Neighbor cell measurement method and device in NTN, equipment and storage medium

Abstract

The invention discloses a neighbor cell measurement method and device in NTN, equipment and a storage medium, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the step of starting measurement of a neighbor cell based on whether the distance between a terminal and a reference point of a service cell and / or the distance variation meets an evaluation criterion based on the position of the terminal. According to the invention, the terminal can judge whether to start the measurement of the neighbor cell or not based on the distance and / or distance variation between the terminal and the reference point of the service cell, so that the requirement of mobility management of the terminal is met.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with application number 202280093915.4 filed on April 29, 2022 and invention name “Neighboring cell measurement method, device, equipment and storage medium in NTN”. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method, device, equipment and storage medium for measuring a neighboring cell in a non-terrestrial communication network (NTN). Background Art

[0003] In the NTN system, the terminal performs neighbor cell measurements based on the measurement start threshold configured by the network equipment.

[0004] Take the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) threshold as an example. In the NTN system, the difference between the RSRP corresponding to the terminal when it is in the center of the serving cell and when it is at the edge of the serving cell is not obvious, which will make it difficult for the network device to configure a suitable RSRP threshold for the terminal. At the same time, after the network device configures the RSRP threshold, due to the error in RSRP measurement, the terminal may perform unnecessary or erroneous measurement operations, thereby failing to meet the mobility management requirements of the terminal. Summary of the invention

[0005] The embodiment of the present application provides a method, apparatus, device and storage medium for measuring neighboring cells in NTN, which determines whether to start measuring neighboring cells based on the evaluation criteria of the terminal location to meet the mobility management requirements of the terminal. The technical solution is as follows:

[0006] According to one aspect of the present application, a method for measuring a neighboring cell in an NTN is provided, which is performed by a terminal, and the method includes:

[0007] Based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position, measurement of neighboring cells is initiated.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present application, a method for measuring a neighboring cell in an NTN is provided, which is performed by a terminal, and the method includes:

[0009] The measurement of the neighboring cell is started before the cell out-of-service time. The cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the serving cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area.

[0010] According to one aspect of the present application, a neighbor cell measurement method in an NTN is provided, which is performed by a network device, and the method includes:

[0011] An evaluation criterion based on the terminal position is sent to the terminal, and the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position is used for the terminal to determine whether to start measurement of neighboring cells based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

[0012] According to one aspect of the present application, a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN is provided, which is performed by a network device, and the method includes:

[0013] The cell out-of-service time is sent to the terminal. The cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area. The cell out-of-service time is used for the terminal to start measuring neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time.

[0014] According to one aspect of the present application, a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN is provided, the device comprising:

[0015] The starting module is used to start the measurement of the neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criteria based on the terminal position.

[0016] According to one aspect of the present application, a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN is provided, the device comprising:

[0017] The starting module is used to start the measurement of the neighboring cell before the cell out-of-service time, and the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area.

[0018] According to one aspect of the present application, a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN is provided, the device comprising:

[0019] The sending module is used to send the terminal location-based evaluation criteria to the terminal. The terminal location-based evaluation criteria are used for the terminal to determine whether to start measurement of neighboring cells based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and the service cell reference point meets the terminal location-based evaluation criteria.

[0020] According to one aspect of the present application, a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN is provided, the device comprising:

[0021] The sending module is used to send the cell out-of-service time to the terminal. The cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area. The cell out-of-service time is used for the terminal to start measuring the neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time.

[0022] According to one aspect of the present application, a terminal is provided, the terminal including a processor;

[0023] The processor is used to start the measurement of the neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criteria based on the terminal position.

[0024] According to one aspect of the present application, a terminal is provided, the terminal including a processor;

[0025] The processor is used to start the measurement of the neighboring cell before the cell out-of-service time, and the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area.

[0026] According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided a network device, the network device comprising a transceiver;

[0027] The transceiver is used to send an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position to the terminal, and the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position is used for the terminal to determine whether to start measurement of a neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

[0028] According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided a network device, the network device comprising a transceiver;

[0029] The transceiver is used to send a cell out-of-service time to the terminal, where the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area, and the cell out-of-service time is used for the terminal to start measuring neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time.

[0030] According to one aspect of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program is stored. The computer program is used to be executed by a processor to implement the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN as described above.

[0031] According to one aspect of the present application, a chip is provided. The chip includes a programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions. When the chip is running, it is used to implement the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN as described above.

[0032] According to one aspect of the present application, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes computer instructions. The computer instructions are stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor reads and executes the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium to implement the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN as described above.

[0033] The technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application includes at least the following beneficial effects:

[0034] A neighbor cell measurement method in NTN is provided, so that a terminal can judge whether to start measurement of a neighbor cell based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and a serving cell reference point meets an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position, so as to meet the mobility management requirements of the terminal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. 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 creative work.

[0036] Figure 1 This is a satellite network architecture diagram of transparent forwarding provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 2 This is a satellite network architecture diagram of regeneration and forwarding provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of near-far effects in different scenarios provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 6 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 7 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 8 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of performing neighboring cell measurement provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Fig.10 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Fig.11is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Fig.12 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Fig.13 is a schematic diagram of performing neighboring cell measurement provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Fig.14 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Fig.15 is a flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Fig.16 is a schematic diagram of performing neighboring cell measurement provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Fig.17 is a schematic diagram of a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Fig.18 is a schematic diagram of a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Fig.19 is a schematic diagram of a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Fig. 20 is a schematic diagram of a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Fig.21 It is a structural diagram of a communication device provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the implementation methods of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0058] At present, with people's pursuit of speed, latency, high-speed mobility, energy efficiency and the diversity and complexity of services in future life, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) international standard organization has begun to develop the fifth generation of communication (5th-Generation, 5G). The main application scenarios of 5G are: Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable & Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), and massive Machine Type of Communication (mMTC).

[0059] New Radio (NR) can also be deployed independently. In order to reduce air interface signaling and quickly restore wireless connections and data services in the 5G network environment, a new Radio Resource Control (RRC) state is defined, namely the RRC inactive (RRC_INACTIVE) state. This state is different from the RRC idle (RRC_IDLE) state and the RRC active (RRC_ACTIVE) state.

[0060] RRC_IDLE: Mobility is based on terminal cell selection and reselection, paging is initiated by the terminal, and the paging area is configured by the terminal. There is no terminal access stratum (AS) context on the network device side, and there is no RRC connection.

[0061] RRC_CONNECTED: There is an RRC connection, and the network device and the terminal have a terminal access layer context. The network device determines the location of the terminal at the specific cell level, and the mobility is the mobility controlled by the network device. Unicast data can be transmitted between the terminal and the network device.

[0062] RRC_INACTIVE: Mobility is based on terminal cell selection reselection. There is a connection between the Core Network (CN) and NR, which can be abbreviated as the connection between CN and NR. The terminal access layer context exists on a certain network device. Paging is triggered by the Radio Access Network (RAN). The RAN-based paging area is managed by the RAN. The network device side determines the terminal's location based on the RAN's paging area level.

[0063] Before introducing the technical solution of this application, the following is an explanation of the relevant knowledge of this application:

[0064] Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements for terminals in the idle state in Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT):

[0065] A terminal (User Equipment, UE) in the idle state needs to perform RRM measurements on the serving cell and other neighboring cells based on network configuration to support mobility operations such as cell reselection.

[0066] Schematically, the measurement of the serving cell by the idle UE is continuous. In NB-IoT, a neighboring cell measurement relaxation mechanism for stationary terminals can be introduced to further meet the power saving requirements of the terminal. For the measurement relaxation criteria introduced for neighboring cell measurement relaxation, the network device configures the evaluation duration of the change in Narrowband Reference Signal Received Quality (NRSRP) and the threshold of the change value of the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP). Among them, the evaluation duration can be indicated by TSearchDeltaP, and the threshold of the RSRP change value can be indicated by SSearchDeltaP.

[0067] When the change amount of the RSRP of the UE on the serving cell within a period of time TSearchDeltaP is less than SSearchDeltaP, it is considered that the UE meets the measurement relaxation criteria.

[0068] Schematically, within a period of time TSearchDeltaP, it satisfies:

[0069] (SrxlevRef – Srxlev) < SSearchDeltaP < Formula 1.

[0070] Among them, Srxlev is the current Srxlev measurement value of the serving cell, and SrxlevRef is the reference Srxlev value of the serving cell.

[0071] When the UE selects or reselects to a new cell, or (Srxlev - SrxlevRef) > 0, or the UE does not satisfy Formula 1 within the continuous time of TSearchDeltaP, the UE sets SrxlevRef to the current Srxlev measurement value of the serving cell; subsequently, after the UE completes cell selection / reselection, it needs to perform normal RRM measurements within at least a period of time TSearchDeltaP.

[0072] Optionally, when the UE meets the measurement relaxation criteria, the UE's measurement interval for the neighboring cell may be increased to 24 hours.

[0073] RRM measurements for UEs in connected state in NR:

[0074] Schematically, NB-IoT UE does not support RRM measurement in connected state. When the channel quality of the connected NB-IoT in the serving cell deteriorates, mobility management is performed through Radio Link Failure (RLF) and RRC reestablishment process.

[0075] Among them, after the UE triggers RLF, it needs to first select a suitable cell through search and measurement, and then initiate RRC connection reconstruction on the cell. In order to save the time of selecting the reconstructed cell after the UE triggers RLF, a neighboring cell measurement mechanism for connected UEs can be introduced for NB-IoT UEs.

[0076] For neighboring cell measurements of connected UEs, the network will configure the S-measurement criteria through system messages. At the same time, the network can also configure the UE mobility status evaluation criteria for the terminal. The UE then determines whether it needs to perform neighboring cell measurements based on the s-measure criteria and the UE mobility status evaluation criteria. The method is as follows:

[0077] When the UE enters the RRC connected state, if the network configures the UE mobility status evaluation criteria, then:

[0078] - Set the NRSRP reference value (NRSRP Ref) to the most recently measured NRSRP on the serving cell used for cell selection / reselection;

[0079] -If the UE does not meet the neighbor cell measurement relaxation criteria before entering the RRC connected state, the UE starts the corresponding timer, and the timer can be indicated by T3AB. Wherein, A and B can be the same integer or different integers, and the value range of A and B is 0-9. It should be understood that T3AB can also be expressed in other ways, such as T3XX, where "XX" is used to replace the same or different integers.

[0080] For a UE in a connected state, assuming that the measurement result of the UE on the measured carrier is NRSRP, if the network is configured with a UE mobility status evaluation criterion, then:

[0081] - If (NRSRP Ref - (NRSRP - PowerOffsetNonAnchor)) > s - MeasureDeltaP, the UE sets NRSRP Ref = NRSRP - PowerOffsetNonAnchor, and at the same time the UE starts or restarts T3AB.

[0082] If the network does not configure the UE mobility state evaluation criterion, or T3AB is running:

[0083] - If (NRSRP - PowerOffsetNonAnchor) < s - MeasureIntra, the UE performs measurements on co - frequency neighboring cells.

[0084] - If (NRSRP - PowerOffsetNonAnchor) < s - MeasureInter, the UE performs measurements on inter - frequency neighboring cells.

[0085] Non - Terrestrial Network (NTN) related background:

[0086] Currently, 3GPP is researching NTN technology. NTN technology generally uses satellite communication to provide communication services to terrestrial users. Compared with terrestrial cellular network communication, satellite communication has many unique advantages. First, satellite communication is not restricted by the user's geographical location. For example, general terrestrial communication cannot cover areas such as the ocean, high mountains, and deserts where it is impossible to set up communication equipment or where communication coverage is not provided due to sparse population. For satellite communication, one satellite can cover a large area of the ground, and since the satellite can orbit the earth, in theory, every corner of the earth can be covered by satellite communication. Second, satellite communication has great social value. Satellite communication can cover remote mountainous areas, poor and backward countries or regions at a relatively low cost, enabling people in these areas to enjoy advanced voice communication and mobile Internet technology, which is conducive to narrowing the digital divide with developed regions and promoting regional development. Third, satellite communication has a long communication distance, and the communication cost does not increase significantly as the communication distance increases; finally, satellite communication has high stability and is not restricted by natural disasters.

[0087] Communication satellites are classified into Low - Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, Medium - Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, High Elliptical Orbit (HEO) satellites, etc. according to different orbital heights. Currently, the main research focuses on LEO and GEO.

[0088] 1.LEO: The altitude of low-orbit satellites ranges from 500km to 1500km, and the corresponding orbital period is about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. The signal propagation delay of single-hop communication between users is generally less than 20ms. The maximum satellite visibility time is 20 minutes. The signal propagation distance is short, the link loss is small, and the transmission power requirement for user terminals is not high.

[0089] 2.GEO: Geosynchronous orbit satellite, orbiting at an altitude of 35786km, with a rotation period of 24 hours around the earth. The signal propagation delay for single-hop communication between users is generally 250ms.

[0090] In order to ensure satellite coverage and improve the system capacity of the entire satellite communication system, satellites use multiple beams to cover the ground. A satellite can form dozens or even hundreds of beams to cover the ground; a satellite beam can cover a ground area with a diameter of tens to hundreds of kilometers.

[0091] There are two types of satellites currently considered by 3GPP: satellites with transparent payloads, such as Figure 1 As shown; satellites with regenerative payload, such as Figure 2 shown.

[0092] The feeder link refers to a wireless link between the satellite 14 and the NTN gateway 16 (NTN gateway), which is usually located on the ground.

[0093] Schematically, the NTN network consists of the following network elements:

[0094] One or more gateways: used to connect satellites and terrestrial public networks.

[0095] Feeder link: The link used for communication between the gateway and the satellite.

[0096] Service link: The link used for communication between the terminal and the satellite.

[0097] Satellite: Based on the functions they provide, they can be divided into two types: transparent payload and regenerative payload.

[0098] Transparent transmission payload: only provides the functions of wireless frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification. It only provides transparent forwarding of signals and does not change the waveform signal it forwards.

[0099] Regenerative load: In addition to providing wireless frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification functions, it can also provide demodulation / decoding, routing / conversion, encoding / modulation functions. It has some or all of the functions of a base station.

[0100] Inter-Satellite Links (ISL): exist in the regenerative load scenario.

[0101] Figure 3 Schematic diagram showing the near-far effect in different scenarios.

[0102] Indicatively Figure 3 As shown in (a), in the ground network, the reference signal received power (N)RSRP when the UE is in the center of the cell is significantly higher than the (N)RSRP when it is at the edge of the cell. Due to the obvious "near-far effect", it is possible to determine whether the neighboring cell measurement start condition is met based on the (N)RSRP measurement, that is, when the network is configured with the s-measure criterion, the UE can determine whether its channel state is not good enough by measuring the (N)RSRP of the serving cell; when the network is configured with the UE mobility assessment criterion, the UE can determine whether it does not meet the low mobility or static state based on the change in its (N)RSRP on the serving cell.

[0103] Indicatively Figure 3 As shown in (b), in the NTN system, for the UE at the center of the cell and the UE at the edge of the cell, the RSRP difference between them is not obvious. If the current RSRP-based measurement is used to determine whether the UE meets the s-measurement criterion or / and the UE mobility assessment criterion, on the one hand, it is difficult for the network to set a suitable RSRP threshold. On the other hand, due to the error in RSRP measurement, it is likely that the UE will perform inappropriate measurement operations. For example, when the network is configured with the s-measure criterion, for users at the center of the cell, the neighboring cell measurement is started due to the low measured RSRP, which increases unnecessary terminal power consumption; for users at the edge of the cell, the neighboring cell measurement is not started due to the high measured RSRP. When the UE triggers RLF, the RRC reconstruction time is increased, which affects the terminal experience.

[0104] Based on the above content, an embodiment of the present application provides a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN to meet the mobility management requirements of a terminal. Figure 4 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The method is executed by a terminal and includes the following steps:

[0105] Step 102: Initiate measurement of neighboring cells based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

[0106] The distance and / or distance variation between the terminal and the serving cell reference point may be determined according to a distance reference value. The distance reference value may be represented by Dref. Optionally, the distance reference value may be configured by a network device to the terminal, or determined autonomously by the terminal.

[0107] For example, the terminal determines the distance reference value as the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance. The real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the last valid terminal position obtained by the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell. The real-time position of the terminal refers to the position of the terminal at the time node when the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell is determined; the last valid terminal position obtained by the terminal refers to the last terminal position obtained by the terminal before the time node when the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell is determined.

[0108] Optionally, in NB-IoT, the service cell reference point is the reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0109] The evaluation criteria based on the terminal location can be configured by the network device to the terminal. When configuring the evaluation criteria based on the terminal location, the network device can configure the evaluation duration and / or threshold corresponding to the evaluation criteria for the terminal to facilitate the terminal to make a judgment.

[0110] Illustratively, the evaluation criterion based on the terminal location may be a mobility state evaluation criterion based on the terminal location, or an S-measurement criterion based on the terminal location, wherein the mobility state evaluation criterion is used to evaluate the mobility state of the terminal, and the S-measurement criterion is used to determine whether the terminal is at the edge of a cell.

[0111] Taking the evaluation criterion based on the terminal location as the first criterion as an example, step 102 can be implemented as follows:

[0112] When the neighboring cell measurement start conditions are met, start the measurement of the neighboring cell;

[0113] The neighboring cell measurement start condition at least includes: the change in distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy a first criterion, and the first criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the terminal position.

[0114] Optionally, when the first criterion corresponds to a first evaluation duration and a first threshold, and within the first evaluation duration, when the change in distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold, it is determined that the distance change meets the first criterion, and the distance change is determined based on the distance reference value.

[0115] Among them, the first evaluation duration can be represented by t-MeasureDeltaD; the first threshold is the distance change threshold corresponding to the first criterion, which can be represented by s-MeasureDeltaD; the distance change is used to indicate the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point relative to the distance reference value, including both situations where the distance increases or decreases.

[0116] Optionally, the distance variation is determined according to a distance reference value, wherein the distance reference value may be configured for the terminal by the network device or may be determined autonomously by the terminal, and the distance reference value may be represented by Dref.

[0117] Optionally, in the case where the first criterion corresponds to a timer for evaluating the mobility state of the terminal, the duration of the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is the first evaluation duration. The first timer corresponding to the first criterion can be represented by T3XY. X and Y can be the same integer or different integers, and the value range of X and Y is 0-9. It should be understood that T3XY can also be expressed in other ways, such as T3YY, where "YY" is used to replace the same or different integers.

[0118] According to the foregoing, the condition for the distance change to satisfy the first criterion is: within the first evaluation time period, and the distance change between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell is less than or equal to the first threshold. Among them, within the first evaluation time period, it can be realized that the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running. It should be understood that, except for the above conditions, any other situation belongs to the situation where the distance change does not satisfy the first criterion. For example, if the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, it is determined that the distance change does not satisfy the first criterion; for another example, if the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the distance change between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell is greater than the first threshold, it is determined that the distance change does not satisfy the first criterion.

[0119] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement start condition also includes at least one of the following conditions: the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion; the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion; the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0120] The second criterion is a mobility state evaluation criterion based on channel quality, and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion can be represented by T3AB. For example, the second criterion is a mobility state evaluation criterion based on (N)RSRP.

[0121] Optionally, the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion is: the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point does not meet the third criterion; the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion; the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point does not meet the third criterion, and the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion. Among them, the third criterion is the S measurement criterion based on the terminal position, and the fourth criterion is the S measurement criterion based on the channel quality. The relevant descriptions of the third criterion and the fourth criterion will be expanded below and will not be described in detail here.

[0122] Optionally, the first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion may be different timers or the same timer. In the case where the first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion are different timers, the first criterion uses a T3XY timer and the second criterion uses a T3AB timer. In the case where the first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion are the same timer, the first criterion and the second criterion may use the T3AB timer together.

[0123] A and B can be the same integer or different integers, and the value range of A and B is 0-9; X and Y can be the same integer or different integers, and the value range of X and Y is 0-9. It should be understood that T3XY can also be expressed in other ways, such as T3YY, where "YY" is used to replace the same or different integers; T3AB can also be expressed in other ways, such as T3XX, where "XX" is used to replace the same or different integers.

[0124] Taking the evaluation criterion based on the terminal location as the third criterion as an example, step 102 can be implemented as follows:

[0125] When the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy the third criterion, the measurement of the neighboring cell is initiated, and the third criterion is an S measurement criterion based on the terminal position.

[0126] Optionally, when the third criterion corresponds to a third threshold, and when the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold, it is determined that the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the third criterion.

[0127] The third threshold is a distance threshold corresponding to the third criterion and can be represented by D_threshold1.

[0128] Optionally, for the same-frequency neighboring cells and different-frequency neighboring cells, different neighboring cells correspond to separate third thresholds, and the third threshold corresponding to the same-frequency neighboring cells and the third threshold corresponding to the different-frequency neighboring cells may be the same or different.

[0129] The description of whether the terminal satisfies the third criterion is similar to that of whether the terminal satisfies the first criterion and can be used as a reference.

[0130] It should be understood that, except for the case where the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold, it is considered that the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the third criterion. For example, if the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is greater than the third threshold, it is determined that the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the third criterion.

[0131] Optionally, in the process of starting the measurement of the neighboring cell, the following condition should be met: the terminal does not meet the S measurement criterion.

[0132] The S measurement criterion includes the third criterion and / or the fourth criterion, and the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on channel quality. For example, the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on RSRP / reference signal received quality (Reference Signal Received Quality, RSRQ).

[0133] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighboring cell measurement method in NTN, so that the terminal can judge whether to start the measurement of the neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the service cell reference point meets the evaluation criteria based on the terminal position. Among them, according to the different evaluation criteria based on the terminal position, the corresponding neighboring area measurement start conditions are also different. When the neighboring area measurement start conditions are met, the terminal can start the measurement of the neighboring cell, so that the terminal can reselect the service cell after triggering RLF, thereby meeting the mobility management requirements of the terminal.

[0134] Figure 5 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The method comprises the following steps:

[0135] Step 201: The network device configures the terminal with an evaluation criterion based on the terminal location.

[0136] Illustratively, the terminal location-based evaluation criteria are used for the terminal to determine whether to start measurement of a neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and a serving cell reference point satisfies the terminal location-based evaluation criteria.

[0137] The evaluation criterion based on the terminal location may be a mobility state evaluation criterion based on the terminal location, or an S-measure criterion based on the terminal location.

[0138] When configuring the evaluation criteria based on the terminal location, the network device may configure the evaluation duration and / or threshold corresponding to the evaluation criteria for the terminal to facilitate the terminal to make a judgment.

[0139] Step 202: The terminal starts measuring a neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and a serving cell reference point meets an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

[0140] The distance and / or distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point may be determined according to a distance reference value, and the distance reference value may be configured by a network device to the terminal or determined autonomously by the terminal.

[0141] Optionally, in NB-IoT, the service cell reference point is the reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0142] It should be understood that step 202 is the same as step 102 and can be used for reference only and will not be described in detail.

[0143] Illustratively, in the multiple embodiments given in the above content, the steps on the terminal side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the terminal, and the steps on the network device side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the network device. The specific explanation of the steps of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN can refer to the above content and will not be repeated.

[0144] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighboring cell measurement method in NTN. Based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criteria based on the terminal position, the terminal can determine whether to start the measurement of the neighboring cell according to the judgment result, thereby meeting the mobility management requirements of the terminal.

[0145] based on Figure 4 , Figure 6 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. Step 102 can be implemented as step 1021. Step 1021 is as follows:

[0146] Step 1021: When the neighboring cell measurement start condition is met, start the measurement of the neighboring cell.

[0147] The neighboring cell measurement start condition at least includes: the change in distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy a first criterion, and the first criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the terminal position.

[0148] Optionally, in NB-IoT, the serving cell reference point is the reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0149] Illustratively, the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is used to indicate the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point, and the distance change includes at least one of the following: distance increase change; distance decrease change.

[0150] The distance change is not an absolute value, and its value can be positive or negative. When the terminal gradually moves away from the serving cell reference point, the distance change is positive; when the terminal gradually approaches the serving cell reference point, the distance change is negative.

[0151] Optionally, the distance change is determined according to a distance reference value. The distance reference value may be configured by a network device for the terminal or determined autonomously by the terminal, and the distance reference value may be represented by Dref. The distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is defined as D, and the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point may be represented by D-Dref.

[0152] In schematic form, the distance increase change refers to the increase in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point relative to the distance reference value, that is, when the terminal gradually moves away from the service cell reference point, the value of D-Dref is positive; the distance decrease change refers to the decrease in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point relative to the distance reference value, that is, when the terminal gradually approaches the service cell reference point, the value of D-Dref is negative.

[0153] Optionally, when the first criterion corresponds to a first evaluation duration and a first threshold, within the first evaluation duration, when the change in distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold, it is determined that the distance change satisfies the first criterion.

[0154] The first evaluation duration can be represented by t-MeasureDeltaD; the first threshold is a distance change threshold corresponding to the first criterion, which can be represented by s-MeasureDeltaD.

[0155] According to the foregoing content, the distance change includes at least one of the following: the distance increase change; the distance decrease change. Accordingly, the distance change satisfies the first criterion and includes at least one of the following two situations: the distance increase change satisfies the first criterion, and the distance decrease change satisfies the first criterion. That is, within the first evaluation time, when the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point increases or decreases relative to the distance reference value and is less than or equal to the first threshold, it is determined that the distance change satisfies the first criterion.

[0156] The distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, and the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD.

[0157] When the terminal gradually moves away from the serving cell reference point, the value of D-Dref is positive. At this time, if D-Dref<=s-MeasureDeltaD is satisfied, the distance change is considered to meet the first criterion; otherwise, the distance change is considered not to meet the first criterion. Similarly, when the terminal gradually approaches the serving cell reference point, the value of D-Dref is negative, and D-Dref<=s-MeasureDeltaD is satisfied, then the distance change is considered to meet the first criterion.

[0158] It should be understood that, except for the above conditions that satisfy the first criterion, any other situation belongs to the situation that the distance change amount does not satisfy the first criterion. For example, if the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, it is determined that the distance change amount does not satisfy the first criterion; for another example, if the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the distance change amount between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is greater than the first threshold, it is determined that the distance change amount does not satisfy the first criterion.

[0159] Illustratively, the neighboring cell measurement start condition may include multiple conditions. In addition to the above content: the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the first criterion, the neighboring cell measurement start condition may also include other conditions according to different criteria.

[0160] Taking the second criterion being a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality as an example, for example, the second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on (N)RSRP. When the network device configures the first criterion and the second criterion for the terminal, the first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion may be the same or different. Depending on whether the first timer and the second timer are the same or different, other conditions included in the neighboring area measurement start condition are also different.

[0161] In an optional implementation scenario, the neighboring cell measurement start condition also includes at least one of the following conditions: the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion; the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion; the first timer criterion corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion. Among them, the first timer corresponding to the first criterion can be represented by T3XY, the second timer corresponding to the second criterion can be represented by T3AB, and the first timer and the second timer are different timers.

[0162] In another optional implementation scenario, the neighboring cell measurement start condition further includes: the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion. The first timer and the second timer are the same timer, and the first criterion and the second criterion can use the T3AB timer together.

[0163] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighboring cell measurement method in NTN, and when the neighboring cell measurement start condition is met, the terminal can start the measurement of the neighboring cell, and the neighboring cell measurement start condition at least includes: the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the first criterion. Based on the neighboring cell measurement method in NTN provided by the embodiment of the present application, the terminal can determine whether to start the measurement of the neighboring cell according to the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point.

[0164] Figure 7 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The method comprises the following steps:

[0165] Step 301: The network device configures the first criterion for the terminal.

[0166] The first criterion is a mobility status evaluation criterion based on the terminal location.

[0167] Optionally, in the case where a first timer corresponding to the first criterion and a second timer corresponding to the second criterion are different timers, the first criterion includes: a first evaluation duration and a first threshold.

[0168] Among them, the first evaluation duration can be determined by one of the following methods: the network device configures the first evaluation duration to the terminal; the terminal determines the first evaluation duration according to the second evaluation duration, and the second evaluation duration is the evaluation duration corresponding to the second criterion.

[0169] For example, the network device explicitly configures a first evaluation duration for the terminal, and the first evaluation duration and the second evaluation duration are two independent configuration parameters; for another example, the terminal determines the first evaluation duration based on the second evaluation duration, such as the terminal determines the parameter value of the second evaluation duration as the parameter value of the first evaluation duration.

[0170] Optionally, the duration of the first timer is the first evaluation duration.

[0171] Optionally, in the case where a first timer corresponding to the first criterion and a second timer corresponding to the second criterion are the same timer, the first criterion includes: a first threshold. Since the first criterion and the second criterion share a timer, the first evaluation duration corresponding to the first criterion and the second evaluation duration corresponding to the second criterion should be the same.

[0172] Illustratively, the first evaluation duration may be represented by t-MeasureDeltaD, and the first threshold may be represented by s-MeasureDeltaD; the second evaluation duration may be represented by t-MeasureDeltaP, and the second threshold may be represented by s-MeasureDeltaP.

[0173] Step 302: When the neighboring cell measurement start condition is met, the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell.

[0174] The neighboring cell measurement start condition at least includes: the change in distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy a first criterion, and the first criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the terminal position.

[0175] Among them, the related descriptions of the neighboring cell measurement start-up conditions, distance change and the first criterion can be referred to the above content and will not be repeated here.

[0176] It should be understood that step 302 is the same as step 1021 and can be used for reference only and will not be described in detail.

[0177] Illustratively, in the multiple embodiments given in the above content, the steps on the terminal side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the terminal, and the steps on the network device side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the network device. The specific explanation of the steps of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN can refer to the above content and will not be repeated.

[0178] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighboring cell measurement method in NTN, and when the neighboring cell measurement start condition is met, the terminal can start the measurement of the neighboring cell, and the neighboring cell measurement start condition at least includes: the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the first criterion. Based on the neighboring cell measurement method in NTN provided by the embodiment of the present application, the terminal can determine whether to start the measurement of the neighboring cell according to the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point.

[0179] According to the foregoing content, when determining whether to start the measurement of the neighboring cell based on the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point, the other conditions included in the neighboring cell measurement start condition are different according to the similarity and difference between the first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion. Two implementation methods of the neighboring cell measurement method in NTN are given below:

[0180] 1. A first timer corresponding to the first criterion and a second timer corresponding to the second criterion are different timers.

[0181] Illustratively, the neighboring cell measurement start condition further includes at least one of the following conditions:

[0182] Condition 1: The first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0183] Condition 2: The second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0184] Condition 3: The first timer criterion corresponding to the first criterion is running, the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0185] The first timer corresponding to the first criterion may be represented by T3XY, and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion may be represented by T3AB. The first timer and the second timer are different timers.

[0186] When the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy the first criterion, the terminal adopts at least one of condition 1, condition 2 and condition 3.

[0187] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement start condition adopted by the terminal is configured by the network device. For example, when the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, the network device instructs the terminal to adopt condition 1; for another example, when the network device configures the second criterion for the terminal, the network device instructs the terminal to adopt condition 2.

[0188] Optionally, when the network device configures the first criterion and the second criterion for the terminal at the same time, the neighboring area measurement start condition adopted by the terminal is determined by the network device through explicit indication information.

[0189] Optionally, the explicit indication information is carried in a system broadcast message.

[0190] When the network device configures both the first criterion and the second criterion for the terminal, the network device may further determine the neighboring cell measurement start condition adopted for the terminal through explicit indication information. For example, the network device carries explicit indication information through a system broadcast message to instruct the terminal to adopt condition 3.

[0191] based on Figure 7 , Figure 8 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, and the method further includes the following steps:

[0192] Step 303: The network device configures the second criterion and / or the serving cell reference point for the terminal.

[0193] Illustratively, the second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality.

[0194] Optionally, the second criterion includes at least one of the following information: a second threshold; a second evaluation duration.

[0195] The second threshold is a channel quality variation threshold corresponding to the second criterion, which can be represented by s-MeasureDeltaP; and the second evaluation duration can be represented by t-MeasureDeltaP.

[0196] For example, the second criterion is a mobility state evaluation criterion based on (N)RSRP, and the second threshold is a (N)RSRP change threshold.

[0197] Step 304: When the first condition is met, the terminal sets the distance reference value to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance.

[0198] Among them, the distance reference value is used to determine the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point, which can be represented by Dref; the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the service cell reference point, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position and the service cell reference point.

[0199] Optionally, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0200] The network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the Radio Resource Control (RRC) unconnected state;

[0201] The network device configures a first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal starts a timer for monitoring / triggering RLF.

[0202] The RRC non-connected state includes two states: an RRC idle state and an RRC inactive state. The timer used to monitor / trigger the RLF may be a T310 timer.

[0203] Illustratively, the distance reference value can be initialized according to step 304. When the real-time location of the terminal exists and the first condition is met, the terminal can determine the real-time distance as the initialization value of the distance reference value; when the last valid terminal location acquired by the terminal exists and the first condition is met, the terminal can determine the last measured distance as the initialization value of the distance reference value.

[0204] Optionally, according to the foregoing content, in an optional implementation scenario, step 304 may not be performed, and the network device configures the distance reference value for the terminal.

[0205] Step 3051: When the second condition is met, the terminal starts a first timer corresponding to the first criterion.

[0206] The first timer is a timer used to evaluate the mobility state of the terminal.

[0207] Optionally, the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0208] The network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC unconnected state;

[0209] The network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC non-connected state, and the terminal does not meet the neighbor cell measurement relaxation criterion in the RRC non-connected state;

[0210] The network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal starts a timer for monitoring / triggering a radio link failure RLF.

[0211] The timer used to monitor / trigger RLF may be a T310 timer.

[0212] Optionally, the duration of the first timer is a first evaluation duration corresponding to the first criterion.

[0213] According to step 304, the distance reference value may be initialized, and according to step 3051, the first timer corresponding to the first criterion may be started. Subsequently, when the terminal moves, the distance reference value needs to be updated, and the first timer needs to be started / restarted.

[0214] Optionally, the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes:

[0215] When the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, the distance reference value is updated to the changed real-time distance, and a first timer corresponding to the first criterion is started or restarted;

[0216] Alternatively, when the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the distance reference value is updated to the most recently measured distance after the change, and a first timer corresponding to the first criterion is started or restarted;

[0217] Among them, the distance reference value is used to determine the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the service cell reference point, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position and the service cell reference point.

[0218] When the terminal moves, the real-time position of the terminal or the last acquired valid terminal position will change, resulting in changes in the real-time distance and the last measured distance. Based on this, after the terminal moves, if the conditions given in the above content are met, the terminal needs to update the distance reference value and start / restart the first timer.

[0219] According to the above content, the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance is defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD, and the first timer is represented by T3XY, then:

[0220] If (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal sets Dref=D and starts or restarts T3XY.

[0221] Step 3061: During the first evaluation time period, when the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to a first threshold, the terminal determines that the distance change satisfies a first criterion.

[0222] Among them, the first criterion corresponds to a first evaluation duration and a first threshold. The relevant descriptions of the first evaluation duration, the first threshold and the distance change amount can be referred to the aforementioned content and will not be repeated here.

[0223] Optionally, the duration of the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is the first evaluation duration.

[0224] Optionally, the serving cell reference point refers to a reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0225] According to the foregoing, the condition that the distance change satisfies the first criterion is: within the first evaluation duration, and the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold. Wherein, within the first evaluation duration, it can be realized that the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running.

[0226] It should be understood that, except for the above conditions, any other situation belongs to the situation where the distance change amount does not meet the first criterion. For example, if the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, it is determined that the distance change amount does not meet the first criterion; for another example, if the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the distance change amount between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is greater than the first threshold, it is determined that the distance change amount does not meet the first criterion.

[0227] The real-time distance or the most recently measured distance is defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD, and the first evaluation duration is represented by t-MeasureDeltaD. Then:

[0228] If (D-Dref)<=s-MeasureDeltaD within t-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal satisfies the first criterion;

[0229] Otherwise, it is considered that the terminal does not meet the first criterion.

[0230] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of performing neighboring cell measurement provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, wherein the outer solid circle is used to indicate the coverage of the serving cell where the terminal is located, the inner solid circle is used to indicate that the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point reaches the distance reference value, and the dotted circle is used to indicate the first threshold.

[0231] The real-time distance or the most recently measured distance is defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, and the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD. Assume that the terminal is in the inner solid circle, and then the terminal moves away from the serving cell reference point, and the value of D changes.

[0232] Assume that within the first evaluation time, when the terminal moves to the area between the inner solid circle and the dotted circle, there is a distance change, and the value of the distance change is D-Dref. At this time, if the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold, it can be determined that the distance change meets the first criterion.

[0233] Subsequently, the terminal continues to move away from the serving cell reference point. When the terminal moves to the area between the dotted circle and the outer solid circle, (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD will exist, and the condition that the distance change satisfies the first criterion will no longer be met. At this time, it can be determined that the distance change does not meet the first criterion, and the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell.

[0234] Meanwhile, when (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal may update the value of Dref and start or restart the first timer corresponding to the first criterion.

[0235] According to the foregoing content, when the first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion are different timers, in addition to the fact that the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy the first criterion, the neighboring cell measurement start condition also includes at least one of the following conditions:

[0236] Condition 1: The first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0237] Condition 2: The second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0238] Condition 3: The first timer criterion corresponding to the first criterion is running, the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0239] Taking the first timer corresponding to the first criterion as T3XY and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion as T3AB as an example, it should be understood that, in combination with the multiple conditions provided above, the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell and needs to meet at least one of the following conditions:

[0240] The terminal only needs to not meet the first criterion, T3XY is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0241] The terminal does not meet the first criterion or the second criterion, T3AB is running or T3XY is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0242] The terminal does not meet the first criterion and the second criterion at the same time, T3AB is running and T3XY is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0243] Optionally, the neighboring area measurement start condition adopted by the terminal is configured by the network device. Optionally, when the network device configures the first criterion and the second criterion for the terminal at the same time, the neighboring area measurement start condition adopted by the terminal is determined by the network device through explicit indication information. The explicit indication information may be carried in a system broadcast message.

[0244] Optionally, in a case where a first timer corresponding to the first criterion and a second timer corresponding to the second criterion are different timers, the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes:

[0245] In the case that there is no real-time distance and no most recent measurement distance, fall back to using the second criterion to determine whether to start measurement of the neighboring cell;

[0246] The real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently acquired valid terminal position and the reference point of the serving cell.

[0247] According to the above content, if there is no real-time distance and no most recent measured distance, the terminal will not be able to determine the distance change between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, so that the terminal cannot determine whether the first criterion is met. In this case, the terminal can fall back to use the second criterion for judgment. For example, in this case, the terminal falls back to use the mobility state assessment criterion based on RSRP to determine whether it is necessary to start measurement of neighboring cells.

[0248] Illustratively, in the multiple embodiments given in the above content, the steps on the terminal side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the terminal, and the steps on the network device side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the network device. The specific explanation of the steps of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN can refer to the above content and will not be repeated.

[0249] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN, and provides corresponding neighbor cell measurement start conditions when a first timer corresponding to a first criterion and a second timer corresponding to a second criterion are different timers.

[0250] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application also provides relevant content regarding the initialization setting of the distance reference value, the start of the first timer, the update of the distance reference value and the restart of the first timer, so that the terminal can determine whether the first criterion is met based on the distance reference value and the first timer.

[0251] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application also provides conditions for satisfying the first criterion. It should be understood that, except for satisfying the first condition given above, the remaining conditions are all conditions that do not satisfy the first criterion.

[0252] 2. The first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion are the same timer.

[0253] Illustratively, the neighboring cell measurement start condition also includes: a second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0254] The second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality, and the second timer T3AB corresponding to the second criterion indicates that the first timer and the second timer are the same timer.

[0255] based on Figure 7 , Fig.10 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, and the method further includes the following steps:

[0256] Step 303: The network device configures the second criterion and / or the serving cell reference point for the terminal.

[0257] Illustratively, the second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality.

[0258] Optionally, the second criterion includes at least one of the following information: a second threshold; a second evaluation duration.

[0259] The second threshold is a channel quality variation threshold corresponding to the second criterion, which can be represented by s-MeasureDeltaP; and the second evaluation duration can be represented by t-MeasureDeltaP.

[0260] For example, the second criterion is a mobility state evaluation criterion based on (N)RSRP, and the second threshold is a (N)RSRP change threshold.

[0261] Step 304: When the first condition is met, the terminal sets the distance reference value to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance.

[0262] Among them, the distance reference value is used to determine the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point, which can be represented by Dref; the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the service cell reference point, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position and the service cell reference point.

[0263] Optionally, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0264] The network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC unconnected state;

[0265] The network device configures a first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal starts a timer for monitoring / triggering RLF.

[0266] The timer used to monitor / trigger RLF may be a T310 timer.

[0267] Illustratively, the distance reference value can be initialized according to step 304. When the real-time location of the terminal exists and the first condition is met, the terminal can determine the real-time distance as the initialization value of the distance reference value; when the last valid terminal location acquired by the terminal exists and the first condition is met, the terminal can determine the last measured distance as the initialization value of the distance reference value.

[0268] Optionally, according to the foregoing content, in an optional implementation scenario, step 304 may not be performed, and the network device configures the distance reference value for the terminal.

[0269] Step 3052: The terminal updates the distance reference value, and starts or restarts the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion.

[0270] Illustratively, step 3052 needs to be performed in one of the following situations:

[0271] When the third condition is met, the distance reference value is updated to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance, and a timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted;

[0272] Alternatively, when the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, the distance reference value is updated to the changed real-time distance, and a timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted;

[0273] Alternatively, when the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the distance reference value is updated to the most recently measured distance after the change, and a timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted;

[0274] Alternatively, when the third condition is met and the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, the distance reference value is updated to the changed real-time distance, and a timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted;

[0275] Alternatively, when the third condition is met and the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the distance reference value is updated to the most recently measured distance after the change, and a timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted;

[0276] Alternatively, when the third condition is met or the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, the distance reference value is updated to the changed real-time distance, and a timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted;

[0277] Alternatively, when the third condition is met or the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the distance reference value is updated to the most recently measured distance after the change, and the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted.

[0278] Among them, the distance reference value is used to determine the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the service cell reference point, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position and the service cell reference point.

[0279] Optionally, the third condition includes: a change in RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to an RSRP reference value is greater than an RSRP change threshold.

[0280] Similar to the distance change, the change of the RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to the RSRP reference value is also not an absolute value, and its value can be positive or negative. Schematically, the change of the RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to the RSRP reference value includes at least one of the following: an RSRP increase change; an RSRP decrease change.

[0281] The RSRP increase variation refers to the increase in RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to the RSRP reference value; the RSRP decrease variation refers to the decrease in RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to the RSRP reference value.

[0282] It should be understood that the third condition includes at least one of the following two situations: the RSRP increase change is greater than the RSRP change threshold; the RSRP decrease change is greater than the RSRP change threshold.

[0283] The RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell is represented by RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor, the RSRP reference value is represented by RSRPref, and the RSRP change threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaP. Then the change of the RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to the RSRP reference value can be represented by RSRPref-(RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor).

[0284] Optionally, the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN provided by the embodiment of the present application further includes: updating the RSRP reference value when restarting the timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion.

[0285] According to the above content, the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance is defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD, and the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion is represented by T3AB, then:

[0286] If RSRPref-(RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor)>s-MeasureDeltaP, the terminal sets Dref=D, starts or restarts T3AB, and updates RSRPref;

[0287] Alternatively, if (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD is satisfied, the terminal sets Dref=D, and starts or restarts T3AB and updates RSRPref;

[0288] Alternatively, if RSRPref-(RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor)>s-MeasureDeltaP) and (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal sets Dref=D, starts or restarts T3AB, and updates RSRPref;

[0289] Alternatively, if RSRPref-(RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor)>s-MeasureDeltaP) or (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal sets Dref=D, and starts or restarts T3AB and updates RSRPref.

[0290] Among them, RSRPref is used to indicate the RSRP reference value, RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor is used to indicate the RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell, and s-MeasureDeltaP is used to indicate the RSRP change threshold.

[0291] Step 3062: During the second evaluation time period, when the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold, determine that the distance change meets the first criterion.

[0292] Illustratively, the distance change is determined based on the distance reference value, and the second evaluation duration is the evaluation duration corresponding to the second criterion. For the relevant description of the distance change and the distance reference value, please refer to the aforementioned content and will not be repeated here.

[0293] Optionally, the duration of the timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion is the second evaluation duration. The relevant descriptions of the second evaluation duration, the first threshold and the distance change amount can be referred to the aforementioned content and will not be repeated here.

[0294] Optionally, the serving cell reference point refers to a reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0295] According to the foregoing, the condition that the distance change satisfies the first criterion is: within the second evaluation duration, and the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold. Among them, within the second evaluation duration, the timer used for both the first criterion and the second criterion is running.

[0296] It should be understood that, except for the above conditions, any other situation belongs to the situation that the distance change amount does not meet the first criterion. For example, if the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion is running, it is determined that the distance change amount does not meet the first criterion; for another example, if the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion is running, and the distance change amount between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is greater than the first threshold, it is determined that the distance change amount does not meet the first criterion.

[0297] It should be understood that step 3061 is similar to step 3062 and can be used for reference only and will not be described in detail.

[0298] Illustratively, in the multiple embodiments given in the above content, the steps on the terminal side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the terminal, and the steps on the network device side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the network device. The specific explanation of the steps of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN can refer to the above content and will not be repeated.

[0299] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN, and provides corresponding neighbor cell measurement start conditions when a first timer corresponding to a first criterion and a second timer corresponding to a second criterion are the same timer.

[0300] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application also provides relevant content on the initialization setting of the distance reference value, the update of the distance reference value, and the start / restart of the timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion, so that the terminal can judge whether the first criterion is met based on the distance reference value and the timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion.

[0301] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application also provides conditions for satisfying the first criterion. It should be understood that, except for satisfying the first condition given above, the remaining conditions are all conditions that do not satisfy the first criterion.

[0302] According to the foregoing content, the terminal may also determine whether to start measurement of a neighboring cell based on the distance between the terminal and a reference point of the serving cell.

[0303] based on Figure 4 , Fig.11 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. Step 102 can be implemented as step 1022. Step 1022 is as follows:

[0304] Step 1022: When the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy the third criterion, start measuring the neighboring cells.

[0305] Illustratively, the third criterion is an S-measurement criterion based on the terminal position.

[0306] Optionally, in NB-IoT, the serving cell reference point is the reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0307] The distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point can be determined according to the real-time distance or the most recent measured distance. Among them, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the serving cell reference point, and the most recent measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position of the terminal and the serving cell reference point. When there is a real-time position of the terminal, the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is determined as the value of the real-time distance; when there is a valid terminal position most recently obtained by the terminal, the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is determined as the most recent measured distance.

[0308] Optionally, when the third criterion corresponds to a third threshold, the terminal can determine whether the third criterion is satisfied according to the following conditions: when the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold, it is determined that the terminal satisfies the third criterion.

[0309] Among them, the third threshold is the distance threshold corresponding to the third criterion, which can be represented by D_threshold1.

[0310] For different neighboring cells, there can be different third thresholds. Optionally, the same-frequency neighboring cells and different-frequency neighboring cells correspond to separate third thresholds.

[0311] Define the real-time distance or the most recent measured distance as D, and use D_threshold1 to represent the third threshold, then:

[0312] If D < D_threshold1 or D <= D_threshold1 is satisfied, the terminal satisfies the third criterion;

[0313] Otherwise, it is considered that the terminal does not satisfy the third criterion.

[0314] When it is determined that the terminal does not satisfy the third criterion, the terminal can initiate the measurement of neighboring cells.

[0315] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a method for measuring neighboring cells in NTN. The terminal can determine whether to initiate the measurement of neighboring cells based on the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point.

[0316] Fig.12 The flowchart of the method for measuring neighboring cells in NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The method includes:

[0317] Step 401: The network device configures the third criterion for the terminal.

[0318] Among them, the third criterion is the S measurement criterion based on the terminal position.

[0319] Optionally, the third criterion includes a third threshold, and the relevant description of the third threshold can refer to the foregoing content.

[0320] According to the foregoing, there are separate third thresholds corresponding to co-frequency neighboring cells and different-frequency neighboring cells.

[0321] Optionally, step 401 can be implemented as follows: Send a third criterion to the terminal, where the third criterion includes the third threshold corresponding to the co-frequency neighboring cell and the third threshold corresponding to the different-frequency neighboring cell.

[0322] Step 402: The network device configures a fourth criterion and / or a serving cell reference point for the terminal.

[0323] Among them, the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on channel quality. For example, the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on RSRP / RSRQ.

[0324] Schematically, the serving cell reference point is used for the terminal to determine whether the distance or the change in distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criterion based on the terminal location.

[0325] Optionally, the serving cell reference point refers to the reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0326] Step 403: When the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold, the terminal determines that the terminal meets the third criterion.

[0327] Optionally, there are separate third thresholds corresponding to co-frequency neighboring cells and different-frequency neighboring cells.

[0328] Among them, the condition for the terminal to meet the third criterion is that the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold, and the third threshold is the distance threshold corresponding to the third criterion, which can be represented by D_threshold1.

[0329] Schematically, the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point can be determined according to the actual distance or the most recent measured distance. For the specific determination process, reference can be made to the foregoing content and will not be elaborated here. Defining the real-time distance or the most recent measured distance as D, and using D_threshold1 to represent the third threshold, then:

[0330] If D < D_threshold1 or D <= D_threshold1 is satisfied, the terminal meets the third criterion;

[0331] Otherwise, it is considered that the terminal does not meet the third criterion.

[0332] Fig.13 The figure shows a schematic diagram of performing neighboring cell measurement provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. Among them, the solid circle is used to indicate the coverage range of the serving cell where the terminal is located, and the dashed circle is used to indicate the third threshold corresponding to the third criterion.

[0333] The real-time distance or the most recent measured distance is still defined as D. If the third threshold is represented by D_threshold1, the distance between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell can also be represented by D.

[0334] Assume that the terminal is in the dashed circle. When the terminal is in the dashed circle, if D < D_threshold1 or D <= D_threshold1, it can be determined that the terminal meets the third criterion.

[0335] Subsequently, the terminal continues to move away from the reference point of the serving cell. When the terminal moves to the area between the solid circle and the dashed circle, then D > D_threshold1. At this time, the distance between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell is greater than the third threshold, and the condition for the terminal to meet the third criterion is no longer satisfied.

[0336] Step 404: When the terminal does not meet the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion, the terminal starts to measure the neighboring cells.

[0337] Among them, the S measurement criterion includes: the third criterion and / or the fourth criterion, and the fourth criterion is the S measurement criterion based on the channel quality.

[0338] Optionally, the terminal does not meet the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion, including at least one of the following: the distance between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell does not meet the third criterion; the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion; the distance between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell does not meet the third criterion, and the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion.

[0339] Among them, the relevant descriptions of the third criterion and the fourth criterion can refer to the foregoing content and will not be elaborated here.

[0340] Optionally, the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion adopted by the terminal is configured by the network device.

[0341] Optionally, when the network device configures both the third criterion and the fourth criterion for the terminal, the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion adopted by the terminal is determined by the network device through explicit indication information.

[0342] Optionally, the explicit indication information is carried in the system broadcast message.

[0343] It should be understood that the terminal needs to meet at least one of the following conditions to start measuring the neighboring cells:

[0344] · The terminal only needs to not meet the third criterion;

[0345] · The terminal does not meet the third criterion or the fourth criterion;

[0346] · The terminal does not meet the third criterion and does not meet the fourth criterion.

[0347] Among them, when the network device only configures the third criterion for the terminal, the network device can instruct the terminal to use the first condition to determine whether to start measurement of neighboring cells; when the network device only configures the fourth criterion for the terminal, the network device can instruct the terminal to use the second condition to determine whether to start measurement of neighboring cells; when the network device configures the third criterion and the fourth criterion for the terminal at the same time, the terminal can instruct the terminal to use one of the above three conditions for judgment through the display indication information carried in the system broadcast message.

[0348] Optionally, the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes:

[0349] In the case where there is no real-time distance and no most recent measured distance, fall back to using the fourth criterion to determine whether to start measurement of the neighboring cell;

[0350] The real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently acquired valid terminal position and the reference point of the serving cell.

[0351] According to the above content, if there is no real-time distance and no most recent measured distance, the terminal will not be able to determine the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point, so that the terminal cannot determine whether the third criterion is met. In this case, the terminal can fall back to using the fourth criterion for judgment. For example, in this case, the terminal falls back to using the S measurement criterion based on RSRP / RSRQ to determine whether it is necessary to start measurement of neighboring cells.

[0352] Illustratively, in the multiple embodiments given in the above content, the steps on the terminal side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the terminal, and the steps on the network device side can independently become an embodiment of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN applied in the network device. The specific explanation of the steps of the neighbor cell measurement method in NTN can refer to the above content and will not be repeated.

[0353] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN, and the terminal can determine whether to start the measurement of the neighbor cell based on the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point.

[0354] The embodiment of the present application also provides a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN to meet the mobility management requirements of the terminal. Fig.14 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is provided. The method is executed by a terminal, and the method includes the following steps:

[0355] Step 502: Start measuring neighboring cells before the cell goes out of service.

[0356] Illustratively, the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area, and can be represented by t-Service.

[0357] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time is one of the following parameters:

[0358] Time parameters used by a terminal in RRC non-connected state to start neighboring cell RRM measurement;

[0359] Dedicated time parameter used by a terminal in RRC connected state to initiate RRC measurement of non-serving cells.

[0360] In an optional implementation scenario, the terminal may reuse the existing time parameters for the terminal in RRC non-connected state to start the neighboring cell RRM measurement; in another optional implementation scenario, considering that the measurement requirements of the RRC connected state and the RRC non-connected state may be different, the network device may configure a dedicated time parameter for the terminal in RRC connected state to start the non-serving cell RRC measurement. Among them, the non-serving cell refers to other cells except the serving cell where the terminal is located.

[0361] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time may be sent via system broadcast or terminal-specific signaling.

[0362] The terminal-specific signaling includes at least one of the following signaling: RRC signaling; Media Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) signaling.

[0363] According to the foregoing, the network device may configure any one or more of the first criterion, the second criterion, the third criterion and the fourth criterion for the terminal, so that the terminal can determine whether one or more of the criteria are met. In the embodiment of the present application, regardless of whether the terminal meets the above criteria, the measurement of the neighboring cell is started before the cell out-of-service time, so that the terminal can reselect the cell as soon as possible when RLF occurs, thereby meeting the mobility management requirements of the terminal.

[0364] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN, so that the terminal starts measuring the neighbor cell before the cell stops serving, so that the terminal can complete the cell reselection as soon as possible, thereby meeting the mobility management requirements of the terminal.

[0365] Optionally, the embodiments of the present application also provide two optional methods for determining the time when a cell stops serving.

[0366] Fig.15 A flowchart of a neighbor cell measurement method in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The method comprises the following steps:

[0367] Step 601: The network device configures a cell out-of-service time for a terminal.

[0368] Illustratively, the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area, and can be represented by t-Service.

[0369] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time is one of the following parameters: a time parameter for a terminal in an RRC non-connected state to start RRM measurement of a neighboring cell; a dedicated time parameter for a terminal in an RRC connected state to start RRC measurement of a non-serving cell.

[0370] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time may be sent via system broadcast or terminal-specific signaling.

[0371] Optionally, the terminal-specific signaling includes at least one of the following signaling: RRC signaling; MAC CE signaling.

[0372] Step 602: Regardless of whether the terminal meets the neighboring cell measurement start criteria, the terminal starts the measurement of the neighboring cell before the cell out-of-service time.

[0373] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement initiation criterion includes at least one of the following criteria: a mobility state assessment criterion; an S measurement criterion.

[0374] Optionally, the mobility state assessment criterion includes at least one of the following criteria: a first criterion, which is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the terminal position; and a second criterion, which is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the channel quality.

[0375] Optionally, the S measurement criterion includes at least one of the following criteria: a third criterion, which is an S measurement criterion based on the terminal position; and a fourth criterion, which is an S measurement criterion based on the channel quality.

[0376] Among them, the relevant descriptions of the first criterion, the second criterion, the third criterion and the fourth criterion can be referred to the above content and will not be repeated here.

[0377] Optionally, the time node at which the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell can be set according to actual needs, and this application does not limit it. For example, the time node at which the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell is determined autonomously by the terminal.

[0378] Fig.16A schematic diagram of performing neighbor cell measurement provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, wherein T0 is used to indicate the time node when the terminal starts to start measuring the neighbor cell, and t-Service is used to indicate the time when the cell stops serving.

[0379] For a terminal in an RRC connected state, if the network device configures at least one of the above criteria for the terminal and the network device configures a cell out-of-service time for the terminal, then regardless of whether the terminal meets any one or more of the above criteria, the terminal needs to start performing RRM measurements on neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time. Fig.16 Before T0, the terminal turns off the RRM measurement for the neighboring cells. Between T0 and t-Service, the terminal performs RRM measurement for the neighboring cells.

[0380] In summary, the embodiment of the present application provides a neighbor cell measurement method in NTN, and no matter whether the terminal meets the neighbor cell measurement start criteria, the terminal starts the measurement of the neighbor cell before the cell out-of-service time.

[0381] According to the foregoing content, the embodiment of the present application provides four different neighboring cell measurement methods in NTN. Taking the first criterion being a mobility state evaluation criterion based on terminal location, the second criterion being a mobility state evaluation criterion based on channel quality, the third criterion being an S measurement criterion based on terminal location, and the fourth criterion being an S measurement criterion based on channel quality as examples, four different implementations of the neighboring cell measurement method in NTN are respectively shown below:

[0382] Implementation method 1: The network device configures the first criterion and the second criterion for the terminal, and the first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion are different timers, and determines whether to start measurement of the neighboring cell based on the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point.

[0383] The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0384] Step 11: The network device configures the terminal with information related to neighboring cell measurements for the connected terminal.

[0385] Illustratively, the neighboring cell measurement related information includes at least one of the following information: a first criterion; a second criterion; and a serving cell reference point.

[0386] Optionally, the first criterion includes: a first threshold and a first evaluation duration; the second criterion includes: a second threshold and a second evaluation duration.

[0387] Among them, the first threshold is the distance change threshold corresponding to the first criterion, which can be represented by s-MeasureDeltaD; the first evaluation duration can be represented by t-MeasureDeltaD; the second threshold is the distance change threshold corresponding to the second criterion, which can be represented by s-MeasureDeltaP; the second evaluation duration can be represented by t-MeasureDeltaP.

[0388] Optionally, the first evaluation duration may be determined by one of the following methods:

[0389] The network device configures the first evaluation duration for the terminal;

[0390] The terminal determines the first evaluation duration according to the second evaluation duration, where the second evaluation duration is the evaluation duration corresponding to the second criterion.

[0391] For example, the network device explicitly configures a first evaluation duration for the terminal, and the first evaluation duration and the second evaluation duration are two independent configuration parameters; for another example, the terminal determines the first evaluation duration based on the second evaluation duration, such as the terminal determines the parameter value of the second evaluation duration as the parameter value of the first evaluation duration.

[0392] Step 12: The terminal determines whether the first criterion is met based on the change in the distance from the terminal to the serving cell reference point.

[0393] Optionally, within the first evaluation duration, if the change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point relative to the distance reference value is less than or equal to a first threshold, the terminal is considered to meet the first criterion. The terminal meeting the first criterion is one of the conditions for not performing neighbor cell measurement.

[0394] The change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point relative to the distance reference value includes at least one of the following: a change in distance increase and a change in distance decrease.

[0395] According to the foregoing content, the change amount of the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point relative to the distance reference value is the distance increase change amount, and the change amount of the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point relative to the distance reference value is the distance decrease change amount. Accordingly, the terminal satisfies the first criterion including at least one of the following two situations: the distance increase change amount satisfies the first criterion, and the distance decrease change amount satisfies the first criterion.

[0396] Optionally, for NB-IoT, the service cell reference point refers to the reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0397] In order to determine the distance change, a distance reference value may be introduced, and the distance reference value is represented by Dref; the distance reference value may be configured by a network device, or determined autonomously by the terminal.

[0398] At the same time, the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is defined as T3XY. Optionally, the duration of the T3XY timer is the first evaluation duration.

[0399] The following describes the initialization of Dref, the startup of T3XY, the update of Dref, and the startup / restart of T3XY:

[0400] (1) Initialization of Dref.

[0401] Schematically, the initialization of Dref can be achieved in any of the following ways:

[0402] When the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC unconnected state, Dref is set to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance;

[0403] When the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal and the terminal starts a timer for monitoring / triggering RLF, Dref is set to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance.

[0404] Among them, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, the last measured distance is the distance between the last valid terminal position obtained by the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, and the real-time distance or the last measured distance can be defined as D; the RRC non-connected state includes the RRC idle state and the RRC inactive state, and the timer used to monitor / trigger RLF can be the T310 timer.

[0405] (2) Startup of T3XY.

[0406] Indicatively, T3XY can be started in any of the following ways:

[0407] When the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC non-connected state, T3XY is started;

[0408] When the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC non-connected state, and the terminal does not meet the neighbor cell measurement relaxation criterion in the RRC non-connected state, T3XY is started;

[0409] When the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal and the terminal starts a timer for monitoring / triggering RLF, T3XY is started.

[0410] The RRC non-connected state includes two states: an RRC idle state and an RRC inactive state. The timer used to monitor / trigger the RLF may be a T310 timer.

[0411] (3) Update of Dref and start / restart of T3XY.

[0412] Schematically, the update of Dref and the start / restart of T3XY can be achieved as follows:

[0413] When the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, Dref is updated to the changed real-time distance, and T3XY is started or restarted;

[0414] Alternatively, when the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, Dref is updated to the most recently measured distance after the change, and T3XY is started or restarted.

[0415] The real-time distance or the most recently measured distance is defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD, and the first timer is represented by T3XY. Then:

[0416] If (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal sets Dref=D and starts or restarts T3XY.

[0417] Based on the above description, it can be determined whether the terminal meets the first criterion.

[0418] The real-time distance or the most recently measured distance is still defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD, and the first evaluation duration is represented by t-MeasureDeltaD. Then:

[0419] If (D-Dref)<=s-MeasureDeltaD within t-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal satisfies the first criterion;

[0420] Otherwise, it is considered that the terminal does not meet the first criterion.

[0421] Step 13: When the neighboring cell measurement start condition is met, the terminal starts the measurement of the neighboring cell.

[0422] Illustratively, the neighboring cell measurement start condition at least includes: a change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy a first criterion.

[0423] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement start condition further includes at least one of the following conditions:

[0424] Condition 1: The first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0425] Condition 2: The second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0426] Condition 3: The first timer criterion corresponding to the first criterion is running, the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0427] Taking the first timer corresponding to the first criterion as T3XY and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion as T3AB as an example, it should be understood that, in combination with the multiple conditions provided above, the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell and needs to meet at least one of the following conditions:

[0428] The terminal only needs to not meet the first criterion, T3XY is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0429] The terminal does not meet the first criterion or the second criterion, T3AB is running or T3XY is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion;

[0430] The terminal does not meet the first criterion and the second criterion at the same time, T3AB is running and T3XY is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0431] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement start condition adopted by the terminal is configured by the network device.

[0432] Optionally, when the network device configures both the first criterion and the second criterion for the terminal, the neighboring cell measurement start condition adopted by the terminal is determined by the network device through explicit indication information, wherein the explicit indication information may be carried in a system broadcast message.

[0433] Optionally, when there is no real-time distance and no most recently measured distance, the second criterion is used to determine whether to start measurement of the neighboring cell.

[0434] Implementation method two: The network device configures the first criterion and the second criterion for the terminal, and the first timer corresponding to the first criterion and the second timer corresponding to the second criterion are the same timer, and determines whether to start measurement of the neighboring cell based on the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point.

[0435] The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0436] Step 21: The network device configures the terminal with information related to neighboring cell measurements for the connected terminal.

[0437] Illustratively, the neighboring cell measurement related information includes at least one of the following information: a first criterion; a second criterion; and a serving cell reference point.

[0438] Optionally, the first criterion includes: a first threshold; the second criterion includes: a second threshold and a second evaluation duration.

[0439] Among them, the first threshold is the distance change threshold corresponding to the first criterion, which can be represented by s-MeasureDeltaD; the second threshold is the distance change threshold corresponding to the second criterion, which can be represented by s-MeasureDeltaP; the second evaluation duration can be represented by t-MeasureDeltaP.

[0440] Step 22: The terminal determines whether the first criterion is met based on the change in the distance from the terminal to the serving cell reference point.

[0441] Optionally, within the second evaluation duration, if the change in the distance reference value between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold, the terminal is considered to meet the first criterion. The terminal meeting the first criterion is one of the conditions for not performing neighbor cell measurement.

[0442] The change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point relative to the distance reference value includes at least one of the following: a change in distance increase and a change in distance decrease.

[0443] According to the foregoing content, the change amount of the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point relative to the distance reference value is the distance increase change amount, and the change amount of the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point relative to the distance reference value is the distance decrease change amount. Accordingly, the terminal satisfies the first criterion including at least one of the following two situations: the distance increase change amount satisfies the first criterion, and the distance decrease change amount satisfies the first criterion.

[0444] Optionally, for NB-IoT, the service cell reference point refers to the reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0445] In order to determine the distance change, a distance reference value may be introduced, and the distance reference value is represented by Dref.

[0446] Assuming that the first criterion and the second criterion use the T3AB timer together, the initialization of Dref, the update of Dref, and the start / restart of T3AB are described below:

[0447] (1) Initialization of Dref.

[0448] Schematically, the initialization of Dref can be achieved in any of the following ways:

[0449] When the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC unconnected state, Dref is set to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance;

[0450] When the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal and the terminal starts a timer for monitoring / triggering RLF, Dref is set to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance.

[0451] Among them, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, the last measured distance is the distance between the last valid terminal position obtained by the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, and the real-time distance or the last measured distance can be defined as D; the RRC non-connected state includes the RRC idle state and the RRC inactive state, and the timer used to monitor / trigger RLF can be the T310 timer.

[0452] (2) Update of Dref and start / restart of T3AB.

[0453] Illustratively, when the third condition is met, Dref is set to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance, and T3AB is started or restarted.

[0454] Optionally, the third condition includes: a change in RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to an RSRP reference value is greater than an RSRP change threshold.

[0455] In an illustrative manner, the change in RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to the RSRP reference value includes at least one of the following: an RSRP increase change, which refers to an increase in the RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to the RSRP reference value; an RSRP decrease change, which refers to a decrease in the RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to the RSRP reference value.

[0456] It should be understood that the third condition includes at least one of the following two situations: the RSRP increase change is greater than the RSRP change threshold; the RSRP decrease change is greater than the RSRP change threshold.

[0457] Optionally, when starting or restarting T3AB, the RSRP reference value is updated.

[0458] Schematically, the update of Dref and the start / restart of T3AB can be achieved by any of the following methods:

[0459] If the third condition is met, Dref is updated to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance, and T3AB is started or restarted;

[0460] When the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, Dref is updated to the changed real-time distance, and T3AB is started or restarted;

[0461] When the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, Dref is updated to the most recently measured distance after the change, and T3AB is started or restarted;

[0462] When the third condition is met and the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, Dref is updated to the changed real-time distance, and T3AB is started or restarted;

[0463] If the third condition is met and the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, Dref is updated to the most recently measured distance after the change, and T3AB is started or restarted;

[0464] When the third condition is met or the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, Dref is updated to the changed real-time distance, and T3AB is started or restarted;

[0465] When the third condition is met or the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, Dref is updated to the most recently measured distance after the change, and T3AB is started or restarted.

[0466] The real-time distance or the most recently measured distance is defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD, and the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion is represented by T3AB. Then:

[0467] If RSRPref-(RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor)>s-MeasureDeltaP, the terminal sets Dref=D, starts or restarts T3AB, and updates RSRPref;

[0468] Alternatively, if (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD is satisfied, the terminal sets Dref=D, and starts or restarts T3AB and updates RSRPref;

[0469] Alternatively, if RSRPref-(RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor)>s-MeasureDeltaP) and (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal sets Dref=D, starts or restarts T3AB, and updates RSRPref;

[0470] Alternatively, if RSRPref-(RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor)>s-MeasureDeltaP) or (D-Dref)>s-MeasureDeltaD, the terminal sets Dref=D, and starts or restarts T3AB and updates RSRPref.

[0471] Among them, RSRPref is used to indicate the RSRP reference value, RSRP-PowerOffsetNonAnchor is used to indicate the RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell, and s-MeasureDeltaP is used to indicate the RSRP change threshold.

[0472] Based on the above description, it can be determined whether the terminal meets the first criterion.

[0473] The real-time distance or the most recently measured distance is still defined as D, the distance reference value is represented by Dref, the first threshold is represented by s-MeasureDeltaD, and the second evaluation duration is represented by t-MeasureDeltaP, then:

[0474] If (D-Dref)<=s-MeasureDeltaD within t-MeasureDeltaP, the terminal meets the first criterion;

[0475] Otherwise, it is considered that the terminal does not meet the first criterion.

[0476] Step 23: When the neighboring cell measurement start condition is met, the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell.

[0477] Illustratively, the neighboring cell measurement start condition at least includes: a change in the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy a first criterion.

[0478] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement start condition also includes: a second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0479] Taking the T3AB timer as an example, the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion together, the terminal needs to meet the following conditions to start measurement of the neighboring cell: T3AB is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion.

[0480] Implementation method three: The network device configures the third criterion and the fourth criterion for the terminal, and determines whether to start measurement of the neighboring cell based on the distance between the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell.

[0481] The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0482] Step 31: The network device configures the terminal with information related to RRM measurement relaxation for the non-connected terminal.

[0483] Schematically, the RRM measurement relaxation related information includes at least one of the following information: the third criterion; the fourth criterion; the serving cell reference point.

[0484] Optionally, the third criterion includes: a third threshold; the fourth criterion includes: a fourth threshold.

[0485] Among them, the third threshold is a distance threshold corresponding to the third criterion, which can be represented by D_threshold1; the fourth threshold is a distance threshold corresponding to the fourth criterion.

[0486] Optionally, there are separate third thresholds for the same-frequency neighboring cells and the different-frequency neighboring cells.

[0487] Step 32: The terminal determines whether the first criterion is met based on the distance from the terminal to the serving cell reference point.

[0488] Optionally, when the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold, it is considered that the terminal meets the third criterion.

[0489] Optionally, for NB-IoT, the serving cell reference point refers to the reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0490] Define the distance from the terminal to the serving cell reference point as D, and the third threshold is represented by D_threshold1, then:

[0491] If D < D_threshold1 or D <= D_threshold1 is satisfied, the terminal meets the third criterion;

[0492] Otherwise, it is considered that the terminal does not meet the third criterion.

[0493] Step 33: When the neighboring cell measurement start condition is met, the terminal starts the measurement of the neighboring cell.

[0494] Schematically, the neighboring cell measurement start condition includes: when the terminal does not meet the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion, the terminal starts to measure the neighboring cells. Among them, the S measurement criterion includes: the third criterion and / or the fourth criterion.

[0495] Optionally, the terminal does not meet the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion, including at least one of the following: the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the third criterion; the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion; the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the third criterion, and the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion.

[0496] Optionally, the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion adopted by the terminal is configured by the network device.

[0497] Optionally, when the network device configures the third criterion and the fourth criterion for the terminal at the same time, the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion adopted by the terminal is determined by the network device through explicit indication information.

[0498] Optionally, the explicit indication information is carried in a system broadcast message.

[0499] It should be understood that the terminal needs to meet at least one of the following conditions for initiating measurement of a neighboring cell:

[0500] The terminal only needs to not meet the third criterion;

[0501] The terminal does not meet the third criterion or the fourth criterion;

[0502] The terminal does not meet the third criterion and does not meet the fourth criterion.

[0503] Among them, when the network device only configures the third criterion for the terminal, the network device can instruct the terminal to use the first condition to determine whether to start measurement of neighboring cells; when the network device only configures the fourth criterion for the terminal, the network device can instruct the terminal to use the second condition to determine whether to start measurement of neighboring cells; when the network device configures the third criterion and the fourth criterion for the terminal at the same time, the terminal can instruct the terminal to use one of the above three conditions for judgment through the display indication information carried in the system broadcast message.

[0504] Optionally, when there is no real-time distance and no most recently measured distance, the fourth criterion is used to determine whether to start measurement of neighboring cells.

[0505] Implementation method 4: The network device configures a cell out-of-service time for the terminal, and the terminal starts measuring neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time.

[0506] The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0507] Step 41: The network device configures the cell out-of-service time for the terminal.

[0508] Illustratively, the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area, and can be represented by t-Service.

[0509] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time may be determined by any of the following methods:

[0510] Reuse the existing time parameters for the UE in RRC non-connected state to start the neighboring cell RRM measurement;

[0511] Considering that the measurement requirements in the RRC connected state and the RRC non-connected state may be different, the network device may configure a dedicated time parameter for the RRC measurement of non-serving cells initiated by the terminal in the RRC connected state.

[0512] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time may be sent via system broadcast or terminal-specific signaling, wherein the terminal-specific signaling includes at least one of the following signalings: RRC signaling; MAC CE signaling.

[0513] Step 42: Regardless of whether the terminal meets the neighboring cell measurement start criteria, the terminal starts the neighboring cell measurement before the cell out-of-service time. Start measurement of neighboring cells.

[0514] For a terminal in an RRC connected state, if the network device configures the neighboring cell measurement start criteria for the connected terminal, and the network device configures the cell out-of-service time for the terminal, then regardless of whether the terminal meets the neighboring cell measurement start criteria, the terminal needs to start performing RRM measurements for neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time.

[0515] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement initiation criterion includes at least one of the following criteria: a mobility state evaluation criterion; and an S measurement criterion. The mobility state evaluation criterion includes the first criterion and / or the second criterion, and the S measurement criterion includes the third criterion and / or the fourth criterion.

[0516] Optionally, the time node at which the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell may be set according to actual needs. For example, the time node at which the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell may depend on the terminal implementation.

[0517] The following is an embodiment of the device of the present application. For details not described in detail in the embodiment of the device, reference can be made to the corresponding records in the above method embodiment, and they will not be repeated herein.

[0518] Fig.17 A structural diagram of a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, and the device includes:

[0519] The starting module 1720 is used to start the measurement of the neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criteria based on the terminal position.

[0520] Optionally, the starting module 1720 is used to: start the measurement of the neighboring cell when the neighboring cell measurement starting condition is met; the neighboring cell measurement starting condition at least includes: the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point does not meet the first criterion, and the first criterion is a mobility state evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

[0521] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement start condition also includes at least one of the following conditions: a first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion; a second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion; the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is running, the second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion; wherein the second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality.

[0522] Optionally, a first timer corresponding to the first criterion and a second timer corresponding to the second criterion are different timers.

[0523] Optionally, the device also includes a setting module 1740, which is used to: when the first condition is met, set the distance reference value to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance; wherein the distance reference value is used to determine the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the service cell reference point, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position of the terminal and the service cell reference point.

[0524] Optionally, the first condition includes at least one of the following: the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC non-connected state; the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal starts a timer for monitoring / triggering RLF.

[0525] Optionally, the setting module 1740 is further used to: start a first timer corresponding to the first criterion when the second condition is met.

[0526] Optionally, the second condition includes at least one of the following: the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC non-connected state; the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC non-connected state, and the terminal does not meet the neighbor cell measurement relaxation criterion in the RRC non-connected state; the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal starts a timer for monitoring / triggering a radio link failure RLF.

[0527] Optionally, setting module 1740 is also used to: when the change in real-time distance is greater than or equal to a first threshold corresponding to a first criterion, update the distance reference value to the real-time distance after the change, and start or restart the first timer corresponding to the first criterion; or, when the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, update the distance reference value to the most recently measured distance after the change, and start or restart the first timer corresponding to the first criterion; wherein the distance reference value is used to determine the change in the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the service cell reference point, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position of the terminal and the service cell reference point.

[0528] Optionally, the first criterion corresponds to a first evaluation duration and a first threshold, and the start module 1720 is also used to: within the first evaluation duration, when the distance change between the terminal and the service cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold, determine that the distance change satisfies the first criterion, and the distance change is determined based on the distance reference value.

[0529] Optionally, the duration of the first timer corresponding to the first criterion is the first evaluation duration.

[0530] Optionally, the apparatus further includes a receiving module 1760, configured to receive a first criterion sent by a network device, wherein the first criterion corresponds to a first evaluation duration and a first threshold.

[0531] Optionally, the first evaluation duration is determined by one of the following methods: the network device configures the first evaluation duration to the terminal; or, the terminal determines the first evaluation duration based on the second evaluation duration, and the second evaluation duration is the evaluation duration corresponding to the second criterion.

[0532] Optionally, the receiving module 1760 is further used to: receive a second criterion and / or a serving cell reference point sent by the network device, where the second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality.

[0533] Optionally, the second criterion includes at least one of the following information: a second threshold; a second evaluation duration.

[0534] Optionally, the start module 1720 is also used to: when there is no real-time distance and no most recent measured distance, fall back to using the second criterion to determine whether to start measurement of the neighboring cell; wherein the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, and the most recent measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell.

[0535] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement start condition adopted by the terminal is configured by the network device.

[0536] Optionally, when the network device configures the first criterion and the second criterion for the terminal at the same time, the neighboring area measurement start condition adopted by the terminal is determined by the network device through explicit indication information.

[0537] Optionally, the explicit indication information is carried in a system broadcast message.

[0538] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement start condition also includes: a second timer corresponding to the second criterion is running, and the terminal meets the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion, and the second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality.

[0539] Optionally, a first timer corresponding to the first criterion and a second timer corresponding to the second criterion are the same timer.

[0540] Optionally, the setting module 1740 is also used to: when the first condition is met, set the distance reference value to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance; wherein the distance reference value is used to determine the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the service cell reference point, and the most recently measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position of the terminal and the service cell reference point.

[0541] Optionally, the first condition includes at least one of the following: the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal enters the RRC connected state from the RRC non-connected state; the network device configures the first criterion for the terminal, and the terminal starts a timer for triggering monitoring / radio link failure RLF.

[0542] Optionally, the setting module 1740 is also used to: when a third condition is met, update the distance reference value to the real-time distance or the most recently measured distance, and start or restart the timer used together by the first criterion and the second criterion; or, when the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, update the distance reference value to the changed real-time distance, and start or restart the timer used together by the first criterion and the second criterion; or, when the change in the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, update the distance reference value to the changed most recently measured distance, and start or restart the timer used together by the first criterion and the second criterion; or, when the third condition is met and the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, update the distance reference value to the changed real-time distance, and start or restart the timer used together by the first criterion and the second criterion; or, when the third condition is met and the most recently measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, update the distance reference value to the changed real-time distance, and start or restart the timer used together by the first criterion and the second criterion; When the change in the measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the distance reference value is updated to the most recent measured distance after the change, and the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted; or, when the third condition is met or the change in the real-time distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold corresponding to the first criterion, the distance reference value is updated to the real-time distance after the change, and the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted; or, when the third condition is met or the change in the most recent measured distance is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the distance reference value is updated to the most recent measured distance after the change, and the timer used by the first criterion and the second criterion is started or restarted; wherein the distance reference value is used to determine the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point, the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the service cell reference point, and the most recent measured distance is the distance between the most recently acquired valid terminal position and the service cell reference point.

[0543] Optionally, the setting module 1740 is further used to: update the RSRP reference value when restarting the timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion.

[0544] Optionally, the third condition includes: a change in RSRP of the terminal on the anchor carrier of the serving cell relative to an RSRP reference value is greater than an RSRP change threshold.

[0545] Optionally, the first criterion corresponds to a first threshold, and the start module 1720 is also used to: within a second evaluation period, when the distance change between the terminal and the service cell reference point is less than or equal to the first threshold, determine that the distance change satisfies the first criterion, the distance change is determined based on the distance reference value, and the second evaluation period is the evaluation period corresponding to the second criterion.

[0546] Optionally, the duration of the timer used jointly by the first criterion and the second criterion is the same as the second evaluation duration.

[0547] Optionally, the receiving module 1760 is further used to: receive a first criterion sent by a network device, and the first criterion corresponds to a first threshold.

[0548] Optionally, the receiving module 1760 is further used to: receive a second criterion and / or a serving cell reference point sent by a network device, where the second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality.

[0549] Optionally, the second criterion includes at least one of the following information: a second threshold; a second evaluation duration.

[0550] Optionally, the starting module 1720 is further used to: when the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet a third criterion, start measurement of a neighboring cell; wherein the third criterion is an S measurement criterion based on the terminal position.

[0551] Optionally, the third criterion corresponds to a third threshold, and the starting module 1720 is further used to: when the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold, determine whether the terminal meets the third criterion.

[0552] Optionally, there are separate third thresholds corresponding to the same-frequency neighboring cells and different-frequency neighboring cells.

[0553] Optionally, the start module 1720 is used to: start measurement of neighboring cells when the terminal does not meet the measurement start conditions corresponding to the S measurement criterion; wherein the S measurement criterion includes: the third criterion and / or the fourth criterion, and the fourth criterion is the S measurement criterion based on channel quality.

[0554] Optionally, the terminal does not meet the measurement start conditions corresponding to the S measurement criterion, including at least one of the following: the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point does not meet the third criterion; the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion; the distance between the terminal and the service cell reference point does not meet the third criterion, and the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion.

[0555] Optionally, the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion adopted by the terminal is configured by the network device.

[0556] Optionally, when the network device configures the third criterion and the fourth criterion for the terminal at the same time, the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion adopted by the terminal is determined by the network device through explicit indication information.

[0557] Optionally, the explicit indication information is carried in a system broadcast message.

[0558] Optionally, the start module 1720 is also used to: when there is no real-time distance and no most recent measured distance, fall back to using the fourth criterion to determine whether to start measurement of the neighboring cell; wherein the real-time distance is the distance between the real-time position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell, and the most recent measured distance is the distance between the most recently obtained valid terminal position of the terminal and the reference point of the serving cell.

[0559] Optionally, the receiving module 1760 is further used to: receive a third criterion sent by the network device, and receive a fourth criterion and / or a serving cell reference point sent by the network device, where the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on channel quality.

[0560] Optionally, the third criterion includes: a third threshold.

[0561] Optionally, the serving cell reference point refers to a reference point corresponding to the anchor carrier.

[0562] Fig.18 A schematic diagram of a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, the device comprising:

[0563] The starting module 1820 is used to start the measurement of the neighboring cell before the cell out-of-service time. The cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the serving cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area.

[0564] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time is one of the following parameters: a time parameter for a terminal in an RRC non-connected state to start RRM measurement of a neighboring cell; a dedicated time parameter for a terminal in an RRC connected state to start RRC measurement of a non-serving cell.

[0565] Optionally, the starting module 1820 is used to: start the measurement of the neighboring cell before the cell stops serving, regardless of whether the terminal meets the neighboring cell measurement starting criteria.

[0566] Optionally, the neighboring cell measurement initiation criterion includes at least one of the following criteria: a mobility state assessment criterion; an S measurement criterion.

[0567] Optionally, the mobility state assessment criterion includes at least one of the following criteria: a first criterion, which is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the terminal position; and a second criterion, which is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the channel quality.

[0568] Optionally, the S measurement criterion includes at least one of the following criteria: a third criterion, which is an S measurement criterion based on the terminal position; and a fourth criterion, which is an S measurement criterion based on the channel quality.

[0569] Optionally, the apparatus further includes a receiving module 1840, configured to receive a cell service outage time sent by a network device.

[0570] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time is sent via system broadcast or terminal-specific signaling.

[0571] Optionally, the terminal-specific signaling includes at least one of the following signaling: RRC signaling; MAC CE signaling.

[0572] Fig.19 A schematic diagram of a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, the device comprising:

[0573] Sending module 1920 is used to: send terminal location-based evaluation criteria to the terminal, where the terminal location-based evaluation criteria is used for the terminal to determine whether to start measurement of a neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and a service cell reference point meets the terminal location-based evaluation criteria.

[0574] Optionally, the sending module 1920 is used to: send a first criterion to the terminal, where the first criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the terminal location.

[0575] Optionally, the sending module 1920 is further used to: send a distance reference value to the terminal, where the distance reference value is used to determine a distance change between the terminal and a serving cell reference point.

[0576] Optionally, the sending module 1920 is further used to: send a second criterion to the terminal, where the second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality.

[0577] Optionally, a first timer corresponding to the first criterion and a second timer corresponding to the second criterion are different timers.

[0578] Optionally, the first criterion corresponds to a first evaluation duration and a first threshold.

[0579] Optionally, a first timer corresponding to the first criterion and a second timer corresponding to the second criterion are the same timer.

[0580] Optionally, the first criterion corresponds to a first threshold.

[0581] Optionally, the sending module 1920 is used to: send a third criterion to the terminal, where the third criterion is an S measurement criterion based on the terminal location.

[0582] Optionally, the third criterion includes: a third threshold.

[0583] Optionally, the sending module 1920 is used to: send a third criterion to the terminal, where the third criterion includes a third threshold corresponding to the same-frequency neighboring area and a third threshold corresponding to the different-frequency neighboring area.

[0584] Optionally, the sending module 1920 is further used to: send a fourth criterion to the terminal, where the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on channel quality.

[0585] Optionally, the sending module 1920 is further used to: send a serving cell reference point to the terminal, where the serving cell reference point is used by the terminal to determine whether the distance or distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

[0586] Fig. 20 A schematic diagram of a neighboring cell measurement device in an NTN provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown, the device comprising:

[0587] The sending module 220 is used to send the cell out-of-service time to the terminal. The cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area. The cell out-of-service time is used for the terminal to start measuring neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time.

[0588] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time is one of the following parameters: a time parameter for a terminal in an RRC non-connected state to start neighboring cell radio resource management RRM measurement; a dedicated time parameter for a terminal in an RRC connected state to start non-service cell RRC measurement.

[0589] Optionally, the cell out-of-service time is sent via system broadcast or terminal-specific signaling.

[0590] Optionally, the terminal-specific signaling includes at least one of the following signaling: RRC signaling; MAC CE signaling.

[0591] Fig.21 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device (terminal or network device) provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application is shown. The communication device includes: a processor 2101, a receiver 2102, a transmitter 2103, a memory 2104 and a bus 2105.

[0592] The processor 2101 includes one or more processing cores. The processor 2101 executes various functional applications and information processing by running software programs and modules.

[0593] The receiver 2102 and the transmitter 2103 may be implemented as a communication component, which may be a communication chip.

[0594] The memory 2104 is connected to the processor 2101 via a bus 2105 .

[0595] The memory 2104 may be used to store at least one instruction, and the processor 2101 may be used to execute the at least one instruction to implement the various steps of the method for determining the RAR receiving window mentioned in the above method embodiment.

[0596] In addition, the memory 2104 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof. The volatile or non-volatile storage device includes but is not limited to: a magnetic disk or an optical disk, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, and a programmable read-only memory (PROM).

[0597] An embodiment of the present application also provides a terminal, which includes a processor; the processor is used to start measurement of neighboring cells based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and a serving cell reference point meets an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

[0598] An embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal, the terminal comprising a processor; the processor is used to start measurement of neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time, and the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area.

[0599] An embodiment of the present application also provides a network device, which includes a processor; the processor is used to send an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position to the terminal, and the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position is used for the terminal to determine whether to start measurement of a neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and a service cell reference point meets the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

[0600] An embodiment of the present application also provides a network device, which includes a processor; the processor is used to send a cell service stop time to a terminal, the cell service stop time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area, and the cell service stop time is used by the terminal to start measurement of neighboring cells before the cell service stop time.

[0601] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored. The computer program is used to be executed by a processor to implement the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN as described above.

[0602] The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which includes a programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions. When the chip is running, it is used to implement the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN as described above.

[0603] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product or a computer program, the computer program product or the computer program includes computer instructions, the computer instructions are stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the processor reads and executes the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium to implement the neighbor cell measurement method in the NTN as described above.

[0604] The above description is only an optional 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 protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for measuring neighboring cells in NTN, characterized in that: The method is executed by a terminal, and includes: Based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position, measurement of the neighboring cell is started.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The starting the measurement of the neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and the serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criteria based on the terminal position includes: In a case where the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy a third criterion, starting measurement of the neighboring cell; The third criterion is an S measurement criterion based on the terminal location.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The third criterion corresponds to a third threshold, and the method further includes: In a case where the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold, it is determined that the terminal meets the third criterion.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not satisfy a third criterion, starting measurement of the neighboring cell includes: In a case where the terminal does not meet the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion, start measurement of the neighboring cell; The S measurement criterion includes: the third criterion and / or the fourth criterion, and the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on channel quality.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The terminal does not meet the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion, including at least one of the following: The distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the third criterion; The terminal does not meet the fourth criterion; The distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet the third criterion, and the terminal does not meet the fourth criterion.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion adopted by the terminal is configured by a network device.

7. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: The third criterion sent by the network device is received, and a fourth criterion and / or the serving cell reference point sent by the network device is received, wherein the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on channel quality.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The third criterion includes: a third threshold.

9. A method for measuring neighboring cells in NTN, characterized in that: The method is executed by a terminal, and includes: The measurement of the neighboring cell is started before the cell out-of-service time, where the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the serving cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The cell out-of-service time is one of the following parameters: Time parameters for a terminal in a non-connected state of radio resource control (RRC) to start neighboring cell radio resource management (RRM) measurements; Dedicated time parameter used by a terminal in RRC connected state to initiate RRC measurement of non-serving cells.

11. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The starting of the measurement of the neighboring cell before the cell out-of-service time includes: Regardless of whether the terminal meets the neighboring cell measurement start criteria, the terminal starts measuring the neighboring cell before the cell stops serving.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The neighboring cell measurement start criterion includes at least one of the following criteria: Mobility status assessment criteria; S measurement criteria.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The mobility status assessment criteria include at least one of the following criteria: A first criterion, wherein the first criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on the terminal location; The second criterion is a mobility state assessment criterion based on channel quality.

14. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The S measurement criteria include at least one of the following criteria: A third criterion, wherein the third criterion is an S measurement criterion based on the terminal position; A fourth criterion, the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on channel quality.

15. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: The cell out-of-service time sent by the receiving network device.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The cell out-of-service time is sent via system broadcast or terminal-specific signaling.

17. A method for measuring neighboring cells in NTN, characterized in that: The method is performed by a network device, and the method includes: An evaluation criterion based on the terminal position is sent to the terminal, and the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position is used by the terminal to determine whether to start measurement of a neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and a serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

18. A method for measuring neighboring cells in NTN, characterized in that: The method is performed by a network device, and the method includes: The cell out-of-service time is sent to the terminal, where the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the serving cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area, and the cell out-of-service time is used by the terminal to start measurement of neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time.

19. A neighboring cell measurement device in NTN, characterized in that: The device comprises: The starting module is used to start the measurement of the neighboring cell before the cell out-of-service time, and the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the serving cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area.

20. A neighboring cell measurement device in NTN, characterized in that: The device comprises: A sending module is used to send an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position to the terminal, and the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position is used by the terminal to determine whether to start measurement of a neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or the distance change between the terminal and a serving cell reference point meets the evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

21. A neighboring cell measurement device in NTN, characterized in that: The device comprises: The sending module is used to send a cell out-of-service time to the terminal, where the cell out-of-service time is used to indicate the time when the service cell where the terminal is located stops serving the coverage area, and the cell out-of-service time is used by the terminal to start measuring neighboring cells before the cell out-of-service time.

22. A terminal, characterized in that: The terminal includes a processor; The processor is used to start measurement of a neighboring cell based on whether the distance and / or distance change between the terminal and a serving cell reference point meets an evaluation criterion based on the terminal position.

23. The terminal according to claim 22, characterized in that: The processor is configured to start measuring the neighboring cell if the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point does not meet a third criterion; The third criterion is an S measurement criterion based on the terminal location.

24. The terminal according to claim 23, characterized in that The third criterion corresponds to a third threshold; The processor is further configured to determine that the terminal satisfies the third criterion when the distance between the terminal and the serving cell reference point is less than or equal to the third threshold.

25. The terminal according to claim 23, characterized in that The processor is configured to start measurement of the neighboring cell when the terminal does not meet the measurement start condition corresponding to the S measurement criterion; The S measurement criterion includes: the third criterion and / or the fourth criterion, and the fourth criterion is an S measurement criterion based on channel quality.

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