Timing advance indication method and device, equipment, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The invention discloses a timing advance indication method and device, equipment, a storage medium and a program product, and belongs to the technical field of wireless communication. The method comprises: receiving first indication information (501); the first indication information is used for indicating information of timing advance (TA) of a first cell; the first cell comprises at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching. According to the scheme, the switching delay can be reduced, and the switching efficiency can be improved.

Description

Timing advance indication method, device, equipment, storage medium and program product Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a timing advance indication method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product. Background Art

[0002] In a wireless communication system, when a terminal device moves from one cell to another, a serving cell handover is required to maintain uninterrupted communication of the mobile terminal.

[0003] In related technologies, New Radio (NR) supports cell switching based on L1 / L2 triggering; wherein, a terminal device can be configured with multiple candidate cells for cell switching; when performing cell switching, the terminal device needs to synchronize uplink and downlink with the target cell in the candidate cell.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product for indicating timing advance. The technical solution is as follows:

[0006] In one aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for indicating a timing advance, the method being performed by a terminal device; the method comprising:

[0007] Receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate information of a timing advance TA of a first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching.

[0008] In one aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for indicating a timing advance, the method being performed by a network-side device, and the method including:

[0009] Sending first indication information to the terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the timing advance TA information of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching and at least one of the target cells for cell switching.

[0010] In another aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a timing advance indication device, the device comprising:

[0011] The receiving module is used to receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate information of the timing advance TA of the first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching.

[0012] In another aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a timing advance indication device, the device comprising:

[0013] A sending module is used to send first indication information to a terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the timing advance TA information of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching and at least one of the target cells for cell switching.

[0014] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, the terminal device including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver;

[0015] The transceiver is used to receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate timing advance TA information of a first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching.

[0016] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a network side device, the network side device including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver;

[0017] The transceiver is used to send first indication information to the terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the timing advance TA information of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching and at least one of the target cells for cell switching.

[0018] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the above-mentioned timing advance indication method.

[0019] In another aspect, a computer program product or computer program is provided, comprising computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a terminal device or a network-side device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium and executes the computer instructions, causing the terminal device or the network-side device to perform the aforementioned timing advance indication method.

[0020] On the other hand, a computer program is provided, which includes computer instructions. The processor of the terminal device or the network side device executes the computer instructions, so that the terminal device or the network side device executes the above-mentioned timing advance indication method.

[0021] On the other hand, a chip is provided, which is used to execute the above-mentioned timing advance indication method.

[0022] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can bring the following beneficial effects:

[0023] The terminal device can receive the first indication information sent by the network side device to obtain the TA information of the candidate cell and / or target cell used for cell switching in the terminal device, so that the TA information of the cell to be switched to or may be switched to can be obtained before switching. In this way, in the subsequent switching process, the uplink and downlink synchronization process can be saved, thereby reducing the switching delay and improving the switching efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0025] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system involved in one embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG2 is a differential adjustment format of the TA of the MAC CE involved in this application;

[0027] FIG3 is a format diagram of the Absolute MAC CE involved in this application;

[0028] FIG4 is a diagram showing the format of the MAC RAR involved in this application;

[0029] FIG5 is a flowchart of a method for indicating a timing advance according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG6 is a flowchart of a method for indicating a timing advance according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG7 is a flowchart of a method for indicating a timing advance according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG8 is a block diagram of a timing advance indication device provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG9 is a block diagram of a timing advance indication device provided by one embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a device provided in one embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of this application clearer, the implementation methods of this application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0036] The network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that, with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0037] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, which includes a network device 110 and a terminal device 120, and / or a terminal device 120 and a terminal device 130, which are not limited in the present application.

[0038] The network side device 110 in the present application provides a wireless communication function, and the network side device 110 includes but is not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., a home evolved Node B, or a home node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP) or a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc. It can also be a next generation node B (Next Generation Node B) in a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system. The term "gNB" refers to a base station (B, gNB) or a transmission point (TRP or TP), or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU), or a base station in a Beyond Fifth Generation (B5G) or a 6th Generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a core network (CN), fronthaul, backhaul, radio access network (RAN), network slicing, or a serving cell, primary cell (PCell), primary secondary cell (PSCell), special cell (SpCell), secondary cell (SCell), or neighboring cell of a terminal device.

[0039] The terminal device 120 and / or terminal device 130 in this application are also called user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, and user device. The terminals include, but are not limited to, handheld devices, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and Internet of Things devices, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, e-book readers, laptop computers, desktop computers, televisions, game consoles, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), augmented reality (AR) terminals, virtual reality (VR) terminals, and mixed reality (MR) terminals, wearable devices, handles, electronic tags, controllers, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical care, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loops (WLANs), and wireless terminals in industrial control. Loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDA), TV set-top boxes (STB), customer premises equipment (CPE), etc.

[0040] The network side device 110 and the terminal device 120 communicate with each other via some air interface technology, such as a Uu interface.

[0041] For example, there are two communication scenarios between the network device 110 and the terminal device 120: uplink communication scenario and downlink communication scenario. Uplink communication refers to sending signals to the network device 110; downlink communication refers to sending signals to the terminal device 120.

[0042] The terminal device 120 and the terminal device 130 communicate with each other via some air interface technology, such as a Uu interface.

[0043] In some embodiments, there are two communication scenarios between terminal device 120 and terminal device 130: a first sideline communication scenario and a second sideline communication scenario. The first sideline communication refers to sending signals to terminal device 130, while the second sideline communication refers to sending signals to terminal device 120.

[0044] Terminal device 120 and terminal device 130 are both within the network coverage and located in the same cell, or terminal device 120 and terminal device 130 are both within the network coverage but located in different cells, or terminal device 120 is within the network coverage but terminal device 130 is outside the network coverage.

[0045] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication system, 5G mobile communication system, New Radio (NR) system, NR system evolution system, LTE on unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) system, NR on unlicensed spectrum (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum) system. unlicensed spectrum, NR-U) system, terrestrial communication network (Terrestrial Networks, TN) system, non-terrestrial communication network (Non-Terrestrial Networks, NTN) system, wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Networks, WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, Wi-Fi), cellular Internet of Things system, cellular passive Internet of Things system, and can also be applied to subsequent evolution systems of 5G NR system, and can also be applied to B5G, 6G and subsequent evolution systems. In some embodiments of the present application, "NR" may also be referred to as 5G NR system or 5G system. Among them, the 5G mobile communication system may include non-standalone networking (NSA) and / or standalone networking (SA).

[0046] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to machine type communication (MTC), long term evolution technology for machine-to-machine communication (LTE-M), device-to-device (D2D) network, machine-to-machine (M2M) network, Internet of Things (IoT) network or other networks. Among them, the IoT network can include, for example, the Internet of Vehicles. Among them, the communication mode in the Internet of Vehicles system is collectively referred to as vehicle to other devices (Vehicle to X, V2X, X can represent anything), for example, the V2X can include: vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle to pedestrian communication (V2P) or vehicle to network (V2N) communication, etc.

[0047] 1) Timing Advance (TA)

[0048] In the current NR standards (including 3GPP Rel.17), a UE can be configured with up to four timing advance groups (TA Groups, TAGs) in a cell group (CG). Generally, a CG can have multiple serving cells, and each serving cell is assigned a TAG identification (ID).

[0049] The calculation formula for the timing advance of a terminal device (such as a UE) is very simple, as shown in the following formula. The UE's timing advance is based on the first symbol of the downlink channel or the timeslot where the channel is located, which is used as the downlink reference. The UE transmits in advance based on this reference:

[0050] (N TA +N TA，offset )*T C

[0051] In a CG, each serving cell can be pre-configured with a timing advance offset (TA offset) n-TimingAdvanceOffset, that is, N in the formula TA，offset . Among them, TA adjustment amount (N TA ) is performed based on pre-configured offset. Cis the minimum time unit in the NR system, T C =1 / (4096*480kHz). N TA The network's Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) can provide differential adjustments, meaning the current TA adjustment (new) is based on the previous TA (old), adjusted forward or backward in time. The calculation formula is as follows:

[0052]

[0053] The differential adjustment format of MAC CE's TA is shown in Figure 2, that is, adjusting T based on the previous TA A The minimum time unit is TAG, and the granularity of the TA adjustment is TAG.

[0054] The meanings of the fields involved in Figure 2 are as follows:

[0055] ①TAG Identity (TAG ID): This field indicates the TAG Identity of the addressed TAG; the TAG containing the SpCell has the TAG Identity 0; the length of the field is 2 bits;

[0056] ②Timing Advance Command: This field indicates the index value TA(0, 1, 2…63) used to control the amount of timing adjustment that MAC entity has to apply(as specified in TS 38.213[6]); The length of the field is 6 bits.

[0057] The second TA adjustment method is to adjust the absolute value of TA, that is, without considering the previous TA value, the NW directly gives an absolute value N through the Absolute MAC CE or Random Access Response (RAR) MAC payload. TA , its value range is 0 to 3846, and the adjustment range of TA is N TA =T A *16*64*2 μ The acquisition of these two types of TAs occurs during the random access process. The acquired TA is applicable to the TAG corresponding to the target cell of the random access, so it does not need to include the TAG ID. For example, the Absolute MAC CE is used for the two-step random access process, and the two-step random access is initiated to the SpCell. Therefore, the MAC CE is applicable to the Primary Timing Advance Group (PTAG) corresponding to the MAC entity, that is, the definition of the PTAG is to include the SpCell. The format of the Absolute MAC CE is shown in Figure 3.

[0058] The fields in Figure 3 have the following meanings:

[0059] ①Timing Advance Command: This field indicates the index value TA used to control the amount of timing adjustment that the MAC entity has to apply in TS 38.213[6]; The size of the field is 12 bits;

[0060] ②R: Reserved bit, set to "0" (Reserved bit, set to "0").

[0061] Among them, the format of the MAC RAR involved in the above solution of this application can be shown in Figure 4.

[0062] 2) Switch

[0063] Similar to LTE, the NR system supports handovers for connected UEs. When a user using network services moves from one cell to another, or due to wireless traffic load adjustments, activation maintenance, or equipment failure, the system transfers the user's communication link with the original cell to the new cell to ensure communication continuity and service quality. This is known as a handover.

[0064] Taking the Xn interface switching process as an example, the entire switching process is divided into the following three stages:

[0065] (1) Handover preparation: This includes measurement control and reporting, handover request, and confirmation. The handover confirmation message contains the handover command generated by the target cell. The source cell does not allow any modification to the handover command generated by the target cell and directly forwards the handover command to the UE.

[0066] (2) Handover execution: After receiving the handover command, the UE immediately executes the handover process, that is, the UE disconnects from the source cell and connects to the target cell (such as performing random access, sending an RRC handover completion message to the target base station, etc.); the secondary node (SN) state is transferred and data is forwarded.

[0067] (3) Handover completion: The target cell performs a path switch with the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) and the User Port Function (UPF), releasing the UE context of the source base station.

[0068] 3) L1 / L2 Triggered Mobility (LTM)

[0069] In order to reduce the delay caused by switching, NR R18 supports switching based on L1 / L2 triggering. The switching based on L1 / L2 is mainly aimed at the intra Centralized Unit (intra-CU) switching scenario. When the CU (Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) unit / key) remains unchanged, switching is performed based on layer 1 or layer 2 signaling.

[0070] The main processes of LTM include the following:

[0071] ① The network side pre-configures multiple candidate cells for the terminal;

[0072] ② The terminal performs L1 measurement and reporting on the configured candidate cells;

[0073] ③ The network determines the target cell based on the measurement report and indicates it to the terminal in the handover command. Optionally, the terminal can also perform downlink / uplink synchronization in advance before receiving the handover command.

[0074] In a traditional handover, after receiving a handover command, the UE performs a random access procedure to obtain uplink synchronization. For a contention-based random access procedure, a long handover interruption time may be caused due to a conflict of random access resources.

[0075] LTM is introduced to reduce the handover interruption time. In order to reduce the delay caused by the uplink synchronization process, one possible way is for the UE to obtain and maintain the TA of the candidate cell in advance. In this way, after receiving the handover command, the UE can save the delay of the random access process triggered for uplink synchronization.

[0076] The existing TA maintenance is based on the TAG method. Before switching, the UE also needs to maintain the TA of the source serving cell. Therefore, how to coexist the TA maintenance of the candidate cell with the TA maintenance of the source serving cell is the problem to be solved by this application.

[0077] Please refer to Figure 5, which shows a flowchart of a method for indicating timing advance according to an embodiment of the present application. The method can be performed by a terminal device, wherein the terminal device can be the terminal device 120 or the terminal device 130 in the network architecture shown in Figure 1. The method can include the following steps:

[0078] Step 501: Receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate information of a timing advance (TA) of a first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell handover and a target cell for cell handover.

[0079] To sum up, in the scheme shown in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can receive the first indication information sent by the network side device to obtain the TA information of the candidate cell and / or target cell used for cell switching in the terminal device, so that the TA information of the cell to be switched to or may be switched to can be obtained before switching. In this way, in the subsequent switching process, the uplink and downlink synchronization process can be saved, thereby reducing the switching delay and improving the switching efficiency.

[0080] Please refer to Figure 6, which shows a flowchart of a timing advance indication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method can be performed by a network-side device, wherein the network-side device can be the network-side device 110 in the network architecture shown in Figure 1. The method can include the following steps:

[0081] Step 601: Send first indication information to the terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate information of the timing advance TA of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching and at least one of a target cell for cell switching.

[0082] To sum up, in the scheme shown in the embodiment of the present application, the network side device can send a first indication information to the terminal device so that the terminal device obtains the TA information of the candidate cell and / or target cell for cell switching, so that the terminal device can obtain the TA information of the cell to be switched to or may be switched to before switching. In this way, in the subsequent switching process, the uplink and downlink synchronization process can be saved, thereby reducing the switching delay and improving the switching efficiency.

[0083] Please refer to Figure 7, which shows a flowchart of a timing advance indication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method can be interactively executed by a terminal device and a network-side device; wherein the terminal device and the network-side device can be the network-side device 110 and the terminal device 120 (or the terminal device 130) in the network architecture shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 7, the method can include the following steps:

[0084] In step 701, a network device sends first indication information to a terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information sent by the network device. The first indication information indicates timing advance (TA) information of a first cell. The first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell handover and a target cell for cell handover.

[0085] In some embodiments, the first indication information includes at least one of the following information:

[0086] TA adjustment value, TA absolute value, TAG identifier (TAG ID), target cell identifier, and candidate cell identifier.

[0087] In some embodiments, when the above-mentioned first indication information carries the identifier of the target cell and / or the identifier of the candidate cell, the above-mentioned first cell may include the identifier of the target cell and / or the cell corresponding to the candidate cell carried in the first indication information, or the above-mentioned first cell may include the identifier of the target cell and / or the cell corresponding to the candidate cell carried in the first indication information, as well as the candidate cell already existing in the terminal device.

[0088] In some embodiments, when the first indication information does not carry the identifier of the target cell and / or the identifier of the candidate cell, the first cell may include the candidate cell and / or target cell already existing in the terminal device.

[0089] The first indication information may be indication information based on a timing advance group TAG, or may be indication information based on a TA of a cell.

[0090] For example, when the first indication information is indication information based on the timing advance group TAG, the first indication information may include at least one of a TA adjustment value, a TA absolute value, a TAG identifier, a target cell identifier, and a candidate cell identifier.

[0091] When the first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell, the first indication information may include at least one of a TA adjustment value, a TA absolute value, an identifier of a target cell, and an identifier of a candidate cell.

[0092] In some embodiments, the first indication information is carried by a TA command (Timing Advance Command, TAC) MAC CE, an absolute timing advance command (Absolute Timing Advance Command) MAC CE, a new MAC CE, a MAC CE carrying switching information, a RAR carrying switching information, or a MsgB carrying switching information.

[0093] In some embodiments, the transmission of the above-mentioned first indication information can reuse the existing TAC MAC CE or absolute timing advance command MAC CE used to transmit the TA information of the source cell.

[0094] In some embodiments, the first indication information may also be transmitted via a new MAC CE that is different from the TAC MAC CE or the absolute timing advance command MAC CE.

[0095] In some embodiments, the first indication information may also be transmitted via a MAC CE, RAR or MsgB carrying handover information.

[0096] In some embodiments, the TA information of the candidate cell is determined by a network-side device; or,

[0097] The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by the terminal device when performing measurements;

[0098] The TA information of the candidate cell is determined when the terminal device performs random access.

[0099] In some embodiments, the acquisition of the candidate cell's TA may be network-dependent. For example, the network-side device may determine the TA based on deployment information or the UE's TA based on a timing difference measured by the UE. In this case, the network-side device may include the TA information in the cell switch command or inform the UE of the candidate cell's TA information before the switch.

[0100] In some embodiments, the TA acquisition of the candidate cell may also be implemented based on UE measurements or random access channel (RACH), for example:

[0101] If the UE obtains a TA based on RACH, the UE can trigger RACH autonomously or based on network indication. Network indication triggering RACH includes contention-based random access (CBRA) and / or contention-free random access (CFRA). For CFRA, the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) indication (order) sent by the network-side device can indicate the identifier of the candidate cell, or the network-side device carries the CFRA resource indication through the MAC CE, including the candidate cell identifier, synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel (SSB) index, preamble index, etc. In some embodiments, the network can indicate the candidate cell identifier in the RAR.

[0102] Optionally, if the candidate cell is the current serving cell and the serving cell is in a deactivated state, when the UE receives an instruction to initiate a RACH to the serving cell, the UE's behavior may include:

[0103] It is considered that the deactivated serving cell enters the activated state and supports all functions of the activated serving cell. After the random access is successfully completed, the serving cell enters the deactivated state or continues to remain in the activated state.

[0104] Before random access is successfully completed, the UE is supported to send RACH / Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) / Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PUCCH) to the deactivated cell, and / or monitor the PDCCH of the deactivated cell.

[0105] Optionally, if the candidate cell is the current serving cell and the serving cell is in dormant state, when the UE receives an instruction to initiate a RACH to the serving cell, the UE's behavior includes:

[0106] The serving cell enters a non-dormant state from a dormant state, and after random access is completed, resumes the dormant state or continues to remain in the non-dormant state;

[0107] If the current bandwidth part (Bandwidth Part, BWP) is a dormant BWP, other non-dormant BWPs are switched based on network indication or pre-configuration.

[0108] In some embodiments, TA acquisition of candidate cells may also be based on UE measurements.

[0109] After receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may execute the following step 702 or step 703.

[0110] In step 702 , the terminal device controls the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information, or controls the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information.

[0111] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can control the TA timer of the candidate cell and / or target cell for cell switching based on the first indication information, or the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the candidate cell and / or target cell for cell switching.

[0112] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned controlling of the TA timer includes restarting the TA timer, starting the TA timer, etc.

[0113] In some embodiments, after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may immediately control the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information, or control the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information.

[0114] In some embodiments, the process of controlling the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information, or controlling the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information, may include:

[0115] In a case where the handover command has been received, the TA timer of the first cell is controlled based on the first indication information, or the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell is controlled based on the first indication information.

[0116] Among them, after the terminal device receives the above-mentioned first indication information, it can first determine whether the switching command has been received. If the switching command has been received, it can execute the steps of controlling the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information, or controlling the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information.

[0117] In some embodiments, the first indication information is indication information based on a timing advance group TAG;

[0118] Controlling, based on the first indication information, a TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell, including:

[0119] Start or restart the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell.

[0120] Among them, when the first indication information is indication information based on the timing advance group TAG, the terminal device can start or restart the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell when controlling the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell.

[0121] For example, when the first indication information is indication information based on the timing advance group TAG, if the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell is not started, the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell is started; if the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell is already started, the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell is restarted.

[0122] In some embodiments, the first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell;

[0123] Controlling the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information includes:

[0124] Start or restart the TA timer associated with the first cell.

[0125] Among them, when the first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell, the terminal device can start or restart the TA timer associated with the above-mentioned first cell when controlling the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information.

[0126] For example, in the case where the first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell, if the TA timer associated with the first cell is not started, the TA timer associated with the first cell is started; if the TA timer associated with the first cell is already started, the TA timer associated with the first cell is restarted.

[0127] Step 703: The terminal device stores the TA information of the first cell.

[0128] In some embodiments, after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device may also temporarily store the TA information of the first cell indicated by the first indication information.

[0129] In some embodiments, storing information about the TA of the first cell includes:

[0130] In the case where no handover command has been received, the TA information of the first cell is stored.

[0131] For example, after receiving the above-mentioned first indication information, the terminal device can determine whether it has received the switching command. If the switching command has not been received, it can temporarily store the TA information of the first cell indicated by the first indication information for use when the switching command is received later.

[0132] In some embodiments, the switching command is a message carrying switching information; and / or,

[0133] The handover command is a message that triggers cell handover behavior.

[0134] The above-mentioned handover command may include a message that carries handover information but does not trigger cell handover.

[0135] In some embodiments, the switching information includes at least one of the following information:

[0136] Target cell identification, TA information, BWP information, PDCP data recovery indication, Radio Link Control (RLC) re-establishment indication, MAC reset indication, Transmission Configuration Index (TCI) information, Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI).

[0137] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned switching command may also include a message that triggers the terminal device to perform cell switching.

[0138] In some embodiments, the message triggering the cell switching behavior includes a TCI state.

[0139] In some embodiments, the handover command includes at least one of a MAC CE and downlink control information (DCI).

[0140] Among them, the above-mentioned switching command can be sent by the network side device to the terminal device through MAC CE and / or DCI.

[0141] In some embodiments, the method according to the embodiments of the present application further includes:

[0142] When the first indication information is indication information based on the timing advance group TAG and the handover command is received, the terminal device performs at least one of the following operations:

[0143] Continue to run / restart the TA timer of the target cell's associated TAG, and apply the target cell's TA value to the target cell's associated TAG;

[0144] Stop running other TA timers.

[0145] In some embodiments, when the first indication information is indication information based on the timing advance group TAG, if a switching command is received, the terminal device can continue to run / restart the TA timer of the target cell associated TAG, and apply the TA value of the target cell to the TAG associated with the target cell; and / or, the terminal device can stop running other TA timers; the above-mentioned other TA timers may refer to other TA timers other than the TA timer of the TAG associated with the target cell.

[0146] In some embodiments, the method according to the embodiments of the present application further includes:

[0147] When the first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell and the handover command is received, the terminal device performs at least one of the following operations:

[0148] Start / restart the TA timer associated with the target cell;

[0149] Associate the TA value of the target cell with the TAG associated with the target cell, and start / restart the TA timer associated with the TAG;

[0150] For the TAG associated with the target cell, the TA value of the target cell is applied;

[0151] Stop running other TA timers.

[0152] In some embodiments, when the first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell, if a switching command is received, the terminal device can start / restart the TA timer associated with the target cell; in addition, the terminal device can also stop running other timers other than the TA timer of the target cell.

[0153] In some embodiments, when the first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell, if a switching command is received, the terminal device can associate the TA value of the target cell with the TAG associated with the target cell, start / restart the TAG associated TA timer, and apply the TA value of the target cell to the TAG associated with the target cell; in addition, the terminal device can also stop running other timers except the TAG associated TA timer corresponding to the target cell.

[0154] In some embodiments, the method according to the embodiments of the present application further includes:

[0155] The terminal device receives the second indication information;

[0156] Based on the second indication information, the terminal device continues to run / restarts the TA timer of the TAG associated with the target cell, starts / restarts the TA timer associated with the target cell, and / or stops running other TA timers.

[0157] That is to say, whether the terminal device continues to run / restart the TA timer of the TAG associated with the target cell after receiving the switching command, starts / restarts the TA timer associated with the target cell, and / or stops running other TA timers is indicated by the network side device through the second indication information.

[0158] In some embodiments, the second indication information is network indication information or high-layer indication information.

[0159] In addition, whether the above-mentioned terminal device continues to run / restart the TA timer of the target cell associated TAG after receiving the switching command, starts / restarts the TA timer associated with the target cell, and / or stops running other TA timers may also be specified by the protocol.

[0160] In some embodiments, the method according to the embodiments of the present application further includes:

[0161] Upon receiving the switching command, the terminal device performs at least one of the following operations:

[0162] Stop running other TA timers;

[0163] Perform uplink and downlink transmission with the target cell;

[0164] Monitor the PDCCH of the target cell;

[0165] Clear the Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) buffer of the source serving cell;

[0166] Clear the HARQ buffer of all serving cells;

[0167] Clear the buffer of the HARQ process that cannot continue to transmit in the target cell;

[0168] Release resources of the source serving cell;

[0169] Release resources of other source serving cells except the target cell;

[0170] Keep the TA adjustment value of the target cell's associated TAG;

[0171] When the target primary cell in the target cell is the source secondary cell, and the target secondary cell and the source secondary cell in the target cell do not belong to the same TAG, performing conversion between the PTAG and the secondary timing advance group (STAG);

[0172] When the target secondary cell is the source primary cell and the target cell and the source primary cell do not belong to the same TAG, perform PTAG to STAG conversion;

[0173] When the target primary cell or target secondary cell belongs to the same TAG as the source primary cell or source secondary cell, the conversion between PTAG and STAG is not performed.

[0174] In some embodiments, when the target secondary cell in the target cell includes at least one secondary cell, the method involved in the embodiment of the present application further includes:

[0175] The terminal device manages the activation status of the target secondary cell in one of the following ways:

[0176] The state of the multiplexing target secondary cell on the source side;

[0177] Set all target secondary cells to activated or deactivated states according to the protocol;

[0178] setting an activation state or a deactivation state of each target secondary cell based on a display indication of the handover command;

[0179] Determining the activation state or deactivation state of the target secondary cell based on the secondary cell activation / deactivation indication information in the configuration of the candidate cell;

[0180] Based on the validity of the TA / TAG associated with the target secondary cell, the activation state or deactivation state of the target secondary cell is determined.

[0181] To sum up, in the scheme shown in the embodiment of the present application, the network side device can send a first indication information to the terminal device so that the terminal device obtains the TA information of the candidate cell and / or target cell for cell switching, so that the terminal device can obtain the TA information of the cell to be switched to or may be switched to before switching. In this way, in the subsequent switching process, the uplink and downlink synchronization process can be saved, thereby reducing the switching delay and improving the switching efficiency.

[0182] In some embodiments, for TAG-based TA indication and maintenance scenarios, the UE may process as follows:

[0183] The UE receives TA indication information from the network side. The TA indication information may be carried in an existing TAC MAC CE, an existing Absolute Timing Advance Command MAC CE, a new MAC CE, or a MAC CE carrying handover information, an RAR, or MsgB. The TA indication information includes at least one of the following:

[0184] 1)TA adjustment value;

[0185] 2) TA absolute value;

[0186] 3) TAG ID;

[0187] 4) Target cell identification;

[0188] 5) Candidate cell identification.

[0189] TA maintenance can be achieved through the TA timer. For example, when receiving the TA indication information, the UE starts / restarts the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the candidate cell. That is to say, if the TA timer associated with the TAG to which the candidate cell belongs is running, the UE considers that the TA of the candidate cell is valid. Optionally, the UE may only store the TA information upon receiving the TA indication information without starting the corresponding timer. For example, if the UE receives the TA indication information before the handover command is received, the UE may only store the TA but not perform maintenance on the TA, that is, not start the TA timer.

[0190] The above-mentioned handover command may refer to a message carrying handover information (such as target cell identifier, TA information, bwp information, PDCP data recovery indication, RLC reestablishment indication, MAC reset indication, TCI information, C-RNTI), or a message that actually triggers the handover (such as including TCI state). The handover command may be a MAC CE and / or DCI.

[0191] When the UE receives a handover command, if the TA timer associated with the TAG associated with the candidate cell is running, or the TA of the candidate cell is known, the UE behavior includes at least one of the following:

[0192] 1) Continue to run / restart the TA timer of the TAG associated with the target cell (candidate cell), and apply the TA value of the target cell to the TAG associated with the target cell. The target cell can be at least one of a pcell, a pscell, or a scell.

[0193] 2) Stop running other TA timers.

[0194] Based on 1) and 2), for example, if the TAG identifier is universal and unique between the source serving cell and the target cell, such as the TAG identifier is 0-7, when the UE receives a TA value of one of the candidate cells / target cells before the handover command, for example, the TA is associated with TAG 3, the UE will determine whether there is a TA and TA timer maintaining TAG3 on the current serving cell side. For example, if one of the Scells of the current source serving cell is also associated with TAG3, then when the UE receives a TA indication from the candidate cell (TAG3), the UE can restart the TA timer associated with the TAG.

[0195] On the other hand, if the source serving cell is only associated with TAG1 and TAG2, the UE may start the timer of TAG3, or choose not to start the TA timer and only store the value of the TA.

[0196] Furthermore, the UE may determine whether to stop the TA timers associated with multiple TAGs associated with the source serving cell based on whether the target cell is associated with the same TAG.

[0197] On the other hand, if the TAG identifier is not universal between the source service cell and the target cell, for example, the TAG identifier of the source service cell includes 0-3, and the TAG identifier of the candidate cell is also 0-3, the two are maintained independently and are not connected. Then when the UE receives the TA information of the candidate cell / target cell, it can only maintain the TA and not maintain the TA timer; or the UE starts the non-TAG TA timer.

[0198] The optional TA value may be an adjustment value or an absolute value. For example, for a TAG that the source serving cell is maintaining, the network may indicate an adjustment value. If the source serving cell does not maintain the TAG, the network may indicate an absolute TA value.

[0199] 3) Perform uplink and downlink transmission with the target cell.

[0200] 4) Monitor the PDCCH of the target cell.

[0201] 5) Clear the HARQ buffer of the source serving cell (pcell and / or pscell and / or scell).

[0202] 6) Clear the HARQ buffers of all serving cells (pcell, pscell, and scell).

[0203] 7) Clear the buffer of the HARQ process that cannot be transmitted in the target cell. This can be based on the UE's autonomous judgment or network indication, such as the HARQ process associated with the source serving cell that is not the target cell.

[0204] 8) Release the resources of the source serving cell (pcell and / or pscell and / or scell), including configured grant (CG), sounding reference signal (SRS), semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.

[0205] 9) Release the resources of the source serving cell that is not the target cell, including CG, SRS, SPS, PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.

[0206] Specifically, if the current scell is the target Pcell, the configuration or resources of the scell may not be released.

[0207] 10) Keep the N of the TAG TA .

[0208] In addition, if the target cell is the source service cell before receiving the switching command, the control process of converting PTAG and STAG can also be executed, wherein the above-mentioned target cell and source service cell can specifically include pcell / pscell / scell (including activation state or deactivation state).

[0209] Specifically, if the target PCELL is the source scell, and the target pcell and the source pcell do not belong to the same TAG, the conversion between PTAG and STAG is performed;

[0210] If the target sCELL is the source pcell, and the target pcell and the source pcell do not belong to the same TAG, perform the conversion between PTAG and STAG;

[0211] If the target scell / pcell and the source pcell / scell belong to the same TAG, the conversion between PTAG and STAG is not performed.

[0212] Optionally, the running / stopping / restarting of the TA timer may be based on a network instruction, a higher layer instruction, or a protocol agreement.

[0213] Optionally, when the candidate cell receives TA indication information before the switching command, it determines whether to start / restart the timer of the TAG associated with the candidate cell based on the network indication; or the network pre-configuredly instructs the UE whether to start / restart the timer of the TAG associated with the candidate cell when it receives the candidate cell TA indication information.

[0214] In some embodiments, if the scell of the target cell includes at least one scell (pcell change without scell change), the activation / deactivation status of the scell may be determined by:

[0215] a) Reuse the state of the scell on the source side. For example, if the scell is in the active state on the source side, it will remain in the active state after switching, otherwise it will remain in the deactivated state;

[0216] b) The protocol stipulates that all scells are in an activated or deactivated state;

[0217] c) indicating the activation and deactivation state of each scell based on the switching command;

[0218] d) determining the status based on the Scell ​​activation and deactivation indication information in the candidate cell configuration;

[0219] e) Determine whether the TA / TAG associated with the scell is valid. If the TA is valid, it is determined to be in the activated state; otherwise, it is in the deactivated state.

[0220] The above TA instructions and maintenance can be applied to the following cases:

[0221] 1) The candidate cell is not the current serving cell;

[0222] 2) The candidate cell is the current serving cell, which may be a pcell / pscell / scell (including an activated state or a deactivated state).

[0223] In the above embodiment, TA maintenance is per TAG, which has the advantage of reusing the existing TAG maintenance method. However, the existing TAG identifier is limited to 4 at most. If the network configures a large number of candidate cells, the existing number of TAGs may not be sufficient. In this case, it is necessary to introduce new TAG identifiers, such as expanding the existing 4 TAG identifiers to 8, so as to ensure that the TAG identifier is unique between the source serving cell and the candidate cells. If the TAG identifier is not expanded, one possible method is to match the TAG identifier of the source serving cell with the TAG identifier of the candidate cell. For example, TAG3 of the original serving cell is the same TAG2 associated with a candidate cell in the candidate cell list.

[0224] In some embodiments, for a scenario of cell-based TA indication and maintenance, TA indication is performed on a per-cell basis. In this case, the UE may process the following:

[0225] The UE receives TA indication information from the network side. The TA indication information may be carried in a new MAC CE or RAR or a MAC CE carrying handover information. The TA indication information includes at least one of the following:

[0226] 1)TA adjustment value;

[0227] 2) TA absolute value;

[0228] 3) Target cell identification;

[0229] 4) Candidate cell identification.

[0230] TA can be maintained through the TA timer. For example, when receiving the TA indication information, the corresponding TA timer is started. That is to say, if the TA timer associated with the candidate cell is running, the UE considers the TA of the candidate cell to be valid. Optionally, the UE may only store the TA information upon receiving the TA indication information without starting the corresponding timer.

[0231] After receiving the handover command, the UE synchronizes / interacts with the target cell based on the target cell identifier indicated in the handover command and the TA information (which can be carried in the handover command or previously obtained). Specifically, the UE behavior includes at least one of the following:

[0232] 1) Start / restart the TA timer of the target cell.

[0233] 2) Associate the TA value of the target cell with the TAG associated with the target cell, start the TA timer associated with the TAG, and optionally, if the TAG has a running timer, restart the TA timer of the TAG.

[0234] 3) For the TAG associated with the target cell, the TA value of the target cell is applied.

[0235] 4) Stop running other TA timers.

[0236] 5) Perform uplink and downlink transmission with the target cell.

[0237] 6) Monitor the PDCCH of the target cell.

[0238] 7) Clear the HARQ buffer of the source serving cell (pcell and / or pscell and / or scell).

[0239] 8) Clear the HARQ buffers of all serving cells (pcell, pscell, and scell).

[0240] 9) Clear the buffer of the HARQ process that cannot be transmitted in the target cell. This can be based on the UE's autonomous judgment or network indication, such as the HARQ process associated with the source serving cell that is not the target cell.

[0241] 10) Release the resources of the source serving cell (pcell and / or pscell and / or scell), including CG, SRS, SPS, PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.

[0242] 11) Release the resources of the source serving cell that is not the target cell, including CG, SRS, SPS, PUSCH, PUCCH, etc.

[0243] Specifically, if the current scell is the target Pcell, the configuration or resources of the scell may not be released.

[0244] 12) Keep the N of the TAG TA .

[0245] In addition, if the target cell is the source service cell before receiving the switching command, the control process of converting PTAG and STAG can also be executed, wherein the above-mentioned target cell and source service cell can specifically include pcell / pscell / scell (including activation state or deactivation state).

[0246] Specifically, if the target PCELL is the source scell, and the target pcell and the source pcell do not belong to the same TAG, the conversion between PTAG and STAG is performed;

[0247] If the target sCELL is the source pcell, and the target pcell and the source pcell do not belong to the same TAG, perform the conversion between PTAG and STAG;

[0248] If the target scell / pcell and the source pcell / scell belong to the same TAG, the conversion between PTAG and STAG is not performed.

[0249] Optionally, the running / stopping / restarting of the TA timer may be based on a network instruction, a higher layer instruction, or a protocol agreement.

[0250] Optionally, when the candidate cell receives TA indication information before the switching command, it determines whether to start / restart the timer of the TAG associated with the candidate cell based on the network indication; or the network pre-configuredly instructs the UE whether to start / restart the timer of the TAG associated with the candidate cell when it receives the candidate cell TA indication information.

[0251] In some embodiments, if the scell of the target cell includes at least one scell (pcell change without scell change), the activation / deactivation status of the scell may be determined by:

[0252] a) Reuse the state of the scell on the source side. For example, if the scell is in the active state on the source side, it will remain in the active state after switching, otherwise it will remain in the deactivated state;

[0253] b) The protocol stipulates that all scells are in an activated or deactivated state;

[0254] c) indicating the activation and deactivation state of each scell based on the switching command;

[0255] d) determining the status based on the Scell ​​activation and deactivation indication information in the candidate cell configuration;

[0256] e) Determine whether the TA / TAG associated with the scell is valid. If the TA is valid, it is determined to be in the activated state; otherwise, it is in the deactivated state.

[0257] The above TA instructions and maintenance can be applied to the following cases:

[0258] 1) The candidate cell is not the current serving cell;

[0259] 2) The candidate cell is the current serving cell, which may be a pcell / pscell / scell (including an activated state or a deactivated state).

[0260] Please refer to Figure 8, which shows a block diagram of a timing advance indication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The device can be used to execute all or part of the steps performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment. As shown in Figure 8, the device may include:

[0261] The receiving module 801 is configured to receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate timing advance TA information of a first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching.

[0262] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

[0263] A processing module is used to control the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information, or to control the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information.

[0264] In some embodiments, the processing module is used to control the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information when a switching command has been received, or to control the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information.

[0265] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

[0266] A storage module is used to store the TA information of the first cell.

[0267] In some embodiments, the storage module is configured to store the TA information of the first cell when no handover command has been received.

[0268] In some embodiments, the first indication information is indication information based on a timing advance group TAG;

[0269] The processing module is used to start or restart the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell.

[0270] In some embodiments, the processing module is further configured to, upon receiving the switching command, perform at least one of the following operations:

[0271] Continue to run / restart the TA timer of the TAG associated with the target cell, and apply the TA value of the target cell to the TAG associated with the target cell;

[0272] Stop running other TA timers.

[0273] In some embodiments, the first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell;

[0274] The processing module is used to start or restart the TA timer associated with the first cell.

[0275] In some embodiments, the processing module is further configured to, upon receiving the switching command, perform at least one of the following operations:

[0276] Start / restart the TA timer associated with the target cell;

[0277] Associating the TA value of the target cell with the TAG associated with the target cell, and starting / restarting the TA timer associated with the TAG;

[0278] For the TAG associated with the target cell, apply the TA value of the target cell;

[0279] Stop running other TA timers.

[0280] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

[0281] The control module is configured to, upon receiving a switching command, perform at least one of the following operations:

[0282] Performing uplink and downlink transmission with the target cell;

[0283] Monitoring the PDCCH of the target cell;

[0284] Clear the HARQ buffer of the source serving cell;

[0285] Clear the HARQ buffer of all serving cells;

[0286] Clear the buffer of the HARQ process that cannot continue to transmit in the target cell;

[0287] Release resources of the source serving cell;

[0288] releasing resources of other source serving cells except the target cell;

[0289] retaining the TA adjustment value of the TAG associated with the target cell;

[0290] When the target primary cell in the target cell is the source secondary cell, and the target secondary cell and the source secondary cell in the target cell do not belong to the same TAG, performing conversion between PTAG and STAG;

[0291] When the target secondary cell is the source primary cell and the target cell and the source primary cell do not belong to the same TAG, performing conversion between PTAG and STAG;

[0292] In the case that the target primary cell or target secondary cell and the source primary cell or source secondary cell belong to the same TAG, the conversion between PTAG and STAG is not performed.

[0293] In some embodiments, when the target secondary cell in the target cell includes at least one secondary cell, the apparatus further includes:

[0294] A management module is configured to manage the activation state of the target secondary cell in one of the following ways:

[0295] Reusing the state of the target secondary cell on the source side;

[0296] Setting all the target secondary cells to an activated state or a deactivated state according to the protocol;

[0297] setting an activation state or a deactivation state of each of the target secondary cells based on a display indication of the handover command;

[0298] Determining the activation state or deactivation state of the target secondary cell based on the secondary cell activation / deactivation indication information in the configuration of the candidate cell;

[0299] An activation state or a deactivation state of the target secondary cell is determined based on the validity of the TA / TAG associated with the target secondary cell.

[0300] In some embodiments, the handover command is a message carrying handover information; and / or,

[0301] The handover command is a message that triggers cell handover behavior.

[0302] In some embodiments, the switching information includes at least one of the following information:

[0303] Target cell identification, TA information, BWP information, PDCP data recovery indication, RLC reestablishment indication, MAC reset indication, TCI information, C-RNTI.

[0304] In some embodiments, the message triggering the cell switching behavior includes a TCI state.

[0305] In some embodiments, the handover command includes at least one of a MAC CE and a DCI.

[0306] In some embodiments, the first indication information includes at least one of the following information:

[0307] TA adjustment value, TA absolute value, TAG identifier, identifier of the target cell, and identifier of the candidate cell.

[0308] In some embodiments, the first indication information is carried by a TAC MAC CE, an absolute timing advance command MAC CE, a new MAC CE, a MAC CE carrying handover information, a RAR carrying handover information, or a MsgB carrying handover information.

[0309] In some embodiments, the TA information of the candidate cell is determined by a network side device; or,

[0310] The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by the terminal device when performing measurement;

[0311] The TA information of the candidate cell is determined when the terminal device performs random access.

[0312] Please refer to Figure 9, which shows a block diagram of a timing advance indication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The device can be used to execute all or part of the steps performed by the network side device in the above method embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, the device may include:

[0313] The sending module 901 is used to send first indication information to the terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the timing advance TA information of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching and at least one of the target cells for cell switching.

[0314] In some embodiments, the first indication information includes at least one of the following information:

[0315] TA adjustment value, TA absolute value, TAG identifier, identifier of the target cell, and identifier of the candidate cell.

[0316] In some embodiments, the first indication information is carried by a TAC MAC CE, an absolute timing advance command MAC CE, a new MAC CE, a MAC CE carrying handover information, a RAR carrying handover information, or a MsgB carrying handover information.

[0317] In some embodiments, the TA information of the candidate cell is determined by a network side device; or,

[0318] The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by the terminal device when performing measurement;

[0319] The TA information of the candidate cell is determined when the terminal device performs random access.

[0320] Please refer to FIG10 , which shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a device 1000 provided in one embodiment of the present application. The device 1000 may include: a processor 1001 , a receiver 1002 , a transmitter 1003 , a memory 1004 , and a bus 1005 .

[0321] The processor 1001 includes one or more processing cores. The processor 1001 executes various functional applications and information processing by running software programs and modules.

[0322] The receiver 1002 and the transmitter 1003 may be implemented as a communication component, which may be a communication chip, which may also be called a transceiver.

[0323] The memory 1004 is connected to the processor 1001 via a bus 1005 .

[0324] The memory 1004 may be used to store a computer program, and the processor 1001 may be used to execute the computer program to implement the various steps performed by the terminal in the above method embodiment.

[0325] In addition, the memory 1004 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, including but not limited to: magnetic disk or optical disk, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, static random access memory, read-only memory, magnetic memory, flash memory, and programmable read-only memory.

[0326] The above-mentioned device can be implemented as a terminal device or a network-side device in the above-mentioned various method embodiments.

[0327] In an exemplary embodiment, the device includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver (the transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, the receiver is used to receive information, and the transmitter is used to send information);

[0328] When the above device is implemented as the terminal device in each of the above method embodiments,

[0329] The transceiver is used to receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate timing advance TA information of a first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching.

[0330] Among them, the steps executed by the above-mentioned transceiver and processor can refer to all or part of the steps executed by the terminal device in the embodiments shown in Figure 5 or Figure 7 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0331] When the above-mentioned device is implemented as a network side device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, the transceiver is used to send first indication information to the terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the timing advance TA information of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching, and at least one of the target cells for cell switching.

[0332] Among them, the steps performed by the above-mentioned transceiver and processor can refer to all or part of the steps performed by the network side device in the embodiment shown in Figure 6 or Figure 7 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0333] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored. The computer program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the various steps performed by the terminal device or the network side device in the method shown in Figures 5, 6 or 7 above.

[0334] The present application also provides a computer program product or computer program, which includes computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a terminal device or a network-side device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium and executes the computer instructions, causing the terminal device or the network-side device to perform each step performed by the terminal device or the network-side device in the method shown in Figures 5, 6, or 7 above.

[0335] The present application also provides a computer program, which includes computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a terminal device or a network-side device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium and executes the computer instructions, causing the terminal device or the network-side device to perform each step performed by the terminal device or the network-side device in the method shown in Figures 5, 6, or 7 above.

[0336] The present application also provides a chip, which is used in a terminal. The chip can execute each step of the method shown in Figure 5, Figure 6 or Figure 7 above, which is executed by the terminal device or the network side device.

[0337] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in one or more of the above examples, the functions described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, these functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, wherein communication media include any media that facilitates the transmission of computer programs from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0338] The above description is merely an exemplary embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A timing advance indication method, characterized in that: The method is executed by a terminal device; the method includes: Receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate information of a timing advance TA of a first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Based on the first indication information, the TA timer of the first cell is controlled, or based on the first indication information, the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell is controlled.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The controlling the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information, or controlling the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information, includes: In a case where a handover command has been received, the TA timer of the first cell is controlled based on the first indication information, or the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell is controlled based on the first indication information.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: Store the TA information of the first cell.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The storing the TA information of the first cell includes: In a case where no handover command has been received, the TA information of the first cell is stored.

6. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that The first indication information is indication information based on a timing advance group TAG; The controlling, based on the first indication information, a TA timer associated with a TAG corresponding to the first cell includes: Start or restart the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: Upon receiving the handover command, perform at least one of the following operations: Continue to run / restart the TA timer of the TAG associated with the target cell, and apply the TA value of the target cell to the TAG associated with the target cell; Stop running other TA timers.

8. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that The first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell; The controlling the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information includes: Start or restart the TA timer associated with the first cell.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: Upon receiving the handover command, perform at least one of the following operations: Start / restart the TA timer associated with the target cell; Associating the TA value of the target cell with the TAG associated with the target cell, and starting / restarting the TA timer associated with the TAG; For the TAG associated with the target cell, apply the TA value of the target cell; Stop running other TA timers.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Upon receiving the handover command, perform at least one of the following operations: Performing uplink and downlink transmission with the target cell; Monitoring the PDCCH of the target cell; Clear the HARQ buffer of the source serving cell; Clear the HARQ buffer of all serving cells; Clear the buffer of the HARQ process that cannot continue to transmit in the target cell; Release resources of the source serving cell; releasing resources of other source serving cells except the target cell; retaining the TA adjustment value of the TAG associated with the target cell; When the target primary cell in the target cell is the source secondary cell, and the target secondary cell and the source secondary cell in the target cell do not belong to the same TAG, performing conversion between PTAG and STAG; When the target secondary cell is the source primary cell and the target cell and the source primary cell do not belong to the same TAG, performing conversion between PTAG and STAG; In the case that the target primary cell or target secondary cell and the source primary cell or source secondary cell belong to the same TAG, the conversion between PTAG and STAG is not performed.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: In a case where the target secondary cell in the target cell includes at least one secondary cell, the method further includes: The activation state of the target secondary cell is managed in one of the following ways: Reusing the state of the target secondary cell on the source side; Setting all the target secondary cells to an activated state or a deactivated state according to the protocol; setting an activation state or a deactivation state of each of the target secondary cells based on a display indication of the handover command; Determining the activation state or deactivation state of the target secondary cell based on the secondary cell activation / deactivation indication information in the configuration of the candidate cell; An activation state or a deactivation state of the target secondary cell is determined based on the validity of the TA / TAG associated with the target secondary cell.

12. The method according to any one of claims 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10, wherein: The handover command is a message carrying handover information; and / or, The handover command is a message that triggers cell handover behavior.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The switching information includes at least one of the following information: Target cell identifier, TA information, BWP information, PDCP data recovery indication, RLC reestablishment indication, MAC reset indication, TCI information, and C-RNTI.

14. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The message triggering the cell switching behavior includes the TCI state.

15. The method according to any one of claims 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12-14, characterized in that: The handover command includes at least one of a MAC CE and a DCI.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that The first indication information includes at least one of the following information: TA adjustment value, TA absolute value, TAG identifier, identifier of the target cell, and identifier of the candidate cell.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that: The first indication information is carried by a TAC MAC CE, an absolute timing advance command MAC CE, a new MAC CE, a MAC CE carrying handover information, a RAR carrying handover information, or a MsgB carrying handover information.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that: The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by a network-side device; or, The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by the terminal device when performing measurement; The TA information of the candidate cell is determined when the terminal device performs random access.

19. A timing advance indication method, characterized in that: The method is performed by a network-side device; the method includes: Sending first indication information to the terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the timing advance TA information of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching and at least one of the target cells for cell switching.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The first indication information includes at least one of the following information: TA adjustment value, TA absolute value, TAG identifier, identifier of the target cell, and identifier of the candidate cell.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that The first indication information is carried by a TAC MAC CE, an absolute timing advance command MAC CE, a new MAC CE, a MAC CE carrying handover information, a RAR carrying handover information, or a MsgB carrying handover information.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, characterized in that The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by a network-side device; or, The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by the terminal device when performing measurement; The TA information of the candidate cell is determined when the terminal device performs random access.

23. A timing advance indication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: The receiving module is used to receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate information of the timing advance TA of the first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching.

24. The device according to claim 23, characterized in that The device further comprises: A processing module is used to control the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information, or to control the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information.

25. The device according to claim 24, characterized in that The processing module is used to control the TA timer of the first cell based on the first indication information when a handover command has been received, or to control the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell based on the first indication information.

26. The device according to claim 25, characterized in that The device further comprises: A storage module is used to store the TA information of the first cell.

27. The device according to claim 26, characterized in that The storage module is configured to store the TA information of the first cell when no handover command has been received.

28. The device according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The first indication information is indication information based on a timing advance group TAG; The processing module is used to start or restart the TA timer associated with the TAG corresponding to the first cell.

29. The device according to claim 28, characterized in that The processing module is further configured to, upon receiving the switching command, perform at least one of the following operations: Continue to run / restart the TA timer of the TAG associated with the target cell, and apply the TA value of the target cell to the TAG associated with the target cell; Stop running other TA timers.

30. The device according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The first indication information is indication information based on the TA of the cell; The processing module is used to start or restart the TA timer associated with the first cell.

31. The device according to claim 30, characterized in that The processing module is further configured to, upon receiving the switching command, perform at least one of the following operations: Start / restart the TA timer associated with the target cell; Associating the TA value of the target cell with the TAG associated with the target cell, and starting / restarting the TA timer associated with the TAG; For the TAG associated with the target cell, apply the TA value of the target cell; Stop running other TA timers.

32. The device according to any one of claims 23 to 31, characterized in that The device further comprises: The control module is configured to, upon receiving a switching command, perform at least one of the following operations: Performing uplink and downlink transmission with the target cell; Monitoring the PDCCH of the target cell; Clear the HARQ buffer of the source serving cell; Clear the HARQ buffer of all serving cells; Clear the buffer of the HARQ process that cannot continue to transmit in the target cell; Release resources of the source serving cell; releasing resources of other source serving cells except the target cell; retaining the TA adjustment value of the TAG associated with the target cell; When the target primary cell in the target cell is the source secondary cell, and the target secondary cell and the source secondary cell in the target cell do not belong to the same TAG, performing conversion between PTAG and STAG; When the target secondary cell is the source primary cell and the target cell and the source primary cell do not belong to the same TAG, performing conversion between PTAG and STAG; In the case that the target primary cell or target secondary cell and the source primary cell or source secondary cell belong to the same TAG, the conversion between PTAG and STAG is not performed.

33. The device according to any one of claims 23 to 32, characterized in that In a case where the target secondary cell in the target cell includes at least one secondary cell, the apparatus further includes: A management module is configured to manage the activation state of the target secondary cell in one of the following ways: Reusing the state of the target secondary cell on the source side; Setting all the target secondary cells to an activated state or a deactivated state according to the protocol; setting an activation state or a deactivation state of each of the target secondary cells based on a display indication of the handover command; Determining the activation state or deactivation state of the target secondary cell based on the secondary cell activation / deactivation indication information in the configuration of the candidate cell; An activation state or a deactivation state of the target secondary cell is determined based on the validity of the TA / TAG associated with the target secondary cell.

34. The device according to any one of claims 25, 27, 29, 31 and 32, characterized in that The handover command is a message carrying handover information; and / or, The handover command is a message that triggers cell handover behavior.

35. The device according to claim 34, characterized in that The switching information includes at least one of the following information: Target cell identifier, TA information, BWP information, PDCP data recovery indication, RLC reestablishment indication, MAC reset indication, TCI information, and C-RNTI.

36. The device according to claim 34, characterized in that The message triggering the cell switching behavior includes the TCI state.

37. The device according to any one of claims 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 34-36, characterized in that The handover command includes at least one of a MAC CE and a DCI.

38. The device according to any one of claims 23 to 37, characterized in that The first indication information includes at least one of the following information: TA adjustment value, TA absolute value, TAG identifier, identifier of the target cell, and identifier of the candidate cell.

39. The device according to any one of claims 23 to 38, characterized in that The first indication information is carried by a TAC MAC CE, an absolute timing advance command MAC CE, a new MAC CE, a MAC CE carrying handover information, a RAR carrying handover information, or a MsgB carrying handover information.

40. The device according to any one of claims 23 to 39, characterized in that The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by a network-side device; or, The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by the terminal device when performing measurement; The TA information of the candidate cell is determined when the terminal device performs random access.

41. A timing advance indication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A sending module is used to send first indication information to a terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the timing advance TA information of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching and at least one of the target cells for cell switching.

42. The device according to claim 41, characterized in that The first indication information includes at least one of the following information: TA adjustment value, TA absolute value, TAG identifier, identifier of the target cell, and identifier of the candidate cell.

43. The device according to claim 41 or 42, characterized in that The first indication information is carried by a TAC MAC CE, an absolute timing advance command MAC CE, a new MAC CE, a MAC CE carrying handover information, a RAR carrying handover information, or a MsgB carrying handover information.

44. The device according to any one of claims 41 to 43, characterized in that The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by a network-side device; or, The TA information of the candidate cell is determined by the terminal device when performing measurement; The TA information of the candidate cell is determined when the terminal device performs random access.

45. A terminal device, characterized in that: The terminal device includes a processor, a memory and a transceiver; The transceiver is used to receive first indication information; the first indication information is used to indicate information of the timing advance TA of the first cell; the first cell includes at least one of a candidate cell for cell switching and a target cell for cell switching.

46. ​​A network side device, characterized in that: The network side device includes a processor, a memory and a transceiver; The transceiver is used to send first indication information to the terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the timing advance TA information of the first cell; the first cell includes a candidate cell for cell switching and at least one of the target cells for cell switching.

47. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is configured to be executed by a processor to implement the timing advance indication method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

48. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer instructions, which are stored in a computer-readable storage medium; the processor of the terminal device or the network side device executes the computer instructions, so that the terminal device or the network side device executes the timing advance indication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22.

49. A computer program, characterized in that The computer program includes computer instructions, and the processor of the terminal device or the network side device executes the computer instructions, so that the terminal device or the network side device executes the timing advance indication method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

50. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is used to execute the timing advance indication method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

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