Cell selection method and terminal

Abstract

The invention discloses a cell selection method and a terminal, and belongs to the technical field of communication, and the cell selection method comprises the steps that the terminal performs cell selection based on first information; the first information is used for indicating that the terminal has the NTN capability but does not sign the NTN.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a cell selection method and terminal. Background Art

[0002] With the development of information technology, modern communication systems have put forward more urgent requirements for high efficiency, mobility, and diversity of communication. At present, satellites play an irreplaceable role in some important application scenarios, such as space communication, aviation communication, maritime communication, military communication, etc. Satellite communication has the characteristics of long communication distance, large coverage area, and flexible networking. It can provide services for both fixed terminals and various mobile terminals.

[0003] Since the traditional terrestrial network cannot provide seamless coverage for terminals, especially in places where base stations cannot be deployed, such as the sea, desert, and air, non-terrestrial networks (NTN) are introduced into the communication system. If NTN cells and terrestrial network TN cells are available in the same public land mobile network (PLMN), how to select cells for terminals that support NTN capabilities but have not signed NTN contracts, or terminals that do not support NTN capabilities, is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a cell selection method and a terminal, which can solve the problem of how to perform cell selection for a terminal that supports NTN capability but has not signed a contract with NTN.

[0005] In a first aspect, a cell selection method is provided, comprising:

[0006] The terminal performs cell selection based on first information; the first information is used to indicate that the terminal has NTN capability but has not subscribed to NTN.

[0007] In a second aspect, a cell selection device is provided, including:

[0008] The processing module is used to perform cell selection based on first information; the first information is used to indicate that the terminal has NTN capability but has not signed up for NTN.

[0009] In a third aspect, a terminal is provided, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be executed on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented.

[0010] In a fourth aspect, a terminal is provided, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is used to perform cell selection based on first information; the first information is used to indicate that the terminal has NTN capability but has not signed up for NTN.

[0011] In a fifth aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described in the first aspect are implemented.

[0012] In a sixth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising: a terminal and a network side device, wherein the terminal can be used to execute the steps of the method described in the first aspect, and the network side device can be used to interact with the terminal to assist the terminal in executing the steps of the method described in the first aspect.

[0013] In a seventh aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run a program or instruction to implement the method described in the first aspect.

[0014] In an eighth aspect, a computer program / program product is provided, wherein the computer program / program product is stored in a storage medium, and the program / program product is executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the method as described in the first aspect.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal performs cell selection based on the first information; the first information is used to indicate that the terminal has NTN capability but has not signed a contract with NTN, that is, for a terminal that has not signed a contract with NTN, the terminal will be prohibited from selecting and accessing the NTN cell, and then select the TN cell, that is, access control is performed when the terminal performs network selection, to prevent the terminal that has not signed a contract with NTN from selecting the NTN network and being rejected by the NTN network, generating unnecessary signaling interaction, saving signaling overhead and saving terminal energy consumption. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] Figure 2 It is one of the flowcharts of the access method in the related art;

[0018] Figure 3 This is one of the flowcharts of the cell selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 4 This is one of the interactive flow diagrams of the cell selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 5This is the second interactive flow diagram of the cell selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 6 It is one of the structural schematic diagrams of the cell selection device provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the terminal of an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field belong to the scope of protection of this application.

[0025] The terms "first", "second", etc. of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein, and the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of one type, and the number of objects is not limited, for example, the first object can be one or more. In addition, "or" in the present application represents at least one of the connected objects. For example, "A or B" covers three schemes, namely, Scheme 1: including A but not including B; Scheme 2: including B but not including A; Scheme 3: including both A and B. The character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship.

[0026] The term "indication" in this application can be a direct indication (or explicit indication) or an indirect indication (or implicit indication). A direct indication can be understood as the sender explicitly informing the receiver of specific information, operations to be performed, or request results in the sent indication; an indirect indication can be understood as the receiver determining the corresponding information according to the indication sent by the sender, or making a judgment and determining the operation to be performed or the request result according to the judgment result.

[0027] It is worth noting that the technology described in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, but can also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the described technology can be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as for other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for illustrative purposes, and NR terminology is used in most of the following descriptions, but these technologies can also be applied to systems other than NR systems, such as the 6th generation (6 th Generation, 6G) communication system.

[0028] Figure 1A block diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network side device 12. Among them, the terminal 11 can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Tablet Personal Computer), a laptop computer (Laptop Computer), a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), a handheld computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (Ultra-mobile Personal Computer, UMPC), a mobile Internet device (Mobile Internet Device, MID), an augmented reality (Augmented Reality, AR), a virtual reality (Virtual Reality, VR) device, a robot, a wearable device (Wearable Device), an aircraft (flight vehicle), a vehicle-mounted device (Vehicle User Equipment, VUE), a ship-mounted device, a pedestrian terminal (Pedestrian User Equipment, PUE), a smart home (home appliances with wireless communication functions, such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines or furniture, etc.), a game console, a personal computer (Personal Computer, PC), a teller machine or a self-service machine and other terminal side devices. Wearable devices include: smart watches, smart bracelets, smart headphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart bracelets, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart anklets, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, etc. Among them, the vehicle-mounted device can also be called a vehicle-mounted terminal, a vehicle-mounted controller, a vehicle-mounted module, a vehicle-mounted component, a vehicle-mounted chip or a vehicle-mounted unit, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. The network side device 12 may include an access network device or a core network device, wherein the access network device may also be referred to as a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) device, a radio access network function or a radio access network unit. The access network device may include a base station, a wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN) access point (Access Point, AP) or a wireless fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, WiFi) node, etc.Among them, the base station may be referred to as a Node B (NB), an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), a New Radio Node B (NR Node B), an access point, a Relay Base Station (RBS), a Serving Base Station (SBS), a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a Basic Service Set (BSS), an Extended Service Set (ESS), a Home Node B (HNB), a Home Evolved Node B, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) or other appropriate terms in the field. As long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to specific technical terms. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, only the base station in the NR system is used as an example for introduction, and the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0029] The core network equipment may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: core network node, core network function, mobility management entity (Mobility Management Entity, MME), access mobility management function (Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF), session management function (Session Management Function, SMF), user plane function (User Plane Function, UPF), policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF), policy and charging rules function unit (Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF), edge application service discovery function (Edge Application Server Discovery Function, EASDF), unified data management (Unified Data Management, UDM), unified data storage (Unified Data Repository, UDR), home user server (Home Subscriber Server, HSS), centralized network configuration (CNC), network storage function (Network Repository Function, NRF), network exposure function (Network Exposure Function, NEF), local NEF (Local NEF, or L-NEF), binding support function (Binding Support Function, BSF), application function (Application Function, AF), etc. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, only the core network device in the NR system is introduced as an example, and the specific type of the core network device is not limited.

[0030] First, the application scenarios involved in the embodiments of the present application are introduced:

[0031] Currently, in a satellite communication scenario (also referred to as an NTN communication scenario), there is the following scenario: if NTN access and TN access are available in the same PLMN, for terminals with NTN capabilities but without NTN contracts, the operator hopes to control such terminals to access TN cells instead of NTN cells. For example, a potential solution is that the network side device rejects the NAS request sent through the NTN access and carries a certain rejection reason value (for example, satellite access not allowed in this PLMN), such as Figure 2 shown.

[0032] However, the premise of the above solution is that the terminal has selected the NTN cell. After the terminal initiates a signaling request to AMF, AMF rejects the terminal's signaling request based on the terminal contract information obtained from UDM. This requires the terminal and the network side equipment to interact with the signaling process, which not only wastes signaling but also increases the waiting time for the terminal to obtain services, which will increase the power consumption of the terminal and affect the terminal's service experience.

[0033] Therefore, for the above scenario, how to control the terminal to access the TN cell instead of the NTN cell is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0034] The method of the embodiment of the present application performs cell selection when the terminal performs network selection, treats the terminal with NTN capability but without NTN contract as the terminal without NTN capability, and prohibits the terminal with NTN capability but without NTN contract from accessing the NTN cell. By determining whether NTN is available, if it is not available, the terminal is prohibited from accessing the NTN cell, so that the "terminal with NTN capability but without NTN contract" is directly selected to the TN cell, avoiding signaling interaction with the NTN network.

[0035] The cell selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below through some embodiments and their application scenarios in combination with the accompanying drawings.

[0036] Please refer to Figure 3 The embodiment of the present application provides a cell selection method. The execution subject of the embodiment is a terminal. The method includes:

[0037] Step 101: The terminal performs cell selection based on first information; the first information is used to indicate that the terminal has NTN capability but has not signed up for NTN.

[0038] Specifically, the terminal not signing NTN means that the user has not purchased the NTN Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) or has not subscribed to an NTN package of a certain operator; optionally, not signing NTN can also be understood as not signing satellite service or not signing NTN service.

[0039] The terminal has NTN capability, that is, it supports NTN connection; if the terminal does not support NTN connection, that is, the terminal has no NTN capability, it means that the terminal cannot search for NTN frequency points.

[0040] The terminal performs cell selection based on the first information, so that a terminal having NTN capability but not subscribing to NTN is prohibited from selecting and accessing an NTN cell.

[0041] In the method of this embodiment, the terminal performs cell selection based on the first information; the first information is used to indicate that the terminal has NTN capability but has not signed a contract with NTN, that is, for a terminal that has not signed a contract with NTN, the terminal will be prohibited from selecting and accessing an NTN cell, and will then select a TN cell, that is, access control is performed when the terminal performs network selection, to prevent the terminal that has not signed a contract with NTN from selecting an NTN network and being rejected by the NTN network, thereby generating unnecessary signaling interactions, saving signaling overhead and saving terminal energy consumption.

[0042] Optionally, step 101 may be implemented in the following manner:

[0043] The NAS of the terminal performs network selection based on the first information, and the AS of the terminal performs cell selection based on a result of the NAS network selection; or,

[0044] The NAS of the terminal performs network selection, and the AS of the terminal performs cell selection based on the result of the NAS network selection.

[0045] Optionally, before the NAS of the terminal performs network selection based on the first information, the AS of the terminal performs a cell search based on the first information to obtain at least one first network, and provides an identifier of the at least one first network to the NAS for the NAS to perform network selection. Optionally, the NAS provides the first information to the AS. The manner in which the NAS determines the first information is described in detail in the following embodiment.

[0046] Optionally, before the NAS of the terminal performs network selection, the AS of the terminal performs a cell search based on the first information to obtain at least one first network, and provides an identifier of the at least one first network to the NAS for the NAS to perform network selection. Optionally, the AS determines the first information, and the manner in which the AS determines the first information is detailed in the following embodiment.

[0047] Optionally, step 101 may specifically include:

[0048] The terminal determines whether the non-terrestrial network NTN is available based on the first information;

[0049] The terminal performs cell selection based on the result of whether the NTN is available.

[0050] Specifically, the terminal determines whether NTN is available, or whether NTN allows the terminal to use (or whether the NTN service is allowed) based on the first information. If the terminal has not signed up for NTN (the terminal may have NTN capabilities in this case) or the terminal does not support NTN connection, it is determined that NTN is unavailable, or NTN does not allow the terminal to use it.

[0051] The terminal performs cell selection based on the result of whether NTN is available, that is, NTN is available or NTN is not available; if NTN is available, the NTN cell can be selected for access; if NTN is not available, the NTN cell is not selected to avoid signaling overhead generated by interaction with the NTN network. Optionally, NTN availability can refer to the terminal signing a contract for the non-terrestrial network NTN or the terminal supporting NTN connection; NTN unavailable can refer to the terminal not signing a contract for the non-terrestrial network NTN or the terminal not supporting NTN connection. Whether NTN is available can be understood as whether satellite access is available or whether satellite services are available or whether non-terrestrial networks are available.

[0052] The method of this embodiment determines whether NTN is available based on the first information, that is, for a terminal that has not signed a contract with NTN or a terminal that does not support NTN connection, NTN is not available, and the above-mentioned terminal will be prohibited from selecting and accessing the NTN cell, and then select the TN cell, that is, access control is performed when the terminal performs network selection, to prevent the terminal that has not signed a contract with NTN from selecting the NTN network and being rejected by the NTN network, thereby generating unnecessary signaling interaction, saving signaling overhead and saving terminal energy consumption.

[0053] Optionally, the step of "the terminal determines whether the non-terrestrial network NTN is available based on the first information" can be specifically implemented in the following manner:

[0054] A non-access stratum (NAS) of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the first information;

[0055] The step "the terminal performs cell selection based on the result of whether the NTN is available" can be specifically implemented in the following manner:

[0056] The NAS of the terminal determines the second network based on the result of whether the NTN is available and the identifier of at least one first network searched by the access layer AS of the terminal, and provides the identifier of the second network to the AS of the terminal;

[0057] The AS of the terminal performs cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

[0058] Specifically, the NAS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the first information, and the NAS of the terminal performs network selection based on the result of whether the NTN is available. For example, the NAS of the terminal selects the second network based on the result of whether the NTN is available and the identifier of at least one first network searched by the access layer AS of the terminal, that is, does not select the network related to the NTN access technology, and provides the identifier of the selected second network to the AS. The AS of the terminal performs cell selection based on the identifier of the second network, that is, selects the cell of the second network for access. Here, the network related to the NTN access technology can be understood as the NTN access technology and network in the network and access technology combination (PLMN / access technology combination).

[0059] Optionally, the first network is a network where a cell having a signal strength greater than or equal to a preset threshold is located; and the cell having a signal strength greater than or equal to the preset threshold is a terrestrial network TN cell or NTN cell.

[0060] Specifically, the at least one first network searched by the AS may include a TN cell or an NTN cell.

[0061] If the AS knows that the terminal does not support NTN connection, it will ignore the NTN cell and will not report the information of the network where the NTN cell is located to the NAS.

[0062] Optionally, the AS of the terminal reports the PLMN IDs of the cells with the strongest signals that are searched to the NAS of the terminal.

[0063] The NAS of the terminal performs network selection and the NAS of the terminal does not select the PLMN associated with the NTN access technology.

[0064] The NAS of the terminal provides the selected PLMN ID to the AS of the terminal;

[0065] The AS of the terminal selects an available cell under the selected PLMN.

[0066] Optionally, “determining the second network based on the result of whether the NTN is available stated by the NAS of the terminal and the identifier of at least one first network searched by the access layer AS of the terminal” can be implemented as follows:

[0067] The NAS of the terminal regards at least one first network related to the NTN access technology in the first network as a low priority, and determines the second network based on the priority of the at least one first network; or,

[0068] The NAS of the terminal determines the second network from at least one or more first networks that are not related to the NTN access technology.

[0069] Specifically, the NAS of the terminal regards the first network associated with the NTN access technology as a low priority, and then selects the second network according to the priority, that is, selects a network with a high priority in at least one first network as the second network; or,

[0070] The NAS of the terminal skips the network associated with the NTN access technology and selects another network. For example, the second network may be selected from the networks not associated with the NTN access technology according to the priority.

[0071] In the above implementation mode, the NAS of the terminal determines whether NTN is available based on the first information, that is, for a terminal that has not signed a contract for NTN or a terminal that does not support NTN connection, it is determined that NTN is unavailable, and the terminal is prohibited from selecting and accessing the NTN cell, and then selects the TN cell, that is, the cell selection is performed when the terminal performs network selection, avoiding signaling interaction with the NTN network, reducing signaling overhead, and saving terminal energy consumption.

[0072] Optionally, before determining the second network, the following steps may also be performed:

[0073] The NAS of the terminal provides the first information to the AS of the terminal;

[0074] The AS of the terminal performs a cell search based on the first information, and sends an identifier of at least one of the first networks obtained through the search to the NAS of the terminal.

[0075] Specifically, the NAS of the terminal provides the AS of the terminal with first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the terminal has not subscribed to the NTN or the terminal does not support NTN connection, that is, the terminal is not allowed to access the NTN.

[0076] The NAS of the terminal provides the AS of the terminal with the first information for assisting the bottom layer in performing cell selection.

[0077] The AS of the terminal determines that the terminal does not support NTN connection based on the received first information, and the AS of the terminal performs a cell search based on the first information, then the AS of the terminal will not search for the NTN cell. Optionally, the status of the NTN cell is indicated as prohibited in a master information block (Master Information Block, MIB), and the terminal that does not support NTN connection will read the indication in the MIB, and the AS of the terminal considers that the NTN cell is prohibited from access.

[0078] The AS of the terminal reports the identifier of at least one first network of the searched cell with the strongest signal to the NAS of the terminal.

[0079] Optionally, the first network is a PLMN.

[0080] Optionally, the AS of the terminal selects an available cell under the PLMN selected by the NAS. Since the AS of the terminal believes that the NTN cell is prohibited from access, the AS of the terminal will not select the NTN cell.

[0081] In the above implementation, the AS learns during cell search that the terminal has not subscribed to NTN or does not support NTN connection, that is, access to NTN is not allowed, which can prevent the NAS from selecting an NTN cell during network selection.

[0082] Optionally, before step 101, the following steps are also included:

[0083] The NAS of the terminal determines the first information based on pre-configuration information or stored historical access information; the pre-configuration information is used to indicate whether the terminal is allowed to access the NTN.

[0084] Optionally, the pre-configuration information is pre-configured in the mobile equipment ME module of the terminal through a NAS configuration management object (MO) file; or, the pre-configuration information is pre-configured in the terminal through a universal user identity module USIM.

[0085] Optionally, the preconfiguration information is used to indicate whether NTN access is allowed. For example, a value of 0 indicates that NTN access is not allowed, and a value of 1 indicates that NTN access is allowed.

[0086] One benefit of configuring the pre-configuration information through the NAS configuration MO file is that when the user does not purchase an NTN USIM and uses an existing USIM, by subscribing to an NTN package, the operator can indicate through the NAS configuration MO whether the user has signed an NTN contract, and the user can use NTN services flexibly.

[0087] For pre-configuration using the USIM method, the pre-configuration information may be included in a NAS Configuration file, with the content being as indicated by the NAS configuration MO file.

[0088] Optionally, the pre-configuration information is applicable to the HPLMN, EPLMN and VPLMN.

[0089] Optionally, the historical access information includes at least one of the following: information of a selected network, access technology and access cell.

[0090] Exemplarily, the NAS of the terminal stores the information of the selected PLMN and access technology / cell. It is found from the stored information that the terminal has never accessed the NTN / NTN cell. The NAS of the terminal learns that the terminal does not support NTN connection or is not allowed to access NTN, thereby determining that the terminal has not signed a contract for NTN or that the terminal does not support NTN connection.

[0091] When the USIM is removed, the above stored historical access information will be deleted.

[0092] Optionally, the NAS configuration MO file configuration has a higher priority than the USIM configuration;

[0093] In the above implementation, whether the terminal has not signed a contract for NTN or does not support NTN connection is determined through pre-configuration information, which is simple to implement and has low implementation complexity.

[0094] For example, Figure 4 As shown, the method comprises the following steps:

[0095] Step 0: The NAS of the terminal determines that the terminal has not signed a contract with NTN;

[0096] Step 1, the NAS of the terminal sends the stored cell information and the first information to the AS of the terminal;

[0097] Step 2: The AS of the terminal performs a cell search, and the AS considers that the terminal does not have NTN capability;

[0098] Step 3: The AS of the terminal reports the searched multiple PLMN IDs to the NAS of the terminal;

[0099] Step 4: The NAS of the terminal performs network selection and considers the PLMN associated with the NTN access technology as a low priority;

[0100] Step 5: The NAS of the terminal sends the selected PLMN ID to the AS of the terminal;

[0101] Step 6: The AS of the terminal performs cell selection.

[0102] Optionally, in another implementation manner, the step of "the terminal determines whether the non-terrestrial network NTN is available based on the first information" may be implemented by the following steps:

[0103] The AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the first information;

[0104] The terminal performs cell selection based on the result of whether the NTN is available, which can be implemented through the following steps:

[0105] The AS of the terminal performs a cell search based on the result of whether the NTN is available, and sends an identifier of at least one first network obtained by the search to the NAS of the terminal; the first network does not include the NTN cell;

[0106] The NAS of the terminal determines the second network based on at least one identifier of the first network;

[0107] The NAS of the terminal provides the identifier of the second network to the AS of the terminal;

[0108] The AS of the terminal performs cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

[0109] Specifically, the AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available. If it is determined that the NTN is not available, the AS will not search for the NTN cell when performing a cell search, and the first network provided by the AS to the NAS does not include a network related to the NTN cell.

[0110] The NAS selects a second network based on the identifier of at least one first network searched by the AS, and provides the identifier of the second network to the AS of the terminal; the AS of the terminal performs cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

[0111] In the above implementation, the AS of the terminal determines whether NTN is available based on the first information, that is, for a terminal with NTN capability but not signed up for NTN, it determines that NTN is unavailable, and prohibits the terminal from selecting and accessing the NTN cell, and then selects the TN cell, that is, the cell selection is performed when the terminal performs network selection, so as to avoid the terminal that has not signed up for NTN to select the NTN network and be rejected by the NTN network, thereby generating unnecessary signaling interaction, with less signaling overhead and less energy consumption of the terminal. Moreover, the AS learns that the terminal has not signed up for NTN during the cell search, so as to avoid selecting the NTN network, thereby improving reliability.

[0112] Optionally, “the AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the first information” may be specifically implemented in the following manner:

[0113] The AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the third information; the third information is used to indicate that the terminal is prohibited from accessing the NTN cell.

[0114] Specifically, the status of the NTN cell is indicated as prohibited in the MIB, and a terminal that does not support NTN connection will read the indication. The AS of the terminal considers that the NTN cell is prohibited from access, and thus it can be determined that the NTN is unavailable.

[0115] In the above implementation, the indication information in the MIB can be reused to determine whether the NTN is available, thereby avoiding the selection of NTN access, and achieving low complexity.

[0116] Optionally, the AS of the terminal reports the PLMN IDs of the cells with the strongest signals that are searched to the NAS of the terminal.

[0117] The NAS of the terminal performs network selection and the NAS of the terminal does not select the PLMN associated with the NTN access technology.

[0118] The NAS of the terminal provides the selected PLMN ID to the AS of the terminal;

[0119] The AS of the terminal selects an available cell under the selected PLMN. Since the AS of the terminal believes that the NTN cell is prohibited from access, the AS of the terminal will not select the NTN cell.

[0120] Optionally, before step 101, the method further includes:

[0121] The NAS of the terminal sends the stored historical access information to the AS of the terminal;

[0122] The AS of the terminal determines the first information based on historical access information; or,

[0123] The AS of the terminal determines the first information based on second information, where the second information includes at least one of the following: indication information of whether the frequency point of the NTN can be searched; and the implementation method of the terminal.

[0124] Specifically, before the terminal's AS determines whether NTN is available, the terminal's NAS sends stored historical access information to the terminal's AS. Based on the historical access information, the AS determines the first information, i.e., whether the terminal supports NTN connection and whether NT is not signed, and determines whether NTN is available based on the first information.

[0125] Alternatively, the terminal may also determine the first information based on the second information, where the second information is, for example, whether the frequency of NTN can be searched, or the implementation mode of the terminal (such as indication information stored in the terminal, used to indicate whether the terminal supports NTN connection).

[0126] In the above implementation, whether the terminal supports NTN connection can be determined in a variety of ways, which is relatively flexible.

[0127] For example, Figure 5 As shown, the method comprises the following steps:

[0128] Step 1: The NAS of the terminal sends the stored cell information (or historical access information) to the AS of the terminal;

[0129] Step 2: The AS of the terminal performs a cell search and determines that the terminal does not support NTN connection;

[0130] Step 3: The AS of the terminal reports the searched multiple PLMN IDs to the NAS of the terminal;

[0131] Step 4: The NAS of the terminal performs network selection;

[0132] Step 5: The NAS of the terminal sends the selected PLMN ID to the AS of the terminal;

[0133] Step 6: The AS of the terminal performs cell selection.

[0134] The cell selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be executed by a cell selection device. In the embodiment of the present application, the cell selection device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the cell selection method executed by the cell selection device as an example.

[0135] Figure 6 FIG. 1 is one of the structural diagrams of the cell selection device provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, the cell selection device provided in this embodiment includes:

[0136] The processing module 610 is configured to perform cell selection based on first information; the first information is used to indicate that the device has NTN capability but has not subscribed to NTN.

[0137] Optionally, the processing module 610 is specifically configured to:

[0138] Determine whether the non-terrestrial network NTN is available based on the first information;

[0139] Based on the result of whether the NTN is available, cell selection is performed.

[0140] Optionally, the processing module 610 is specifically configured to:

[0141] Determine whether the NTN is available based on the first information by using the non-access layer NAS of the device;

[0142] Determine the second network by using the NAS of the device based on the result of whether the NTN is available and the identifier of at least one of the first networks searched by the access layer AS of the device, and provide the identifier of the second network to the AS of the device;

[0143] The AS of the device performs cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

[0144] Optionally, the processing module 610 is specifically configured to:

[0145] using the NAS of the device to regard at least one of the first networks related to the NTN access technology as a low priority, and determining the second network based on the priority of at least one of the first networks; or,

[0146] The second network is determined by using the NAS of the device from at least one first network that is not related to the NTN access technology in the first network.

[0147] Optionally, the processing module 610 is further configured to:

[0148] Providing the first information to the AS of the terminal using the NAS of the device;

[0149] The AS of the device is used to perform a cell search based on the first information, and an identifier of at least one of the first networks obtained through the search is sent to the NAS of the device.

[0150] Optionally, the processing module 610 is further configured to:

[0151] The first information is determined by using the NAS of the device based on pre-configuration information or stored historical access information; the pre-configuration information is used to indicate whether the terminal is allowed to access the NTN.

[0152] Optionally, the processing module 610 is specifically configured to:

[0153] Determine, using the AS of the device based on the first information, whether the NTN is available;

[0154] Performing a cell search using the AS of the device based on the result of whether the NTN is available, and sending an identifier of at least one of the first networks obtained through the search to the NAS of the device; the first network does not include an NTN cell;

[0155] determining the second network based on at least one identifier of the first network using the NAS of the device;

[0156] Providing the identification of the second network to the AS of the device using the NAS of the device;

[0157] The AS of the device performs cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

[0158] Optionally, the processing module 610 is further configured to:

[0159] Using the NAS of the device to send the stored historical access information to the AS of the terminal;

[0160] Determine the first information based on historical access information using the AS of the device; or,

[0161] The AS of the device is used to determine the first information based on the second information, where the second information includes at least one of the following: indication information on whether the frequency point of NTN can be searched; and the implementation method of the device.

[0162] Optionally, the processing module 610 is specifically configured to:

[0163] The AS of the device is used to determine whether the NTN is available based on the third information indicated by the NTN cell; the third information is used to indicate that the terminal is prohibited from accessing the NTN cell.

[0164] Optionally, the historical access information includes at least one of the following: information of a selected network, access technology and access cell.

[0165] The first network is a network where a cell having a signal strength greater than or equal to a preset threshold is located; the cell having a signal strength greater than or equal to the preset threshold is a terrestrial network TN cell or NTN cell.

[0166] The device of this embodiment can be used to execute the method of any of the embodiments in the aforementioned terminal side method embodiments. Its specific implementation process and technical effects are similar to those in the terminal side method embodiments. For details, please refer to the detailed introduction in the terminal side method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0167] The cell selection device in the embodiment of the present application may be an electronic device, such as an electronic device with an operating system, or a component in an electronic device, such as an integrated circuit or a chip. The electronic device may be a terminal, or may be another device other than a terminal. For example, the terminal may include but is not limited to the types of the terminal 11 listed above, and other devices may be servers, network attached storage (NAS), etc., which are not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0168] The cell selection device provided in the embodiment of the present application can achieve Figures 3 to 5 The various processes implemented by the method embodiment and achieving the same technical effect are not described here to avoid repetition.

[0169] like Figure 7As shown, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 700, including a processor 701 and a memory 702, and the memory 702 stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor 701. For example, when the communication device 700 is a first terminal, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 701 to implement the various steps of the above-mentioned signal sending method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 700 is a second terminal, the program or instruction is executed by the processor 701 to implement the various steps of the above-mentioned signal receiving method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0170] The embodiment of the present application also provides a first terminal, including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run a program or instruction to implement the following Figure 3-Figure 4 The steps in any of the method embodiments shown. The first terminal embodiment corresponds to the first terminal side method embodiment described above, and each implementation process and implementation method of the above method embodiment can be applied to the first terminal embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Specifically, Figure 8 The hardware structure diagram of a terminal for implementing an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. The terminal 800 includes, but is not limited to, at least some of the components of a radio frequency unit 801, a network module 802, an audio output unit 803, an input unit 804, a sensor 805, a display unit 806, a user input unit 807, an interface unit 808, a memory 809, and a processor 810.

[0171] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal 800 may also include a power source (such as a battery) for supplying power to various components, and the power source may be logically connected to the processor 810 through a power management system, thereby implementing functions such as managing charging, discharging, and power consumption management through the power management system. Figure 8 The terminal structure shown in the figure does not constitute a limitation on the terminal. The terminal may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently, which will not be described in detail here.

[0172] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the input unit 804 may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) 8041 and a microphone 8042, and the graphics processor 8041 processes the image data of a static picture or video obtained by an image capture device (such as a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 806 may include a display panel 8061, and the display panel 8061 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, etc. The user input unit 807 includes a touch panel 8071 and at least one of other input devices 8072. The touch panel 8071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 8071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. Other input devices 8072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and a joystick, which will not be repeated here.

[0173] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving downlink data from the network side device, the radio frequency unit 801 can transmit the data to the processor 810 for processing; in addition, the radio frequency unit 801 can send uplink data to the network side device. Generally, the radio frequency unit 801 includes but is not limited to an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, etc.

[0174] The memory 809 can be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 809 may mainly include a first storage area for storing programs or instructions and a second storage area for storing data, wherein the first storage area may store an operating system, an application program or instruction required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.), etc. In addition, the memory 809 may include a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may 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 may be a random access memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), an enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), a synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM) and a direct memory bus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 809 in the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0175] The processor 810 may include one or more processing units; optionally, the processor 810 integrates an application processor and a modem processor, wherein the application processor mainly processes operations related to an operating system, a user interface, and application programs, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It is understandable that the modem processor may not be integrated into the processor 810.

[0176] The processor 810 is configured to perform cell selection based on first information; the first information is used to indicate that the terminal has NTN capability but has not signed a contract for NTN.

[0177] Optionally, the processor 810 is specifically configured to:

[0178] Determine whether the non-terrestrial network NTN is available based on the first information;

[0179] Based on the result of whether the NTN is available, cell selection is performed.

[0180] Optionally, the processor 810 is specifically configured to:

[0181] Determine whether the NTN is available based on the first information by using the non-access layer NAS of the terminal;

[0182] Determine the second network by using the result of whether the NTN is available based on the NAS of the terminal and the identifier of at least one of the first networks searched by the access layer AS of the terminal, and provide the identifier of the second network to the AS of the terminal;

[0183] The AS of the terminal is used to perform cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

[0184] Optionally, the processor 810 is specifically configured to:

[0185] using the NAS of the terminal to regard at least one first network related to the NTN access technology in the first network as a low priority, and determining the second network based on the priority of at least one first network; or,

[0186] The second network is determined by using the NAS of the terminal from at least one first network that is not related to the NTN access technology in the first network.

[0187] Optionally, the processor 810 is further configured to:

[0188] Providing the first information to the AS of the terminal by using the NAS of the terminal;

[0189] The AS of the terminal is used to perform a cell search based on the first information, and an identifier of at least one of the first networks obtained through the search is sent to the NAS of the terminal.

[0190] Optionally, the processor 810 is further configured to:

[0191] The first information is determined by using the NAS of the terminal based on pre-configuration information or stored historical access information; the pre-configuration information is used to indicate whether the terminal is allowed to access the NTN.

[0192] Optionally, the processor 810 is specifically configured to:

[0193] Determine whether the NTN is available based on the first information using the AS of the terminal;

[0194] Performing a cell search based on the result of whether the NTN is available using the AS of the terminal, and sending an identifier of at least one of the first networks obtained through the search to the NAS of the terminal; the first network does not include an NTN cell;

[0195] determining the second network by using the NAS of the terminal based on at least one identifier of the first network;

[0196] Providing the identifier of the second network to the AS of the terminal by using the NAS of the terminal;

[0197] The AS of the terminal is used to perform cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

[0198] Optionally, the processor 810 is further configured to:

[0199] Using the NAS of the terminal to send the stored historical access information to the AS of the terminal;

[0200] Determine the first information based on historical access information using the AS of the terminal; or,

[0201] The first information is determined based on the second information using the AS of the terminal, where the second information includes at least one of the following: indication information of whether the frequency point of the NTN can be searched; and the implementation method of the terminal.

[0202] Optionally, the processor 810 is specifically configured to:

[0203] The AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on third information indicated by the NTN cell; the third information is used to indicate that the terminal is prohibited from accessing the NTN cell.

[0204] Optionally, the historical access information includes at least one of the following: information of a selected network, access technology and access cell.

[0205] The first network is a network where a cell having a signal strength greater than or equal to a preset threshold is located; the cell having a signal strength greater than or equal to the preset threshold is a terrestrial network TN cell or NTN cell.

[0206] It can be understood that the implementation process of each implementation method mentioned in this embodiment can refer to the relevant description of any of the above-mentioned method embodiments, and achieve the same or corresponding technical effects. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0207] An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored. When the program or instruction is executed by a processor, each process of the above-mentioned cell selection method embodiment is implemented, and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0208] The processor is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory ROM, a random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk. In some examples, the readable storage medium may be a non-transient readable storage medium.

[0209] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned cell selection method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0210] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0211] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program / program product, which is stored in a storage medium, and is executed by at least one processor to implement the various processes of the above-mentioned cell selection method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0212] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including: a terminal and a network side device, wherein the terminal can be used to execute the steps of the cell selection method as described above, and the network side device interacts with the terminal and can be used to assist the search terminal in executing the steps of the cell selection method as described above.

[0213] It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element. In addition, it should be pointed out that the scope of the methods and devices in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, and may also include performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in reverse order according to the functions involved, for example, the described method may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may also be added, omitted or combined. In addition, the features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

[0214] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by means of a computer software product plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, can also be implemented by hardware. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM, RAM, disk, CD, etc.), including several instructions to enable a terminal or a network-side device to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0215] The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific implementation methods. The above-mentioned specific implementation methods are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of the present application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms of implementation methods without departing from the purpose of the present application and the scope of protection of the claims, and these implementation methods are all within the protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A cell selection method, characterized in that: include: The terminal performs cell selection based on the first information; The first information is used to indicate that the terminal has NTN capability but has not signed up for NTN.

2. The cell selection method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The terminal performs cell selection based on the first information, including: The terminal determines whether a non-terrestrial network NTN is available based on the first information; The terminal performs cell selection based on the result of whether the NTN is available.

3. The cell selection method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The terminal determines, based on the first information, whether a non-terrestrial network NTN is available, including: The non-access layer NAS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the first information; The terminal performs cell selection based on the result of whether the NTN is available, including: The NAS of the terminal determines the second network based on the result of whether the NTN is available and the identifier of at least one first network searched by the access layer AS of the terminal, and provides the identifier of the second network to the AS of the terminal; The AS of the terminal performs cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

4. The cell selection method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The NAS of the terminal determines the second network based on the result of whether the NTN is available and the identifier of at least one of the first networks searched and obtained by the access layer AS of the terminal, including: The NAS of the terminal regards at least one first network related to the NTN access technology in the first network as a low priority, and determines the second network based on the priority of the at least one first network; or, The NAS of the terminal determines the second network from at least one first network that is not related to the NTN access technology in the first network.

5. The cell selection method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: Before the NAS of the terminal determines the second network based on the result of whether the NTN is available and the identifier of at least one of the first networks searched and obtained by the access layer AS of the terminal, the method further includes: The NAS of the terminal provides the first information to the AS of the terminal; The AS of the terminal performs a cell search based on the first information, and sends an identifier of at least one of the first networks obtained through the search to the NAS of the terminal.

6. The cell selection method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that: Before the terminal determines whether the non-terrestrial network NTN is available based on the first information, the terminal further includes: The NAS of the terminal determines the first information based on pre-configuration information or stored historical access information; the pre-configuration information is used to indicate whether the terminal is allowed to access the NTN.

7. The cell selection method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The terminal determines whether a non-terrestrial network NTN is available based on the first information, including: The AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the first information; The terminal performs cell selection based on the result of whether the NTN is available, including: The AS of the terminal performs a cell search based on the result of whether the NTN is available, and sends an identifier of at least one first network obtained by the search to the NAS of the terminal; the first network does not include an NTN cell; The NAS of the terminal determines the second network based on at least one identifier of the first network; The NAS of the terminal provides the identifier of the second network to the AS of the terminal; The AS of the terminal performs cell selection based on the identifier of the second network.

8. The cell selection method according to claim 7, characterized in that: Before the AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the first information, the method further includes: The NAS of the terminal sends the stored historical access information to the AS of the terminal; The AS of the terminal determines the first information based on historical access information; or, The AS of the terminal determines the first information based on second information, where the second information includes at least one of the following: indication information of whether the frequency point of the NTN can be searched; and the implementation method of the terminal.

9. The cell selection method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on the first information, including: The AS of the terminal determines whether the NTN is available based on third information indicated by the NTN cell; the third information is used to indicate that the terminal is prohibited from accessing the NTN cell.

10. The cell selection method according to claim 6 or 8, characterized in that: The historical access information includes at least one of the following: information on a selected network, access technology, and access cell.

11. The cell selection method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: The first network is a network where a cell having a signal strength greater than or equal to a preset threshold is located; the cell having a signal strength greater than or equal to the preset threshold is a terrestrial network TN cell or NTN cell.

12. A cell selection device, characterized in that: include: A processing module, configured to perform cell selection based on the first information; The first information is used to indicate that the device has NTN capability but has not signed a contract for NTN.

13. A terminal, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores a program or instruction that can be run on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the cell selection method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 are implemented.

14. A readable storage medium, characterized in that: The readable storage medium stores a program or an instruction, and when the program or the instruction is executed by a processor, the cell selection method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is implemented.

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