Distributed virtual cell deployment method, network equipment and mobile communication network

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a distributed virtual cell deployment method, network equipment and a mobile communication network, and the method comprises the steps: deploying a small base station group and first network equipment between the small base station group and a macro base station into one or more virtual base stations in the mobile communication network, and controlling the number of virtual cells provided by each virtual base station, and configuring virtual cell feature information for the virtual cells provided by each virtual base station to enable a plurality of small base stations contained in the same virtual cell to use the same physical cell identifier and frequency point, and on the basis, recording the information in a neighbor cell relation table. As the number of the virtual base stations is far smaller than that of the small base stations which are in the neighbor relation with the macro base station, the purposes of simplifying neighbor relation configuration and reducing maintenance and operation cost can be achieved. And furthermore, the switching management of the serving cell by using the neighbor cell relation table is simpler, more convenient, quicker and more efficient.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a distributed virtual cell deployment method, network equipment, and mobile communication network. Background Art

[0002] In mobile communication networks, hybrid networking is a common network deployment strategy that aims to optimize coverage, increase network capacity, and improve user experience. For example, in 5G networks, macro base stations and small base stations, such as micro base stations, pico base stations, and home base stations, are often used for hybrid networking. For example, Figure 1 In the network 100 shown, four small base stations are deployed near one macro base station, and three small base stations are deployed near another macro base station. This hybrid networking approach leverages the large-area coverage capabilities of macro base stations and the localized high capacity advantages of small base stations, and is applicable to a variety of scenarios.

[0003] In a mixed network of macro base stations and small base stations, due to the wide coverage of macro base stations and the large number of small base stations, each macro base station may be adjacent to several or even dozens of small base stations. This will make the configuration of macro base station neighboring cells very cumbersome and prone to errors, and the configuration files are bloated, which will also lead to difficulties in upgrades and maintenance, and high operating and maintenance costs. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a distributed virtual cell deployment method, network equipment, and mobile communication network to simplify the configuration of macro base station neighboring cell relationships and reduce operation and maintenance difficulty and cost.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a distributed virtual cell deployment method, which is applied to a macro base station in a mobile communication network, wherein the mobile communication network includes: at least one macro base station, a first network device, and a small base station group, wherein the small base station group includes multiple small base stations; the at least one macro base station is connected to the small base station group through the first network device, wherein the first network device and the small base station group form one or more virtual base stations, and any of the virtual base stations provides one or more virtual cells through the small base stations contained in it; the method includes:

[0006] The macro base station obtains one or more virtual base station identifiers; the number of the virtual base station identifiers is the same as the number of adjacent virtual base stations of the macro base station;

[0007] The macro base station obtains one or more sets of virtual cell characteristic information; the number of the virtual cell characteristic information and the number of adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station are the same, and the virtual cell characteristic information includes: a physical cell identifier and a frequency point;

[0008] The macro base station establishes a neighboring cell relationship and saves the successfully established neighboring cell relationship in a second neighboring cell relationship table;

[0009] The establishing of a neighboring cell relationship includes: establishing a relationship between the adjacent virtual base stations of the macro base station and the virtual base station identifiers, and establishing a relationship between the adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station and the virtual cell feature information; wherein the physical cells generated by the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier, and the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same frequency;

[0010] The second neighbor cell relationship table is at least used for service cell switching management; the second neighbor cell relationship table includes the neighbor cell relationship information of the macro base station: the neighbor cell relationship information of the macro base station includes the mapping relationship between the following contents: the identifier of the macro base station, the virtual base station identifier configured for the adjacent virtual base station of the macro base station, and the virtual cell characteristic information configured for the adjacent virtual cell of the macro base station.

[0011] In some possible designs, the method further includes:

[0012] When the terminal initiates a serving cell handover, the macro base station obtains a terminal measurement report; the macro base station is a source macro base station;

[0013] The macro base station queries the second neighboring cell relationship table according to the cell feature information carried in the terminal measurement report, determines a target virtual base station, and determines the virtual base station identifier corresponding to the target virtual base station as the identifier of the target base station;

[0014] The macro base station sends a switching request and the identifier of the target base station to the first network device, so that the first network device uses the content carried by the switching request to determine the target small base station and allocates wireless resources to the target small base station for service cell switching; wherein, the switching request carries the identifier of the target base station, the identifier of the source macro base station, the terminal measurement report and the cell code of the target cell; or, the switching request carries the identifier of the target base station, the identifier of the source macro base station, the terminal measurement report, the cell code of the target cell and the synchronization signal block SSB index of the target cell.

[0015] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a distributed virtual cell deployment method, which is applied to a first network device in a mobile communication network, wherein the mobile communication network includes: at least one macro base station, the first network device, and a small base station group, wherein the small base station group includes multiple small base stations; the at least one macro base station is connected to the small base station group through the first network device, wherein the first network device and the small base station group form one or more virtual base stations, and any of the virtual base stations provides one or more virtual cells through the small base stations contained in it; the method includes:

[0016] The first network device obtains one or more virtual base station identifiers;

[0017] The first network device obtains one or more sets of virtual cell characteristic information; the virtual cell characteristic information includes: a physical cell identifier and a frequency point;

[0018] The first network device establishes a neighbor relationship, and saves the successfully established neighbor relationship to a first neighbor relationship table;

[0019] The establishing of the neighboring cell relationship includes: establishing a relationship between the one or more virtual base stations and the virtual base station identifiers, and establishing a relationship between the virtual cells provided by each virtual base station and the virtual cell feature information; wherein the physical cells generated by the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier, and the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same frequency;

[0020] The first neighbor cell relationship table is at least used for service cell switching management; the first neighbor cell relationship table includes the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to the at least one macro base station; the neighbor cell relationship information of any macro base station includes the mapping relationship between the following contents: the identifier of any macro base station, the virtual base station identifier configured for the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station, the list of small base stations included in the adjacent virtual base stations of any macro base station, and the virtual cell feature information configured for the virtual cell included in the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station.

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

[0022] The first network device obtains small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to the at least one macro base station;

[0023] For any macro base station, the first network device configures the adjacent small base stations of any macro base station into one or more small base station subgroups based on the small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to the any macro base station; wherein any of the small base station subgroups is used to provide a virtual sub-area;

[0024] The first network device stores a mapping relationship between any one of the macro base stations and the one or more small base station subgroups in the first neighbor relationship table.

[0025] In some possible designs, the method further includes:

[0026] The first network device receives a handover request, where the handover request is used to switch the serving cell of the terminal, and the handover request carries an identifier of a source macro base station, an identifier of a target base station, a terminal measurement report, and a cell code of the target cell; wherein the identifier of the target base station is a virtual base station identifier corresponding to a target virtual base station determined by the source macro base station by querying a second neighboring cell relationship table according to cell feature information carried in the terminal measurement report sent by the terminal; and the second neighboring cell relationship table is a neighboring cell relationship table locally maintained by the source macro base station;

[0027] The first network device queries the first neighboring cell relationship based on the identifier of the source macro base station, the identifier of the target base station, and the terminal measurement report carried in the handover request, and determines the target virtual sub-area;

[0028] The first network device determines, based on the cell code of the target cell, a target small base station from the small base stations included in the target virtual sub-area;

[0029] The first network device allocates wireless resources to the target small base station to switch the terminal to the cell provided by the target small base station.

[0030] In some possible designs, the method further includes:

[0031] The first network device obtains synchronization signal block SSB mode configuration information of any virtual cell, where the SSB mode configuration information carries an SSB mode corresponding to each small base station subgroup included in the any virtual cell; the SSB mode indicates an SSB index allocated to each small base station in the corresponding small base station subgroup;

[0032] The first network device performs SSB mode configuration based on the SSB mode configuration information;

[0033] The first network device saves the mapping relationship between the successfully configured SSB mode and the small base station subgroup in the first neighboring cell relationship table.

[0034] In some possible designs, the SSB pattern indicates that the SSB indexes of multiple small base stations in the same small base station subgroup are different; and the same small base station belonging to different virtual sub-areas is configured with one SSB index.

[0035] In some possible designs, the method further includes:

[0036] The first network device receives a handover request; the handover request is used to request handover of a serving base station of a terminal device; wherein the handover request carries an identifier of a source macro base station, an identifier of a target base station, a terminal measurement report, and an SSB index of the target cell; the identifier of the target base station is a virtual base station identifier corresponding to a target virtual base station determined by the source macro base station by querying a second neighboring cell relationship table based on cell feature information carried in the terminal measurement report; the second neighboring cell relationship table is a neighboring cell relationship table locally maintained by the source macro base station;

[0037] The first network device queries the first neighboring cell relationship table to determine a target virtual sub-area based on the identifier of the source macro base station, the identifier of the target base station, and the terminal measurement report in the handover request;

[0038] The first network device queries, based on the SSB index of the target cell, a mapping relationship between the SSB mode and the small base station subgroup stored in the first neighboring cell relationship table, and determines a target small base station from the small base station subgroup corresponding to the target virtual sub-area;

[0039] The first network device allocates wireless resources to the target small base station to switch the terminal to the cell provided by the target small base station.

[0040] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device applied to a macro base station in a mobile communication network, comprising a module for executing any method described in the first aspect.

[0041] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, which is applied to a first network device in a mobile communication network and includes a module for executing any method described in the second aspect.

[0042] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, comprising: a memory and a processor; the memory is configured to store computer program instructions; the processor is configured to run the computer program instructions so that the network device implements the method described in any one of the first aspects, or implements the method described in any one of the second aspects.

[0043] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, and an electronic device runs the computer program product, so that the electronic device implements the method described in any one of the first aspects, or implements the method described in any one of the second aspects.

[0044] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a mobile communication network, comprising: at least one macro base station, a first network device and a small base station group, wherein the small base station group includes at least one small base station; the macro base station is used to execute the method described in any one of the first aspects; and the first network device is used to perform the method described in the second aspect.

[0045] The embodiment of the present application provides a distributed virtual cell deployment method, network equipment and mobile communication network, wherein the present application proposes to group small base stations and deploy the first network equipment arranged between the small base station group and the macro base station as one or more virtual base stations in the mobile communication network, and control the number of virtual cells provided by each virtual base station, and configure virtual cell feature information for the virtual cells provided for each virtual base station so that multiple small base stations contained in the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier and frequency point. On this basis, the above information is recorded in the neighboring cell relationship table. Since the number of virtual base stations is much smaller than the number of small base stations that are neighboring cells with the macro base station, the purpose of simplifying the configuration of the neighboring cell relationship of the macro base station and reducing the maintenance and operation costs can be achieved. Furthermore, using the neighboring cell relationship table to manage service cell switching is also simpler, faster and more efficient. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a hybrid networking scenario in related technologies;

[0047] Figure 2 A structural diagram of a mobile communication network provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 3 A structural diagram of a mobile communication network provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 4 A structural diagram of a mobile communication network provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 5 A structural diagram of a mobile communication network provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 6 A flowchart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Figure 7 A flowchart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Figure 8 A flowchart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 9 A flowchart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 10A A schematic diagram of a search path for a target small base station determined by a gateway based on a first neighboring cell relationship table according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Figure 10BA schematic diagram of a search path for a target small base station determined by a gateway based on a first neighboring cell relationship table provided in another embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figure 12 A schematic diagram of the structure of a network device provided in another embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] In this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a alone, b alone, or c alone can represent: a alone, b alone, c alone, a and b in combination, a and c in combination, b and c in combination, or a, b, and c in combination, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0060] The terms "connected" and "connect" should be interpreted broadly. For example, "connected" or "connected" in a circuit structure can refer not only to a physical connection, but also to an electrical connection or a signal connection. For example, it can be a direct connection, i.e., a physical connection, or an indirect connection through at least one intermediate component, as long as the circuit is interconnected. It can also refer to internal connectivity between two components. Signal connection can refer not only to signal connection through circuits but also to signal connection through media, such as radio waves. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in this application on a case-by-case basis.

[0061] The present application provides a distributed virtual cell deployment method, network equipment and mobile communication network, wherein, considering that the number of neighboring base stations contained in the configuration file related to neighboring cell relations, the number of cells provided by the small base stations in the neighboring cells, and the number of cell feature information used by the small base stations in the neighboring cells can be reduced, the neighboring cell relationship configuration can be simplified. Based on this, the present application proposes that in the mobile communication network, the small base stations are grouped and the first network equipment arranged between the small base station group and the macro base station is deployed as one or more virtual base stations, and the number of virtual cells provided by each virtual base station is controlled, and the virtual cell feature information is configured for each virtual base station so that multiple small base stations included in the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier and frequency. On this basis, the above information is recorded in the neighboring cell relationship table. Since the number of virtual base stations is much smaller than the number of small base stations that are in neighboring cell relationships with the macro base station, the purpose of simplifying the neighboring cell relationship configuration and reducing maintenance and operation costs can be achieved. Furthermore, using the neighboring cell relationship table to manage service cell switching is also simpler, faster and more efficient.

[0062] Among them, the wireless resource utilization rate is further improved by deploying small base station subgroups during the network deployment phase and allocating wireless resources according to the small base station subgroups.

[0063] Among them, by planning the SSB mode of the small base station subgroup, the SSB indexes of each small base station belonging to the same small base station subgroup are made different as much as possible, thereby further improving the resource utilization of the small base station subgroup.

[0064] Next, the distributed virtual cell deployment method provided in this application is introduced in detail in conjunction with the architecture of the mobile communication network.

[0065] This application exemplifies a structure of a mobile communication network, wherein the mobile communication network includes: a small base station group, a first network device, and at least one macro base station. The small base station group includes N small base stations, namely: a first small base station, a second small base station, ..., and an Nth small base station, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0066] The N small base stations are connected to the base station-oriented interface provided by the first network device.

[0067] The first network device is directly connected to at least one macro base station, or, when the first network device is not directly connected to the macro base station, is connected through a core network.

[0068] In addition, when the first network device is directly connected to at least one macro base station, the at least one macro base station is also connected to the core network.

[0069] The small base station may be a micro base station (Micro cell), a pico base station (Pico cell) or a home base station (Femtocell), etc.

[0070] The first network device may be a gateway (GW) or a central unit (CU). The first network device is a connection bridge between the small base station and the macro base station.

[0071] When the first network device is a GW, the GW and the connected N small base stations together form one or more virtual base stations, and each virtual base station can provide one or more virtual cells through the small base stations contained therein.

[0072] When the first network device is a CU, the CU and the N connected small base stations together form a virtual base station, and each virtual base station provides one or more virtual cells through the N connected small base stations.

[0073] For example, Figure 2 and Figure 3 These are all structural diagrams of mobile communication networks exemplified in this application. Figure 2 In the following, two macro base stations and seven small base stations are used as examples for illustration.

[0074] Figure 2 In the first mobile communication network 200 shown, the first network device is GW, which is connected to the first small base station, the second small base station, the third small base station, the fourth small base station, the fifth small base station, the sixth small base station, and the seventh small base station, respectively. GW is also connected to the first macro base station and the second macro base station. In addition, GW is also connected to the core network, and the core network is also connected to the first macro base station and the second macro base station, respectively.

[0075] Figure 2 In the example, the GW and its subordinate first to seventh small base stations together form one or more virtual base stations, and each virtual base station is configured with a corresponding virtual base station identifier. Each virtual base station can provide one or more virtual cells. For example, the following situations can be considered:

[0076] Scenario (1): The GW and the first through seventh small cells form the first virtual BS (gNB1), and gNB1 is assigned the corresponding virtual BS identifier, gNB ID1. This establishes a neighbor relationship between gNB1 and the first macro BS, and also between gNB1 and the second macro BS.

[0077] Furthermore, gNB1 forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the first to seventh small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-1.

[0078] It should be noted that, in this application, the numbers contained in the names of virtual cells are the digital numbers of the virtual cells, which can also be understood as the cell numbers or cell identifiers of the virtual cells, and are used to distinguish different virtual cells. For example, the numbers "1-1" contained in "virtual cell 1-1" are the cell numbers of the virtual cell; for another example, the numbers "1-2" contained in "virtual cell 1-2" are the cell numbers of the virtual cell.

[0079] Scenario (2): The GW and the first through seventh small base stations form the first virtual base station (gNB1), and gNB1 is assigned the corresponding virtual base station identifier, gNB ID1. This establishes a neighbor relationship between gNB1 and the first macro base station, and also between gNB1 and the second macro base station.

[0080] Furthermore, gNB1 forms a virtual cell 1-1 through the physical cells generated by the first to fifth small base stations, and gNB1 forms a virtual cell 1-2 through the physical cells generated by the sixth to seventh small base stations.

[0081] Scenario (3): The GW and the first through seventh small base stations form the first virtual base station (gNB1), and gNB1 is assigned the corresponding virtual base station identifier, gNB ID1. This establishes a neighbor relationship between gNB1 and the first macro base station, and also between gNB1 and the second macro base station.

[0082] Furthermore, gNB1 forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the first to third small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-1; forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the fourth and fifth small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-2; and forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the sixth and seventh small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-3.

[0083] Scenario (4): The GW and the first through fifth small base stations form a first virtual base station (gNB1), and gNB1 is assigned a corresponding virtual base station identifier (gNB ID1). The GW and the sixth and seventh small base stations form a second virtual base station (gNB2), and gNB2 is assigned a corresponding virtual base station identifier (gNB ID2). gNB1 and the first macro base station are neighbors, and gNB2 and the second macro base station are neighbors.

[0084] For example, gNB1 forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the first to third small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-1, and forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the fourth and fifth small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-2; gNB2 forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the sixth and seventh small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 2-1.

[0085] Scenario (5): The GW and the first through fifth small base stations form a first virtual base station (gNB1), and gNB1 is assigned a corresponding virtual base station identifier (gNB ID1). The GW and the sixth and seventh small base stations form a second virtual base station (gNB2), and gNB2 is assigned a corresponding virtual base station identifier (gNB ID2). gNB1 and the first macro base station are neighbors, and gNB2 and the second macro base station are neighbors.

[0086] For example, gNB1 forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the first to fifth small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-1; gNB2 forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the sixth and seventh small base stations, which is recorded as virtual cell 2-1.

[0087] Scenario (6): The GW and the first to seventh small base stations jointly form the first virtual base station (gNB1), and the corresponding virtual base station identifier gNB ID1 is configured for gNB1. gNB1 is in a neighboring cell relationship with both the first macro base station and the second macro base station. Specifically, the first macro base station is in a neighboring cell relationship with the first to fifth small base stations, and the second macro base station is in a neighboring cell relationship with the sixth and seventh small base stations.

[0088] Furthermore, gNB1 forms a virtual cell through the physical cells generated by the first small base station to the third small base station, the sixth small base station, and the seventh small base station, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-1; the fourth small base station and the fifth small base station provide a virtual cell, which is recorded as virtual cell 1-2.

[0089] The above deployment methods are only examples and are not limitations on the deployment methods of virtual base stations and virtual cells.

[0090] Figure 3 In the second mobile communication network 300 shown, the first network device is a CU, which is connected to the first small base station, the second small base station, the third small base station, the fourth small base station, the fifth small base station, the sixth small base station, and the seventh small base station, respectively. The CU is also connected to the first macro base station and the second macro base station. In addition, the CU is also used for core network connection, and the core network is also connected to the first macro base station and the second macro base station, respectively.

[0091] Figure 3In the example, the CU and its subordinate small base stations (1 to 7) form a virtual base station, which is assigned a corresponding virtual base station identifier. The virtual base station provides at least two virtual cells. The small base stations included in some virtual cells are neighbors of the first macro base station, while the small base stations included in other virtual cells are neighbors of the second macro base station.

[0092] Scenario (7): gNB1 provides one virtual cell, denoted as virtual cell 1-1, through the first to third small base stations. It also provides one virtual cell, denoted as virtual cell 1-2, through the fourth and fifth small base stations. It also provides one virtual cell, denoted as virtual cell 1-3, through the sixth and seventh small base stations. The small base stations included in virtual cells 1-1 and 1-2, respectively, are neighbors of the first macro base station. The two small base stations included in virtual cell 1-3 are neighbors of the second macro base station.

[0093] In this application, when planning and deploying the network, corresponding virtual cell feature information is configured for each virtual cell. The virtual cell feature information includes a physical cell identifier (PCI) and a frequency. The physical cells generated by each small base station belonging to the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier, and the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same frequency.

[0094] In some embodiments, the configuration planning of the virtual cell characteristic information may be performed in the following manner:

[0095] Virtual cells belonging to different virtual base stations and located in different geographic areas can be configured with the same virtual cell characteristic information. That is, virtual cells under different virtual base stations can use the same frequency and physical cell identifier. For different macro base stations, their corresponding neighbor relationships are different. The same frequency and the same PCI point to different virtual base stations.

[0096] Among them, different virtual cells belonging to the same virtual base station, if they belong to different geographical areas and have neighboring relationships with different macro base stations, can also be configured with the same virtual cell characteristic information.

[0097] If there are two or more adjacent virtual cells for the same macro base station, then the multiple virtual cells adjacent to the macro base station must be configured with different virtual cell characteristic information. It should be noted that the multiple virtual cells adjacent to the same macro base station can be provided by the same virtual base station or by different virtual base stations.

[0098] It should be noted that in this application, if at least one of the frequency or PCI in the virtual cell characteristic information is different, the virtual cell characteristic information is considered to be different. Conversely, completely identical virtual cell characteristic information means that both the frequency and PCI are the same.

[0099] In some other embodiments, the virtual cell characteristic information further includes a tracking area code (TAC).

[0100] For example, in combination Figure 2 In the six situations corresponding to the first mobile communication network 200 shown, the configuration of the virtual cell characteristic information may be:

[0101] In scenario (1): Since a virtual base station is deployed and the virtual base station provides a virtual cell, a frequency point and a PCI are allocated for use by all small base stations in the virtual cell.

[0102] In scenario (2): If virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 1-2 are located in different geographical areas, the same frequency and PCI can be configured. This saves frequency and PCI resources. For example, PCI 1 and frequency 1 can be configured for both virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 1-2.

[0103] If virtual cells 1-1 and 1-2 are geographically close and have sufficient frequency and PCI resources, completely different frequencies and PCIs can be configured for virtual cells 1-1 and 1-2, respectively. For example, PCI1 and frequency 1 can be configured for virtual cell 1-1, while virtual cell 1-2 can be assigned a single virtual cell characteristic, such as PCI2 and frequency 2.

[0104] It is understandable that when the virtual cell 1-1 and the virtual cell 1-2 are located in different geographical areas, if the frequency resources and PCI resources are sufficient, completely different frequencies and PCIs can be configured for the virtual cell 1-1 and the virtual cell 1-2 respectively.

[0105] In scenario (3), virtual cell 1-1, virtual cell 1-2, and virtual cell 1-3 belong to the same virtual base station. In some embodiments, different frequencies and PCIs may be configured for these three virtual cells. That is, frequency 1 and PCI 1 are configured for virtual cell 1-1, frequency 2 and PCI 2 are configured for virtual cell 1-2, and frequency 3 and PCI 3 are configured for virtual cell 1-3. The following description of scenario (3) uses the example of configuring different frequencies and PCIs for the three virtual cells.

[0106] In other embodiments, different virtual cells belonging to the same virtual base station, if located in different geographical areas, may also be configured with the same virtual cell characteristic information. That is, frequency 1 and PCI 1 may be configured for virtual cell 1-1, frequency 2 and PCI 2 may be configured for virtual cell 1-2, and frequency 1 and PCI 1 may be configured for virtual cell 1-3. When the mobile communication network is deployed in other scenarios, virtual cell characteristic information may also be configured for virtual cells in this manner.

[0107] In scenario (4), where virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 1-2 belong to the same virtual base station gNB1, different virtual cell characteristic information can be assigned to virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 1-2. For example, frequency 1 and PCI 1 are assigned to virtual cell 1-1, and frequency 2 and PCI 2 are assigned to virtual cell 1-2.

[0108] Furthermore, virtual cell 2-1 belongs to virtual base station gNB2. According to the positional relationship / coverage relationship between the two small base stations included in virtual cell 2-1, if virtual cell 2-1 and virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 1-2 are located in different geographical areas, that is, the distance is far, then the frequency and PCI of virtual cell 2-1 can be the same as those of virtual cell 1-1, or the frequency and PCI of virtual cell 2-1 can be the same as those of virtual cell 1-2.

[0109] If the distance between the nearest base stations of virtual cell 2-1 and virtual cell 1-1 is less than a preset first distance threshold, or the distance between their coverage areas is less than the preset first distance threshold, then the frequency and PCI of virtual cell 2-1 must be different from those of virtual cell 1-1. Similarly, if the distance between virtual cell 2-1 and virtual cell 1-2 is less than a preset first distance threshold, or the distance between their coverage areas is less than the preset first distance threshold, then the frequency and PCI of virtual cell 2-1 must be different from those of virtual cell 1-2.

[0110] If the nearest base station distance between virtual cell 2-1 and virtual cell 1-1, and the nearest base station distance between virtual cell 2-1 and virtual cell 1-2 are both less than the first distance threshold, or the nearest distance between the coverage range of virtual cell 2-1 and the coverage range of virtual cell 1-1, and the nearest distance between the coverage range of virtual cell 2-1 and the coverage range of virtual cell 1-2 are both less than the second distance threshold, then the frequencies and PCIs of the three virtual cells must be configured to be completely different.

[0111] Of course, it is also possible not to consider the position relationship / coverage relationship between several virtual cells. When frequency resources and PCI resources are sufficient, completely different frequencies and PCIs are configured by default.

[0112] In scenario (5): virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 2-1 belong to different virtual base stations. Based on the location relationship / coverage relationship between virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 2-1, if virtual cell 2-1 and virtual cell 1-1 are located in different geographical areas, that is, the distance between them is far, then the frequency and PCI of virtual cell 2-1 can be the same as those of virtual cell 1-1.

[0113] If the distance between the nearest base stations of virtual cell 2-1 and virtual cell 1-1 is less than a preset first distance threshold, or the distance between their coverage areas is less than a preset first distance threshold, then the frequency and PCI of virtual cell 2-1 must be different from the frequency and PCI of virtual cell 1-1.

[0114] The first distance threshold and the second distance threshold mentioned in scenario (4) and scenario (5) can be determined based on factors such as the distance between multiple macro base stations and the coverage range of small base stations.

[0115] In scenario (6), virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 1-2 belong to the same virtual base station, and the first to fifth small base stations included in both virtual cell 1-2 and virtual cell 1-1 are all located around the first macro base station. Therefore, virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 1-2 need to be configured with different virtual cell characteristic information, for example, completely different frequencies and PCIs.

[0116] Combine Figure 3 In the case (7) corresponding to the second mobile communication network 300 shown, since the CU and the small base station are grouped to form a virtual base station, and the only virtual base station provides three virtual cells, different virtual cell characteristic information can be configured for the three virtual cells, or the same virtual cell characteristic information can be configured for two virtual base stations that are far away, and different virtual cell characteristic information can be configured for the two virtual cells that are adjacent to the first macro base station.

[0117] Through the above network deployment method, the number of virtual base stations formed by the GW and small base station grouping or the CU and small base station grouping, the number of virtual cells, and the number of physical cell identifiers and frequencies used by the virtual cells can be controlled, which can greatly simplify the neighboring cell relationship of the macro base station, thereby reducing the complexity of network planning.

[0118] It should be noted that in actual applications, the number of small base stations and macro base stations may be more or less, and is not limited to Figure 2 and Figure 3 Quantity shown.

[0119] In some mobile communication networks, there may be a small base station that is in a neighboring cell relationship with multiple macro base stations. This type of small base station is usually close to multiple macro base stations, so it can provide local capacity supplement for multiple macro base stations. Therefore, such a small base station can switch the service base station with any adjacent macro base station.

[0120] For example, Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a mobile communication network is shown. Figure 4 The positional relationship between multiple macro base stations and small base stations is mainly used to illustrate the situation where a small base station is in a neighboring cell relationship with multiple macro base stations at the same time. Figure 4 As shown, the third mobile communication network 400 includes a first macro base station and a second macro base station, wherein the first macro base station and the first small base station, the second small base station, the third small base station, the fourth small base station, and the fifth small base station are neighboring cells, and the second macro base station and the fifth small base station, the sixth small base station, and the seventh small base station are also neighboring cells.

[0121] in, Figure 4 The third mobile communication network 400 shown may include one or more virtual base stations, each of which may provide one or more virtual cells. The implementation method is the same as that described above. Figure 2 、 Figure 3 The implementation is similar and will not be described here.

[0122] Exemplarily, the fifth small base station is located at the midpoint of a line connecting the positions of the first macro base station and the second macro base station. Thus, the distance between the fifth small base station and the first macro base station is equal to the distance between the fifth small base station and the second macro base station. The fifth small base station can perform a serving base station handover with the first macro base station, the second macro base station, or any other small base station under the second macro base station, such as the sixth small base station or the seventh small base station.

[0123] Although this type of small base station has a neighboring relationship with multiple macro base stations, it does not affect the number of virtual base stations, virtual cells, and virtual cell feature information deployed in the mobile communication network. Therefore, it will not affect the complexity of the neighboring relationship configuration.

[0124] In some embodiments, when the network is deployed, small base station subgroups are also deployed. Therefore, when there are a large number of small base stations and a very limited number of virtual cells and PCIs, the GW or CU can accurately allocate wireless resources, thereby improving the wireless resource utilization of the small base stations and improving transmission efficiency.

[0125] Specifically, when there are a large number of small base stations, but the number of virtual cells and PCIs is very limited, there may be a large number of small base stations using the same frequency and PCI under the same virtual base station. Through the deployment of small base station subgroups, the GW or CU can specify the target small base station within a smaller range according to the actual switching needs in this case, and accurately provide wireless resources to the target small base station. This can avoid the waste of services of a large number of small base stations outside the local range where the switching actually occurs, and can also avoid congestion of virtual cells.

[0126] Specifically, the following network deployment methods may be included:

[0127] In this application, based on the location relationship and / or coverage relationship between the small base station and the macro base station, multiple small base stations with relatively close locations and coverage ranges can be divided into a small base station subgroup as much as possible, thereby pre-determining the small base station subgroup deployment plan.

[0128] During network deployment, multiple small base stations adjacent to a macro base station can be deployed as small base station subgroups according to virtual cells. Each virtual cell includes one or more small base station subgroups, and each small base station subgroup includes one or more small base stations.

[0129] It is understandable that the physical cells provided by the small base stations in the same small base station subgroup belong to the same virtual cell. Multiple small base station subgroups may belong to the same virtual cell or to different virtual cells.

[0130] Among them, the small base stations belonging to the same small base station subgroup use the same physical cell identifier and frequency.

[0131] In the same virtual cell, wireless resources can be reused among different virtual sub-areas.

[0132] There may or may not be any intersection between the small base station groups, that is, some small base stations may belong to multiple small base station subgroups at the same time.

[0133] Next, combine Figure 2 and Figure 3 The following example illustrates the deployment of a small cell subgroup:

[0134] exist Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as scenario (1):

[0135] The first to fifth small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the first small base station subgroup, and the sixth and seventh small base stations that are neighboring cells of the second macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the second small base station subgroup.

[0136] Among them, the physical cells generated by the five small base stations included in the first small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the second small base station subgroup form another virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-2.

[0137] It should be noted that, in this application, the numbers contained in the names of virtual sub-areas are the numerical numbers of the virtual sub-areas, which can also be understood as the sub-area numbers or identifiers of the virtual sub-areas, used to distinguish different virtual sub-areas. For example, in scenario (1), the numbers "1-1-1" contained in "virtual sub-area 1-1-1" are the numerical numbers of the virtual sub-area; for another example, the numbers "1-1-2" contained in "virtual sub-area 1-1-2" are the numerical numbers of the virtual sub-area.

[0138] The two virtual sub-areas deployed in this embodiment belong to the same virtual cell.

[0139] For example, in Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as scenario (2):

[0140] The first to fifth small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the first small base station subgroup, and the sixth and seventh small base stations that are neighboring cells of the second macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the second small base station subgroup.

[0141] Among them, the physical cells generated by the five small base stations included in the first small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1 under gNB1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the second small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-2 under gNB1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-2-1.

[0142] Different from situation (1), the two virtual sub-areas deployed in this embodiment belong to different virtual cells.

[0143] For example, in Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as scenario (3):

[0144] The first to third small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the first small base station subgroup, and the fourth and fifth small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the second small base station subgroup. At the same time, the sixth and seventh small base stations that are neighboring cells of the second macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the third small base station subgroup.

[0145] Among them, the physical cells generated by the three small base stations included in the first small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the second small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-2, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-2-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the third small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-3, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-3-1.

[0146] For example, in Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as scenario (4), the deployment method of the small base station subgroup is similar to the deployment method of the small base station subgroup in scenario (3).

[0147] The difference is that the virtual base stations and virtual cells to which the virtual sub-areas formed by the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the third small base station subgroup belong are different.

[0148] Specifically, in situation (4), the physical cells generated by the three small base stations included in the first small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1 under gNB1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the second small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-2 under gNB1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-2-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the third small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 2-1 under gNB2, recorded as virtual sub-area 2-1-1.

[0149] For example, in Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as scenario (5):

[0150] The first to fifth small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the first small base station subgroup, and the sixth and seventh small base stations that are neighboring cells of the second macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the second small base station subgroup.

[0151] Among them, the physical cells generated by the five small base stations included in the first small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the second small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 2-1, recorded as virtual sub-area 2-1-1.

[0152] In other possible designs, the first to fifth small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can also be divided into multiple small base station subgroups. The physical cells generated by the small base stations included in each small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area under the virtual cell 1-1. In this way, the virtual cell 1-1 includes multiple virtual sub-areas.

[0153] For example, in Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as scenario (6):

[0154] The first to third small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the first small base station subgroup; the fourth and fifth small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the second small base station subgroup; and the sixth and seventh small base stations that are neighboring cells of the second macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the third small base station subgroup.

[0155] Among them, the physical cells generated by the three small base stations included in the first small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the second small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-2, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-2-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the third small base station subgroup form another virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-2.

[0156] For example, in Figure 3 When the second mobile communication network 300 is deployed as scenario (7):

[0157] The first to third small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the first small base station subgroup, and the fourth and fifth small base stations that are neighboring cells of the first macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the second small base station subgroup. At the same time, the sixth and seventh small base stations that are neighboring cells of the second macro base station can be divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the third small base station subgroup.

[0158] Among them, the physical cells generated by the three small base stations included in the first small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-1, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the second small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-2, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-2-1; the physical cells generated by the two small base stations included in the third small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area of ​​the virtual cell 1-3, recorded as virtual sub-area 1-3-1.

[0159] In summary, by deploying small base station subgroups, when a virtual cell contains multiple small base station subgroups, the GW or CU can accurately determine the target small base station that the terminal wants to switch to within a small range, and allocate the wireless resources required for switching to the target small base station, avoiding resource waste.

[0160] In some embodiments, after the small base station subgroup is successfully deployed, SSB allocation is also performed for the virtual sub-area provided by the small base station subgroup to differentiate the small base stations within a virtual cell, so that the gateway or CU can accurately mobilize the target small base station covering the terminal device in the virtual sub-area to use the allocated wireless switching resources to provide services for the terminal device. Other non-target small base stations in the virtual sub-area do not perform air interface behavior, thereby avoiding resource waste of non-target small base stations.

[0161] Specific deployment methods include the following:

[0162] Among them, different SSB indexes (ie, SSBindex) can be assigned to different small base stations in a small base station subgroup, and each small base station sends one of multiple SSBs.

[0163] Among them, for small base stations that have neighboring cell relationships with multiple macro base stations, the same SSB index is allocated, or the same set of SSB indexes is allocated.

[0164] In this way, the relevant information of SSB index allocation is saved in the GW or CU, and different small base stations are addressed by the SSB index.

[0165] For example, Figure 2 The first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as follows: the GW and the first to seventh small base stations jointly form a virtual base station, denoted as gNB1. The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth small base stations are neighbors of the first macro base station, while the sixth and seventh small base stations are neighbors of the second macro base station. Furthermore, the physical cells generated by the first, second, third, sixth, and seventh small base stations respectively form virtual cell 1-1, and the physical cells generated by the fourth and fifth small base stations respectively form virtual cell 1-2. Furthermore, the first, second, and third small base stations are assigned to the first small base station subgroup; the fourth and fifth small base stations are assigned to the second small base station subgroup; and the sixth and seventh small base stations are assigned to the third small base station subgroup.

[0166] Based on the above SSB index allocation method, SSB index 0 can be allocated to the first small base station belonging to the same first small base station subgroup, SSB index 1 can be allocated to the second small base station, and SSB index 2 can be allocated to the third small base station. Furthermore, SSB index 0 can be allocated to the fourth small base station belonging to the same second small base station subgroup, and SSB index 1 can be allocated to the fifth small base station. Furthermore, SSB index 0 can be allocated to the sixth small base station belonging to the same third small base station subgroup, and SSB index 1 can be allocated to the seventh small base station.

[0167] For example, Figure 4 The third mobile communication network 400 is deployed as follows: the GW and the first through seventh small base stations form a virtual base station, designated gNB1. The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth small base stations are neighbors of the first macro base station, while the fifth, sixth, and seventh small base stations are neighbors of the second macro base station.

[0168] The physical cells provided by the first small base station, the second small base station, the fifth small base station, the sixth small base station, and the seventh small base station respectively form a virtual cell 1-1, and the physical cells provided by the third small base station and the fourth small base station respectively form a virtual cell 1-2. Different virtual cell characteristic information is assigned to virtual cell 1-1 and virtual cell 1-2. For example, frequency 1 and PCI 1 are assigned to virtual cell 1-1, and frequency 2 and PCI 2 are assigned to virtual cell 1-2.

[0169] Furthermore, the first small base station, the second small base station and the fifth small base station are divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the first small base station subgroup, and the physical cells generated by the three small base stations contained in the first small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the third small base station and the fourth small base station are divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the second small base station subgroup, and the physical cells generated by the two small base stations contained in the second small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area 1-2-1; the fifth small base station, the sixth small base station and the seventh small base station are divided into one small base station subgroup, recorded as the third small base station subgroup, and the physical cells generated by the three small base stations contained in the third small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area 1-1-2.

[0170] Figure 4 The scenario in which the third mobile communication network 400 is deployed in this manner is hereinafter referred to as scenario (8).

[0171] In scenario (8), based on the SSB index allocation method provided in this application, the first small base station belonging to the same first small base station subgroup may be allocated SSB index 1, the second small base station may be allocated SSB index 2, and the fifth small base station may be allocated SSB index 0. Furthermore, the third small base station belonging to the same second small base station subgroup may be allocated SSB index 0, and the fourth small base station may be allocated SSB index 1. Furthermore, the fifth small base station belonging to the same third small base station subgroup may be allocated SSB index 0, the sixth small base station may be allocated SSB index 1, and the seventh small base station may be allocated SSB index 2.

[0172] It should be noted that the SSB indicated by the SSB index0 corresponding to the fifth small base station in the first small base station subgroup and the SSB indicated by the SSB index0 corresponding to the fifth small base station in the third small base station subgroup are the same SSB.

[0173] After the SSB index is allocated to the small base station, since each small base station generates a physical cell, the target small base station can be accurately addressed through the SSB index in different small base station subgroups.

[0174] If it is in the service cell switching scenario, the GW or CU can obtain the SSB index of the target cell by parsing the relevant information about the target cell in the terminal measurement report. The GW or CU then determines the target small base station corresponding to the target cell based on the correspondence between the SSB index configured for the small base station in the small base station subgroup and the small base station, and then uses the target small base station to serve the terminal.

[0175] Next, through Figure 5 Embodiment, and combined with the above Figure 2 、 Figure 3 as well as Figure 4 The illustrated embodiments respectively provide a network deployment method of a mobile communication network, and provide a detailed introduction to the distributed virtual cell deployment method executed on the macro base station side.

[0176] Figure 5 This is a flow chart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided by another embodiment of the present application. The method of this embodiment is applied to a macro base station in a mobile communication network. Figure 5 As shown, the method of this embodiment includes:

[0177] S51. The macro base station obtains one or more virtual base station identifiers.

[0178] The number of virtual base station identifiers is the same as the number of virtual base station neighbors of the macro base station included in the mobile communication network during the network planning phase. For example, if the mobile communication network plans three virtual base stations, two of which are neighbors of the macro base station, then the macro base station will receive two virtual base station identifiers.

[0179] In some embodiments, one or more virtual base station identifiers can be issued to a macro base station through manual configuration. That is, the macro base station can be connected to an external device via an interface, and a user can operate the external device to issue virtual base station identifiers to the macro base station. This method is also called manual configuration.

[0180] In other embodiments, one or more virtual base station identifiers may be issued to the macro base station through the network management platform of the basic RAN.

[0181] S52. The macro base station obtains one or more sets of virtual cell characteristic information; wherein the number of the virtual cell characteristic information is the same as the number of adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station, and any set of virtual cell characteristic information includes: a physical cell identifier and a frequency point.

[0182] The virtual cell characteristic information acquired by the macro base station is determined based on the virtual cells associated with the macro base station, among one or more virtual cells provided by virtual base stations adjacent to the macro base station. In other words, the macro base station does not need to maintain information related to non-adjacent virtual cells or non-adjacent virtual base stations. Non-adjacent virtual cells include virtual cells provided by virtual base stations adjacent to the macro base station that are not adjacent to the macro base station, as well as virtual cells provided by virtual base stations that are not adjacent to the macro base station.

[0183] The amount of virtual cell characteristic information is less than or equal to the number of adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station.

[0184] In some embodiments, virtual cell characteristic information of a neighboring virtual cell to be configured to the macro base station may be sent to the macro base station in a manual configuration manner.

[0185] In other embodiments, the virtual cell characteristic information of the adjacent virtual cell to be configured to the macro base station may be sent to the macro base station via the network management platform of the basic RAN.

[0186] S53. The macro base station establishes a neighboring cell relationship and saves the successfully established neighboring cell relationship in a second neighboring cell relationship table; wherein the second neighboring cell relationship table is at least used for service cell switching management; the second neighboring cell relationship table includes the neighboring cell relationship information of the macro base station, and the neighboring cell relationship information includes a mapping relationship between the following contents: the identifier of the macro base station, the virtual base station identifier configured for the adjacent virtual base station of the macro base station, and the virtual cell characteristic information configured for the adjacent virtual cell of the macro base station.

[0187] The virtual base station identifier is also called a virtual base station ID.

[0188] Among them, establishing neighboring cell relationships includes: establishing a mapping relationship between the adjacent virtual base stations of the macro base station and the virtual base station identifiers, and establishing a mapping relationship between the adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station and the virtual cell feature information, that is, establishing a mapping relationship between the adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station and the frequency point and PCI.

[0189] Among them, the neighbor relationship table can also be called a neighbor relationship database, a neighbor relationship data table, etc. In order to distinguish the neighbor relationship data table stored in the first network device and the neighbor relationship data table stored in the macro base station, the neighbor relationship table locally stored in the first network device is called the first neighbor relationship table, and the neighbor relationship table locally stored in the macro base station is called the second neighbor relationship table.

[0190] For example, Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as the scenario (6) shown above:

[0191] The second neighboring cell relationship table stored in the first macro base station includes the content shown in the following Table 1:

[0192] Table 1

[0193]

[0194] The second neighboring cell relationship table stored in the second macro base station includes the content shown in the following Table 2:

[0195] Table 2

[0196]

[0197] In Table 2, " / " indicates no data. It should be noted that the numbers in the macro cell names in Tables 1 and 2 are the corresponding digital numbers of the macro cells, i.e., the cell numbers or cell identifiers. Furthermore, in Tables 1 and 2, the example of a first macro base station including one macro cell is used for illustration. In actual mobile communication networks, a macro base station may provide one or more macro cells.

[0198] In addition, during actual network deployment, any macro base station can accurately determine the virtual base station to which the virtual cell belongs through the virtual cell characteristics used by the virtual cell. Therefore, there is no need to maintain the cell number of the virtual cell in the macro base station, which simplifies the neighbor relationship configuration in the macro base station.

[0199] If the traditional method is used for network deployment, the neighbor relationship table stored by the first macro base station and the second macro base station will record the frequency points and PCI information allocated to their respective adjacent small base stations and the identifier of the small base station. For example, Figure 2In the case where the first mobile communication network is deployed as scenario (6), the neighbor cell relationship table in the first macro base station includes the frequencies, PCIs, and small base station identifiers corresponding to the first small base station, the second small base station, the third small base station, the sixth small base station, and the seventh small base station, respectively. Similarly, the neighbor cell relationship table stored in the second macro base station includes the frequencies, PCIs, and small base station identifiers corresponding to the fourth small base station and the fifth small base station, respectively.

[0200] By comparison, the approach of this application shows that the number of neighboring base stations and the amount of neighboring cell feature information stored in the neighboring cell relationship table in the macro base station are smaller, which can simplify the neighboring cell relationship configuration of the macro base station. The macro base station uses the second neighboring cell relationship table to manage serving cell switching, which is more efficient.

[0201] In particular, when a macro base station has a large number of adjacent small base stations, the complexity of the neighbor relationship table generated using traditional methods will also increase significantly, which will further increase the complexity of the serving cell switching management of the macro base station. In such cases, the method of the present application can significantly simplify the second neighbor relationship table maintained in the macro base station, and the efficiency of serving cell switching management based on this table will be more significantly improved.

[0202] In summary, through the method of this embodiment, the number of virtual base stations in the mobile communication network can be controlled, the number of virtual cells in the mobile communication network can be controlled, and the number of frequency resources and PCI resources used by small base stations can also be controlled. In this way, the complexity of the neighboring cell relationship in the second neighboring cell relationship table saved by the macro base station is reduced, and the neighboring cell relationship configuration in the macro base station is simplified.

[0203] Figure 6 This is a flow chart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method of this embodiment is applied to a first network device, that is, to a GW or a CU. Figure 6 As shown, the method of this embodiment includes:

[0204] S61. The first network device obtains one or more virtual base station identifiers.

[0205] The number of virtual base station identifiers is the same as the number of virtual base stations planned in the mobile communication network. For example, during the network planning phase, if it is determined that the mobile communication network will form three virtual base stations, then three virtual base station identifiers are issued to the first network device.

[0206] In some embodiments, the first network device may be connected to an external device via an interface, and the user may operate the external device to send the virtual base station identifier to the first network device. This method may also be referred to as a manual configuration method.

[0207] In other embodiments, a virtual base station identifier is issued to the first network device via a virtual radio access network network management platform (also referred to as a virtual RAN network management platform). The virtual RAN network management platform is primarily responsible for the management and configuration of virtual base stations, virtual cells, small cell subgroups, virtual sub-zones, etc.

[0208] S62. The first network device obtains one or more sets of virtual cell characteristic information, where each set of virtual cell characteristic information includes a frequency point and a physical cell identifier.

[0209] The amount of virtual cell characteristic information is related to factors such as the number of virtual cells provided by each virtual base station planned in the mobile communication network, the positional relationship and / or coverage relationship between multiple virtual cells belonging to the same virtual base station, the positional relationship and / or coverage relationship between virtual cells provided by different virtual base stations, the number of available frequency resources, and the number of available PCI resources. For details, refer to the previous examples and will not be repeated here.

[0210] In some embodiments, the virtual cell characteristic information required for network deployment may be sent to the first network device through manual configuration.

[0211] In other embodiments, the virtual cell characteristic information required for network deployment may be sent to the first network device via the network management platform of the virtual RAN.

[0212] S63. The first network device establishes a neighboring cell relationship and saves the successfully established neighboring cell relationship to a first neighboring cell relationship table, wherein the first neighboring cell relationship table is at least used for service cell switching management; the first neighboring cell relationship table includes neighboring cell relationship information corresponding to at least one macro base station; the neighboring cell relationship information of any macro base station includes a mapping relationship between the following contents: the identifier of any macro base station, the virtual base station identifier configured for the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station, the list of small base stations included in the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station, and the virtual cell characteristic information configured for the virtual cell included in the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station; wherein, the physical cells provided by each small base station belonging to the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier, and the physical cells provided by each small base station belonging to the same virtual cell use the same frequency.

[0213] Among them, establishing a neighboring cell relationship includes: establishing a mapping relationship between one or more virtual base stations in the mobile communication network and the virtual base station identifiers, and establishing a mapping relationship between the virtual cells provided by each virtual base station and the allocated virtual cell feature information, that is, establishing a mapping relationship between the virtual cell and the frequency point and PCI.

[0214] Among them, the neighbor relationship table can also be called a neighbor relationship database, a neighbor relationship data table, etc. In order to distinguish the neighbor relationship table stored in the first network device and the neighbor relationship table stored in the macro base station, the neighbor relationship table locally stored in the first network device is called the first neighbor relationship table, and the neighbor relationship table locally stored in the macro base station is called the second neighbor relationship table.

[0215] For example, Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as the scenario (6) shown above, the first neighbor relationship table stored in the first network device may include the content shown in Table 3 below:

[0216] Table 3

[0217]

[0218] Among them, the microcell refers to the service cell provided by the small base station. In the embodiments of the present application, the first neighboring cell relationship table contains the mapping relationship between the microcell and the small base station for illustration. In addition, in the present application, the numbers contained in the microcell name are the digital numbers of the microcells, which can also be understood as the cell codes or cell identifiers of the microcells, used to distinguish different microcells; for example, in Table 3, the numbers "1-1-0" in "Microcell 1-1-0" are the cell codes of the corresponding microcells.

[0219] In other embodiments, the first neighboring cell relationship table may not include the mapping relationship between the micro cell and the small base station. The mapping relationship between the micro cell and the small base station is maintained separately in a relationship table. When switching the service cell, the first network device combines the first neighboring cell relationship table with the relationship table between the micro cell and the small base station to accurately determine the target small base station.

[0220] Exemplarily, the relationship table for storing the mapping relationship between the micro cell and the small base station includes the content shown in Table 4:

[0221] Table 4

[0222] Cell ID microcell Small cell identification cell ID1 First micro-district The first small base station cell ID2 Second micro-cell Second small base station cell ID3 The third microdistrict The third small base station cell ID4 Fourth Microdistrict Fourth small base station cell ID5 Fifth Microdistrict The fifth small base station cell ID6 The sixth microdistrict The sixth small base station cell ID7 The seventh microdistrict Seventh small base station

[0223] In summary, through the method of this embodiment, the number of virtual base stations in the mobile communication network can be controlled, the number of virtual cells in the mobile communication network can be controlled, and the number of frequency resources and PCI resources used by small base stations can also be controlled, which simplifies the complexity of the neighbor relationship configuration of the macro base station. At the same time, the first network device maintains its own neighbor relationship locally based on a similar network deployment, so that the first network device and the macro base station can cooperate to provide basic conditions for accurate switching resource scheduling in the service cell switching scenario.

[0224] Figure 7This is a flow chart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided by another embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 As shown, the method of this embodiment is Figure 6 Based on the embodiment shown, after S63, the method further includes:

[0225] S64. The first network device obtains small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to at least one macro base station included in the mobile communication network.

[0226] The small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to a macro base station is used to indicate how many small base station subgroups all small base stations adjacent to the macro base station are divided into and which small base stations are included in each small base station subgroup. Exemplarily, the small base station subgroup configuration information may carry: the identifier of the adjacent macro base station, the identifier of each small base station subgroup planned for the macro base station, the identifier of the small base stations included in each small base station subgroup, the virtual base station to which the small base station subgroup belongs, the identifier of the virtual cell to which it belongs, and the identifier of the corresponding virtual subarea.

[0227] In some embodiments, the small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to each macro base station included in the mobile communication network can be sent to the first network device through manual configuration.

[0228] In other embodiments, the small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to each macro base station included in the mobile communication network may be sent to the first network device via the network management platform of the virtual RAN.

[0229] S65. For any macro base station, the first network device configures the adjacent small base stations of any macro base station into one or more small base station subgroups based on the small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to any macro base station, and saves the mapping relationship between any macro base station and the corresponding one or more small base station subgroups in the first neighboring cell relationship table.

[0230] Among them, for any macro base station, the operation of configuring all adjacent small base stations of the macro base station into one or more small base station subgroups refers to establishing a mapping relationship between the macro base station, the small base station subgroup and the small base station.

[0231] In this application, the physical cells generated by each small base station included in a small base station subgroup form a virtual sub-area. In this way, any macro base station can have a neighboring cell relationship with one or more virtual sub-areas. For how to divide small base station subgroups, please refer to the detailed description and multiple examples above. For the sake of simplicity, we will not repeat them here.

[0232] For example, Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as the scenario (6) shown above, and after the small base station subgroup is successfully deployed, the first neighbor relationship table stored in the first network device includes the content shown in Table 5 below:

[0233] Table 5

[0234]

[0235]

[0236] In the case shown in Table 5, the first network device can narrow the search range of the target small base station that the terminal wants to switch to by querying the mapping relationship between the virtual base station, virtual cell, adjacent macro base station and virtual sub-area, and then determine the target small base station to serve the terminal based on the relevant information of the target cell carried in the received switching request.

[0237] For example, Figure 4 When the third mobile communication network 400 is deployed as described above in scenario (8), and after the small base station subgroup is successfully deployed, the first neighbor relationship table stored in the first network device includes the content shown in Table 6 below:

[0238] Table 6

[0239]

[0240] In the case shown in Table 6, the first network device can narrow the search range of the target small base station that the terminal wants to switch to by querying the three sets of mapping relationships between the virtual base station, virtual cell, adjacent macro base station and virtual sub-area, and then quickly determine the target small base station based on other information in the received switching request.

[0241] In summary, through the method of this embodiment, the number of virtual base stations in the mobile communication network can be controlled, the number of virtual cells in the mobile communication network can be controlled, and the number of frequency resources and PCI resources used by small base stations, as well as the number of virtual sub-areas, can be controlled, which simplifies the complexity of the neighbor relationship configuration of the macro base station. At the same time, the first network device maintains its own neighbor relationship locally based on a similar network deployment, so that the first network device and the macro base station can cooperate to provide basic conditions for accurate switching resource scheduling in the service cell switching scenario.

[0242] Figure 8 This is a flow chart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided by another embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the method of this embodiment is Figure 7 Based on the embodiment shown, after S65, the method further includes:

[0243] S66. The first network device obtains SSB mode configuration information of any virtual cell.

[0244] Among them, the SSB mode configuration information carries the SSB mode corresponding to each small base station subgroup included in any virtual cell, which can also be understood as the SSB mode configuration information including the SSB mode corresponding to each virtual sub-area included in the virtual cell.

[0245] The SSB mode corresponding to the small base station subgroup indicates the SSB index assigned to each small base station in the corresponding small base station subgroup. It can also be understood that the SSB mode indicates the SSB index assigned to the physical cell generated by each small base station in the corresponding small base station subgroup. An SSB index is used to indicate an SSB resource. The SSB resource includes an SSB signal and other related uplink and downlink signaling and resource configurations, such as System Information Block (SIB) signaling, random access opportunity (RACH Occasion, RO), etc. In this way, a mapping relationship between the SSB index and the physical cell is established, and the physical cell is generated by the small base station, and there is also a one-to-one correspondence between the two.

[0246] In the serving base station switching scenario, when the first network device determines the SSB index, it can accurately locate the small base station by querying the mapping relationship between the SSB index and the physical cell, as well as the relationship between the physical cell and the small base station.

[0247] During the network planning stage, you can first plan how to allocate SSB resources to each small base station in the mobile communication network based on the deployment method of virtual cells and small base station subgroups, available SSB resources, location relationship / coverage relationship between small base stations, etc., and then generate SSB mode configuration information corresponding to each virtual cell.

[0248] In some embodiments, the SSB mode configuration information may include the transmission period of the virtual cell SSB burst set, the maximum number of SSBs contained in each SSB burst set and their time domain distribution, and the index number of the SSB actually activated in the virtual sub-area. In some cases, the SSB mode configuration information further includes a mapping relationship between the small base station and the SSB index.

[0249] In some embodiments, the SSB mode configuration information of each virtual cell included in the mobile communication network may be sent to the first network device by manual configuration.

[0250] In other embodiments, the SSB mode configuration information for each virtual cell may be sent to the first network device via the virtual RAN's network management platform. If the basic RAN's network management platform includes the functionality of the virtual RAN's network management platform, the configuration may also be performed via the basic RAN's network management platform. If the basic RAN's network management platform does not include the functionality of the virtual RAN's network management platform, the configuration may be performed via the virtual RAN's network management platform.

[0251] S67. The first network device performs SSB mode configuration based on the SSB mode configuration information of any virtual cell, and saves the mapping relationship between the successfully configured SSB mode and the small base station subgroup in the first neighboring cell relationship table.

[0252] Among them, the first network device performs SSB mode configuration, including performing SSB mode configuration on the virtual sub-area, and configuring the SSB index used by each small base station in the virtual sub-area.

[0253] For example, Figure 2 When the first mobile communication network 200 is deployed as the scenario (6) shown above, and after the small base station subgroup deployment and SSB mode configuration are successfully performed, the first neighbor relationship table stored in the first network device includes the content shown in Table 7 below:

[0254] Table 7

[0255]

[0256]

[0257] In the case shown in Table 7, the first network device narrows the search range of the target small base station to a small base station subgroup by querying the three sets of mapping relationships between the virtual base station, the virtual cell, the adjacent macro base station and the virtual sub-area, and then directly determines the target small base station based on the SSB index of the target cell carried in the received switching request.

[0258] For example, Figure 4 When the third mobile communication network 400 is deployed as described above in scenario (8), and after the small base station subgroup deployment and SSB mode configuration are successfully performed, the first neighbor relationship table stored in the first network device includes the content shown in Table 8 below:

[0259] Table 8

[0260]

[0261] In the cases shown in Tables 7 and 8, the first network device narrows the search range of the target small base station to a small base station subgroup by querying the mapping relationship between the virtual base station, virtual cell, adjacent macro base station and virtual sub-area, and then directly determines the target small base station based on the SSB index of the target cell carried in the received switching request.

[0262] In summary, through the method of this embodiment, by configuring different SSBindex for each small base station included in the virtual sub-area, in the service cell switching scenario, the first network device can quickly and accurately find the target small base station based on the target cell SSB index carried in the received switching request.

[0263] Through the above Figures 5 to 8 After the network is deployed in the manner of the illustrated embodiment, the first network device and at least one macro base station in the mobile communication network each maintain their own neighbor relationship tables. Thus, the first network device and the macro base station can manage serving cells based on their maintained neighbor relationship tables.

[0264] Figure 9 This is a flow chart of a distributed virtual cell deployment method provided in one embodiment of the present application. This embodiment mainly introduces how the macro base station and the first network device perform serving cell switching management. Figure 9 As shown, the method of this embodiment includes:

[0265] S91. When the terminal initiates serving cell switching, the macro base station obtains a terminal measurement report.

[0266] When the terminal initiates a service cell handover, it measures the signal quality of the current service cell and the adjacent cell. When the signal quality of the adjacent cell is stronger than that of the current service cell and other preset conditions are met, the terminal sends a terminal measurement report to the macro base station.

[0267] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the source base station is a macro base station, and the macro cell provided by the macro base station is the source cell.

[0268] S92. The macro base station queries the second neighboring cell relationship table according to the cell characteristic information carried in the terminal measurement report, determines the target virtual base station, and determines the virtual base station identifier of the target virtual base station as the identifier of the target base station.

[0269] The terminal measurement report carries the characteristic information of the neighboring cell, namely, the frequency and PCI used by the neighboring cell. Based on this characteristic information, the macro base station queries the second neighbor cell relationship table for the frequency and PCI configured for each virtual cell. This allows the macro base station to determine the virtual base station to which the neighboring cell belongs, thereby determining the target virtual base station as the target base station for serving cell handover.

[0270] In addition, the macro base station can also determine the virtual base station identifier corresponding to the target virtual base station through the second neighboring cell relationship table.

[0271] In this application, the virtual base station identifier may be the Global gNB ID assigned to the virtual base station. The Global gNB ID is an identifier that can be used to globally identify a gNB, ensuring that different gNBs can be distinguished even across different PLMNs. The virtual base station identifier may consist of two parts: the PLMN identity (PLMN ID) used to identify the operator's network, and the gNB-ID used to uniquely identify a gNodeB within the PLMN.

[0272] S93: The macro base station sends a handover request to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the handover request.

[0273] In some embodiments, the handover request carries the base station identifier of the source base station, the identifier of the target base station, the terminal measurement report, and the cell code of the target cell. The handover request also carries the cell code of the source cell.

[0274] Source gNB ID: The handover request includes the source gNB ID, which is used by the target gNB to identify the current serving gNB.

[0275] Source cell code (Source cell ID): The cell code of the source cell can be represented by NR CGI (NR cell Global identifier), including PLMN ID and cell ID.

[0276] Identification of the target base station: The target base station is the base station to which the target cell to which the terminal wants to switch belongs. The switching request will include the identification of the target base station to clearly specify the target base station so that the source base station can determine which base station the terminal will switch to.

[0277] The cell code of the target cell is the identity of the target cell, which can also be represented by the NR CGI, including the PLMN ID and cell ID to ensure that the source base station and the terminal can accurately identify the target cell.

[0278] The cell characteristic information of the target cell includes the frequency of the target cell and the PCI of the target cell. In some embodiments, the cell characteristic information of the target cell may further include a TAC.

[0279] Frequency of the target cell: The terminal measurement report carries the frequency of the target cell, which is the absolute frequency position of the target cell. It is used to inform the terminal on which frequency to search for the SSB of the target cell.

[0280] PCI of the target cell: The terminal measurement report carries the PCI of the target cell, which is the physical layer identifier of the target cell.

[0281] To ensure smooth handover, the key information carried in the handover request is crucial for the target virtual base station to prepare handover resources and for the terminal to successfully access the target cell.

[0282] In other embodiments, the handover request carries the identifier of the target base station, the base station identifier of the source base station, the terminal measurement report, the cell code of the target cell, and the SSB index of the target cell. Optionally, the handover request may further carry information about the time domain position / frequency domain position of the SSB of the target cell to help the terminal find and synchronize to the SSB of the target cell at the correct time and frequency position.

[0283] In some embodiments, the macro base station may directly send the handover request to the first network device via an interface between the macro base station and the first network device. In other embodiments, the macro base station may send the handover request to the first network device via a core network.

[0284] S94. The first network device uses the handover request to query the first neighboring cell relationship table to determine the target small base station.

[0285] In some embodiments, the first network device determines the target virtual base station based on the identifier of the target base station carried in the handover request. Then, based on the target virtual base station and the frequency and PCI information combination of the target cell in the handover request, the target virtual cell under the target virtual base station is determined. Afterwards, the first network device queries the mapping relationship between the source base station and the virtual sub-area under the target virtual cell in the first neighboring cell relationship table based on the identifier of the source macro base station carried in the handover request, and determines the target virtual sub-area under the target virtual cell. Then, based on the cell code of the target cell carried in the handover request, the first network device determines the small base station with a matching cell code from the small base station subgroup corresponding to the target virtual sub-area as the target small base station.

[0286] In other embodiments, the first network device determines the target virtual base station based on the target base station identifier carried in the handover request. Then, based on the target virtual base station and the frequency and PCI information combination of the target cell in the handover request, the target virtual cell under the target virtual base station is determined. Afterwards, the first network device queries the mapping relationship between the source base station and the virtual sub-area under the target virtual cell in the first neighboring cell relationship table based on the identifier of the source macro base station carried in the handover request, and determines the target virtual sub-area under the target virtual cell. Then, the first network device queries the mapping relationship between the SSB mode of the small base station subgroup corresponding to the target virtual sub-area in the first neighboring cell relationship table and each small base station in the small base station subgroup based on the SSB index of the target cell carried in the handover request, and determines that the small base station with a matching SSB index is the target small base station.

[0287] It should be noted that the order of determining the target small base station based on the information carried in the switching request can be adjusted and is not limited to the above example. For example, after determining the target virtual base station, the virtual cell adjacent to the source macro base station can be determined first, and then the target virtual cell can be determined based on the frequency and PCI of the target cell.

[0288] It is understandable that no matter how the order is adjusted, its essence is to determine a unique target virtual sub-area based on the information combination of the target base station, source base station, frequency point and PCI, and then determine the target small base station in the target virtual sub-area.

[0289] S95. The first network device allocates wireless resources to the target small base station to switch the terminal to the cell provided by the target small base station.

[0290] Through the method of this embodiment, the macro base station and the first network device use the neighbor relationship tables maintained by each of them to perform service cell switching. Since the number of virtual base stations, the number of virtual cells provided by the virtual base stations, and the number of frequencies and PCIs used by the virtual cells are controlled in the network planning stage, the neighbor relationship of the macro base station is simplified. This also provides the basic conditions for the macro base station and the first network device to improve the complexity of service cell switching, thereby improving the efficiency of service cell switching.

[0291] In a specific embodiment, the architecture of the mobile communication network is as follows: Figure 2 As shown, and when deployed as the situation (6) shown above, with the first macro base station as the source base station, the first macro base station can determine that the target virtual base station is gNB1 by querying Table 1 shown above, and sends a handover request to the gateway, and the handover request carries gNB ID1; the gateway receives the handover request, and queries Table 5 or Table 7 above based on the target base station ID, i.e., gNB ID1, in the handover request, to determine that the target virtual base station is gNB1; then, based on the target virtual base station being gNB1 and the frequency and PCI of the target cell carried in the handover request, query Table 5 or Table 7 above to determine that the target virtual cell under the gNB1 is virtual cell 1-1; then, based on the base station identifier of the source base station in the handover request and the mapping relationship between the virtual cell and the virtual sub-area in the first neighboring cell relationship table shown in Table 5 or Table 7, determine that the target virtual sub-area is virtual sub-area 1-1-1; the gateway further queries the mapping relationship between the micro cell and the small base station identifier in Table 5 above based on the cell code (cell ID) of the target cell carried in the handover request, or queries the SSB index in Table 7 above based on the SSB index of the target cell carried in the handover request. The mapping relationship between the index and the small base station identifier is used to determine that the target small base station is the third small base station, and the target small base station is designated to provide services for the terminal.

[0292] Combine Figure 10AAs shown, when the first neighbor relationship table is Table 7, the query path of the gateway is as follows Figure 10A The black bold font and the background filled part in the table are shown, and the query order is from left to right.

[0293] If the order of each piece of information in the first neighbor relationship table maintained in the gateway is different, the query path of the gateway will also be different, for example, Figure 10B As shown, the first neighbor relationship table maintained in the gateway is stored in the order of virtual base station identifier, adjacent macro base station, virtual cell feature information, virtual cell, virtual sub-area, SSB index, micro cell and small base station. The storage path of the gateway is as follows: Figure 10B The black bold font and the background filled part in the table are shown, and the query order is from left to right.

[0294] contrast Figure 10A and Figure 10B In the query path shown, although the order of information stored in the first neighbor relationship table is different, the query results are consistent.

[0295] In summary, through the method provided in this application, the number of virtual base stations in the mobile communication network can be controlled, the number of virtual cells in the mobile communication network can be controlled, and the number of frequency resources and PCI resources used by small base stations can also be controlled. In this way, the neighbor relationship tables maintained respectively in the macro base station and the first network device are effectively simplified, the complexity of the neighbor relationship is greatly reduced, and it is beneficial to improve the service cell switching efficiency.

[0296] In addition, the present application hierarchically numbers virtual base stations, virtual cells, virtual sub-cells, and micro-cells to facilitate mobile network management. For example, in the present application, virtual cell 1-1 represents the first virtual cell under the first virtual base station (i.e., virtual base station 1), virtual sub-cell 1-1-1 represents the first virtual sub-cell within virtual cell 1-1, and micro-cell 1-1-1-0 represents micro-cell No. 0 within virtual sub-cell 1-1-1.

[0297] Figure 11 This is a structural diagram of a network device provided in one embodiment of the present application. Figure 11 As shown, the network device 1100 provided in this embodiment can exist independently or be integrated into other devices. It can communicate with the macro base station mentioned above to implement the operations corresponding to the first network device in any of the above method embodiments.

[0298] The network device 1100 may include a first transceiver module 1101 and a first processing module 1102. The first processing module 1102 is used to process data, and the first transceiver module 1101 may implement corresponding communication functions. The first transceiver module 1101 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0299] Optionally, the network device 1100 may further include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The first processing module 1102 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the network device 1100 implements the operations performed by the first network device in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0300] The first transceiver module 1101 is used to perform reception-related operations of the first network device in the above method embodiment, and the first processing module 1102 is used to perform processing-related operations of the first network device in the above method embodiment.

[0301] Optionally, the first transceiver module 1101 may include a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module is used to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiment. The receiving module is used to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

[0302] It should be noted that the network device 1100 may include a sending module but not a receiving module. Alternatively, the network device 1100 may include a receiving module but not a sending module. The specific implementation depends on whether the above solution executed by the network device 1100 includes a sending action and a receiving action.

[0303] As an example, the network device 1100 is used to execute the above Figure 5 Actions performed by the first network device in the illustrated embodiment.

[0304] The network device 1100 may include: a first transceiver module 1101 and a first processing module 1102 .

[0305] The first transceiver module 1101 is configured to obtain one or more virtual base station identifiers; obtain one or more sets of virtual cell feature information; wherein the virtual cell feature information includes: a physical cell identifier and a frequency point;

[0306] A first processing module 1102 is configured to establish a neighbor relationship and save the successfully established neighbor relationship to a first neighbor relationship table;

[0307] The establishing of neighboring cell relationships includes: establishing relationships between the one or more virtual base stations and virtual base station identifiers, and establishing relationships between the virtual cells provided by each virtual base station and virtual cell characteristic information; wherein, the physical cells generated by the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier, and the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same frequency; the first neighboring cell relationship table is at least used for service cell switching management; the first neighboring cell relationship table includes the neighboring cell relationship information corresponding to the at least one macro base station; the neighboring cell relationship information of any macro base station includes the mapping relationship between the following contents: the identifier of any macro base station, the virtual base station identifier configured for the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station, the small base station list included in the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station, and the virtual cell characteristic information configured for the virtual cell included in the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station.

[0308] It should be understood that the execution of the above corresponding processes by each module has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0309] In the foregoing embodiments, the first processing module 1102 may be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuitry. The first transceiver module 1101 may be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuitry. The first transceiver module 1101 may also be referred to as a communication unit or communication interface. The storage unit may be implemented by at least one memory.

[0310] Figure 12 This is a structural diagram of a macro base station provided in another embodiment of the present application. Figure 12 As shown, the macro base station 1200 provided in this embodiment can exist independently or be integrated into other devices. It can communicate with the first network device mentioned above to implement the operations corresponding to the macro base station in any of the above method embodiments.

[0311] The macro base station 1200 may include: a second transceiver module 1201 and a second processing module 1202. The second processing module 1202 is used to process data, and the second transceiver module 1201 may implement corresponding communication functions. The second transceiver module 1201 may also be called a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0312] Optionally, the macro base station 1200 may also include a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The second processing module 1202 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the macro base station 1200 implements the operations performed by the macro base station in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0313] The second transceiver module 1201 is used to perform reception-related operations of the macro base station in the above method embodiment, and the second processing module 1202 is used to perform processing-related operations of the macro base station in the above method embodiment.

[0314] Optionally, the second transceiver module 1201 may include a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module is used to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiment. The receiving module is used to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

[0315] It should be noted that the macro base station 1200 may include a sending module but not a receiving module. Alternatively, the macro base station 1200 may include a receiving module but not a sending module. The specific implementation depends on whether the above solution executed by the macro base station 1200 includes both sending and receiving actions.

[0316] As an example, the macro base station 1200 is used to perform the above Figure 8 Actions performed by the macro base station in the illustrated embodiment.

[0317] The macro base station 1200 may include: a second transceiver module 1201 and a second processing module 1202 .

[0318] The second transceiver module 1201 is configured to obtain one or more virtual base station identifiers; obtain one or more sets of virtual cell characteristic information; the number of virtual base station identifiers is the same as the number of adjacent virtual base stations of the macro base station; the number of virtual cell characteristic information is the same as the number of adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station; the virtual cell characteristic information includes: a physical cell identifier and a frequency point;

[0319] The second processing module 1202 is configured to establish a neighbor relationship and save the successfully established neighbor relationship in a second neighbor relationship table;

[0320] The establishing of a neighboring cell relationship includes: establishing a relationship between the adjacent virtual base stations of the macro base station and the virtual base station identifiers, and establishing a relationship between the adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station and the virtual cell feature information; wherein the physical cells generated by the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier, and the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same frequency;

[0321] The second neighbor cell relationship table is at least used for service cell switching management; the second neighbor cell relationship table includes the neighbor cell relationship information of the macro base station: the neighbor cell relationship information of the macro base station includes the mapping relationship between the following contents: the identifier of the macro base station, the virtual base station identifier configured for the adjacent virtual base station of the macro base station, and the virtual cell characteristic information configured for the adjacent virtual cell of the macro base station.

[0322] It should be understood that the execution of the above corresponding processes by each module has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0323] In the above embodiments, the second processing module 1202 can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuits. The second transceiver module 1201 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuits. The second transceiver module 1201 can also be referred to as a communication unit or communication interface. The storage unit can be implemented by at least one memory.

[0324] An embodiment of the present application further provides a network device. The network device provided in this embodiment includes: a memory and a processor.

[0325] The memory may be an independent physical unit connected to the processor via a bus. The memory and processor may also be integrated together and implemented via hardware. The memory is used to store program instructions, and the processor invokes the program instructions to execute the operations performed by the first network device or macro base station in any of the above method embodiments.

[0326] Optionally, when part or all of the methods in the above embodiments are implemented by software, the network device may include only a processor. The memory for storing the program is located outside the network device, and the processor is connected to the memory via circuits / wires for reading and executing the program stored in the memory. The processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof. The memory may include volatile memory, such as random-access memory (RAM); the memory may also include non-volatile memory, such as flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD); the memory may also include a combination of the above types of memory.

[0327] Exemplarily, the present application provides a chip comprising: an interface circuit and a logic circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other chips outside the chip and transmit them to the logic circuit, or to send signals from the logic circuit to other chips outside the chip, and the logic circuit is used to execute the operations performed by the first network device or macro base station in any of the above method embodiments.

[0328] Exemplarily, the present application provides a readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon, which are executed by a processor of an electronic device so that the electronic device performs the operations performed by the first network device or macro base station in any of the above method embodiments.

[0329] Exemplarily, the present application provides a computer program product. When the computer program product is run on an electronic device, the electronic device executes the operations performed by the first network device or the macro base station in any of the above method embodiments.

[0330] Exemplarily, the present application provides a mobile communication system comprising: at least one macro base station, a first network device and a small base station group, wherein at least one macro base station is connected to the small base station group through the first network device, and the macro base station and the first network device are respectively used to perform the operations respectively performed in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0331] The foregoing description is intended only to provide specific embodiments of the present application, which will enable those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application is not limited to the embodiments described herein, but is intended to be construed in the broadest manner consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A distributed virtual cell deployment method, characterized in that: A macro base station applied to a mobile communication network, the mobile communication network comprising: at least one macro base station, a first network device, and a small base station group, the small base station group comprising multiple small base stations; the at least one macro base station is connected to the small base station group via the first network device, wherein the first network device and the small base station group form one or more virtual base stations, and any of the virtual base stations provides one or more virtual cells via the small base stations contained therein; the method comprising: The macro base station obtains one or more virtual base station identifiers; the number of the virtual base station identifiers is the same as the number of adjacent virtual base stations of the macro base station; The macro base station obtains one or more sets of virtual cell characteristic information; wherein the number of the virtual cell characteristic information and the number of adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station are the same, and the virtual cell characteristic information includes: a physical cell identifier and a frequency point; The macro base station establishes a neighboring cell relationship and saves the successfully established neighboring cell relationship in a second neighboring cell relationship table; The establishing of a neighboring cell relationship includes: establishing a relationship between the adjacent virtual base stations of the macro base station and the virtual base station identifiers, and establishing a relationship between the adjacent virtual cells of the macro base station and the virtual cell feature information; wherein the physical cells generated by the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier, and the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same frequency; The second neighbor cell relationship table is at least used for service cell switching management; the second neighbor cell relationship table includes the neighbor cell relationship information of the macro base station: the neighbor cell relationship information of the macro base station includes the mapping relationship between the following contents: the identifier of the macro base station, the virtual base station identifier configured for the adjacent virtual base station of the macro base station, and the virtual cell characteristic information configured for the adjacent virtual cell of the macro base station.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: When the terminal initiates a serving cell handover, the macro base station obtains a terminal measurement report; the macro base station is a source macro base station; The macro base station queries the second neighboring cell relationship table according to the cell feature information carried in the terminal measurement report, determines a target virtual base station, and determines the virtual base station identifier corresponding to the target virtual base station as the identifier of the target base station; The macro base station sends a switching request and the identifier of the target base station to the first network device, so that the first network device uses the content carried by the switching request to determine the target small base station and allocates wireless resources to the target small base station for service cell switching; wherein, the switching request carries the identifier of the target base station, the identifier of the source macro base station, the terminal measurement report and the cell code of the target cell; or, the switching request carries the identifier of the target base station, the identifier of the source macro base station, the terminal measurement report, the cell code of the target cell and the synchronization signal block SSB index of the target cell.

3. A distributed virtual cell deployment method, characterized in that: A first network device is applied to a mobile communication network, the mobile communication network comprising: at least one macro base station, the first network device, and a small base station group, the small base station group comprising multiple small base stations; the at least one macro base station is connected to the small base station group via the first network device, wherein the first network device and the small base station group form one or more virtual base stations, and any of the virtual base stations provides one or more virtual cells via the small base stations contained therein; the method comprising: The first network device obtains one or more virtual base station identifiers; The first network device obtains one or more sets of virtual cell characteristic information; wherein the virtual cell characteristic information includes: a physical cell identifier and a frequency; The first network device establishes a neighbor relationship, and saves the successfully established neighbor relationship to a first neighbor relationship table; The establishing of the neighboring cell relationship includes: establishing a relationship between the one or more virtual base stations and the virtual base station identifiers, and establishing a relationship between the virtual cells provided by each virtual base station and the virtual cell feature information; wherein the physical cells generated by the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same physical cell identifier, and the small base stations belonging to the same virtual cell use the same frequency; The first neighbor cell relationship table is at least used for service cell switching management; the first neighbor cell relationship table includes the neighbor cell relationship information corresponding to the at least one macro base station; the neighbor cell relationship information of any macro base station includes the mapping relationship between the following contents: the identifier of any macro base station, the virtual base station identifier configured for the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station, the list of small base stations included in the adjacent virtual base stations of any macro base station, and the virtual cell feature information configured for the virtual cell included in the adjacent virtual base station of any macro base station.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device obtains small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to the at least one macro base station; For any macro base station, the first network device configures the adjacent small base stations of any macro base station into one or more small base station subgroups based on the small base station subgroup configuration information corresponding to the any macro base station; wherein any of the small base station subgroups is used to provide a virtual sub-area; The first network device stores a mapping relationship between any one of the macro base stations and the one or more small base station subgroups in the first neighbor relationship table.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device receives a handover request, where the handover request is used to switch the serving cell of the terminal, and the handover request carries an identifier of a source macro base station, an identifier of a target base station, a terminal measurement report, and a cell code of the target cell; wherein the identifier of the target base station is a virtual base station identifier corresponding to a target virtual base station determined by the source macro base station by querying a second neighboring cell relationship table according to cell feature information carried in the terminal measurement report sent by the terminal; and the second neighboring cell relationship table is a neighboring cell relationship table locally maintained by the source macro base station; The first network device queries the first neighboring cell relationship based on the identifier of the source macro base station, the identifier of the target base station, and the terminal measurement report carried in the handover request, and determines the target virtual sub-area; The first network device determines, based on the cell code of the target cell, a target small base station from the small base stations included in the target virtual sub-area; The first network device allocates wireless resources to the target small base station to switch the terminal to the cell provided by the target small base station.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device obtains synchronization signal block SSB mode configuration information of any virtual cell, where the SSB mode configuration information carries an SSB mode corresponding to each small base station subgroup included in the any virtual cell; the SSB mode indicates an SSB index allocated to each small base station in the corresponding small base station subgroup; The first network device performs SSB mode configuration based on the SSB mode configuration information; The first network device saves the mapping relationship between the successfully configured SSB mode and the small base station subgroup in the first neighboring cell relationship table.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The SSB mode indicates that the SSB indexes of multiple small base stations in the same small base station subgroup are different; and the same small base station belonging to different virtual sub-areas is configured with one SSB index.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device receives a handover request; the handover request is used to request handover of a serving base station of a terminal device; wherein the handover request carries an identifier of a source macro base station, an identifier of a target base station, a terminal measurement report, and an SSB index of a target cell; the identifier of the target base station is a virtual base station identifier corresponding to a target virtual base station determined by the source macro base station by querying a second neighboring cell relationship table based on cell feature information carried in the terminal measurement report; the second neighboring cell relationship table is a neighboring cell relationship table locally maintained by the source macro base station; The first network device queries the first neighboring cell relationship table to determine a target virtual sub-area based on the identifier of the source macro base station, the identifier of the target base station, and the terminal measurement report in the handover request; The first network device queries, based on the SSB index of the target cell, a mapping relationship between the SSB mode and the small base station subgroup stored in the first neighboring cell relationship table, and determines a target small base station from the small base station subgroup corresponding to the target virtual sub-area; The first network device allocates wireless resources to the target small base station to switch the terminal to the cell provided by the target small base station.

9. A network device, characterized in that: include: memory and processor; The memory is configured to store computer program instructions; The processor is configured to execute the computer program instructions so that the network device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, or performs the method according to any one of claims 3 to 8.

10. A mobile communication network, characterized in that: include: At least one macro base station, a first network device, and a small base station group, where the small base station group includes at least one small base station; The macro base station is used to perform the method according to claim 1 or 2; The first network device is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 3 to 8.

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