Cell switching method and cell switching device

Abstract

The invention relates to a cell switching method and a cell switching device. The cell switching method comprises the following steps: receiving a measurement report from user equipment; determining a switched target beam according to the measurement report; sending a request to a target cell where the target beam is located to obtain a conditional LTM configuration for switching to the target cell; and sending an RRC message comprising the conditional LTM configuration and an LTM execution condition to the user equipment, so as to indicate the user equipment to execute LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration under the condition that the LTM execution condition is met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication, and in particular to a cell handover method and a cell handover device. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of wireless communication technology, communication systems have adopted the concept of beamforming, which effectively improves the coverage radius of cell base stations through beamforming and other means. This is also becoming increasingly common in high-speed mobile scenarios such as high-speed rail and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication.

[0003] On the one hand, in the traditional handover process, after the user equipment initiates a handover request to the target cell, it still needs to wait for the target cell to respond. During this period, the user equipment is in an interrupted state, which affects the user experience.

[0004] On the other hand, in high-speed mobile scenarios, the channel quality of the serving cell may deteriorate drastically. The mechanism and process of user equipment measuring, reporting, and waiting for network decision before handover is lengthy, which can easily lead to late handover and low handover success rate. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In related technologies, there are problems such as late handover and low handover success rate when performing cell handover.

[0006] In view of this, this disclosure provides a cell handover method that can effectively solve the above problems.

[0007] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a cell handover method is provided, comprising: generating a measurement report and sending the measurement report to a network; receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message from the network, the RRC message including a conditional Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered Mobility LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions for handover to a target cell containing a target beam; and, if the LTM execution conditions are met, performing LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration.

[0008] In some embodiments, the RRC message further includes Layer 1 measurement configuration information, and the cell handover method further includes: after receiving the RRC message from the network, performing Layer 1 measurement according to the Layer 1 measurement configuration information.

[0009] In some embodiments, generating a measurement report and sending the measurement report to the network includes: receiving Layer 3 measurement control information from the network; performing Layer 3 measurements according to the Layer 3 measurement control information, generating a Layer 3 measurement report, and sending the Layer 3 measurement report to the network; receiving Layer 1 measurement control information generated from the network based on the Layer 3 measurement report; performing Layer 1 measurements according to the Layer 1 measurement control information, generating a Layer 1 measurement report, and sending the Layer 1 measurement report to the network.

[0010] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a cell handover method is proposed, comprising: receiving a measurement report from a user equipment; determining a target beam for handover based on the measurement report; sending a request to a target cell containing the target beam to obtain a conditional layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM configuration for handover to the target cell; and sending a radio resource control (RRC) message to the user equipment including the conditional LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions to instruct the user equipment to perform LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration if the LTM execution conditions are met.

[0011] In some embodiments, the LTM execution conditions include: the signal strength of the target beam is greater than the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell, and the difference between the signal strength of the target beam and the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell is greater than a preset offset value.

[0012] In some embodiments, the LTM execution conditions include: the signal strength of the target beam exceeds a first threshold, and the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell is less than a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

[0013] In some embodiments, the RRC message further includes Layer 1 measurement configuration information, which instructs the user equipment to perform Layer 1 measurements according to the Layer 1 measurement configuration information after receiving the RRC message from the network.

[0014] In some embodiments, the Layer 1 measurement configuration information includes at least one of synchronization signal block measurement configuration, channel state resource configuration, and channel state report configuration.

[0015] In some embodiments, receiving a measurement report from a user equipment includes: sending layer 3 measurement control information to the user equipment; receiving a layer 3 measurement report generated by the user equipment based on the layer 3 measurement control information; generating layer 1 measurement control information based on the layer 3 measurement report and sending the layer 1 measurement control information to the user equipment; and receiving a layer 1 measurement report generated by the user equipment based on the layer 1 measurement control information.

[0016] In some embodiments, determining the target beam for handover based on the measurement report includes: determining the target beam for handover based on the measurement report and the load status of neighboring cells.

[0017] In some embodiments, the conditional LTM configuration includes at least one of the target cell's cell ID, synchronization information, and handover parameters.

[0018] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a cell handover apparatus is provided, deployed on the network side, comprising: a reporting module configured to generate a measurement report and send the measurement report to the network; a receiving module configured to receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message from the network, the RRC message including a conditional Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered Mobility LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions for handover to a target cell containing a target beam; and an execution module configured to execute LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration if the LTM execution conditions are met.

[0019] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a cell handover apparatus is provided, deployed on the user equipment side, comprising: a receiving module configured to receive a measurement report from the user equipment; a beam determination module configured to determine a target beam for handover based on the measurement report; an acquisition module configured to send a request to a target cell containing the target beam to acquire a conditional layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM configuration for handover to the target cell; and a sending module configured to send a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to the user equipment including the handover conditional LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions, to instruct the user equipment to perform LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration if the LTM execution conditions are met.

[0020] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a cell handover apparatus is provided, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to perform the cell handover method as described above based on instructions stored in the memory.

[0021] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the cell handover method as described above.

[0022] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is provided, wherein the computer program product stores computer instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the cell handover method as described above.

[0023] The cell handover method disclosed herein improves handover speed and thus handover success rate by sending the conditional LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions to the user equipment in advance, enabling the user equipment to autonomously determine when to perform handover and directly perform handover according to the conditional LTM configuration. Attached Figure Description

[0024] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of this disclosure and, together with the specification, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure.

[0025] This disclosure will become clearer with reference to the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description, wherein:

[0026] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating a cell handover method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating the receipt of a measurement report according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating a cell handover method according to other embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0029] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the generation and transmission of measurement reports according to some embodiments of this disclosure;

[0030] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating a cell handover method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0031] Figure 6 This is a signaling flowchart illustrating a cell handover method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] Figure 7 This is a block diagram illustrating a cell handover apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0033] Figure 8 This is a block diagram illustrating a cell handover apparatus according to other embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0034] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating a cell handover apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0035] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating a computer system for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0036] It should be understood that the dimensions of the various parts shown in the accompanying drawings are not drawn to actual scale. Furthermore, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar components. Detailed Implementation

[0037] Various embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The descriptions of the embodiments are merely illustrative and are in no way intended to limit the scope of the disclosure or its application or use. The present disclosure may be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. These embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully express the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement of components and steps set forth in these embodiments should be interpreted as merely illustrative and not as limiting.

[0038] The terms “first,” “second,” and similar words used in this disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but are merely used to distinguish different parts. Words such as “including” mean that the element preceding the word covers the element listed after the word, and do not exclude the possibility of covering other elements as well.

[0039] It should also be understood that any component, data or structure mentioned in the embodiments of this disclosure can generally be understood as one or more unless expressly defined or given to the contrary in the context.

[0040] The technical solutions of the various embodiments of this application can be applied to various communication systems according to the access standard, such as: 5th generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, etc.

[0041] User equipment, also known as user equipment (UE), terminal equipment, etc., is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via access network devices in a radio access network (RAN). Terminals can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted; on water, such as on ships; and in the air, such as on airplanes, balloons, or satellites. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, virtual reality (VR) terminal devices, augmented reality (AR) terminal devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, transportation safety, smart city, and smart home applications, among others.

[0042] This disclosure can be applied to electronic devices such as user equipment, computer systems, and servers, and can operate with a wide range of other general-purpose or special-purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known user equipment, computing systems, environments, and / or configurations suitable for use with electronic devices such as user equipment, computer systems, and servers include, but are not limited to: personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, microprocessor-based systems, set-top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, networked personal computers, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments including any of the above systems, etc.

[0043] All terms used in this disclosure (including technical or scientific terms) have the same meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains, unless otherwise specifically defined. It should also be understood that terms defined in a general dictionary, such as a dictionary, should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art, and not as having an idealized or highly formalized meaning, unless expressly defined herein.

[0044] Techniques, methods, and equipment known to those skilled in the art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, such techniques, methods, and equipment should be considered part of the specification.

[0045] In the traditional cell handover process, it is necessary to wait for the network to make a decision before the handover and to wait for the target cell to respond after the handover request is initiated. This can result in problems such as late handover and connection interruption.

[0046] In view of this, this disclosure provides a cell handover method that can improve handover speed and handover success rate.

[0047] First, combined Figure 1 Some embodiments of the cell handover method in this disclosure are described. Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating a cell handover method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the cell handover method includes steps S11 to S14, which are implemented by the network side.

[0048] In step S11, a measurement report is received from the user equipment.

[0049] In some embodiments, the above measurements may be performed based on measurement control information sent to the user equipment via the network, such as periodic measurements or event-based measurements performed by the user equipment based on the measurement control information. Based on the above measurements, the user equipment generates a measurement report and sends it to the network.

[0050] In some embodiments, the measurement report includes a layer 1 measurement report and a layer 2 measurement report.

[0051] In this embodiment, the wireless interface in the network is divided into three protocol layers: Layer 1 (Physical Layer), Layer 2 (Data Link Layer), and Layer 3 (Network Layer). The Physical Layer is the lowest layer in the network model, providing the necessary physical link specifications for data transmission and ensuring that raw data can be transmitted over various physical media. The Data Link Layer is the second layer in the network model, situated between the Physical Layer and the Network Layer, providing services to the Network Layer based on the services provided by the Physical Layer. The Network Layer is the third layer in the network model, situated between the Transport Layer and the Data Link Layer. Building upon the data frame transmission function provided by the Data Link Layer between two adjacent endpoints, it further manages data communication in the network, attempting to transmit data from the source end through several intermediate nodes to the destination end, thereby providing the most basic end-to-end data transmission service to the Transport Layer.

[0052] In some embodiments, the above-described receiving of a measurement report from a user equipment includes steps S111 to S114, such as... Figure 2 As shown. Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating the receipt of a measurement report according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0053] In step S111, Layer 3 measurement control information is sent to the user equipment (UE). This Layer 3 measurement control information may include the Layer 3 measurement tasks that the UE needs to perform. Through this information, the network can instruct the UE to perform Layer 3 measurements under specific conditions, such as when signal quality degrades.

[0054] For example, the network can instruct user equipment to periodically perform Layer 3 measurements based on synchronization signal blocks on the serving cell and neighboring cells through Layer 3 measurement control information.

[0055] In step S112, the user equipment receives a Layer 3 measurement report generated by performing Layer 3 measurements based on Layer 3 measurement control information. Specifically, after receiving the Layer 3 measurement control information, the user equipment performs Layer 3 measurements and generates a Layer 3 measurement report based on the measurement control information, and then sends the Layer 3 measurement report to the network. The Layer 3 measurement report may include, for example, the overall signal strength of the serving cell and neighboring cells.

[0056] The network can determine whether cell handover is necessary based on the Layer 3 measurement report. For example, if the signal quality degrades beyond a certain level, it can determine that cell handover is necessary and proceed with subsequent steps.

[0057] In step S113, layer 1 measurement control information is generated based on the layer 3 measurement report and sent to the user equipment.

[0058] For example, after receiving a Layer 3 measurement report from a user equipment, the network can select the three cells with the best Layer 3 measurement results as target cells for Layer 1 measurement, generate corresponding Layer 1 measurement control information, and send it to the user equipment. For instance, it can select two optimal cells from the serving cell and neighboring cells as target cells for Layer 1 measurement and generate corresponding Layer 1 measurement control information.

[0059] The aforementioned Layer 1 measurement control information can be sent by the network to the user equipment via Medium Access Control Element (MAC CE) signaling, and may include: the cell ID to be measured, the reporting threshold, and the number of reporting beams. After decoding the aforementioned MAC CE signaling, the user equipment can perform measurements based on the above measurement control information.

[0060] By filtering as described above, the number of targets for Layer 1 measurement can be reduced, thereby improving measurement efficiency and, consequently, switching speed.

[0061] In step S114, the user equipment performs Layer 1 measurements based on Layer 1 measurement control information and generates a Layer 1 measurement report. The Layer 1 measurement report includes, for example, the beam strength of each beam in the serving cell and neighboring cells.

[0062] The user equipment (UE) performs measurements and generates a measurement report based on the aforementioned Layer 1 measurement control information. For example, the measurement control information may include the IDs of the two optimal cells, a measurement report threshold of -120 dBm (decibels per milliwatt), and the number of reporting beams (3). Upon receiving the aforementioned signaling, the UE immediately performs Layer 1 measurements based on the Synchronization Block Reference Signal Received Power (SSB-RSRP) for the two cells and reports to the network the synchronization block indexes and corresponding cell IDs of the three strongest beams with a power greater than -120 dBm.

[0063] If the number of beams exceeding the reporting threshold in the above measurements is less than the number of reported beams, report all beams exceeding the reporting threshold. If no beams exceed the reporting threshold in the above measurements, report the beam with the highest beam strength.

[0064] The above measurement steps can improve measurement efficiency, thereby increasing switching speed. Now, let's return to... Figure 1 The cell handover method proposed in this disclosure will be further introduced.

[0065] In step S12, the target beam for switching is determined based on the measurement report. The network can select the beam with the highest beam strength as the target beam for switching based on the measurement report sent by the user equipment, thereby ensuring the user's connection efficiency.

[0066] In some embodiments, the network determines the target beam for handover based on measurement reports and the load conditions of neighboring cells. For example, the network can determine the target beam for handover by combining the two, by assigning weights to the beam strength in the measurement report and the load conditions of the neighboring cells containing those beams.

[0067] In step S13, a request is sent to the target cell where the target beam is located to obtain the conditional layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM) configuration for handover to the target cell. This conditional LTM configuration is the handover configuration information used for handover to the target cell.

[0068] After determining the target beam for handover, the network can send a request to the cell where the target beam is located in advance to obtain the conditional LTM configuration for handover to the target cell, and then send it to the user equipment. This way, the user equipment does not need to wait for the target cell to return the conditional LTM configuration during handover, reducing interruptions during the handover process and improving the user experience.

[0069] In some embodiments, the conditional LTM configuration includes at least one of the following: the target cell's cell ID, synchronization information, and handover parameters. The synchronization information may include, for example, synchronization signal block (SSB) synchronization information, and the handover parameters may include, for example, the preamble or transport configuration indication (TCI) parameters of the random access procedure. Through the above conditional LTM configuration, the user equipment can hand over to the target cell.

[0070] In step S14, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message including conditional LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions is sent to the user equipment to instruct the user equipment to perform LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration if the LTM execution conditions are met. These LTM execution conditions are the triggering conditions for the aforementioned handover.

[0071] The aforementioned LTM execution specifically includes the user equipment disconnecting from the serving cell and transmitting uplink information and / or receiving downlink information on the target beam.

[0072] The aforementioned RRC message can be a pre-handover instruction sent by the network to the user equipment. The network transmits the above information to the user equipment through the RRC signaling channel before the handover.

[0073] By sending both the conditional LTM configuration and the LTM execution conditions to the user equipment, the user equipment can determine when to perform cell handover and can directly use the conditional LTM configuration to connect with the target beam in the target cell, thereby improving the handover speed and the success rate of cell handover.

[0074] In some embodiments, the LTM execution conditions include that the signal strength of the target beam is greater than the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell, and the difference between the signal strength of the target beam and the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell is greater than a preset offset value.

[0075] In other embodiments, the LTM execution conditions include that the signal strength of the target beam exceeds a first threshold and the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell is less than a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

[0076] In other words, in the first case, i.e., LTM execution condition one, handover is triggered when the signal strength of the target beam in the target cell is greater than the sum of the signal strength of the strongest beam in the serving cell and the offset value. In the second case, i.e., LTM execution condition two, handover is triggered when the signal strength of the target beam is greater than a first threshold and the signal strength of the strongest beam in the serving cell is less than a second threshold.

[0077] The aforementioned bias value is a network-defined value used to characterize the degree of deviation that the measurement may have. By setting the bias value, switching due to measurement errors can be avoided, ensuring that the user equipment is connected to the optimal beam and guaranteeing the user experience.

[0078] By setting the above trigger conditions, user equipment can automatically determine whether a handover is needed under appropriate circumstances. The first LTM execution condition is relatively lenient and can be applied when the target cell load is low, making it easier for user equipment to hand over to the target cell and obtain a better communication connection. The second LTM execution condition is more stringent and can be applied when the target cell load is high, limiting the handover of user equipment to some extent and avoiding ping-pong handovers caused by network fluctuations in the target cell.

[0079] For example, the RRC message sent by the network to the user equipment may include: the synchronization signal block index (SSB index) corresponding to the target beam and the ID of the cell where the target beam resides, the synchronization signal block period is 5ms, and LTM execution condition two, where the first threshold is -90dBm and the second threshold is -110dBm. The above RRC message instructs the user equipment to switch to the corresponding target beam according to the aforementioned synchronization signal block index when the beam strength of the target cell is greater than -90dBm and the beam strengths of all beams in the serving cell are less than -110dBm.

[0080] In some embodiments, the aforementioned RRC message further includes Layer 1 measurement configuration information. The RRC message is used to instruct the user equipment to perform Layer 1 measurements according to the Layer 1 measurement configuration information after receiving the RRC message from the network. The user equipment can determine whether the LTM execution conditions are met based on the results of the Layer 1 measurements, and thus decide whether to perform a handover.

[0081] The network can set measurement configuration information for user equipment during handover via RRC messages, enabling the user equipment to accurately measure the target beam according to the measurement configuration.

[0082] Specifically, the Layer 1 measurement configuration information may include at least one of the following: synchronization signal block measurement configuration, channel state (CSI) resource configuration, and channel state report configuration.

[0083] When the Layer 1 measurement configuration information includes synchronization signal block measurement configuration information, the measurement configuration information may include synchronization signal block frequency, subcarrier spacing, synchronization signal block period, etc., thereby ensuring that the user equipment finds the synchronization signal block corresponding to the target beam and performs measurement.

[0084] When the Layer 1 measurement configuration information includes channel state resource configuration and / or channel state report configuration, the aforementioned measurement configuration information can define the reference signals used for channel state measurement and guide the user equipment on how to perform the measurement.

[0085] After receiving the RRC message, the user equipment can begin performing measurements based on the measurement configuration information contained therein, monitoring the parameters included in the LTM execution conditions. For example, in the embodiment described above, the LTM execution conditions include a determination of beam strength, and the measurement configuration information can instruct the user terminal to measure the beam strength-related parameters of the target beam and each beam of the serving cell. After performing the measurements, the user equipment can determine whether to perform a handover based on the measurement results and the beam strength.

[0086] For example, in the example above, when the RRC message also includes measurement configuration information, the user equipment performs Layer 1 measurements on the target beam and each beam in the serving cell according to the synchronization signal block period. The measurement results are, for example, that the beam strength of the target beam is -85dBm and the beam strength of the strongest beam in the serving cell is -115dBm. Then, the user equipment directly establishes a connection with the target beam through the conditional LTM configuration that has been issued.

[0087] The above text combines Figure 1 , Figure 2 The cell handover methods in some embodiments of this disclosure are described. The cell handover method proposed in this disclosure sends the LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions required for handover to the user equipment in advance, and the user equipment decides whether to handover and directly performs handover according to the LTM configuration. This can reduce handover waiting time and improve handover success rate.

[0088] The cell handover method proposed in this disclosure can be used for both intra-frequency handover and inter-frequency handover. Intra-frequency handover refers to the serving cell and neighboring cells having the same carrier frequency and subcarrier spacing. Inter-frequency handover refers to the serving cell and neighboring cells having different carrier frequencies and subcarrier spacings.

[0089] The following will combine Figures 3 to 5 Cell handover methods in other embodiments of this disclosure are described. Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating a cell handover method according to other embodiments of the present disclosure, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the cell handover method includes steps S32 to S36, which are implemented by the user equipment side.

[0090] In step S32, a measurement report is generated and sent to the network. Step S31 and... Figure 1 The step S11 of the cell handover method shown corresponds to this.

[0091] In some embodiments, the measurement report may be generated by the user equipment after performing measurements based on measurement control information sent by the network, such as a measurement report generated by the user equipment after performing periodic measurements or event-based measurements based on the measurement control information.

[0092] In some embodiments, generating a measurement report and sending the measurement report to the network includes steps S321 to S324, such as... Figure 4 As shown. Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the generation and transmission of measurement reports according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0093] In step S321, Layer 3 measurement control information is received from the network. This Layer 3 measurement control information may include Layer 3 measurement tasks that the user equipment needs to perform. Through this information, the network can instruct the user equipment to perform Layer 3 measurements under specific conditions, such as when signal quality degrades.

[0094] In step S322, Layer 3 measurements are performed based on the Layer 3 measurement control information, a Layer 3 measurement report is generated, and the Layer 3 measurement report is sent to the network. Specifically, the Layer 3 measurement report may include, for example, the overall signal strength and quality of the serving cell and neighboring cells.

[0095] In step S323, Layer 1 measurement control information generated from the Layer 3 measurement report is received from the network.

[0096] The network can determine whether cell handover is necessary based on the Layer 3 measurement report. For example, if the signal quality degrades beyond a certain level, it can determine that cell handover is necessary and proceed with subsequent steps.

[0097] For example, after receiving a Layer 3 measurement report from a user equipment (UE), the network can select the three cells with the best Layer 3 measurement results as target cells for Layer 1 measurement, generate corresponding Layer 1 measurement control information, and send it to the UE. This filtering process reduces the number of targets for Layer 1 measurement, thereby improving measurement efficiency and ultimately increasing handover speed.

[0098] In step S324, Layer 1 measurements are performed based on Layer 1 measurement control information, a Layer 1 measurement report is generated, and the Layer 1 measurement report is sent to the network. The Layer 1 measurement report may include, for example, the beam strength of each beam in the serving cell and neighboring cells.

[0099] The above measurement steps can improve measurement efficiency, thereby increasing switching speed. Now, let's return to... Figure 3 The present disclosure will now be used to describe cell handover methods according to other embodiments thereof.

[0100] In step S34, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message is received from the network. The RRC message includes a mobility LTM configuration triggered by a condition layer 1 / layer 2 for handover to the target cell where the target beam is located, as well as LTM execution conditions.

[0101] The aforementioned RRC message can be a pre-handover instruction sent by the network to the user equipment. The network transmits the above information to the user equipment through the RRC signaling channel.

[0102] By sending both the conditional LTM configuration and the LTM execution conditions to the user equipment, the user equipment can determine when to perform cell handover and can directly use the conditional LTM configuration to connect with the target beam in the target cell, thereby improving the handover speed and the success rate of cell handover.

[0103] In step S36, if the LTM execution conditions are met, LTM is executed according to the conditional LTM configuration. Executing LTM includes disconnecting from the serving cell and transmitting uplink information and / or receiving downlink information on the target beam.

[0104] Once the LTM execution conditions are met, the user equipment can directly switch to the target beam according to the conditional LTM configuration without waiting for the target cell to provide feedback on the handover configuration. This can improve the handover speed and thus increase the handover success rate.

[0105] The above text combines Figure 3 Basic implementations of cell handover methods according to other embodiments of this disclosure have been described. In some further embodiments, the cell handover method further includes, in addition to the steps described above, step S35: performing Layer 1 measurements based on Layer 1 measurement configuration information, such as... Figure 5 As shown. Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating a cell handover method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0106] exist Figure 5 In the embodiment shown, the RRC message also includes Layer 1 measurement configuration information. After receiving the RRC message from the network, the user equipment executes step S35 and determines whether the LTM execution conditions are met based on the results of the Layer 1 measurement. If the LTM execution conditions are met, a switch is performed.

[0107] Specifically, after receiving the RRC message, the user equipment can begin performing measurements based on the measurement configuration information contained therein, and monitor the parameters included in the LTM execution conditions. For example, in the embodiment described above, the LTM execution conditions include a judgment on beam strength. The measurement configuration information can instruct the user terminal to measure the beam strength-related parameters of the target beam and each beam of the serving cell. After performing the measurements, the user equipment can judge the beam strength based on the measurement results and determine whether to perform a handover.

[0108] The network can set measurement configuration information for user equipment during handover via RRC messages, enabling the user equipment to accurately measure the target beam according to the measurement configuration.

[0109] Based on the above Figures 1 to 5 The cell handover method and its embodiments proposed in this disclosure are described below. Figure 6 A specific embodiment of the cell handover method proposed in this disclosure. Figure 6 This is a signaling flowchart illustrating a cell handover method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0110] like Figure 6 As shown, the interaction between user equipment, network and target cell includes processes 61 to 69.

[0111] In process 61, the network sends Layer 3 measurement and control information to the user equipment.

[0112] Layer 3 measurement control information may include measurement timing, measurement objects, and reporting configuration. Measurement timing may be, for example, periodic measurement or event-triggered measurement. Measurement objects may be, for example, the reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and signal-to-noise ratio (SINR) of a cell's synchronization signal block or channel state information reference signal. Reporting configuration may be, for example, periodic reporting or event-triggered reporting.

[0113] In process 62, the user equipment sends a Layer 3 measurement report to the network. In process 62, the user equipment performs measurements based on the Layer 3 measurement control information, generates, and reports the Layer 3 measurement report.

[0114] In procedure 63, the network sends Layer 1 measurement control information to the user equipment. This Layer 1 measurement control information is generated by the network based on the Layer 3 measurement report. For example, if the Layer 3 measurement results of neighboring cell 1 are better than those of the current serving cell, and the network determines that a handover is necessary, the network sends a Layer 1 measurement control message to the user equipment via MAC CE signaling, instructing the user equipment to perform Layer 1 measurements on the beams in neighboring cell 1.

[0115] The content of Layer 1 measurement and control information is similar to that of Layer 3 measurement and control information. The main difference is that the measurement object in Layer 1 measurement and control information is each beam in the cell under test.

[0116] In process 64, the user equipment sends a Layer 1 measurement report to the network. The content of the Layer 1 measurement report is similar to that of the Layer 3 measurement report, the main difference being that the content of the Layer 1 measurement report is the relevant beam strength parameters of each beam in the cell under test.

[0117] In process 65, the network determines the target beam based on the Layer 1 measurement report. For example, the network can determine the beam with the strongest signal in the Layer 3 measurement report as the target beam, or determine the beam with a lower load and stronger signal in the cell where the beam is located as the target beam based on the load of the cell.

[0118] In process 66, the network sends a request to the target cell to obtain the conditional LTM configuration for handover to the target cell.

[0119] In process 67, the target cell sends conditional LTM configuration to the network, including, for example, the target cell's cell ID and the synchronization signal block index of the target beam.

[0120] In process 68, the network sends an RRC message to the user equipment, which includes the aforementioned conditional LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions. For example, the RRC message includes the cell ID of neighboring cell 1, the synchronization signal block index of the strongest beam in neighboring cell 1, and LTM execution condition one, thereby instructing the user equipment to determine and switch to the target beam based on the remaining information, provided that the LTM execution conditions are met.

[0121] In procedure 69, if the LTM execution conditions are met, the user equipment performs LTM, i.e., the user equipment disconnects from the serving cell and transmits uplink information and / or receives downlink information on the target beam. The user equipment can perform the corresponding measurements immediately after receiving the RRC message, or perform measurements based on the Layer 1 measurement configuration information additionally included in the RRC message.

[0122] When the measurement results show that the LTM execution conditions are met, the user equipment performs a handover. In the example above, the offset value in LTM execution condition one is, for example, 10 dBm. The highest value of the serving cell beam strength measured by the user equipment is -110 dBm, and the target beam strength is -90 dBm. The user equipment determines that a handover is necessary and performs the handover according to the LTM configuration based on the above conditions.

[0123] By configuring conditional LTM for the aforementioned handover, the time required for beam adjustment after the user equipment establishes a connection with the target cell can be reduced, thus improving the handover speed. Furthermore, the user equipment independently determines when to perform a handover based on LTM execution conditions, eliminating the mechanism of waiting for network decisions, which also improves the handover speed. Therefore, the cell handover method proposed in this disclosure can effectively improve the handover success rate.

[0124] Based on the above Figure 6 Specific embodiments of the cell handover method disclosed herein are described below. Figures 7 to 9 The present disclosure describes a cell handover apparatus that can be used to perform the cell handover method described above.

[0125] Figure 7 This is a block diagram illustrating a cell handover apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 7 As shown, the cell handover device 7 includes: a receiving module 71 configured to receive a measurement report from a user equipment; a beam determination module 72 configured to determine the target beam for handover based on the measurement report; an acquisition module 73 configured to send a request to the target cell where the target beam is located to obtain the conditional layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM configuration for handover to the target cell; and a sending module 74 configured to send a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message including the conditional LTM configuration and triggering conditions to the user equipment, to instruct the user equipment to perform LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration if the LTM execution conditions are met. Figure 7 The cell handover device shown can be deployed on the network side.

[0126] The receiving module 71 of the cell handover device 7 can be used to perform... Figure 1 Step S11. The beam determination module 72 of the cell handover device 7 can be used to perform... Figure 1 Step S12. The acquisition module 73 of the cell handover device 7 can be used to perform... Figure 1 Step S13. The transmitting module 74 of the cell handover device 7 can be used to perform... Figure 1 Step S14 in the process.

[0127] Figure 8 This is a block diagram illustrating a cell handover apparatus according to other embodiments of the present disclosure. For example... Figure 8 As shown, the cell handover device 8 includes: a reporting module 81 configured to generate a measurement report and send the measurement report to the network; a receiving module 82 configured to receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message from the network, the RRC message including a conditional Layer 1 / Layer 2 triggered mobility LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions for handover to the target cell where the target beam is located; and an execution module 83 configured to execute LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration if the LTM execution conditions are met. Figure 7 The cell handover device shown can be deployed on the user equipment side.

[0128] The reporting module 81 of the cell handover device 8 can be used to perform... Figure 3 Step S31. The receiving module 82 of the cell handover device 8 can be used to perform... Figure 3 Step S32. The execution module 83 of the cell handover device 8 can be used to execute... Figure 3 Step S33 in the process.

[0129] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating a cell handover apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For example... Figure 9 As shown, the cell handover device 9 includes a memory 91 and a processor 92 coupled to the memory 91, the processor 92 being configured to execute the cell handover method as described in any of the embodiments above based on instructions stored in the memory.

[0130] The aforementioned cell handover device sends the conditional LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions to the user equipment in advance, enabling the user equipment to independently determine when to perform a handover and directly perform the handover based on the conditional LTM configuration, without waiting for feedback from the serving cell or the target cell, thereby improving the handover speed and handover success rate.

[0131] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating a computer system for implementing some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0132] like Figure 10 As shown, the computer system 10 can be represented in the form of a general computing device. The computer system 10 includes a memory 101, a processor 102, and a bus 100 connecting different system components.

[0133] The memory 101 can be various forms of computer-readable storage media, such as system memory, non-volatile storage media, etc. System memory may store, for example, an operating system, application programs, a bootloader, and other programs. System memory may include volatile storage media, such as random access memory (RAM) and / or cache memory. Non-volatile storage media may store, for example, instructions for performing corresponding embodiments of the cell handover method. Non-volatile storage media include, but are not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, flash memory, etc.

[0134] The processor 102 can be implemented using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistors, or other discrete hardware components. Accordingly, each module can be implemented by executing instructions in the central processing unit (CPU) memory to perform the corresponding steps, or by implementing dedicated circuits to perform the corresponding steps.

[0135] Bus 100 can use any of the various bus architectures. For example, bus architectures include, but are not limited to, Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

[0136] The computer system 10 may also include an input / output interface 103, a network interface 104, and a storage interface 105. These interfaces 103, 104, and 105, as well as the memory 101 and processor 102, can be connected via a bus 100. The input / output interface 103 provides a connection interface for input / output devices such as a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. The network interface 104 provides a connection interface for various networked devices. The storage interface 105 provides a connection interface for external storage devices such as floppy disks, USB flash drives, and SD cards.

[0137] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the processes described above with reference to the flowcharts can be implemented as computer software programs. For example, some embodiments of this disclosure include a computer program product that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to implement the cell handover method described in any of the foregoing embodiments. The computer program product includes a computer program carried on a computer-readable medium, the computer program containing program code for performing the methods shown in the flowcharts.

[0138] The computer program product for implementing the above-described method according to embodiments of the present disclosure may employ a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and may run on a terminal device, such as a personal computer. However, the computer program product of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In the present disclosure, the readable storage medium may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that may be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0139] Various embodiments of this disclosure have now been described in detail. To avoid obscuring the concept of this disclosure, some details known in the art have not been described. Those skilled in the art will fully understand how to implement the technical solutions disclosed herein based on the above description.

[0140] While specific embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail by way of examples, those skilled in the art should understand that the examples are for illustrative purposes only and not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can be made to the above embodiments or equivalent substitutions can be made to some technical features without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure. The scope of this disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A cell handover method, comprising: Generate a measurement report and send the measurement report to the network; Receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message from the network, the RRC message including a condition layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions for handover to the target cell where the target beam is located; If the LTM execution conditions are met, LTM is executed according to the conditional LTM configuration.

2. The cell handover method according to claim 1, wherein, The RRC message also includes Layer 1 measurement configuration information, and the cell handover method further includes: After receiving the RRC message from the network, Layer 1 measurement is performed according to the Layer 1 measurement configuration information.

3. The cell handover method according to claim 1, wherein, Generating a measurement report and sending the measurement report to the network includes: Receive Layer 3 measurement and control information from the network; Perform layer 3 measurements based on the layer 3 measurement control information, generate a layer 3 measurement report, and send the layer 3 measurement report to the network. Receive Layer 1 measurement control information generated from the network based on the Layer 3 measurement report; Perform Layer 1 measurements based on the Layer 1 measurement control information, generate a Layer 1 measurement report, and send the Layer 1 measurement report to the network.

4. A cell handover method, comprising: Receive measurement reports from user equipment; Based on the measurement report, determine the target beam to be switched; Send a request to the target cell where the target beam is located to obtain the mobility LTM configuration triggered by condition layer 1 / layer 2 for handover to the target cell; A Radio Resource Control (RRC) message including the conditional LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions is sent to the user equipment to instruct the user equipment to perform LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration if the LTM execution conditions are met.

5. The cell handover method according to claim 4, wherein, The LTM execution conditions include: The signal strength of the target beam is greater than the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell, and the difference between the signal strength of the target beam and the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell is greater than a preset offset value.

6. The cell handover method according to claim 4, wherein, The LTM execution conditions include: The signal strength of the target beam exceeds a first threshold, and the maximum value of the beam signal strength in the serving cell is less than a second threshold, wherein the first threshold is greater than the second threshold.

7. The cell handover method according to claim 4, wherein, The RRC message also includes Layer 1 measurement configuration information, which is used to instruct the user equipment to perform Layer 1 measurement according to the Layer 1 measurement configuration information after receiving the RRC message from the network.

8. The cell handover method according to claim 7, wherein, The Layer 1 measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following: synchronization signal block measurement configuration, channel state resource configuration, and channel state report configuration.

9. The cell handover method according to claim 4, wherein, Received measurement reports from user equipment include: Send Layer 3 measurement and control information to the user equipment; Receive the Layer 3 measurement report generated by the user equipment based on the Layer 3 measurement control information after performing Layer 3 measurements; Generate Layer 1 measurement control information based on the Layer 3 measurement report, and send the Layer 1 measurement control information to the user equipment; Receive the Layer 1 measurement report generated by the user equipment based on the Layer 1 measurement control information after performing Layer 1 measurements.

10. The cell handover method according to claim 4, wherein, Based on the measurement report, the target beam to be switched includes: Based on the measurement report and the load status of neighboring cells, determine the target beam for handover.

11. The cell handover method according to claim 4, wherein, The conditional LTM configuration includes at least one of the target cell's cell ID, synchronization information, and handover parameters.

12. A cell handover device, deployed on the user equipment side, comprising: The reporting module is configured to generate a measurement report and send the measurement report to the network; The receiving module is configured to receive Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages from the network. The RRC messages include a condition layer 1 / layer 2 triggered mobility LTM configuration and LTM execution conditions for handover to the target cell where the target beam is located. The execution module is configured to execute LTM according to the conditional LTM configuration when the LTM execution conditions are met.

13. A cell handover device, deployed on the network side, comprising: The receiving module is configured to receive measurement reports from user equipment; The beam determination module is configured to determine the target beam to be switched based on the measurement report; The acquisition module is configured to send a request to the target cell where the target beam is located in order to obtain the mobility LTM configuration triggered by condition layer 1 / layer 2 for handover to the target cell; The sending module is configured to send a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to the user equipment, including the handover condition LTM configuration and the LTM execution condition, to instruct the user equipment to perform LTM according to the condition LTM configuration if the LTM execution condition is met.

14. A cell handover device, comprising: Memory; and A processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to execute the cell handover method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 based on instructions stored in the memory.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions that, when executed by a processor, implement the cell handover method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

16. A computer program product, wherein, The computer program product stores computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the cell handover method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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