Method and apparatus for cell handover

Abstract

The invention discloses a method and a device for cell switching, which are applied to the field of communication. The method comprises: a terminal device receiving a measurement configuration message from an access network device, and performing cell measurement based on the measurement configuration message to obtain a measurement result. When the terminal equipment judges that the measurement result does not meet the reporting condition of the measurement event, the terminal equipment can start the packet loss rate detection of the voice packet so as to decide whether to perform cell reselection or not based on the packet loss rate of the voice packet. Thus, when the packet loss rate of the voice packet satisfies the cell reselection condition (for example, the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold), the RLF can be actively triggered, and the cell with better signals can be reselected, so that the influence (for example, call drop, call silence, and the like) on the service performed by the terminal due to the fact that the signal quality of the cell becomes poor can be reduced as much as possible. Therefore, the call service and even other services of the terminal equipment can be ensured to be normally carried out.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for cell switching. Background Art

[0002] Cell handover refers to the process of switching a terminal device from its current serving cell to another target cell (such as a neighboring cell). Before performing a cell handover, the base station will send a measurement event to the terminal device to measure the signal quality of the cell.

[0003] However, if a base station anomaly occurs or the measurement threshold configured for a terminal device by the base station is unreasonable, the base station will not send a handover command to the terminal, even if the signal quality of the current serving cell has deteriorated. If the terminal device does not receive the handover command from the base station, it will remain in the cell with poor signal quality, resulting in service anomalies for the terminal device, such as dropped calls, silent calls, slow data network speeds, etc., seriously affecting the user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, the present application provides a method, communication device, computer-readable storage medium and computer program product for cell switching, which can minimize the impact of the deterioration of cell signal quality on the services performed by the terminal (for example, dropped calls, silent calls, service interruptions, etc.), ensure that the call services and even other services of the terminal device can proceed normally, thereby improving the service experience of the terminal device.

[0005] In a first aspect, a method for cell handover is provided, which may be executed by, for example, a terminal device, or may be executed by a component (such as a circuit, a chip, or a chip system) configured in the terminal device. This application does not limit this.

[0006] Specifically, the method includes: first, the terminal device receives a measurement configuration message from the access network device, the measurement configuration message including configuration information of the first measurement event; then, according to the measurement configuration message, performs cell (including the serving cell and / or the neighboring cell) measurement and obtains the corresponding measurement result; and when the measurement result does not meet the reporting condition, does not report the measurement report; when the measurement report of the first measurement event is not reported, performs voice packet loss rate detection; when the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, triggers a radio link failure RLF; after the RLF is triggered, performs cell reselection.

[0007] Based on the above technical solution, after the terminal device receives the measurement configuration message sent by the access network device to perform cell measurement, when it determines that the measurement result does not meet the reporting conditions of the measurement event, it can start the voice packet loss rate detection, so as to decide whether to reselect the cell based on the voice packet loss rate. In this way, when the voice packet loss rate meets the cell reselection conditions (for example, the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold), RLF can be actively triggered to reselect to a cell with a better signal, thereby minimizing the impact of the deterioration of the cell signal quality on the terminal's services (for example, dropped calls, silent calls, service interruptions, etc.), thereby ensuring that the terminal device's call services and even other services can proceed normally. Compared with counting the voice packet loss rate from the network device side, counting the voice packet loss rate from the perspective of the terminal device will be more accurate and will not cause any delay.

[0008] Alternatively, the voice packet may be understood as a general term for data involved in a call service of a terminal device. The packet loss rate refers to the ratio of the number of lost data packets to the number of sent data packets.

[0009] In some embodiments, the voice packets may include real-time transport protocol (RTP) data packets and / or real-time transport control protocol (RTCP) data packets.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: if the voice packet loss rate is less than a first packet loss rate threshold, continuing to reside in the current serving cell. In other words, if the voice packet loss rate is within an acceptable range, then the current serving cell may be continued to reduce high power consumption caused by unnecessary handovers.

[0011] Furthermore, when determining whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, time can also be used as an evaluation factor. Within a specified time (e.g., a first preset time duration), if the terminal device determines that the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, then it indicates that the signal quality has rapidly deteriorated in a short period of time and that a cell reselection is necessary as soon as possible to minimize the impact on the terminal service. If the terminal device determines that the voice packet loss rate is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, then it can temporarily reside in the current serving cell to avoid power consumption caused by unnecessary switching.

[0012] Furthermore, when deciding whether to perform cell reselection, the terminal device may further consider whether the duration of the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold in addition to considering whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold. The duration specifically refers to the duration of time during which the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold.

[0013] In some possible implementations, the method further includes: the terminal device determines whether the duration is greater than or equal to a second preset duration; triggers RLF when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, and the duration for which the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is greater than or equal to the second preset duration; and continues to reside in the current service cell when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is less than the first packet loss rate threshold and / or the duration for which the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is less than the second preset duration.

[0014] In some embodiments, when the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions of the measurement event are met, the terminal device may report a measurement report. In addition, in order to wait for the switching command from the access network device, the embodiment of the present application may also introduce a first timer to avoid unnecessary waiting that affects the service experience. This is because, after the terminal device detects that the measurement threshold is met and reports the measurement report, if the network does not send a switching command to the terminal device, the terminal device will always reside in the original service cell. Even if the terminal device measures that there is a cell with a better signal, it can only reside in the current cell with a weaker signal, resulting in service anomalies of the terminal device, which seriously affects the user experience. For example, service anomalies include but are not limited to: dropped calls, intermittent calls, slow data network response, interruption of traffic, etc.

[0015] In some possible implementations, the method further includes:

[0016] When a reporting condition for the first measurement event is met, reporting a measurement report of the first measurement event to the access network device;

[0017] When reporting the measurement report of the first measurement event, starting a first timer;

[0018] During the running of the first timer, determining whether a handover command is received from the access network device, the handover command being used to instruct the terminal device to hand over to a target cell;

[0019] When the first timer times out and the handover command is not received, triggering RLF;

[0020] After RLF is triggered, cell reselection is performed.

[0021] In some possible implementations, the method further includes:

[0022] During the running of the first timer, the switching command is received;

[0023] The cell is switched from the current serving cell to the target cell according to the switching command.

[0024] Therefore, by introducing the first timer, it is possible to avoid the terminal device staying in a cell with poor signal quality due to an abnormal failure of the network device to send a switching command to the terminal device, which helps to improve the service experience of the terminal device.

[0025] In the aforementioned implementation involving the first timer, if the terminal device does not receive a handover command from the access network device after submitting a measurement report and before the timer expires, the terminal device can proactively trigger an RLF and perform cell reselection. Furthermore, the terminal device can also consider the voice packet loss rate when deciding whether to trigger an RLF.

[0026] In some possible implementations, optionally, when the first timer times out, if the switching command is not received, RLF is triggered, including: when the first timer times out, if the switching command is not received, performing packet loss rate detection of the voice packet; when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, triggering a radio link failure RLF.

[0027] Therefore, in the implementation method that introduces the first timer, if the terminal device does not receive a handover command from the access network device after reporting the measurement report until the timer expires, the terminal device can also initiate voice packet loss rate detection and determine whether to trigger RLF by calculating the voice packet loss rate. As mentioned above, if the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, the terminal device can actively trigger RLF and perform cell reselection; if the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, the terminal device can remain in the current serving cell.

[0028] Of course, regarding the specific implementation method of whether the terminal device decides to trigger RLF and perform cell reselection based on the packet loss rate of the voice packet, refer to the previous description to consider other factors (including time factors), which will not be repeated here. For example, when judging whether the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, time can also be used as an evaluation factor. For another example, when deciding whether to perform cell reselection, the terminal device can further consider whether the duration is greater than or equal to the preset duration in addition to considering whether the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold.

[0029] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the types of the at least one neighboring cell (including the target cell) and the serving cell.

[0030] Exemplarily, the target cell is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cell, and the serving cell is a New Radio (NR) cell; or, the target cell is an NR cell, and the serving cell is an LTE cell.

[0031] It can be understood that the embodiments of the present application are intended to ensure that the terminal device resides in a cell with a better signal, regardless of the type of the cell.

[0032] Optionally, the target cell and the serving cell may be cells of the same type. For example, both the target cell and the serving cell are NR cells.

[0033] It is understood that the measurement configuration message sent by the access network device to the terminal device may include configuration information for the measurement event. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the measurement event sent by the access network device. For example, the first measurement event may be any of the following measurement events: an A3 measurement event, an A5 measurement event, a B1 measurement event, and a B2 measurement event.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the terminal device performs cell reselection, including:

[0035] Switching from the current serving cell to a first neighboring cell among at least one neighboring cell, where the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is better than the signal quality of the serving cell, and the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is the cell with the best signal quality among the at least one neighboring cell.

[0036] That is to say, after triggering RLF, the terminal device can initiate a cell reselection process, switch to a neighboring cell with a better signal, and establish an RRC connection with the access network equipment of the neighboring cell to resume services as soon as possible.

[0037] In a second aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0038] In one design, the communication device may include a module that executes the methods / operations / steps / actions described in each of the above aspects. The module may be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuit and software.

[0039] In one design, the communication device is a communication chip, which may include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0040] In another design, the communication apparatus is a communication device, which may include a transmitter for sending information or data and a receiver for receiving information or data.

[0041] In another design, the communication device is used to execute the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect above. The communication device can be configured in the above-mentioned terminal device, or the communication device itself is the terminal device.

[0042] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory and can be configured to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method of any possible implementation of the first aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

[0043] In one implementation, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0044] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device. When the communication device is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface may be an input / output interface.

[0045] In a fourth aspect, a processor is provided, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor executes the method of any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0046] In a specific implementation, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, or various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter. The input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory and receive signals via a receiver and transmit signals via a transmitter to execute the method of any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0048] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0049] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0050] In the specific implementation process, the memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or can be set on different chips. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0051] It should be understood that related data interaction processes, such as sending indication information, can be the process of outputting indication information from the processor, and receiving capability information can be the process of receiving input capability information from the processor. Specifically, data output by the processor can be output to the transmitter, and input data received by the processor can be received from the receiver. The transmitter and receiver can be collectively referred to as a transceiver.

[0052] The processing device in the fifth aspect described above may be one or more chips. The processor in the processing device may be implemented in hardware or software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated into the processor or located independently of the processor.

[0053] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when executed, enables a computer to execute a method in any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0054] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions) which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect above.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip system comprising one or more processors configured to retrieve and execute instructions stored in a memory, thereby executing the method of any of the above aspects or any possible implementations of each aspect. The chip system may be composed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0056] The chip system may include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0057] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising one or more of the aforementioned terminal devices and access network devices. Optionally, the communication system may further comprise other devices that communicate with the terminal devices and / or access network devices. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0058] Figure 1A is an example diagram of a communication system to which an embodiment of the present application is applied;

[0059] Figure 1B This is an example diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 2A is a schematic flowchart of a normal process for cell switching according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Figure 2B This is an example diagram of a method for switching anomalies according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a method for cell switching according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] Figure 4 is an example interaction diagram of a method for cell switching according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] Figure 6 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] Figure 7 It is a structural diagram of the access network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0067] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0068] In the embodiments of the present application, “multiple” may be understood as “at least two”; “multiple items” may be understood as “at least two items”.

[0069] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR) and future mobile communication system, vehicle-to-X (V2X), where V2X may include vehicle-to-network (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), etc., long term evolution of vehicle communication (LTE-V), Internet of Vehicles, machine type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), long term evolution of machine communication (LTE-M), machine to machine (LTE-M), etc. machine, M2M) etc.

[0070] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a brief description of the terms used in the present application is first provided. It should be understood that the explanations of some terms may also refer to the explanations in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard protocols.

[0071] 1. Cell: A cell is described at a high level from the perspective of resource management, mobility management, or service units. The coverage area of each network device can be divided into one or more cells, and each cell can correspond to one or more frequency bands. Each cell is an area formed by the coverage area of one or more frequency bands. In other words, a cell can be the area within the coverage area of a network device's wireless network. Within this area, terminal devices can reliably communicate with the network device via wireless signals.

[0072] For example, a cell covered by an NR network is called an NR cell, and a cell covered by an LTE network is called an LTE cell.

[0073] The cell where a terminal device is currently stationed is called the serving cell. The terminal device can conduct service communications in the serving cell. A neighboring cell refers to an area within the wireless coverage area of network equipment that is physically adjacent to the current serving cell and transmits signals on the same or different frequencies. In other words, a neighboring cell refers to a cell that is adjacent to or adjacent to the current serving cell. In layman's terms, a neighboring cell can be understood as a "surrounding cell" of the current serving cell. A neighboring cell can also be referred to as an adjacent cell, neighboring area, or similar term.

[0074] The signal quality strength of a cell can be characterized by reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or other indicators used to characterize the signal quality strength of a cell. For example, when a terminal device performs measurement on a cell, the measurement result obtained can be characterized by RSRP and / or RSRQ; accordingly, the measurement threshold (or reporting threshold) can be an RSRP threshold value or an RSRQ threshold value.

[0075] The terminal device may perform cell measurement at a timing after receiving a measurement configuration message sent by the access network device. Optionally, the access network device may configure a measurement period for the terminal device so that the terminal device periodically measures the service quality of the cell.

[0076] It can be understood that the radio access technology of the neighboring cell may be the same as or different from the radio access technology of the serving cell of the terminal device, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. For example, when the radio access technology of the serving cell of the terminal device is 5G (or NR), the neighboring cell of the paging area discovered by the terminal device may be LTE. For another example, when the radio access technology of the serving cell of the terminal device is LTE, the neighboring cell of the paging area discovered by the terminal device may be 5G (or NR).

[0077] In an embodiment of the present application, the cell may be replaced by an access network device (such as a base station) corresponding to the cell.

[0078] For example, in the embodiments of the present application, the "service cell" mentioned in the "service cell" can be replaced by the network equipment corresponding to the service cell, such as the "service cell" is replaced by the "service access network equipment or service base station".

[0079] For example, the "neighboring cell" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a non-serving cell, and the "neighboring cell" may be replaced by the network device corresponding to the neighboring cell, for example, the "neighboring cell" may be replaced by the "neighboring access network device or neighboring base station".

[0080] 2. Cell Handover (HO)

[0081] Cell handover is the process of migrating the communication link between a terminal device and its current network device to another network device in mobile communications. In wireless communication systems, when a terminal device moves from one cell to another or approaches another, a cell handover is necessary to maintain uninterrupted communication.

[0082] Cell handover can be intra-site handover or inter-site handover, which is not specifically limited in this application. Intra-site handover means that the source cell and the target cell belong to the same network device (e.g., base station). Inter-site handover means that the source cell and the target cell belong to different network devices (e.g., base stations).

[0083] In this application, the source cell refers to the cell that provides services to the terminal device before the cell handover; the target cell refers to the cell that provides services to the terminal device after the cell handover. For ease of description, this application refers to the network device corresponding to the source cell as the source network device, and the network device corresponding to the target cell as the target network device. It is understood that the source network device and the target network device can be the same network device or different network devices.

[0084] The following describes the measurement-based cell switching process.

[0085] Step 1: The source network device (eg, source access network device, or access network device of a serving cell) sends a measurement configuration message to the terminal device.

[0086] The measurement configuration message can be an RRC connection reconfiguration message (RRCConnection Reconfiguration) carrying a measConfig information element. The measurement configuration message is sent to the terminal device in the form of measId. measId is the index of the measurement configuration entry in the database. Each measId corresponds to two elements: measObjectId and reportConfigId. measObjectId is the measurement object identifier, which corresponds to a measurement object configuration item. reportConfigId is the measurement report identifier, which corresponds to a measurement report configuration item. These two elements are at the beginning of the same measConfig information element. Simply put, the network device compiles several measurement configuration items into a mapping relationship table, and sends the configuration and mapping relationship corresponding to the mapping relationship table to the terminal device. When the terminal device subsequently sends a measurement report to the network device, it will carry the corresponding measId so that the network device can correctly parse and process the measurement data.

[0087] Correspondingly, the terminal device can receive the measurement configuration message sent by the source network device.

[0088] Step 2: The terminal device performs measurement configuration based on the measurement configuration message and sends a measurement report to the source network device.

[0089] The terminal device measures the "peripheral cells" (including the source cell and the adjacent cells of the source cell) on the specified RAT and frequency based on the measurement configuration items included in the measurement configuration message sent by the network device, and sends a measurement report corresponding to the measurement event indicated by the measurement configuration message to the source network device.

[0090] Correspondingly, the source network device may receive the measurement report sent by the terminal device.

[0091] Step 3: The source network device makes a switching decision and prepares for switching.

[0092] After receiving the measurement report sent by the terminal device, the source network device makes a handover decision based on the measurement report and determines the target cell. In other words, the source network device determines the cell to handover to based on the measurement report. After making the handover decision, the source network device can prepare for the handover, i.e., reserve resources (for example, the source network device requests the target network device to prepare the resources required by the terminal device) and generate an RRC connection reconfiguration message.

[0093] Step 4: The source network device sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the terminal device.

[0094] After the source network device makes a handover decision and prepares for the handover, it can execute the handover. Specifically, the source network device sends an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message to the terminal device. The RRC Connection Reconfiguration message includes the parameters required for the terminal device to access the target cell. The parameters required for the terminal device to access the target cell may include radio resource configuration such as cell ID, carrier frequency, and target power, as well as physical resource configuration.

[0095] In some embodiments, for a long term evolution (LTE) network, the source network device notifies the terminal device of relevant information about the target cell through the information element (IE) MobilityControlInfo included in the RRC connection reconfiguration message.

[0096] In some embodiments, for a new radio (NR) network, the source network device informs the terminal device of relevant information about the target cell through reconfigurationWithSync in spCellConfig included in the RRC connection reconfiguration message.

[0097] It should be understood that the above description is based on LTE networks and NR networks as examples, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. For example, with the evolution of communication technology, the source network device in the future communication network may inform the terminal device of the relevant information of the target cell through the corresponding message or information element.

[0098] Correspondingly, the terminal device can receive the RRC connection reconfiguration message sent by the source network device.

[0099] Step 5: The terminal device switches to the target cell based on the RRC connection reconfiguration message and sends an RRC connection reconfiguration completion message to the target cell.

[0100] After receiving the RRC Connection Reconfiguration message from the source network device, the terminal device terminates the wireless connection with the source network device and begins establishing a new wireless connection with the target network device. During this process, data transmission is interrupted. This process includes steps such as downlink synchronization establishment, timing advance, and data transmission. When the terminal device successfully establishes a wireless connection with the target network device, it sends an RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message to the target network device to indicate that the handover process is complete for the terminal device.

[0101] 3. Measurement report (MR)

[0102] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications propose a set of predefined measurement reporting mechanisms to be performed by terminal devices. These predefined metric reporting types are called "events." The type of "event" that the terminal device must report is specified by the RRC signaling message sent by the network device (for example, the RRC Connection Reconfiguration message in the first step of the handover procedure described above).

[0103] The following describes in detail the event types of measurement reports.

[0104] (1) Event types for switching within the system

[0105] Event A1: Serving cell quality exceeds an absolute threshold (serving becomes better than threshold), measured in dBm. Alternatively, an A1 event can be described as the serving cell quality exceeding a preset threshold. The access network device configures the A1 event for the terminal device. Based on the A1 event, the terminal device performs serving cell measurements. When the serving cell signal quality meets the requirements for reporting an A1 event measurement report, the terminal device reports the A1 event measurement report.

[0106] Event A2: Serving cell quality becomes worse than a threshold, measured in dBm. Alternatively, an A2 event can be described as poor signal quality in the serving cell where the terminal device resides. For example, the RSRP value of the serving cell falls below the RSRP threshold. An A2 measurement event can be used to initiate inter-cell measurements. After an A2 measurement event occurs, operations such as cell handover may occur.

[0107] Event A3: The neighboring cell (or neighboring cell, i.e., adjacent cell) is better than the current serving cell by a relative value (Neighbour becomes offset better than SpCell), in dB.

[0108] Event A4: Neighbor cell quality exceeds an absolute threshold (Neighbor becomes better than threshold), unit: dBm.

[0109] Event A5: The serving cell quality is lower than an absolute threshold threshold1, and the neighbor cell quality is higher than an absolute threshold threshold2 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbor becomes better than threshold2), unit: dBm.

[0110] Event A6: The quality of the neighboring cell is higher than that of the secondary cell (SCell) by an absolute threshold (Neighbor becomes offset better than SCell), in dB.

[0111] (2) Event types for inter-system switching

[0112] Event B1: Inter RAT neighbor becomes better than threshold, in dBm. In other words, the B1 event means that the signal quality of the measured inter-system neighbor cell is higher than a certain threshold. The access network device sends a B1 measurement event to the terminal device. After the terminal device measures and meets the B1 event reporting threshold, it reports a B1 measurement report. When the B1 measurement report is reported, the access network device initiates inter-system switching. For example, the source access network device (or the access network device of the serving cell) sends a switching command to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to switch to the inter-system neighbor cell.

[0113] Event B2: The serving cell falls below an absolute threshold threshold1, and the inter-RAT neighbor cell is better than an absolute threshold threshold2 (PCell becomes worse than threshold1 and inter RATneighbour becomes better than threshold2), unit: dBm.

[0114] It can be understood that the measurement event corresponding to the measurement report and the event type corresponding to the measurement report mentioned in this application have the same meaning.

[0115] It can also be understood that the threshold values involved in the above-mentioned events may be the same as or different from the threshold values defined in the relevant standard protocols, and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0116] It should be understood that the above naming of each event is merely exemplary and the present application is not limited thereto. For example, event A3 may also be referred to as an A3 measurement event; accordingly, a measurement report for the A3 measurement event reported by a terminal device may be referred to as an A3 measurement report.

[0117] The following combination Figure 1A and Figure 1B Describe the architecture of the mobile communication system used in the embodiments of the present application.

[0118] refer to Figure 1A , Figure 1A Schematic diagram of the architecture of the mobile communication system used in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1A As shown, the mobile communication system includes a core network device 110, a wireless access network device 120 and at least one terminal device (such as Figure 1AThe terminal devices are connected to the radio access network equipment wirelessly, and the radio access network equipment is connected to the core network equipment wirelessly or by wire. The core network equipment and the radio access network equipment can be independent and distinct physical devices, or the core network equipment functions and the radio access network equipment logical functions can be integrated into the same physical device, or a single physical device can integrate some of the core network equipment functions and some of the radio access network equipment functions. The terminal devices can be fixed or mobile.

[0119] It should be understood that Figure 1A This is just a schematic diagram of the communication system architecture. The communication system may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices. Figure 1A The embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of core network devices, wireless access network devices, and terminal devices included in the mobile communication system.

[0120] The terminal device may also be referred to as: user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc.

[0121] The terminal device may be a device that provides voice / data connectivity to users, such as a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with wireless connection function. At present, some examples of terminals are: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals equipped with cloud games, wireless terminals in self-driving cars, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or future evolved public land mobile communication networks (PLMNs). Mobile network, PLMN) and other terminal devices, etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0122] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0123] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in the Internet of Things (IoT) system. The IoT is an important component of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network that interconnects people and machines and things. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form used by the terminal device.

[0124] A radio access network (RAN) device is an access device that a terminal device uses to access the mobile communication system wirelessly. It can be a base station NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a transmission point, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access node in a Wi-Fi system, one or more antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or a network node that constitutes a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the radio access network device. In some deployments, the gNB may include a centralized unit (CU) and a DU, each of which implements part of the gNB's functions. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services and implementing the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers. The DU is responsible for processing physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and active antenna-related functions. Since RRC layer information will eventually become PHY layer information, or be converted from PHY layer information, in this architecture, high-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or by the DU+AAU. It is understood that the network device can be a device including one or more of a CU node, a DU node, and an AAU node. In addition, the CU can serve as a network device in the access network or as a network device in the core network (CN), and this application does not limit this.

[0125] The wireless access network equipment and terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water; and can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of the wireless access network equipment and terminal equipment.

[0126] The wireless access network device and the terminal device, as well as the terminal device and the terminal device, can communicate through the licensed spectrum (licensed spectrum), can also communicate through the unlicensed spectrum (unlicensed spectrum), or can also communicate through the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum at the same time. The wireless access network device and the terminal device, as well as the terminal device and the terminal device, can communicate through the spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), can also communicate through the spectrum above 6G, and can also communicate using the spectrum below 6G and the spectrum above 6G at the same time. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used between the wireless access network device and the terminal device.

[0127] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device or a network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in a terminal device or a network device that can call a program and execute the program.

[0128] In addition, various aspects or features of the present application can be implemented as methods, devices or products using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "product" as used in this application covers computer programs that can be accessed from any computer-readable device, carrier or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks or magnetic tapes, etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks or key drives, etc.). In addition, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0129] Furthermore, Figure 1B FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of another network architecture of an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1B As shown, the network architecture includes at least a terminal device and at least two cells. The at least two cells include a cell A belonging to an access network device a and a cell B belonging to an access network device b. Figure 1B As shown, the cell where the terminal device currently resides is cell A. The moving track of the terminal device may move from cell A to cell B. Cell B may be a cell in at least one neighboring cell of cell A.

[0130] It should be understood that Figure 1B The cell A and the cell B shown in the figure may be cells of the same type or cells of different types, and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0131] I understand. Figure 1B The architecture shown in is only an example description, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. In fact, the network architecture applied in the embodiments of the present application may include more cells.

[0132] The following combination Figure 2A Introduce the normal process of cell switching and Figure 2B This section describes the process of service interruption caused by abnormal cell switching.

[0133] Figure 2A The normal process of cell handover shown includes at least the following steps:

[0134] Step 0: The terminal device resides in cell A and is in service (eg, making a call, surfing the Internet, etc.).

[0135] That is, the terminal device is performing services such as making calls and surfing the Internet based on the wireless connection between the terminal device and the access network device corresponding to cell A.

[0136] Step 1: The access network equipment corresponding to cell A (e.g. Figure 1B The access network device a) shown sends a measurement configuration message to the terminal device.

[0137] Step 2: The terminal device may measure the neighboring cells of cell A and / or cell A based on the measurement configuration message.

[0138] The neighboring cells of cell A include cell B. At this time, the terminal device is moving from cell A to cell B, the signal of cell A becomes weaker, and the signal of cell B becomes stronger.

[0139] In step 3, when the terminal device determines based on the measurement result (or measurement result) that the reporting condition of event A3 is currently met, it sends an A3 MR to the access network device corresponding to cell A.

[0140] After receiving the A3 MR, the access network device corresponding to cell A makes a handover judgment based on the A3 MR, determines that the target cell is cell B, and prepares for handover (for example, the access network device corresponding to cell A and the access network device corresponding to cell B (for example, Figure 1B The access network device b) shown communicates to determine whether cell B allows the terminal device to access).

[0141] Step 4: After the switching preparation is completed, the access network device corresponding to cell A sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the terminal device.

[0142] The RRC connection reconfiguration message is used to instruct the terminal device to switch to cell B. In other words, the RRC connection reconfiguration message includes a handover command, and the handover command is used to instruct the terminal device to switch to a target cell, for example, cell B.

[0143] Step 5: The terminal device switches from cell A to cell B based on the parameters in the RRC connection reconfiguration message.

[0144] Step 6: After the handover is completed, the terminal device sends an RRC connection reconfiguration completion message to the access network device corresponding to cell B. After the handover to cell B, the terminal device can stay in cell B for services such as calls and Internet access.

[0145] Generally speaking, after the network equipment of cell A sends an A3 measurement event to the terminal device, if it receives the measurement report of the A3 measurement event reported by the terminal device, the network equipment of cell A will send a switching command to the terminal device. However, if an abnormality occurs in the network equipment of cell A, the switching command may not be sent to the terminal device, causing the terminal device to remain in a cell with poor signal quality and unable to switch to a cell with stronger signal quality. If the service cell network (such as NR) where the terminal device is located has poor coverage signal, it will cause service anomalies of the terminal device, such as intermittent calls, dropped calls, call interruptions, slow data network speed, data interruption, etc., which seriously affect the user experience.

[0146] Figure 2B The process of service interruption caused by abnormal cell handover is shown, which includes at least the following steps:

[0147] Step 0: The terminal device resides in cell A and is in service (eg, making a call, surfing the Internet, etc.).

[0148] Step 1: The access network equipment corresponding to cell A (e.g. Figure 1B The access network device a) shown sends a measurement configuration message to the terminal device.

[0149] Step 2: The terminal device may measure the neighboring cells of cell A based on the measurement configuration message.

[0150] Step 3: When the terminal device determines based on the measurement results that the reporting conditions of event A3 are currently met, it sends an A3 MR to the access network device corresponding to cell A.

[0151] Step 4: After receiving the A3 MR, the access network device corresponding to cell A does not send an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the terminal device.

[0152] As mentioned above, since the terminal device does not receive the RRC connection reconfiguration message or handover command sent by the access network device corresponding to cell A, the terminal device remains in cell A and cannot switch to cell B with better signal quality. At this time, the signal quality of cell A has deteriorated, affecting the service experience of the terminal device.

[0153] The above shows that the cell switching anomaly is the situation where the terminal device does not receive a switching command after reporting a measurement report. In fact, there is another situation that causes cell switching anomaly. In some embodiments, the signal quality of cell A has become very poor, but because the measurement threshold (or reporting threshold) configured by the network equipment of cell A for the terminal device is unreasonable, the terminal device has been unable to reach the measurement threshold for reporting the measurement report. If the terminal device does not report the measurement report, it will naturally not receive the switching command, and it will also reside in cell A, thereby affecting the service experience.

[0154] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application proposes a method and apparatus for cell switching. After the terminal device performs measurement based on the measurement configuration message, if the measurement result does not reach the measurement threshold configured by the network device, the terminal device can start the voice packet loss rate detection process, and independently decide whether to reselect the cell by judging the voice packet loss rate, thereby improving the service experience to the greatest extent. Furthermore, if the measurement result reaches the network device measurement result, the terminal device can wait for the switching command sent by the network device by introducing a timer. During the timer operation period, if the terminal device receives a switching command, it switches to the target cell according to the switching command; if the switching command is not received until the timer expires, the terminal device can actively trigger RLF and reselect to other cells with better signals, thereby reducing the time the terminal device waits for the switching command and improving the user's communication experience.

[0155] The following will be combined Figure 3 and Figure 4 A method for cell switching according to an embodiment of the present application is described.

[0156] refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a logical diagram of a method for cell switching according to an embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that Figure 3 The terminal equipment involved can be Figure 1A The terminal device (eg, terminal device 130 or terminal device 140) or Figure 1B The terminal device in the present invention may also refer to a device in the terminal device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.).

[0157] like Figure 3 As shown, the method includes:

[0158] Step 300: The terminal device resides in the service cell to perform services.

[0159] Step 300 is the same as the above Figure 2A The process is similar to step 0 in . For example, the terminal device resides in cell A and performs services.

[0160] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific service type performed by the terminal device when it resides in cell A. For example, the terminal device performs a voice call service with the opposite terminal device. For another example, the terminal device performs an Internet access service.

[0161] Step 301: The terminal device receives a measurement configuration message from an access network device (or an access network device of a serving cell).

[0162] The measurement configuration message can be understood as the aforementioned Figure 2AFor more information about the measurement configuration message, refer to the previous article.

[0163] Optionally, the measurement configuration message includes configuration information of the first measurement event. The configuration information of the first measurement event includes a measurement object and / or a reporting condition corresponding to the first measurement event. For example, the reporting condition may specifically include: the measurement result meets a measurement threshold or a reporting threshold.

[0164] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific measurement event type corresponding to the measurement object configuration item carried in the measurement configuration message. For example, the measurement event may be one or more of an A3 event, an A5 event, a B1 event, and a B2 event.

[0165] In some embodiments, the measurement configuration message received by the terminal device includes measurement configuration for the A3 event and reporting conditions for the A3 event (such as a reporting threshold or a measurement threshold).

[0166] Step 302: The terminal device performs measurement according to the measurement configuration message.

[0167] Specifically, the terminal device performs cell measurement based on the measurement configuration message and obtains the measurement result. The measurement objects include but are not limited to the serving cell and the neighboring cells of the serving cell. Figure 1B Taking the network architecture shown as an example, the terminal device can perform cell measurement on cell A and cell B.

[0168] It will be appreciated that the specific objects that the terminal device performs measurements on may depend on the content included in the measurement configuration message. For example, if the measurement configuration message includes configuration information for event A3 or event A5, the terminal device may measure the signal quality of the serving cell and the neighboring cell separately. For another example, if the measurement configuration message includes configuration information for event B1, the terminal device may measure the signal quality of the neighboring cell.

[0169] After performing cell measurement according to the measurement configuration message, the terminal device may obtain the measurement results of the cell. Optionally, the measurement results include the measurement results of the serving cell and / or the measurement results of the neighboring cells. It will be understood that the content of the measurement results may depend on the measurement event type included in the aforementioned measurement configuration message.

[0170] After obtaining the measurement result, the terminal device may determine whether the reporting condition of the measurement event is met in combination with the reporting condition of the measurement event.

[0171] Step 303: The terminal device determines whether a reporting condition for the first measurement event is met.

[0172] In step 303, if the terminal device determines whether the measurement result of step 302 meets the reporting conditions, if the measurement result meets the reporting conditions, the terminal device may report the measurement report, for example, executing step 304-2; if the measurement result does not meet the reporting conditions, the terminal device may initiate a voice packet loss rate detection process, for example, executing step 304-1.

[0173] Taking the A3 event as an example, after measuring the current serving cell and the neighboring cell, the terminal device determines that the signal quality of the neighboring cell is higher than the signal quality of the current serving cell by a certain threshold value. Then the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions for the A3 event are met. After determining that the reporting conditions for the A3 event are met, the terminal device reports the measurement report of the A3 event to the access network equipment of the serving cell.

[0174] It is understood that the description here is based on the example of an A3 measurement event, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. For example, the measurement event may also be an A5 event, a B1 event, or a B2 event; and the corresponding reporting condition may also include a reporting threshold corresponding to the corresponding measurement event.

[0175] Step 304-1: The terminal device performs packet loss rate detection on the voice packets.

[0176] That is to say, if the judgment result of the aforementioned step 303 is "no", then the terminal device can start the packet loss rate statistics of the voice packet, so that after the signal quality of the service cell deteriorates, the packet loss situation of the affected business can be counted as accurately as possible, and the next decision can be made based on the statistical packet loss rate.

[0177] Alternatively, the voice packet may be understood as a general term for data involved in a call service of a terminal device. The packet loss rate refers to the ratio of the number of lost data packets to the number of sent data packets.

[0178] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific type or form of the voice packet. In some embodiments, the voice packet may include a real-time transport protocol (RTP) data packet and / or a real-time transport control protocol (RTCP) data packet.

[0179] RTCP is used to provide quality of service (QoS) for RTP packets. RTCP packets can be understood as control packets. For example, during a terminal session, control packets are sent to session participants at regular intervals. Optionally, RTCP packets include statistics such as the number of packets sent and the number of packets lost. Based on the RTCP packets, the terminal device dynamically changes the transmission rate. In embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can understand RTCP packets as executing cell reselection decisions.

[0180] It's important to note that, compared to measuring voice packet loss rates from the network device side, measuring voice packet loss rates from the perspective of the terminal device is more accurate and latency-free. This is because when a terminal device communicates with a peer device, the data packets transmitted between them are forwarded by the network device. The terminal device can monitor the volume of its own transmitted packets and the volume of lost packets. For example, the terminal device can monitor RTP and / or RTCP packets in real time. However, before forwarding voice packets, the network device must first receive voice packets from the terminal device. This takes time, so measuring voice packet loss rates from the network device inevitably involves some delay or loss. Furthermore, if the network device itself experiences an anomaly, it will not be able to perform packet loss rate measurement. Therefore, measuring voice packet loss rates from the terminal device is more effective than measuring them from the network device itself.

[0181] Step 305 - 1 : The terminal device determines whether the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold.

[0182] After starting the packet loss rate detection of the voice packets, the terminal device can determine whether the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold.

[0183] The purpose of introducing the first packet loss rate threshold in step 305-1 is to measure the severity of voice packet loss in the case of poor cell signal, or the impact on user experience. The value of the first packet loss rate threshold can be a reasonable threshold value set based on actual conditions. This embodiment of the application does not limit the specific value of the first packet loss rate threshold.

[0184] For judgment step 305-1, if the terminal device determines that the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, then the terminal device can actively trigger the RLF process, such as executing step 306; if the terminal device determines that the packet loss rate of the voice packet is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, then the terminal device can continue to reside in the current service cell, for example, executing step 305-2.

[0185] For example, the first packet loss rate threshold is 30%. When the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to 30%, it means that the voice packet loss of the terminal device is already very serious and needs to be switched to a cell with good signal as soon as possible; when the voice packet loss rate is less than 30%, it means that the voice packet loss of the terminal device is still within an acceptable range, or the impact on the user is not particularly large, and the terminal device can continue to stay in the current service cell.

[0186] It should be understood that the above example is only described with the first packet loss rate threshold being 30%, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. In other words, the first packet loss rate threshold may also be other configured threshold values.

[0187] When determining whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, time may also be used as an evaluation factor. Optionally, step 305-1 further includes: the terminal device determining whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold within a first preset time period.

[0188] That is to say, within the specified time, if the terminal device determines that the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, then it means that the signal quality has deteriorated rapidly in a short period of time, and the cell needs to be reselected as soon as possible to minimize the impact on the terminal service, for example, executing step 306; if the terminal device determines that the voice packet loss rate is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, then step 305-2 can be executed to temporarily reside in the current service cell to avoid power consumption caused by unnecessary switching.

[0189] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the value of the first preset time length. For example, the first preset time length is 5 seconds.

[0190] It should be understood that step 305-1 is described merely as an example of determining whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. In fact, step 305-1 can also be replaced with other constraints that use the voice packet loss rate as a judgment criterion. For example, step 305-1 can be replaced with "determining whether the voice packet loss rate is within a preset range, where the preset range can be composed of a first packet loss rate threshold and a second packet loss rate threshold, where the second packet loss rate threshold is greater than the first packet loss rate threshold."

[0191] Step 305-2: The terminal device continues to reside in the current serving cell.

[0192] In some embodiments, if the result of determination step 305-1 is "No," step 305-2 may be executed. The terminal device continues to reside in the current serving cell. Of course, while residing in the current serving cell, if the terminal device receives a measurement configuration message, it may still perform relevant measurements to facilitate cell handover decisions. For example, after step 305-2, the process may return to step 300.

[0193] Step 306: The terminal device triggers the RLF process.

[0194] In some embodiments, when the terminal device determines that the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, it can actively trigger the RLF process. The advantage of the terminal device actively triggering the RLF process is that it can speed up the cell reselection process and reduce the waiting time.

[0195] Optionally, the terminal device proactively triggers the RLF process, which includes the terminal device proactively disconnecting the wireless link with the access network device of the serving cell in order to select a cell with better signal and quickly restore affected services (e.g., restoring calls or Internet access). This can minimize service interruption time, or service freeze time, and improve the user experience.

[0196] Step 307: The terminal device performs cell reselection.

[0197] In some embodiments, after a terminal device proactively triggers an RLF procedure, a cell reselection process may be performed. Exemplarily, the cell reselection process performed by the terminal device includes performing cell reselection and RRC connection reestablishment procedures in accordance with 3GPP standard procedures to select a network with a better signal for RRC connection. For details on the cell reselection process and / or RRC connection reestablishment process, please refer to the description in the relevant art and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0198] Optionally, step 307 includes: switching from the current serving cell to a first neighboring cell among at least one neighboring cell, where the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is better than the signal quality of the serving cell, and the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is the cell with the best signal quality among the at least one neighboring cell.

[0199] For example, there are multiple neighboring cells around the current serving cell. The terminal device may select a neighboring cell with the best signal quality (such as the first neighboring cell) from the multiple neighboring cells for reconnection.

[0200] In an embodiment of the present application, when the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions for the measurement event are not met, it can start voice packet loss rate detection to decide whether to reselect the cell based on the voice packet loss rate. In this way, when the voice packet loss rate meets the cell reselection conditions (for example, the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold), RLF can be actively triggered to reselect to a cell with better signal, thereby minimizing the impact of the deterioration of cell signal quality on the terminal's services (for example, dropped calls, silent calls, service interruptions, etc.), thereby ensuring that the terminal device's call services and even other services can proceed normally.

[0201] Furthermore, when deciding whether to perform cell reselection, the terminal device may further consider whether the duration of the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold in addition to considering whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold. The duration specifically refers to the duration of time during which the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold.

[0202] Optionally, Figure 3 The process shown in also includes:

[0203] Step 305-3: The terminal device determines whether the duration is greater than or equal to a second preset duration.

[0204] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific value of the preset time length. The second preset time length can be a reasonable threshold value set based on actual needs. For example, the preset time length is 7 seconds.

[0205] Optionally, step 305-3 may occur after the branch in which the judgment result of the aforementioned judgment step 305-1 is "yes." The judgment condition of step 305-1 may be "determining whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold" or "determining whether the voice packet loss rate within the first preset time period is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold." This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0206] If the judgment condition in step 305-1 is "determining whether the voice packet loss rate within the first preset duration is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold," this embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the relationship between the first preset duration and the second preset duration; the two can be the same or different. For example, the second preset duration can be greater than or equal to the first preset duration. In another example, the second preset duration can be less than the first preset duration.

[0207] For the judgment step 305 - 3 , if the judgment result is “yes”, the terminal device may execute the aforementioned step 306 ; if the judgment result is “no”, the terminal device may execute the aforementioned step 305 - 2 .

[0208] For example, when the terminal device determines that the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to 30%, it can further determine whether the duration of the voice packet loss rate being greater than or equal to 30% is greater than or equal to 5 seconds. If the terminal device calculates that the duration of the voice packet loss rate being greater than or equal to 30% is 10 seconds, which is greater than 5 seconds, then step 306 can be executed. If the terminal device calculates that the duration of the voice packet loss rate being greater than or equal to 30% is 2 seconds, which is less than 5 seconds, then step 305-2 can be executed.

[0209] Combined with the above Figure 3 The present invention describes a process in which, when the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions for the first measurement event are not met, the terminal device does not report the measurement report, and then the terminal device decides whether to perform cell reselection based on the packet loss rate of the voice packet. The embodiment of the present application also provides a process in which the terminal device reports the measurement report when the reporting conditions for the measurement event are met. Figure 3 Further description is made of the processing process of the branch with the judgment result of "yes" in judgment step 303. The branch with the judgment result of "yes" and the branch with the judgment result of "no" in judgment step 303 can be implemented in combination or independently, and this embodiment of the application does not limit this.

[0210] like Figure 3 As shown, if the judgment result of step 303 is "yes", Figure 3 The method flow shown also includes at least the following steps:

[0211] Step 304-2: The terminal device reports a measurement report and starts a first timer.

[0212] In some embodiments, when the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions of the measurement event are met, the terminal device may report a measurement report. In addition, in order to wait for the switching command from the access network device, the embodiment of the present application may also introduce a first timer to avoid unnecessary waiting that affects the service experience. This is because, after the terminal device detects that the measurement threshold is met and reports the measurement report, if the network does not send a switching command to the terminal device, the terminal device will always reside in the original service cell. Even if the terminal device measures that there is a cell with a better signal, it can only reside in the current cell with a weaker signal, resulting in service anomalies of the terminal device, which seriously affects the user experience. For example, service anomalies include but are not limited to: dropped calls, intermittent calls, slow data network response, interruption of traffic, etc.

[0213] The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific timing of starting the first timer. For example, the terminal device may start the first timer after reporting the measurement report. For another example, the terminal device may start the first timer at the same time as reporting the measurement report.

[0214] The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the running time of the first timer. The running time of the first timer can be a reasonable time set based on actual needs.

[0215] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are described using the first timer as an example only and are not limited thereto. In fact, the first timer can also be replaced with other forms or tools for timing. Those skilled in the art can flexibly select other timing rules or tools based on the solutions in the embodiments of the present application to replace the first timer described above, so as to achieve the same purpose as the first timer introduced in the embodiments of the present application.

[0216] Step 308: The terminal device determines whether a handover command is received during the running of the first timer.

[0217] That is, during the first timer running, the terminal device can determine whether a handover command is received from the access network device. If the terminal device receives a handover command during the first timer running, the cell handover can be performed according to the handover command, for example, step 309 is performed.

[0218] If the terminal device does not receive the switching command until the first timer expires, then there are two implementation methods for the terminal device, specifically including: Method 1, the terminal device starts packet loss rate detection of the voice packet, for example, executing the aforementioned step 304-1; Method 2: the terminal device actively triggers RLF and performs cell reselection, for example, executing the aforementioned steps 306 and 307.

[0219] For example, if the terminal device does not receive a handover command until the first timer expires, the terminal device may choose to actively trigger RLF. After triggering the RLF process, the terminal device reselects the cell and sends an RRC re-establishment request to the access network device corresponding to the selected cell. The terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the access network device corresponding to the selected cell and continues the aforementioned service in the serving cell based on the RRC connection. By introducing a first timer to monitor whether a handover command is received within the specified time, the service freeze duration caused by unsuccessful cell handover can be reduced, thereby improving the user's communication experience in the service.

[0220] It can be understood that the description of the terminal device triggering the RLF process can also refer to the description of step 306 above. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0221] As a further example, if the terminal device does not receive a handover command before the first timer expires, the terminal device may choose to initiate voice packet loss rate detection; that is, by counting the voice packet loss, the terminal device determines whether to actively trigger RLF or continue to reside in the serving cell. The specific process can be referred to the description of the aforementioned steps 304-1, 305-1, 305-2, 305-3, 306, and 307, which will not be repeated here. In step 309, the terminal device switches from the current serving cell to the target cell.

[0222] That is, when it is determined that the reporting conditions for the measurement event are met, the terminal device reports the measurement report of the measurement event. After reporting the measurement report of the measurement event, if the terminal device receives a handover command (or handover instruction) from the access network device, it will switch to a neighboring cell with a better signal according to the handover command to ensure terminal service communication. In other words, when the signal quality of the serving cell is indeed poor, but the signal quality of the neighboring cell is better, it can be switched to the neighboring cell.

[0223] The embodiment of the present application does not provide a detailed introduction to the specific process of switching cells. For details, please refer to the relevant technology of switching cells.

[0224] from Figure 3 As shown in the branch process where the judgment result of step 303 is "yes", by introducing the first timer, it can be avoided that the network device fails to send a switching command to the terminal device due to an abnormality, causing the terminal device to remain in a cell with poor signal quality, which helps to improve the service experience of the terminal device.

[0225] For ease of understanding, the following Figure 4 The interaction example in describes the method for cell switching in an embodiment of the present application.

[0226] refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 It is a schematic interactive diagram of a method for cell switching according to an embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that Figure 4 The terminal device in can be Figure 1A The terminal device (eg, terminal device 130 or terminal device 140) or Figure 1B The terminal device in the present invention may also refer to a device in the terminal device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.). Figure 4 The access network equipment of the serving cell in the Figure 1A Access network device 120 or Figure 1B The access network device a in the access network device may also refer to a device in the access network device (such as a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.).

[0227] It's understandable. Figure 4The access network device of the target neighboring cell and the access network device of the first neighboring cell can be the same access network device or different access network devices, and there is no specific limitation on this. Figure 4 The access network equipment of the target neighboring cell in the Figure 1B Access network device b in; Figure 4 The access network device of the first neighboring cell in can also be Figure 1B The access network device b in . For example, Figure 4 The access network equipment of the target neighboring cell in the Figure 1B Access network device b in; Figure 4 The access network device of the first neighboring cell may also be other access network devices.

[0228] It is also understandable. Figure 4 Part or all of the information exchanged between the terminal device and the access network device can be carried in existing messages, channels, signals or signaling, or can be newly defined messages, channels, signals or signaling, and there is no specific limitation on this. Figure 4 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0229] Step 401: The terminal device resides in a serving cell (eg, cell A) and is in service.

[0230] Step 402: The access network device of the serving cell sends a measurement configuration message to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the measurement configuration message from the access network device of the serving cell.

[0231] For the description of the measurement configuration message, please refer to the previous text, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0232] For example, the measurement configuration message includes measurement configuration information about the A3 event. For the relevant introduction of the A3 event, please refer to the previous text, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0233] Step 403: The terminal device may perform measurement on the cell based on the measurement configuration message.

[0234] It can be understood that the measurement object can be a serving cell or a neighboring cell of the serving cell. The measurement object can depend on the configuration information included in the aforementioned measurement configuration message.

[0235] Step 404: The terminal device determines whether the measurement result meets the reporting conditions.

[0236] If the terminal device determines that the measurement result meets the reporting conditions, step 405 - 1 and step 405 - 2 are executed; if the terminal device determines that the measurement result does not meet the reporting conditions, step 406 is executed.

[0237] Step 405-1: When the reporting condition of the event is met, the terminal device reports a measurement report to the access network device of the serving cell.

[0238] Step 405-2: The terminal device starts a first timer.

[0239] It can be understood that step 405-1 and step 405-2 can be executed simultaneously, or step 405-1 can be executed first and step 405-2 can be executed later. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0240] Step 405-1 and step 405-2 are the same as Figure 3 The relevant description can refer to the description of step 304-2 above, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0241] During the operation of the first timer, in step 410-1, if an RRC connection reconfiguration message is received from the access network device of the serving cell, the RRC connection reconfiguration message includes a switching command; in step 410-2, the terminal device performs cell switching according to the switching command, for example, switching to the target neighboring cell and establishing a wireless connection with the access network device of the target neighboring cell.

[0242] If the RRC connection reconfiguration message is not received from the access network device of the serving cell before the first timer expires, step 407 - 1 is executed.

[0243] Step 406: The terminal device performs packet loss rate detection on the voice packets.

[0244] Step 407: The terminal device determines whether the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold.

[0245] Step 408-1: The terminal device actively triggers RLF.

[0246] In step 408-2, the terminal device performs cell reselection and reestablishes the RRC connection. For example, the terminal device establishes a connection with the access network device of the first neighboring cell.

[0247] Step 409: The terminal device continues to reside in the current serving cell.

[0248] It should be understood that Figure 4 The steps performed by the terminal device can refer to the above Figure 3 For the sake of brevity, the description of the corresponding steps involved in will not be repeated here.

[0249] exist Figure 4In the interactive process shown, after receiving a measurement configuration message from an access network device, the terminal device performs corresponding cell measurements based on the measurement configuration message and obtains measurement results. The measurement objects include but are not limited to serving cells and / or neighboring cells. If the measurement results do not meet the reporting conditions, the terminal device does not report the measurement report; and starts the voice packet loss rate detection. When it is determined that the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, the terminal device actively triggers RLF and performs cell reselection to switch to a cell with better signal. In this way, when a service anomaly is found (for example, call drops, intermittent calls, silence, data service interruption, etc.), the terminal device can switch to a cell with better signal as soon as possible, thereby improving the user communication experience. If the measurement results meet the reporting conditions, the terminal device reports the measurement report and starts a first timer. If no handover command is received after the first timer expires, the terminal device actively triggers RLF and performs cell reselection, which can minimize unnecessary waiting time and enable the terminal device to switch to a network with better signal coverage as soon as possible to perform services.

[0250] It should be understood that Figure 3 and Figure 4 The flowcharts or interactive diagrams shown in the figure are only for ease of understanding and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application to the examples shown in the figure. In fact, those skilled in the art can Figure 3 and Figure 4 The examples in can be equivalently transformed to obtain more implementation methods.

[0251] It should also be understood that Figure 4 Only the Figure 3 The interactive examples of some implementation methods in the embodiment of the present application are not limited to this.

[0252] Combined with the above Figures 1A to 4 , describes in detail the method for cell switching provided by the embodiment of the present application. Figures 5 to 7 It should be understood that the communication device of the present invention can execute the various communication methods of the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention, that is, the specific working processes of the following various products can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0253] In each of the above embodiments, the terminal device may perform some or all of the steps in each embodiment. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps may be performed in the different orders presented in the embodiments, and it is possible that not all of the operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be performed. Furthermore, the size of the sequence number of each step does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0254] Figure 5 : is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, the communication device 1400 may include a transceiver unit 1410 and a processing unit 1420 .

[0255] In one possible design, the communication device 1400 may correspond to the terminal device in the above method embodiment, or a component configured in the terminal device (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.).

[0256] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 1410 is configured to receive a measurement configuration message from an access network device, where the measurement configuration message includes configuration information of a first measurement event;

[0257] The processing unit 1420 is configured to perform cell measurement according to the measurement configuration message to obtain a measurement result;

[0258] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to not report the measurement report of the first measurement event when the measurement result does not meet the reporting condition of the first measurement event;

[0259] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to perform packet loss rate detection of voice packets when the measurement report of the first measurement event is not reported;

[0260] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to trigger a radio link failure RLF when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold;

[0261] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to perform cell reselection after RLF is triggered.

[0262] Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 1420 is further configured to trigger RLF when the packet loss rate of the voice packets within a first preset time period is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold.

[0263] Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 1420 is further used to trigger RLF when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, and the duration for which the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is greater than or equal to a second preset duration.

[0264] Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 1420 is further configured to continue to reside in the current serving cell when the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than a first packet loss rate threshold.

[0265] Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 1420 is further configured to continue to reside in the current serving cell when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is less than a first packet loss rate threshold, and the duration for which the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is less than a second preset duration;

[0266] Alternatively, when the packet loss rate of the voice packets within the first preset time period is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, the mobile station continues to stay in the current serving cell.

[0267] Optionally, as an embodiment, the transceiver unit 1410 is further configured to report a measurement report of the first measurement event to the access network device when a reporting condition of the first measurement event is met;

[0268] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to start a first timer when reporting the measurement report of the first measurement event;

[0269] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to determine whether a handover command is received from the access network device during the running of the first timer, the handover command being used to instruct the terminal device to handover to a target cell;

[0270] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to trigger RLF if the handover command is not received when the first timer times out;

[0271] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to perform cell reselection after RLF is triggered.

[0272] Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 1420 is also used to perform packet loss rate detection of the voice packet when the first timer times out and the switching command is not received; and trigger a radio link failure RLF when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold.

[0273] Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 1420 is further configured to: when the switching command is received during the running of the first timer, switch from the current serving cell to the target cell according to the switching command.

[0274] Optionally, as an embodiment, the target cell is a long term evolution LTE cell, and the serving cell is a new wireless NR cell; or, the target cell is an NR cell, and the serving cell is an LTE cell.

[0275] Optionally, as an embodiment, the first measurement event is any one of the following measurement events: an A3 measurement event, an A5 measurement event, a B1 measurement event, and a B2 measurement event.

[0276] Optionally, as an embodiment, the voice packet includes one or more of the following: a real-time transport protocol RTP data packet, a real-time transport control protocol RTCP data packet.

[0277] Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 1420 is configured to perform cell reselection, including:

[0278] Switching from the current serving cell to a first neighboring cell among at least one neighboring cell, where the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is better than the signal quality of the serving cell, and the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is the cell with the best signal quality among the at least one neighboring cell.

[0279] It should be understood that the communication device 1400 may correspond to the embodiment of the present application. Figures 2A to 4 The terminal device in the method, the communication device 1400 may include a device for executing Figures 2A to 4 Furthermore, the units in the communication device 1400 and the above-mentioned other operations and / or functions are respectively for realizing Figures 2A to 4 The corresponding process.

[0280] It should also be understood that when the communication device 1400 is a terminal device, the transceiver unit 1410 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented by a transceiver, for example, corresponding to Figure 6 The processing unit 1420 in the communication device 1400 may be implemented by at least one processor, for example, corresponding to Figure 6 The processor 1510 in the communication device 1500 shown in FIG.

[0281] It should also be understood that when the communication device 1400 is a chip or chip system configured in the above-mentioned terminal device, the transceiver unit 1410 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented through an input / output interface, and the processing unit 1420 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented through a processor, microprocessor or integrated circuit integrated on the chip or chip system.

[0282] In one possible design, the communication device 1400 may correspond to the access network device in the above method embodiment, or a component configured in the access network device (such as a circuit, chip or chip system, etc.).

[0283] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 1410 is configured to send a measurement configuration message to the terminal device, where the measurement configuration message includes configuration information of the first measurement event.

[0284] Optionally, as an embodiment, the transceiver unit 1410 is further configured to, after receiving the measurement report of the first measurement event, send a handover command to the terminal device, where the handover command is used to instruct the terminal device to switch to the target cell. The terminal device receives the handover command during the operation of a first timer. The first timer is started when the terminal device reports the measurement report of the first measurement event.

[0285] It should be understood that the communication device 1400 may correspond to the access network device in the method according to the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1400 may include a method for executing Figure 4 The access network device of the serving cell in the method performs the method unit. In addition, each unit in the communication device 1400 and the above-mentioned other operations and / or functions are respectively for implementing Figure 4 The corresponding process is executed by the access network equipment of the serving cell in the method.

[0286] It should also be understood that when the communication device 1400 is an access network device, the transceiver unit 1410 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented by a transceiver, for example, corresponding to Figure 6 The transceiver 1520 in the communication device 1500 shown in FIG. Figure 7 The processing unit 1420 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented by at least one processor, for example, corresponding to Figure 6 The processor 1510 or the processor 1510 in the communication device 1500 shown in FIG. Figure 7 BBU 1620 in base station 1600 is shown in FIG.

[0287] It should also be understood that when the communication device 1400 is a chip or chip system configured in the above-mentioned access network equipment, the transceiver unit 1410 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented through an input / output interface, and the processing unit 1420 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented through a processor, microprocessor or integrated circuit integrated on the chip or chip system.

[0288] Figure 6 FIG. 1 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device 1500 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, the communication device 1500 includes a processor 1510, a transceiver 1520, and a memory 1530. The processor 1510, the transceiver 1520, and the memory 1530 communicate with each other via an internal connection path. The memory 1530 is used to store instructions, and the processor 1510 is used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1530 to control the transceiver 1520 to send and / or receive signals.

[0289] Optionally, the memory 1530 may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include a non-volatile random access memory. The memory 1530 may be a separate device or integrated into the processor 1510.

[0290] In one implementation, the communication device 1500 may correspond to the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment and may be used to execute the various steps and / or processes performed by the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiment. The processor 1510 may be used to execute instructions stored in the memory 1530, and when the processor 1510 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1510 is used to execute the various steps and / or processes of the above-mentioned method embodiment corresponding to the terminal device.

[0291] In another implementation, optionally, the communication device 1500 may be the access network device described in the preceding embodiments, and may be configured to execute the various steps and / or processes performed by the access network device in the aforementioned method embodiments. The processor 1510 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 1530, and when the processor 1510 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1510 is configured to execute the various steps and / or processes of the aforementioned method embodiments corresponding to the access network device.

[0292] The transceiver 1520 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1520 may further include an antenna, which may be one or more. The processor 1510, memory 1530, and transceiver 1520 may be integrated on different chips. For example, the processor 1510 and memory 1530 may be integrated in a baseband chip, and the transceiver 1520 may be integrated in a radio frequency chip. The processor 1510, memory 1530, and transceiver 1520 may also be integrated on the same chip. This application does not limit this.

[0293] Optionally, the communication device 1500 may be a component configured in an access network device, such as a chip, a chip system, etc.

[0294] The transceiver 1520 may also be a communication interface, such as an input / output interface. The transceiver 1520, the processor 1510, and the memory 1520 may all be integrated into the same chip, such as a baseband chip.

[0295] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the access network device provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, a schematic diagram of the structure of a base station. The base station 1600 can be applied to Figure 1AIn the illustrated system, the functions of the target access network device or the source access network device in the above-described method embodiments are performed. As shown in the figure, the base station 1600 may include one or more radio frequency units, such as a remote radio unit (RRU) 1610 and one or more baseband units (BBUs) (also referred to as distributed units (DUs)) 1620.

[0296] The RRU 1610 may be referred to as a transceiver unit. Figure 5 . Optionally, the transceiver unit 1610 may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc., and may include at least one antenna 1611 and a radio frequency unit 1612. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1610 may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, the receiving unit may correspond to a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuit), and the transmitting unit may correspond to a transmitter (or transmitter, transmitting circuit). The RRU 1610 part is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals, for example, for sending data packets to terminal devices. The BBU 1620 part is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling the base station, etc. The RRU 1610 and BBU 1620 may be physically arranged together or physically separated, that is, a distributed base station.

[0297] The BBU 1620 is the control center of the base station, which can also be called a processing unit. Figure 5 The processing unit 1420 in the embodiment corresponds to the baseband processing unit 1420, which is mainly used to perform baseband processing functions such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spread spectrum, etc. For example, the BBU (processing unit) can be used to control the base station to execute the operation process of the access network device in the above method embodiment, such as generating the above-mentioned first configuration parameter information.

[0298] In one example, the BBU 1620 may be composed of one or more single boards, and the multiple single boards may jointly support a wireless access network of a single access standard (such as an LTE network), or may separately support wireless access networks of different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, a 6G network, or other networks). The BBU 1620 also includes a memory 1621 and a processor 1622. The memory 1621 is used to store necessary instructions and data. The processor 1622 is used to control the base station to perform necessary actions, for example, to control the base station to execute the operation process of the network device in the above method embodiment. The memory 1621 and the processor 1622 can serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor can be set separately on each single board. Alternatively, multiple single boards may share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits may also be set on each single board.

[0299] It should be understood that Figure 7 The base station 1600 shown is capable of Figure 4 The various processes of the serving cell access network device involved in the illustrated method embodiment. The operations and / or functions of the various modules in base station 1600 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiment. For details, please refer to the description of the above method embodiment. To avoid repetition, detailed description is appropriately omitted here.

[0300] The BBU 1620 can be used to perform the actions implemented within the access network device described in the previous method embodiments, while the RRU 1610 can be used to perform the sending or receiving actions of the access network device described in the previous method embodiments, such as sending to or receiving from a terminal device. For details, please refer to the description of the previous method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0301] An embodiment of the present application further provides a processing device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method for cell switching in any of the above method embodiments.

[0302] It should be understood that the above-mentioned processing device may be one or more chips. For example, the processing device may be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processor unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

[0303] During implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0304] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0305] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0306] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: a computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to execute Figure 3 or Figure 4 The method of the illustrated embodiment or any of the preceding embodiments.

[0307] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a program code, and when the program code is run on a computer, the computer executes Figure 3 or Figure 4 The method of the illustrated embodiment or any of the preceding embodiments.

[0308] The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM).

[0309] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the present application also provides a communication system, which includes one or more of the aforementioned terminal devices and access network devices.

[0310] Optionally, the communication system may further include other devices that communicate with the terminal device and / or the access network device.

[0311] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may 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 may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disc (SSD)).

[0312] The terminal devices and access network devices in the above-described apparatus embodiments and the terminal devices and access network devices in the method embodiments completely correspond to each other, and the corresponding modules or units perform the corresponding steps. For example, the communication unit (transceiver) performs the receiving or sending steps in the method embodiments, while other steps besides sending and receiving can be performed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific units can be referred to in the corresponding method embodiments. There can be one or more processors.

[0313] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on a computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components can communicate, for example, via local and / or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component on a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems via signals).

[0314] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0315] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0316] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0317] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0318] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0319] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory ROM, a random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0320] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial number of each process does 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 on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0321] Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this document. The term "and / or" in this document simply describes a relationship between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can mean either A or B.

[0322] The terms (or numbers) "first", "second", ... etc. that appear in the embodiments of the present application are only used for descriptive purposes, that is, they are only used to distinguish different objects, such as different "packet loss rate thresholds", etc., and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined as "first", "second", ... etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more. "Multiple" means two or more. "At least one of the following (item)" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of a single (item) or multiple (items).

[0323] For example, the meaning of expressions similar to "the item includes at least one of the following: A, B, and C" in the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, generally means that the item can be any one of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C; A and A; A, A and A; A, A and B; A, A and C, A, B and B; A, C and C; B and B, B, B and B, B, B and C, C and C; C, C and C, and other combinations of A, B and C. The above examples use A, B, and C as an example to illustrate the optional items of the item. When the expression is "the item includes at least one of the following: A, B, ..., and X", that is, when the expression has more elements, the items that can be applied to the item can also be obtained according to the above rules.

[0324] In short, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the technical solution of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of this application shall be included in the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A method for cell handover, characterized in that: The method is applied to a terminal device, and the method includes: receiving a measurement configuration message from an access network device, where the measurement configuration message includes configuration information of a first measurement event; Perform cell measurement according to the measurement configuration message to obtain a measurement result; When the measurement result does not meet the reporting condition of the first measurement event, not reporting the measurement report of the first measurement event; In a case where the measurement report of the first measurement event is not reported, performing packet loss rate detection of voice packets; When the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, triggering a radio link failure RLF; After RLF is triggered, cell reselection is performed.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The triggering of RLF when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold further includes: When the packet loss rate of the voice packets within the first preset time period is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, RLF is triggered.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The triggering of RLF when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold further includes: When the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, and the duration for which the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is greater than or equal to a second preset duration, RLF is triggered.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: When the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, the mobile station continues to stay in the current serving cell.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The step of continuing to reside in the current serving cell when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is less than a first packet loss rate threshold comprises: When the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, and the duration for which the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is less than a second preset duration, continue to reside in the current serving cell; Alternatively, when the packet loss rate of the voice packets within the first preset time period is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, the mobile station continues to stay in the current serving cell.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: When a reporting condition for the first measurement event is met, reporting a measurement report of the first measurement event to the access network device; When reporting the measurement report of the first measurement event, starting a first timer; During the running of the first timer, determining whether a handover command is received from the access network device, the handover command being used to instruct the terminal device to hand over to a target cell; When the first timer times out and the handover command is not received, triggering RLF; After RLF is triggered, cell reselection is performed.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that When the first timer times out and the handover command is not received, triggering RLF includes: When the first timer times out and the handover command is not received, performing packet loss rate detection of the voice packets; When the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, a radio link failure (RLF) is triggered.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: During the running of the first timer, the switching command is received; The cell is switched from the current serving cell to the target cell according to the switching command.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that The target cell is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cell, and the serving cell is a New Radio (NR) cell; or, the target cell is a NR cell, and the serving cell is an LTE cell.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The first measurement event is any one of the following measurement events: an A3 measurement event, an A5 measurement event, a B1 measurement event, and a B2 measurement event.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The voice packet includes one or more of the following: a real-time transport protocol RTP data packet, a real-time transport control protocol RTCP data packet.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The performing cell reselection includes: Switching from the current serving cell to a first neighboring cell among at least one neighboring cell, where the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is better than the signal quality of the serving cell, and the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is the cell with the best signal quality among the at least one neighboring cell.

13. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises means for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes: one or more processors, and a memory; The memory is coupled to the one or more processors, and is configured to store computer program codes, where the computer program codes include computer instructions. The one or more processors call the computer instructions to enable the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A chip system, characterized in that: The chip system is applied to a communication device, and the chip system includes one or more processors, and the one or more processors are used to call computer instructions so that the communication device executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium comprises instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

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