Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and a communication device. The communication method comprises the steps that first information is sent to access network equipment, the first information is used for indicating whether a first cell transmits MBS or not, the first cell is an adjacent cell of the access network equipment, the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network equipment, and correspondingly, the access network equipment determines whether the first cell is the cell transmitting the MBS or not based on the first information. Through the technical scheme, the accuracy of determining the cell for transmitting the MBS by the access network equipment can be improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and a communication apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the continuous development of communication technology, multicast and broadcast service (MBS) for multiple terminal devices has been rapidly developed.

[0003] For MBS, an access network device obtains an MBS neighbor cell list, which indicates at least one cell that can provide MBS. Then, the access network device determines a target cell that transmits MBS from the at least one cell and indicates the determined target cell to a terminal device, so that the terminal device learns the target cell that is transmitting MBS.

[0004] However, the above process may have the following problems: the target cell that transmits MBS determined by the access network device is inaccurate, which further causes the terminal device to be unable to accurately learn the target cell that transmits MBS. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus to improve the accuracy of the target cell that transmits MBS determined by the access network device.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or can be executed by a component (such as a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the terminal device, or can be a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the terminal device, and the present application does not limit this. In the present application, the terminal device is taken as an example for description.

[0007] Exemplarily, the communication method comprises: sending first information to an access network device, the first information being used to indicate whether a first cell transmits MBS, the first cell being a neighbor cell of the access network device, and the MBS being the same as MBS transmitted by the access network device.

[0008] The access network device that receives the first information sent by the terminal device is also referred to as a first access network device. The cell in which the terminal device is located when the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device is also referred to as a second cell. The MBS is transmitted in the second cell, and the terminal device receives the MBS sent by the first access network device in the second cell.

[0009] That is, in the communication method, the terminal device indicates, by the first information, whether the first cell transmits the same MBS as the MBS being transmitted by the first access network device. In the embodiments of the present application, the same MBS means having the same session identifier of the MBS, for example, the same temporary mobile group identity (TMGI).

[0010] For example, the first information used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS can also be interpreted as any of the following: the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell is transmitting the MBS, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell has transmitted the MBS, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS, and the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell is used to transmit the MBS.

[0011] In the communication method, the first information is determined by the terminal device in the case of receiving the MBS in the first cell. Specifically, when the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, it is determined that the first cell transmits / exists the MBS, and at this time, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS. When the terminal device does not receive the point-to-multipoint (PTM) configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, the terminal device will not receive the MBS, and the terminal device will determine that the first cell does not transmit / does not exist the MBS, and at this time, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit / does not transmit the MBS. Therefore, in the embodiments, the first information used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS can also be interpreted as: the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell.

[0012] For example, the terminal device receiving the MBS in the first cell can also be replaced by any of the following: the terminal device successfully receiving a data packet of the MBS in the first cell, the terminal device parsing a data packet of the MBS in the first cell, and the terminal device finding PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell.

[0013] For example, if the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, and the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS, it can be replaced by: the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS.

[0014] For example, if the terminal device does not receive the PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, and the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS, it can be replaced by: the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

[0015] It can be seen that, in the technical solution, after the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the first access network device, the terminal device further indicates the first information about whether the first cell transmits the MBS to the first access network device, so that the first access network device can accurately determine whether the first cell is transmitting the same MBS based on the first information, thereby improving the accuracy of the first access network device in determining the cell that is transmitting the same MBS.

[0016] For example, in an implementation, the first information includes one bit, which has two values, 0 or 1. When one of the values is taken, it indicates that the first cell transmits the MBS, and when the other value is taken, it indicates that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

[0017] Optionally, if the terminal device determines that the first cell transmits the MBS, the first information includes PTM configuration information of the MBS. That is, in this implementation, the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell transmits the same MBS by reporting the PTM configuration information of the MBS transmitted by the first cell.

[0018] Optionally, the first information includes a session identifier of the MBS. For example, the session identifier of the MBS is a temporary mobile group identifier (TMGI) of the MBS.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending second information to the access network device, the second information indicating data packets of the MBS that have been received by the first cell.

[0020] Based on this implementation, the first access network device can determine the reception condition of the terminal device in receiving the data packets of the MBS, for example, the first access network device determines the packet reception condition of the terminal device based on the second information, and further adjusts the parameters in transmitting the MBS according to the packet reception condition, so that the terminal device can better receive the MBS.

[0021] For example, the second information includes a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) sequence number (SN) or a PDCP COUNT value of the data packets of the MBS received by the terminal device in the first cell, wherein the PDCP SN or the PDCP COUNT value of the last data packet of the MBS received by the terminal device in the first cell is included, and the first access network device determines the packet loss condition of the terminal device based on the PDCP SN or the PDCP COUNT value of the data packets of the MBS that have been received.

[0022] Optionally, the second information indicates the data packets of the MBS that have not been received in the first cell, which can also be replaced by: the second information indicates the data packets of the MBS that have not been received in the first cell.

[0023] The data packets of the MBS that have not been received in the first cell by the terminal device can also be interpreted as: the data packets of the MBS that have not been successfully received in the first cell by the terminal device, or the data packets of the MBS that have not been successfully parsed in the first cell by the terminal device. For example, the PDCP SN or PDCP COUNT value of the data packets of the MBS that have not been received in the first cell by the terminal device is included in the second information. The access network device determines the packet loss condition of the terminal device based on the PDCP SN or PDCP COUNT value of the data packets of the MBS that have not been received.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, if the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell in the deactivated state, the method further includes: sending third information to the access network device, the third information being used to indicate that the MBS transmitted in the first cell is synchronized with the data packets of the MBS sent by the access network device.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, at least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure (ConnEstFail, CEF) report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection of the first cell fails.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, at least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a minimization of drive-tests (MDT) report, and the MDT data recorded in the first cell is included in the recorded MDT report.

[0027] The second aspect provides a communication method, which can be executed by an access network device, or can be executed by a component (such as a chip, a chip system, etc.) configured in the access network device, or can be a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the access network device, and the present application does not make any limitation in this regard. In the present application, the access network device is taken as an example for description.

[0028] Exemplarily, the communication method includes: receiving first information sent by a terminal device, the first information being used to indicate whether a multicast broadcast service (MBS) is transmitted in a first cell, the first cell being a neighboring cell of the access network device, and the MBS being the same as an MBS transmitted by the access network device; and determining whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS based on the first information.

[0029] In the technical solution, the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS, so that the access network device can accurately determine whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS based on the first information, thereby improving the accuracy of the access network device in determining the cell transmitting the MBS.

[0030] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS; and determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS includes: determining, based on the first information, that the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS.

[0031] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving second information sent by the terminal device, the second information indicating a data packet of the MBS that has been received by the first cell.

[0032] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third information sent by the terminal device, the third information being used to indicate that the MBS transmitted in the first cell is synchronized with a data packet of the MBS sent by the access network device.

[0033] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure CEF report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when a first cell RRC connection is established.

[0034] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimum drive test MDT report, and the logged MDT data recorded in the first cell is included in the logged MDT report.

[0035] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS; and determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS includes: determining, based on the first information, that the first cell is a cell not transmitting the MBS.

[0036] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, including modules or units for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect. It should be understood that each module or unit can realize the corresponding function by executing a computer program.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, including modules or units for implementing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect. It should be understood that each module or unit can realize the corresponding function by executing a computer program.

[0038] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor, which is configured to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The communication apparatus can be a chip or chip system applied in a terminal device.

[0039] The apparatus can further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory to implement the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The apparatus can further include a communication interface for the apparatus to communicate with other devices. The communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, or other types of communication interface.

[0040] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication apparatus, including a processor, which is configured to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The communication apparatus can be a chip or chip system applied in a network device.

[0041] The apparatus can further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory to implement the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The apparatus can further include a communication interface for the apparatus to communicate with other devices. The communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, or other types of communication interface.

[0042] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores program codes for a communication apparatus to execute, and the program codes include instructions for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0043] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores program codes for a communication apparatus to execute, and the program codes include instructions for implementing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0044] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a communication apparatus, cause the communication apparatus to implement the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0045] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a communication apparatus, cause the communication apparatus to implement the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0046] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which comprises a communication apparatus for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect, and / or a communication apparatus for implementing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0047] Effects of the second aspect to the eleventh aspect can refer to the description of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0048] Figure 1 A structural schematic diagram of an MBS transmission network architecture suitable for embodiments of the present application;

[0049] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a RAN architecture provided by the present application;

[0050] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a method for determining a cell for transmitting MBS provided by the present application;

[0051] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a method for determining a cell for transmitting MBS provided by the present application;

[0052] Figure 5 A schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0053] Figure 6 A schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0054] Figure 7 A schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0055] Figure 8 A schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0056] Figure 9 A schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0057] Figure 10 A schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0058] Figure 11 A schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0059] Figure 12 A structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0060] Figure 13 A structural schematic diagram of another communication apparatus provided by embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] In order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish the same or similar items with basically the same function and role. Those skilled in the art can understand that the terms "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the terms "first", "second", etc. also do not necessarily mean different.

[0062] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to represent an example, illustration or description. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present application should not be interpreted as more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Rather, the use of the words "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concept in a specific manner.

[0063] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The association relationship of the associated objects is described, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b and (or) c can represent a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0064] With the development of communication technology, multicast and broadcast service (MBS) for multiple terminal devices has developed rapidly, which exemplarily includes live broadcast service, batch software update service, etc.

[0065] Exemplarily, Figure 1 A structural schematic diagram of an MBS transmission network architecture provided by the present application is shown, which is a (5th generation, 5G) network architecture.

[0066] As Figure 1 shown, the network elements in the 5G network architecture include a terminal device 101, an access network (AN) device 102, a core network (CN) device 103, and a server 104.

[0067] The terminal device 101 in the embodiments of the present application includes various devices with wireless communication functions, which can be used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. The terminal device 101 can be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communication, D2D, V2X, peer to peer (P2P), M2M, MTC, IoT, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart power grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart traffic, smart city drone, robot, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, etc. The terminal device can be a terminal in any of the above scenarios, such as an MTC terminal, an IoT terminal, etc. The terminal device can be a user equipment (UE) of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard, a terminal, a fixed device, a mobile station device or a mobile device, a subscriber unit, a handset, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a SIP phone, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wireless modem, a handset, a laptop computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a smart book, a vehicle, a satellite, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a target tracking device, an aircraft (such as a drone, a helicopter, a multi-copter, a quad-copter, or an airplane, etc.), a ship, a remote control device, a smart home device, an industrial device, or a device built in the above device (such as a communication module, a modem or a chip in the above device, etc.), or other processing devices connected to the wireless modem. For the convenience of description, the terminal device will be described as a terminal or a UE hereinafter.

[0068] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device, i.e., the terminal device, can be a terminal device or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system or a chip, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0069] The main function of the access network device 102 is to control the terminal device 101 to access the mobile communication network through wireless access. The access network device 102 is part of the mobile communication system, which implements a wireless access technology. The access network device can be a base station. The base station can cover various names in the following or be replaced by the following names in a broad sense, such as: Node B (NodeB), evolved NodeB (eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), primary station, secondary station, multi standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), positioning node, etc. The base station can be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node or the like, or a combination thereof. The base station can also refer to a communication module, modem or chip for being arranged in the aforementioned device or apparatus. The base station can also be a mobile switching center and a device assuming the function of a base station in D2D, V2X, M2M communication, a network side device in 6G network, a device assuming the function of a base station in future communication system, etc. The base station can support networks of the same or different access technologies. Optionally, the RAN node can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device. In some deployments, the network device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a device including a CU, or a DU, or a device including a CU and a DU, or a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)) and a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)) and a DU node.For example, the network device can include a gNB-CU-CP, a gNB-CU-UP, and a gNB-DU.

[0070] In some deployments, wireless access is facilitated by a plurality of RAN nodes in cooperation to serve a terminal, different RAN nodes respectively implementing part of functions of a base station. For example, a RAN node can be a CU, a DU, a CU-CP, a CU-UP, or an RU, etc. A CU and a DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, for example, in a BBU. An RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, in a RRU, an AAU, or a RRH.

[0071] A RAN node can support one or more types of front-haul interfaces, different front-haul interfaces respectively corresponding to DUs and RUs having different functions. If the front-haul interface between a DU and an RU is a common public radio interface (CPRI), the DU is configured to implement one or more of baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement one or more of radio frequency functions. If the front-haul interface between a DU and an RU is another interface, relative to the CPRI, part of baseband functions of downlink and / or uplink, for example, for downlink, one or more of precoding, digital beamforming (BF), or inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / adding cyclic prefix (CP) are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation, for uplink, one or more of digital beamforming (BF), or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / removing cyclic prefix (CP) are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation. In a possible implementation, the interface can be an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI). Under the eCPRI architecture, the splitting manner between the DU and the RU is different, corresponding to different categories (Cat) of eCPRI, for example, eCPRI Cat A, B, C, D, E, F.

[0072] In a possible design, a processing unit in a BBU for implementing baseband functions is referred to as a baseband high (BBH) unit, and a processing unit in a RRU / AAU / RRH for implementing baseband functions is referred to as a baseband low (BBL) unit.

[0073] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, Figure 2 As shown, CU may also be referred to as O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be referred to as O-DU (Open DU), CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP (Open Centralized Unit Control Plane), CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and RU may also be referred to as O-RU (Open Radio Frequency Unit). Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0074] The terminal device 101 and the access network device 102 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water; and can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the terminal device 101 and the access network device 102.

[0075] The terminal device 101 and the access network device 102 can communicate through the authorized spectrum, the unlicensed spectrum, or both the authorized spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum; can communicate through the spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), the spectrum above 6 GHz, or both the spectrum below 6 GHz and the spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0076] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station function. The control subsystem that includes the base station function here can be a control center in the application scenarios of the above-mentioned terminals such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal function.

[0077] The core network device 103 mainly includes a user plane function (user equipment, UPF) and a control plane function in a data plane. The user plane function is mainly responsible for forwarding of packet data, quality of service (QoS) control, charging information statistics, and connection to an external network, and includes related functions of a serving gateway (SGW) and a public data network gateway (PDN-GW) in long term evolution (LTE). The control plane function is mainly responsible for service flow interaction, issuing of a data packet forwarding policy and a QoS control policy to the user plane, and the like. Exemplarily, network elements in the control plane function mainly include an access and mobility function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a policy control function (PCF), an application function (AF), a network exposure function (NEF), and the like. The AMF network element is connected to the access network device 102 through an NG interface, can manage access of the terminal device to the core network, for example, access control of the terminal device, mobility management of the terminal device, attachment and detachment of the terminal device, triggering of positioning of the terminal device by the LMF network element, forwarding of positioning-related messages between the terminal device and the LMF network element, and forwarding of positioning-related messages between the access network device and the LMF network element. The LMF network element can perform positioning of the terminal device based on a positioning request of the AMF network element. It should be understood that the function of the LMF network element can also be referred to as the function of the LMF. Alternatively, the LMF network element can be used to implement the function of the LMF. The SMF network element is mainly responsible for management of creation and deletion of a user protocol data unit (PDU) session, maintenance of a PDU session context, and user plane forwarding pipe information. The PCF is mainly responsible for performing policy control, similar to a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) network element in long term evolution (LTE), including generation and management of user, session, and quality of service (QoS) flow processing policies, generation of quality of service and charging rules, and issuing of the corresponding rules to the UPF network element through the SMF.The AF network element is primarily responsible for providing various business services. It can interact with the core network through the NEF network element and can interact with the policy management framework for policy management. The NEF is used to provide the framework, authentication, and interfaces related to network capability exposure, and to transfer information between the 5G system network function and other network functions.

[0078] The server 104 is a device that communicates with the terminal device 101 and can send service data that needs to be transmitted to the terminal device 101, such as service data including multicast services, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0079] for Figure 1 In the system architecture shown, the server 104 can first send the MBS data to the core network device 103, and then the core network device 103 sends the MBS data to the access network device 102, and finally the access network device 102 sends the MBS data to at least one terminal device 101.

[0080] For example, when sending from a core network device to an access network device, MBS data can be transmitted through an MBS session (also called an MBS session), and each MBS session can include at least one MBS QoS flow. When sending from an access network device to a terminal device, MBS data can be transmitted through an MBS radio bearer. Generally, there are two transmission modes for an MBS radio bearer: one is point to multi-point (PTM) transmission mode, and the other is point to point (PTP) transmission mode. In other words, for an access network device, PTP and PTM transmission modes are supported for sending MBS data to a terminal device. In addition, for an access network device, it also supports dynamic conversion between PTM and PTP controlled by the access network device. For a detailed description of the PTM transmission mode and the PTP transmission mode, please refer to the description in the relevant technology and will not be repeated here.

[0081] In some scenarios, MBS is a broadcast service; in others, it is a multicast service. Multicast services are designed for services with high QoS requirements and require group management. They can provide the same QoS levels as unicast services. Specifically, for multicast services, the core network must manage the entry and exit of terminal devices. Transmission between core network and access network devices relies on PDU sessions. For detailed descriptions of broadcast and multicast, please refer to the relevant technical descriptions and will not be repeated here.

[0082] In addition, it is explained herein that the method provided by the application embodiments can be applied to but not limited to the following fields: MBMS, SC-PTM, multicast broadcast service, MBSFN, dual-channel intelligent unicast (DC-IU), broadcast, multicast, multicast broadcast, groupcast, V2X, public safety, mission critical, transparent IPv4 / IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, software delivery over wireless, group communications, Internet of things (IoT), TV Video, TV, linear TV, Live, radio services, device to device (D2D), unmanned driving, automated driving (ADS), driver assistance (ADAS), intelligent driving, connected driving, intelligent network driving, car sharing, etc.

[0083] Currently, for MBS, a terminal device can receive in an idle state or an inactive state. For example, a terminal device can receive a broadcast MBS in an idle state (also referred to as an idle state), or a terminal device can receive a multicast MBS in an inactive state (also referred to as an inactive state).

[0084] Regardless of whether data of a broadcast MBS or data of a multicast MBS is transmitted to a terminal device, an access network device indicates a target cell for transmitting the MBS to a terminal device receiving the MBS; accordingly, a terminal device learns the target cell for transmitting the MBS based on the indication of the access network device.

[0085] Specifically, for the access network device side, the current method for determining the target cell is as follows: first, an MBS neighbor cell list is obtained, the MBS neighbor cell list indicates at least one cell that can provide MBS; then, the base station determines a target cell that transmits MBS from the at least one cell and indicates the target cell that transmits MBS to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device determines the target cell that transmits MBS based on the indication information.

[0086] As shown in the example, Figure 3 The MBS neighbor cell list determined by the access network device indicates that the cells include cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, and cell 6, that is, cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, and cell 6 can provide MBS. Then, the access network device determines that cell 1, cell 2, cell 4, and cell 5 transmit MBS, and determines that cell 3 and cell 6 do not transmit MBS.

[0087] Among them, the access network device determines that cell 1, cell 2, cell 4, and cell 5 transmit MBS, and cell 3 and cell 6 do not transmit MBS, which can also be understood as: the access network device determines that cell 1, cell 2, cell 4, and cell 5 are cells for transmitting MBS, and cell 3 and cell 6 are cells not for transmitting MBS. Or, it can also be understood as: the access network device determines that cell 1, cell 2, cell 4, and cell 5 are MBS cells, and cell 3 and cell 6 are MBS-free cells.

[0088] Among them, cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3 are cells covered by the local access network device, and cell 4, cell 5, and cell 6 are cells covered by other access network devices. For ease of description, in this example, the local access network device is also referred to as the local station, and the other access network device is also referred to as the neighboring station.

[0089] As an example, the MBS neighbor cell list indicates the cells that can provide MBS through PCI and absolute frequency points. One method for the access network device to determine the MBS neighbor cell list is as follows: the core network sends an MBS service area to the access network device, and the access network device obtains the MBS neighbor cell list based on the MBS service area. Wherein, how the access network device obtains the MBS neighbor cell list based on the MBS service area can refer to the description in the related art, which will not be repeated here.

[0090] For example, in an implementation, the manner in which the access network device indicates the determined target cell to the terminal device comprises: the access network device sending the terminal device an MBS neighbor cell list and information 11 (for example, information 11 is also referred to as Mtch-neighbourCell information), wherein the information 11 includes N bits, the N bits one-to-one correspond to the N cells indicated by the MBS neighbor cell list, and each bit indicates whether the corresponding cell is transmitting MBS; correspondingly, the terminal device determines the target cell transmitting MBS based on the MBS neighbor cell list and the information 1.

[0091] For example, in an implementation, the manner in which the access network device indicates the determined target cell to the terminal device comprises: the access network device sending the terminal device an MBS neighbor cell list and information 11 (for example, information 11 is also referred to as Mtch-neighbourCell information), wherein the information 11 includes N bits, the N bits one-to-one correspond to the N cells indicated by the MBS neighbor cell list, and each bit indicates whether the corresponding cell is transmitting MBS; correspondingly, the terminal device determines the target cell transmitting MBS based on the MBS neighbor cell list and the information 1. Figure 3 For example, the information 11 can include 6 bits, which one-to-one correspond to 6 cells, for example, the information 11 is 110110, when a certain bit is 1, it indicates that the cell corresponding to the bit is transmitting MBS data, and when a certain bit is 0, it indicates that the cell corresponding to the bit is not transmitting MBS.

[0092] Optionally, in a scenario, the access network device is a CU-DU separated architecture. In this scenario, the above-mentioned access network device determining the MBS neighbor cell list is replaced by the CU determining the MBS neighbor cell list, and the access network device determining the target cell transmitting MBS is replaced by the DU determining the target cell transmitting MBS. In this scenario, the CU can send the MBS neighbor cell list to the DU, so that the DU determines the target cell transmitting MBS data based on at least one cell based on the MBS neighbor cell list.

[0093] However, when the above-mentioned access network device determines the target cell transmitting MBS, it can accurately judge whether each cell of the station transmits MBS, but it cannot accurately judge whether the cells of the neighboring station transmit MBS, resulting in that the target cell transmitting MBS determined by the access network device is inaccurate, and further resulting in that the terminal device cannot accurately determine the cell transmitting MBS.

[0094] For example, in an implementation, the manner in which the access network device indicates the determined target cell to the terminal device comprises: the access network device sending the terminal device an MBS neighbor cell list and information 11 (for example, information 11 is also referred to as Mtch-neighbourCell information), wherein the information 11 includes N bits, the N bits one-to-one correspond to the N cells indicated by the MBS neighbor cell list, and each bit indicates whether the corresponding cell is transmitting MBS; correspondingly, the terminal device determines the target cell transmitting MBS based on the MBS neighbor cell list and the information 1. Figure 3 For example, the station determines that the neighboring cell 4 and the cell 5 are cells transmitting MBS, but in fact the cell 4 and the cell 5 may not be transmitting MBS due to resource allocation of the neighboring station. For the terminal device, based on the indication of the access network device, the cell 4 or the cell 5 is a cell transmitting MBS, at this time, if the terminal device moves to the cell 4 or the cell 5, it is found that MBS data cannot be received. For example, the station determines that the neighboring cell 6 does not transmit MBS, but in fact the cell 6 is transmitting MBS; at this time, based on the indication of the network device, the terminal device considers that the cell 6 is a cell not transmitting MBS, so it will not go to the cell 6 to receive MBS data.

[0095] In addition, if the access network device determines the MBS neighbor cell list, but sets the information 11 as empty. At this time, it also causes the terminal device to be unable to accurately determine which cells are the cells transmitting the MBS.

[0096] In summary, there is currently a problem that the access network device cannot accurately determine the target cell transmitting the MBS.

[0097] In view of this, the embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, in which the terminal device indicates to the access network device establishing an RRC connection whether other cells have the same MBS as the MBS transmitted by the access network device establishing the RRC connection, so that the access network device knows whether the cells of the neighboring station have the MBS transmitted, thereby improving the accuracy of determining the cells transmitting the MBS.

[0098] Next, the communication method provided by the present application will be described in detail in combination with the drawings.

[0099] Before introducing the communication method provided by the present application, in order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly described. It should be understood that the basic concepts described below are simply described by taking the basic concepts specified in the current protocol as an example, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited to only being applied in the existing communication system. Therefore, the standard names appearing when the existing communication system is taken as an example for description are all functional descriptions, and the specific names are not limited.

[0100] I. RRC connected state and non-connected state

[0101] The RRC connected state can be referred to as the RRC_connected state. When the terminal device is in the RRC connected state, there is an RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device, and there is a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling connection between the terminal device and the core network device (such as a mobility management network element). In the RRC connected state, the access network device and the core network device both save the context of the terminal device.

[0102] The non-connected state refers to a state other than the connected state, and the non-connected state includes the idle state and / or the inactive state.

[0103] The non-active state can be referred to as an RRC_inactive state or a deactivated state. In the non-active state, the terminal device and the access network device have no RRC connection. The context of the terminal device is stored in the access network device, and the context of the terminal device can be stored in the core network device. The access network device does not know the specific cell in which the terminal device resides in the coverage of the access network device or whether the terminal device is in the management range of the access network device, and the core network device knows through which access network device the terminal device can be found.

[0104] The idle state can be referred to as an RRC_idle state. In the idle state, the terminal device and the access network device have no RRC connection, the access network device does not store the context of the terminal device, and the terminal device does not have a NAS signaling connection with the core network device (such as a mobility management network element).

[0105] The connection state, the non-connected state, the non-active state, and the idle state can refer to the provisions of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) standard, and details are not described herein.

[0106] II. Cell reselection

[0107] Cell reselection is a process of the terminal device in the idle state or the non-active state, initiated by the terminal device. Specifically, after the terminal device successfully camps on a cell, if no data service is performed, the terminal device is in the idle state or the non-active state.

[0108] The terminal device in the idle state or the non-active state measures the signal quality of the current serving cell and the neighbor cell. If the signal quality of the current serving cell is poor and the signal quality of the neighbor cell is good, the terminal device actively selects a cell with higher priority or better signal quality as the serving cell, which is referred to as cell reselection. The overall process of cell reselection includes starting neighbor cell measurement, reselection evaluation decision, and cell reselection execution.

[0109] Starting neighbor cell measurement: The terminal device determines whether to start neighbor cell measurement according to the measurement start condition. If it is determined to start neighbor cell measurement, the terminal device measures the signal quality of the current serving cell and the neighbor cell.

[0110] Reselection evaluation decision: The terminal device determines whether the signal quality of the neighbor cell continuously meets the cell reselection standard during Treselection. The cell reselection standard includes R / S criteria. If it is determined that the signal quality of the neighbor cell continuously meets the cell reselection standard during Treselection, cell reselection is performed, and if it does not meet the standard, the terminal device still camps on the current serving cell.

[0111] Cell reselection execution: the terminal device performs cell reselection, starts to receive the system message of the new cell, and if access is not restricted, the terminal device in the RRC_idle state initiates RRC connection establishment (RRC Setup) and the terminal device in the inactive state initiates RRC resume (RRC Resume) to request establishment of an RRC connection with the new cell.

[0112] III. Connection establishment failure (ConnEstFail, CEF) reporting

[0113] If the terminal device in the idle state has an RRC connection establishment failure or the terminal device in the inactive state has an RRC resume failure, the terminal device records a CEF report to record failure information, for example, the CEF report includes the cell identity and measurement results of the cell where the RRC connection establishment failure or RRC resume failure occurs, the measurement results of the neighboring cell at the time of failure, the number of consecutive RRC connection establishment failures in the same cell or the number of consecutive RRC resume failures in the same cell, and the time length from the failure to the reporting.

[0114] IV. Minimization of drive-tests (MDT) The basic idea of MDT technology is to partially replace the traditional drive test work by measuring and reporting through the terminal device to automatically collect terminal device measurement data to detect and optimize problems and faults in the wireless network. MDT can be used for coverage optimization (to find coverage holes, weak coverage, excessive coverage, and uplink coverage, etc.), and for QoS verification / observation (to evaluate user QoS experience, such as through the throughput rate), etc.

[0115] MDT mainly has two modes, namely logged MDT and immediate MDT.

[0116] Logged MDT is the MDT measurement performed by the terminal device in idle (RRC_idle) state or inactive (RRC_inactive) state (for example, the MDT measurement of the terminal device on the current camped cell and some neighboring cells). Specifically, the network side provides the logged MDT measurement configuration to the terminal device in the RRC connected state, to instruct the terminal device to perform the logged MDT measurement in the idle state and the inactive state, and the configuration parameters include: trigger logged conditions (time trigger, periodic trigger), logged duration and logged area, etc.; the logged area can be a public land mobile network (PLMN) list, a tracking area (TA) list, a cell global identity (CGI) list, a frequency list, and the terminal device collects logged MDT data in the configured area, and when the logged duration expires or the terminal device receives a new logged MDT measurement configuration, the terminal device stops collecting data. The logged MDT collects the measurement data on the terminal device side, for example, including the measurement results of the coverage related serving / neighbor cells, cell identification information, location information, time information, tracking information, etc.

[0117] The terminal device indicates the presence of logged MDT to the network side in the RRC message, the network side requests the terminal device to report the logged MDT, and the terminal device reports the logged MDT to the network side in response to the request.

[0118] Immediate MDT is the MDT measurement performed by the terminal device in the RRC connected state. The terminal device measurement configuration of the fast MDT is to add location information in the existing RRC measurement configuration process, and the logged area range information can also be added, to instruct the terminal device to perform the fast MDT collection in a specific area. The immediate MDT can collect the measurement data on the terminal device side and the access network device side. The measurement data on the terminal device side includes, for example, the measurement results of the coverage related serving / neighbor cells, location information, power headroom measurement, and the measurement results of the access network device side, for example, including physical resource block (PRB) utilization rate, throughput rate, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) data volume, packet loss rate, packet drop rate, number of active terminal devices, and packet delay.

[0119] Next, the communication method provided by the present application is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0120] Figure 5 FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of the communication method 500 provided by the embodiments of the present application. Figure 5The method is described from the perspective of interaction between the network device and the terminal device, and should not be considered as limiting the embodiments of the present application. Figure 5 The network device in the method can be replaced by a component (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.) configured in the network device, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the network device. Figure 5 The terminal device in the method can be replaced by a component (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.) configured in the terminal device, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the terminal device.

[0121] Figure 5 The method shown in FIG. 5 includes S510 to S520. Each step in the method 500 is described in detail below.

[0122] S510, the terminal device sends first information to the access network device, the first information indicating whether the first cell transmits MBS, the first cell being a neighboring cell of the access network device, the MBS being the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device.

[0123] In the embodiments of the present application, the access network device receiving the first information is also referred to as the first access network device.

[0124] In the embodiments of the present application, the cell in which the terminal device is located when the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device is also referred to as the second cell. The second cell is a cell (or a cell covered) included by the first access network device receiving the first information. In the embodiments, the MBS is transmitted in the second cell, and the terminal device receives the MBS transmitted by the first access network device in the second cell.

[0125] As an example, before the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the first access network device. For example, the terminal device establishing an RRC connection with the first access network device can also be that the terminal device establishes a connection with the second cell.

[0126] It is explained that the embodiments do not limit the way of triggering the terminal device to establish an RRC connection with the first access network device.

[0127] For example, before the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the first access network device, the terminal device receives the MBS in a certain cell in a deactivated state, but the signal quality when receiving the MBS does not meet a preset condition (for example, the signal quality is low or does not meet a threshold), the terminal device initiates an RRC connection establishment to the access network device to which the certain cell belongs but the RRC connection establishment fails, the terminal device initiates an RRC Setup to the first access network device to establish an RRC connection with the first access network device, and continues to receive the MBS from the first access network device.

[0128] For example, before the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the first access network device, the terminal device reselects to a certain cell in a deactivated state to receive the MBS, finds that there is no MBS to be received in the certain cell, establishes an RRC connection with the access network device to which the certain cell belongs, and fails to establish the RRC connection. The terminal device initiates an RRC Setup to the first access network device to establish an RRC connection with the first access network device to continue receiving the MBS from the first access network device.

[0129] In this embodiment, after the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the first access network device, the terminal device sends first information to the first access network device, the first information indicating whether the first cell transmits the MBS, the first cell being a neighboring cell of the first access network device, and the MBS being the same as the MBS transmitted by the first access network device.

[0130] Here, the MBS being the same as the MBS transmitted by the first access network device means that the session identifier of the MBS is the same as that of the MBS transmitted by the first access network device, for example, including a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI).

[0131] The MBS being the same as the MBS transmitted by the first access network device can also be interpreted as: the MBS being the same as the MBS received by the terminal device in the second cell. Therefore, the terminal device indicating, through the first information, whether the first cell transmits the MBS can also be interpreted as: the terminal device indicating, through the first information, to the first access network device whether the same MBS as the MBS transmitted by the first access network device is transmitted in the first cell, or the terminal device indicating, through the first information, to the first access network device whether the same MBS as the MBS being transmitted by the first access network device is transmitted in the first cell.

[0132] In the embodiments of the present application, the first cell is a neighboring cell of the first access network device.

[0133] In the embodiments of the present application, the first information is determined by the terminal device in the case of receiving the above-mentioned MBS in the first cell. When the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, there can be the following two cases:

[0134] Case one: the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell.

[0135] Case two: there is no PTM configuration information of the MBS transmitted in the first cell.

[0136] In this embodiment, when the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, it is determined that the first cell transmits / exists the MBS, and at this time, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS. When the terminal device does not receive the PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, it is determined that the first cell does not transmit / exist the MBS.

[0137] Specifically, based on the above two cases, in this embodiment, when the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS, it includes: if the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS; and if the terminal device does not receive the PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

[0138] As an example, the first information indicating that the first cell transmits the MBS can also be interpreted as any of the following: the first information indicating that the first cell is transmitting the MBS, the first information indicating that the first cell is used to transmit the MBS, the first information indicating that the first cell has the MBS, and the first information indicating that the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, where receiving the MBS can be interpreted as successfully receiving the MBS, successfully parsing the MBS, etc.

[0139] As an example, the first information indicating that the first cell does not transmit the MBS can also be interpreted as any of the following: the first information indicating that the first cell is not transmitting the MBS, the first information indicating that the first cell is not used to transmit the MBS, and the first information indicating that the terminal device does not receive any data packet of the MBS in the first cell.

[0140] In addition, from the perspective of receiving the MBS from the terminal device, the first information in this embodiment can also be interpreted as: the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell. At this time, the terminal device does not receive the MBS can be considered as the terminal device does not receive any data packet of the MBS.

[0141] The following gives several implementation manners of the terminal device indicating whether the first cell transmits the MBS to the first access network device.

[0142] In the first implementation manner, the first information includes 1 bit corresponding to the first cell, and the terminal device indicates whether the first cell transmits the MBS through the 1 bit. Specifically, the 1 bit has two values: 0 or 1, and taking one of the values indicates that the first cell transmits the MBS, and taking the other value indicates that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

[0143] Exemplarily, the 1 bit corresponding to the first cell is carried in a CEF report recorded by the terminal device when the terminal device fails to establish an RRC connection with the first cell, that is, the CEF report corresponds to the first cell. Then, after the terminal device sends the CEF report to the first access network device, the first access network device determines whether the first cell transmits MBS based on the 1 bit in the CEF report.

[0144] Exemplarily, the 1 bit can be carried in a recorded MDT, and the recorded MDT includes MDT data recorded by the terminal device in the first cell.

[0145] It should be noted that in the first implementation manner, the state of the terminal device in the first cell can be an idle state or a non-active state.

[0146] In the second implementation manner, the state of the terminal device in the first cell is a deactivation state. The second implementation manner is as follows: the first information includes event type information corresponding to the first cell, and the terminal device indicates whether the first cell transmits MBS to the first access network device through the event type information corresponding to the first cell. When the event type information is set to True, it indicates that the terminal device is because the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) when receiving MBS is lower than a first threshold or the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) is lower than a second threshold. On the contrary, when the event type information is set to False, it indicates that there is no MBS transmitted in the first cell.

[0147] When the event type information corresponding to the first cell is set to True, although it indicates that the RSRP of the terminal device when receiving MBS in the first cell is lower than the first threshold or the RSRQ is lower than the second threshold, it can also be considered that the terminal device has received MBS.

[0148] Exemplarily, the event type information corresponding to the first cell is carried in a CEF report recorded by the terminal device when the terminal device fails to establish an RRC connection with the first cell, that is, the CEF report corresponds to the first cell. Then, after the terminal device sends the CEF report to the first access network device, the first access network device determines whether the first cell transmits MBS based on the event type information in the CEF report.

[0149] Exemplarily, the event type information corresponding to the first cell can be carried in a recorded MDT, and the recorded MDT includes MDT data recorded by the terminal device in the first cell.

[0150] Optionally, in this embodiment, if the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, the terminal device includes the PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first information when indicating to the first access network device that the first cell transmits the MBS, and the PTM configuration information of the MBS is used to indicate that the MBS is transmitted. In this way, for the first access network device, it can be known that the MBS exists / is transmitted / is being transmitted in the first cell based on the PTM configuration information sent by the terminal device.

[0151] Optionally, when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device whether the same MBS is transmitted in the first cell through the first information, the session identifier of the MBS can be included in the first information. For example, the session identifier of the MBS is the temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) of the MBS.

[0152] Optionally, the terminal device can also indicate to the first access network device whether the MBS is transmitted in the cells other than the first cell, that is, the terminal device indicates to the first access network device whether the MBS is transmitted in each of the multiple cells.

[0153] In an implementation manner, the terminal device sends multiple CEF reports to the first access network device, and the multiple CEF reports are respectively recorded by the terminal device when the RRC connection with the multiple cells fails, that is, the multiple CEF reports correspond to the multiple cells one by one. At this time, the terminal device can carry 1 bit information in the M CEF reports, and the 1 bit information carried in each CEF report indicates whether the same MBS is transmitted in the cell corresponding to the CEF report.

[0154] In another implementation manner, when the terminal device determines to indicate to the first access network device whether the same MBS is transmitted in the multiple cells, the indication can be performed through bitmap information, wherein the bitmap information includes multiple bits, the multiple bits correspond to the multiple cells, the multiple cells include the first cell, and each bit indicates whether the MBS is transmitted in the corresponding cell.

[0155] For example, the bitmap information reported by the terminal device to the first access network device is 110, wherein different bits correspond to different cells, for example, the first bit corresponds to cell 41, the second bit corresponds to cell 42, and the third bit corresponds to cell 43, and 110 indicates that cell 41 and cell 42 transmit the MBS, and cell 43 does not transmit the MBS. Or 110 indicates that cell 41 and cell 42 are used to transmit the MBS, and cell 43 is not used to transmit the MBS. Or 110 indicates that the terminal device receives the MBS in cell 41 and cell 42, and does not receive the MBS in cell 43.

[0156] S520, determining, by the access network device, whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS based on the first information.

[0157] Determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS can also be interpreted as any of the following: determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is currently transmitting the MBS; determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is used to transmit the MBS.

[0158] For example, when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell is transmitting the MBS, the first access network device determines that the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS; when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell is not transmitting the MBS, the first access network device determines that the first cell is not a cell transmitting the MBS.

[0159] Optionally, when the first access network device is a CU-DU separated architecture, at this time, the first access network device determines, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS, which specifically means that the DU in the first access network device determines, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS.

[0160] In this embodiment, since the terminal device indicates to the first access network device through the first information whether the first cell is transmitting the MBS, the first access network device can accurately determine whether the first cell is transmitting the MBS based on the first information, thereby improving the accuracy of the first access network device in determining the cell currently transmitting the MBS.

[0161] For example, when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell is not transmitting the MBS, for the first access network device, if it is previously determined that the first cell is transmitting the MBS, then after receiving the indication of the terminal device, the first cell is set as a cell not currently transmitting the MBS.

[0162] For example, when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell is transmitting the MBS, for the first access network device, if the first cell is previously set as a cell not transmitting the MBS, then after receiving the indication of the terminal device, the first cell is set as a cell currently transmitting the MBS.

[0163] Optionally, in the embodiment, in S510 of method 500, the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device, and the first information indicates whether the first cell transmits the MBS. In the embodiment, the first information sent by the terminal device to the first access network device in S510 of method 500, and the first information indicates whether the first cell transmits the MBS, can be replaced by: in the case that the terminal device does not receive the PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, the first information is sent to the first cell, and the first information indicates that the first cell does not transmit the MBS. Correspondingly, S530 is replaced by: the first access device determines the MBS not transmitted by the first cell based on the first information.

[0164] Optionally, in the embodiment, in S510 of method 500, the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device, and the first information indicates whether the first cell transmits the MBS. In the embodiment, the first information sent by the terminal device to the first access network device in S510 of method 500, and the first information indicates whether the first cell transmits the MBS, can be replaced by: in the case that the terminal device does not receive the PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, the first information is sent to the first cell, and the first information indicates that the first cell does not transmit the MBS. Correspondingly, S530 is replaced by: the first access device determines the MBS not transmitted by the first cell based on the first information.

[0165] Figure 6 A flowchart of a communication method 600 is provided in the present application. In the embodiment, the terminal device receives the MBS in the cell 1 in the inactive state, and the terminal device indicates that the cell 1 has the MBS to the first access network device through the CEF report.

[0166] In the example, the cell 1 is included in at least one cell included in the access network device 1.

[0167] The access network device 1 is the access network device to which the cell 1 belongs. Wherein, the access network device 1 to which the cell 1 belongs can be understood as follows: the cell 1 is included in the cell covered by the access network device 1. In the embodiment, the cell 1 can be considered as Figure 5 The first cell in the embodiment.

[0168] As Figure 6 shown, the method 600 includes:

[0169] S610, when the terminal device discovers that the RSRP when receiving the MBS is less than the first threshold value, the terminal device requests to establish the RRC connection with the access network device 1, but the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails.

[0170] Optionally, the terminal device discovers that the RSRP when receiving the MBS is less than the first threshold value, which can also be replaced by: the terminal device discovers that the RSRQ when receiving the MBS is less than the second threshold value, or satisfies a preset condition, for example, the preset condition can be associated with the RSRQ or the RSRQ.

[0171] Exemplarily, the terminal device initiates a connection resume message to the access network device 1, and the connection resume (RRC Resume) message is used to request to resume the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1.

[0172] When the terminal device in the inactive state requests to resume the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 through the connection resume message, it can also be considered that the terminal device in the inactive state requests to establish the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1.

[0173] The detailed process of how to resume the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 based on the RRC Resume message can be referred to the description in the related art, and will not be described here.

[0174] The establishment of the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails, and in another interpretation, the establishment of the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails.

[0175] In this embodiment, after the establishment of the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device fails, the terminal device starts to record the CEF report corresponding to the cell 1.

[0176] S620, the terminal device and the access network device 2 to which the cell 2 belongs perform the establishment of the RRC connection.

[0177] The cell 2 can be considered as Figure 5 The second cell described in the embodiment, and the access network device 2 can be considered as Figure 5 The first access network device described in the embodiment.

[0178] In this embodiment, the access network device 2 includes at least one cell, and the cell 2 is included in the at least one cell included in the access network device 2. The cell 2 is included in the at least one cell included in the access network device 2, which can also be interpreted as that the access network device to which the cell 2 belongs is the access network device 2.

[0179] Optionally, the cell 2 is a cell selected by the terminal device through cell reselection.

[0180] In this embodiment, after the establishment of the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails, when the terminal device determines to receive the MBS from the cell 2, the terminal device initiates a connection resume message to the access network device 2 to which the cell 2 belongs.

[0181] The terminal device initiates a connection resume message to the access network device 2, that is, the terminal device requests to resume the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 2. When the terminal device in the inactive state requests to resume the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 2 through the connection resume message, it can also be considered that the terminal device in the inactive state requests to establish the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 2.

[0182] S630, after the terminal device successfully establishes the RRC connection with the access network device 2, the terminal device reports the CEF report to the access network device 2.

[0183] In this embodiment, the terminal device includes information 1 in the CEF report recorded in S610, and the information 1 indicates that the cell 1 transmits the MBS.

[0184] For example, the information 1 is 1 bit. Alternatively, the information 1 is the PTM configuration information of the MBS in S610. Optionally, the CEF report includes the session identifier of the MBS.

[0185] S640, the access network device 2 confirms that the cell 1 is a cell that transmits the MBS based on the CEF report.

[0186] It can be seen that, Figure 6 In the provided embodiment, the terminal device indicates that the MBS is received in the cell 1 through the CEF report to the access network device 2, so that the access network device 2 that re-establishes the RRC connection of the terminal device can know that the cell 1 is a cell that transmits the MBS by referring to the CEF report. Further, if the access network device previously determines that the cell 1 is not included in the neighboring cell that transmits the MBS, the access network device can add the cell 1 at this time. In this way, the terminal device that receives the MBS in the cell 1 can know the cell that transmits the MBS in the cell 1, thereby further improving the terminal device to accurately know the cell that transmits the MBS.

[0187] Optionally, the embodiment can be applied to Figure 2 the open RAN architecture as shown. Specifically, when applied to the architecture, the terminal device reports the CEF report to the access network device 2 in S530, specifically, refers to reporting the CEF report to the O-CU-CP of the access network device 2. Further, the O-CU-CP can send the CEF report to the near-real-time radio access network intelligent controller (Near-Real Time RIC).

[0188] Figure 7 A flowchart of a communication method 700 provided in the present application is shown. In this embodiment, the terminal device does not receive the MBS in the inactive state when the terminal device is located in the cell 1, and the terminal device indicates that the MBS is not received in the cell 1 through the CEF report.

[0189] For example, the terminal device moves to the cell 1 and finds that there is no PTM configuration information of the MBS that the terminal device wants to receive, and the cell 1 is included in at least one cell included by the access network device 1.

[0190] For example, the cell 1 does not establish the MBS due to resource limitation or other reasons.

[0191] The detailed description of the cell 1 and the access network device 1 can refer to the description in S601, and details are not described herein.

[0192] As shown in Figure 7 , the method 700 includes the following steps.

[0193] S710, the terminal device requests to establish an RRC connection with the access network device 1, but the establishment of the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails.

[0194] The detailed description of how the terminal device establishes the RRC connection with the access network device 1 can refer to the description in S610, and details are not described herein.

[0195] S720, the terminal device establishes the RRC connection with the access network device 2 to which the cell 2 belongs.

[0196] S730, after the terminal device successfully establishes the RRC connection with the access network device 2, the terminal device reports a CEF report to the access network device 2.

[0197] The CEF report is a report corresponding to the establishment failure of the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1.

[0198] In this embodiment, the CEF report includes information 2, and the information 2 indicates that the cell 1 does not transmit MBS.

[0199] S740, the access network device 2 confirms that the cell 1 is a cell without transmitting MBS based on the CEF report.

[0200] As can be seen, Figure 7 In the embodiments provided, the terminal device indicates to the access network device 2 that the cell 1 does not transmit MBS through the CEF report, so that the access network device 2, which re-establishes the RRC connection for the terminal device, can learn that the cell 1 does not transmit MBS by referring to the CEF report. Further, if the access network device previously determines that the cell 1 is included in the neighboring cell that is transmitting MBS, when receiving the information 2, the access network device 2 can set the cell 1 as a cell without transmitting MBS.

[0201] Figure 8 A flowchart of a communication method 800 provided in the present application is shown. The communication method takes the terminal device recording MDT as an example. As shown in Figure 8 , the method 800 includes the following steps.

[0202] S810, the access network device 1 configures a terminal device located in the cell 1 to record MDT.

[0203] The detailed concept of the recording MDT can refer to the description in the related art, and details are not described herein.

[0204] S820, when the terminal device is in the idle state, recording information 3 in the logged MDT.

[0205] wherein the information 3 is used to indicate whether the cell 1 transmits MBS.

[0206] S830, the terminal device establishes RRC connection with the access network device 2 to which the cell 2 belongs.

[0207] S840, after the terminal device successfully establishes RRC connection with the access network device, the terminal device sends the logged MDT to the access network device 2.

[0208] S850, the access network device 2 confirms whether the cell 1 transmits MBS based on the logged MDT.

[0209] It can be seen that, Figure 8 In the embodiments provided, the terminal device indicates to the access network device 2 whether there is MBS transmission in the cell 1 through the logged MDT, so that the access network device 2 to which the terminal device re-establishes the RRC connection can confirm whether the cell 1 is transmitting MBS by referring to the logged MDT.

[0210] The above, in combination with Figure 5 and FIGS. Figure 8 , explains the embodiments of how to let the access network device determine the cell that is transmitting MBS. Next, in combination with Figure 9 and Figure 10 , other embodiments provided by the present application are given.

[0211] Generally, in the process of receiving MBS data packets by the terminal device, if the terminal device does not receive some MBS data packets, because the terminal device in the RRC idle state and the RRC deactivation state will not perform HARQ feedback to the access network device, it will cause the access network device to be unable to accurately determine the receiving condition of the terminal device when receiving MBS.

[0212] In addition, if the terminal device in the idle state or the non-activated state fails to establish RRC connection with the cell due to some reasons, it will initiate RRC connection to another cell. When the terminal device initiates RRC connection to the other cell, if the terminal device successfully establishes RRC connection with the access network device to which the other cell belongs and continues to receive the same MBS, since the terminal device fails to establish RRC connection with the cell and the process of establishing RRC connection by the terminal device to the other cell needs to consume a certain time, then during this period, the terminal device will lose a part of data packets, and the new cell to which the terminal device reconnects does not know the packet loss condition of the terminal device.

[0213] To this end, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication method for solving the problem that the terminal device in idle state or inactive state may have packet loss, but the newly accessed access network device of the terminal device does not know the packet loss.

[0214] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the present application is shown in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 9, the method 900 includes the following steps. Figure 9

[0215] S910, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the access network device.

[0216] S920, the terminal device sends second information to the access network device, the second information indicating the data packets of the MBS received by the terminal device in the first cell, the first cell being a neighboring cell of the access network device.

[0217] Exemplarily, the second information includes the PDCP SN or PDCP Count number of the MBS received by the terminal device when receiving the MBS in the first cell, including the PDCP SN / Count value of the last MBS data packet received by the terminal device in the first cell; accordingly, the first access network device determines the packet loss condition of the terminal device when receiving the MBS based on the PDCP SN number or PDCP COUNT value of the data packets of the MBS received by the terminal device.

[0218] It should be noted that in the embodiment, the PDCP SN or PDCP Count number of the MBS received by the terminal device when receiving the MBS in the first cell can also be interpreted as any of the following: the PDCP SN or PDCP Count number of the MBS successfully received by the terminal device when receiving the MBS in the first cell, the PDCP SN or PDCP Count number of the MBS successfully parsed by the terminal device when successfully receiving the MBS in the first cell.

[0219] Optionally, the second information indicating the data packets of the MBS received by the terminal device in the first cell can also be replaced by: the second information indicating the data packets of the MBS not received by the terminal device in the first cell; for example, the second information includes the PDCP SN or PDCP Count number of the MBS not received by the terminal device in the first cell; accordingly, the first access network device determines the packet loss condition of the terminal device based on the number of the data packets of the MBS not received by the terminal device, thereby improving the accuracy of the subsequent Qos calculation.

[0220] ​In this embodiment, the cell where the terminal device is located when the terminal device sends the second information to the access network device is referred to as a second cell. Optionally, when the terminal device continues to receive the multicast MBS in the second cell, the terminal device can send third information to the access network device in addition to sending the second information to the access network device, and the third information is used to indicate that the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device are synchronized in data packets, that is, the MBS services in the second cell and the first cell are synchronized in data packets, and therefore the third information can also be referred to as PDCP SYNC information.

[0221] In the following, for ease of understanding, the method is described in combination with Figure 10 For example, the terminal device carries the second information in a CEF report. As shown in FIG. 10, the method 1000 includes the following steps. Figure 10

[0222] S1001, the terminal device receives a multicast MBS in a deactivated state in a cell 1, and the cell 1 is included in at least one cell included by an access network device 1.

[0223] S1002, the terminal device determines that an RRC connection needs to be established with the access network device 1, but the establishment of the RRC connection with the access network device 1 fails.

[0224] For example, the terminal device discovers that the RSRP when receiving the multicast MBS is less than a first threshold value, or the terminal device discovers that the RSRQ when receiving the multicast MBS is less than a second threshold value, and the terminal device requests to establish the RRC connection with the access network device 1.

[0225] In this embodiment, when the terminal device fails to establish the RRC connection with the access network device 1, the terminal device records a CEF report.

[0226] S1003, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with an access network device 2 to which a cell 2 belongs.

[0227] For example, the terminal device establishes the RRC connection with the access network device 2 by RRCResume when receiving the multicast MBS in the deactivated state in step S910.

[0228] S1004, after the terminal device successfully resumes the RRC connection with the access network device 2, the terminal device reports the CEF report to the access network device 2.

[0229] In this embodiment, when recording the CEF report, the terminal device records the second information and the third information in the CEF report, the second information is, for example, a PDCP SN / PDCP Count number received by the terminal device in the cell 1; and the third information indicates data packet synchronization, which can be sent to the terminal device by the network side when configuring the MBS for the terminal device.

[0230] ​When the terminal device reports the two information at the same time, it indicates that the terminal device considers that the MBS transmitted by the access network device 1 and the access network device 2 is synchronous, and the terminal device can record the PDCP number when the connection with the access network device 1 is resumed, so that the access network device can also know where the terminal device disconnects the data packet when receiving the MBS in the cell 1.

[0231] In the following, for the convenience of understanding, combined with Figure 11 For example, the terminal device carries the second information in the logged MDT. As shown in Figure 11 The method 1100 includes the following steps.

[0232] S1101, the terminal device receives the MBS in the cell 1 in the idle state or the inactivation state, and the cell 1 is included in at least one cell included by the access network device 1.

[0233] For example, the terminal device receives the multicast MBS in the cell 1 in the inactivation state.

[0234] For example, the terminal device receives the broadcast MBS in the cell 1 in the idle state.

[0235] S1102, the terminal device records the second information in the logged MDT, and the second information indicates the data packet of the MBS received by the terminal device in the cell 1.

[0236] For example, the PDCP SN / PDCP Count number received by the terminal device in the cell 1 is included in the second information.

[0237] The step can also be replaced by the terminal device recording the PDCP SN / PDCP Count number not received by the terminal device in the cell 1 in the logged MDT.

[0238] S1103, the terminal device establishes the RRC connection with the access network device 2 to which the cell 2 belongs.

[0239] S1104, after the terminal device resumes the RRC connection with the access network device 2 successfully, the terminal device sends the logged MDT to the access network device.

[0240] It can be seen that, Figure 11 In the embodiment of the terminal device, the terminal device also records the case when the terminal device receives the MBS data packet in the logged MDT, so that when the logged MDT is sent to the access network device 2, the access network device 2 can know the quality when the terminal device receives the MBS based on the logged MDT, and further makes the access network device can adjust the corresponding transmission parameter based on the MDT, and the transmission parameter includes, for example, the adjustment and coding scheme (MCS) used when sending the MBS data.

[0241] The communication method of the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above Figures 4 to 11 The communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below Figure 12 and Figure 13 The communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below

[0242] Figure 12 The structural schematic diagram of the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in FIG. 12. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, the device 1200 includes a receiving module 1201, a sending module 1202 and a processing module 1203. Figure 12

[0243] In the first embodiment, the device 1200 can be applied to a terminal device.

[0244] Specifically, the sending module 1202 is configured to send first information to the access network device, the first information being used to indicate whether the first cell transmits multicast broadcast service (MBS), the first cell being a neighboring cell of the access network device, and the MBS being the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device.

[0245] In a possible implementation, if the MBS is received in the first cell, the first information used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS includes: the first information used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS.

[0246] In a possible implementation, the first information is PTM configuration information of the MBS.

[0247] In a possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is further configured to send session identification of the MBS to the access network device.

[0248] In a possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is further configured to send second information to the access network device, the second information indicating data packets of the MBS that have been received in the first cell.

[0249] In a possible implementation, if the MBS is received in the first cell in a deactivated state, the sending module 1202 is further configured to send third information to the access network device, the third information being used to indicate that the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device are synchronized in data packets.

[0250] In a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure (CEF) report, the CEF report being a CEF report when a RRC connection of the first cell fails.

[0251] ​In a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive test (MDT) report, and the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

[0252] In a possible implementation, if the PTM configuration information of the MBS is not received in the first cell, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the multicast broadcast service (MBS), and the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

[0253] In the second embodiment, the communication apparatus can be applied to an access network device.

[0254] Specifically, the receiving module 1201 is configured to receive first information sent by a terminal device, the first information being used to indicate whether a first cell transmits a multicast broadcast service (MBS), the first cell being a neighboring cell of an access network device, and the MBS being the same as an MBS transmitted by the access network device; and the processing module 1203 is configured to determine, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS.

[0255] In a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS; and the processing module 1203 is further configured to determine, based on the first information, that the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS.

[0256] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further configured to receive second information sent by the terminal device, the second information indicating a data packet of the MBS that has been received in the first cell.

[0257] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further configured to receive third information sent by the terminal device, the third information being used to indicate that the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device are synchronized in data packets.

[0258] In a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure (CEF) report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when a radio resource control (RRC) connection of the first cell fails.

[0259] In a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive test (MDT) report, and the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

[0260] In a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS; and the determination, based on the first information, of whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS includes determining, based on the first information, that the first cell is a cell that does not transmit the MBS.

[0261] Figure 13 Another structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 13 The apparatus shown can be used to execute the method described in any one of the preceding embodiments.

[0262] As shown in Figure 13 the apparatus 1300 of the embodiment includes a memory 1301 and a processor 1302. In an implementation, the apparatus 1300 further includes a communication interface 1303 and a bus 1304. The memory 1301, the processor 1402, and the communication interface 1303 are communicatively connected with each other through the bus 1304.

[0263] The memory 1301 can be a read only memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a random access memory (RAM). The memory 1301 can store a program, and when the program stored in the memory 1301 is executed by the processor 1302, the processor 1002 is configured to execute Figures 7 to 11 the steps of the method shown.

[0264] The processor 1302 can be a general central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for executing related programs to implement the methods of the embodiments of the present application. Figures 7 to 11

[0265] The processor 1302 can also be an integrated circuit chip having a processing capability of signals. In the implementation process, the steps of the method of the embodiments of the present application Figures 7 to 11 can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware or the instructions in the form of software in the processor 1302.

[0266] The processor 1302 described above can also be a general processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component. The disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be a conventional processor or the like.

[0267] ​The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as hardware code processing executed by a coded processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the coded processor. The software modules can be located in the random access memory, the flash memory, the read-only memory, the programmable read-only memory, the electrically erasable programmable memory, the register, and other mature storage mediums in the field. The storage medium is located in the storage 1301, and the processor 1302 reads the information in the storage 1301, and combines the hardware to complete the functions required by the units included in the device of the present application. For example, the processor 1302 can execute the steps / functions of the embodiments of the present application. Figures 7 to 11 The steps / functions of the embodiments shown in the embodiments.

[0268] The communication interface 1303 can use, but is not limited to, a transceiver such as a transceiver to realize the communication between the device 1300 and other devices or communication networks.

[0269] The bus 1304 can include a path for transmitting information between the components (for example, the storage 1301, the processor 1302, the communication interface 1303) of the device 1300.

[0270] It should be understood that the device 1300 shown in the embodiments of the present application can be an electronic device, or can also be a chip configured in an electronic device. The device 1300 can be deployed in a terminal device, or can also be deployed in a network device.

[0271] The above embodiments can be realized by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof, in whole or in part. When realized by software, the above embodiments can be realized in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center by wired (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer readable storage medium can be a computer accessible medium or a server, data center and other data storage devices containing one or more available medium sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid state disk.

[0272] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this document is merely used to describe associated relationship, and it can mean three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally means that the associated objects before and after the " / " are in an "or" relationship, but can also mean an "and / or" relationship, which can be understood according to the context before and after.

[0273] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of the items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0274] It should be understood that the order of the above processes in various embodiments of the present application does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined according to its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute a limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0275] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are realized in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0276] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working process of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0277] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the shown or discussed objects can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0278] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment scheme.

[0279] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0280] The functions, if realized in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical scheme of the present application or the part of the technical scheme that essentially contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical scheme can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: First information is sent to an access network device, where the first information is used to indicate whether a first cell transmits a multicast broadcast service MBS, the first cell is a neighboring cell of the access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that If the MBS is received in the first cell, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the multicast broadcast service MBS, including: The first information is used to instruct the first cell to transmit the MBS.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first information includes PTM configuration information of the MBS.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first information includes the session identifier of the MBS.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Second information is sent to the access network device, where the second information indicates the data packet of the MBS received in the first cell.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that If the MBS is received in the first cell in a deactivated state, the method further includes: Sending third information to the access network device, where the third information is used to indicate synchronization of data packets of the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that At least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure CEF report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection establishment with the first cell fails.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that At least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive tests (MDT) report, where the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that If the PTM configuration information of the MBS is not received in the first cell, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the multicast broadcast service MBS, including: The first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving first information sent by a terminal device, where the first information is used to indicate whether a first cell transmits a multicast broadcast service MBS, where the first cell is a neighboring cell of an access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device; Based on the first information, it is determined whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first information is used to instruct the first cell to transmit the MBS; The determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS includes: Based on the first information, the first cell is determined to be a cell for transmitting the MBS.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive second information sent by the terminal device, where the second information indicates the data packet of the MBS received in the first cell.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive third information sent by the terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate data packet synchronization between the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: At least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure CEF report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection establishment with the first cell fails.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that At least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive tests (MDT) report, where the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

16. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS; The determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS includes: Based on the first information, it is determined that the first cell is a cell that does not transmit the MBS.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: include: processor, The processor is configured to cause the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 by executing a computer program and / or a logic circuit.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: include: processor, The processor is configured to cause the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 10 to 16 by executing a computer program and / or a logic circuit.

19. A communication system, characterized in that: Comprising a communication device as claimed in claim 17 or claim 18.

20. A computer-readable medium, characterized in that The computer-readable medium stores a program code for computer execution, the program code including instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

21. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer program code, and when the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

22. A chip, characterized in that: The system comprises at least one processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected via a line, and the at least one processor is configured to run a computer program or instruction to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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