enabled, so that even if the network side does not have the prediction capability of continuous switching, the continuous switching prediction function within a period of time can be realized. In addition, by reporting the prediction results in an event-triggered manner, the measurement results can be dynamically reported when the terminal meets the corresponding conditions, so that the reporting results obtained on the network side are more in line with expectations and requirements.

[0399] It should be noted that the monitoring cells in methods 400, 600 and 800 can also be applied to methods 900, 1000, 1200 and 1300. For contents related to the monitoring cells, reference can be made to methods 400, 600 and 800, which will not be described in detail here. In methods 900, 1000, 1200 and 1300, the monitoring cells can be configured by the network side or determined by the terminal side itself.

[0400] The above describes the method embodiment provided by the present application, and the following describes the device embodiment provided by the present application. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment, so the content not described in detail can be referred to the method embodiment above, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0401] Fig.14is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Fig.14 As shown, the communication device 2000 may include a communication unit 2100 and a processing unit 2200. The communication unit 2100 may implement a corresponding communication function, and the communication may be internal communication of the communication device 2000 or communication between the communication device 2000 and other devices; the processing unit 2200 may implement a corresponding processing function. The communication unit 2100 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a transceiver unit. Optionally, the communication device 2000 may also include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions and / or data, and the processing unit 2200 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit, so that the device implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0402] In one possible design, the communication device 2000 may be the network device in the above method 400 or method 600, or may be a module or chip applied to the network device. The communication device 2000 may be used to execute the steps or processes executed by the network device in the above method 400 or method 600.

[0403] Specifically, the processing unit 2200 is used to generate first configuration information; the communication unit 2100 is used to send the first configuration information. The first configuration information indicates at least one cell sequence and an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, the cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal may switch to in sequence within a first time period, and when the exit trigger condition corresponding to the cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will become invalid.

[0404] Optionally, the first configuration information further indicates: a monitoring cell associated with the candidate target cell and a corresponding monitoring reporting condition, the monitoring cell being used to determine whether the corresponding candidate target cell is applicable, and the monitoring cell is different from the corresponding candidate target cell.

[0405] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is used to further receive first reporting information, where the first reporting information indicates that the monitoring result of the monitored cell meets the monitoring reporting condition.

[0406] Optionally, the monitoring reporting condition is: the signal quality of the monitored cell is greater than a first threshold, and the signal quality of the candidate target cell corresponding to the monitored cell is less than a second threshold, and the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

[0407] Optionally, the exit triggering condition is: the signal qualities of the candidate target cells are all less than a third threshold or the average value of the signal qualities of the candidate target cells is less than a fourth threshold.

[0408] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is further used to receive second reporting information, where the second reporting information indicates that the terminal meets the exit triggering condition.

[0409] Optionally, the first configuration information also indicates one or more of the following: a switching trigger condition, a usage condition associated with the at least one cell sequence, an effective time of the first configuration information, or a measurement parameter required to measure the candidate target cell, and the switching trigger condition is used to determine whether to perform a cell switch.

[0410] In one possible design, the communication device 2000 may be the terminal in the above method 400 or method 600, or may be a module or chip applied to the terminal. The communication device 2000 may be used to execute the steps or processes executed by the terminal in the above method 400 or method 600.

[0411] Specifically, the communication unit 2100 is used to receive first configuration information, and the processing unit 2200 is used to perform cell switching according to the first configuration information. The first configuration information indicates at least one cell sequence and an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, the cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, and the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that the communication device 2000 may switch to in sequence within a first time period. When the exit trigger condition corresponding to the cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will be invalid;

[0412] Optionally, the first configuration information further indicates: a monitoring cell associated with the candidate target cell and a corresponding monitoring reporting condition, the monitoring cell being used to determine whether the corresponding candidate target cell is applicable, and the monitoring cell is different from the corresponding candidate target cell.

[0413] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is further configured to send first reporting information when the monitoring result of the monitored cell meets the monitoring reporting condition, wherein the first reporting information indicates that the monitoring result of the monitored cell meets the monitoring reporting condition.

[0414] Optionally, the monitoring reporting condition is: the signal quality of the monitored cell is greater than a first threshold, and the signal quality of the candidate target cell corresponding to the monitored cell is less than a second threshold, and the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

[0415] Optionally, the exit triggering condition is: the signal qualities of the candidate target cells are all less than a third threshold or the average value of the signal qualities of the candidate target cells is less than a fourth threshold.

[0416] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is further configured to send second reporting information when the exit trigger condition is met, wherein the second reporting information indicates that the communication device 2000 meets the exit trigger condition.

[0417] Optionally, the first configuration information also indicates one or more of the following: a switching trigger condition, a usage condition associated with the at least one cell sequence, an effective time of the first configuration information, or a measurement parameter required to measure the candidate target cell, and the switching trigger condition is used to determine whether to perform a cell switch.

[0418] In one possible design, the communication device 2000 may be the network device in the above method 600, method 800, method 900 or method 1100, or may be a module or chip applied to the network device. The communication device 2000 may be used to execute the steps or processes executed by the network device in the above method 600, method 800, method 900 or method 1100.

[0419] Specifically, the communication unit 2100 is used to send first configuration information and receive a prediction result. The first configuration information is determined according to the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, the first configuration information includes a measurement object configuration, and the first configuration information is used by the terminal to predict the target cells that may be switched to in sequence within a first time period. The prediction result is determined according to the first configuration information, and the prediction result indicates at least one first switching first cell sequence, the first cell sequence includes at least one first candidate target cell, and the at least one first candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal predicts may be switched to in sequence within the first time period.

[0420] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is also used to send second configuration information, wherein the second configuration information indicates at least one second cell sequence, the second cell sequence includes at least one second candidate target cell, and the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell to which the terminal may switch in sequence within the first time period, and the second configuration information is determined based on the prediction result.

[0421] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is further used to receive the cell switching prediction capability information.

[0422] Optionally, the cell switching prediction capability information includes one or more of the following: the number of consecutive switchings that the terminal can predict, the cell parameters that the terminal can predict, the effective time that the terminal can predict, the number of cells required for the terminal to measure, the cell parameters required for the terminal to measure, the time required for the terminal to measure, or the reference signal configuration required for the terminal to measure.

[0423] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is specifically used to: receive auxiliary information, where the auxiliary information includes the prediction result.

[0424] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is further used to send indication information, where the indication information is used to trigger the terminal to report the prediction result.

[0425] Optionally, the first configuration information includes a reporting trigger condition, and when the reporting trigger condition is met, the terminal reports the prediction result.

[0426] Optionally, the prediction result also includes one or more of the following: cell information in the first cell sequence, the probability of correct prediction of cells in the first cell sequence, the switching time point of each hop in the first cell sequence, or the predicted effective duration of the first cell sequence.

[0427] In one possible design, the communication device 2000 may be a terminal in the above method 600, method 800, method 900 or method 1100, or may be a module or chip applied to a terminal. The communication device 2000 may be used to execute the steps or processes executed by the terminal in the above method 600, method 800, method 900 or method 1100.

[0428] Specifically, the communication unit 2100 is used to receive first configuration information, where the first configuration information is determined based on the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, and the first configuration information includes a measurement object configuration; the processing unit 2200 is used to determine at least one first cell sequence based on the first configuration information, where the first cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, and the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell predicted to be likely to be switched to in sequence within a first time period; the communication unit 2100 is also used to send a prediction result, where the prediction result indicates the at least one first cell sequence.

[0429] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is further used to send the cell switching prediction capability information.

[0430] Optionally, the cell switching prediction capability information includes one or more of the following: the number of consecutive switchings that the communication device 2000 can predict, the cell parameters that the communication device 2000 can predict, the effective time that the communication device 2000 can predict, the number of cells required for the communication device 2000 to measure, the cell parameters required for the communication device 2000 to measure, the time required for the communication device 2000 to measure, or the reference signal configuration required for the communication device 2000 to measure.

[0431] Optionally, the prediction result is sent in any one of the following ways: sending by reporting auxiliary information, sending according to instruction information of a network device, or sending after a reporting trigger condition configured by a network device is met.

[0432] Optionally, the prediction result also includes one or more of the following: cell information in the first cell sequence, the probability of correct prediction of cells in the first cell sequence, the switching time point of each hop in the first cell sequence, or the predicted effective duration of the first cell sequence.

[0433] For the steps or processes executed by each unit in the communication device 2000, please refer to the description in the corresponding method, which will not be described in detail here.

[0434] It should be understood that the "unit" in the communication device 2000 can be implemented by hardware, can be implemented by software, and can also be implemented by hardware executing the corresponding software. For example, the "unit" can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combined logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. For another example, the communication unit 2100 can be replaced by a transceiver transceiver circuit (for example, it can include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit 2200 can be replaced by a processor or a processing circuit.

[0435] Fig.15 A schematic block diagram of another communication device 3000 provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. The device 3000 may be a network device or a terminal, or may be a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the network device or terminal to implement the above method. The device may be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment, and the details may refer to the description in the above method embodiment.

[0436] The device 3000 may include one or more processors 3100, which may also be referred to as processing units, and may implement certain control functions. The processor 3100 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit may be used to control a communication device (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a user chip, a DU or a CU, etc.), execute a software program, and process the data of the software program.

[0437] In an optional design, the processor 3100 may also store instructions and / or data, which can be executed by the processor 3100 so that the device 3000 executes the method described in the above method embodiment.

[0438] In another optional design, the device 3000 may include a communication interface 3200 for implementing the receiving and sending functions. For example, the communication interface 3200 may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, an interface circuit, or a transceiver. The transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver for implementing the receiving and sending functions may be separate or integrated. The above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0439] Optionally, the device 3000 may include one or more memories 3300, on which instructions may be stored, and the instructions may be executed on the processor 3100, so that the device 3000 performs the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory 3300. Optionally, instructions and / or data may also be stored in the processor 3100. The processor 3100 and the memory 3300 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0440] Fig.16 The present application provides a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal 4000. The above communication device 2000 or the communication device 3000 can be configured in the terminal 4000. Alternatively, the communication device 2000 or the communication device 3000 itself can be the terminal 4000. In other words, the terminal 4000 can perform the actions performed by the terminal in the above method embodiment. Optionally, for ease of description, Fig.16 Only the main components of the terminal are shown.

[0441] In one implementation, the terminal 4000 is used to: receive first configuration information, and perform cell switching according to the first configuration information. The first configuration information indicates at least one cell sequence and an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, the cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal may switch to in sequence within a first time period, and when the exit trigger condition corresponding to the cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will become invalid.

[0442] In another implementation, the terminal 4000 is used to: receive first configuration information, where the first configuration information is determined based on the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, and the first configuration information includes a measurement object configuration; determine at least one first cell sequence based on the first configuration information, where the first cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, and the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell predicted to be likely to be switched to in sequence within a first time period; and send a prediction result, where the prediction result indicates the at least one first cell sequence.

[0443] like Fig.16 As shown, terminal 4000 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input and output device.

[0444] The processor is mainly used to process the communication protocol and communication data, as well as to control the entire terminal, execute the software program, and process the data of the software program, for example, to support the terminal to perform the actions described in the above method embodiment. The memory is mainly used to store software programs and data. The control circuit is mainly used for the conversion of baseband signals and radio frequency signals and the processing of radio frequency signals. The control circuit and the antenna can also be called a transceiver, which is mainly used to send and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc. are mainly used to receive data input by users and output data to users.

[0445] When the terminal is turned on, the processor can read the software program in the storage unit, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent, and outputs the baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit performs RF processing on the baseband signal and then sends the RF signal outward in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna, converts the RF signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor. The processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0446] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that for ease of description, Fig.16 Only one memory and processor are shown. In an actual terminal, there may be multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0447] For example, the processor may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit. The baseband processor is mainly used to process the communication protocol and communication data, and the central processing unit is mainly used to control the entire terminal, execute software programs, and process data of the software programs. Fig.16The processor in the integrated baseband processor and the central processor functions, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the baseband processor and the central processor may also be independent processors, interconnected by bus and other technologies. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal may include multiple baseband processors to adapt to different network formats, the terminal may include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capabilities, and the various components of the terminal may be connected through various buses. The baseband processor may also be described as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processor may also be described as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and the communication data may be built into the processor, or may be stored in the storage unit in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to implement the baseband processing function.

[0448] For example, in the embodiment of the present application, the antenna and the control circuit having the transceiver function may be regarded as the transceiver unit 4100 of the terminal 4000, and the processor having the processing function may be regarded as the processing unit 4200 of the terminal 4000. Fig.16 As shown, the terminal 4000 includes a transceiver unit 4100 and a processing unit 4200. The transceiver unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. Optionally, the device used to implement the receiving function in the transceiver unit 4100 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and the device used to implement the sending function in the transceiver unit 4100 may be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the transceiver unit 4100 includes a receiving unit and a sending unit. Exemplarily, the receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiver, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0449] Fig.17 The present invention provides a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device 5000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The above-mentioned communication device 2000 or communication device 3000 can be configured in the network device 5000. Alternatively, the communication device 2000 or communication device 3000 itself can be the network device 5000. Alternatively, the network device 5000 can perform the actions performed by the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0450] In one implementation, the network device 5000 is used to: generate first configuration information and send the first configuration information. The first configuration information indicates at least one cell sequence and an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, the cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal may switch to in sequence within a first time period, and when the exit trigger condition corresponding to the cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will become invalid.

[0451] In another implementation, the network device 5000 is used to: send first configuration information and receive a prediction result. The first configuration information is determined according to the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, the first configuration information includes a measurement object configuration, and the first configuration information is used by the terminal to predict target cells that may be switched to in sequence within a first time period. The prediction result is determined according to the first configuration information, and the prediction result indicates at least one first switching first cell sequence, the first cell sequence includes at least one first candidate target cell, and the at least one first candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal predicts may be switched to in sequence within the first time period.

[0452] like Fig.17 As shown, the network device 5000 may include one or more DUs 5010 and one or more CUs 5020. The CU 5020 may communicate with the NG core (Next Generation Core Network, NC). The DU 5010 may include at least one antenna 5011, at least one radio frequency unit 5012, at least one processor 5013 and at least one memory 5014. The DU 5010 part is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals, converting radio frequency signals to baseband signals, and part of baseband processing. The CU5020 may include at least one processor 5022 and at least one memory 5021. The CU 5020 and the DU 5010 may communicate through an interface, wherein the control plane (CP) interface may be Fs-C, such as F1-C, and the user plane (UP) interface may be Fs-U, such as F1-U.

[0453] The CU 5020 part is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the network device 5000, etc. The DU 5010 and the CU 5020 can be physically set together or physically separated, that is, a distributed base station. The CU 5020 is the control center of the network device 5000, which can also be called a processing unit, and is mainly used to complete the baseband processing function. For example, the CU 5020 can be used to control the network device 5000 to execute the operation process of the first device or the second device in the above method embodiment.

[0454] Specifically, the baseband processing on the CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layer of the wireless network, for example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above protocol layers are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP, such as the RLC layer and the MAC layer, are set in the DU. For another example, the CU implements the functions of the RRC layer and the PDCP layer, and the DU implements the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer.

[0455] In addition, optionally, the network device 5000 may include one or more radio frequency units (RUs), one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. The DU may include at least one processor 5013 and at least one memory 5014, the RU may include at least one antenna 5011 and at least one radio frequency unit 5012, and the CU may include at least one processor 5022 and at least one memory 5021.

[0456] In one example, the CU 5020 may be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as a 5G network), or may respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 5021 and the processor 5022 may serve one or more single boards. In other words, a memory and a processor may be separately set on each single board. It may also be that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may be set on each single board. The DU 5010 may be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as a 5G network), or may respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 5014 and the processor 5013 may serve one or more single boards. In other words, a memory and a processor may be separately set on each single board. It may also be that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may also be set on each single board.

[0457] It should be understood that Fig.17 The network device 5000 shown can implement each process of the action performed by the second communication device in the above method embodiment. The operation and / or function of each module in the network device 5000 is to implement the corresponding process in the above method embodiment. For details, please refer to the description in the above method embodiment. To avoid repetition, the detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0458] It should be understood that Fig.17 The network device 5000 shown is only a possible architecture of the network device and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The method provided in the present application can be applied to network devices of other architectures. For example, network devices including CU, DU and AAU, etc. The present application does not limit the specific architecture of the network device.

[0459] It should be understood that in a possible design, each step in the method embodiment provided by the present application can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor or an instruction in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiment of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware processor for execution, or a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor for execution. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

[0460] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiment of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or an instruction in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. The methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware decoding processor to perform, or the hardware and software modules in the decoding processor can be combined and performed. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the field such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0461] It can be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0462] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, when the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer executes each step or process executed by the network device or terminal in any of the above method embodiments.

[0463] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the computer executes each step or process executed by the network device or terminal in any of the above method embodiments.

[0464] The present application also provides a communication device, including a processor and an interface, wherein the interface is used to send and / or receive signals, so that the processor executes each step or process executed by the network device or terminal in any of the above method embodiments.

[0465] The present application also provides a communication system, which includes at least one of a network device and a terminal.

[0466] The above-mentioned various device embodiments and method embodiments completely correspond to each other, and the corresponding steps are executed by the corresponding modules or units. For example, the communication unit or communication interface executes the receiving or sending steps in the method embodiment, and the other steps except sending and receiving can be executed by the processing unit or processor.

[0467] In the embodiments of the present application, each term and English abbreviation is provided for the convenience of description and shall not constitute any limitation to the present application. The present application does not exclude the possibility of defining other terms that can achieve the same or similar functions in existing or future protocols.

[0468] The terms "component", "module", "system", etc. used in this specification are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both applications running on a computing device and a computing device can be components. One or more components may reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component may be located on a computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components may be executed from various computer-readable storage media having various data structures stored thereon. Components may, for example, communicate through local and / or remote processes according to signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems through signals).

[0469] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or in a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0470] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can be based on the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0471] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0472] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0473] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0474] In the above embodiments, the functions of each functional unit can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using 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 instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (programs) are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can 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 instructions can be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains one or more available media integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0475] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or partly embodied in the form of a software product that contributes to the prior art. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0476] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for cell switching, characterized in that: Applied to a network device, the method comprises: generating first configuration information; Sending the first configuration information; Among them, the first configuration information indicates at least one cell sequence and an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, the cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, and the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal may switch to in sequence within a first time period. When the exit trigger condition corresponding to the cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will become invalid.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first configuration information further indicates: a monitoring cell associated with the candidate target cell and a corresponding monitoring reporting condition, the monitoring cell being used to determine whether the corresponding candidate target cell is applicable, and the monitoring cell being different from the corresponding candidate target cell.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: First reporting information is received, where the first reporting information indicates that the monitoring result of the monitored cell meets the monitoring reporting condition.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that The monitoring reporting condition is: the signal quality of the monitoring cell is greater than a first threshold, and the signal quality of the candidate target cell corresponding to the monitoring cell is less than a second threshold, and the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The exit triggering condition is: the signal qualities of the candidate target cells are all less than a third threshold or the average of the signal qualities of the candidate target cells is less than a fourth threshold.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: Second reporting information is received, where the second reporting information indicates that the terminal meets the exit triggering condition.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The first configuration information also indicates one or more of the following: a switching trigger condition, a usage condition associated with the at least one cell sequence, an effective time of the first configuration information, or a measurement parameter required to measure the candidate target cell, and the switching trigger condition is used to determine whether to perform a cell switch.

8. A method for cell switching, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal, the method comprises: receiving first configuration information, where the first configuration information indicates at least one cell sequence and an exit trigger condition of the at least one cell sequence, where the cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, where the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that a terminal may sequentially switch to within a first time period, and when the exit trigger condition corresponding to the cell sequence is met, the cell sequence will become invalid; Perform cell switching according to the first configuration information.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first configuration information further indicates: a monitoring cell associated with the candidate target cell and a corresponding monitoring reporting condition, the monitoring cell being used to determine whether the corresponding candidate target cell is applicable, and the monitoring cell being different from the corresponding candidate target cell.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: In the case where the monitoring result of the monitoring cell meets the monitoring reporting condition, first reporting information is sent, where the first reporting information indicates that the monitoring result of the monitoring cell meets the monitoring reporting condition.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that The monitoring reporting condition is: the signal quality of the monitoring cell is greater than a first threshold, and the signal quality of the candidate target cell corresponding to the monitoring cell is less than a second threshold, and the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that The exit triggering condition is: the signal qualities of the candidate target cells are all less than a third threshold or the average of the signal qualities of the candidate target cells is less than a fourth threshold.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: When the exit trigger condition is met, second reporting information is sent, where the second reporting information indicates that the terminal meets the exit trigger condition.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that The first configuration information also indicates one or more of the following: a switching trigger condition, a usage condition associated with the at least one cell sequence, an effective time of the first configuration information, or a measurement parameter required to measure the candidate target cell, and the switching trigger condition is used to determine whether to perform a cell switch.

15. A method for cell switching, characterized in that: Applied to a network device, the method comprises: Sending first configuration information, where the first configuration information is determined according to the cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, the first configuration information includes measurement object configuration, and the first configuration information is used by the terminal to predict target cells that may be switched to in sequence within a first time period; Receive a prediction result, where the prediction result is determined based on the first configuration information, and the prediction result indicates at least one first switching first cell sequence, where the first cell sequence includes at least one first candidate target cell, and the at least one first candidate target cell is a target cell predicted by the terminal to be switched to in sequence within the first time period.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send second configuration information, where the second configuration information indicates at least one second cell sequence, where the second cell sequence includes at least one second candidate target cell, where the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that the terminal may switch to in sequence within the first time period, and where the second configuration information is determined based on the prediction result.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that Before sending the first configuration information, the method further includes: The cell switching prediction capability information is received.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that The cell switching prediction capability information includes one or more of the following: the number of consecutive switchings that the terminal can predict, the cell parameters that the terminal can predict, the effective time that the terminal can predict, the number of cells required for the terminal to measure, the cell parameters required for the terminal to measure, the time required for the terminal to measure, or the reference signal configuration required for the terminal to measure.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that The receiving prediction result comprises: Auxiliary information is received, where the auxiliary information includes the prediction result.

20. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that Before receiving the prediction result, the method further includes: Sending indication information, where the indication information is used to trigger the terminal to report the prediction result.

21. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that The first configuration information includes a reporting trigger condition, and when the reporting trigger condition is met, the terminal reports the prediction result.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 21, characterized in that The prediction result also includes one or more of the following: cell information in the first cell sequence, the probability of correct prediction of cells in the first cell sequence, the switching time point of each hop in the first cell sequence, or the predicted effective duration of the first cell sequence.

23. A method for cell switching, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving first configuration information, where the first configuration information is determined according to cell switching prediction capability information of the terminal, and the first configuration information includes measurement object configuration; Determine at least one first cell sequence according to the first configuration information, where the first cell sequence includes at least one candidate target cell, and the at least one candidate target cell is a target cell that is predicted to be likely to be switched to in sequence within a first time period; A prediction result is sent, where the prediction result indicates the at least one first cell sequence.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein: Before receiving the first configuration information, the method further includes: The cell switching prediction capability information is sent.

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that The cell switching prediction capability information includes one or more of the following: the number of consecutive switchings that the terminal can predict, the cell parameters that the terminal can predict, the effective time that the terminal can predict, the number of cells required for the terminal to measure, the cell parameters required for the terminal to measure, the time required for the terminal to measure, or the reference signal configuration required for the terminal to measure.

26. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 25, characterized in that The prediction result may be sent in any of the following ways: It is sent by reporting auxiliary information, according to the instruction information of the network device, or after the reporting trigger condition configured by the network device is met.

27. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 26, characterized in that The prediction result also includes one or more of the following: cell information in the first cell sequence, the probability of correct prediction of cells in the first cell sequence, the switching time point of each hop in the first cell sequence, or the predicted effective duration of the first cell sequence.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: A unit comprising the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, or a unit comprising the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 14, or a unit comprising the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 22, or a unit comprising the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 27.

29. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor coupled to a memory, wherein the memory is used to store programs or instructions. When the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the device executes a method as described in any one of claims 1-7, any one of 8-14, any one of 15-22, or any one of 23-27.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface, wherein the interface is used to send and / or receive signals, so that the processor executes the method as described in any one of claims 1-7, any one of 8-14, any one of 15-22, or any one of 23-27.

31. A readable storage medium having a computer program or instruction stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program or instructions are executed, the computer is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-7, any one of 8-14, any one of 15-22, or any one of 23-27.

32. A computer program product, characterized in that Comprising computer program instructions, the computer program instructions causing the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-7, any one of 8-14, any one of 15-22, or any one of 23-27.

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