Network side mobility management method and device, gateway, network management server and base station

Abstract

The invention provides a network side mobility management method and device, a gateway, a network management server and a base station, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method is applied to a gateway, and comprises the following steps: receiving a first switching request sent by core network equipment; the first switching request carries a first cell code corresponding to the target small base station group and identification information of a source macro base station; obtaining a small base station list under the coverage of the source macro base station according to a neighbor relation information table between the macro base station and the small base station; determining a target small base station corresponding to the first cell code from a small base station list covered by the source macro base station; sending a second switching request to the target small base station; the second switching request carries switching access dedicated resource group information; receiving a switching request confirmation message sent by the target small base station; and sending a first switching signaling to a core network device, wherein the first switching signaling carries the switching access dedicated resource group information. According to the scheme of the invention, the switching from the macro base station to the small base station can be realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of communication technologies, and particularly to a network-side mobility management method, apparatus, gateway, network management server, and base station. Background Art

[0002] Base station handover is a mechanism designed to ensure continuous service when a terminal moves from one base station to another during a service (such as a voice call or Internet access), that is, the phone does not drop the call and the Internet connection is not interrupted. When the terminal moves under a certain base station, the corresponding base station provides services to the terminal.

[0003] Small base stations cover homes and small business premises in the operator's network and are a useful supplement to macro base stations to solve the problem of weak coverage. To implement handover from a macro base station to a small base station, it is necessary to add the cells of the small base stations as neighboring cells to the macro base station. However, due to the large number of small base stations, there may be hundreds of small base stations within the coverage area of a macro base station. The number of neighboring cell lists of the macro base station is limited and does not support adding all small base station cells as neighboring cells, so the handover processing flow cannot be triggered to the small base stations, and the handover from the macro base station to the small base station cannot be achieved. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The objective of the present invention is to provide a network-side mobility management method, apparatus, gateway, network management server, and base station, which solves the problem that the prior art cannot achieve handover from a macro base station to a small base station.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network-side mobility management method applied to a gateway, including:

[0006] Receiving a first handover request sent by a core network device; the first handover request carries a first cell code corresponding to a target small base station group and identification information of a source macro base station; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0007] Obtaining a list of small base stations under the coverage of the source macro base station according to the neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base stations; the neighboring cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations under the coverage of each macro base station;

[0008] Determining a target small base station corresponding to the first cell code from the list of small base stations under the coverage of the source macro base station;

[0009] Sending a second handover request to the target small base station; the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information;

[0010] Receiving a handover request confirmation message sent by the target small base station;

[0011] Send a first handover signaling to the core network device, where the first handover signaling carries the handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0012] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network-side mobility management method, which is applied to a network management server and includes:

[0013] Obtain a neighbor cell relationship information table between a macro base station and a small base station, where the neighbor cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station;

[0014] Send the neighbor cell relationship information table to the gateway.

[0015] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network-side mobility management method, which is applied to a small base station and includes:

[0016] When the small base station is identified by a first cell coding, receive a second handover request sent by the gateway, where the second handover request carries a handover access dedicated resource information group; wherein, the second handover request is sent by the gateway after receiving a first handover request sent by the core network device, and is determined according to the first cell coding corresponding to the target small base station group indicated by the first handover request and the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, and after determining the target small base station corresponding to the first cell coding; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different cell codings; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0017] Send a handover request confirmation message to the gateway.

[0018] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network-side mobility management device, which is applied to a gateway and includes:

[0019] A first receiving module, configured to receive a first handover request sent by a core network device; the first handover request carries a first cell coding corresponding to a target small base station group and identification information of a source macro base station; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codings; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0020] A first obtaining module, configured to obtain a list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station according to the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station; the neighbor cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station;

[0021] A first determination module, configured to determine a target small base station corresponding to the first cell code from a list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station;

[0022] A first sending module, configured to send a second handover request to the target small base station; the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information;

[0023] A second receiving module, configured to receive a handover request confirmation message sent by the target small base station;

[0024] A second sending module, configured to send a first handover signaling to the core network device, the first handover signaling carrying the handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0025] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network - side mobility management device, which is applied to a network management server and includes:

[0026] A second obtaining module, configured to obtain a neighbor cell relationship information table between a macro base station and a small base station, where the neighbor cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station;

[0027] A third sending module, configured to send the neighbor cell relationship information table to a gateway.

[0028] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network - side mobility management device, which is applied to a small base station and includes:

[0029] A third receiving module, configured to receive a second handover request sent by the gateway when the small base station is identified by a first cell code, the second handover request carrying handover access dedicated resource group information; wherein, the second handover request is sent by the gateway after receiving a first handover request sent by the core network device, and according to the first cell code corresponding to the target small base station group indicated by the first handover request, and a neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, determining the target small base station corresponding to the first cell code and then sending it; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0030] A fourth sending module, configured to send a handover request confirmation message to the gateway.

[0031] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a gateway, including: a transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored on the memory and executable on the processor; when the processor executes the program or instruction, it implements the network - side mobility management method as described in the first aspect.

[0032] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network management server, including: a transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored on the memory and executable on the processor; when the processor executes the program or instruction, the network side mobility management method described in the second aspect is implemented.

[0033] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a base station, including: a transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored on the memory and executable on the processor; when the processor executes the program or instruction, the network side mobility management method described in the third aspect is implemented.

[0034] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored, and when the program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps in the network side mobility management method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect above are implemented.

[0035] The beneficial effects of the above technical solutions of the present invention are as follows:

[0036] In the method of the embodiment of the present invention, by grouping small base stations under a gateway and identifying each small base station group with a different cell code, a macro base station can add the cell codes corresponding to N small base station groups, so that the macro base station can add N small base station groups as neighboring cells. In this way, the macro base station can switch to a small base station within the target small base station group, realizing the handover of the macro base station to the small base station. On the other hand, based on the neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, the small base stations within the target small base station group are screened to obtain a smaller number of target small base stations, so that fewer small base stations trigger the handover access process, saving the signaling overhead of some small base stations and avoiding excessive resource waste. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Figure 1 is one of the flowcharts of the network side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the neighboring cell relationship between a macro base station and a small base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 3 is another flowchart of the network side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 4 is a third flowchart of the network side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 5 is a fourth flowchart of the network side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 6The fifth flowchart of the network - side mobility management method according to the embodiments of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 7 The sixth flowchart of the network - side mobility management method according to the embodiments of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 8 The seventh flowchart of the network - side mobility management method according to the embodiments of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 9 The first structural diagram of the network - side mobility management device according to the embodiments of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 10 The second structural diagram of the network - side mobility management device according to the embodiments of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 11 The third structural diagram of the network - side mobility management device according to the embodiments of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 12 The structural diagram of the gateway according to the embodiments of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 13 The structural diagram of the network management server according to the embodiments of the present invention.

[0050] Figure 14 The structural diagram of the base station according to the embodiments of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0051] To make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages to be solved by the present invention clearer, the following will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0052] It should be understood that the term "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mentioned throughout the specification means that a specific feature, structure or characteristic related to the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the appearances of "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner.

[0053] In various embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the sequence numbers of the following processes do not mean the order of execution is prior or subsequent. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0054] In addition, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this article.

[0055] In the embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that "B corresponding to A" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining B according to A does not mean determining B only according to A, and B can also be determined according to A and / or other information.

[0056] As Figure 1 shown, a network-side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a gateway and includes the following steps:

[0057] Step 101, receiving a first handover request sent by a core network device; the first handover request carries a first cell code corresponding to a target small base station group and identification information of a source macro base station; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0058] It should be noted that multiple small base stations access the core network through a gateway, and the core network assigns multiple base station numbers (eNB ID or gNB ID) to the gateway. The gateway uses one of the base station numbers as a dedicated handover base station number, and divides the small base stations under this base station number into N small base station groups, and each small base station group corresponds to a super virtual cell.

[0059] Specifically, the neighboring cells between base stations are identified by a Target Cell Identifier (TCI). The TCIs corresponding to N small base station groups are uniformly added to all macro base stations in the area, so that the macro base stations and the small base stations form a neighboring cell relationship. Among them, the TCI includes: a cell code and a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI).

[0060] Specifically, the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same PCI, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCIs.

[0061] For a 4G network, the cell code is an E-UTRAN Cell Identifier (ECI), and the ECI includes an eNB ID (base station number) and a Cell ID (cell number).

[0062] For a 5G (NR) network, the cell code is a NR Cell Identifier (NCI), and the NCI includes a gNB ID (base station number) and a Cell ID (cell number).

[0063] In this step, different small cell groups are identified by different ECI or NCI, and the first cell is coded as the first ECI or the first NCI. In the neighbor cell list of each macro base station, TCIs corresponding to N small cell groups are added, that is, N ECIs / NCIs and the corresponding N PCIs are added as neighbor cells of each macro base station, so that the N small cell groups and the macro base station are in a neighbor cell relationship with each other. Specifically, the macro base station sends a measurement control instruction to the terminal, and the terminal sends a measurement control report to the macro base station based on the measurement control instruction. The measurement control report includes the above neighbor cell information. When the macro base station determines that the handover condition is met according to the measurement control report, it sends a handover request to the core network device (i.e., the third handover request in the method on the macro base station side); further, after receiving the third handover request, the core network sends the above first handover request to the gateway.

[0064] It should be noted that the ECI / NCI configured for the small cell group can be understood as a virtual ECI / NCI. This virtual ECI / NCI is only used for configuring neighbor cells on the macro base station and is only used in the handover process from the macro base station to the small cell. The ECI / NCI configured on the small cell remains unchanged according to the original plan and is used for other processes except the handover from the macro base station to the small cell.

[0065] Step 102: Obtain a list of small cells under the coverage of the source macro base station according to the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small cell; the neighbor cell relationship information table includes the list of small cells under the coverage of each macro base station;

[0066] Exemplarily, based on Figure 2 the relationship between the coverage areas of the small cell and the macro base station shown, the neighbor cell relationship information table is as follows:

[0067]

[0068] From the above table and Figure 2 it can be seen that macro base station A and small cells 1, 2, 4, and 6 are in a neighbor cell relationship with each other; macro base station B and small cells 2, 4, and 5 are in a neighbor cell relationship with each other; macro base station C and small cells 1, 3, 5, and 6 are in a neighbor cell relationship with each other. That is, the list of small cells under the coverage of macro base station A includes: small cells 1, 2, 4, and 6, and a handover initiated from macro base station A must access one of small cells 1, 2, 4, and 6; the list of small cells under the coverage of macro base station B includes: small cells 2, 4, and 5, and a handover initiated from macro base station B must access one of small cells 2, 4, and 5; the list of small cells under the coverage of macro base station C includes: small cells 1, 3, 5, and 6, and a handover initiated from macro base station C must access one of small cells 1, 3, 5, and 6.

[0069] For example, if the first handover request carries the identification information of macro base station A, the small base station list obtained from the above area relationship information table includes: base station 1, small base station 2, small base station 4, and small base station 6.

[0070] Step 103: Determine a target small base station corresponding to the first cell code from the small base station list covered by the source macro base station;

[0071] In this step, multiple small base stations in the small base station list covered by the source macro base station may be in different small base station groups. Since different small base station groups correspond to different cell codes, the target small base station corresponding to the first cell code can be further screened from the small base station list based on the first cell code.

[0072] It can be understood that the target small base station includes at least one small base station.

[0073] Step 104: Send a second handover request to the target small base station; the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information;

[0074] It should be noted that after the activation and establishment of N super virtual cells for each small base station, several groups (such as 3 groups) of dedicated handover access resources are reserved and allocated, and the resources reserved by each small base station are the same for base station handover. These several groups of dedicated handover access resources are scheduled for the small base station to use through the second handover request.

[0075] Specifically, the gateway designates a group of idle dedicated handover access resources according to the usage situation of the reserved handover access resources on the local small base station, and carries the dedicated handover access resource group in the second handover request and sends it to the target small base station; the target small base station enables the dedicated handover access resource group according to the second handover request of the gateway and prepares to receive the access of the terminal.

[0076] Step 105: Receive a handover request confirmation message sent by the target small base station;

[0077] Step 106: Send a first handover signaling to the core network device, and the first handover signaling carries the dedicated handover access resource group information.

[0078] Among them, the gateway sends a first handover signaling gateway to the core network device, so that the gateway carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in a handover command (i.e., the first handover command in the method on the gateway side) and sends it to the core network device; further enabling the core network device to carry the handover access dedicated resource group information in a handover command (i.e., the second handover command in the method on the core network device side) and send it to the macro base station; and sending the handover access dedicated resource group information in the first RRC connection reconfiguration message through the macro base station to the terminal. Finally, the terminal switches from the macro base station to the first small base station in the target small base stations according to the handover access dedicated resource group information and the cell code corresponding to the target small base station group.

[0079] It should be noted that the handover access dedicated resource groups corresponding to multiple small base stations within a small base station group are the same. Although multiple small base stations in the target small base stations have enabled this handover access dedicated resource group, during actual access, the terminal is only within the coverage area of one small base station (i.e., the first small base station in the target small base stations). Therefore, it is possible to access the first small base station based on the handover access dedicated resource group and complete the handover from the macro base station to the first small base station.

[0080] In the above embodiment, by grouping the small base stations under the gateway and identifying each small base station group with a different cell code, the macro base station can add the cell codes corresponding to N small base station groups, enabling the macro base station to add N small base station groups as neighboring cells. In this way, the macro base station can switch to one small base station within the target small base station group, realizing the handover from the macro base station to the small base station. Moreover, through the neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base stations, the small base stations within the target small base station group are screened to obtain a smaller number of target small base stations, enabling fewer small base stations to trigger the handover access process, saving the signaling overhead of some small base stations, and avoiding excessive resource waste.

[0081] In one embodiment, before the above step 102, it includes:

[0082] Receiving the neighboring cell relationship information table sent by the network management server.

[0083] In this embodiment, the network management server is used for the management of each small base station. The neighboring cell relationship information includes the identification information of at least one macro base station that is a neighboring cell to each of the small base stations. The network management server determines the neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base stations according to the neighboring cell relationship information corresponding to each small base station by receiving the neighboring cell relationship information sent by each small base station under the gateway.

[0084] For example, the neighboring cell relationship information sent by small base station 1 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station C; the neighboring cell relationship information sent by small base station 2 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station B; the neighboring cell relationship information sent by small base station 3 includes: identification information of macro base station C; the neighboring cell relationship information sent by small base station 4 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station B; the neighboring cell relationship information sent by small base station 5 includes: identification information of macro base station B and macro base station C; the neighboring cell relationship information sent by small base station 6 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station C. In this way, the network management server obtains the neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station based on the neighboring cell relationship information sent by each small base station.

[0085] In one embodiment, the gateway is assigned a base station number, and the base station number corresponds to multiple small base stations; before the above step 101, the method further includes:

[0086] Dividing the multiple small base stations corresponding to the base station number into N small base station groups; wherein, the small base stations within the same small base station group have the same PCI identifier, and the small base stations in different small base station groups have different PCI identifiers; and the cell coding corresponding to the same small base station group is associated with the PCI, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0087] Among them, when allocating PCI for small base stations, N PCIs can be allocated as a PCI pool for all small base stations, and the small base stations are automatically configured according to PCI confusion detection.

[0088] In this embodiment, since the cell coding includes the base station number and the cell number, in this embodiment, the cell number can be set equal to the PCI, that is, CellId = PCI, and N PCIs are set for N small base station groups in total; in this way, only N ECIs / NCIs and the corresponding N PCIs are added as neighboring cells on each macro base station.

[0089] For example, when ENB ID = 100 and PCI = 1 / 2 / 3, the corresponding 3 ECIs are: 1001, 1002, 1003, and the corresponding 3 TCIs are: 1001 / 1, 1002 / 2, 1003 / 3. In this way, the last digit of the ECI is the PCI, realizing the association between the ECI and the PCI.

[0090] In one embodiment, the above step 103 includes:

[0091] Determine the first PCI associated with the first cell coding according to the association relationship between the cell coding and the PCI;

[0092] According to the first PCI, determine the target small base station corresponding to the first PCI from the list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station.

[0093] For example, when a connected terminal moves from under the coverage of macro base station A to within the coverage of small base station 1 and measures that the PCI of small base station 1 is 2, a handover is initiated; macro base station A sends a first handover request to the configured super virtual neighbor cell (ECI = 1002) corresponding to PCI = 2 through the core network; after receiving the first handover request, the small base station gateway determines, based on the source base station identification information carried in the message, that the handover request is initiated by macro base station A, and finds that the list of small base stations within the coverage of macro base station A includes: small base station 1, small base station 2, small base station 4, and small base station 6. Further, based on the ECI = 1002 carried in the message, it is known that the PCI of the corresponding small base station is 2, and the target small base stations are determined to be small base station 1 and small base station 4.

[0094] In this embodiment, based on the first cell code sent by the core network, the gateway can obtain the first PCI corresponding to the first cell code, and thus obtain the target small base station corresponding to the first PCI from the list of small base stations based on the first PCI.

[0095] In one embodiment, after step 106, the method further includes:

[0096] In the case of determining that the terminal accesses the first small base station among the target small base stations, a resource release message is sent to the second small base station, and the resource release message is used to instruct the first small base station to release the handover access dedicated resource group;

[0097] Wherein, the first small base station is one of the target small base stations, and the second small base station is the small base station among the target small base stations other than the first small base station.

[0098] For example, based on the above example, both small base station 1 and small base station 4 enable the handover access dedicated resource group based on the second handover request sent by the gateway. After the terminal accesses small base station 1 according to the handover access dedicated resource group, the gateway sends a resource release message to small base station 4, instructing small base station 4 to release the enabled handover access dedicated resource group, so that the small base stations without terminal access can release resources in a timely manner for use in other handover access processes.

[0099] In a preferred embodiment, N is 3.

[0100] In this embodiment, only one base station number is set under the gateway, and the small base stations under this base station number are divided into 3 small base station groups, which can reduce the neighbor cell addition operation on the macro base station and at the same time reduce the impact on network optimization caused by excessive neighbor cell addition.

[0101] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0102] Receiving a first state transfer message sent by the core network device, where the first state transfer message is used to instruct the gateway to perform a data plane handover;

[0103] Send the second state transition message to multiple small base stations in the target small base station group, where the second state transition message is used to instruct the small base stations to perform data plane handover.

[0104] In this embodiment, the gateway completes the handover of the user data plane through the first state transition message, and the small base stations complete the handover of the user data plane through the second state transition message.

[0105] As Figure 3 shown, a network-side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a network management server and includes the following steps:

[0106] Step 201: Obtain a neighbor cell relationship information table between a macro base station and small base stations, where the neighbor cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station;

[0107] Exemplarily, based on Figure 2 the relationship between the coverage areas of the small base stations and the macro base station shown, the neighbor cell relationship information table is as follows:

[0108]

[0109] From the above table and Figure 2 it can be seen that macro base station A and small base stations 1, 2, 4, and 6 are neighbor cell relationships; macro base station B and small base stations 2, 4, and 5 are neighbor cell relationships; macro base station C and small base stations 1, 3, 5, and 6 are neighbor cell relationships. That is, the list of small base stations covered by macro base station A includes: small base stations 1, 2, 4, and 6, and a handover initiated from macro base station A must access one of small base stations 1, 2, 4, and 6; the list of small base stations covered by macro base station B includes: small base stations 2, 4, and 5, and a handover initiated from macro base station B must access one of small base stations 2, 4, and 5; the list of small base stations covered by macro base station C includes: small base stations 1, 3, 5, and 6, and a handover initiated from macro base station C must access one of small base stations 1, 3, 5, and 6.

[0110] Step 201: Send the neighbor cell relationship information table to the gateway.

[0111] In this embodiment, by sending the neighbor cell relationship table between the macro base station and the small base stations to the gateway, the gateway filters the small base stations based on the neighbor cell relationship information table to obtain a smaller number of target small base stations, enabling fewer small base stations to trigger the handover access process, saving the signaling overhead of some small base stations, and avoiding excessive resource waste.

[0112] In one embodiment, the above step 201 includes:

[0113] Receiving neighbor cell relationship information sent by each small base station under the gateway, where the neighbor cell relationship information includes identification information of at least one macro base station that is a neighbor cell of each small base station;

[0114] Determining a neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station according to the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to each small base station.

[0115] For example, the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 1 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station C; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 2 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station B; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 3 includes: identification information of macro base station C; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 4 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station B; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 5 includes: identification information of macro base station B and macro base station C; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 6 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station C. Thus, the network management server obtains a neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station based on the neighbor cell relationship information sent by each small base station.

[0116] As Figure 4 shown, a network - side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a small base station and includes the following steps:

[0117] Step 301, when the small base station is identified by a first cell coding, receiving a second handover request sent by the gateway, where the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information; wherein, the second handover request is sent by the gateway after receiving a first handover request sent by a core network device, and is determined according to the first cell coding corresponding to the target small base station group indicated by the first handover request and the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, after determining the target small base station corresponding to the first cell coding; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different cell codings; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0118] It should be noted that multiple small base stations access the core network through the gateway, and the core network assigns multiple base station numbers (eNB ID or gNB ID) to the gateway. The gateway uses one of the base station numbers as the handover dedicated base station number, and divides the small base stations under this base station number into N small base station groups, and each small base station group corresponds to a super virtual cell. Among them, TCI includes: cell coding and physical cell identifier PCI. Specifically, the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same PCI, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCIs.

[0119] In this step, different small cell groups are identified by different ECI or NCI, and the first cell is encoded as the first ECI or the first NCI. The TCIs corresponding to N small cell groups are added to the neighbor cell list of each macro base station, that is, N ECIs / NCIs and the corresponding N PCIs are added as the neighbor cells of each macro base station, so that the N small cell groups and the macro base station are in a neighbor cell relationship with each other. Specifically, the macro base station sends a measurement control instruction to the terminal, and the terminal sends a measurement control report to the macro base station based on the measurement control instruction. The measurement control report includes the above neighbor cell information. When the macro base station determines that the handover condition is met according to the measurement control report, it sends a handover request to the core network device (i.e., the third handover request in the method on the macro base station side); further, after receiving the third handover request, the core network sends the above first handover request to the gateway; the gateway determines the target small cell corresponding to the first cell code according to the first cell code corresponding to the target small cell group indicated by the first handover request and the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small cell, and sends a second handover request to the target small cell.

[0120] Step 302, send a handover request confirmation message to the gateway.

[0121] Among them, based on the handover confirmation message, the gateway sends a first handover signaling gateway to the core network device, so that the gateway carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the handover command (i.e., the first handover command in the method on the gateway side) and sends it to the core network device; further, the core network device carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the handover command (i.e., the second handover command in the method on the core network device side) and sends it to the macro base station; the macro base station carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the first RRC connection reconfiguration message and sends it to the terminal. Finally, the terminal switches from the macro base station to the first small cell among the target small cells according to the handover access dedicated resource group information and the PCI corresponding to the target small cell.

[0122] In an embodiment, before the above step 301, the method further includes:

[0123] Send the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to the small cell to the network management server, where the neighbor cell relationship information includes the identification information of at least one macro base station that is a neighbor cell of the small cell.

[0124] Among them, when the small cell enables the Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) function, the macro base station information around each small cell is obtained by the terminal reporting a measurement report, that is, the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to each small cell.

[0125] Exemplarily, the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 1 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station C; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 2 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station B; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 3 includes: identification information of macro base station C; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 4 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station B; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 5 includes: identification information of macro base station B and macro base station C; the neighbor cell relationship information sent by small base station 6 includes: identification information of macro base station A and macro base station C. Thus, the network management server obtains the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station based on the neighbor cell relationship information sent by each small base station.

[0126] In one embodiment, small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same physical cell identifier (PCI), and small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCI identifiers; and the cell coding corresponding to the same small base station group is associated with the PCI.

[0127] Among them, when allocating PCI for small base stations, N PCIs can be allocated to all small base stations as a PCI pool, and the small base stations are automatically configured according to PCI confusion detection.

[0128] In this embodiment, since the cell coding includes the base station number and the cell number, this embodiment can set the cell number equal to the PCI, that is, set CellId = PCI, and a total of N PCIs are set for N small base station groups; in this way, only N ECIs / NCIs and the corresponding N PCIs are added as neighbor cells on each macro base station.

[0129] For example: when ENB ID = 100 and PCI = 1 / 2 / 3, the corresponding 3 ECIs are: 1001, 1002, 1003, and the corresponding 3 TCIs are: 1001 / 1, 1002 / 2, 1003 / 3. Thus, the last digit of the ECI is the PCI, realizing the association between the ECI and the PCI.

[0130] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0131] Receiving a second state transition message sent by the gateway, where the second state transition message is used to instruct the small base station to perform a data plane handover;

[0132] Performing a data plane handover according to the second state transition message.

[0133] In this embodiment, the small base station completes the handover of the user data plane through the second state transition message.

[0134] In one embodiment, after step 302, the method further includes:

[0135] Send a second RRC connection reconfiguration message to the terminal, where the second RRC connection reconfiguration message is used to instruct the terminal to release the handover access dedicated resource group.

[0136] In this embodiment, the small cell instructs the terminal to release the handover access dedicated resource by sending a second RRC connection reconfiguration message to the terminal, so that the handover dedicated resource group continues to be used as a reserved handover access dedicated resource group for use in the next base station handover.

[0137] As Figure 5 shown, a network - side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a macro base station and includes the following steps:

[0138] Step 501, receive neighbor cell information sent by the terminal, where the neighbor cell information includes the first PCI of the first small cell; the first small cell is one of the target small cell groups, the target small cell group is identified by a first cell code, the target small cell group is one of N small cell groups, and each small cell group includes multiple small cells, and different small cell groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0139] Specifically, neighbor cells between base stations are identified by a Target Cell Identifier (TCI). N TCI corresponding to small cell groups are uniformly added to all macro base stations in the area, so that a neighbor cell relationship is formed between the macro base station and the small cell. Among them, the TCI includes: a cell code and a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI).

[0140] Specifically, small cells within the same small cell group are identified by the same PCI, and small cells in different small cell groups are identified by different PCIs. The cell code of each small cell group is associated with the PCI of the small cells within the group, that is, based on the PCI of the small cell, the cell code of the small cell group where the small cell is located can be determined; based on the cell code of the small cell group, the PCI corresponding to the small cells within the small cell group can be determined.

[0141] For a 4G network, the cell code is the E - UTRAN Cell Identifier (ECI), and the ECI includes: an eNB ID (base station number) and a Cell ID (cell number).

[0142] For a 5G (NR) network, the cell code is the NR Cell Identifier (NCI), and the NCI includes: a gNB ID (base station number) and a Cell ID (cell number).

[0143] In this step, different small cell groups are identified by different ECI or NCI, and the first cell is coded with the first ECI or the first NCI. The TCI corresponding to N small cell groups is added to the neighbor cell list of each macro cell, that is, N ECIs / NCIs are added, and the corresponding N PCIs are used as the neighbor cells of each macro cell, so that the N small cell groups and the macro cell are in a neighbor cell relationship with each other. Specifically, the macro cell sends a measurement control instruction to the terminal, and the terminal sends a measurement control report to the macro cell based on the measurement control instruction. The measurement control report includes the above neighbor cell information. When the macro cell determines that the handover condition is met according to the measurement control report, it sends a handover request to the core network device (i.e., the third handover request in step 502).

[0144] Step 502: When it is determined that the handover condition is met, send a third handover request to the core network device; the third handover request carries the first cell code of the target small cell group and the identification information of the macro cell; wherein, the first cell code is determined according to the association relationship between the cell code (ECI / NCI) and the PCI; that is, the first cell code is associated with the first PCI.

[0145] For example, a connected terminal moves from macro cell A to the coverage of small cell 1, measures that the PCI of small cell 1 is 2, and initiates a handover to macro cell A. Macro cell A sends a handover request to the super virtual neighbor cell corresponding to PCI = 2 (such as the super virtual cell corresponding to the target small cell group corresponding to ECI = 1002) through the core network device.

[0146] Step 503: Receive a second handover command sent by the core network device, and the second handover command carries handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0147] Wherein, each small cell is allocated a handover access dedicated resource group after dividing the small cell groups, and the handover access dedicated resource groups reserved by the small cells within each small cell group are the same.

[0148] Step 504: Send a first radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message to the terminal, and the first RRC connection reconfiguration message carries terminal handover access dedicated resource information group information.

[0149] In this embodiment, the handover access dedicated resource group is the handover access dedicated resource reserved for the terminal. After receiving the second handover request sent by the gateway, the small base station enables the handover access dedicated resource group and carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the handover request confirmation message and feeds it back to the gateway; the gateway carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the handover command (i.e., the first handover command in the method on the gateway side) and sends it to the core network device; further, the core network device carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the second handover command and sends it to the macro base station; the macro base station carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the first RRC connection reconfiguration message and sends it to the terminal, so that the terminal completes the handover from the macro base station to the first small base station according to the handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0150] As Figure 6 shown, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network-side mobility management method applied to a core network device, including:

[0151] Step 601, receiving a third handover request sent by a macro base station, where the third handover request carries a first cell code of the target small base station group and identification information of the macro base station; where the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups, and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0152] Specifically, the neighboring cells between base stations are identified by a Target Cell Identifier (TCI). The TCIs corresponding to N small base station groups are uniformly added to all macro base stations in the area, so that the macro base stations and small base stations form a neighboring cell relationship. Among them, the TCI includes: a cell code and a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI).

[0153] Specifically, the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same PCI, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCIs.

[0154] For a 4G network, the cell code is the E-UTRAN Cell Identifier (ECI), and the ECI includes the eNB ID (base station number) and the Cell ID (cell number).

[0155] For a 5G (NR) network, the cell code is the NR Cell Identifier (NCI), and the NCI includes the gNB ID (base station number) and the Cell ID (cell number).

[0156] In this step, different small cell groups are identified by different ECI or NCI, and the first cell is coded as the first ECI or the first NCI. In the neighbor cell list of each macro cell, the TCIs corresponding to N small cell groups are added, that is, N ECIs / NCIs and the corresponding N PCIs are added as the neighbor cells of each macro cell, so that the N small cell groups and the macro cell are in a neighbor cell relationship with each other.

[0157] Step 602, send a first handover request to the gateway, where the first handover request carries the cell code of the target small cell group and the identification information of the macro cell;

[0158] Step 603, receive a first handover command sent by the gateway, where the first handover command carries the handover access dedicated resource group information;

[0159] Wherein, after dividing the small cell groups, each small cell is allocated multiple groups of handover access dedicated resources, and the handover access dedicated resources reserved by the small cells within each small cell group are the same.

[0160] Step 604, send a second handover command to the macro cell, where the second handover command carries the handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0161] In this embodiment, the handover access dedicated resource group is the reserved terminal handover access dedicated resource. After receiving the third handover request carried with the first ECI / NCI of the target small cell group sent by the macro cell, the core network device sends a first handover request carried with the first ECI / NCI of the target small cell group and the identification information of the macro cell to the gateway, so that the gateway determines the target small cell according to the first handover request, and sends a second handover request carried with the handover access dedicated resource group information to the target small cell; after receiving the second handover request sent by the gateway, the target small cell enables the handover access dedicated resource and feeds back a handover request confirmation message to the gateway; so that the gateway carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the first handover command and sends it to the core network device; and through the core network device, carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the second handover command and sends it to the macro cell; finally, through the macro cell, carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the first RRC connection reconfiguration message and sends it to the terminal, so that the terminal completes the handover from the macro cell to the first small cell in the target small cell according to the handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0162] In one embodiment, the above method further includes:

[0163] Receive a third state transfer message sent by the macro cell, where the third state transfer message is used to instruct the core network device to perform a data plane handover;

[0164] Send a first status transfer message to the gateway, where the first status transfer message is used to instruct the gateway to perform a data plane switch.

[0165] In this embodiment, the core network device completes the user data plane switch based on the third status transfer message, and the gateway completes the user data plane switch based on the first status transfer message.

[0166] Such as Figure 7 As shown, a network-side mobility management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a terminal, and specifically includes the following steps:

[0167] Step 701, send neighbor cell information to the macro base station, where the neighbor cell information includes: the first PCI of the first small base station; the first small base station is one of the target small base station groups, and the target small base station group is identified by a first cell coding; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups, and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codings; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0168] Specifically, the neighbor cells between base stations are identified by a Target Cell Identifier (TCI). The TCIs corresponding to N small base station groups are uniformly added to all macro base stations in the area, so that the macro base stations and the small base stations form neighbor cell relationships. Among them, the TCI includes: cell coding and Physical Cell Identifier (PCI).

[0169] Specifically, the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same PCI, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCIs. The cell coding of each small base station group is associated with the PCI of the small base stations within the group, that is, based on the PCI of the small base station, the cell coding of the small base station group where the small base station is located can be determined; based on the cell coding of the small base station group, the PCI corresponding to the small base stations within the small base station group can be determined.

[0170] For a 4G network, the cell coding is the E-UTRAN Cell Identifier (ECI), and the ECI includes the eNB ID (base station number) and the Cell ID (cell number).

[0171] For a 5G (NR) network, the cell coding is the NR Cell Identifier (NCI), and the NCI includes the gNB ID (base station number) and the Cell ID (cell number).

[0172] In this step, different small cell groups are identified by different ECI or NCI, and the first cell is coded as the first ECI or the first NCI. In the neighbor cell list of each macro base station, TCIs corresponding to N small cell groups are added, that is, N ECIs / NCI and the corresponding N PCIs are added as neighbor cells of each macro base station, so that the N small cell groups and the macro base station are in a neighbor cell relationship with each other.

[0173] Specifically, the macro base station sends a measurement control instruction to the terminal, and the terminal sends a measurement control report to the macro base station based on the measurement control instruction. The measurement control report includes the above neighbor cell information. When the macro base station determines that the handover condition is met according to the measurement control report, it sends a handover request to the core network device (i.e., the third handover request in the method of the macro base station side).

[0174] Step 702, receive the first Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message sent by the macro base station, where the first RRC connection reconfiguration message carries handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0175] Among them, each small base station is allocated multiple groups of handover access dedicated resources after dividing small cell groups, and the handover access dedicated resources reserved by the small base stations within each small cell group are the same.

[0176] In this step, the handover access dedicated resource group is the reserved terminal handover access dedicated resource. After receiving the handover request sent by the gateway (i.e., the second handover request in the method of the gateway side), the small base station enables the handover access dedicated resource group and carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the handover request confirmation message and feeds it back to the gateway; the gateway carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the handover command (i.e., the first handover command in the method of the gateway side) and sends it to the core network device; further, the core network device carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the handover command (i.e., the second handover command in the method of the core network device side) and sends it to the macro base station; the macro base station carries the handover access dedicated resource group information in the first RRC connection reconfiguration message and sends it to the terminal.

[0177] Step 703, switch from the macro base station to the first small base station according to the handover access dedicated resource group information and the first PCI of the first small base station.

[0178] It should be noted that the handover access dedicated resources corresponding to multiple small base stations within a small cell group are the same. Although multiple small base stations that may be under the coverage of the source macro base station have enabled this group of handover access dedicated resources, when actually accessing, the terminal only enters the coverage area of one small base station (i.e., the first small base station) and accesses the first small base station through the handover access dedicated resource group.

[0179] In the above embodiments, by grouping the small base stations under the gateway and identifying each small base station group with a different cell code, a macro base station can add the cell codes corresponding to N small base station groups, enabling the macro base station to add N small base station groups as neighboring cells. In this way, the macro base station can switch to a small base station within the target small base station group, realizing the handover from the macro base station to the small base station.

[0180] In one embodiment, after the macro base station switches to the first small base station in the target small base station group, the method further includes:

[0181] Receiving a second RRC connection reconfiguration message sent by the first small base station, where the second RRC connection reconfiguration message is used to instruct the terminal to release the handover access dedicated resource group;

[0182] Releasing the handover access dedicated resource group according to the second RRC connection reconfiguration message.

[0183] In this embodiment, the first small base station instructs the terminal to release the handover access dedicated resource group by sending a second RRC connection reconfiguration message to the terminal, so that this group of handover dedicated resources continues to be used as a reserved handover access dedicated resource group for use in the next base station handover.

[0184] Next, the network - side mobility management method of the present application will be introduced in conjunction with the attached Figure 8 drawings.

[0185] As Figure 8 shown in the drawings, the network - side mobility management method mainly includes the following steps.

[0186] Step 1: The source base station (macro base station) sends a measurement control instruction to the terminal.

[0187] Step 2: The terminal sends a measurement report to the source base station; the measurement report includes neighboring cell information.

[0188] Among them, the neighboring cell information includes: the first PCI of the first small base station; the first small base station is one of the target small base station groups, and the target small base station group is identified by a first cell code; the target small base station group is one of the N small base station groups, and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same PCI, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCIs; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The TCIs corresponding to N small base station groups are added to the neighboring cell list of the source macro base station, that is, the ECI / NCI of N small base station groups and the corresponding N PCIs are added as neighboring cells of the source macro base station, so that the N small base station groups and the source macro base station are in a neighboring cell relationship with each other.

[0189] Step 3: When it is determined that the handover condition is met, send a HandoverRequest message (the third handover request) to the core network device.

[0190] Specifically, the source base station determines whether the terminal meets the handover condition according to the measurement report; when the handover condition is met, the first cell coding is determined according to the first PCI, and the third handover request is sent to the core network device; the third handover request carries the first cell coding of the target small base station group.

[0191] Step 4: The core network device sends the first handover request to the gateway; the first handover request carries the cell coding of the target small base station group and the identification information of the source macro base station.

[0192] Step 5: The gateway sends the second handover request to the target small base station; the second handover request carries the handover access dedicated resource group information;

[0193] In this step, after receiving the first handover request sent by the core network, the gateway obtains the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, and determines the one covered by the source macro base station from the neighbor cell relationship information table according to the identification information of the source macro base station; further, according to the first cell coding of the target small base station group, the target small base station is determined from the small base station list; the gateway sends the second handover request to the target small base station (one of which is the small base station where the terminal is located), and indicates the handover access dedicated resource group information to the target small base station through the second handover request.

[0194] Step 6: Each small base station in the target small base station sends a HandoverRequest Ack message to the gateway.

[0195] In this step, after receiving the second handover request, each small base station in the target small base station enables the reserved handover access dedicated resource group and returns a Handover Request Ack to the gateway.

[0196] Step 7: The gateway sends the first handover command (Handover Command) to the core network device, and transfers the reserved terminal handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0197] Step 8: The core network device sends the second handover command to the source base station, and transfers the reserved terminal handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0198] Step 9: The source base station sends the first RRC connection reconfiguration (RRC ConnectionReconfiguration) to the terminal, instructing the terminal to access the measured first small base station to achieve handover. The first RRC connection reconfiguration message carries the handover access dedicated resource group information. The first small base station belongs to one of the target small base stations.

[0199] Step Ten: The source base station sends a third Status Transfer message to the core network device, indicating that the core network device performs a user data plane handover.

[0200] Step Eleven: The core network device sends a first Status Transfer message to the gateway, indicating that the gateway performs a user data plane handover.

[0201] Step Twelve: The gateway sends a second Status Transfer message to the target small base station, indicating that the target small base station performs a user data plane handover;

[0202] Step Thirteen: The terminal receives an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message sent by the first small base station in the target small base station, and accesses the first small base station according to the handover access dedicated resource group information and the measured cell information therein.

[0203] Step Fourteen: Send a first RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message to the first small base station.

[0204] Step Fifteen: The first small base station sends a second RRC Connection Reconfiguration message to the terminal to indicate that the terminal is configured to other access resources, and releases the original handover access dedicated resource group to continue as the reserved handover access dedicated resource for the next handover.

[0205] Step Sixteen: The terminal reconfigures the access information according to the second RRC Connection Reconfiguration message and returns a second RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message.

[0206] Step Seventeen: The gateway sends a resource release message to the small base stations other than the first small base station in the target small base station, indicating that the small base stations other than the first small base station release the handover group access dedicated resources, that is, mark the handover group access dedicated resources as idle for the next handover.

[0207] Step Eighteen: The first small base station sends a Handover Notify to the gateway, indicating that the handover is completed.

[0208] Step Nineteen: The gateway forwards the Handover Notify to the core network device, indicating that the handover is completed.

[0209] Step 20: The core network device sends a Context Release Command to the source base station, indicating to release the terminal context resources;

[0210] Step 21: The source base station releases the terminal context resources and sends a Context Release Complete to the core network, and the handover process is completed.

[0211] As Figure 9 shown, a network - side mobility management device 900 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a gateway and includes:

[0212] A first receiving module 901, configured to receive a first handover request sent by a core network device; the first handover request carries a first cell code corresponding to a target small base station group and identification information of a source macro base station; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0213] A first obtaining module 902, configured to obtain a list of small base stations under the coverage of the source macro base station according to a neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base stations; the neighbor cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations under the coverage of each macro base station;

[0214] A first determining module 903, configured to determine a target small base station corresponding to the first cell code from the list of small base stations under the coverage of the source macro base station;

[0215] A first sending module 904, configured to send a second handover request to the target small base station; the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information;

[0216] A second receiving module 905, configured to receive a handover request confirmation message sent by the target small base station;

[0217] A second sending module 906, configured to send a first handover signaling to the core network device, and the first handover signaling carries the handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0218] Optionally, the network - side mobility management device 900 further includes:

[0219] A third receiving module, configured to receive the neighbor cell relationship information table sent by a network management server.

[0220] Optionally, the gateway is assigned a base station number, and the base station number corresponds to multiple small base stations;

[0221] The network - side mobility management device 900 further includes:

[0222] A processing module, configured to divide a plurality of small base stations corresponding to the base station number into N small base station groups; wherein, the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same physical cell identifier (PCI), and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCI identifiers; and the cell coding corresponding to the same small base station group is associated with the PCI, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0223] Optionally, the first determination module 903 includes:

[0224] A first determination sub-module, configured to determine a first PCI associated with the first cell coding according to the association relationship between the cell coding and the PCI;

[0225] A second determination sub-module, configured to determine a target small base station corresponding to the first PCI from the list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station according to the first PCI.

[0226] Optionally, the network-side mobility management device 900 further includes:

[0227] A third sending module, configured to send a resource release message to a second small base station when it is determined that the terminal accesses a first small base station among the target small base stations, where the resource release message is used to instruct the first small base station to release the handover access dedicated resource group;

[0228] wherein, the first small base station is one of the target small base stations, and the second small base station is a small base station other than the first small base station among the target small base stations.

[0229] The network-side mobility management device 900 provided by the embodiments of the present invention can execute the above method embodiments, and its implementation principles and technical effects are similar, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0230] As Figure 10 shown, a network-side mobility management device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a network management server and includes:

[0231] A second acquisition module 1001, configured to acquire a neighbor relationship information table between a macro base station and small base stations, where the neighbor relationship information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station;

[0232] A fourth sending module, configured to send the neighbor relationship information table to a gateway.

[0233] Optionally, the second acquisition module 1001 includes:

[0234] The first acquisition sub-module is configured to receive the neighbor cell relationship information sent by each small base station under the gateway, where the neighbor cell relationship information includes the identification information of at least one macro base station that is a neighbor cell of each small base station;

[0235] The second acquisition sub-module is configured to determine the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station according to the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to each small base station.

[0236] The network-side mobility management device 1000 provided by the embodiments of the present invention can execute the above method embodiments, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, which will not be elaborated here in this embodiment.

[0237] As Figure 11 shown, a network-side mobility management device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a small base station and includes:

[0238] The fourth receiving module 1101 is configured to receive a second handover request sent by the gateway when the small base station is identified by the first cell coding, where the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information; wherein, the second handover request is sent by the gateway after receiving the first handover request sent by the core network device, according to the first cell coding corresponding to the target small base station group indicated by the first handover request, and the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, after determining the target small base station corresponding to the first cell coding; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different cell codings; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0239] The fifth sending module 1102 is configured to send a handover request confirmation message to the gateway.

[0240] Optionally, the network-side mobility management device 1100 further includes:

[0241] The sixth sending module is configured to send the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to the small base station to the network management server, where the neighbor cell relationship information includes the identification information of at least one macro base station that is a neighbor cell of the small base station.

[0242] Optionally, the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same physical cell identifier (PCI), and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCI identifiers; and the cell coding corresponding to the same small base station group is associated with the PCI.

[0243] The network-side mobility management device 1100 provided by the embodiments of the present invention can execute the above method embodiments, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, which will not be elaborated here in this embodiment.

[0244] The gateway according to another embodiment of the present invention, as Figure 12 shown, includes a transceiver 1210, a processor 1200, a memory 1220, and a program or instruction stored on the memory 1220 and executable on the processor 1200; when the processor 1200 executes the program or instruction, the following steps are implemented:

[0245] Receiving a first handover request sent by a core network device; the first handover request carries a first cell code corresponding to a target small cell group and identification information of a source macro cell; the target small cell group is one of N small cell groups; and each small cell group includes multiple small cells, and different small cell groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0246] According to the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro cell and the small cells, obtaining a list of small cells under the coverage of the source macro cell; the neighbor cell relationship information table includes a list of small cells under the coverage of each macro cell;

[0247] Determining a target small cell corresponding to the first cell code from the list of small cells under the coverage of the source macro cell;

[0248] Sending a second handover request to the target small cell; the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information;

[0249] Receiving a handover request confirmation message sent by the target small cell;

[0250] Sending a first handover signaling to the core network device, the first handover signaling carrying the handover access dedicated resource group information.

[0251] The transceiver 1210 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 1200.

[0252] Wherein, in Figure 12 , the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically various circuits of one or more processors represented by the processor 1200 and the memory represented by the memory 1220 are linked together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and thus will not be further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1110 may be multiple elements, that is, including a transmitter and a receiver, and provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on the transmission medium. The processor 1200 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1120 can store data used by the processor 1200 when performing operations.

[0253] Optionally, when the processor 1200 executes the program or instructions, the following steps are further implemented:

[0254] Receive the neighbor cell relation information table sent by the network management server.

[0255] Optionally, the gateway is assigned a base station number, and the base station number corresponds to multiple small base stations; when the processor 1200 executes the program or instructions, the following steps are further implemented:

[0256] Divide the multiple small base stations corresponding to the base station number into N small base station groups; wherein, the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same physical cell identifier (PCI), and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCI identifiers; and the cell coding corresponding to the same small base station group is associated with the PCI, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0257] Optionally, when the processor 1200 executes the program or instructions, the following steps are further implemented:

[0258] Determine a first PCI associated with the first cell coding according to the association relationship between the cell coding and the PCI;

[0259] Determine a target small base station corresponding to the first PCI from the list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station according to the first PCI.

[0260] Optionally, when the processor 1200 executes the program or instructions, the following steps are further implemented:

[0261] In the case of determining that the terminal accesses the first small base station among the target small base stations, send a resource release message to the second small base station, where the resource release message is used to instruct the first small base station to release the handover access dedicated resource group;

[0262] Wherein, the first small base station is one of the target small base stations, and the second small base station is the small base station other than the first small base station among the target small base stations.

[0263] The network management server according to another embodiment of the present invention, as Figure 13 shown, includes a transceiver 1310, a processor 1300, a memory 1320, and a program or instructions stored on the memory 1320 and executable on the processor 1300; when the processor 1300 executes the program or instructions, the following steps are implemented:

[0264] Obtain a neighbor cell relation information table between the macro base station and the small base stations, where the neighbor cell relation information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station;

[0265] Send the neighbor cell relation information table to the gateway.

[0266] The transceiver 1310 is configured to receive and transmit data under the control of the processor 1300.

[0267] Among them, in Figure 13 the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically, various circuits represented by one or more processors represented by the processor 1300 and the memory represented by the memory 1320 are linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and thus will not be further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1310 may be multiple components, that is, including a transmitter and a receiver, and provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on the transmission medium. The processor 1300 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1320 may store data used by the processor 1300 when executing operations.

[0268] Optionally, when the processor 1300 executes the program or instruction, the following steps are further implemented:

[0269] Receiving neighbor cell relationship information sent by each small cell under the gateway, where the neighbor cell relationship information includes identification information of at least one macro cell that is a neighbor cell of each small cell;

[0270] Determining a neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro cell and the small cell according to the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to each small cell.

[0271] A base station according to another embodiment of the present invention, as Figure 14 shown, includes a transceiver 1410, a processor 1400, a memory 1420, and a program or instruction stored on the memory 1420 and executable on the processor 1400; when the processor 1400 executes the program or instruction, the operations performed by the small cell in any of the foregoing method embodiments of the present application are implemented.

[0272] Exemplarily, when the processor 1400 executes the program or instruction, the following steps are implemented:

[0273] When the small base station is identified by the first cell code, receive a second handover request sent by the gateway, where the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information; wherein, the second handover request is sent by the gateway after receiving a first handover request sent by a core network device, according to the first cell code corresponding to the target small base station group indicated by the first handover request, and the neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, after determining the target small base station corresponding to the first cell code; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0274] Send a handover request confirmation message to the gateway.

[0275] The transceiver 1410 is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor 1400.

[0276] Wherein, in Figure 14 The bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically various circuits of one or more processors represented by the processor 1400 and the memory represented by the memory 1420 are linked together. The bus architecture can also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1410 may be multiple elements, that is, including a transmitter and a receiver, and provides a unit for communicating with various other devices on the transmission medium. The processor 1400 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1420 may store data used by the processor 1400 when executing operations.

[0277] Optionally, when the processor 1400 executes the program or instruction, the following steps are further implemented:

[0278] Send the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to the small base station to the network management server, where the neighbor cell relationship information includes identification information of at least one macro base station that is a neighbor cell of the small base station.

[0279] Optionally, the small base stations within the same small base station group are identified by the same physical cell identifier (PCI), and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCIs; and the cell code corresponding to the same small base station group is associated with the PCI.

[0280] A readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention stores a program or instructions thereon. When the program or instructions are executed by a processor, the steps in the above-mentioned network-side mobility management method are implemented, and the same technical effects can be achieved. To avoid repetition, details are not described herein again. Among them, the computer-readable storage medium includes, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc, etc.

[0281] Further, it should be noted that the terminals described in this specification include, but are not limited to, smart phones, tablet computers, etc., and many of the described functional components are referred to as modules to more particularly emphasize the independence of their implementation methods.

[0282] In an embodiment of the present invention, a module can be implemented in software so as to be executed by various types of processors. For example, an executable code module identified can include one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions. For example, it can be constructed as an object, a process, or a function. Nevertheless, the executable code of the identified module does not need to be physically located together, but can include different instructions stored in different locations. When these instructions are logically combined together, they form the module and achieve the specified purpose of the module.

[0283] In fact, an executable code module can be a single instruction or many instructions, and can even be distributed over multiple different code segments, distributed in different programs, and distributed across multiple memory devices. Similarly, the operation data can be identified within the module, and can be implemented in any appropriate form and organized within any appropriate type of data structure. The operation data can be collected as a single data set, or can be distributed at different locations (including on different storage devices), and at least partially can only exist as an electronic signal in the system or network.

[0284] When a module can be implemented in software, considering the level of existing hardware technology, for a module that can be implemented in software, without considering cost, those skilled in the art can build corresponding hardware circuits to implement the corresponding functions. The hardware circuits include conventional very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits or gate arrays, as well as existing semiconductors such as logic chips and transistors, or other discrete components. A module can also be implemented using programmable hardware devices, such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, etc.

[0285] The above exemplary embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Many different forms and embodiments are possible without departing from the spirit and teachings of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary embodiments presented herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that the invention will be complete and fully disclosed, and will convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, component sizes and relative sizes may be exaggerated for clarity. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. Unless otherwise indicated, when stating a value range, the range includes the upper and lower limits thereof and any sub-ranges therebetween.

[0286] The foregoing is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that, for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can be made, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A network side mobility management method, characterized in that: Applied to gateways, including: Receive a first handover request sent by a core network device; the first handover request carries a first cell code corresponding to a target small base station group and identification information of a source macro base station; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2; According to the neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, a list of small base stations under the coverage of the source macro base station is obtained; the neighboring cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations under the coverage of each macro base station; Determine, from the list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station, a target small base station corresponding to the first cell code; Sending a second handover request to the target small base station; the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information; Receiving a handover request confirmation message sent by the target small base station; A first switching signaling is sent to the core network device, where the first switching signaling carries the switching access dedicated resource group information.

2. The network side mobility management method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before acquiring the list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station according to the neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, the method further includes: Receive the neighboring cell relationship information table sent by the network management server.

3. The network side mobility management method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gateway is assigned a base station number, and the base station number corresponds to multiple small base stations; Before receiving the first switching request sent by the core network device, the method further includes: The multiple small base stations corresponding to the base station number are divided into N small base station groups; wherein, the small base stations in the same small base station group are identified by the same physical cell identifier PCI, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCIs; and the cell code corresponding to the same small base station group is associated with the PCI, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

4. The network side mobility management method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The determining, from the list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station, a target small base station corresponding to the first cell code includes: Determine, according to an association relationship between a cell code and a PCI, a first PCI associated with the first cell code; According to the first PCI, a target small base station corresponding to the first PCI is determined from the list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station.

5. The network side mobility management method according to claim 1, characterized in that: After sending the second switching request to the target small base station, the method further includes: When it is determined that the terminal accesses the first small base station in the target small base station, a resource release message is sent to the second small base station, where the resource release message is used to instruct the first small base station to release the handover access dedicated resource group; The first small base station is one of the target small base stations, and the second small base station is a small base station in the target small base station except the first small base station.

6. A network side mobility management method, characterized in that: Applied to network management servers, including: Obtain a neighbor cell relationship information table between a macro base station and a small base station, wherein the neighbor cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station; Send the neighbor relationship information table to the gateway.

7. The network side mobility management method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The obtaining of the neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station includes: Receive neighboring cell relationship information sent by each small base station under the gateway, where the neighboring cell relationship information includes identification information of at least one macro base station that is a neighboring cell of each small base station; According to the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to each of the small base stations, a neighbor cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station is determined.

8. A network side mobility management method, characterized in that: Applied to small base stations, including: In the case where the small base station is identified by the first cell code, a second switching request sent by the gateway is received, and the second switching request carries information about the dedicated resource group for switching access; wherein the second switching request is sent by the gateway after receiving the first switching request sent by the core network device, according to the first cell code corresponding to the target small base station group indicated by the first switching request, and the neighboring area relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, after determining the target small base station corresponding to the first cell code; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2; A handover request confirmation message is sent to the gateway.

9. The network side mobility management method according to claim 8, characterized in that: Before receiving the second switching request sent by the gateway, the method further includes: The neighboring cell relationship information corresponding to the small base station is sent to a network management server, where the neighboring cell relationship information includes identification information of at least one macro base station that is a neighboring cell of the small base station.

10. The network side mobility management method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The small base stations in the same small base station group are identified by the same physical cell identifier PCI, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different PCIs; and the cell code corresponding to the same small base station group is associated with the PCI.

11. A network-side mobility management device, characterized in that: Applied to gateways, including: A first receiving module is used to receive a first handover request sent by a core network device; the first handover request carries a first cell code corresponding to a target small base station group and identification information of a source macro base station; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2; A first acquisition module is used to acquire a list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station according to a neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station; the neighboring cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station; A first determination module is used to determine a target small base station corresponding to the first cell code from a list of small base stations covered by the source macro base station; A first sending module is used to send a second handover request to the target small base station; the second handover request carries handover access dedicated resource group information; A second receiving module is used to receive a handover request confirmation message sent by the target small base station; The second sending module is used to send a first switching signaling to the core network device, where the first switching signaling carries the switching access dedicated resource group information.

12. A network-side mobility management device, characterized in that: Applied to network management servers, including: A second acquisition module is used to obtain a neighboring cell relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, wherein the neighboring cell relationship information table includes a list of small base stations covered by each macro base station; The third sending module is used to send the neighbor relationship information table to the gateway.

13. A network-side mobility management device, characterized in that: Applied to small base stations, including: A third receiving module is used to receive a second switching request sent by the gateway when the small base station is identified by the first cell code, and the second switching request carries the switching access dedicated resource group information; wherein, the second switching request is sent by the gateway after receiving the first switching request sent by the core network device, according to the first cell code corresponding to the target small base station group indicated by the first switching request, and the neighboring area relationship information table between the macro base station and the small base station, after determining the target small base station corresponding to the first cell code; the target small base station group is one of N small base station groups; and each small base station group includes multiple small base stations, and the small base stations in different small base station groups are identified by different cell codes; N is an integer greater than or equal to 2; The fourth sending module is used to send a switching request confirmation message to the gateway.

14. A gateway, comprising: A transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor; characterized in that when the processor executes the program or instruction, the network-side mobility management method as described in any one of claims 1-5 is implemented.

15. A network management server, comprising: A transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor; characterized in that when the processor executes the program or instruction, the network-side mobility management method as described in any one of claims 6-7 is implemented.

16. A base station, comprising: A transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor; characterized in that when the processor executes the program or instruction, the network-side mobility management method as described in any one of claims 8 to 10 is implemented.

17. A readable storage medium having a program or instruction stored thereon, characterized in that: When the program or instruction is executed by the processor, it implements the steps in the network side mobility management method as described in any one of claims 1-5, or the steps in the network side mobility management method as described in any one of claims 6-7, or the network side mobility management method as described in any one of claims 8-10.

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