Inter-base station handover method, apparatus and network device based on super cell

Abstract

The application provides a super cell-based inter-base station switching method, device and network equipment, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: a gateway receives a first switching request message sent by a core network, and determines a small base station matching a super cell identifier in the first switching request message; after receiving a first switching completion message sent by a target small base station in the small base station, the first real cell identifier of a cell where a user equipment under the target small base station is located carried in the first switching completion message is replaced by the super cell identifier, and a second switching completion message carrying the super cell identifier is sent to the core network. The scheme of the application can ensure that the cell identifier reported to the core network when the switching is completed matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, avoids the misjudgment of the core network as the switching failure, and solves the problem of the inter-base station switching failure caused by the fact that the small base stations in the super cell may belong to different gateways.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a handover method and device between base stations based on super cell and network equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] The handover between base stations refers to the process that a user equipment (such as a mobile phone) is switched from one base station (i.e. a radio signal transmitting and receiving device) to another base station when moving. When the user equipment moves to a certain base station, the user equipment is served by the base station.

[0003] The macro base station is a large power base station, which can provide a wide range of coverage and is connected to the core network of the operator through a dedicated line. The small base station (also known as micro base station) covers the home, small business and outdoor small coverage in the operator network, and is used to solve the problem of weak coverage, which is a beneficial supplement to the macro base station. The small base station is usually connected to the core network of the operator through a gateway. When the user equipment enters the coverage of the small base station from the coverage of the macro base station, the user equipment detects that the signal strength of the small base station is stronger than that of the macro base station or other strategies, and the user equipment needs to be switched to the small base station to provide better mobile network service.

[0004] To realize the handover of the user equipment from the macro base station to the small base station, the cells of the small base station need to be added to the neighboring area of the macro base station. However, in the scenario of large-scale deployment of small base stations, the number of small base stations is large and their locations are difficult to determine, and the number of neighboring area lists of the macro base station is limited, so it is difficult to configure a large number of neighboring area information of the small base station for each macro base station. In view of this, in the related art, the operator can group multiple small base stations into a group, use the same cell identifier, and form a super cell. In the handover process, the super cell composed of the small base stations can be located according to the neighboring area information. Since the small base stations in the super cell may belong to different gateways (which can be regarded as macro base stations) on the gateway side, and the real cell identifier carried by the small base station under the gateway corresponding to the non-super cell does not match the gateway identifier (i.e. the neighboring macro base station identifier) corresponding to the super cell, the core network may be rejected, resulting in handover failure. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a handover method and device between base stations based on super cell and network equipment to solve the problem of handover failure between base stations caused by the fact that the small base stations in the super cell may belong to different gateways on the gateway side.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a handover method between base stations based on super cell, applied to a gateway, which comprises:

[0007] determining a small cell base station matching the super cell identity; wherein the super cell identity is obtained by the gateway from a first handover request message received from the core network;

[0008] receiving a second handover request message sent by a gateway, the second handover request message being used to request to handover a user equipment from a source macro base station to a small cell base station in the super cell;

[0009] In a second aspect, the present application provides a super cell based inter-base station handover method, applied to a small cell base station in the super cell; the super cell based inter-base station handover method comprises:

[0010] receiving a second handover request message sent by a gateway, the second handover request message being used to request to handover a user equipment from a source macro base station to a small cell base station in the super cell;

[0011] sending a first handover request response message to the gateway, so that the gateway sends a second handover request response message to a core network; the second handover request response message is used to make the core network send a handover command to the user equipment through the source macro base station;

[0012] sending a first handover completion message to the gateway through a target small cell base station, so that the gateway replaces a first real cell identity of a cell where the user equipment is located in the target small cell base station carried in the first handover completion message with the super cell identity, and sends a second handover completion message carrying the super cell identity to the core network; wherein the target small cell base station is a base station in the small cell base stations which receives a handover confirmation message sent by the user equipment based on the handover command.

[0013] In a third aspect, the present application provides a super cell based base station handover device, comprising a first handover device or a second handover device;

[0014] The first handover device is used to execute steps of the super cell based inter-base station handover method as described in the first aspect above; the second handover device is used to execute steps of the super cell based inter-base station handover method as described in the second aspect above.

[0015] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a network device, comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program capable of running on the processor, and the processor implements the steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells according to the first aspect or the steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells according to the second aspect when executing the computer program.

[0016] The inter-base station handover method based on super cells, the device and the network device provided by the present application can replace the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment under the target small base station is located with the super cell identifier after the gateway receives the first handover request message sent by the core network, and the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier is sent to the core network after the gateway receives the first handover completion message, so that the inter-base station handover is completed. In this way, the cell identifier reported to the core network when the handover is completed is matched with the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell by replacing the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment under the target small base station is located with the super cell identifier at the gateway side, so that the core network is prevented from misjudging that the base station handover fails, and the successful handover of the user equipment from the source macro base station to the target small base station is ensured. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 The network deployment structure of the super cell provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure;

[0018] Figure 2 The flowchart of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure;

[0019] Figure 3 The flowchart of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure;

[0020] Figure 4 The flowchart of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure;

[0021] Figure 5 The flowchart of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure;

[0022] Figure 6 The flowchart of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in the figure;

[0023] Figure 7Fig. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a base station switching device based on a super cell according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 8 Fig. 2 is another structural schematic diagram of a base station switching device based on a super cell according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. Wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents that the associated objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b or c alone can represent: a alone, b alone, c alone, combination of a and b, combination of a and c, combination of b and c, or combination of a, b and c. Wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple. In addition, the terms "first", "second" are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0026] The terms "connected" and "connected" should be broadly understood, for example, the "connected" or "connected" of the circuit structure can mean not only physical connection, but also electrical connection or signal connection, for example, it can be directly connected, that is, physically connected, or indirectly connected through at least one intermediate element, as long as the circuit is connected, it can also be the internal connection of two elements; In addition to signal connection through the circuit, signal connection through media medium, such as radio waves, can also be referred to. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0027] A base station, i.e., a radio signal transmitting and receiving device, is a wireless access device for user equipment to access the Internet. The base station can be classified into a macro base station and a small base station according to coverage and transmission power, and the like. The coverage of the macro base station can be several kilometers to tens of kilometers, the transmission power can reach 10 watts or more, up to hundreds of watts, and the macro base station can provide a larger network coverage and a larger transmission power, and can establish a connection with a core network of an operator through a dedicated line. The coverage radius of the small base station is generally less than 1 kilometer, the transmission power is between 100 milliwatts and 10 watts, and the small base station can provide a smaller coverage and transmission power, and can be used to fill in the blind area and heat area and provide relatively accurate location information for users, and can be connected to a gateway through a home broadband and an Internet Protocol (IP), and the gateway is taken as a convergence node to establish a connection with the core network of the operator. In this way, the core network can regard the gateway as a macro base station.

[0028] When the user equipment enters the coverage of the small base station from the coverage of the macro base station, the signal strength of the small base station detected by the user equipment is stronger than the signal strength of the macro base station detected by the user equipment, or based on some strategies, the user equipment needs to switch to the small base station to provide better mobile network services or positioning services, and the like. To realize the switching of the user equipment from the macro base station to the small base station, the cell of the small base station needs to be added to the neighbor list of the macro base station. However, in the scenario of large-scale deployment of the small base station, the number of the small base station is large and the location of the small base station is difficult to determine, and the number of the neighbor list of the macro base station is limited, and it is difficult to configure a large number of neighbor information of the small base station for each macro base station. Therefore, the macro base station does not regard the small base station as a neighbor, which leads to the fact that the user cannot be seamlessly switched from the macro base station to the small base station.

[0029] In view of this, in the related art, the operator can group a plurality of small base stations to form a super cell, and the super cell can be used as a virtual neighbor of the macro base station. The cell ID of the super cell, for example, can be a cell ID of a cell.

[0030] Because the small base station is deployed flexibly, the small base stations are grouped into a group, and a cell ID is used in common, there are two cases:

[0031] (1) The number of cells responsible for the small base station is less than or equal to the number of cells that can be carried by the base station ID of the neighbor macro base station. For example, in a fourth generation (4G) mobile communication network, the base station ID of the macro base station is 20 bits, and the cell ID of the real cell corresponding to the macro base station is 28 bits. Therefore, the 8 bits of the cell ID that are more than the base station ID can be used to represent the number of cells that can be carried under the base station ID of the macro base station, and the number is 2 8One of the small base stations can support one or more cells, when the small base station only supports one cell, the small base station ID can be the same as the cell ID.

[0032] (2) The number of cells managed by the small base station is greater than the number of cells that can be carried by the base station ID of the neighboring macro base station.

[0033] For the above case (1), in the super cell represented by the base station ID of the neighboring macro base station, the small base station can use the base station ID as a part of its base station ID and the cell ID it supports. For the above case (2), in the super cell represented by the base station ID of the neighboring macro base station, part of the small base stations will not have the base station ID of the neighboring macro base station as a part of their base station ID and the cell ID they support.

[0034] For example, Figure 1 A network deployment structure diagram of a super cell is shown, referring to Figure 1 As shown, m small base stations can be connected to the core network through a first gateway, and n small base stations can be connected to the core network through a second gateway, where m and n are positive integers. The core network can regard the first gateway and the second gateway as macro base stations respectively, allocate 2 macro base station IDs to the gateway side, and configure one of the macro base station IDs to the first gateway and the other macro base station ID to the second gateway. At this time, the m small base stations belonging to the first gateway and the n small base stations or part of the n small base stations belonging to the second gateway can be grouped together to use the same cell ID, forming a super cell. Assuming that the first gateway is a neighboring macro base station of the source macro base station, a certain cell ID corresponding to the first gateway can be used as the cell ID of the super cell, or a special ID can be set as the cell ID of the super cell. The small base stations in the group can be virtually small base stations under the first gateway, and the first gateway can be defined as a super cell gateway, and the second gateway is a non-super cell gateway. For the first gateway, the corresponding macro base station ID can be used as a part of the super cell and the real cell, and for the second gateway, the corresponding macro base station ID is only used for the actual cell. The macro base station ID of the first gateway matches the cell ID of the super cell, for example, the first 20 bits of the ID are the same.

[0035] When the user equipment moves from the source macro base station to the small base station, when it enters the coverage range of a certain small base station in the super cell, the user equipment can be switched from the source macro base station to the small base station to ensure better mobile network service or other needs such as positioning.

[0036] For handover between macro base stations, if there is an interface between the macro base stations, the handover can be directly based on the interface, such as X2 handover in 4G mobile communication technology and Xn handover in fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technology; if there is no interface between the macro base stations, the handover can be performed through the core network, such as S1 handover in 4G and NG handover in 5G.

[0037] The connection mode between the macro base station and the core network can include the following two modes:

[0038] Mode one, Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) connection of S1 interface or NG interface. In this mode, each macro base station establishes one SCTP link with the core network, carrying multiple logical connections of S1 Application Protocol (S1AP) or Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP).

[0039] Mode two, application layer connection of S1 interface or NG interface. In this mode, one logical connection is established for each user equipment, that is, one SCTP connection can carry multiple S1AP or NGAP logical connections.

[0040] The user equipment uses the same SCTP and the same S1AP or NGAP connection dedicated to the user equipment under the same macro base station and the same core network; the user equipment needs to use different SCTPs and different S1AP or NGAP connections dedicated to the user equipment under different macro base stations or different core networks.

[0041] When the user equipment is handed over from the source macro base station to the small base station, on the one hand, due to the use of the concept of super cell, the number of small base stations contained in the super cell is large, so that the gateway side cannot distinguish which small base station is actually handed over to. On the other hand, assuming that the corresponding target small base station can be found through some means, that is, the small base station to which the user equipment is handed over is found, the following two situations exist:

[0042] (1) In the case where the cell ID of the target small base station matches the super cell, that is, in the case where the base station ID of the target small base station is the same as the first M (M is a positive integer) bits of the cell ID of the super cell, when the handover is completed, the gateway reports the global cell identification code (CGI) of the target small base station to the core network, which is divided into two cases:

[0043] ① Report the super cell CGI, at this time, the core network will not find the small base station where the user equipment is located when calling (Paging);

[0044] ② Report the real cell CGI of the target small base station. At this time, because the macro base station ID corresponding to the super cell does not match the previously reported neighboring cell, the core network can determine that the handover fails.

[0045] (2) In the case where the cell ID of the target small base station does not match the super cell, i.e. the target small base station belongs to a non-super cell gateway (which can be regarded as a macro base station), the SCTP link used by the gateway to which the target small base station belongs and the SCTP link used by the neighboring macro base station based on the super cell are two links. Thus, when the gateway reports the CGI of the target small base station to the core network after the handover is completed, there are two cases:

[0046] ① Report the super cell CGI. At this time, the core network cannot find the small base station where the user equipment is located when paging.

[0047] ② Report the real cell CGI of the target small base station. At this time, because they are two different links, it can lead to handover failure.

[0048] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides a handover method between base stations based on a super cell. Under the premise of a super cell, on the one hand, when a certain small base station of the super cell receives a handover confirmation message sent by a user equipment, the small base station is determined as a target small base station. The gateway receives a first handover completion message sent by the target small base station, replaces a first real cell identifier of a cell where the user equipment is located carried in the first handover completion message with a super cell identifier, and sends a second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to a core network. In this way, it can be ensured that the cell identifier reported to the core network after the handover is completed matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, and the core network is prevented from misjudging that the base station handover fails. On the other hand, after the second handover completion message is sent to the core network, a path handover request message carrying the first real cell identifier is sent to the core network by a target home gateway to which the target small base station belongs, the real cell identifier of the user equipment is reported to the core network by the link of the target home gateway itself, so that the core network can know the real cell and the real small base station to which the user equipment is switched, and the accurate positioning of the user equipment is realized.

[0049] The handover method between base stations based on a super cell provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail. Figures 2-6 The handover method between base stations based on a super cell provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail.

[0050] Figure 2 Fig. 1 shows one of the flow diagrams of the handover method between base stations based on a super cell provided by the embodiment of the present application. The handover method between base stations based on a super cell can be applied to a gateway, which can be a combination of multiple gateways, such as a combination of a first gateway and a second gateway as shown in Fig. 1. Figure 1 Figure 2 ​As shown, the inter-base station handover method based on super cell can include steps 210-220.

[0051] Step 210: determining a small base station matching the super cell identifier.

[0052] The super cell identifier is obtained by the gateway from the first handover request message sent by the core network.

[0053] Specifically, the source macro base station can receive a measurement report sent by the user equipment, and when it is determined that the handover condition is met according to the measurement report, it sends a handover demand message to the core network. After the core network receives the handover demand message, it carries the super cell identifier in the handover demand message in the first handover request message and sends it to the gateway. After the gateway receives the first handover request message, it obtains the super cell identifier from the first handover request message and determines a small base station matching the super cell identifier.

[0054] Step 220: after receiving the first handover completion message sent by the target small base station in the small base station, replacing the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located in the target small base station carried in the first handover completion message with the super cell identifier, and sending the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network.

[0055] The target small base station is the base station in the small base station that receives the handover confirmation message sent by the user equipment.

[0056] The user equipment will successfully hand over to one of the small base stations, and when a certain small base station receives the handover confirmation message sent by the user equipment, it confirms that the user equipment has been handed over to the small base station, which is the target small base station. At this time, the target small base station sends the first handover completion message to the gateway, and carries the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located in the target small base station in the first handover completion message. After the gateway receives the first handover completion message, it replaces the first real cell identifier carried in the first handover completion message with the super cell identifier, and carries the super cell identifier in the second handover completion message and sends it to the core network through the super cell gateway in the gateway. In this way, it can be ensured that the cell identifier reported to the core network at the time of handover completion matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, avoiding misjudgment of the core network as base station handover failure.

[0057] Specifically, the small base station matching the super cell identifier can belong to different gateways in the gateway, for example, as shown in Figure 1As shown, part of the small base stations belong to the super cell gateway (first gateway), and part of the small base stations belong to the non-super cell gateway (second gateway). For the case that the target small base station belongs to the non-super cell gateway, since the first real cell identifier carried in the first handover completion message does not match the gateway identifier of the super cell gateway, the core network is likely to be rejected.

[0058] Based on this, in an embodiment, the step 220 replaces the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment under the target small base station is located carried in the first handover completion message with the super cell identifier, and sends the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network, which can include:

[0059] In the case that the target home gateway to which the target small base station belongs is not the super cell gateway, the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment under the target small base station is located carried in the first handover completion message is replaced with the super cell identifier, and the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier is sent to the core network through the super cell gateway.

[0060] In this way, for the target small base station under the non-super cell gateway, by replacing the first real cell identifier carried in the first handover completion message with the super cell identifier, it can be ensured that the cell identifier reported to the core network at the time of handover completion matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, avoiding the core network misjudging as base station handover failure.

[0061] For the case that the target small base station belongs to the super cell gateway, since the first real cell identifier carried in the first handover completion message matches the gateway identifier of the super cell gateway, the core network can successfully receive, and then the gateway side can directly report the first real cell identifier through the super cell gateway, or replace the first real cell identifier with the super cell identifier for reporting.

[0062] Based on this, in an embodiment, the super cell based inter-base station handover method can further include: in the case that the target home gateway to which the target small base station belongs is the super cell gateway, carrying the first real cell identifier or the super cell identifier in the third handover completion message, and sending the third handover completion message to the core network through the super cell gateway.

[0063] It can be understood that when the third handover completion message carries the super cell identifier, it is the same as the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier.

[0064] In this way, the target small base station, whether belonging to the super cell gateway or the non-super cell gateway, can replace the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment under the target small base station is located with the super cell identifier in the first handover completion message on the gateway side, so as to ensure that the cell identifier reported to the core network at the handover completion matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, and ensure that the core network can correctly determine that the user equipment has successfully switched between the source macro base station and the target small base station. Alternatively, for the case where the target small base station belongs to the super cell gateway, since the first real cell identifier matches the gateway identifier of the super cell gateway, the super cell gateway can directly report the first real cell identifier to the core network.

[0065] The super cell based inter-base station handover method provided by the embodiments of the present application can ensure that the cell identifier reported to the core network at the handover completion matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, so as to avoid the core network misjudging that the base station handover has failed, and ensure that the user equipment successfully switches from the source macro base station to the target small base station.

[0066] Based on Figure 2 The super cell based inter-base station handover method of the corresponding embodiments, Figure 3 Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of the super cell based inter-base station handover method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The super cell based inter-base station handover method can be applied to a gateway, which can be a combination of multiple gateways, such as a combination of a first gateway and a second gateway as shown in Fig. 1. Figure 1 As shown in Fig. 2, the super cell based inter-base station handover method can include the following steps 210-250. Figure 3

[0067] Step 310: Determine a small base station matching the super cell identifier.

[0068] Specifically, step 310 can correspond to step 210 described above, and the specific implementation process can refer to step 210 described above, which will not be described here again.

[0069] ​Step 320: sending a second handover request message to the small base stations.

[0070] After the gateway determines the small base stations matching the super cell identity, the gateway can send a second handover request message to the small base stations through the home gateways to which the small base stations belong. The second handover request message can carry the super cell identity, and is used to request the handover of the user equipment from the source macro base station to the small base stations of the super cell.

[0071] For example, for the small base stations belonging to the first gateway, the second handover request message is sent to the small base stations through the first gateway. For the small base stations belonging to the second gateway, the second handover request message is sent to the small base stations through the second gateway. Figure 1

[0072] In an optional embodiment, the second handover request message can include the second real cell identity corresponding to the small base stations. Correspondingly, the gateway can replace the super cell identity with the second real cell identity corresponding to the small base stations before sending the second handover request message to the small base stations.

[0073] Specifically, the gateway can replace the super cell identity in the transparent container from the source macro base station to the small base stations with the second real cell identity corresponding to the small base stations.

[0074] In this way, the small base stations can work normally even if they do not know that they belong to the super cell.

[0075] Step 330: after receiving the first handover request response message sent by the small base stations, storing the user equipment related information of the user equipment.

[0076] After the gateway sends the second handover request message to the small base stations through the home gateways to which the small base stations belong, the gateway can receive the first handover request response message sent by the small base stations through the home gateways to which the small base stations belong. The first handover request response message carries the information created by the small base stations for the user equipment.

[0077] For example, for the small base stations belonging to the first gateway, the first handover request response message sent by the small base stations is received through the first gateway. For the small base stations belonging to the second gateway, the first handover request response message sent by the small base stations is received through the second gateway. Figure 1

[0078] After the gateway receives the first handover request response message sent by the small base stations, the gateway can create, store and associate the user equipment related information of the user equipment.

[0079] ​​For example, the user equipment related information can include: a first identifier allocated by the gateway before sending the second handover request response message, a second identifier carried in the first handover request message, a third identifier carried in the second handover request message, a fourth identifier carried in the first handover request response message, a user plane resource information list carried in the first handover request response message, user equipment security performance information, and user equipment security context information.

[0080] The first identifier is used to uniquely identify the association between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays the role of a base station relative to the core network; the second identifier is used to uniquely identify the association between the core network and the user equipment; the third identifier is used to uniquely identify the association between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays the role of a core network relative to the small base station; and the fourth identifier is used to uniquely identify the association between the small base station and the user equipment.

[0081] Step 340: sending a second handover request response message to the core network, so that the core network sends a handover command to the user equipment through a source macro base station currently where the user equipment is located.

[0082] The first identifier and the second identifier can be carried in the second handover request response message, and the user equipment related information of the user equipment can be associated through the first identifier and the second identifier.

[0083] After the user equipment receives the handover command, the user equipment can send a handover confirmation message to one of the small base stations to confirm switching to the small base station.

[0084] Step 350: after receiving a first handover completion message sent by a target small base station in the small base stations, replacing a first real cell identifier of a cell where the user equipment is located under the target small base station carried in the first handover completion message with a super cell identifier, and sending a second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network.

[0085] Specifically, step 350 can correspond to step 220 described above, and the specific implementation process can refer to step 220 described above, which will not be described here.

[0086] The method for inter-base station handover based on a super cell provided by the embodiments of the present application can store user equipment related information of the user equipment on the gateway side in the handover process, so as to associate the relationship among the core network, the user equipment, and the target small base station and associate the related information of the user equipment, and ensure the smooth handover of the user equipment from the source macro base station to the target small base station. Moreover, necessary information can be provided for subsequent virtual handover.

[0087] Based on Figure 2 Or Figure 3The method of the corresponding embodiment, in one embodiment, after the gateway sends the second handover complete message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network, the super cell based inter-base station handover method can further include: sending, by the target home gateway, a path switching request message to the core network.

[0088] The first real cell identifier is included in the path switching request message. The target home gateway is a home gateway to which the target small base station in the gateway belongs. For example, as shown in Figure 1 If the target small base station is a small base station under the first gateway, the target home gateway is the first gateway; if the target small base station is a small base station under the second gateway, the target home gateway is the second gateway.

[0089] Specifically, after the gateway sends the second handover complete message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network, the gateway can construct a path switching request message carrying the first real cell identifier, and then send the path switching request message to the core network. In this way, the core network can determine the real cell in which the user equipment is located according to the first real cell identifier carried in the path switching request message, so that the core network can distinguish which small base station and which specific cell under the small base station the user equipment switches to.

[0090] In one embodiment, after the gateway sends the path switching request message to the core network through the target home gateway, the gateway can further perform the following steps: receiving, by the target home gateway, a path switching request response message sent by the core network, the path switching request response message including security context information of the user equipment; and sending, by the target home gateway, the security context information of the user equipment to the target small base station, so that the target small base station stores the security context information of the user equipment.

[0091] Specifically, the gateway can receive the path switching request response message sent by the core network through the second SCTP link constructed between the target home gateway and the core network to obtain the security context information of the user equipment, and then send the security context information to the target small base station through the target home gateway. After receiving the security context information, the target small base station stores the security context information, which can be used for next handover.

[0092] In this way, the accurate security context information of the user equipment can be obtained in the next handover of the user equipment, ensuring the smooth progress of the next handover.

[0093] Based on the same inventive concept, Figure 4 Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a third embodiment of the super cell based inter-base station handover method provided by the present application, which can be applied to a small base station in a super cell. Referring to Figure 4 The super cell based inter-base station handover method can include:

[0094] Step 410: receiving the second handover request message sent by the gateway.

[0095] The second handover request message is used to request to switch the user equipment from the source macro base station to the small base station of the super cell. The super cell identifier or the second real cell identifier corresponding to the small base station can be carried in the second handover request message.

[0096] Specifically, the small base stations in the super cell can belong to different gateways, and the small base stations can receive the second handover request messages sent by the home gateways to which the small base stations belong.

[0097] For example, in combination with Figure 1 For the small base stations belonging to the first gateway, the second handover request message sent by the first gateway is received; and for the small base stations belonging to the second gateway, the second handover request message sent by the second gateway is received.

[0098] Step 420: sending the first handover request response message to the gateway, so that the gateway sends the second handover request response message to the core network.

[0099] The second handover request response message is used to make the core network send a handover command to the user equipment through the source macro base station.

[0100] Specifically, after receiving the second handover request message, the small base station sends the first handover request response message to the home gateway to which the small base station belongs. After receiving the first handover request response message, the gateway sends the second handover request response message to the core network through the super cell gateway. After receiving the second handover request response message, the core network sends a handover command to the user equipment through the source macro base station. After receiving the handover command, the user equipment sends a handover confirmation message to the target small base station in the small base station to confirm the handover to the target small base station.

[0101] For example, the first handover request response message carries the information created by the small base station for the user equipment. After receiving the first handover request response message sent by the small base station, the gateway can create, store and associate the user equipment related information of the user equipment.

[0102] Step 430: sending the first handover completion message to the gateway through the target small base station, so that the gateway replaces the first real cell identifier of the cell in which the user equipment is located under the target small base station with the super cell identifier in the first handover completion message, and sends the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network.

[0103] The target small base station is the base station in the small base station that receives the handover confirmation message sent by the user equipment based on the handover command.

[0104] Specifically, the target small base station can send a first handover completion message to a target home gateway which is home to the gateway, and the first handover completion message carries a first real cell identifier of a cell where the user equipment is located under the target small base station. After receiving the first handover completion message, the gateway can replace the first real cell identifier carried in the first handover completion message with a super cell identifier, and carry the super cell identifier in a second handover completion message and send the second handover completion message to the core network through a super cell gateway in the gateway. In this way, it can be ensured that the cell identifier reported to the core network at the time of handover completion matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, and the core network is prevented from misjudging that the base station handover fails.

[0105] The super cell based inter-base station handover method provided by the embodiments of the present application can receive, for a small base station in a super cell, a second handover request message sent by a gateway for requesting to handover a user equipment from a source macro base station to the small base station in the super cell, then send a first handover request response message to the gateway, so that the gateway sends a second handover request response message to the core network. After determining the target small base station to which the user equipment is handed over, the target small base station sends a first handover completion message to the gateway, so that the gateway replaces a first real cell identifier of a cell where the user equipment is located under the target small base station carried in the first handover completion message with a super cell identifier, and sends a second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network, to complete the inter-base station handover. In this way, by replacing the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located under the target small base station with the super cell identifier, it can be ensured that the cell identifier reported to the core network at the time of handover completion matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, so that the core network is prevented from misjudging that the base station handover fails, and the successful handover of the user equipment from the source macro base station to the target small base station is ensured.

[0106] Based on Figure 4 The super cell based inter-base station handover method of the corresponding embodiments can further include steps 440-450 in an embodiment.

[0107] Step 440: The target small base station receives the security context information of the user equipment sent by the target home gateway.

[0108] Specifically, the core network can confirm the handover completion of the user equipment according to the second handover completion message sent by the super cell gateway, at this time, the core network can receive a path handover request message sent by a target home gateway which is home to a target small base station in the gateway, and return a path handover request response message to the target home gateway, and the path handover request response message carries the security context information of the user equipment. The target home gateway can forward the security context information to the target small base station, so as to be used as security information in the next handover of the user equipment.

[0109] Step 450: The target small base station stores the security context information of the user equipment.

[0110] After receiving the security context information of the user equipment sent by the target home gateway, the target small base station can store the security context information of the user equipment. Optionally, the target small base station can update the security context of the user equipment stored by itself to the received security context information.

[0111] In this way, the accurate security context information of the user equipment can be obtained in the next handover of the user equipment, and the smooth progress of the next handover is ensured.

[0112] Based on the super cell-based inter-base station handover method of each of the above embodiments, in combination with Figure 1 , Figure 5 Fig. 4 shows a flowchart of a fourth super cell-based inter-base station handover method provided by the embodiments of the present application, which takes the user equipment handover from a source macro base station to a target small base station under a second gateway as an example. In this scenario, the super cell and the actual cell to which the user equipment is handed over belong to different macro base station IDs. As shown in Fig. 4, the super cell-based inter-base station handover method can include the following steps 501-517. Figure 5

[0113] Step 501: The source macro base station sends a handover demand message to the core network.

[0114] The source macro base station receives the measurement report sent by the user equipment, and when it is determined that the handover condition is met according to the measurement report, sends a handover demand message to the core network, which carries the super cell gateway ID and the super cell identifier, wherein the super cell gateway ID is the macro base station ID of the first gateway corresponding to the super cell.

[0115] For example, the super cell identifier can be a CGI identifier, which can be denoted as CGI_1.

[0116] Step 502: The core network sends a first handover request message to the first gateway.

[0117] After receiving the handover demand message sent by the source macro base station, the core network can determine the first gateway corresponding to the super cell according to the super cell gateway ID carried in the handover demand message, and then send a first handover request message to the first gateway, which carries the super cell identifier and a second identifier. The second identifier is used to uniquely identify the association relationship between the core network and the user equipment.

[0118] ​For example, in a 4G network, the second identity can be represented as "MME UE S1AP ID 1". In a 5G network, the second identity can be represented as "AMF UE NGAP ID 1". Wherein, MME UE S1AP ID is a temporary identifier allocated by a mobile management entity (MME) for a user equipment (UE) on an S1 interface, mainly used to uniquely identify the logical connection between the UE and the MME in the control plane signaling interaction. AMF UE NGAP ID is a temporary identifier allocated by an access and mobility management function (AMF) for a user equipment (UE) on an NG interface, mainly used to uniquely identify the logical connection between the UE and the AMF in the control plane signaling interaction.

[0119] Step 503: The first gateway determines the small base stations matching the super cell identity.

[0120] After the first gateway receives the first handover request message, it queries the small base stations matching the super cell identity according to the super cell identity carried in the first handover request message, and obtains the real cell identities corresponding to these small base stations and the macro base station IDs of the home gateways to which these small base stations belong.

[0121] For example, the macro base station ID of the home gateway to which the small base station under the first gateway belongs is the macro base station ID of the first gateway, and the macro base station ID of the home gateway to which the small base station under the second gateway belongs is the macro base station ID of the second gateway.

[0122] Step 504: The gateway sends a second handover request message to the small base station.

[0123] After the gateway determines the small base stations matching the super cell identity through the first gateway, it sends a second handover request message to these small base stations through the home gateways to which these small base stations belong.

[0124] Specifically, for the small base stations belonging to the first gateway, the gateway sends a second handover request message to the small base station through the first gateway. For the small base stations belonging to the second gateway, the gateway sends a second handover request message to the small base station through the second gateway. For example, in the present example embodiment, the target small base station belongs to the second gateway, and the gateway sends a second handover request message to the target small base station through the second gateway.

[0125] Wherein, the second handover request message carries the super cell identity and a third identity allocated by the gateway, and the third identity is used to uniquely identify the association relationship between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays the role of the core network.

[0126] For example, in a 4G network, the third identity can be represented as "MME UE S1AP ID 2". In a 5G network, the third identity can be represented as "AMF UE NGAP ID 2".

[0127] In an optional embodiment, before sending the second handover request message to the matched small base station, the first gateway can replace the super cell identity in the transparent container from the source macro base station to the target small base station with the second real cell identity corresponding to the small base station.

[0128] Step 505: The small base station sends a first handover request response message to the gateway through the home gateway.

[0129] After receiving the second handover request message, the small base station sends a first handover request response message to the gateway through the respective home gateway. The first handover request response message carries information created by the small base station for the user equipment, which can include: a fourth identity, a user plane resource information list, a transparent container from the target small base station to the source macro base station, etc.

[0130] Specifically, for the small base stations belonging to the first gateway, the small base stations directly send the first handover request response message to the first gateway. For the small base stations belonging to the second gateway, the small base stations send the first handover request response message to the gateway through the second gateway.

[0131] The fourth identity is used to uniquely identify the association between the small base station and the user equipment.

[0132] For example, in a 4G network, the fourth identity can be represented as "eNB UE S1AP ID 1"; in a 5G network, the fourth identity can be represented as "gNB UE NGAP ID 1". The eNB and gNB in them represent the small base station. Taking the 4G network as an example, the fourth identity "eNB UE S1AP ID 1" and the third identity "MME UE S1AP ID 2" together form an identity pair between the small base station and the gateway, which is used to uniquely identify a session connection of a user equipment on the S1 interface between the small base station and the gateway.

[0133] For example, in a 4G network, the user plane resource information list is a radio access bearer information list (E-RABsAdmitted List), which stores bearer information; in a 5G network, the user plane resource information list is a protocol data unit session resource information list (PDU Session Resource Admitted List), which stores session information.

[0134] Step 506: The gateway stores the user equipment related information of the user equipment.

[0135] The gateway can assign a first identity on the gateway side before sending the second handover request response message, and the first identity is used to uniquely identify the association between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays the role of a base station relative to the core network.

[0136] For example, in a 4G network, the first identity can be represented as "eNB UE S1AP ID 2"; in a 5G network, the first identity can be represented as "gNB UE NGAP ID 2". Taking the 4G network as an example, the first identity "eNB UE S1AP ID 2" can form an identity pair with the second identity "MME UE S1AP ID 1" between the gateway and the core network, which is used to uniquely identify a session connection of a user equipment on the S1 interface between the gateway and the core network.

[0137] After the gateway assigns the first identity, the gateway can store the user equipment related information of the user equipment on the gateway side, which can include: the first identity (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 2) assigned by the gateway before sending the second handover request response message, the second identity (such as MME UE S1AP ID 1) carried in the first handover request message, the third identity (such as MME UE S1AP ID 2) carried in the second handover request message, the fourth identity (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 1) carried in the first handover request response message, the user plane resource information list (such as E-RABs Admitted List) carried in the first handover request response message, the user equipment security capability information (UE Security Capabilities) and the security context information (Security Context) of the user equipment, etc.

[0138] Step 507: The first gateway sends a second handover request response message to the core network.

[0139] The second handover request response message can carry the first identity (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 2) and the second identity (such as MME UE S1AP ID 1), and through the first identity and the second identity, the user equipment related information of the user equipment on the S1 interface between the gateway and the core network can be uniquely associated.

[0140] Specifically, the first gateway and the core network can establish a first SCTP link, and the first gateway can send the second handover request response message to the core network through the first SCTP link.

[0141] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the first SCTP link represents an SCTP link between the super cell gateway and the core network.

[0142] Step 508: The core network sends a handover command to the source macro base station.

[0143] After receiving the second handover request response message, the core network sends a handover command to the source macro base station.

[0144] Step 509: The source macro base station sends a handover command to the user equipment.

[0145] After receiving the handover command sent by the core network, the source macro base station sends the handover command to the user equipment.

[0146] Step 510: The user equipment sends a handover confirmation message to the target micro base station.

[0147] The user equipment will only be handed over to one micro base station. In this embodiment, the user equipment needs to be handed over to a target micro base station under the second gateway, and the user equipment can send a handover confirmation message to the target micro base station to be handed over to the target micro base station.

[0148] Step 511: The target micro base station sends a first handover completion message to the second gateway.

[0149] The first handover completion message carries a third identifier (such as MME UE S1AP ID 2), a fourth identifier (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 1), and a first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located under the target micro base station.

[0150] For example, the first real cell identifier can be a CGI identifier, which can be denoted as CGI_2.

[0151] Step 512: The gateway replaces the first real cell identifier with a super cell identifier.

[0152] After receiving the first handover completion message through the second gateway, the gateway associates the third identifier (such as MME UE S1AP ID 2) and the fourth identifier (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 1) in the first handover completion message to the user equipment related information stored in step 506, and replaces the first real cell identifier in the first handover completion message with a super cell identifier to generate a second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier.

[0153] The second handover completion message carries a first identifier (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 2), a second identifier (such as MME UE S1AP ID 1), and a super cell identifier.

[0154] Step 513: The first gateway sends a second handover completion message to the core network.

[0155] Specifically, the first gateway can send the second handover completion message to the core network through the first SCTP link. At this time, the core network confirms that the user equipment handover is successful.

[0156] Step 514: The second gateway sends a path switching request message to the core network.

[0157] After the first gateway sends the second handover completion message to the core network, the second gateway can construct a path switching request message carrying the first real cell identifier, and then send the path switching request message to the core network. At this time, the core network can determine the real cell where the user equipment is located according to the first real cell identifier carried in the path switching request message, so that the core network can distinguish which small base station and specific cell under the small base station the user equipment switches to.

[0158] Specifically, in the 4G network, the second gateway can allocate a fifth identifier (eNB UE S1AP ID 3), and at the same time, obtain the second identifier (MME UE S1AP ID 1), user equipment security performance information (UE Security Capabilities) and user plane bearer (E-RAB) information in the radio access bearer information list (E-RABs Admitted List) from the user equipment association information stored on the gateway side, and then construct a path switching request message carrying these information and the first real cell identifier.

[0159] In the 5G network, the second gateway can allocate a fifth identifier (gNB UE NGAP ID 3), and at the same time, obtain the second identifier (AMF UE NGAP ID 1), user equipment security performance information (UESecurity Capabilities) and protocol data unit session (PDU Session) information in the protocol data unit session resource information list (PDU Session Resource Admitted List) from the user equipment association information stored on the gateway side, and then construct a path switching request message carrying these information and the first real cell identifier.

[0160] The fifth identifier is used to uniquely identify the association relationship between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays the role of a base station relative to the core network.

[0161] For example, in a 4G network, the E-RAB information between the gateway and the core network and the E-RAB information between the small base station and the gateway can be the same or different two segments. In a 5G network, the PDU Session information between the gateway and the core network and the PDU Session information between the small base station and the gateway can be the same or different two segments.

[0162] For example, the second gateway can send a path switching request message to the core network through a second SCTP link established between the second gateway and the core network.

[0163] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the second SCTP link can represent an SCTP link between the home gateway and the core network, and can be used to send the path switching request message.

[0164] For example, the second SCTP link can be established in advance or dynamically established before the second gateway sends the path switching request message to the core network.

[0165] Step 515: The core network sends a path switching request response message to the second gateway.

[0166] The path switching request response message carries security context information of the user equipment, which can be used as security information in the next switching of the user equipment.

[0167] Step 516: The second gateway sends the security context information of the user equipment to the target small base station.

[0168] After receiving the path switching request response message, the second gateway can forward the security context information of the user equipment carried in the path switching request response message to the target small base station.

[0169] For example, the second gateway can send the security context information of the user equipment to the target small base station in update instruction information. The update instruction information can be the path switching request response message or other custom special messages, which are not limited in the present application.

[0170] Step 517: The target small base station stores the security context information of the user equipment.

[0171] After receiving the security context information of the user equipment, the target small base station stores the security context information of the user equipment.

[0172] The super cell based inter-base station switching method provided by the embodiments of the present application, in the scenario that the super cell and the actual cell to which the user equipment switches belong to different macro base station IDs, on one hand, when the user equipment confirms to switch to the target small base station belonging to the non-super cell gateway, the gateway side replaces the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located in the target small base station carried in the first switching completion message sent by the target small base station with the super cell identifier, generates a second switching completion message carrying the super cell identifier and sends it to the core network, in this way, by replacing the identifier of the real cell where the user equipment is located with the super cell identifier at the gateway side, it can be ensured that the cell identifier reported to the core network at the switching completion matches the identifier of the neighboring macro base station corresponding to the super cell, avoiding the core network misjudging that the base station switching fails, thereby ensuring the successful switching of the user equipment from the source macro base station to the target small base station. On the other hand, after the gateway side sends the second switching completion message to the core network, the non-super cell gateway to which the target small base station belongs can construct its own path switching request message, carries the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located in the path switching request message, and sends the path switching request message to the core network through the second SCTP link between itself and the core network, which is equivalent to a virtual switching action, so that the core network can obtain the information of the real cell, the real base station and the real link where the user equipment is located at this time, realize the accurate positioning of the user equipment, and the user equipment is not sensitive.

[0173] The super cell based inter-base station switching method based on the above embodiments, in combination with Figure 1 , Figure 6 Fig. 5 shows the flowchart of the super cell based inter-base station switching method provided by the embodiments of the present application, which takes the switching of the user equipment from the source macro base station to the target small base station under the first gateway as an example, in this scenario, the super cell and the actual cell to which the user equipment switches belong to the same macro base station ID. Referring to Fig. 5, the super cell based inter-base station switching method can include the following steps 601-618. Figure 6

[0174] Step 601: The source macro base station sends a switching demand message to the core network.

[0175] Step 602: The core network sends a first switching request message to the first gateway.

[0176] Step 603: The first gateway determines a small base station matching the super cell identifier.

[0177] Step 604: The gateway sends a second switching request message to the small base station.

[0178] For example, in the present example embodiment, the target small base station belongs to the first gateway, then the gateway sends the second switching request message to the target small base station through the first gateway.​

[0179] Step 605: The small base station sends a first handover request response message to the gateway through the home gateway.

[0180] Step 606: The gateway stores the user equipment related information of the user equipment.

[0181] Step 607: The first gateway sends a second handover request response message to the core network.

[0182] Step 608: The core network sends a handover command to the source macro base station.

[0183] Step 609: The source macro base station sends a handover command to the user equipment.

[0184] Step 610: The user equipment sends a handover confirmation message to the target small base station.

[0185] The steps 601-610 correspond to the steps 501-510 respectively, and the specific implementation process can refer to the steps 501-510, which will not be repeated here.

[0186] Step 611: The target small base station sends a first handover completion message to the first gateway.

[0187] The first handover completion message carries a third identifier (such as MME UE S1AP ID 2), a fourth identifier (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 1), and a first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located in the target small base station.

[0188] After the first gateway receives the first handover completion message, the first handover completion message can be associated to the user equipment related information stored in step 606 according to the third identifier (such as MME UE S1AP ID 2) and the fourth identifier (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 1) in the first handover completion message. Then, step 612 or steps 613-618 are executed.

[0189] Step 612: The first gateway sends a third handover completion message to the core network.

[0190] The third handover completion message carries the first identifier (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 2), the second identifier (such as MME UE S1AP ID 1), and the first real cell identifier.

[0191] For example, the first gateway can send a third handover complete message to the core network through the second SCTP link. At this time, the core network confirms that the user equipment handover is successful, and can directly determine the real cell where the user equipment is currently located according to the first real cell identifier carried in the third handover complete message, so that the core network can distinguish to which small base station and specific cell under the small base station the user equipment is switched.

[0192] Step 613: The first gateway replaces the first real cell identifier with the super cell identifier.

[0193] After the gateway receives the first handover complete message through the first gateway, the third identifier (such as MME UE S1AP ID 2) and the fourth identifier (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 1) in the first handover complete message are associated to the user equipment related information stored in step 606, and the first real cell identifier in the first handover complete message is replaced with the super cell identifier, to generate a second handover complete message carrying the super cell identifier.

[0194] Among them, the second handover complete message carries the first identifier (such as eNB UE S1AP ID 2), the second identifier (such as MME UE S1AP ID 1) and the super cell identifier.

[0195] Step 614: The first gateway sends the second handover complete message to the core network.

[0196] Specifically, the first gateway can send the second handover complete message to the core network through the second SCTP link. At this time, the core network confirms that the user equipment handover is completed.

[0197] Step 615: The first gateway sends a path switching request message to the core network.

[0198] After the first gateway sends the second handover complete message to the core network, a path switching request message carrying the first real cell identifier can be constructed, and then the path switching request message is sent to the core network. At this time, the core network can determine the real cell where the user equipment is located according to the first real cell identifier carried in the path switching request message, so that the core network can distinguish to which small base station and specific cell under the small base station the user equipment is switched.

[0199] Specifically, in the 4G network, the first gateway can allocate the fifth identity (eNB UE S1AP ID 3), and at the same time, obtain the second identity (MME UE S1AP ID 1), user equipment security performance information (UE Security Capabilities) and user plane bearer (E-RAB) information in the radio access bearer information list (E-RABs Admitted List) from the user equipment association information stored on the gateway side, and then construct a path switching request message carrying these information and the first real cell identity.

[0200] In the 5G network, the first gateway can allocate the fifth identity (gNB UE NGAP ID 3), and at the same time, obtain the second identity (AMF UE NGAP ID 1), user equipment security performance information (UESecurity Capabilities) and protocol data unit session (PDU Session) information in the protocol data unit session resource information list (PDU Session Resource Admitted List) from the user equipment association information stored on the gateway side, and then construct a path switching request message carrying these information and the first real cell identity.

[0201] Among them, the fifth identity is used to uniquely identify the association relationship between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays the role of a base station relative to the core network.

[0202] For example, in the 4G network, the E-RAB information between the gateway and the core network and the E-RAB information between the small base station and the gateway can be the same, or they can be two different segments. In the 5G network, the PDU Session information between the gateway and the core network and the PDU Session information between the small base station and the gateway can be the same, or they can be two different segments.

[0203] For example, the first gateway can send the path switching request message to the core network through the second SCTP link established between the gateway and the core network.

[0204] Step 616: The core network sends a path switching request response message to the first gateway.

[0205] Among them, the path switching request response message carries the security context information of the user equipment, which can be used as security information in the next switching of the user equipment.

[0206] Step 617: The first gateway sends the security context information of the user equipment to the target small base station.

[0207] After the first gateway receives the path switching request response message, the first gateway forwards the security context information of the user equipment carried in the path switching request response message to the target small cell.

[0208] For example, the first gateway sends the security context information of the user equipment to the target small cell in update instruction information. The update instruction information can be a path switching request response message or other customized special message, which is not limited in the present application.

[0209] In step 618, the target small cell stores the security context information of the user equipment.

[0210] After the target small cell receives the security context information of the user equipment, the target small cell stores the security context information of the user equipment.

[0211] The method for inter-base station switching based on super cell provided in the embodiments of the present application can be used in the scenario where the super cell and the actual cell to which the user equipment switches belong to the same macro base station ID. When the user equipment confirms to switch to the target small cell belonging to the super cell gateway, the super cell gateway can obtain the first actual cell identifier of the actual cell where the user equipment is located from the first switching completion message sent by the target small cell, and directly carries the first actual cell identifier in the third switching completion message and sends the third switching completion message to the core network. In this way, the core network can determine the actual cell where the user equipment is currently located, so that the core network can distinguish to which small cell and which specific cell under the small cell the user equipment switches. Alternatively, when the user equipment confirms to switch to the target small cell belonging to the super cell gateway, the super cell gateway can also replace the first actual cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located under the target small cell carried in the first switching completion message sent by the target small cell with the super cell identifier, generate a second switching completion message carrying the super cell identifier, and send the second switching completion message to the core network. In this way, it can be ensured that the cell identifier reported to the core network at the time of switching completion matches the macro base station identifier corresponding to the super cell, so as to avoid the possible misjudgment of the core network that the base station switching fails, and ensure the successful switching of the user equipment from the source macro base station to the target small cell. Then, the super cell gateway to which the target small cell belongs can construct its own path switching request message, carry the first actual cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located in the path switching request message, send the path switching request message to the core network through the second SCTP link between the super cell gateway and the core network, so that the core network can obtain the information of the actual cell, the actual base station and the actual link where the user equipment is located at this time, realize the accurate positioning of the user equipment, and the user equipment is not affected.

[0212] The embodiment of the present application further provides a super cell based base station switching device, which can comprise a first switching device or a second switching device; the first switching device can be applied to a gateway and can be used to perform steps of the super cell based inter-base station switching method of the corresponding embodiment; and the second switching device can be applied to a small base station and can be used to perform steps of the super cell based inter-base station switching method of the corresponding embodiment. Figure 2 Or Figure 3 steps of the super cell based inter-base station switching method of the corresponding embodiment. Figure 4 steps of the super cell based inter-base station switching method of the corresponding embodiment.

[0213] Specifically, Figure 7 Fig. 1 shows a structure schematic diagram of a super cell based base station switching device provided by the embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a gateway and can comprise a first switching device. Referring to Fig. 1, the first switching device can comprise: Figure 7

[0214] a base station determining module 710, configured to determine a small base station matched with a super cell identifier; wherein the super cell identifier is obtained by the gateway from a first switching request message sent by a core network;

[0215] a first replacing module 720, configured to replace a first real cell identifier of a cell where a user equipment is located in a target small base station in the small base stations with the super cell identifier after receiving a first switching completion message sent by the target small base station, and send a second switching completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network; wherein the target small base station is a base station in the small base stations which receives a switching confirmation message sent by the user equipment.

[0216] In an embodiment, the first switching device can further comprise a first sending module, configured to send a path switching request message to the core network through a target home gateway after sending the second switching completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network; wherein the first real cell identifier is included in the path switching request message; and the target home gateway is a home gateway to which the target small base station belongs in the gateway.

[0217] In an embodiment, the first switching device can further comprise a first receiving module, configured to receive a path switching request response message sent by the core network through the target home gateway after sending the path switching request message to the core network through the target home gateway; the path switching request response message includes security context information of the user equipment; and a second sending module, configured to send the security context information of the user equipment to the target small base station through the target home gateway, so that the target small base station stores the security context information of the user equipment.

[0218] ​In an embodiment, the first switching device can further comprise: a third sending module, configured to send a second switching request message to the small base station; a storage module, configured to store the user equipment related information of the user equipment after receiving the first switching request response message sent by the small base station; and a fourth sending module, configured to send a second switching request response message to the core network, so that the core network sends a switching command to the user equipment through a source macro base station currently where the user equipment is located.

[0219] In an embodiment, the user equipment related information comprises: a first identifier allocated by the gateway before sending the second switching request response message, a second identifier carried in the first switching request message, a third identifier carried in the second switching request message, a fourth identifier carried in the first switching request response message, a user plane resource information list carried in the first switching request response message, user equipment security performance information, and user equipment security context information.

[0220] The first identifier is used to uniquely identify the association relationship between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays a base station role with respect to the core network; the second identifier is used to uniquely identify the association relationship between the core network and the user equipment; the third identifier is used to uniquely identify the association relationship between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays a core network role with respect to the small base station; and the fourth identifier is used to uniquely identify the association relationship between the small base station and the user equipment.

[0221] In an embodiment, the second switching request message comprises a second real cell identifier corresponding to the small base station. Correspondingly, the first switching device can further comprise a second replacing module, configured to replace the super cell identifier with the second real cell identifier corresponding to the small base station before sending the second switching request message to the small base station.

[0222] In an embodiment, the first replacing module 720 is specifically configured to replace the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment is located under the target small base station with the super cell identifier in the first switching completion message in a case where a target home gateway to which the target small base station belongs is not a super cell gateway, and send the second switching completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network through the super cell gateway.

[0223] In an embodiment, the first switching device can further comprise a fifth sending module, configured to carry the first real cell identifier or the super cell identifier in the third switching completion message in a case where a target home gateway to which the target small base station belongs is a super cell gateway, and send the third switching completion message to the core network through the super cell gateway.

[0224] Figure 8Fig. 2 shows a structural schematic diagram of a second base station switching device based on a super cell according to an embodiment of the present application. The second base station switching device based on a super cell can be applied to a small base station in a super cell. The second base station switching device based on a super cell can include a second switching device. Refer to Figure 8 The second switching device can include the following modules.

[0225] The second receiving module 810 is configured to receive a second switching request message sent by the gateway, where the second switching request message is used to request switching of the user equipment from the source macro base station to the small base station in the super cell.

[0226] The sixth sending module 820 is configured to send a first switching request response message to the gateway, so that the gateway sends a second switching request response message to the core network; and the second switching request response message is used to make the core network send a switching command to the user equipment through the source macro base station.

[0227] The seventh sending module 830 is configured to send a first switching completion message to the gateway through the target small base station, so that the gateway replaces a first real cell identifier of a cell where the user equipment is located in the target small base station carried in the first switching completion message with a super cell identifier, and sends a second switching completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network; and the target small base station is a base station in the small base station that receives a switching confirmation message sent by the user equipment based on the switching command.

[0228] In an embodiment, for the target small base station in the small base station, the second switching device further includes a third receiving module configured to receive security context information of the user equipment sent by a target home gateway; and an updating module configured to store the security context information of the user equipment.

[0229] The second base station switching device based on a super cell provided by the embodiments of the present application has the same implementation principles and beneficial effects as the second base station switching method based on a super cell provided by the above embodiments, and thus repeated description is omitted here.

[0230] The device embodiments described above are merely schematic, wherein the units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Part or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of the embodiments according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement without creative labor.

[0231] The embodiments of the present application further provide a network device including a memory and a processor, where the memory stores a computer program capable of running on the processor, and the processor implements the above-mentioned Figure 2 orFigure 3 Steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cell of the corresponding embodiment, or, implement as described above Figure 4 Steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cell of the corresponding embodiment, which are not described here again.

[0232] In an embodiment, the network device can be a gateway, and the processor implements the above-mentioned Figure 2 Or Figure 3 Steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cell of the corresponding embodiment, which are not described here again.

[0233] In an embodiment, the network device can be a small base station, and the processor implements the above-mentioned Figure 4 Steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cell of the corresponding embodiment, which are not described here again.

[0234] Based on the inter-base station handover method based on super cell described in any of the above embodiments, the embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, for example, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium can be a read only memory (Read Only Memory, ROM), a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk and an optical data storage device, etc. The storage medium stores computer instructions for executing the inter-base station handover method based on super cell described in any of the above embodiments, which are not described here again.

[0235] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps of the above-mentioned embodiments can be completed by hardware, or by program to instruct related hardware to complete, and the program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium can be a read only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0236] Other embodiments of the application will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the application disclosed herein. The specification and examples given are considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the application is indicated by the claims.

Claims

1. A method of inter-base station handover based on super cell, characterized in that, The application is applied to a gateway; the super cell based inter-base station handover method comprises: determining a small base station matching a super cell identifier; wherein the super cell identifier is obtained by the gateway from a first handover request message sent by a core network; after receiving a first handover completion message sent by a target small base station in the small base stations, replacing a first real cell identifier of a cell where a user equipment under the target small base station is located carried in the first handover completion message with the super cell identifier, and sending a second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network; wherein the target small base station is a base station in the small base stations receiving a handover confirmation message sent by the user equipment; wherein the replacing the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment under the target small base station is located carried in the first handover completion message with the super cell identifier, and sending the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network comprises: in a case that a target home gateway to which the target small base station belongs is not a super cell gateway, replacing the first real cell identifier of the cell where the user equipment under the target small base station is located carried in the first handover completion message with the super cell identifier, and sending the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network through the super cell gateway.

2. The inter-base station handover method based on super cell according to claim 1, characterized in that, after the sending the second handover completion message carrying the super cell identifier to the core network, the super cell based inter-base station handover method further comprises: sending a path handover request message to the core network through a target home gateway; the path handover request message comprises the first real cell identifier; wherein the target home gateway is a home gateway in the gateway to which the target small base station belongs.

3. The inter-base station handover method based on super cell according to claim 2, characterized in that, after the sending the path handover request message to the core network through the target home gateway, the super cell based inter-base station handover method further comprises: receiving a path handover request response message sent by the core network through the target home gateway; the path handover request response message comprises security context information of the user equipment; sending the security context information of the user equipment to the target small base station through the target home gateway, so that the target small base station stores the security context information of the user equipment.

4. The inter-base station handover method based on super cell according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, before receiving the first handover completion message sent by the target small base station in the small base stations, the super cell based inter-base station handover method further comprises: sending a second handover request message to the small base stations; after receiving a first handover request response message sent by the small base stations, storing user equipment related information of the user equipment; sending a second handover request response message to the core network, so that the core network sends a handover command to the user equipment through a source macro base station where the user equipment is currently located.

5. The inter-base station handover method based on super cell according to claim 4, characterized in that, The user equipment related information includes: a first identity allocated by the gateway before sending the second switching request response message, a second identity carried in the first switching request message, a third identity carried in the second switching request message, a fourth identity carried in the first switching request response message, a user plane resource information list carried in the first switching request response message, user equipment security performance information, and security context information of the user equipment; The first identity is used to uniquely identify the association between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays the role of a base station relative to the core network; the second identity is used to uniquely identify the association between the core network and the user equipment; the third identity is used to uniquely identify the association between the gateway and the user equipment when the gateway plays the role of a core network relative to the small base station; and the fourth identity is used to uniquely identify the association between the small base station and the user equipment.

6. The inter-base station handover method based on super cell according to claim 4, characterized in that, The second switching request message includes a second real cell identity corresponding to the small base station; Before the step of sending the second switching request message to the small base station, the inter-base station switching method based on a super cell further includes: The second real cell identity corresponding to the small base station is used to replace the super cell identity.

7. The inter-base station handover method based on super cell according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The inter-base station switching method based on a super cell further includes: In the case that the target home gateway to which the target small base station belongs is the super cell gateway, the first real cell identity or the super cell identity is carried in a third switching completion message, and the third switching completion message is sent to the core network through the super cell gateway.

8. A method of inter-base station handover based on super cell, characterized by, The small base station applied to the super cell; The inter-base station switching method based on a super cell includes: Receiving a second switching request message sent by a gateway, the second switching request message being used to request switching of a user equipment from a source macro base station to a small base station of a super cell; wherein the small base station of the super cell is determined by the gateway to be a small base station matching a super cell identity; and the super cell identity is obtained by the gateway from a received first switching request message sent by a core network; Sending a first switching request response message to the gateway, so that the gateway sends a second switching request response message to the core network; the second switching request response message is used to make the core network send a switching command to the user equipment through the source macro base station; Sending a first switching completion message to the gateway through a target small base station, so that in the case that a target home gateway to which the target small base station belongs is not a super cell gateway, the first real cell identity of a cell in which the user equipment is located under the target small base station is replaced by the super cell identity in the first switching completion message, and a second switching completion message carrying the super cell identity is sent to the core network through the super cell gateway; wherein the target small base station is a base station in the small base station that receives a switching confirmation message sent by the user equipment based on the switching command.

9. The inter-base station handover method based on super cell according to claim 8, characterized in that, The inter-base station switching method based on a super cell further includes: The target small base station receives the security context information of the user equipment sent by the target home gateway; The target small base station stores the security context information of the user equipment.

10. A base station handover device based on a supercell, characterized in that, The first switching device or the second switching device is included; The first switching device is configured to perform the steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells according to any one of claims 1 to 7; The second switching device is configured to perform the steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells according to claim 8 or 9.

11. A network device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory storing a computer program executable on the processor, characterized in that, The processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or implements the steps of the inter-base station handover method based on super cells according to claim 8 or 9.

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