Base station switching method, communication equipment and computer readable storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides a base station switching method, communication equipment and a computer readable storage medium, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: after a micro base station gateway receives a first switching request message sent by a core network, determining a first target switching resource corresponding to target user equipment from a switching resource pool, and sending first information for indicating the first target switching resource to a micro base station of a target virtual neighbor cell, enabling the micro base station to execute base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource; or, the micro base station of the target virtual neighbor cell determines the target user equipment and a corresponding second target index based on the switching preparation message sent by the micro base station gateway, obtains a second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index from the switching resource pool, and executes the base station switching operation based on the second target switching resource. Therefore, the multi-user equipment can carry out concurrent switching from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighbor cell, the switching time delay is effectively reduced, and the switching success rate is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a base station switching method, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] Base station handover refers to the process by which a user device (such as a mobile phone) switches from one base station (a radio signal transmitting and receiving device) to another while on the move. When a user device moves to a base station, that base station provides services to the user device.

[0003] Micro base stations (also known as small base stations) can cover homes and small businesses in operator networks, addressing weak coverage challenges. They are a valuable complement to macro base stations and are widely used in blind spot and hotspot scenarios on fourth-generation (4G) and fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. When a user device (UE) moves from the coverage area of ​​a source macro base station into the coverage area of ​​a micro base station in a virtual neighboring area, and if the source macro base station determines, based on measurement reports sent by the UE, that handover conditions are met, the UE will be handed over to the micro base station in that virtual neighboring area to provide better mobile network service.

[0004] Therefore, how to switch user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the virtual neighboring area is of great research significance and is a problem that the industry has been studying. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a base station switching method, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium to implement switching of a user equipment from a source macro base station to a micro base station in a target virtual neighboring area.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a base station switching method, which is applied to a micro base station gateway. The base station switching method includes:

[0007] Upon receiving a first handover request message sent by the core network, determining a first target handover resource of the target user equipment from the handover resource pool; wherein the first handover request message is used to request handover of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway;

[0008] First information for indicating the first target switching resource is sent to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource.

[0009] In one embodiment, the first information is a first target index of the first target switching resource; and the sending of the first information indicating the first target switching resource to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource includes:

[0010] The first target index is sent to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station determines the first target switching resource corresponding to the first target index, and performs a base station switching operation according to the first target switching resource.

[0011] In one embodiment, the first information is configuration information of the first target switching resource; and the sending of the first information indicating the first target switching resource to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource includes:

[0012] The configuration information of the first target switching resource is sent to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

[0013] In one embodiment, after switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the base station switching method further includes:

[0014] Upon receiving the second information sent by the target micro base station that has successfully switched among the micro base stations, the first target switching resource is released.

[0015] In a second aspect, the present application provides a base station switching method, which is applied to a micro base station. The base station switching method includes:

[0016] Upon receiving first information sent by the micro base station gateway to which the micro base station belongs, performing a base station switching operation based on a first target switching resource indicated by the first information;

[0017] Among them, the first target switching resource is determined by the micro base station gateway for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool when it receives the first switching request message sent by the core network; the first switching request message is used to request that the target user equipment be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway.

[0018] In one embodiment, the first information is a first target index; and performing a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource indicated by the first information includes:

[0019] Determining the first target switching resource corresponding to the first target index;

[0020] A base station switching operation is performed according to the first target switching resource.

[0021] In one embodiment, the first information is configuration information of the first target switching resource; and performing the base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource indicated by the first information includes:

[0022] Perform a base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

[0023] In one embodiment, after switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the base station switching method further includes:

[0024] The target micro base station that successfully switches among the micro base stations directly releases the first target switching resource and sends second information to the micro base station gateway; the second information is used to instruct the micro base station gateway to release the first target switching resource;

[0025] or,

[0026] The target micro base station that has successfully switched among the micro base stations uses the first target switching resources to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or cuts out of the target micro base station, releases the first target switching resources and sends the second information to the micro base station gateway.

[0027] In one embodiment, the first target handover resource includes wireless resources and local resources;

[0028] The wireless resources include a non-contention preamble identifier and a cell wireless network temporary identifier;

[0029] The local resources include user equipment entity instances and user equipment entity processing resources.

[0030] In one embodiment, the wireless resources also include at least one of an uplink scheduling request resource of a physical uplink control channel, a channel state information resource of a physical uplink control channel, a semi-static scheduling resource, a transmit power control format 3 resource, and a sounding reference signal resource.

[0031] In a third aspect, the present application provides a base station switching method, which is applied to a micro base station. The base station switching method includes:

[0032] Upon receiving a handover preparation message sent by the micro base station gateway, determining a target user equipment and a second target index corresponding to the target user equipment; the handover preparation message is generated by the micro base station gateway when receiving a first handover request message sent by the core network, and the first handover request message is used to request that the target user equipment be handed over from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway;

[0033] Acquire a second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index from a switching resource pool;

[0034] A base station handover operation is performed for the target user equipment based on the second target handover resource.

[0035] In one embodiment, determining the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment includes:

[0036] Acquire the total number of handover resources and acquire a user equipment identifier from the handover preparation message; the user equipment identifier is used to determine the target user equipment;

[0037] The second target index corresponding to the target user equipment is determined based on the total number of handover resources and the user equipment identifier.

[0038] In one embodiment, determining the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment based on the total number of handover resources and the user equipment identifier includes:

[0039] Determining an index value using a hash algorithm based on the total number of handover resources and the user equipment identifier;

[0040] In a case where the index values ​​determined by each of the micro base stations are the same, the index value is determined as the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment.

[0041] In one embodiment, after the base station switching is completed, the base station switching method further includes:

[0042] The second target switching resource is released.

[0043] In one embodiment, for a target micro base station that is successfully switched among the micro base stations, releasing the second target switching resource includes:

[0044] directly releasing the second target switching resource;

[0045] or,

[0046] The second target switching resource is used to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or cuts out of the target micro base station, releasing the second target switching resource.

[0047] In one embodiment, the second target handover resource includes wireless resources and local resources;

[0048] The wireless resources include a non-contention preamble identifier and a cell wireless network temporary identifier;

[0049] The local resources include user equipment entity instances and user equipment entity processing resources.

[0050] In one embodiment, the wireless resources also include at least one of an uplink scheduling request resource of a physical uplink control channel, a channel state information resource of a physical uplink control channel, a semi-static scheduling resource, a transmit power control format 3 resource, and a sounding reference signal resource.

[0051] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a base station switching device, which is applied to a micro base station gateway. The base station switching device includes:

[0052] A first determination module is configured to determine a first target handover resource of a target user equipment from a handover resource pool upon receiving a first handover request message sent by a core network; wherein the first handover request message is used to request handover of the target user equipment from a source macro base station to a micro base station in a target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway;

[0053] The first sending module is used to send first information indicating the first target switching resource to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource.

[0054] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a base station switching device, which is applied to a micro base station, and the base station switching device includes:

[0055] A first switching module is configured to, upon receiving first information sent by a micro base station gateway to which the micro base station belongs, perform a base station switching operation based on a first target switching resource indicated by the first information;

[0056] Among them, the first target switching resource is determined by the micro base station gateway for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool when it receives the first switching request message sent by the core network; the first switching request message is used to request that the target user equipment be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway.

[0057] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a base station switching device, which is applied to a micro base station, and the base station switching device includes:

[0058] A second determination module is configured to determine, upon receiving a handover preparation message sent by a micro base station gateway, a target user equipment and a second target index corresponding to the target user equipment; the handover preparation message is generated by the micro base station gateway upon receiving a first handover request message sent by a core network, the first handover request message being used to request handover of the target user equipment from a source macro base station to a micro base station in a target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway;

[0059] An acquisition module, configured to acquire a second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index from a switching resource pool;

[0060] The second switching module is configured to perform a base station switching operation for the target user equipment based on the second target switching resource.

[0061] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and when the processor executes the computer program, it implements the steps of the base station switching method as described in any one of the first aspect above, or implements the steps of the base station switching method as described in any one of the second aspect above, or implements the steps of the base station switching method as described in any one of the third aspect above.

[0062] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements the steps of the base station switching method as described in any one of the first aspects above, or implements the steps of the base station switching method as described in any one of the second aspects above, or implements the steps of the base station switching method as described in any one of the third aspects above.

[0063] The base station switching method, communication device and computer-readable storage medium provided by the present application are such that when the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway requesting the target user equipment to be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the micro base station gateway can determine the corresponding target switching resource for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool, or the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway can determine the corresponding target switching resource for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool, and then the micro base station can perform a base station switching operation according to the target switching resource, thereby switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. Moreover, when multiple user equipment are switched from the source macro station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area at the same time, the corresponding target switching resource can be selected from the switching resource pool for the switching process of each user equipment, so that multiple user equipment can be switched concurrently, effectively reducing the switching delay and improving the switching success rate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0064] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the network architecture of the base station switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] Figure 2 This is a flow chart of a base station switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] Figure 3 The second flowchart of the base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0067] Figure 4The third flowchart of the base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0068] Figure 5 4 is a flow chart of a base station switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] Figure 6 Flowchart 5 of the base station switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] Figure 7 This is one of the structural diagrams of the base station switching device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] Figure 8 The second structural diagram of the base station switching device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] Figure 9 This is the third structural diagram of the base station switching device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0073] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means 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 mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. Among them, A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a alone, b alone, or c alone can mean: 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. Among them, 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.

[0074] The directions or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "left", "right", "front", and "back" are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description. They do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction, be constructed and operated in a specific direction. Therefore, they should not be understood as limiting the present application.

[0075] 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.

[0076] Base stations are the interface devices for user devices to access the Internet. They can be divided into macro base stations and micro base stations based on coverage and transmission power. Among them, the coverage range of macro base stations can be from a few kilometers to tens of kilometers, and the transmission power can reach more than 10 watts, up to hundreds of watts. They can provide a larger network coverage range and a larger transmission power, and can establish a connection with the operator's core network through a dedicated line. The coverage radius of micro base stations is generally less than 1 kilometer, and the transmission power is between 500 milliwatts and 10 watts. The coverage range and transmission power that can be provided are smaller. They can be used to fill in blind spots and hot spots and provide users with relatively accurate location information. They can be connected to the gateway through home broadband and Internet Protocol (IP), and the gateway acts as an aggregation node to establish a connection with the operator's core network.

[0077] When a user device moves from the coverage area of ​​a macro base station into the coverage area of ​​a micro base station, the signal strength detected by the user device at the micro base station is stronger than that detected at the macro base station. The user device must then switch to the micro base station to provide better mobile network service. To enable a user device to switch from a macro base station to a micro base station, the micro base station's cell must be added as a neighboring cell on the macro base station. However, the number of micro base stations is large and their locations are difficult to determine, while the macro base station's neighbor cell list is limited. This makes it difficult to configure a large amount of micro base station neighbor cell information for each macro base station, making it impossible for a user device to switch from a macro base station to a micro base station.

[0078] In related technologies, a small number of virtual neighboring cells can be configured on the macro base station side, and the micro base station gateway completes the mapping of the virtual neighboring cells and the actual micro base station set. The micro base station gateway adapts and converts the related messages and processes of the switching process to complete the switching of the user equipment.

[0079] Specifically, multiple micro base stations can access the core network through a micro base station gateway. Handover resources for handover can be pre-allocated to the micro base stations corresponding to the micro base station gateway. During the handover process, after receiving a handover request message from the micro base station gateway, the micro base station can activate the handover resource and use it to perform base station handover. If only one handover resource is reserved, and there are multiple user devices to be switched, and they initiate the handover process simultaneously, since each handover process requires the use of the same handover resource, some handover processes may fail. A user device may need to initiate multiple handover processes before a successful handover occurs, resulting in a longer handover completion time and lower handover efficiency.

[0080] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a base station switching method for concurrent multi-user switching, so as to support multi-user equipment to switch from a macro base station to a micro base station at the same time.

[0081] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a base station switching method. When the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway requesting to switch the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the micro base station gateway can determine the corresponding target switching resource for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool, or the micro base station deployed in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway can determine the corresponding target switching resource for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool. Then, the micro base station can perform a base station switching operation according to the target switching resource, and use the selected target switching resource to switch the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station. In this way, when multiple user devices are switched from the source macro station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area at the same time, the corresponding target switching resource can be selected from the switching resource pool for the switching process of each user device, so that multiple user devices can be switched concurrently, effectively reducing the switching delay and improving the switching success rate.

[0082] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the network architecture of the base station switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 1 As shown, taking the configuration of a first virtual neighboring area and a second virtual neighboring area for a total of two virtual neighboring areas as an example, multiple micro base stations are deployed in each virtual neighboring area. For each virtual neighboring area, the geographical locations of the micro base stations within its coverage area can be adjacent or non-adjacent, and the coverage areas of the micro base stations do not overlap. When a user device moves from the coverage area of ​​the source macro base station to the coverage area of ​​a micro base station in a virtual neighboring area, for example, to the coverage area of ​​a micro base station in the second virtual neighboring area, the user device can be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the second virtual neighboring area to obtain better mobile network service.

[0083] based on Figure 1 The network architecture shown below is combined with Figures 2 to 6The base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail.

[0084] Figure 2 FIG1 shows one of the flow diagrams of the base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to a micro base station gateway. Figure 2 As shown, the base station switching method may include the following steps 210 to 220.

[0085] Step 210: upon receiving the first handover request message sent by the core network, determine a first target handover resource for the target user equipment from the handover resource pool.

[0086] The first handover request message is used to request handover of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring cell under the micro base station gateway. The target virtual neighboring cell is the virtual neighboring cell to which the target user equipment is to be handed over.

[0087] Specifically, upon receiving the first handover request message sent by the core network, that is, when the handover process from the source macro base station to the micro base station reaches the micro base station gateway for the first time, the micro base station gateway determines an unused handover resource from the handover resource pool as the first target handover resource for the target user equipment. The handover resource pool can store multiple handover resources for handover from the source macro base station to the micro base station.

[0088] Among them, the switching process from the source macro base station to the micro base station before the switching process first reaches the micro base station gateway may include: the source macro base station where the target user equipment is located sends a measurement control instruction to the target user equipment, and the target user equipment sends a measurement report to the source macro base station based on the measurement control instruction, and the measurement report includes neighboring area information, and the neighboring area information includes a virtual neighboring area identifier. According to the virtual neighboring area identifier, the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway in the neighboring area of ​​the source macro base station can be determined; when the source macro base station determines that the switching conditions are met according to the measurement report, the core network sends a switching start request to the core network. After receiving the switching start request, the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway in the neighboring area of ​​the source macro base station based on the virtual neighboring area identifier.

[0089] For example, combined with Figure 1 Assuming that the virtual neighbor cell identifier included in the measurement report is the identifier of the second virtual neighbor cell, it can be determined that the user equipment needs to be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the second virtual neighbor cell. The core network can determine the micro base station gateway to which the second virtual neighbor cell belongs based on the virtual neighbor cell identifier, and then send a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway.

[0090] For example, the micro base station gateway may randomly select an unused handover resource from the handover resource pool as the first target handover resource for the target user equipment. Alternatively, the micro base station gateway may select a handover resource with the highest priority from the unused handover resources in the handover resource pool according to the handover resource priority as the first target handover resource for the target user equipment.

[0091] Step 220: Send first information indicating a first target switching resource to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource.

[0092] After the micro base station gateway determines the first target switching resource, it can send the first information corresponding to the first target switching resource to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, that is, broadcast it to the micro base station corresponding to the target virtual neighboring area. The micro base station can be all micro base stations in the target virtual neighboring area, or it can be part of the micro base stations in the target virtual neighboring area. These micro base stations are equivalent to a micro base station group. After receiving the first information, the micro base station can determine the corresponding first target switching resource based on the first information, and then perform a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource.

[0093] The first information is used to indicate the first target handover resource. For example, the first information may be identification information, numbering information, or index information of the first target handover resource, which can uniquely identify the first target handover resource. Alternatively, the first information may be specific configuration information of the first target handover resource.

[0094] Specifically, in one embodiment, the first information may be a first target index of a first target switching resource. Accordingly, step 220 may include: sending the first target index to a micro base station in a target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station determines a first target switching resource corresponding to the first target index, and performs a base station switching operation according to the first target switching resource.

[0095] For example, after the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area receives the first target index, it can determine the first target switching resource corresponding to the first target index from the switching resource pool based on the correspondence between the index and the switching resource, and then perform the base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

[0096] In another embodiment, the first information is configuration information of the first target switching resource. Accordingly, step 220 may include: sending the configuration information of the first target switching resource to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs the base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

[0097] For example, the micro base station gateway may carry the first information in an S1 Application Protocol (S1AP) message and send it to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway. Alternatively, the micro base station gateway may generate an independent private message, carry the first information in the private message, and then send the private message carrying the first information to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway. Alternatively, the micro base station gateway may directly send the first information to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway.

[0098] In one embodiment, the handover resources in the handover resource pool include wireless resources and local resources. Wireless resources are the radio-related resources required for the micro base station to complete the handover process and host user equipment. Local resources are the local software and hardware resources necessary for the micro base station to host user equipment. Local resources are strongly correlated with the micro base station.

[0099] The wireless resources include a non-contention preamble identifier and a cell-radio network temporary identifier (CRNTI); and the local resources include a user equipment entity instance and a user equipment entity processing resource.

[0100] In one embodiment, the wireless resources may further include at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) uplink scheduling request (SR) resource, a PUCCH channel state information (CSI) resource, a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) resource, a transmit power control format 3 (TPC_format 3) resource, and a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource. The PUCCH CSI resource includes at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI) resource, a precoding matrix indication (PMI) resource, and a rank indicator (RI) resource.

[0101] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, each switching resource in the switching resource pool needs to be reserved on the micro base station corresponding to a certain virtual neighboring area, that is, these micro base stations jointly reserve the same set of switching resources.

[0102] It can be understood that the determined first target handover resources include the above-mentioned wireless resources and local resources.

[0103] For example, after the micro base station determines the first target handover resource, it can locally record the user equipment resources other than the first target handover resource, so that after the target user equipment is switched, the recorded user equipment resources can be configured to the target user equipment. Specifically, the target micro base station that successfully switches among the micro base stations can configure the user equipment resources to the target user equipment.

[0104] The base station switching method provided by the embodiment of the present application is that when the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway for requesting to switch the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the micro base station gateway can determine the corresponding first target switching resource for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool, and then send the first information for indicating the first target switching resource to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. Then, the micro base station can determine the corresponding first target switching resource based on the first information, and then perform the base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource, thereby realizing the switching of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. In this way, when multiple user equipment are switched from the source macro station to the micro base station of a certain virtual neighboring area at the same time, the corresponding target switching resource can be selected from the switching resource pool for the switching process of each user equipment, so that multiple user equipment can be switched concurrently, effectively reducing the switching delay and improving the switching success rate.

[0105] based on Figure 2 The base station switching method of the corresponding embodiment, in one embodiment, after switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the base station switching method may also include the following step 230.

[0106] Step 230: upon receiving the second information sent by the target micro base station that has successfully switched among the micro base stations, release the first target switching resource.

[0107] The second information is used to instruct the micro base station gateway to release the local first target switching resource.

[0108] Specifically, the target user equipment will only be successfully handed over to one micro base station. After the handover process is completed, the target micro base station that successfully handed over can choose to release the first target handover resource and switch to the universal handover resource. It then sends a second message to the micro base station gateway to notify the micro base station gateway to release the locally reserved first target handover resource. The universal handover resource is a resource that is different from the handover resources in the handover resource pool. The resource type of the universal handover resource is the same as the resource type of the handover resources in the handover resource pool, but the specific configuration information is different.

[0109] Alternatively, when the switching process is completed, the successfully switched target micro base station can directly use the first target switching resource to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or cuts out of the target micro base station. At this time, the target micro base station can send a second message to the micro base station gateway to notify the micro base station gateway to release the local first target switching resource.

[0110] For example, the successfully switched target micro base station may generate a notification message carrying the second information and then send the notification message to the micro base station gateway. Alternatively, the successfully switched target micro base station may directly send the second information to the micro base station gateway.

[0111] In this way, by releasing the first target switching resource in time, switching resources can be saved and reasonable and effective utilization of switching resources can be ensured.

[0112] In one embodiment of the present application, Figure 3 The second flow chart of the base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown. The base station switching method can be applied to micro base stations. Figure 3 As shown, the base station switching method may include the following step 310.

[0113] Step 310: Upon receiving the first information sent by the micro base station gateway to which the micro base station belongs, perform a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource indicated by the first information.

[0114] Among them, the first target switching resource is determined by the micro base station gateway for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool when it receives the first switching request message sent by the core network; the first switching request message is used to request that the target user equipment be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway.

[0115] Specifically, the target user equipment can move from the source macro base station to the micro base station. During the movement, the source macro base station sends a measurement control instruction to the target user equipment. The target user equipment sends a measurement report to the source macro base station based on the measurement control instruction. The measurement report includes neighboring cell information. The neighboring cell information includes a virtual neighboring cell identifier. According to the virtual neighboring cell identifier, the micro base station gateway in the neighboring cell of the source macro base station and the target virtual neighboring cell under the micro base station gateway can be determined. The micro base station gateway can be associated with multiple micro base stations; when the source macro base station determines that the switching conditions are met according to the measurement report, it sends a switching start request to the core network. After receiving the switching start request, the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway in the neighboring cell of the source macro base station based on the virtual neighboring cell identifier.

[0116] After the micro base station gateway receives the first handover request message sent by the core network, it can determine an unused handover resource from the handover resource pool as the first target handover resource of the target user equipment. Then, the first information indicating the first target handover resource is sent to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway. After the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area receives the first information sent by the micro base station gateway, it performs a base station handover operation based on the first target handover resource indicated by the first information. For example, the base station handover operation for the target user equipment can be completed based on the first target handover resource in accordance with the standard process of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) protocol.

[0117] The handover resource pool may store multiple handover resources for handover from a source macro base station to a micro base station. The first information is used to indicate a first target handover resource. For example, the first information may be identification information, numbering information, or index information of the first target handover resource, which can uniquely identify the first target handover resource. Alternatively, the first information may be specific configuration information of the first target handover resource.

[0118] For example, the first information may be a first target index. Accordingly, step 310 of performing a base station handover operation based on a first target handover resource indicated by the first information may include: determining a first target handover resource corresponding to the first target index; and performing a base station handover operation according to the first target handover resource.

[0119] Specifically, the correspondence between the index and the switching resource can be pre-set between the micro base station gateway and the micro base station. After the micro base station receives the first target index, it can determine the switching resource corresponding to the first target index based on the correspondence between the index and the switching resource, obtain the first target switching resource, and then perform the base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

[0120] For example, the first information may be configuration information of the first target handover resource. Accordingly, step 310 of performing a base station handover operation based on the first target handover resource indicated by the first information may include: performing a base station handover operation according to the configuration information of the first target handover resource.

[0121] For example, the first target handover resources may include wireless resources and local resources. Wireless resources are the wireless resources required by the micro base station to complete the handover process and carry the user equipment to reside. Local resources are the local software resources and local hardware resources necessary for the micro base station to carry the user equipment to switch in. Local resources are strongly related to the micro base station.

[0122] The wireless resources may include a non-contention preamble identifier and a CRNTI; and the local resources may include a user equipment entity instance and a user equipment entity processing resource.

[0123] For example, the radio resources may further include at least one of PUCCH SR resources, PUCCH CSI resources, SPS resources, TPC_format3 resources, and SRS resources. The PUCCH CSI resources may include at least one of CQI resources, PMI resources, and RI resources.

[0124] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, each switching resource in the switching resource pool needs to be reserved on the micro base station corresponding to a certain virtual neighboring area, that is, these micro base stations jointly reserve the same set of switching resources.

[0125] For example, after the micro base station determines the first target handover resource, it can locally record the user equipment resources other than the first target handover resource, so that after the target user equipment is switched, the recorded user equipment resources can be configured to the target user equipment. Specifically, the target micro base station that successfully switches among the micro base stations can configure the user equipment resources to the target user equipment.

[0126] The base station switching method provided by the embodiment of the present application is that when the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway for requesting to switch the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the micro base station gateway can determine the corresponding first target switching resource for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool, and then send the first information for indicating the first target switching resource to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. Then, the micro base station can determine the corresponding first target switching resource based on the first information, and then perform the base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource, thereby realizing the switching of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. In this way, when multiple user equipment are switched from the source macro station to the micro base station at the same time, the corresponding target switching resource can be selected from the switching resource pool for the switching process of each user equipment, so that multiple user equipment can be switched concurrently, effectively reducing the switching delay and improving the switching success rate.

[0127] based on Figure 3 The base station switching method of the corresponding embodiment, in one embodiment, after switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the base station switching method may also include the following step 320 or step 330.

[0128] Step 320: The target micro base station that has successfully switched among the micro base stations directly releases the first target switching resource and sends the second information to the micro base station gateway.

[0129] The second information is used to instruct the micro base station gateway to release the first target switching resource.

[0130] Specifically, the target user equipment will only be successfully handed over to one micro base station. After the handover process is completed, the target micro base station that successfully handed over can directly release the first target handover resource and switch to the universal handover resource. It then sends a second message to the micro base station gateway to notify the micro base station gateway to release the locally reserved first target handover resource. Among them, the universal handover resource is a resource that is different from the handover resource in the handover resource pool. The resource type of the universal handover resource is the same as the resource type of the handover resource in the handover resource pool, but the specific configuration information is different.

[0131] For example, the successfully switched target micro base station may generate a notification message carrying the second information and then send the notification message to the micro base station gateway. Alternatively, the successfully switched target micro base station may directly send the second information to the micro base station gateway.

[0132] Step 330: The target micro base station that has successfully switched in the micro base station uses the first target switching resource to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or switches out of the target micro base station, releases the first target switching resource and sends the second information to the micro base station gateway.

[0133] The second information is used to instruct the micro base station gateway to release the first target switching resource.

[0134] Specifically, when the switching process is completed, the target micro base station that has successfully switched can directly use the first target switching resource to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or cuts out of the target micro base station. At this time, the target micro base station can release the first target switching resource and send a second message to the micro base station gateway to notify the micro base station gateway to release the local first target switching resource.

[0135] In this way, after the target user equipment successfully switches from the source macro base station to the target micro base station, by timely releasing the first target switching resources of the target micro base station and the micro base station gateway, switching resources can be saved and the reasonable and effective use of switching resources can be ensured.

[0136] Based on the same inventive concept, Figure 4 The third flow chart of the base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown. The base station switching method can be applied to micro base stations. Figure 4 As shown, the base station switching method may include the following steps 410 to 430.

[0137] Step 410: upon receiving a handover preparation message sent by the micro base station gateway, determine the target user equipment and a second target index corresponding to the target user equipment.

[0138] The handover preparation message is generated by the micro base station gateway upon receiving a first handover request message sent by the core network. The first handover request message is used to request handover of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring cell under the micro base station gateway. The target virtual neighboring cell is the virtual neighboring cell to which the target user equipment is to be handed over.

[0139] Specifically, the target user equipment can move from the source macro base station to the micro base station. During the movement, the source macro base station will send a measurement control instruction to the target user equipment. The target user equipment sends a measurement report to the source macro base station based on the measurement control instruction. The measurement report includes neighboring cell information. The neighboring cell information includes a virtual neighboring cell identifier. According to the virtual neighboring cell identifier, the micro base station gateway in the neighboring cell of the source macro base station and the target virtual neighboring cell under the micro base station gateway can be determined; when the source macro base station determines that the switching conditions are met according to the measurement report, it sends a switching start request to the core network. After receiving the switching start request, the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway in the neighboring cell of the source macro base station based on the virtual neighboring cell identifier.

[0140] After receiving the first handover request message, the micro base station gateway sends a handover preparation message to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area to notify the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area to initiate the handover. After receiving the handover preparation message, the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area can determine the target user equipment based on the user equipment identifier carried in the handover preparation message. At the same time, all micro base stations in the target virtual neighboring area can calculate the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment according to a preset calculation rule.

[0141] For example, the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area may determine the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment according to the following steps 411 to 412.

[0142] Step 411: Acquire the total number of handover resources and obtain the user equipment identifier from the handover preparation message.

[0143] The user equipment identifier is used to determine the target user equipment.

[0144] Specifically, the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area can obtain the total number of handover resources stored in the handover resource pool to obtain the total number of handover resources. The total number of handover resources can be obtained by counting and saving the handover resources in the handover resource pool after configuring the handover resources in the handover resource pool, and directly read the total number of handover resources when executing step 411. Alternatively, the total number of handover resources can also be obtained by real-time counting of the handover resources in the handover resource pool when executing step 411.

[0145] Step 412: Determine a second target index corresponding to the target user equipment based on the total number of handover resources and the user equipment identifier.

[0146] After obtaining the total number of switching resources and the user equipment identifier, the micro base station may determine the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment using a HASH algorithm based on the total number of switching resources and the user equipment identifier.

[0147] For example, step 412 of determining the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment based on the total number of switching resources and the user equipment identifier may include: determining the index value using a hash algorithm based on the total number of switching resources and the user equipment identifier; when the index values ​​determined by each micro base station are the same, determining the same index value as the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment.

[0148] For example, assume that M handover resources are configured in the handover resource pool and a unique index value m is associated with each handover resource, where 0≤m<M. The user equipment identifier of the target user equipment can be the CRNTI allocated by the source macro base station to the target user equipment, which can uniquely identify the target user equipment within the cell range. Each micro base station in the micro base station corresponding to the micro base station gateway can use the hash value of the CRNTI of the target user equipment to calculate the corresponding index value. Specifically, the hash algorithm can be expressed as the following formula (1):

[0149] m=CRNTImod M (1)

[0150] Wherein, mod represents the modulo operation, and M is the total number of switching resources.

[0151] In an embodiment of the present application, for the same switching process of the same target user equipment, each micro base station can use a hash algorithm to determine an index value based on the total number of switching resources and the user equipment identifier. The index value determined by each micro base station should be the same. In this way, it can be ensured that a unique and accurate index value is determined for the target user equipment, that is, the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment is obtained.

[0152] Moreover, for the switching process of consecutive different target user devices, the index value calculated for each switching can be discretely distributed, avoiding the calculation of the same index value for different switching processes, thereby ensuring the reasonable allocation of switching resources and better supporting concurrent switching of multiple user devices.

[0153] Step 420: Obtain a second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index from the switching resource pool.

[0154] Each switching resource in the switching resource pool corresponds to a unique index. After determining the second target index, the micro base station can obtain the second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index according to the correspondence between the index and the switching resource.

[0155] For example, the second target handover resources may include wireless resources and local resources. Wireless resources are the wireless resources required by the micro base station to complete the handover process and carry the user equipment to reside. Local resources are the local software resources and local hardware resources necessary for the micro base station to carry the user equipment to switch in. Local resources are strongly related to the micro base station.

[0156] The wireless resources may include a non-contention preamble identifier and a CRNTI; and the local resources may include a user equipment entity instance and a user equipment entity processing resource.

[0157] For example, the radio resources may further include at least one of PUCCH SR resources, PUCCH CSI resources, SPS resources, TPC_format3 resources, and SRS resources. The PUCCH CSI resources may include at least one of CQI resources, PMI resources, and RI resources.

[0158] Step 430: Perform a base station handover operation for the target user equipment based on the second target handover resource.

[0159] After the micro base station obtains the second target switching resource, it can perform a base station switching operation for the target user equipment based on the second target switching resource.

[0160] For example, the base station handover operation for the target user equipment may be completed based on the second target handover resource and in accordance with the standard process of the 3GPP protocol.

[0161] For example, after the micro base station determines the second target handover resource, it can locally record the user equipment resources other than the second target handover resource, so that after the target user equipment is switched, the recorded user equipment resources can be configured to the target user equipment. Specifically, the target micro base station that successfully switches among the micro base stations can configure the user equipment resources to the target user equipment.

[0162] The base station switching method provided by the embodiment of the present application is that when the micro base station gateway receives the first switching request message sent by the core network to request the switching of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the micro base station gateway sends a switching preparation message to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. The micro base station determines the target user equipment and the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment based on the switching preparation message, and then obtains the second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index from the switching resource pool, and then performs the base station switching operation for the target user equipment based on the second target switching resource, thereby realizing the switching of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. In this way, when multiple user equipment are switched from the source macro station to the micro base station of a certain virtual neighboring area at the same time, the micro base station can select the corresponding target switching resource for each user equipment's switching process from the switching resource pool, so that multiple user equipment can be switched concurrently, effectively reducing the switching delay and improving the switching success rate.

[0163] based on Figure 4 In the base station switching method of the corresponding embodiment, in one embodiment, after the base station switching is completed, the micro base station can release the second target switching resource.

[0164] Specifically, the target user equipment will only be successfully handed over to one micro base station. After the handover is completed, the micro base station among the micro base stations to which the handover failed can directly release the second target handover resource. For the target micro base station among the micro base stations to which the handover was successfully completed, releasing the second target handover resource may include: directly releasing the second target handover resource; or using the second target handover resource to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or switches out of the target micro base station, thereby releasing the second target handover resource.

[0165] In this way, after the target user equipment is successfully switched from the source macro base station to the target micro base station, the second target switching resource of the micro base station is released in time, which can save switching resources and ensure the reasonable and effective use of switching resources.

[0166] Figure 5 The fourth flow chart of the base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 5 As shown, the base station switching method may include the following steps 501 to 508.

[0167] Step 501: The core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway.

[0168] Among them, the first switching request message may include context information, security parameters, current wireless resource configuration, measurement report and other information of the target user equipment, which is used to request to switch the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway.

[0169] Specifically, the target user equipment can move from the source macro base station to the micro base station corresponding to the micro base station gateway. During the movement, the source macro base station will send a measurement control instruction to the target user equipment. The target user equipment sends a measurement report to the source macro base station based on the measurement control instruction. The measurement report includes neighboring cell information. The neighboring cell information includes a virtual neighboring cell identifier. According to the virtual neighboring cell identifier, the micro base station gateway in the neighboring cell of the source macro base station and the target virtual neighboring cell under the micro base station gateway can be determined; when the source macro base station determines that the switching conditions are met according to the measurement report, it sends a switching start request to the core network. After receiving the switching start request, the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway in the neighboring cell of the source macro base station based on the virtual neighboring cell identifier.

[0170] Step 502: The micro base station gateway determines a first target handover resource of a target user equipment from a handover resource pool.

[0171] For example, the micro base station gateway may randomly select an unused handover resource from the handover resource pool as the first target handover resource for the target user equipment. Alternatively, the micro base station gateway may select a handover resource with the highest priority from the unused handover resources in the handover resource pool according to the handover resource priority as the first target handover resource for the target user equipment.

[0172] Step 503: The micro base station gateway sends first information to the corresponding micro base station.

[0173] The first information is used to indicate the first target handover resource. For example, the first information may be identification information, numbering information, or index information of the first target handover resource, which can uniquely identify the first target handover resource. Alternatively, the first information may be specific configuration information of the first target handover resource.

[0174] The micro base station corresponding to the micro base station gateway is the micro base station corresponding to the target virtual neighboring area of ​​the source macro base station. The micro base station can be all micro base stations corresponding to the target virtual neighboring area, or it can be part of the micro base stations in the virtual neighboring area. These micro base stations can be regarded as a micro base station group.

[0175] The micro base station gateway may carry the first information in an S1AP message and send it to the corresponding micro base station, or the micro base station gateway may directly send the first information to the corresponding micro base station.

[0176] Step 504: The micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource indicated by the first information.

[0177] For example, the first information can be a first target index. After receiving the first information, the micro base station can determine the switching resource corresponding to the first target index based on the correspondence between the index and the switching resource, obtain the first target switching resource, and then perform the base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

[0178] For example, the first information may be configuration information of a first target switching resource. After receiving the configuration information of the first target switching resource, the micro base station directly performs a base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

[0179] For example, after the micro base station determines the first target switching resource, it can locally record the user equipment resources other than the first target switching resource, so that after the target user equipment is switched, the target micro base station that successfully switches among the micro base stations will configure the recorded user equipment resources to the target user equipment.

[0180] The target user equipment will only be successfully switched to one micro base station. When the switching process is completed, step 505 or step 506 is executed.

[0181] Step 505: The target micro base station releases the first target switching resource.

[0182] The target micro base station is the micro base station that has successfully switched among the micro base stations. After the switch is successful, the target micro base station may choose to directly release the first target switching resource and switch to the universal switching resource. The universal switching resource is a resource that is different from the switching resources in the switching resource pool. The resource type of the universal switching resource is the same as the resource type of the switching resources in the switching resource pool, but the specific configuration information is different.

[0183] Afterwards, execute steps 507 to 508.

[0184] Step 506: The target micro base station uses the first target handover resource to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or switches out of the target micro base station. Thereafter, steps 507 to 508 are executed.

[0185] Step 507: The target micro base station sends second information to the micro base station gateway.

[0186] The target micro base station may generate a notification message carrying the second information and then send the notification message to the micro base station gateway. Alternatively, the target micro base station may directly send the second information to the micro base station gateway. The second information is used to instruct the micro base station gateway to release the first target switching resource.

[0187] Step 508: The micro base station gateway releases the locally reserved first target switching resource.

[0188] After receiving the second information, the micro base station gateway determines that the micro base station has released the first target switching resource, and releases the locally reserved first target switching resource.

[0189] The base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application can maintain a switching resource pool by the micro base station gateway. When the core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway for requesting to switch the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the micro base station gateway can determine the corresponding first target switching resource for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool, and then send a first information for indicating the first target switching resource to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. Then, the micro base station can determine the corresponding first target switching resource based on the first information, and then perform the base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource, thereby achieving the switching of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. In this way, the micro base station gateway can track the signaling process of the user equipment switching from the source macro base station to the micro base station. When multiple user equipment are switched from the source macro station to the micro base station at the same time, the corresponding target switching resource can be selected from the switching resource pool for each user equipment switching process, so that multiple user equipment can be switched concurrently, effectively reducing the switching delay and improving the switching success rate. Moreover, after the user equipment successfully switches from the source macro base station to the target micro base station, by promptly releasing the first target switching resources of the target micro base station and the micro base station gateway, switching resources can be saved and reasonable and effective utilization of switching resources can be ensured.

[0190] Figure 6 The fifth flow chart of the base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 6 As shown, the base station switching method may include the following steps 601 to 608.

[0191] Step 601: The core network sends a first switching request message to the micro base station gateway.

[0192] Among them, the first switching request message may include context information, security parameters, current wireless resource configuration, measurement report and other information of the target user equipment, which is used to request to switch the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway.

[0193] Step 602: The micro base station gateway sends a handover preparation message to the micro base station.

[0194] After receiving the first handover request message, the micro base station gateway sends a handover preparation message to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring cell to notify the micro base station to start handover. The handover preparation message may carry the user equipment identifier of the target user equipment.

[0195] Specifically, the handover preparation message sent by the micro base station gateway to the micro base station may be an S1AP handover preparation message.

[0196] Step 603: The micro base station determines the target user equipment and the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment.

[0197] The micro base station can determine the target user equipment according to the user equipment identifier carried in the handover preparation message. At the same time, all micro base stations corresponding to the micro base station gateway can calculate the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment according to a preset calculation rule.

[0198] Specifically, the micro base station may determine the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment according to steps 411 to 412 above.

[0199] Step 604: The micro base station obtains a second target handover resource corresponding to the second target index from the handover resource pool.

[0200] Each switching resource in the switching resource pool corresponds to a unique index. After determining the second target index, the micro base station can obtain the second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index according to the correspondence between the index and the switching resource.

[0201] Step 605: Perform a base station handover operation for the target user equipment based on the second target handover resource.

[0202] After the micro base station obtains the second target switching resource, it can perform a base station switching operation for the target user equipment based on the second target switching resource.

[0203] For example, after the micro base station determines the second target switching resources, it can locally record the user equipment resources other than the second target switching resources, so that after the target user equipment is switched, the target micro base station that successfully switches among the micro base stations will configure the recorded user equipment resources to the target user equipment.

[0204] The target user equipment will only be successfully handed over to one micro base station. After the handover process is completed, for the micro base station to which the handover failed, step 606 is executed. For the target micro base station to which the handover succeeded, step 607 or step 608 is executed.

[0205] Step 606: The micro base station that fails in handover directly releases the second target handover resource.

[0206] Step 607: The target micro base station releases the second target switching resource and switches to the general resource.

[0207] The universal switching resource is a resource different from the switching resources in the switching resource pool. The resource type of the universal switching resource is the same as the resource type of the switching resources in the switching resource pool, but the specific configuration information is not completely the same.

[0208] Step 608: Use the second target switching resource to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or switches out of the target micro base station, and then release the second target switching resource.

[0209] The base station switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application is that when the micro base station gateway receives the first switching request message sent by the core network to request the target user equipment to be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the micro base station gateway sends a switching preparation message to the corresponding micro base station. The micro base station determines the target user equipment and the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment based on the switching preparation message, and then obtains the second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index from the switching resource pool, and then performs the base station switching operation for the target user equipment based on the second target switching resource, thereby achieving the switching of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area. In this way, when multiple user equipment are switched from the source macro station to the micro base station at the same time, the micro base station can select the corresponding target switching resource for each user equipment from the switching resource pool, so that multiple user equipment can be switched concurrently, effectively reducing the switching delay and improving the switching success rate. Moreover, after the target user equipment is successfully switched from the source macro base station to the target micro base station, the second target switching resource of the micro base station is released in time, which can save switching resources and ensure the rational and effective use of switching resources.

[0210] The embodiment of the present application also provides a base station switching device, Figure 7 FIG1 shows one of the structural diagrams of the base station switching device provided in an embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to a micro base station gateway. Figure 7 As shown, the base station switching device may include:

[0211] A first determining module 710 is configured to determine, upon receiving a first handover request message sent by the core network, a first target handover resource for a target user equipment from a handover resource pool; wherein the first handover request message is used to request handover of the target user equipment from a source macro base station to a micro base station in a target virtual neighboring area under a micro base station gateway;

[0212] The first sending module 720 is used to send first information indicating a first target switching resource to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource.

[0213] In one embodiment, the first information is a first target index of the first target handover resource. Accordingly, the first sending module 720 is specifically configured to:

[0214] A first target index is sent to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station determines a first target switching resource corresponding to the first target index and performs a base station switching operation according to the first target switching resource.

[0215] In one embodiment, the first information is configuration information of the first target switching resource. Accordingly, the first sending module 720 is specifically configured to:

[0216] The configuration information of the first target switching resource is sent to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs the base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

[0217] In one embodiment, the base station switching device may further include:

[0218] The first release module is used to release the first target switching resource after switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, and when receiving the second information sent by the target micro base station that has successfully switched in the micro base station.

[0219] Figure 8 The second structural diagram of the base station switching device provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown, and the base station switching device is applied to a micro base station. Figure 8 As shown, the base station switching device may include:

[0220] The first switching module 810 is configured to, upon receiving first information sent by a micro base station gateway to which the micro base station belongs, perform a base station switching operation based on a first target switching resource indicated by the first information;

[0221] Among them, the first target switching resource is determined by the micro base station gateway for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool when it receives the first switching request message sent by the core network; the first switching request message is used to request that the target user equipment be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway.

[0222] In one embodiment, the first information is a first target index. Accordingly, the first switching module 810 may include:

[0223] A first determining unit, configured to determine a first target switching resource corresponding to a first target index;

[0224] The switching unit is configured to perform a base station switching operation according to the first target switching resource.

[0225] In one embodiment, the first information is configuration information of the first target handover resource. Accordingly, the first handover module 810 is specifically configured to: perform a base station handover operation according to the configuration information of the first target handover resource.

[0226] In one embodiment, the base station switching apparatus may further include a second release module. When the micro base station is the target micro base station for successful switching, the second release module is triggered to operate. The second release module is configured to, after switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station under the micro base station gateway, release the first target switching resource and send a second message to the micro base station gateway; the second message is configured to instruct the micro base station gateway to release the first target switching resource.

[0227] In one embodiment, the base station switching device may further include a service module and a third release module. When the micro base station is the target micro base station for successful switching, the service module and the third release module are triggered to operate.

[0228] The service module is configured to use the first target switching resource to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or switches out of the target micro base station;

[0229] The third releasing module is configured to release the first target handover resource and send a second message to the micro base station gateway after the target user equipment releases or switches out of the target micro base station, wherein the second message is used to instruct the micro base station gateway to release the first target handover resource.

[0230] In one embodiment, the first target handover resource includes wireless resources and local resources; the wireless resources include a non-contention preamble identifier and a CRNTI; and the local resources may include a user equipment entity instance and a user equipment entity processing resource.

[0231] For example, the radio resources may further include at least one of PUCCH SR resources, PUCCH CSI resources, SPS resources, TPC_format3 resources, and SRS resources. The PUCCH CSI resources may include at least one of CQI resources, PMI resources, and RI resources.

[0232] Figure 9 The third structural diagram of the base station switching device provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown, and the base station switching device is applied to a micro base station. Figure 9 As shown, the base station switching device may include:

[0233] A second determination module 910 is configured to determine, upon receiving a handover preparation message sent by the micro base station gateway, a target user equipment and a second target index corresponding to the target user equipment; wherein the handover preparation message is generated by the micro base station gateway upon receiving a first handover request message sent by the core network, the first handover request message being used to request handover of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway;

[0234] An acquisition module 920 is configured to acquire a second target switching resource corresponding to a second target index from a switching resource pool;

[0235] The second switching module 930 is configured to perform a base station switching operation for the target user equipment based on the second target switching resource.

[0236] In one embodiment, the second determining module 910 may include:

[0237] An acquiring unit, configured to acquire the total number of handover resources and acquire a user equipment identifier from a handover preparation message; the user equipment identifier is used to determine a target user equipment;

[0238] The second determining unit is configured to determine a second target index corresponding to the target user equipment based on the total number of handover resources and the user equipment identifier.

[0239] In one embodiment, the second determination unit is specifically used to: determine the index value using a hash algorithm based on the total number of switching resources and the user equipment identifier; when the index values ​​determined by each micro base station are the same, determine the index value as the second target index corresponding to the target user equipment.

[0240] In one embodiment, the base station switching device further includes:

[0241] The fourth releasing module is configured to release the second target switching resource after the base station switching is completed.

[0242] In one embodiment, for the target micro base station that is successfully switched among the micro base stations, the fourth release module is specifically used to: directly release the second target switching resources; or, use the second target switching resources to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or cuts out the target micro base station, releasing the second target switching resources.

[0243] In one embodiment, the second target handover resources include wireless resources and local resources; the wireless resources include a non-contention preamble identifier and a CRNTI; and the local resources may include a user equipment entity instance and a user equipment entity processing resource.

[0244] For example, the radio resources may further include at least one of PUCCH SR resources, PUCCH CSI resources, SPS resources, TPC_format3 resources, and SRS resources. The PUCCH CSI resources may include at least one of CQI resources, PMI resources, and RI resources.

[0245] The base station switching device provided in the embodiment of the present application has similar implementation principles and beneficial effects to the base station switching method provided in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0246] The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected based on actual needs to achieve the objectives of the present embodiment. Those skilled in the art will be able to understand and implement the present invention without inventive effort.

[0247] The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which may include a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and when the processor executes the computer program, the above-mentioned Figure 2 The steps of the base station switching method described in the corresponding embodiment, or the implementation as described above Figure 3 The steps of the base station switching method described in the corresponding embodiment, or the implementation as described above Figure 4 The steps of the base station switching method described in the corresponding embodiment are not repeated here.

[0248] Specifically, the communication device may be a micro base station gateway, which includes a first memory and a first processor, wherein the first memory stores a computer program that can be run on the first processor, and the first processor implements the above-mentioned Figure 2 The steps of the base station switching method described in the corresponding embodiment are not repeated here.

[0249] The communication device may be a micro base station, which includes a second memory and a second processor, wherein the second memory stores a computer program that can be run on the second processor, and the second processor implements the above-mentioned Figure 3 The steps of the base station switching method described in the corresponding embodiment, or the implementation as described above Figure 4 The steps of the base station switching method described in the corresponding embodiment are not repeated here.

[0250] Based on the base station switching method described in any of the above embodiments, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, or an optical data storage device. The storage medium stores computer instructions for executing the base station switching method described in any of the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0251] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps to implement the above embodiments may be accomplished by hardware, or may be accomplished by a program to instruct the relevant hardware, and the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium may be a read-only memory, a disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0252] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present application after considering the specification and practicing the contents disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations herein that follow the general principles of this application and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The description and examples are to be considered merely exemplary, and the true scope and spirit of this application are indicated by the claims.

Claims

1. A base station switching method, characterized in that: Applied to a micro base station gateway, the base station switching method includes: Upon receiving a first handover request message sent by the core network, determining a first target handover resource of the target user equipment from the handover resource pool; wherein the first handover request message is used to request handover of the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway; First information for indicating the first target switching resource is sent to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource.

2. The base station switching method according to claim 1, wherein: The first information is a first target index of the first target switching resource; and the sending of the first information indicating the first target switching resource to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource, includes: The first target index is sent to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station determines the first target switching resource corresponding to the first target index, and performs a base station switching operation according to the first target switching resource.

3. The base station switching method according to claim 1, wherein: The first information is configuration information of the first target switching resource; and the sending of the first information for indicating the first target switching resource to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation based on the first target switching resource, includes: The configuration information of the first target switching resource is sent to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area, so that the micro base station performs a base station switching operation according to the configuration information of the first target switching resource.

4. The base station switching method according to claim 1, wherein: After switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the base station switching method further includes: Upon receiving the second information sent by the target micro base station that has successfully switched among the micro base stations, the first target switching resource is released.

5. A base station switching method, characterized in that: Applied to a micro base station, the base station switching method includes: Upon receiving first information sent by the micro base station gateway to which the micro base station belongs, performing a base station switching operation based on a first target switching resource indicated by the first information; Among them, the first target switching resource is determined by the micro base station gateway for the target user equipment from the switching resource pool when it receives the first switching request message sent by the core network; the first switching request message is used to request that the target user equipment be switched from the source macro base station to the micro base station in the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway.

6. The base station switching method according to claim 5, characterized in that: After switching the target user equipment from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway, the base station switching method further includes: The target micro base station that successfully switches among the micro base stations directly releases the first target switching resource and sends second information to the micro base station gateway; the second information is used to instruct the micro base station gateway to release the first target switching resource; or, The target micro base station that has successfully switched among the micro base stations uses the first target switching resources to serve the target user equipment until the target user equipment releases or cuts out of the target micro base station, releases the first target switching resources and sends the second information to the micro base station gateway.

7. A base station switching method, characterized in that: Applied to a micro base station, the base station switching method includes: Upon receiving a handover preparation message sent by the micro base station gateway, determining a target user equipment and a second target index corresponding to the target user equipment; the handover preparation message is generated by the micro base station gateway when receiving a first handover request message sent by the core network, and the first handover request message is used to request that the target user equipment be handed over from the source macro base station to the micro base station of the target virtual neighboring area under the micro base station gateway; Acquire a second target switching resource corresponding to the second target index from a switching resource pool; A base station handover operation is performed for the target user equipment based on the second target handover resource.

8. The base station switching method according to claim 7, wherein: Determining a second target index corresponding to the target user equipment includes: Acquire the total number of handover resources and acquire a user equipment identifier from the handover preparation message; the user equipment identifier is used to determine the target user equipment; The second target index corresponding to the target user equipment is determined based on the total number of handover resources and the user equipment identifier.

9. The base station switching method according to claim 7, wherein: After the base station switching is completed, the base station switching method further includes: The second target switching resource is released.

10. The base station switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The handover resources in the handover resource pool include wireless resources and local resources; The wireless resources include a non-contention preamble identifier and a cell wireless network temporary identifier; The local resources include user equipment entity instances and user equipment entity processing resources.

11. The base station switching method according to claim 10, wherein: The wireless resources also include at least one of an uplink scheduling request resource of a physical uplink control channel, a channel state information resource of a physical uplink control channel, a semi-persistent scheduling resource, a transmit power control format 3 resource, and a sounding reference signal resource.

12. A communication device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, characterized in that: When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the steps of the base station switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, or implements the steps of the base station switching method according to claim 5 or 6, or implements the steps of the base station switching method according to any one of claims 7 to 9.

13. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the base station switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, or implements the steps of the base station switching method according to claim 5 or 6, or implements the steps of the base station switching method according to any one of claims 7 to 9.

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