Condition switching method, communication equipment and storage medium

Abstract

Disclosed are a condition switching method, a communication device, and a storage medium, the method comprising: sending pre-configuration information to a terminal device, the pre-configuration information comprising alternative cell information, a trigger condition, and switching scene indication information; the scene switching indication information is used for determining a used triggering condition. Correspondingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the terminal equipment determines a triggering condition used for cell switching according to the switching scene indication information in the pre-configuration information. According to the scheme provided by the invention, the switching time delay can be effectively reduced under the condition of ensuring the robustness of cell switching.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a conditional handover method, a communication device, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] For a UE in the RRC_CONNECTED state in New Radio (NR), if the UE moves from one cell to another cell, the network will decide whether to perform a handover based on the layer 3 (L3) measurement results of the User Equipment (UE), and determine the target cell for the handover according to the measurement results of the UE.

[0003] To prevent the source base station from failing to send the handover command to the UE in time due to too drastic changes in the UE signal, Conditional Handover (CHO) was introduced in NR R16. At the same time, L1 / L2-Triggered Mobility (LTM) that uses layer 2 (L2) signaling for handover based on layer 1 (L1) measurement results was also introduced to reduce the handover delay. Subsequently, Conditional LTM (CLTM) will also be introduced, that is, the UE autonomously evaluates the candidate cells based on the triggering conditions configured by the network, and once it is reached, it will autonomously perform a handover. Different from conditional handover, the triggering conditions here can be thresholds or conditions configured based on L1 measurement results.

[0004] In the 6th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (6G) scenario, if CLTM is adopted, the advantage of LTM based on L1 measurement results is low handover delay, and in some scenarios, L2 restart may not be required, which is beneficial to the continuity of service transmission. However, there may be a problem of ping-pong handover; if conditional handover based on L3 measurement results is used as the triggering condition, the L3 measurement results will comprehensively consider the quality of multiple beams of the cell, which is helpful for the robustness of the handover. However, the problem is that the L3 handover evaluation delay is large, and the handover may not be performed in time. Therefore, in a scenario that supports both CLTM and conditional handover, how to reduce the impact of handover delay while ensuring robustness. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Embodiments of this application provide a conditional handover method, a communication device, and a storage medium, which can effectively reduce the handover delay while ensuring the robustness of cell handover.

[0006] On the one hand, embodiments of this application provide a conditional handover method, and the method includes:

[0007] Send pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes alternative cell information, a triggering condition, and handover scenario indication information; the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the triggering condition to be used.

[0008] Optionally, the triggering condition includes: a triggering condition based on L1, and / or a triggering condition based on L3.

[0009] Optionally, the triggering condition corresponds to different handover methods, and the handover methods include: CLTM, or conditional handover; the conditional handover includes CHO and CPAC.

[0010] Optionally, the handover scenario indication information includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following: control unit identification, data unit identification information, base station identification information, service cell does not need to restart identification information, group identification information, frequency band group identification information.

[0011] Optionally, when the identification information is used to indicate that the identification information of the alternative cell is the same as that of the current serving cell, a triggering condition based on L1 is adopted; when they are different, a triggering condition based on L3 is adopted.

[0012] Optionally, the handover scenario indication information includes one or more group information and cell identification information within the group corresponding to the group information.

[0013] Optionally, the group information is used to indicate that a triggering condition based on L1 is adopted between cells within the same group, and a triggering condition based on L3 is adopted between cells in different groups.

[0014] Optionally, the handover scenario indication information includes one or more frequency band group information and frequency information corresponding to the frequency band group information.

[0015] Optionally, the frequency band group information is used to indicate that a triggering condition based on L1 is adopted between cells within the same frequency band group, and a triggering condition based on L3 is adopted between cells in different frequency band groups.

[0016] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a conditional handover method, and the method includes:

[0017] Receive pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes alternative cell information, a triggering condition, and handover scenario indication information;

[0018] Determine the triggering condition for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information.

[0019] Optionally, the handover scenario indication information includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following: control unit identification, data unit identification information, base station identification information, serving cell does not need to restart identification information, group identification information, frequency band group identification information;

[0020] The determining of the triggering condition for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information includes:

[0021] If the identification information of the alternative cell is the same as that of the current serving cell, the L1-based triggering condition is adopted; otherwise, the L3-based triggering condition is adopted.

[0022] Optionally, the handover scenario indication information includes one or more group information and the cell identification information within the group corresponding to the group information;

[0023] The group information is used to indicate that the L1-based triggering condition is adopted for cells within the same group, and the L3-based triggering condition is adopted for cells between different groups.

[0024] Optionally, the handover scenario indication information includes one or more frequency band group information and the frequency information corresponding to the frequency band group information;

[0025] The frequency band group information is used to indicate that the L1-based triggering condition is adopted for cells within the same frequency band group, and the L3-based triggering condition is adopted for cells between different frequency band groups.

[0026] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, and the communication device includes:

[0027] A sending module, configured to send pre-configuration information to a terminal device, where the pre-configuration information includes alternative cell information, a triggering condition, and handover scenario indication information; the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the triggering condition to be used.

[0028] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, and the communication device includes:

[0029] A receiving module, configured to receive pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes alternative cell information, a triggering condition, and handover scenario indication information;

[0030] An information processing module, configured to determine the triggering condition for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information.

[0031] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and characterized in that when the computer program is run by a processor, the steps of the conditional handover method described above are executed.

[0032] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, including a memory and a processor. A computer program that can run on the processor is stored on the memory. When the processor runs the computer program, it executes the steps of the foregoing condition switching method.

[0033] The condition switching method, communication device, and storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present application use different trigger conditions for switching evaluation according to different scenarios of the terminal device to determine whether to use CLTM or condition switching. At the same time, to enable the terminal device to know the trigger conditions that need to be adopted, the network sends pre-configuration information to the terminal device, which includes alternative cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information; wherein, the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used. Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the terminal device can determine the trigger conditions for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information therein. Using the solution of the present application, in a scenario where the terminal device supports both CLTM + condition switching, the handover delay can be minimized as much as possible, the time delay and service interruption impact caused by handover can be reduced, and handover failures can be reduced or avoided, improving the user experience.

[0034] Furthermore, the handover scenario indication information can specifically be represented in various ways and information, enhancing the flexibility and convenience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the CCU-DDU-AP architecture;

[0036] Figure 2 is a flowchart of a condition switching method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 5 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0040] To make the above objects, features, and beneficial effects of the present application more obvious and understandable, the following describes the specific embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0041] The communication systems applicable to the embodiments of the present application include, but are not limited to, Narrow Band - Internet of Things (NB - IoT) systems, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) systems, Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000) systems, Time Division Synchronization Code Division Multiple Access (TDSCDMA) systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, 5th - generation (5G) mobile communication systems, New Radio (NR) systems, and future evolved systems such as 6th Generation (6G), 7th Generation (7G), etc., or vehicle - to - vehicle short - range communication systems, or multi - communication convergence systems.

[0042] The technical solutions of the present application are also applicable to different network architectures, including, but not limited to, relay network architectures, dual - connection architectures, Vehicle - to - Everything (V2X) architectures, Device - to - Device (D2D) architectures, etc.

[0043] The devices in the embodiments of the present application include network devices and may also include terminals. Network devices, also known as access network devices, are devices deployed in a Radio Access Network (RAN) to provide wireless communication functions. For example, they can be Base Stations (BS) (also known as base station equipment), Base Station Controllers (BSC).

[0044] The base station (BS) in the embodiments of the present application, also referred to as base station equipment, is a device deployed in a radio access network (RAN) to provide wireless communication functions. For example, the equipment providing base station functions in the second-generation (2G) network includes a base transceiver station (BTS), the equipment providing base station functions in the third-generation (3G) network includes a Node B, the equipment providing base station functions in the fourth-generation (4G) network includes an evolved Node B (eNB), in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the equipment providing base station functions is an access point (AP), the equipment providing base station functions in 5G New Radio (NR) is a next-generation base station node (gNB), and a next-generation evolved Node B (ng-eNB). Among them, communication between the gNB and the terminal uses NR technology, and communication between the ng-eNB and the terminal uses Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) technology. Both the gNB and the ng-eNB can be connected to the 5G core network. The base station in the embodiments of the present application also includes equipment providing base station functions in future new communication systems, etc.

[0045] The base station controller in the embodiments of the present application, also referred to as base station controller equipment, is a device for managing base stations. For example, the base station controller (BSC) in the 2G network, the radio network controller (RNC) in the 3G network, and it can also refer to a device for controlling and managing base stations in future new communication systems.

[0046] The terminal in the embodiments of this application, which can also be referred to as terminal equipment, can refer to various forms of terminal devices, such as user equipment (UE, terminal), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device can also be a cellular phone, cordless phone, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication function, computing device or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle device, wearable device, terminal device in the future 5G network or terminal device in the future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit this.

[0047] It should be noted that the brackets used in this specification can mean "for example". For example, base station (NodeB) or base station (i.e., NodeB) means that NodeB is an example of a "base station". That is to say, the "base station" in this specification can be, but is not limited to, "NodeB".

[0048] The embodiments of this application provide a conditional handover method and a communication device. For the scenario that simultaneously supports CLTM and conditional handover, and in combination with the possible architecture of the 6G user-centric network, by defining different conditions and configuring two triggering conditions, it is determined whether to use CLTM or conditional handover, effectively reducing the handover delay while ensuring the robustness of cell handover.

[0049] First, a brief introduction to the conditional handover introduced in NR R16 and the LTM for handover based on L1 measurement results will be given below.

[0050] Conditional handover means that when the current channel quality and other conditions of the UE do not yet meet the handover requirements, the UE reports the measurement results in advance. The network pre-configures one or more candidate cells for the UE based on the measurement results reported by the UE, and at the same time configures the handover conditions. When the handover conditions are met, the UE directly switches to one of the candidate cells, and then can notify the original base station to release the UE connection.

[0051] Among them, the events of user handover conditions can be A3 and / or A5 events, or A4 events. The measurement results in different events are all L3 measurement results. The L1 measurement results need to be filtered by L3 before being used to determine whether the triggering conditions for event reporting are met. The L3 filtering means that within the pre-configured Time-to-Target (TTT) time, the UE will perform multiple measurements and evaluations, and the current measurement results need to be processed based on the previous measurement results. This processing process is called L3 filtering. The L3 filtering formula is as follows:

[0052] F n =(1–a)×F n-1 +a×M n

[0053] Where:

[0054] M n is the current measurement result received by the physical layer;

[0055] F n is the measurement result after L3 filtering;

[0056] F n-1 is the measurement result after the previous L3 filtering;

[0057] a = 1 / 2 (k / 4) , k is the configured filterCoefficient parameter, that is, the filtering factor.

[0058] If the event conditions are met within the TTT time, the relevant event is triggered, or it is considered that the target cell meets the handover event conditions during the condition handover.

[0059] For the Dual Connectivity (DC) scenario, that is, the scenario of connecting two base stations simultaneously, the Primary Secondry Cell (PSCell) can also perform conditional handover, which is called CPAC (conditional PSCell addition change); in addition, the conditional handover also includes the simultaneous conditional handover of the Primary Cell (Pcell) and the PSCell, which is called CHO+CPAC.

[0060] To prevent the source base station from failing to send handover commands to the UE in a timely manner due to drastic changes in the UE signal, Conditional Handover (CHO) was introduced in NR R16 (Release 16), mainly for conditional handover of the PCell. At the same time, in R18, L1 / L2-Triggered Mobility (LTM) that uses L2 signaling for handover based on L1 measurement results was introduced to reduce handover latency. This L1 measurement result-based handover can be used for Master Cell Group (MCG) LTM and Secondary Cell Group (SCG) LTM. Subsequently, Conditional LTM (CLTM) will be introduced, that is, the UE autonomously evaluates candidate cells based on the triggering conditions configured by the network, and once the conditions are met, it will perform an autonomous handover. Different from conditional handover, the triggering conditions here can be thresholds or conditions configured based on L1 measurement results.

[0061] The preparation process of LTM introduced in NR R18 includes: the network configures candidate cell information based on the measurement results reported by the UE.

[0062] The execution process of LTM is as follows: the network instructs the UE to report L1 measurement results periodically, or instructs the UE to report L1 measurement results at a certain moment; based on the L1 measurement results reported by the UE, the target cell for handover is determined, and a cell handover command, that is, a MAC Control Element (MAC CE), is sent to the UE, which carries the target configuration identifier, and optionally carries the Time Advance (TA), Transmission Configuration Indicator-state ID (TCI-state ID), and Uplink Transmission Configuration Indicator-state ID (U LTCI-state ID). If the TA information is carried, the UE does not need to perform a Random Access (RA) process in the target cell and waits for direct scheduling by the target cell through the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH); or uses pre-configured configured grant resources to send uplink information. If there is no TA, an RACH process needs to be performed in the target cell to complete synchronization and obtain TA and beam information.

[0063] The UE can notify the base station of the completion of handover by sending a Radio Resource Control Reconfiguration Complete message. For the process that requires RACH, it is considered that the handover is successful after RACH is completed; if the RACH process is not required, the UE is considered to have successfully completed the handover after successfully receiving the first uplink data sent by the network.

[0064] CLTM is the conditional handover of LTM, which means that the UE autonomously evaluates alternative cells based on the triggering conditions configured by the network. Once the triggering conditions are met, it will autonomously perform a handover. Different from conditional handover, the triggering conditions here can be thresholds or conditions configured based on L1 measurement results.

[0065] In the research of 6G, in order to avoid the impact of frequent handovers on the user experience and maintain continuous service for the UE, the possible CCU-DDU-AP architecture shown below is also proposed. Figure 1 The possible CCU-DDU-AP architecture shown below.

[0066] In this architecture, a Cloud Control Unit (CCU) and a Distributed Data Unit (DDU) are introduced. Among them:

[0067] The CCU is located in the control plane (CP) of the Core Network (CN), providing the management plane and control plane functions of the network. It includes traditional control plane functions, such as the management of system information related to the Access-Stratum (AS) / Non-Access-Stratum (NAS), the establishment / maintenance / release of Radio Resource Control (RRC) connections, paging control, and security functions, including bearer management, mobility management, UE measurement, report management, and NAS information transmission. The CCU also performs management plane functions in the User Centric Access Network (UCAN), such as UE context management and Access Point (AP) management.

[0068] The DDU serves as the anchor point of the User Plane (UP), manages the basic UP functions, as well as the antenna radio frequency transmission functions mainly responsible by the AP. At the same time, low-frequency Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) are used to ensure a wider coverage area, and high-frequency TRPs are used to ensure service transmission.

[0069] In the 6G scenario, if CLTM is adopted, the advantage of LTM based on L1 measurement results is that the handover latency is low, and in some scenarios, L2 restart may not be required, which is beneficial to the continuity of service transmission, but the problem of ping-pong handover may occur; if conditional handover based on L3 measurement results is used as the trigger condition, since the L3 measurement results comprehensively consider the quality of multiple beams of the cell, the robustness of handover can be improved, but the handover evaluation latency based on L3 measurement results is relatively large.

[0070] To address the above problems, the embodiments of the present application provide a conditional handover method and a communication device, which use different trigger conditions for handover evaluation according to different scenarios of the terminal device to determine whether to use CLTM or conditional handover. At the same time, to enable the terminal device to know the trigger conditions to be used, the network sends pre-configuration information to the terminal device, which includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information; among them, the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used. Correspondingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the terminal device can determine the trigger conditions for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information therein.

[0071] It should be noted that the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can be various forms of terminal devices. In the following embodiments, the terminal device is taken as a UE for illustration.

[0072] As Figure 2 shown, it is a flowchart of a conditional handover method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0073] In step 201, the network sends pre-configuration information to the UE, which includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information.

[0074] Among them, the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used.

[0075] Among them, the trigger conditions may include: trigger conditions based on L1, and / or trigger conditions based on L3. The trigger conditions correspond to different handover methods, and the handover methods include: CLTM, or conditional handover; the conditional handover includes CHO and CPAC, and CLTM includes Master Cell Group (MCG) CLTM and Secondary Cell group (SCG) CLTM.

[0076] The above various trigger conditions and corresponding handover methods have been described in detail before and will not be repeated here.

[0077] Correspondingly, the UE receives the pre-configured information. In step 202, it determines the triggering conditions for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information in the pre-configured information. Subsequently, a series of operations such as measurement, event reporting, determination of the target cell, and completion of cell handover can be performed according to the determined triggering conditions.

[0078] The conditional handover method provided in the embodiments of this application can be applied to the network architectures of 3G, 4G, 5G, and the above-mentioned 6G. The network device that sends the pre-configured information to the UE in step 201 can be a base station in the corresponding network, such as NodeB, eNodeB (Evolved Node B), gNodeB (the next Generation Node B), CU (Control unit), DU (Data Unit), or CCU, DDU, etc.

[0079] Next, the solution of this application will be further described by taking the configuration of two sets of triggering conditions for each alternative cell as an example, that is, the above-mentioned pre-configured information includes both L1-based triggering conditions and L3-based triggering conditions.

[0080] In specific implementation, the handover scenario indication information can have multiple implementation manners. For example:

[0081] In a non-limiting embodiment, the handover scenario indication information may include identification information, and each alternative cell corresponds to one piece of identification information; when the identification information indicates that the identification information of the alternative cell is the same as that of the current serving cell, the L1-based triggering condition is adopted, and when they are different, the L3-based triggering condition is adopted.

[0082] The identification information may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: control unit identification, data unit identification information, base station identification information, serving cell does not need to restart identification information, group identification information, frequency band group identification information, etc. Among them, the control unit identification may be a CCU identification or a CU identification information, and the data unit identification information may be a DDU identification or a DU identification information.

[0083] For example, the network can use the identification of the CCU or CU or DDU or DU or NodeB to which each alternative cell belongs as the identification information and place it in the alternative cell configuration information.

[0084] Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE can determine whether the current serving cell and the target cell or candidate cell belong to the same CCU or DDU or NodeB or CU or DU according to the above identification information corresponding to each candidate cell in the received pre-configuration information; if so, it is determined that the cell handover uses the L1-based trigger condition and the CLTM handover method is used for cell handover; otherwise, it is determined that the cell handover uses the L3-based trigger condition and the conditional handover method is used for cell handover.

[0085] For another example, the network can configure candidate cells located under the same CCU or DDU or CU or DU or NodeB into the same group and assign the same group of identification information. Or the network can also configure some candidate cells into the same group and assign the same group of identification information. In addition, the group identification information corresponding to the UE's current serving cell needs to be notified to the UE. For example, the pre-configuration information further includes the group identification information corresponding to the UE's current serving cell, or it can be notified to the UE through other messages, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0086] Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE can determine whether the group identification information of the current serving cell and the target cell is the same according to the group identification information corresponding to each candidate cell in the received pre-configuration information; if so, it is determined that the cell handover uses the L1-based trigger condition and the CLTM handover method is used for cell handover; otherwise, it is determined that the cell handover uses the L3-based trigger condition and the conditional handover method is used for cell handover.

[0087] For another example, the network can stipulate in advance that cell handovers between one or more frequency layers can use the CLTM handover method. For example, cell handovers between cells on FR2 can use CLTM, or it is stipulated that cells on frequency point 1 or frequency points 2 and 3 can use CLTM, while conditional handovers are required for cross-frequency point ranges. Accordingly, frequency point group identification information is set, and the frequency point group identification information can correspond to one or more frequency bands or one or more frequency points. Accordingly, each candidate cell corresponds to a frequency point group identification information. In addition, the frequency point group information corresponding to the UE's current serving cell needs to be notified to the UE. For example, the pre-configuration information further includes the frequency point group identification information corresponding to the UE's current serving cell, or it can be notified to the UE through other messages, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0088] Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE can determine whether the frequency point group identification information of the current serving cell and the target cell is the same according to the frequency point group identification information corresponding to each candidate cell in the received pre-configuration information; if so, it is determined that the cell handover uses the L1-based trigger condition and the CLTM handover method is used for cell handover; otherwise, it is determined that the cell handover uses the L3-based trigger condition and the conditional handover method is used for cell handover.

[0089] For another example, the network may set the service cell without restart indication information according to the relationship between the current serving cell of the UE and the candidate cells. When a candidate cell with the same service cell without restart indication as the current serving cell is the target cell, the triggering condition that the UE needs to use is the L1-based triggering condition; otherwise, the triggering condition that the UE needs to use is the L3-based triggering condition.

[0090] In another non-limiting embodiment, the handover scenario indication information may include one or more group information and the cell identification information within the group corresponding to the group information. The group information is used to indicate that the L1-based triggering condition is adopted for the cells within the same group, and the L3-based triggering condition is adopted for the cells between different groups. That is to say, the network may group the cells according to the CCU or DDU or CU or DU or NodeB to which different cells belong, and take the cells under the same CCU or DDU or CU or DU or NodeB as a group. For the Intra-CCU or CU or DDU or DU or NodeB scenario, that is, the handover between the cells within the same group, the L1-based triggering condition may be used; for the inter-CCU / DDU / NodeB scenario, that is, the handover between the cells between groups, the L3-based triggering condition may be used. Alternatively, the network may also configure different candidate cells in the same group as needed. It should be noted that the cell identification information within the group includes not only the candidate cell identification information but also the UE's current serving cell identification information.

[0091] Correspondingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE may determine the triggering condition for cell handover according to whether the current serving cell and the target cell are in the same group.

[0092] In another non-limiting embodiment, the handover scenario indication information may include one or more frequency band group information and the frequency information within the group corresponding to the frequency band group information. The frequency band group information is used to indicate that the L1-based triggering condition is adopted for the cells within the same frequency band group, and the L3-based triggering condition is adopted for the cells between the frequency band groups. That is to say, the network may group the cells according to the frequency information corresponding to different cells, and take the cells with the same frequency or frequency band, or multiple cells with the same frequency or frequency band as a group, and indicate the frequency information corresponding to each frequency band group.

[0093] Correspondingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE may determine the corresponding frequency band group information according to the frequency of the current serving cell, and determine the frequency band group information corresponding to the target cell. If the two are the same, it is determined that the triggering condition to be used is the L1-based triggering condition; otherwise, it is determined that the triggering condition to be used is the L3-based triggering condition.

[0094] Yes. By using the condition switching method provided in the embodiments of the present application, different triggering conditions can be used for handover evaluation according to different scenarios of the UE, so as to determine whether to use CLTM or condition switching, so that in the scenario where the UE supports both CLTM and condition switching, the handover delay can be minimized as much as possible, the delay and service interruption caused by handover can be reduced, and handover failures can be reduced or avoided, thereby improving the user experience.

[0095] Correspondingly, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication device, as Figure 3 shown, which is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device.

[0096] The communication device 300 in this embodiment includes a sending module 301, configured to send pre-configuration information to the UE, where the pre-configuration information includes alternative cell information, a triggering condition, and handover scenario indication information; the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the triggering condition to be used.

[0097] The above communication device 300 is a network device, such as a core network device, such as an Access & Mobility Management Function (AMF), or an access network device, such as a CCU, a CU, or a base station.

[0098] Correspondingly, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication device, as Figure 4 shown, which is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device.

[0099] The communication device 400 in this embodiment includes:

[0100] a receiving module 401, configured to receive pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes alternative cell information, a triggering condition, and handover scenario indication information;

[0101] an information processing module 402, configured to determine the triggering condition for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information.

[0102] The communication device 400 may be various forms of terminal devices.

[0103] For other related descriptions of the above communication device 300 and communication device 400, reference may be made to Figure 2 the relevant descriptions in the corresponding embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0104] In specific implementation, the above device may correspond to a chip with corresponding functions in a network device and / or a user equipment, such as a System-On-a-Chip (SOC), a baseband chip, a chip module, etc.

[0105] In specific implementations, for each device and product described in the above embodiments, each module / unit included therein can be a software module / unit, a hardware module / unit, or can be partially a software module / unit and partially a hardware module / unit. For example, for each device and product applied to or integrated into a chip, each module / unit included therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits. Alternatively, at least some of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program that runs on a processor integrated inside the chip, and the remaining (if any) part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits. For each device and product applied to or integrated into a chip module, each module / unit included therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits. Different modules / units can be located in the same component (such as a chip, a circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module. Alternatively, at least some of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program that runs on a processor integrated inside the chip module, and the remaining (if any) part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits. For each device and product applied to or integrated into a terminal, each module / unit included therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits. Different modules / units can be located in the same component (such as a chip, a circuit module, etc.) or different components inside the terminal. Alternatively, at least some of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program that runs on a processor integrated inside the terminal, and the remaining (if any) part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits.

[0106] An embodiment of the present application also discloses a storage medium. The storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program runs, it can execute Figure 2 some or all of the steps of the method shown in. The storage medium can include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc. The storage medium can also include a non-volatile memory or a non-transitory memory, etc.

[0107] Please refer to Figure 5 , an embodiment of the present application also provides a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device. The communication device includes a processor 501, a memory 502, and a transceiver 503.

[0108] The processor 501 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the solution of the present application. The processor 501 may also include multiple CPUs, and the processor 501 may be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor. The processor here may refer to one or more devices, circuits, or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0109] The memory 502 may be a ROM or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a RAM, or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions. It may also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media, or any other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. The embodiments of the present application do not impose any restrictions on this. The memory 502 may exist independently (in this case, the memory 502 may be located outside or inside the device), or may be integrated with the processor 501. Among them, the memory 502 may contain computer program code. The processor 501 is used to execute the computer program code stored in the memory 502, so as to implement the method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0110] The processor 501, the memory 502, and the transceiver 503 are connected by a bus. The transceiver 503 is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks. Optionally, the transceiver 503 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The device in the transceiver 503 for implementing the receiving function can be regarded as a receiver, and the receiver is used to execute the receiving steps in the embodiments of the present application. The device in the transceiver 503 for implementing the sending function can be regarded as a transmitter, and the transmitter is used to execute the steps in the method embodiments of the present application.

[0111] When Figure 5 the shown structural schematic diagram is used to illustrate the structure of the communication device involved in the above embodiments, the processor 501 is used to control and manage the actions of the communication device. For example, the processor 501 is used to support the communication device to executeFigure 2 All or part of the steps in [reference document], and / or the actions performed by a communication device in other processes described in the embodiments of the present application. The processor 501 can communicate with other network entities through the transceiver 503. For example, it can communicate with the above-mentioned network devices. The memory 502 is used to store the program code and data of the communication device.

[0112] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this document is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this document indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0113] The term "a plurality of" that appears in the embodiments of the present application refers to two or more.

[0114] The descriptions such as first and second that appear in the embodiments of the present application are only for illustrative and differentiating the described objects, without an order, and do not represent a special limitation on the number of devices in the embodiments of the present application, and cannot constitute any limitation to the embodiments of the present application.

[0115] The term "connection" that appears in the embodiments of the present application refers to various connection methods such as direct connection or indirect connection to achieve communication between devices, and the embodiments of the present application do not make any limitations on this.

[0116] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the magnitudes of the sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean the order of execution. 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 application.

[0117] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, a computer, a server, or a data center to another website, a computer, a server, or a data center in a wired or wireless manner.

[0118] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above processes do not imply the order of execution, and 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 application.

[0119] In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods, devices and systems can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and there can be other division methods in actual implementation; for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point, the displayed or discussed coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between each other can be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of the device or unit can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0120] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or can be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0121] In addition, the functional units in various embodiments of the present application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can be physically arranged separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware, or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0122] The above integrated units implemented in the form of software functional units can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The above software functional units stored in a storage medium include several instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute some steps of the methods described in various embodiments of the present application.

[0123] Although the present application is disclosed as above, the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A conditional switching method, characterized in that, The method includes: Sending pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes alternative cell information, triggering conditions, and handover scenario indication information; the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the triggering conditions to be used.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The triggering conditions include: Triggering conditions based on L1, and / or triggering conditions based on L3.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The triggering conditions correspond to different handover methods, and the handover methods include: CLTM, or conditional handover; the conditional handover includes CHO and CPAC.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The handover scenario indication information includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following: control unit identification, data unit identification information, base station identification information, service cell does not need to restart identification information, group identification information, frequency band group identification information.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein When the identification information is used to indicate that the alternative cell is the same as the identification information of the current serving cell, triggering conditions based on L1 are adopted; when they are different, triggering conditions based on L3 are adopted.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein The handover scenario indication information includes one or more group information and cell identification information within the corresponding group of the group information.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The group information is used to indicate that triggering conditions based on L1 are adopted between cells within the same group, and triggering conditions based on L3 are adopted between cells in different groups.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein The handover scenario indication information includes one or more frequency band group information and frequency information corresponding to the frequency band group information.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The frequency band group information is used to indicate that triggering conditions based on L1 are adopted between cells within the same frequency band group, and triggering conditions based on L3 are adopted between cells in different frequency band groups.

10. A conditional switching method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receiving pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes alternative cell information, triggering conditions, and handover scenario indication information; Determining the triggering conditions for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The handover scenario indication information includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following: control unit identification, data unit identification information, base station identification information, service cell does not need to restart identification information, group identification information, frequency band group identification information; The determining the triggering conditions for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information includes: If the alternative cell is the same as the identification information of the current serving cell, triggering conditions based on L1 are adopted; if they are different, triggering conditions based on L3 are adopted.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein The handover scenario indication information includes one or more group information and cell identification information within the corresponding group of the group information; The group information is used to indicate that triggering conditions based on L1 are adopted between cells within the same group, and triggering conditions based on L3 are adopted between cells in different groups.

13. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The handover scenario indication information includes one or more frequency band group information and frequency information corresponding to the frequency band group information; The frequency band group information is used to indicate that triggering conditions based on L1 are adopted between cells within the same frequency band group, and triggering conditions based on L3 are adopted between cells in different frequency band groups.

14. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: A sending module, configured to send pre-configured information to a terminal device, where the pre-configured information includes alternative cell information, a triggering condition, and handover scenario indication information; the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the triggering condition to be used.

15. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: A receiving module, configured to receive pre-configured information, where the pre-configured information includes alternative cell information, a triggering condition, and handover scenario indication information; An information processing module, configured to determine the triggering condition for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information.

16. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is run by a processor, it executes the steps of the conditional handover method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or executes the steps of the conditional handover method according to any one of claims 10 to 13.

17. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a memory and a processor, where a computer program that can run on the processor is stored on the memory, and when the processor runs the computer program, it executes the steps of the conditional handover method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or executes the steps of the conditional handover method according to any one of claims 10 to 13.

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