Method and apparatus for cell handover

Abstract

A method and device for cell switching are applied to the field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: a terminal device receives a measurement configuration message from an access network device, and performs cell measurement based on the measurement configuration message to obtain a measurement result. When it is judged that the measurement result does not satisfy a reporting condition of a measurement event, the terminal device can start to detect a packet loss rate of a voice packet, so as to decide whether to perform cell reselection based on the packet loss rate of the voice packet. In this way, when the packet loss rate of the voice packet satisfies a cell reselection condition (for example, the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold), RLF can be triggered actively, and the terminal device is reselected to a cell with better signal, so that the impact of the deterioration of the signal quality of the cell on the service of the terminal device (for example, call drop, call silence, service interruption and the like) is reduced as much as possible, thereby ensuring that the call service and even other services of the terminal device can be performed normally.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for cell handover. Background Technology

[0002] Cell handover refers to the process by which a terminal device switches from its current serving cell to another target cell (such as a neighboring cell). Before a cell handover, the base station sends measurement events to the terminal device to measure the cell's signal quality.

[0003] However, when a base station malfunctions or the measurement thresholds configured for the terminal device by the base station are 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 a handover command from the base station, it will remain camped in the cell with poor signal, leading to abnormal services on the terminal device, such as dropped calls, silent calls, slow data speeds, etc., which seriously affects the user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of this, this application provides a method, communication device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product for cell handover, which can minimize the impact of poor cell signal quality on terminal services (such as dropped calls, silent calls, service interruptions, etc.), ensure that the terminal device's call services and even other services can be carried out normally, thereby improving the terminal device's service experience.

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

[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 a first measurement event; then, it performs cell (including serving cell and / or neighboring cell) measurement according to the measurement configuration message and obtains the corresponding measurement results; and, if the measurement results do not meet the reporting conditions, it does not report a measurement report; in the case that the measurement report of the first measurement event is not reported, it performs voice packet loss rate detection; if the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, it triggers a radio link failure (RLF); after triggering the RLF, it performs cell reselection.

[0007] Based on the above technical solution, after receiving the measurement configuration message from the access network device and performing cell measurement, the terminal device can initiate voice packet loss rate detection if it determines that the measurement result does not meet the reporting conditions for the measurement event. This allows it to decide whether to perform cell reselection based on the voice packet loss rate. Thus, when the voice packet loss rate meets the cell reselection conditions (e.g., the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold), it can proactively trigger RLF (Redirecting Live Flow) to reselect to a cell with better signal, minimizing the impact of deteriorated cell signal quality on terminal services (e.g., dropped calls, silent calls, service interruptions, etc.), thereby ensuring the normal operation of the terminal device's call services and other services. Compared to calculating the voice packet loss rate from the network device side, calculating the voice packet loss rate from the terminal device's perspective is more accurate and eliminates latency.

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

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

[0010] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: continuing to camp on the current serving cell if the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than a first packet loss rate threshold. That is, if the packet loss rate of the voice packets is within an acceptable range, then it can continue to camp on the current serving cell to reduce the high power consumption caused by unnecessary handover.

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

[0012] Furthermore, when deciding whether to perform cell reselection, the terminal device can consider not only whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, but also whether the duration is greater than or equal to a preset duration. The duration specifically refers to the duration 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 determining whether the duration is greater than or equal to a second preset duration; triggering an 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 of the packet loss rate of the voice packet being greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is greater than or equal to the second preset duration; and continuing to camp on the current serving cell when the packet loss rate of the voice packet is less than the first packet loss rate threshold and / or the duration of the packet loss rate of the voice packet being greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is less than the second preset duration.

[0014] In some embodiments, the terminal device may report a measurement report when it determines that the reporting conditions for a measurement event are met. Furthermore, to wait for a handover command from the access network device, this embodiment may also introduce a first timer to avoid unnecessary waiting that could impact service experience. This is because, after the terminal device detects that the measurement threshold is met and reports a measurement report, if the network does not issue a handover command to the terminal device, the terminal device will remain camped on its original serving cell. Even if the terminal device measures that a cell with a better signal exists, it will still be forced to camp on the current cell with the weaker signal, leading to service anomalies and severely impacting user experience. For example, service anomalies include, but are not limited to: dropped calls, intermittent calls, slow data network response, and data interruptions.

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

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

[0017] Upon receiving a measurement report of the first measurement event, start the first timer;

[0018] During the operation of the first timer, it is determined 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 the target cell;

[0019] If the switching command is not received when the first timer times out, an RLF is triggered.

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

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

[0022] The switching command is received during the operation of the first timer;

[0023] The user switches from the current serving cell to the target cell according to the handover command.

[0024] Therefore, by introducing a first timer, we can prevent the terminal device from remaining in a cell with poor signal quality due to network device failure to send a handover command to the terminal device due to an anomaly, which helps to improve the service experience of the terminal device.

[0025] In the above implementation method that introduces a first timer, if the terminal device does not receive a handover command from the access network device after reporting the measurement report and before the timer expires, as one implementation method, the terminal device can actively trigger RLF to perform cell reselection. Furthermore, the terminal device can also consider the voice packet loss rate to decide whether to trigger RLF.

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

[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 and before the timer expires, the terminal device can also initiate voice packet loss rate detection; by statistically analyzing the voice packet loss rate, it can decide whether to trigger RLF. 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 camped on the current serving cell.

[0028] Of course, the specific implementation of the terminal device's decision on whether to trigger RLF and perform cell reselection based on the voice packet loss rate also considers other factors (including time factors) as described above, and will not be repeated here. For example, when determining whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, time can also be used as an evaluation factor. Furthermore, when deciding whether to perform cell reselection, in addition to considering whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, the terminal device can further consider whether the duration is greater than or equal to a preset duration.

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

[0030] For example, 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 is understood that the embodiments of this application are intended to ensure that the terminal device is camped in a cell with better signal, regardless of the cell type.

[0032] Optionally, the target cell and the serving cell can also be the same type of cell. For example, both the target cell and the serving cell can be 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 of the measurement event. This application embodiment does not specifically limit the measurement events issued by the access network device. For example, the first measurement event can be any of the following measurement events: A3 measurement event, A5 measurement event, B1 measurement event, and B2 measurement event.

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

[0035] The user switches from the current serving cell to a first neighboring cell among at least one neighboring cells, where the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is better than that of the serving cell, and the first neighboring cell has the best signal quality among the at least one neighboring cells.

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

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

[0038] In one design, the communication device may include modules that perform the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the foregoing aspects. These modules may be hardware circuits, software, or a combination of hardware circuits and software.

[0039] In one design, the communication device is a communication chip, which may include input circuits or interfaces for transmitting information or data, and output circuits or interfaces for receiving information or data.

[0040] In another design, the communication device is a communication equipment, 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 perform the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect described above. The communication device may be configured in the terminal device, or the communication device itself may be the terminal device.

[0042] Thirdly, a communication device is provided, including a processor. The processor is coupled to a memory and can be used to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect described above. Optionally, the communication device further includes a memory. Optionally, the communication device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is 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 can be an input / output interface.

[0045] Fourthly, a processor is provided, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive signals through the input circuit and transmit signals through the output circuit, causing the processor to execute the method in any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0046] In specific implementation, the processor can be one or more chips, the input circuit can be input pins, the output circuit can be output pins, and the processing circuit can be transistors, gate circuits, flip-flops, and various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit can be received and input by, for example, but not limited to, a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit can be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter. Furthermore, the input circuit and the output circuit can be the same circuit, which is used as both the input circuit and the output circuit at different times. This application does not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

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

[0048] Optionally, the processor may be one or more, and the memory may be one or more.

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

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

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

[0052] The processing device mentioned in the fifth aspect above can be one or more chips. The processor in the processing device can be implemented in hardware or software. When implemented in hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented in software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor that reads software code stored in memory. The memory can be integrated into the processor or located outside the processor and exist independently.

[0053] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), which, when the computer program is run, causes a computer to perform the method in any of the possible implementations of the first aspect described above.

[0054] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods in any of the possible implementations of the first aspect described above.

[0055] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a chip system including one or more processors for calling and executing instructions stored in memory, causing the methods in any of the above aspects or possible implementations to be executed. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0056] The chip system may include input circuits or interfaces for transmitting information or data, and output circuits or interfaces for receiving information or data.

[0057] A ninth aspect provides a communication system including one or more of the aforementioned terminal equipment and access network equipment. Optionally, the communication system may further include other devices that communicate with the terminal equipment and / or access network equipment. Attached Figure Description

[0058] Figure 1A This is an example diagram of a communication system applying an embodiment of this application;

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

[0060] Figure 2A This is a schematic flowchart illustrating the normal process for cell handover in an embodiment of this application;

[0061] Figure 2B This is an example diagram of a switching anomaly method according to an embodiment of this application;

[0062] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart of a method for cell handover according to an embodiment of this application;

[0063] Figure 4 This is an example interactive diagram of a method for cell handover according to an embodiment of this application;

[0064] Figure 5 This is a schematic block diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0065] Figure 6 This is another schematic block diagram of the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0066] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the access network device provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

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

[0068] In this application embodiment, "multiple" can be understood as "at least two"; "multiple items" can be understood as "at least two items".

[0069] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) systems, 5th Generation (5G) systems or new radio (NR) systems and future mobile communication systems, vehicle-to-X (V2X) communication, where V2X can include vehicle-to-network (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), etc., Long Term Evolution-Vehicle (LTE-V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), Long Term Evolution-Machine (LTE-M) communication, and machine-to-machine (M2X) communication. Machine (M2M), etc.

[0070] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the terminology used in this application will be briefly explained first. It should be understood that the explanation of some terms can also refer to the explanation in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard protocol.

[0071] 1. Cell: A cell is described 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 points. Each cell is the area formed by the coverage of one or more frequency points. In other words, a cell can be the area within the coverage range of a network device's wireless network. Within this area, terminal devices can reliably communicate with network devices via wireless signals.

[0072] For example, a cell within the coverage area of ​​an NR network is called an NR cell, and a cell within the coverage area of ​​an LTE network is called an LTE cell.

[0073] The cell where a terminal device is currently camped can be called the serving cell. The terminal device can conduct service communications within its serving cell. A neighboring cell refers to an area within the wireless coverage range of a network device that is adjacent to the current serving cell, has a physical location association, and transmits signals on the same or different frequencies. In other words, a neighboring cell refers to a cell that is connected to or adjacent to the current serving cell. Simply put, a neighboring cell can be understood as the "surrounding cells" of the current serving cell. Neighboring cells can also be called adjacent cells, neighboring areas, etc.

[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 measurements on a cell, the measurement results can be characterized by RSRP and / or RSRQ; correspondingly, the measurement threshold (or reporting threshold) can be the RSRP threshold value or the RSRQ threshold value.

[0075] The terminal device can perform cell measurements after receiving a measurement configuration message from the access network device. Optionally, the access network device can configure the measurement period of the terminal device so that the terminal device can periodically measure the service quality of the cell.

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

[0077] In this embodiment of the application, the cell can be replaced by the access network equipment (such as a base station) corresponding to the cell.

[0078] For example, the term "serving cell" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be replaced by the network device corresponding to the serving cell, such as "serving access network device or serving base station".

[0079] For example, the "neighboring cell" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can also be called a non-serving cell. The "neighboring cell" can be replaced by the network device corresponding to the neighboring cell. For example, "neighboring cell" can be replaced by "neighboring access network device or neighboring base station".

[0080] 2. Cell handover (HO)

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

[0082] Cell handover can be intra-site handover or inter-site handover, and this application does not impose specific limitations on this. Intra-site handover refers to the source cell and the target cell belonging to the same network device (e.g., base station). Inter-site handover refers to the source cell and the target cell belonging to different network devices (e.g., base stations).

[0083] In this application, the source cell refers to the cell that provides service to the terminal device before the cell handover; the target cell refers to the cell that provides service 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 handover process.

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

[0086] Measurement configuration messages can be RRC connection reconfiguration messages carrying the `measConfig` element. These messages are sent to the terminal device in the form of `measId`. `measId` is an index of a measurement configuration entry in the database. Each `measId` corresponds to two elements: `measObjectId` and `reportConfigId`. `measObjectId` is the identifier for the measurement object, corresponding to a measurement object configuration item. `reportConfigId` is the identifier for the measurement report, corresponding to a measurement report configuration item. These two elements are at the beginning of the same `measConfig` element. In short, the network device compiles several measurement configuration items into a mapping table and sends the corresponding configurations and mapping relationships to the terminal device. When the terminal device subsequently sends measurement reports 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 measurement configuration messages 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 "surrounding cells" (including the source cell and neighboring cells of the source cell) on the specified RAT and frequency based on the measurement configuration items included in the measurement configuration message issued by the network device, and sends the measurement report corresponding to the measurement event indicated by the measurement configuration message to the source network device.

[0090] Correspondingly, the source network device can receive measurement reports sent by the terminal device.

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

[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 which cell to hand over to based on the measurement report. After making the handover decision, the source network device can perform handover preparation, that is, 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 handover, it can perform 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: cell ID, carrier frequency, target power, and other radio resource configurations and physical resource configurations.

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

[0097] It should be understood that the above description uses LTE and NR networks as examples, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, with the evolution of communication technology, source network devices in future communication networks can inform terminal devices of relevant information about the target cell through corresponding messages or information elements.

[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 complete message to the target cell.

[0100] After receiving the RRC connection reconfiguration message from the source network device, the terminal device terminates its 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 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 has been completed 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 executed by end devices. These predefined measurement reporting types are called "events". The type of "event" that the end device must report is specified by the RRC signaling message sent by the network device (e.g., the RRC connection reconfiguration message in the first step of the handover procedure described above).

[0103] The event types in the measurement report are described in detail below.

[0104] (1) Event types for system switching

[0105] Event A1: Serving cell quality exceeds an absolute threshold (Serving becomes better than threshold), measured in dBm. In other words, Event A1 can be described as the serving cell quality exceeding a preset threshold. Access network equipment configures Event A1 for terminal devices. Based on Event A1, the terminal device performs serving cell measurements. When the signal quality of the serving cell meets the requirements for reporting Event A1, the terminal device will report the measurement report for Event A1.

[0106] Event A2: Serving cell quality falls below an absolute threshold (Serving becomes worse than threshold), measured in dBm. In other words, the A2 event describes poor signal quality in the serving cell where the terminal device is camped; for example, the RSRP value of the serving cell is less than the RSRP threshold. The A2 measurement event can be used to initiate measurements between certain cells. After an A2 measurement event occurs, subsequent operations such as cell handover may take place.

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

[0108] Event A4: The quality of a neighboring cell is better than an absolute threshold, measured in dBm.

[0109] Event A5: The quality of the serving cell is lower than an absolute threshold 1, and the quality of the neighboring cell is higher than an absolute threshold 2 (SpCell becomes worse than threshold 1 and neighbor becomes better than threshold 2), in dBm.

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

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

[0112] Event B1: Inter-system neighbor becomes better than a certain absolute threshold, measured in dBm. In other words, event B1 indicates that the measured signal quality of an 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 a value that meets the B1 event reporting threshold, it reports a B1 measurement report. Once the B1 measurement report is reported, the access network device initiates an inter-system handover. For example, the source access network device (or the access network device of the serving cell) will send a handover command to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to hand over to an inter-system neighbor cell.

[0113] Event B2: The serving cell is below an absolute threshold 1, and the inter-system neighboring cell is better than an absolute threshold 2 (PCell becomes worse than threshold 1 and inter-system neighboring cell becomes better than threshold 2), in dBm.

[0114] It is understood that the measurement events and event types mentioned in this application refer to the same meaning.

[0115] It is also understood that the threshold values ​​involved in the above events may be the same as or different from the threshold values ​​defined in the relevant standard protocols. This application embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0116] It should be understood that the naming of each event described above is merely an exemplary description, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. For example, event A3 can also be called A3 measurement event; correspondingly, the measurement report reported by the terminal device for the A3 measurement event can be called A3 measurement report.

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

[0118] refer to Figure 1A , Figure 1A This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a mobile communication system used in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1A As shown, the mobile communication system includes core network equipment 110, radio access network equipment 120, and at least one terminal device (such as...). Figure 1AThe terminal devices 130 and 140 are included in this document. The terminal devices connect wirelessly to the wireless access network equipment, which in turn connects wirelessly or via a wired connection to the core network equipment. The core network equipment and the wireless access network equipment can be independent physical devices, or the functions of the core network equipment and the logical functions of the wireless access network equipment can be integrated onto the same physical device. Alternatively, a single physical device can integrate some of the functions of the core network equipment and some of the functions of the wireless access network equipment. The terminal devices can be fixed in location or mobile.

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

[0120] Terminal equipment can 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 equipment, user agent, or user equipment, etc.

[0121] Terminal devices can be devices that provide voice / data connectivity to users, such as handheld devices with wireless connectivity, in-vehicle devices, etc. Currently, examples of terminals include: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals with cloud gaming capabilities, wireless terminals in self-driving vehicles, 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, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks, or future public land mobile communication networks. Terminal devices in a mobile network (PLMN), etc., are not limited to this in the embodiments of this application.

[0122] By way of example and not limitation, in this embodiment, the terminal device can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices, are a general term for devices that utilize wearable technology to intelligently design and develop everyday wearables, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. Wearable devices are portable devices that are worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not merely hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are feature-rich, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on a smartphone, such as smartwatches or smart glasses, as well as those that focus on a specific type of application function and require the use of other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0123] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the terminal device can also be a terminal device in an Internet of Things (IoT) system. IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and its main technical feature is connecting objects to networks through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network of human-machine interconnection and machine-to-machine interconnection. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the terminal device.

[0124] A radio access network (RAN) device is an access device that enables terminal devices to access a mobile communication system wirelessly. It can be a 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 constituting a gNB or transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or a distributed unit (DU). The embodiments in this application do not limit the specific technology or device form used in the radio access network device. In some deployments, the gNB may include a central unit (CU) and a DU, with the CU and DU respectively implementing some of the gNB's functions. For example, the CU is responsible for handling non-real-time protocols and services, implementing radio resource control (RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer functions. The DU is responsible for handling physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer, and physical (PHY) layer. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (AAU). The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, radio frequency processing, and related functions of the active antenna. Since RRC layer information ultimately becomes PHY layer information, or is derived from PHY layer information, in this architecture, higher-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered as being sent by the DU, or by the DU+AAU. It is understood that network devices can be one or more of the following: CU nodes, DU nodes, and AAU nodes. Furthermore, the CU can function as a network device in the access network or as a network device in the core network (CN); this application does not limit this.

[0125] Wireless access network equipment and terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and they 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] Communication between wireless access network devices and terminal devices, as well as between terminal devices, can be conducted using licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously. Communication between wireless access network devices and terminal devices, as well as between terminal devices, can also be conducted using spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or simultaneously using both spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used between wireless access network devices and terminal devices.

[0127] In this embodiment, the terminal device or network device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on top of 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 Linux, Unix, Android, iOS, or Windows. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. Furthermore, this embodiment does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution entity of the method provided in this embodiment, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in this embodiment by running a program that records the code of the method provided in this embodiment. For example, the execution entity of the method provided in this embodiment can be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or network device that can call and execute a program.

[0128] Furthermore, various aspects or features of this application can be implemented as methods, apparatus, or articles of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein encompasses a computer program accessible 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), optical discs (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). Additionally, 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 A schematic diagram of another network architecture according to an embodiment of this application is shown. For example... Figure 1B As shown, this network architecture includes at least terminal equipment and at least two cells. The at least two cells include cell A, belonging to access network device a, and cell B, belonging to access network device b. (As shown...) Figure 1B As shown, the terminal device is currently camped in cell A. The terminal device's movement trajectory can move from cell A to cell B. Cell B can be one of at least one of the neighboring cells of cell A.

[0130] It should be understood that Figure 1B The cells A and B shown in the diagram can be of the same type or different types; no specific limitation is made in this regard.

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

[0132] The following combination Figure 2A Introducing the normal procedure for cell handover and its integration Figure 2B This section describes the process of service interruption caused by abnormal cell handover.

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

[0134] Step 0: The terminal device is residing on cell A and is engaged in a service (e.g., making a call, accessing the internet).

[0135] In other words, the terminal device is performing services such as making calls and accessing the Internet based on its wireless connection with 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 shown a) sends a measurement configuration message to the terminal device.

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

[0138] Cell A's neighboring cells include cell B. At this moment, the terminal device is moving from cell A to cell B, the signal in cell A weakens, and the signal in cell B strengthens.

[0139] Step 3: When the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions for event A3 are met based on the measurement results (or measurement results), it sends 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 decision based on the A3 MR, determines the target cell as 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 (e.g., Figure 1B The access network device b) communicates to determine whether cell B allows the terminal device to access.

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

[0142] This RRC connection reconfiguration message is used to instruct the terminal device to hand over to cell B. Alternatively, the RRC connection reconfiguration message includes a handover command, which instructs the terminal device to hand over to the target cell, such as 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 complete, the terminal device sends an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message to the access network device corresponding to cell B. After handover to cell B, the terminal device can remain on cell B to perform services such as making calls and accessing the internet.

[0145] Normally, when a network device in cell A sends an A3 measurement event to a terminal device, if it receives a measurement report of the A3 measurement event from the terminal device, it will issue a handover command to the terminal device. However, if the network device in cell A malfunctions, it may not issue a handover command to the terminal device, causing the terminal device to remain camped in a cell with poor signal strength and unable to switch to a cell with stronger signal quality. Since the serving cell network (such as NR) of the terminal device has poor signal coverage, this can lead to service anomalies for the terminal device, such as intermittent calls, dropped calls, interrupted calls, slow data speeds, and data interruptions, severely impacting the user experience.

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

[0147] Step 0: The terminal device is residing on cell A and is engaged in a service (e.g., making a call, accessing the internet).

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

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

[0150] Step 3: When the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions for event A3 are met based on the measurement results, it sends 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 did not send an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the terminal device.

[0152] As mentioned earlier, since the terminal device did not receive the RRC connection reconfiguration message or handover command from the access network device corresponding to cell a, the terminal device remains camped in cell A and cannot hand over to cell B with better signal quality. Meanwhile, the signal quality of cell A has deteriorated, affecting the terminal device's service experience.

[0153] The above illustrates a situation where a cell handover anomaly occurs when a terminal device reports a measurement report but fails to receive a handover command. However, another scenario can also lead to cell handover anomalies. In some embodiments, the signal quality of cell A may have deteriorated significantly, but due to an unreasonable measurement threshold (or reporting threshold) configured for the terminal device by the network equipment in cell A, the terminal device is unable to reach the measurement threshold required to report a measurement report. Since the terminal device does not report a measurement report, it will not receive a handover command and will remain stationary in cell A, thus impacting service experience.

[0154] In view of this, embodiments of this application propose a method and apparatus for cell handover. 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 initiate a voice packet loss rate detection process. By judging the voice packet loss rate, it can autonomously decide whether to perform cell reselection, thereby maximizing the service experience. Furthermore, if the measurement result reaches the network device's measurement result, the terminal device can introduce a timer to wait for the handover command sent by the network device. During the timer's runtime, if the terminal device receives a handover command, it switches to the target cell according to the handover command; if no handover command is received before the timer expires, the terminal device can actively trigger RLF to reselect to another cell with better signal, thereby reducing the time the terminal device waits for the handover command and improving the user communication experience.

[0155] The following will combine Figure 3 and Figure 4 This application describes a method for cell handover according to embodiments of the present application.

[0156] refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a method for cell handover according to an embodiment of this application. It can be understood that... Figure 3 The terminal equipment involved can be Figure 1A The terminal device (e.g., terminal device 130 or terminal device 140) or Figure 1B The term "terminal device" can also refer to the components within a terminal device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system).

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

[0158] Step 300: The terminal device resides in the serving cell to conduct business.

[0159] Step 300 and the aforementioned Figure 2A Step 0 is similar. For example, the terminal device resides on cell A to perform services.

[0160] This application does not limit the specific types of services performed by the terminal device while it is stationed in cell A. For example, the terminal device may conduct voice calls with a peer device. Or, the terminal device may access the internet.

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

[0162] The measurement configuration message can be understood as described above. Figure 2AThe measurement configuration message in the document. For a description of the measurement configuration message, please refer to the previous text.

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

[0164] This 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 can be one or more of the following: A3 event, A5 event, B1 event, and 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 reporting threshold or measurement threshold).

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

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

[0168] It is understandable that the specific object of measurement performed by the terminal device can depend on the content included in the measurement configuration message. For example, if the measurement configuration message includes configuration information for A3 or A5 events, the terminal device can measure the signal quality of the serving cell and neighboring cells separately. As another example, if the measurement configuration message includes configuration information for B1 events, the terminal device can measure the signal quality of neighboring cells.

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

[0170] After obtaining the measurement results, the terminal device can determine whether the reporting conditions for the measurement event are met by combining the reporting conditions of the measurement event.

[0171] Step 303: The terminal device determines whether the reporting conditions for the first measurement event are met.

[0172] For step 303, 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 can report a measurement report, for example, by executing step 304-2; if the measurement result does not meet the reporting conditions, the terminal device can start the voice packet loss rate detection process, for example, by executing step 304-1.

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

[0174] It is understood that this description only uses event A3 as an example, and the embodiments of this application are not limited to this. For example, the measurement event can also be event A5, event B1, or event B2; the corresponding reporting conditions can also include the reporting threshold corresponding to the measurement event.

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

[0176] In other words, if the judgment result of the aforementioned step 303 is "no", then the terminal device can start the packet loss rate statistics of voice packets so as to accurately count the packet loss of the affected services after the signal quality of the serving cell deteriorates, and then make the next decision based on the statistical packet loss rate.

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

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

[0179] RTCP is used to provide Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees 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 statistical data such as the number of packets sent and the number of lost packets. Based on RTCP packets, the terminal device dynamically changes the transmission rate. In this embodiment, the terminal device can understand RTCP packets to perform cell reselection decisions.

[0180] It's important to note that calculating voice packet loss rate from the terminal device's perspective is more accurate and eliminates latency compared to calculating it from the network device's side. This is because when a terminal device conducts a call with another device, the data packets transmitted between them are forwarded through the network device. The terminal device can know the amount of data packets it sends and the amount of data packets lost; for example, it can monitor RTP and / or RTCP packets in real time. However, the network device must receive voice packets from the terminal device before forwarding them, and receiving voice packets from the terminal device takes time. Therefore, calculating the voice packet loss rate from the network device will inevitably involve some latency or loss. Furthermore, if the network device itself malfunctions, it cannot perform packet loss rate calculations. Therefore, calculating the voice packet loss rate from the terminal device is superior to calculating it from the network device.

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

[0182] After initiating the packet loss rate detection for 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 under poor cell signal conditions, or in other words, the degree of impact on user experience. The value of the first packet loss rate threshold can be a reasonable threshold value set according to the actual situation. This application embodiment does not limit the specific value of the first packet loss rate threshold.

[0184] For 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, 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, the terminal device can continue to camp on the current serving cell, such as executing step 305-2.

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

[0186] It should be understood that the above example is only described with the first packet loss rate threshold of 30% as an example, and the embodiments of this application are not limited to this. That is to say, the first packet loss rate threshold can also be other configured threshold values.

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

[0188] In other words, if the terminal device determines that the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold within a specified time, it means that the signal quality has deteriorated rapidly in a short period of time and it is necessary to reselect a cell as soon as possible to minimize the impact on the terminal service. For example, step 306 can be executed. If the terminal device determines that the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, then step 305-2 can be executed to temporarily camp on the current serving cell in order to avoid power consumption caused by unnecessary handover.

[0189] This application does not specifically limit the value of the first preset duration in its embodiments. For example, the first preset duration is 5 seconds.

[0190] It should be understood that step 305-1 is described only as an example using whether the packet loss rate of the voice packet is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold as a judgment condition, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto. In fact, step 305-1 can also be replaced with other constraints that use the packet loss rate of the voice packet as a judgment criterion. For example, step 305-1 can be replaced with "determining whether the packet loss rate of the voice packet is within a preset range, the preset range may be composed of a first packet loss rate threshold and a second packet loss rate threshold, the second packet loss rate threshold being 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 determination result of the aforementioned determination step 305-1 is "no", then step 305-2 can be executed. The terminal device continues to camp on the current serving cell. Of course, while camping on the current serving cell, if the terminal device receives a measurement configuration message, it can still perform relevant measurements in order to make a cell handover decision. For example, after step 305-2, the execution can 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 packet loss rate of voice packets is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, it may actively trigger the RLF procedure. The advantage of the terminal device actively triggering the RLF is that it can speed up the cell reselection process and reduce the waiting time.

[0195] Optionally, the terminal device actively triggering the RLF procedure includes: the terminal device actively disconnecting the radio link with the access network equipment of the serving cell in order to select a cell with better signal and restore the affected services as soon as possible (e.g., restore calls or restore internet access). This can minimize the service interruption time, or the service lag time, and improve the user experience.

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

[0197] In some embodiments, after the terminal device actively triggers the RLF procedure, a cell reselection process can be performed. Exemplarily, the terminal device performing the cell reselection process includes: performing cell reselection and RRC connection reconstruction procedures according to 3GPP standard procedures, in order to select a network with better signal for RRC connection. The cell reselection procedure and / or RRC connection reconstruction procedure can be found in descriptions in related technologies; for brevity, they will not be repeated here.

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

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

[0200] In this embodiment, when the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions for a measurement event are not met, it can initiate voice packet loss rate detection to determine whether to perform cell reselection based on the voice packet loss rate. Thus, when the voice packet loss rate meets the cell reselection conditions (e.g., the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold), it can proactively trigger RLF to reselect to a cell with better signal, minimizing the impact of deteriorated cell signal quality on terminal services (e.g., dropped calls, silent calls, service interruptions, etc.), thereby ensuring that the terminal device's call services and other services can operate normally.

[0201] Furthermore, when deciding whether to perform cell reselection, the terminal device can consider not only whether the voice packet loss rate is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, but also whether the duration is greater than or equal to a preset duration. The duration specifically refers to the duration 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 also includes:

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

[0204] This application does not limit the specific value of the preset duration in its embodiments. The second preset duration can be a reasonable threshold value set based on actual needs. For example, the preset duration is 7 seconds.

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

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

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

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

[0209] The above text combined Figure 3 This describes the process where, when the terminal device determines that the reporting conditions for the first measurement event are not met, the terminal device does not report a measurement report, and subsequently, the terminal device decides whether to perform cell reselection based on the voice packet loss rate. This application also provides the process after the terminal device reports a measurement report when the reporting conditions for the measurement event are met, as described below. Figure 3 To further describe, this refers to the processing procedure of the branch in step 303 where the judgment result is "yes". The branch in step 303 where the judgment result is "yes" and the branch where the judgment result is "no" can be implemented in combination or independently, and this application embodiment 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 includes at least the following steps:

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

[0212] In some embodiments, the terminal device may report a measurement report when it determines that the reporting conditions for a measurement event are met. Furthermore, to wait for a handover command from the access network device, this embodiment may also introduce a first timer to avoid unnecessary waiting that could impact service experience. This is because, after the terminal device detects that the measurement threshold is met and reports a measurement report, if the network does not issue a handover command to the terminal device, the terminal device will remain camped on its original serving cell. Even if the terminal device measures that a cell with a better signal exists, it will still be forced to camp on the current cell with the weaker signal, leading to service anomalies and severely impacting user experience. For example, service anomalies include, but are not limited to: dropped calls, intermittent calls, slow data network response, and data interruptions.

[0213] This application does not limit the specific timing for starting the first timer. For example, the terminal device may start the first timer after reporting the measurement report. Or, the terminal device may start the first timer at the same time as reporting the measurement report.

[0214] This application does not specifically limit the runtime of the first timer. The runtime of the first timer can be a reasonable duration set based on actual needs.

[0215] It should be understood that the embodiments in this application are described using only a first timer as an example, and the embodiments in this application 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 schemes in the embodiments of this application to replace the above-mentioned first timer in order to achieve the same purpose as introducing the first timer in the embodiments of this application.

[0216] Step 308: The terminal device determines whether a switching command was received during the operation of the first timer.

[0217] In other words, during the first timer period, the terminal device can determine whether it has received a handover command from the access network device. If the terminal device receives a handover command during the first timer period, it can perform cell handover according to the handover command, for example, by executing step 309.

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

[0219] For example, if the terminal device does not receive a handover command before the first timer expires, the terminal device may choose to actively trigger an RLF (Redirecting Request for Connection). After triggering the RLF procedure, the terminal device performs cell reselection and sends an RRC (Re-establishment Request for Control) request to the access network device corresponding to the selected cell. It then establishes an RRC connection with the access network device corresponding to the selected cell and continues the aforementioned services performed in the serving cell based on this RRC connection. By introducing a first timer to monitor whether a handover command is received within a specified time, the duration of service interruptions caused by unsuccessful cell handover can be reduced, improving the user's communication experience.

[0220] It is understandable 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 can choose to initiate voice packet loss rate detection; that is, by statistically analyzing the voice packet loss situation, it decides whether to actively trigger an RLF or continue camping on the serving cell. The specific process can be referred to the descriptions of steps 304-1, 305-1, 305-2, 305-3, 306, and 307 above, and will not be repeated here. Step 309: The terminal device switches from the current serving cell to the target cell.

[0222] In other words, when the reporting conditions for a measurement event are met, the terminal device reports a measurement report of the measurement event. After reporting the measurement report, if the terminal device receives a handover command (or handover indication) from the access network device, it switches to a neighboring cell with 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 relatively poor, while the signal quality of the neighboring cell is better, it can switch to the neighboring cell.

[0223] The embodiments of this application do not provide a detailed description of the specific process of cell handover; for details, please refer to relevant cell handover technologies.

[0224] from Figure 3 As shown in the flowchart of the branch where the judgment result of step 303 is "yes", by introducing the first timer, it can be seen that the terminal device will not remain in the cell with poor signal quality due to the network device failing to send a handover command to the terminal device due to an anomaly, which helps to improve the service experience of the terminal device.

[0225] For ease of understanding, the following is combined with Figure 4 The interactive examples in the document describe the method for cell handover in embodiments of this application.

[0226] refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 This is a schematic interactive diagram illustrating a method for cell handover according to an embodiment of this application. It can be understood that... Figure 4 The terminal device in the middle can be Figure 1A The terminal device (e.g., terminal device 130 or terminal device 140) or Figure 1B The term "terminal device" can also refer to the components within a terminal device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system). Figure 4 The access network equipment of the serving cell in the middle can be Figure 1A Access network equipment 120 or Figure 1B The term "access network device 'a'" can also refer to a component within the access network device (such as a processor, chip, or chip system).

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

[0228] It's understandable. Figure 4 Some 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 it can be newly defined messages, channels, signals, or signaling; there are no specific limitations on this. For example... Figure 4 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0229] Step 401: The terminal device is residing on the serving cell (e.g., 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 a description of the measurement configuration message, please refer to the previous text. 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 a brief introduction to the A3 event, please refer to the previous text; for simplicity, it will not be repeated here.

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

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

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

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

[0237] Step 405-1: When the event reporting conditions are 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 the first timer.

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

[0240] Steps 405-1 and 405-2 and Figure 3 Step 304-2 is similar to the previous step, and the relevant description can be found in the description of step 304-2 above. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0241] During the first timer operation, 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 handover command; in step 410-2, the terminal device performs cell handover according to the handover command, for example, handing over to the target neighboring cell and establishing a wireless connection with the access network device of the target neighboring cell.

[0242] If no RRC connection reconfiguration message is received from the access network device of the serving cell before the first timer expires, then proceed to step 407-1.

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

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

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

[0246] Step 408-2: The terminal device performs cell reselection and rebuilds the RRC connection. For example, the terminal device establishes a connection with the access network equipment 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 be referred to the above. Figure 3 For the sake of brevity, the descriptions of the corresponding steps involved will not be repeated here.

[0249] exist Figure 4In the interactive process shown, after receiving a measurement configuration message from the access network device, the terminal device performs corresponding cell measurements based on the measurement configuration message and obtains the measurement results. The measurement objects include, but are not limited to, the serving cell and / or neighboring cells. If the measurement results do not meet the reporting conditions, the terminal device does not report a measurement report and initiates voice packet loss rate detection. When the voice packet loss rate is determined to be greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, the terminal device actively triggers a Redirect Response Function (RLF) and performs cell reselection to switch to a cell with better signal. This allows for early switching to a cell with better signal when service anomalies are detected (e.g., dropped calls, intermittent calls, silence, data service interruptions, etc.), improving the user's communication experience. If the measurement results meet the reporting conditions, the terminal device reports a measurement report and starts a first timer. If no handover command is received after the first timer expires, the terminal device actively triggers an RLF and performs cell reselection, minimizing unnecessary waiting time and allowing the terminal device to switch to a network with better signal coverage as early as possible to perform services.

[0250] It should be understood that Figure 3 and Figure 4 The flowcharts or interactive diagrams shown are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the embodiments of this application to the examples illustrated. In fact, those skilled in the art can interpret the embodiments based on the examples shown. Figure 3 and Figure 4 The examples in the document can be transformed into equivalent ways to obtain more implementations.

[0251] It should also be understood that Figure 4 The text only shows... Figure 3 The examples provided are partial implementations of the interaction methods described herein, but the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto.

[0252] The above text combined Figures 1A to 4 This application describes in detail the method for cell handover provided in its embodiments. The following will combine... Figures 5 to 7 The device embodiments of this application are described in detail below. It should be understood that the communication device of this application embodiment can execute the various communication methods of the foregoing embodiments of this application, that is, the specific working processes of the various products below can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0253] In the embodiments described above, the terminal device may execute some or all of the steps in each embodiment. These steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations thereof may also be performed in the embodiments of this application. Furthermore, the steps may be executed in different orders as presented in the embodiments, and it is not necessary to execute all the operations in the embodiments of this application. Moreover, the sequence number of each step does not imply 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 this application.

[0254] Figure 5 This is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this 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 embodiments, or a component (such as a circuit, chip, or chip system) configured in the terminal device.

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

[0257] The processing unit 1420 is used to perform cell measurement according to the measurement configuration message and obtain measurement results;

[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 conditions of the first measurement event;

[0259] The processing unit 1420 is also configured to perform packet loss rate detection of voice packets in the absence of a measurement report of the first measurement event being 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 also used to perform cell reselection after triggering RLF.

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

[0263] Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 1420 is further configured 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 of the packet loss rate of the voice packet being 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 camping in the current serving cell if the packet loss rate of the voice packet 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, if the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than the first packet loss rate threshold within the first preset time period, the device continues to reside 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 the reporting conditions of the first measurement event are met;

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

[0269] The processing unit 1420 is further configured to determine, during the operation of the first timer, 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 the target cell;

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

[0271] The processing unit 1420 is also used to perform cell reselection after triggering RLF.

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

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

[0274] Optionally, as one embodiment, 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.

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

[0276] Optionally, as one embodiment, the voice packet includes one or more of the following: Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) packets and Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) packets.

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

[0278] The user switches from the current serving cell to a first neighboring cell among at least one neighboring cells, where the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is better than that of the serving cell, and the first neighboring cell has the best signal quality among the at least one neighboring cells.

[0279] It should be understood that the communication device 1400 may correspond to the embodiments according to this application. Figures 2A to 4 The terminal device in the method, the communication device 1400 may include a device for performing Figures 2A to 4 The unit is the terminal device executing the method. Furthermore, each unit in the communication device 1400 and the aforementioned other operations and / or functions are respectively for implementing... 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, it can correspond to Figure 6 The transceiver 1520 in the communication device 1500 shown is illustrated. The processing unit 1420 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented by at least one processor, for example, a processor corresponding to… Figure 6 The processor 1510 in the communication device 1500 shown in the figure.

[0281] It should also be understood that when the communication device 1400 is a chip or chip system configured in the aforementioned terminal 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.

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

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

[0284] Optionally, as an embodiment, the transceiver unit 1410 is further configured to send a handover command to the terminal device after receiving a measurement report of the first measurement event. The handover command instructs the terminal device to hand over to the target cell. The terminal device receives the handover command during the execution of a first timer. The first timer is started by the terminal device when it 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 embodiments of this application, and the communication device 1400 may include functions for performing... Figure 4 The method is a unit executed by the access network equipment of the serving cell. Furthermore, each unit in the communication device 1400 and the other operations and / or functions described above are respectively for implementing... Figure 4 The corresponding process 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, it can correspond to... Figure 6 The transceiver 1520 or in the communication device 1500 shown in the figure Figure 7 The base station 1600 shown in the diagram contains an RRU 1610. The processing unit 1420 in the communication device 1400 can be implemented by at least one processor, for example, a processor corresponding to... Figure 6 The processor 1510 or in the communication device 1500 shown in the figure Figure 7 The base station 1600 shown in the figure contains the BBU 1620.

[0287] It should also be understood that when the communication device 1400 is a chip or chip system configured in the aforementioned 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 This is another schematic block diagram of the communication device 1500 provided in the embodiments of this application. For example... Figure 6 As shown, the communication device 1500 includes a processor 1510, a transceiver 1520, and a memory 1530. The processor 1510, transceiver 1520, and memory 1530 communicate with each other via an internal connection. The memory 1530 stores instructions, and the processor 1510 executes the instructions stored in the memory 1530 to control the transceiver 1520 to transmit and / or receive signals.

[0289] Optionally, the memory 1530 may include read-only memory and random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include 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 method embodiments and may be used to execute the various steps and / or processes executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments. 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 method embodiments corresponding to the terminal device.

[0291] Alternatively, the communication device 1500 described above may be an access network device as described in the preceding embodiments, and may be used to execute the various steps and / or processes executed by the access network device in the above method embodiments. 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 method embodiments corresponding to the access network device.

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

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

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

[0295] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the access network device provided in an embodiment of this application, for example, a schematic diagram of a base station. The base station 1600 can be applied to, for example... Figure 1AIn the system shown, the functions of the target access network device or the source access network device in the above 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 (BBU) (also referred to as distributed units (DU)) 1620.

[0296] The RRU 1610 can be referred to as a transceiver unit, and... Figure 5 The transceiver unit 1410 corresponds to this. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1610 can also be called a transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver, etc., and it 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 circuit), and the transmitting unit may correspond to a transmitter (or transmitter circuit). The RRU 1610 part is mainly used for the transmission and reception of radio frequency signals and the conversion between radio frequency signals and baseband signals, such as for sending data packets to terminal devices. The BBU 1620 part is mainly used for baseband processing and base station control, etc. The RRU 1610 and BBU 1620 can be physically set together or physically separated, i.e., a distributed base station.

[0297] The BBU 1620 is the control center of the base station, also known as the processing unit, and can communicate with... Figure 5 The processing unit 1420 in the diagram is mainly used to complete baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spreading, etc. For example, the BBU (processing unit) can be used to control the base station to execute the operation process of the access network equipment in the above method embodiment, such as generating the first configuration parameter information mentioned above.

[0298] In one example, the BBU 1620 can be composed of one or more single boards. Multiple single boards can collectively support a single access standard wireless access network (such as an LTE network), or they can each support different access standards wireless access networks (such as LTE, 5G, 6G, 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, such as controlling the base station to execute the operation procedures related to the network device in the above method embodiments. The memory 1621 and the processor 1622 can serve one or more single boards. That is, each single board can have its own memory and processor, or multiple single boards can share the same memory and processor. Furthermore, each single board can also have necessary circuitry.

[0299] It should be understood that Figure 7 The base station 1600 shown can achieve Figure 4 The illustrated method embodiments involve various processes of the access network equipment of the serving cell. The operations and / or functions of each module in the base station 1600 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here.

[0300] The BBU 1620 described above can be used to perform the actions implemented internally by the access network device as described in the preceding method embodiments, while the RRU 1610 can be used to perform the actions sent or received by the access network device as described in the preceding method embodiments, such as sending to or receiving from the terminal device. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the preceding method embodiments; they will not be repeated here.

[0301] This application also provides a processing apparatus, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method for cell handover in any of the above method embodiments.

[0302] It should be understood that the aforementioned processing device can be one or more chips. For example, the processing device can 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] In implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by integrated logic circuits in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software modules can reside in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are omitted here.

[0304] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiments can be completed by the integrated logic circuitry in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software form. The 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 devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can be located in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above methods.

[0305] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory used in 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 embodiments of this application, this application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute... Figure 3 or Figure 4 The method of the embodiment shown or any of the preceding embodiments.

[0307] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program code, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform... Figure 3 or Figure 4 The method of the embodiment shown or any of the preceding embodiments.

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

[0309] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this 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 also include other devices that communicate with terminal devices and / or access network devices.

[0311] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it can be implemented, in whole or in part, as 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 this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state disks (SSDs)).

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

[0313] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," etc., are used to refer to computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, combinations 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. As illustrated, applications running on computing devices and computing devices can both be components. One or more components may reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and components may be located on a single computer and / or distributed among two or more computers. Furthermore, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media on which various data structures are stored. 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 between 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 recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples 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 implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art 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 understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing 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, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0317] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. 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 the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0318] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0319] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as 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 this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0320] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the sequence number of each process does not imply 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 this application.

[0321] Furthermore, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably in this paper. The term "and / or" in this paper merely describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. Additionally, the character " / " in this paper generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B.

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

[0323] For example, expressions like "the item includes at least one of the following: A, B, and C" appearing in the embodiments of this application generally mean, unless otherwise specified, 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 uses three elements, A, B, and C, as examples to illustrate the possible entries for the item. When expressed as "the item includes at least one of the following: A, B, ..., and X," that is, when the expression contains more elements, then the applicable entries for the item can also be obtained according to the aforementioned rules.

[0324] In summary, the above description is merely 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 substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within 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: Receive a measurement configuration message from an access network device, the measurement configuration message including configuration information for a first measurement event; Perform cell measurements according to the measurement configuration message and obtain the measurement results; If the measurement result does not meet the reporting conditions for the first measurement event, the measurement report for the first measurement event will not be reported. If a measurement report for the first measurement event is not submitted, perform packet loss rate detection for the voice packets; If the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold, a Radio Link Failure (RLF) is triggered. After triggering RLF, cell reselection is performed.

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

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The step of triggering 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 packet is greater than or equal to a first packet loss rate threshold, and the duration of the packet loss rate of the voice packet being greater than or equal to the first packet loss rate threshold is greater than or equal to a second preset duration, an RLF is triggered.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, the device continues to camp on the current serving cell.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of continuing to camp on the current serving cell when the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than a first packet loss rate threshold includes: If the packet loss rate of the voice packet is less than the first packet loss rate threshold, and the duration during 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, the user continues to reside in the current serving cell. Alternatively, if the packet loss rate of the voice packets is less than the first packet loss rate threshold within the first preset time period, the device continues to reside in the current serving cell.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: When the reporting conditions for the first measurement event are met, a measurement report of the first measurement event is reported to the access network device; Upon receiving a measurement report of the first measurement event, start the first timer; During the operation of the first timer, it is determined 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 the target cell; If the switching command is not received when the first timer times out, an RLF is triggered. After triggering RLF, cell reselection is performed.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, If the first timer times out and no switching command is received, an RLF is triggered, including: If the first timer times out and no switching command is received, perform a voice packet loss rate detection. If the packet loss rate of the voice packets is greater than or equal to the 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 includes: The switching command is received during the operation of the first timer; The user switches from the current serving cell to the target cell according to the handover command.

9. The method according to claim 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 an NR cell, and the serving cell is an LTE cell.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first measurement event is any of the following measurement events: measurement event A3, measurement event A5, measurement event B1, and measurement event B2.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The voice packet includes one or more of the following: Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) data packets and Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) data packets.

12. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The cell reselection process includes: The user switches from the current serving cell to a first neighboring cell among at least one neighboring cells, where the signal quality of the first neighboring cell is better than that of the serving cell, and the first neighboring cell has the best signal quality among the at least one neighboring cells.

13. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes units for implementing the method as described in 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, the memory being used to store computer program code, the computer program code including computer instructions, the one or more processors invoking the computer instructions to cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A chip system, characterized in that, The chip system is applied to a communication device, the chip system including one or more processors, the one or more processors being used to invoke computer instructions to cause the communication device to perform 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 includes instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

Images