Cell switching method and terminal equipment

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a cell switching method and terminal equipment, and the method comprises the steps: determining a load coefficient of a service cell and a load coefficient of an adjacent cell of the service cell under the condition that the terminal equipment is in network lagging and a signal of the service cell of the terminal equipment meets a first preset condition; the load coefficient of the cell is in positive correlation with the load of the cell, and the first preset condition comprises at least one of the following conditions: reference signal received power (RSRP) is greater than a preset RSRP threshold value, and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is greater than a preset SNR threshold value; determining a first cell according to a first preset condition, the load coefficient of the service cell and the load coefficient of the adjacent cell; the first cell is the cell with the minimum load coefficient in the cells with the signals meeting the first preset condition, and the load coefficient of the first cell is smaller than that of the service cell; and switching the wireless network of the terminal equipment to the first cell. The method can reduce network lagging and improve user experience.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, specifically to a cell handover method and terminal equipment. Background Technology

[0002] Network connectivity on terminal devices has greatly enhanced the convenience of users' lives. When using terminal devices, users can not only make phone calls anytime, anywhere via the network, but also access information, play games, watch videos, listen to music, and more, resulting in a high level of user experience.

[0003] However, the inventors discovered that network lag occurs when using terminal devices in crowded places such as gatherings, subways, and airports. Network lag includes, but is not limited to, discontinuous voice calls, slow webpage loading, poor video clarity or choppy playback, choppy graphics or slow response times while playing games, and discontinuous audio while listening to music. Network lag degrades the user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a cell handover method and terminal device that can reduce network lag and improve user experience.

[0005] In a first aspect, this application provides a cell handover method, which is executed by a terminal device. The method includes: when the terminal device experiences network lag and the signal of the serving cell of the terminal device meets a first preset condition, determining the load factor of the serving cell and the load factor of the neighboring cells of the serving cell; the load factor of the cell is positively correlated with the load of the cell, and the first preset condition includes at least one of the following: the reference signal received power (RSRP) is greater than a preset RSRP threshold, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is greater than a preset SNR threshold; determining a first cell based on the first preset condition, the load factor of the serving cell, and the load factor of the neighboring cells; the first cell is the cell with the smallest load factor among the cells whose signal meets the first preset condition, and the load factor of the first cell is less than the load factor of the serving cell; and handing over the wireless network of the terminal device to the first cell.

[0006] The service cell and neighboring cells are also known as surrounding cells. The first cell is also known as the alternative cell in the specific implementation method.

[0007] A serving cell signal meeting a first preset condition indicates good signal quality. In this case, network lag on the terminal device is most likely caused by heavy cell load. Based on this, the cell handover method provided in the first aspect of this application, when a terminal device experiences network lag and the serving cell signal meets the first preset condition, detects the load factor of surrounding cells. According to the detection results, a cell with a lower load factor than the serving cell and better signal quality is selected as a candidate cell (i.e., the first cell), and the terminal device's network is switched to the candidate cell. The candidate cell has a lighter load, which can alleviate or resolve lag; at the same time, although the network quality of the candidate cell may not be as good as the signal quality of the serving cell, it is still good and within an acceptable range, thus not causing lag. Therefore, this solution can solve the network lag problem of terminal devices, improve network service performance, and enhance user experience.

[0008] In one possible implementation, the load factor of the second cell represents the energy of the useful signal in the downlink signal of the second cell within a preset time period; the second cell is any one of the serving cell and neighboring cells.

[0009] It should be understood that the energy of the useful signal in the downlink signal is positively correlated with the cell load. The heavier the cell load, that is, the more terminal devices communicating in the cell, the more the base station will increase the power of the useful signal in the downlink signal in order to ensure that each terminal device can obtain basic communication service quality as much as possible. Therefore, the greater the power of the useful signal in the downlink signal detected by the terminal device, the greater the energy of the useful signal in the downlink signal over a period of time. The reverse is also true.

[0010] Based on this, in this implementation method, the load coefficient is characterized by the energy of the useful signal in the downlink signal of the second cell within a preset time period, which can more accurately reflect the load situation of the cell, improve the accuracy of load calculation, and thus improve the accuracy of cell handover.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the downlink signal is a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB); determining the load factor of the serving cell and the load factor of the neighboring cells of the serving cell includes: detecting the SSB of the second cell and the System Signal Block (SIB1) of the second cell based on the cell information of the second cell; performing frequency domain segmentation and time domain segmentation on the SSB within the first time period based on the cell information of the second cell and SIB1, obtaining signals of x measurement bandwidths in the frequency domain and signals of m sub-time periods in the time domain; where x and m are both positive integers; calculating the energy of the useful signal in each measurement bandwidth within each sub-time period to obtain m*x first useful energies; and calculating the load factor of the second cell based on the m*x first useful energies.

[0012] The first time period can be a time period with a preset statistical duration TL in the specific implementation.

[0013] In this implementation, the load factor is calculated using the SSB (Special Signal Bandwidth), facilitating detection by terminal equipment. Furthermore, since cell bandwidth is generally wide, while the bandwidth capability of modems detecting SSB signals is limited, this implementation performs frequency domain segmentation of the SSB, dividing the cell bandwidth into several measurement bandwidths. This allows for the measurement and calculation of a larger cell bandwidth using devices with smaller bandwidths, saving on device investment. Moreover, by covering the entire cell bandwidth of the second cell with multiple measurement bandwidths, subsequent signal energy calculations are more accurate, thereby improving the accuracy of the load factor calculation.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the load factor of the second cell is calculated based on m*x first useful energies, including: calculating the RSRP of the useful signal in the SSB to obtain the first RSRP; calculating m second useful energies corresponding one-to-one with m sub-time periods based on the first RSRP and m*x first useful energies; wherein the second useful energy corresponding to the i-th sub-time period is characterized by the cumulative result of x first useful energies in the i-th sub-time period, and the i-th sub-time period is any one of the m sub-time periods; and determining the load factor of the second cell based on the sum of the m second useful energies.

[0015] In one possible implementation, based on the first RSRP and m*x first useful energies, m second useful energies corresponding one-to-one with m sub-time periods are calculated, including: normalizing the m*x first useful energies according to the first RSRP to obtain m*x third useful energies; and calculating the sum of x third useful energies in each sub-time period to obtain m second useful energies corresponding one-to-one with m sub-time periods.

[0016] In one possible implementation, based on the first RSRP, the m*x first useful energies are normalized to obtain m*x third useful energies, including: calculating the quotient of the j-th first useful energy and the first RSRP to obtain the third useful energy corresponding to the j-th first useful energy; the j-th first useful energy is any one of the m*x first useful energies.

[0017] In one possible implementation, based on the first RSRP and m*x first useful energies, m second useful energies corresponding one-to-one with m sub-time periods are calculated, including: calculating the sum of x first useful energies in each sub-time period to obtain m fourth useful energies corresponding one-to-one with m sub-time periods; and normalizing the m fourth useful energies according to the first RSRP to obtain m second useful energies corresponding one-to-one with m sub-time periods.

[0018] Among the above implementation methods, by normalizing the useful signal energy, the useful signal energy of each cell is converted into a dimensionless value, thereby making the useful signal energy of different cells comparable, and thus making the load coefficient comparable, which facilitates analysis and cell handover decision-making, and improves the accuracy of cell handover.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the preset duration is equal to the duration of one sub-time period; the load factor of the second cell is determined based on the sum of m second useful energies, including: calculating the sum of m second useful energies to obtain a first value; calculating the quotient of the first value and m to obtain the load factor of the second cell.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the preset duration is equal to the duration of the first time period; the load factor of the second cell is determined based on the sum of m second useful energies, including: calculating the sum of m second useful energies to obtain the load factor of the second cell.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the energy of the useful signal in each measurement bandwidth within each sub-time period is calculated to obtain m*x first useful energies. This includes: calculating the average power of noise in the SSB on a resource particle RE to obtain the average noise power; determining the number of REs contained in the signal of one measurement bandwidth within one sub-time period; calculating the product of the number of REs and the average noise power to obtain the noise energy; calculating the total energy of the signal in each measurement bandwidth within each sub-time period to obtain m*x total energies; and calculating the difference between each total energy and the noise energy to obtain m*x first useful energies.

[0022] In this implementation, the noise energy in a measurement bandwidth within a sub-time period can be easily and quickly calculated using the average noise level on a single repeater (RE) and the number of REs contained in the signal within a measurement bandwidth within a sub-time period. Based on this, the energy of the first useful signal can be conveniently and quickly calculated using the difference between the total energy and the noise energy.

[0023] In one possible implementation, each measurement bandwidth includes s resource blocks (RBs), and each RB includes 12 REs, where s is a positive integer; determining the number of REs contained in the signal of one measurement bandwidth within one sub-time period includes: determining the amount of symbol data N contained in each sub-time period according to the network standard of the second cell, where N is a positive integer; determining the number of REs according to the following formula: Nre = s * 12 * N; where Nre represents the number of REs.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the network standard of the second cell is Long Term Evolution (LTE), and N is 7; or, the network standard of the second cell is New Radio (NR), and N is 14.

[0025] In one possible implementation, one sub-time period is one time slot.

[0026] The time slot is the time division unit of the SSB itself. Therefore, using the time slot as the unit allows for simpler, more accurate, and faster time domain segmentation, improving algorithm efficiency. Of course, in other embodiments, other time units can also be used for time domain segmentation.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the first preset condition includes RSRP greater than a preset RSRP threshold and SNR greater than a preset SNR threshold; determining the load factor of the serving cell and the load factor of the neighboring cells of the serving cell includes: obtaining a cell list; the cell list includes cell information of the serving cell and neighboring cells, the cell information including at least one of the cell's frequency information, cell ID, cell's network type, cell's RSRP, and cell's SNR; determining a third cell, a fourth cell, and a fifth cell according to the cell list; the third cell is a cell in the cell list whose cell information contains RSRP and SNR, and whose RSRP and SNR do not meet the first preset condition; the fourth cell is a cell in the cell list whose cell information contains RSRP and SNR, and whose RSRP and SNR meet the first preset condition; the fifth cell is a cell in the cell list whose cell information does not contain RSRP and / or SNR; setting the load factor of the third cell to a preset value, the preset value being greater than the load factors of other cells in the cell list; and determining the load factors of each fourth cell and fifth cell.

[0028] The third cell, also known as the non-tested cell in this specific implementation, is a cell with poor signal quality. The third cell is not considered a candidate cell (i.e., the first cell). The fourth cell, also known as the first type of cell in this specific implementation, is a cell with good signal quality. The fifth cell, also known as the second type of cell in this specific implementation, is a cell with uncertain signal quality. Both the fourth and fifth cells may be considered candidate cells, and their load factors need to be calculated.

[0029] In this implementation, before calculating the load factor, the fourth cell with good signal quality and the fifth cell with uncertain signal quality are selected from the cell list as the cells to be measured. Load measurement and calculation are only performed on the cells to be measured, so there is no need to measure and calculate the third cell with poor signal quality, which simplifies the algorithm and saves power consumption.

[0030] In one possible implementation, determining the first cell based on a first preset condition, the load factor of the serving cell, and the load factors of neighboring cells includes: determining the RSRP and SNR of each fifth cell; determining the sixth cell from the third, fourth, and fifth cells; the sixth cell being the cell whose RSRP and SNR satisfy the first preset condition; determining the cell with the smallest load factor from the sixth cells to obtain the seventh cell; and if the seventh cell is not the serving cell, then determining the seventh cell as the first cell.

[0031] The sixth cell is the high-signal-quality cell in the specific implementation. The seventh cell is the candidate cell in the specific implementation.

[0032] If the seventh cell is the current serving cell, it means that among the surrounding cells, there is no cell with a lower load than the serving cell and whose signal quality meets the requirements; that is, there is no candidate cell that meets the requirements, and therefore the process ends. If the seventh cell is not the current serving cell, it means that the seventh cell has a lower load (lower than the current serving cell) and its signal quality meets the requirements, and therefore the seventh cell is selected as the first cell (i.e., the candidate cell).

[0033] In one possible implementation, the terminal device includes a first modem and a second modem; the cell list is generated by the first modem; determining the load factor of each fourth cell and fifth cell includes: determining the load factor of each fourth cell and fifth cell by the second modem.

[0034] The first modem is the main modem in this specific embodiment. The second modem is the auxiliary modem in this specific embodiment.

[0035] In this implementation, the original wireless communication function is implemented through the first modem, which measures the cell information of surrounding cells and generates a cell list; the load calculation is implemented through the second modem, which does not occupy the resources of the first modem, reduces the impact on the original wireless communication function of the first demodulator, and ensures that the continuity of its wireless communication is not disrupted, thus guaranteeing the normal operation of the terminal equipment service.

[0036] In one possible implementation, switching the wireless network of the terminal device to the first cell includes: setting the RSRP of the first cell to a target value, the target value being greater than the RSRP of the serving cell and other cells in the neighboring cells; reporting a cell measurement report to the base station, the cell measurement report including the RSRP of the first cell; receiving a handover message sent by the base station, the handover message indicating that the wireless network of the terminal device should be switched to the first cell; and in response to the handover message, switching the wireless network of the terminal device to the first cell.

[0037] In this implementation, the RSRP of the first cell is increased to guide the base station to switch the terminal device's wireless network to the backup cell. This does not affect the original logic of the base station switching cells, and the base station-driven cell switching makes the handover smoother, achieving the handover without the user noticing, thus improving the user experience.

[0038] In one possible implementation, switching the wireless network of the terminal device to the first cell includes: searching for the signal of the first cell based on the cell information of the first cell; disconnecting the connection with the serving cell; and establishing a connection with the first cell based on the signal of the first cell.

[0039] In this implementation, the terminal device actively switches cells, which improves the accuracy and efficiency of cell switching.

[0040] In one possible implementation, switching the wireless network of a terminal device to a first cell includes: setting the RSRP of the first cell to a target value, the target value being greater than the RSRP of other first cells; reporting a cell measurement report to the base station, the cell measurement report including the RSRP of the first cell; starting a timer; if a handover message sent by the base station is received before the timer expires, then the wireless network of the terminal device is switched to the first cell; the handover message is used to indicate that the wireless network of the terminal device is switched to the first cell; if no handover message sent by the base station is received before the timer expires, then the signal of the first cell is searched according to the cell information of the first cell, the connection with the serving cell is disconnected, and a connection with the first cell is established according to the signal of the first cell.

[0041] In this implementation, the base station is first guided to switch cells. If the switch fails, the terminal device then switches cells autonomously. This prevents cell switching failures due to base station overload or other reasons, thus improving the reliability of cell switching.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: detecting the Quality of Experience (QoE) value of the terminal device; the QoE value is negatively correlated with the degree of network lag; if the QoE value is less than a preset QoE threshold, it is determined that the terminal device is experiencing network lag.

[0043] In this implementation, the QoE value can accurately determine the network lag status of the terminal device, reflect the user's experience quality, and improve the accuracy of network switching.

[0044] In one possible implementation, detecting the Quality of Experience (QoE) value of a terminal device includes: identifying the current application scenario of the terminal device; loading model configuration parameters corresponding to the application scenario into the target model corresponding to the application scenario; determining the network evaluation result based on at least one of communication parameters and service transmission parameters; the network evaluation result characterizing the transmission status of the wireless network of the terminal device; and inputting the network evaluation result into the target model to obtain the QoE value.

[0045] In this implementation, by combining the application scenarios of the terminal devices, the model can accurately determine the QoE value, thereby improving the accuracy of network lag judgment and thus improving the accuracy of network switching.

[0046] Secondly, this application provides an apparatus included in a terminal device, which has the function of implementing the terminal device behaviors described in the first aspect and possible implementations of the first aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions. For example, a receiving module or unit, a processing module or unit, etc.

[0047] Thirdly, this application provides a terminal device, which includes: one or more processors and a memory; the memory is coupled to one or more processors, and the memory is used to store computer program code, which includes computer instructions, and the one or more processors call the computer instructions to cause the terminal device to execute any method of the technical solution in the first aspect.

[0048] Fourthly, a chip system applied to a terminal device, the chip system including one or more processors, the one or more processors being used to invoke computer instructions to cause the terminal device to execute any one of the technical solutions of the first aspect.

[0049] Optionally, the chip system includes a first modem and a second modem.

[0050] Optionally, the chip system may also include memory, which is connected to the processor via circuitry or wires.

[0051] Alternatively, the chip system may also include a communication interface.

[0052] Fifthly, this application provides a computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed on a terminal device, cause the terminal device to perform any one of the methods in the first aspect of the technical solution.

[0053] Sixthly, this application provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when run on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to execute any one of the methods in the technical solution of the first aspect. Attached Figure Description

[0054] Figure 1 This is an application scenario diagram of an example cell handover method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0055] Figure 2 This is an application scenario diagram of another cell handover method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0056] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device 100 provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0057] Figure 4 This is a block diagram of the software structure and part of the hardware structure of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0058] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a cell handover method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0059] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of QoE detection provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0060] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating another example of a cell handover method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0061] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of bandwidth segmentation provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0062] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of a wireless signal provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0063] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise stated, " / " means "or," for example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" in this text is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, and B existing alone. Furthermore, in the description of the embodiments of this application, "multiple" refers to two or more than two.

[0064] Hereinafter, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first," "second," or "third" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature.

[0065] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" as described in this application specification mean that one or more embodiments of this application include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," "in still other embodiments," etc., appearing in different parts of this application specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more, but not all, embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0066] To better understand the embodiments of this application, the terms or concepts that may be involved in the embodiments are explained below.

[0067] 1. Quality of experience (QoE)

[0068] In the field of communications, QoE is an indicator that represents a user's overall experience with communication services. QoE can encompass multiple aspects, such as video clarity, smoothness, audio quality, and interaction response speed.

[0069] It's understandable that QoE is related to network lag. The more severe the network lag, the worse the video clarity, the less smooth the playback, the worse the audio quality, and the slower the interactive response speed, thus resulting in a worse user experience.

[0070] 2. Uplink and downlink signals

[0071] The signals in a wireless communication process can include uplink signals and downlink signals. Uplink signals refer to signals sent from the terminal device to the base station, while downlink signals refer to signals sent from the base station to the terminal device.

[0072] 3. Residential area, serving cell, and neighboring cells

[0073] In the field of communications, base stations transmit signals through antennas to provide wireless communication services to terminal devices within a certain geographical area. A cell refers to a specific geographical area covered by the wireless communication service of a base station. In this embodiment, a cell can refer to the communication coverage area of ​​a base station, and / or the base station system serving that coverage area. During movement, terminal devices may connect to different cells depending on factors such as signal strength.

[0074] The serving cell refers to the cell that the terminal device is currently connected to.

[0075] Neighboring cells refer to cells that are geographically adjacent to the serving cell and may be switched over by terminal devices.

[0076] 4. Reference signal receiving power (RSRP)

[0077] RSRP is the average signal power received on all resource elements (REs) carrying the reference signal within a symbol. RSRP reflects the strength of the reference signal received by the terminal device. RSRP can be used to evaluate signal quality. The higher the RSRP value, the stronger the signal received by the terminal device and the better the signal quality.

[0078] 5. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)

[0079] SNR is the ratio of signal power to noise power. SNR also reflects signal quality. The higher the SNR value, the better the signal quality.

[0080] 6. Synchronization signal block (SSB)

[0081] The SSB may include the primary synchronization signal (PSS), the secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH).

[0082] 7. System Information Block (SIB)

[0083] The Subscriber Instruction (SIB) contains various critical information required for terminal devices to access the network, such as cell bandwidth, access restrictions, and neighbor cell information. The SIB can be transmitted within the cell via broadcast, and terminal devices can receive the SIB on specific time and frequency resources.

[0084] The types of SIBs can include SIB1, SIB2, SIB3-SIB8, etc. SIB1 contains important information related to cell access, such as cell bandwidth, cell selection and reselection parameters, public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier, and tracking area code (TAC). Before accessing a cell, the terminal device first reads the SIB1 to determine if it is eligible to access the cell.

[0085] 8. Resource block (RB) and RE

[0086] In communication systems, the Relay Bus (RB) is the basic unit used for allocating and managing radio resources. An RB contains a certain number of subcarriers in the frequency domain and a certain number of symbols in the time domain. A symbol is a specific signal unit in the time dimension. A symbol consists of multiple Relay Arrays (REs) in the frequency dimension. The specific number of REs in a symbol depends on the number of subcarriers in the system.

[0087] Taking systems like Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 5G New Radio (NR) as examples, a Base Ring (RB) typically contains 12 Array Tokens (REs) in the frequency domain and 7 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the time domain. Therefore, one OFDM symbol includes 12 REs. In the LTE system, for example, one slot contains 7 OFDM symbols in the time domain, and in the NR system, one slot contains 14 OFDM symbols. Thus, in an LTE network, one RB contains 12 × 7 = 84 REs in one slot, and in an NR system, one RB contains 12 × 14 = 168 REs in one slot.

[0088] 9. Time slot

[0089] In wireless communication, a time slot is a unit of time resource allocation. It is a smaller time unit than a frame and is used to organize and schedule data transmission. In this embodiment, for ease of distinction, the time slot obtained by time slot division of the uplink signal is called the uplink time slot, and the time slot obtained by time slot division of the downlink signal is called the downlink time slot.

[0090] 10. Cell bandwidth

[0091] Cell bandwidth refers to the width of the frequency range occupied by a wireless communication cell. Cell bandwidth is divided into multiple RBs, each RB occupying a certain frequency range and time resources.

[0092] Cellular bandwidth directly affects the data transmission speed and capacity of terminal devices within the cell. Larger cell bandwidth can support higher data transmission rates, resulting in smoother internet browsing and meeting users' needs for high-bandwidth applications such as high-definition video and online games.

[0093] First, the application scenarios of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application will be described.

[0094] For example, Figure 1 This diagram illustrates an application scenario of a cell handover method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to the communication system of a terminal device, such as... Figure 1 The communication system includes a terminal device 100 and base stations 200, 300, 400, etc. Base station 200 provides communication coverage for cell 210, base station 300 provides communication coverage for cell 310, and base station 400 provides communication coverage for cell 410. When the terminal device 100 enters a cell, it establishes a communication connection with the corresponding base station, provided the signal quality meets the requirements. The base station then provides the wireless network to the cell. In this embodiment, the connection between the terminal device and the base station corresponding to the cell is also referred to as the connection between the terminal device and the cell. It should be noted that the cell in this embodiment can be a macrocell, a microcell, or a picocell; this application does not limit the specific type of cell.

[0095] It's understandable that mobile devices sometimes experience network lag during use, especially in crowded places like gatherings, subways, and airports. Network lag can lead to poor internet browsing or phone calls, impacting the user experience.

[0096] The inventors analyzed network data from terminal devices in densely populated areas and discovered that network lag was sometimes caused by poor network signal quality, but a significant portion was due to heavy network load. For example, Figure 1 As shown, cell 210 currently has a load of n1 terminal devices, cell 310 has a load of n2 terminal devices, and cell 410 has a load of n3 terminal devices, where n1, n2, and n3 are all positive integers, and n1 > n2 > n3. Taking terminal device 100 as an example, it is currently located at... Figure 1Taking the locations shown as examples, terminal device 100 detects an RSRP of -80 dBm for cell 210, -95 dBm for cell 310, and -120 dBm for cell 410. Since cell 210 has the highest RSRP, indicating the best signal quality, terminal device 100 connects to cell 210, making cell 210 the serving cell for terminal device 100. However, because cell 210 currently hosts n1 users, the heavy load causes network lag for terminal device 100. This results in discontinuous voice calls, slow webpage loading, poor video clarity or choppy playback, slow game performance or responsive interaction, and discontinuous audio, all negatively impacting user experience.

[0097] Based on this, this application provides a cell handover method. By detecting the QoE of the terminal device and the signal quality of the serving cell, if the QoE is poor but the signal quality of the serving cell is good, it indicates that the terminal device is likely experiencing network lag due to heavy cell load. Therefore, the load coefficient of surrounding cells (including the serving cell and neighboring cells) is detected. The load coefficient characterizes the cell load. The higher the load coefficient, the heavier the cell load. Based on the detection results, cells with lower load coefficients but better signal quality are selected from the surrounding cells as candidate cells (also called the first cell), and the terminal device's network is switched to the candidate cell. The candidate cell has a lighter load, which can alleviate or resolve lag; simultaneously, although the network quality of the candidate cell may not be as good as the signal quality of the serving cell, it is still good and within an acceptable range, thus not causing lag. Therefore, this solution can solve the network lag problem of terminal devices, improve network service performance, and enhance user experience.

[0098] In this embodiment of the application, QoE can be characterized by a value (called QoE value) determined by some preset algorithms used to evaluate the experience quality or stuttering of terminal devices, and signal quality can be characterized by one or more parameters such as RSRP and SNR.

[0099] For example, continue with Figure 1The application scenario is illustrated, using RSRP as an example to represent signal quality. Assume the preset RSRP threshold is -100dBm. Terminal device 100 determines that the RSRP of cell 210 is -80dBm, which is greater than the RSRP threshold of -100dBm. The terminal device also detects a QoE value less than the preset QoE threshold, meaning the serving cell's signal quality is good, but the terminal device's QoE is poor, resulting in network lag. This indicates that the network lag is likely caused by the heavy load on cell 210. Therefore, by detecting the load coefficients of surrounding cells, the terminal device determines that the load coefficient of cell 210 > the load coefficient of cell 310 > the load coefficient of cell 410. That is, the load coefficients of cells 310 and 410 are both relatively small, with cell 410 having the smallest load. Meanwhile, the terminal device determines that the RSRP of cell 310 is -95dBm, which is greater than the RSRP threshold of -100dBm, while the RSRP of cell 410 is -120dBm, which is less than the RSRP threshold of -100dBm. This indicates that the signal quality of cell 310 is better and within the acceptable range, while the signal quality of cell 410 is worse and outside the acceptable range. Based on this, cell 310 is selected as the backup cell, and the serving cell of terminal device 100 is switched from cell 210 to this backup cell (i.e., cell 310). A schematic diagram of the communication system after the switchover can be seen as follows. Figure 2 As shown, the network quality of cell 310 is within an acceptable range and the load is relatively light, thus resolving the network lag issue for terminal devices, improving network service performance, and enhancing user experience.

[0100] The structure of terminal device 100 is described below.

[0101] The cell handover method provided in this application can be applied to terminal devices that can install applications (APPs), such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) devices, laptops, ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), netbooks, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). This application does not impose any restrictions on the specific type of terminal device.

[0102] For example, Figure 3This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal device 100 provided in an embodiment of this application. The terminal device 100 may include a processor 110, an external memory interface 120, an internal memory 121, a universal serial bus (USB) interface 130, a charging management module 140, a power management module 141, a battery 142, an antenna 1, an antenna 2, a mobile communication module 150, a wireless communication module 160, an audio module 170, a speaker 170A, a receiver 170B, a microphone 170C, a headphone jack 170D, a sensor module 180, buttons 190, a motor 191, an indicator 192, a camera 193, a display screen 194, and a subscriber identification module (SIM) card interface 195, etc. The sensor module 180 may include a pressure sensor 180A, a gyroscope sensor 180B, a barometric pressure sensor 180C, a magnetic sensor 180D, an accelerometer sensor 180E, a distance sensor 180F, a proximity sensor 180G, a fingerprint sensor 180H, a temperature sensor 180J, a touch sensor 180K, an ambient light sensor 180L, a bone conduction sensor 180M, etc.

[0103] It is understood that the structures illustrated in the embodiments of this application do not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal device 100. In other embodiments of this application, the terminal device 100 may include more or fewer components than illustrated, or combine some components, or split some components, or have different component arrangements. The illustrated components may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0104] Processor 110 may include one or more processing units, such as: application processor (AP), modem processor (also known as modem), graphics processing unit (GPU), image signal processor (ISP), controller, memory, video codec, digital signal processor (DSP), baseband processor, and / or neural network processing unit (NPU), etc. Different processing units may be independent devices or integrated into one or more processors. When different processing units are independent devices, they can communicate with each other through a pre-defined interface. For example, the AP and the modem processor can communicate via a USB interface, etc.

[0105] The controller can serve as the central nervous system and command center of the terminal device 100. The controller can generate operation control signals based on the instruction opcode and timing signals to control the fetching and execution of instructions.

[0106] The processor 110 may also include a memory for storing instructions and data. In some embodiments, the memory in the processor 110 is a cache memory. This memory can store instructions or data that the processor 110 has just used or that are used repeatedly. If the processor 110 needs to use the instruction or data again, it can retrieve it directly from the memory. This avoids repeated accesses, reduces the waiting time of the processor 110, and thus improves the efficiency of the system.

[0107] It is understood that the interface connection relationships between the modules illustrated in the embodiments of this application are merely illustrative and do not constitute a structural limitation on the terminal device 100. In other embodiments of this application, the terminal device 100 may also adopt different interface connection methods or a combination of multiple interface connection methods as described in the above embodiments.

[0108] The wireless communication function of the terminal device 100 can be implemented through antenna 1, antenna 2, mobile communication module 150, wireless communication module 160, modem processor and baseband processor, etc.

[0109] Antenna 1 and antenna 2 are used to transmit and receive electromagnetic wave signals. Figure 3 The structures of antennas 1 and 2 shown are merely one example. Each antenna in terminal device 100 can be used to cover one or more communication frequency bands. Different antennas can also be reused to improve antenna utilization. For example, antenna 1 can be reused as a diversity antenna for a wireless local area network. In some other embodiments, the antennas can be used in conjunction with tuning switches.

[0110] The mobile communication module 150 can provide wireless communication solutions, including 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G, for use on the terminal device 100. The mobile communication module 150 may include a radio frequency (RF) front-end. The RF front-end may include at least one filter, switch, power amplifier, low noise amplifier (LNA), etc. The mobile communication module 150 can receive electromagnetic waves via antenna 1, and perform filtering, amplification, and other processing on the received electromagnetic waves before transmitting them to a modem processor for demodulation. The mobile communication module 150 can also amplify the signal modulated by the modem processor and convert it into electromagnetic waves for radiation via antenna 1. In some embodiments, at least some functional modules of the mobile communication module 150 may be housed in the processor 110. In some embodiments, at least some functional modules of the mobile communication module 150 and at least some modules of the processor 110 may be housed in the same device.

[0111] The modem processor may include a modulator and a demodulator. The modulator modulates the low-frequency baseband signal to be transmitted into a mid-to-high frequency signal. The demodulator demodulates the received electromagnetic wave signal into a low-frequency baseband signal. The demodulator then transmits the demodulated low-frequency baseband signal to the baseband processor for processing. After processing by the baseband processor, the low-frequency baseband signal is transmitted to the application processor. The application processor outputs sound signals through an audio device (not limited to speaker 170A, receiver 170B, etc.) or displays images or videos through the display screen 194. In some embodiments, the modem processor may be a separate device. In other embodiments, the modem processor may be independent of the processor 110 and may be housed in the same device as the mobile communication module 150 or other functional modules.

[0112] In this embodiment, the modem processor may include a main modem processor (hereinafter referred to as the main modem or first modem) and an auxiliary modem processor (hereinafter referred to as the auxiliary modem or second modem). The main modem is used to process the received electromagnetic wave signals (hereinafter referred to as signals) from surrounding cells to determine the cell information of surrounding cells (including the serving cell and neighboring cells). Cell information includes, but is not limited to, cell frequency information, cell ID, cell network type, cell RSRP, cell SNR, etc. The auxiliary modem is used to search for cells based on the cell frequency information and calculate the cell load factor based on the signal of the searched cells.

[0113] As another implementation, the functions of the primary and secondary modems can also be implemented using the same modem, and this application does not limit this to that. The following embodiments mainly illustrate the method using two modems, a primary and a secondary modem. By implementing the method of this application using two modems, the secondary modem performs load balancing without occupying the resources of the primary modem, reducing the impact on the original wireless communication functions of the primary modem. This ensures that the continuity of the primary modem's wireless communication is not disrupted, guaranteeing the normal operation of the terminal equipment's services.

[0114] In some embodiments, the antenna 1 of the terminal device 100 is coupled to the mobile communication module 150, and the antenna 2 is coupled to the wireless communication module 160, so that the terminal device 100 can communicate with the network and other devices through wireless communication technology.

[0115] In addition, an operating system runs on top of the aforementioned components. Examples include the iOS operating system, the Android open-source operating system, and the Windows operating system.

[0116] The operating system of a terminal device can adopt a layered architecture, event-driven architecture, microkernel architecture, microservice architecture, or cloud architecture. This application uses the layered architecture Android system as an example to exemplify the hardware and software structure of the terminal device. It should be noted that although this application uses the Android system as an example, its basic principles are equally applicable to terminals based on operating systems such as iOS or Windows.

[0117] Figure 4 This is a block diagram of the software structure and part of the hardware structure of the terminal device. The software structure adopts a layered architecture, which divides the software into several layers, each with a clear role and division of labor. The layers communicate with each other through software interfaces. Taking the Android system, which runs on the application processing unit (AP), as an example, in some embodiments, the Android system is divided into five layers, from top to bottom: the application layer, the application framework layer (Framework), the Android runtime and system libraries, the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), and the system kernel layer (Kernel).

[0118] The application layer can include a series of application packages. These application packages can include browsers, games, shopping apps, short video apps, long video apps, reading apps, calling apps, instant messaging apps, and other applications that rely on wireless networks for data transmission and communication (hereinafter referred to as wireless applications). Users may experience network lag when using wireless applications.

[0119] Additionally, in this embodiment, the application layer may further include a QoE detection module. The QoE detection module performs QoE detection on these wireless applications to determine the QoE value of the terminal device. The QoE value characterizes the QoE of the terminal device, i.e., the quality of user experience when using the terminal device; or, in other words, the QoE value characterizes the network lag level of the terminal device. A higher QoE value indicates less network lag and a better user experience; a lower QoE value indicates more severe network lag and a worse user experience.

[0120] The application framework layer provides application programming interfaces (APIs) and a programming framework for applications within the application layer. The application framework layer includes predefined functions. For example, it may include a window manager, content provider, view system, phone manager, resource manager, and notification manager. The phone manager provides call functionality for the terminal device, such as call status management (including connection and disconnection). The application framework layer may also include a Radio Interface Layer (RIL), through which the modem can interact with the phone manager, QoE detection module, etc.

[0121] The Android runtime consists of core libraries and a virtual machine. The Android runtime is responsible for scheduling and managing the Android system. System libraries can include multiple functional modules, such as the surface manager, media libraries, 3D graphics processing libraries (e.g., OpenGL ES), and 2D graphics engines (e.g., SGL).

[0122] The HAL layer can include display HAL, camera HAL, audio HAL, and sensor HAL, etc.

[0123] The kernel layer is the layer between hardware and software. The kernel layer contains at least the display driver, camera driver, audio driver, and sensor driver.

[0124] In this embodiment, the hardware layer of the terminal device may include a primary modem, a secondary modem, and an antenna. The primary and secondary modems can interact with the base station via the antenna. Specifically, the primary modem can interact with the base station via the antenna to enable the terminal device to access or hand over a cell. Furthermore, the primary modem can process signals from surrounding cells (including the serving cell and neighboring cells) received by the antenna and determine cell information based on these signals. Cell information includes, but is not limited to, cell frequency information, cell ID, cell network type, cell RSRP, and cell SNR. The RSRP and SNR parameters of the serving cell determined by the primary modem can be transmitted to the AP, where relevant modules display signal icons and signal quality prompts on the interface based on the serving cell information, such as RSRP, SNR, and network type. Moreover, the QoE detection module in the AP can decide whether to trigger load factor calculation based on the serving cell's RSRP, SNR, and the detected QoE value. The secondary modem can interact with the base station via the antenna, search for cells based on their frequency information, and calculate the cell load factor based on the signals from the searched cells.

[0125] For ease of understanding, the following embodiments of this application will be described using the following methods: Figure 3 and Figure 4 Taking the terminal device with the structure shown as an example, and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and application scenarios, the cell handover method provided in this application embodiment will be specifically described. Optionally, this method can be applied to LTE systems or NR systems, etc., and this application embodiment does not limit it. For ease of explanation, the following embodiments mainly use NR systems as an example. In addition, as mentioned above, cell signal quality can be characterized by one or more parameters such as RSRP and SNR. In this application embodiment, cell signal quality is described using RSRP and SNR as an example. Measuring cell signal quality by using both RSRP and SNR parameters can improve the accuracy of cell signal quality judgment, thereby improving the accuracy of cell handover and improving user experience. The condition that the cell signal quality meets can be called the first preset condition, which includes at least one of the following: RSRP is greater than a preset RSRP threshold, and SNR is greater than a preset SNR threshold. In the following embodiments, the first preset condition including RSRP greater than a preset RSRP threshold and SNR greater than a preset SNR threshold will be used as an example for explanation.

[0126] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a cell handover method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method includes:

[0127] S501, the QoE detection module detects the QoE value of the terminal device.

[0128] Optionally, the QoE detection module can periodically or continuously detect the QoE value of the terminal device.

[0129] For example, Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of QoE detection provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 6 As shown, the QoE detection module may include a scene recognition unit, a model parameter configuration unit, a detection model, a network evaluation unit, and a parameter acquisition unit.

[0130] The scene recognition unit is used to identify the current application scene. Application scenes include, for example, web browsing, video viewing, shopping, instant messaging, and reading. Video scenes can be further divided into long video scenes and short video scenes. As an example, the scene recognition unit can determine the current application scene based on the type of application currently running in the foreground. For instance, if the application currently running in the foreground is a reading application, then the current application scene is determined to be a reading scene.

[0131] The model parameter configuration unit is used to configure the corresponding model parameters for the corresponding detection model based on the scene identified by the scene recognition unit.

[0132] The parameter acquisition unit is used to acquire communication parameters from the communication device. These parameters characterize the communication quality of the device. For example, the parameter acquisition unit can acquire communication parameters from a modem or a Wi-Fi module. Communication parameters include, for example, power, SNR, data transmission rate, bit error rate, packet loss rate, and latency.

[0133] The network evaluation unit can evaluate the network based on the communication parameters obtained by the parameter acquisition unit and obtain the evaluation result. Optionally, the network evaluation unit can also combine service transmission parameters (e.g., traffic) obtained from the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or Internet Protocol (IP) layers to perform network evaluation. This application embodiment does not limit this. The evaluation result of the network by the network evaluation unit may include, but is not limited to: network speed, network latency, and whether network anomalies have occurred. Optionally, a network anomaly is, for example, the presence of uplink communication but no downlink communication.

[0134] The detection model is used to perform QoE detection based on the evaluation results of the network evaluation unit, obtaining the QoE value. As mentioned above, the more sluggish the network, the worse the user experience quality, and the smaller the QoE value. Optionally, the detection model can include multiple models, each corresponding to an application scenario. For example, the detection model can include a webpage preview model for web browsing, a shopping model for shopping, a short video model for short video, a long video model for long video, an instant messaging model for instant messaging, and a reading model for reading, etc. Additionally, the detection model can also include a general model. When there are no results for scenario identification, detection can be performed based on the general model.

[0135] Specifically, the detection model can configure the corresponding model parameters for the model (called the target model) based on the application scenario identified by the scene recognition module by calling the model parameter configuration unit. Then, the evaluation results obtained by the network evaluation unit are input into the configured target model, which outputs the detection results. These results include, for example, the probability of lag, the QoE value, and the cause of lag. When the QoE value is less than a preset QoE threshold, it indicates severe network lag on the terminal device, resulting in a poor user experience.

[0136] S502. When the QoE value is less than the preset QoE threshold, the QoE detection module obtains the current RSRP and SNR of the serving cell.

[0137] Optionally, the main modem can periodically acquire signals from surrounding cells (including the serving cell and neighboring cells) via its antenna and determine parameters such as RSRP and SNR of the surrounding cells based on the signals. Specifically, the main modem can send the RSRP and SNR parameters of the serving cell to the RIL in the AP via a preset interface. When the QoE value in the AP is determined to be less than a preset QoE threshold, the AP can obtain the current RSRP and SNR parameters of the serving cell from the RIL.

[0138] The S503 and QoE detection modules determine whether the current RSRP of the serving cell is greater than the preset RSRP threshold and whether the current SNR of the serving cell is greater than the preset SNR threshold.

[0139] If the current RSRP of the serving cell is greater than the preset RSRP threshold and the current SNR of the serving cell is greater than the preset SNR threshold, then proceed to step S504; otherwise, end the current process.

[0140] If the current RSRP of the serving cell is greater than the preset RSRP threshold and the current SNR of the serving cell is greater than the preset SNR threshold, it indicates that the current signal quality of the serving cell is good.

[0141] Optionally, the preset RSRP threshold is, for example, -95dBm, and the preset SNR threshold is, for example, 5dB.

[0142] In other words, when the QoE detection module detects network lag on a terminal device, it further detects the current signal quality of the serving cell. If the current signal quality of the serving cell is good, it indicates that the network lag on the terminal device is most likely caused by the heavy load of the serving cell. Therefore, step S504 is further executed to trigger the detection of the load coefficient of surrounding cells and perform cell handover.

[0143] The S504 and QoE detection modules send check information messages to the main modem.

[0144] The detection message is used to request information about the surrounding cells.

[0145] Optionally, the detection message can also be called a cell information acquisition request. In this embodiment of the application, the naming of parameters, messages, instructions, module names, etc., is only an example and does not constitute a limitation.

[0146] In response to the detection message, the S505 main modem generates a cell information report. The cell information report may include a list of cells, which includes information about the surrounding cells.

[0147] Optionally, cell information includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: cell frequency information, cell ID, cell network type, cell RSRP, and cell SNR.

[0148] It is understandable that after the main modem periodically acquires signals from surrounding cells through its antenna, it can determine the cell information of each cell based on the signals. When the main modem receives a detection message sent by the QoE detection module, it can write the most recently determined cell information of each cell into the cell list and generate a cell information report based on the cell list.

[0149] For example, Table 1 is a cell list provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Table 1, the cell list includes information on 4 cells.

[0150] Table 1

[0151] Serial Number Community ID Frequency information Network standards RSRP SNR 1 124 1850MHz LTE -95dBm 5dB 2 858 3378.72MHz NR -90dBm 8dB 3 315 1895MHz LTE -100dBm / 4 1001 2502.15MHz NR / 3dB

[0152] It should be noted that for cells in the cell list, the primary modem may have obtained the cell's RSRP and SNR. However, it's also possible that the RSRP and / or SNR weren't obtained when the cell list was generated. Therefore, the cell information in the cell list may include both RSRP and SNR, or it may include RSRP but not SNR, or it may include neither RSRP nor SNR. For example, in the cell list shown in Table 1, cell number 3 does not include SNR, and cell number 4 does not include RSRP.

[0153] Additionally, it should be noted that the cell list contains cell information for all cells identified by the SIM cards in the terminal device. For example, for a terminal device with one SIM card, the cell list contains cell information for cells identified based on that SIM card. For a terminal device with two SIM cards (SIM card 1 and SIM card 2), the cell list contains cell information for all cells identified based on both SIM card 1 and SIM card 2.

[0154] S506, the main modem sends the cell information report to the QoE detection module.

[0155] In steps S504 to S506 above, the QoE detection module obtains cell information from the main modem and directly reuses the information already obtained by the main modem. This eliminates the need for the QoE module or the secondary modem to search for cells and calculate cell information again, thus saving power and time.

[0156] After receiving the cell information report, the S507 and QoE detection modules send a load measurement request to the secondary modem, which carries a list of cells.

[0157] The load measurement request is used to request the measurement and calculation of the load factor for each cell in the cell list. The load factor characterizes the cell's load. A higher cell load factor indicates a heavier cell load, and a lower cell load factor indicates a heavier cell load.

[0158] In response to a load measurement request, the S508 secondary modem determines the cell to be measured and the non-cells to be measured (also known as third cells) from the cell list.

[0159] The cells to be measured include Category 1 cells (also known as Category 4 cells) and Category 2 cells (also known as Category 5 cells). Category 1 cells are those that contain RSRP and SNR in the cell list, with RSRP greater than a preset RSRP threshold and SNR greater than a preset SNR threshold. Category 2 cells are those that do not contain at least one of RSRP and SNR.

[0160] A cell not to be measured refers to a cell in the cell list that contains both RSRP and SNR, and where RSRP and SNR are not simultaneously greater than the corresponding preset thresholds. RSRP and SNR not simultaneously greater than the corresponding preset thresholds means that the RSRP is less than or equal to the preset RSRP threshold, or the SNR is less than or equal to the preset SNR, or the RSRP is less than or equal to the preset RSRP threshold and the SNR is less than or equal to the preset SNR.

[0161] Specifically, the secondary modem can query the cell list to see if each cell contains RSRP and SNR. For any cell A in the cell list, if cell A's cell information does not contain RSRP and / or SNR (i.e., cell A's cell information contains RSRP but not SNR, or does not contain RSRP but contains SNR, or does not contain either RSRP), then cell A is determined to be a second-type cell. In other words, second-type cells are those in the cell list whose signal quality cannot be directly determined. These cells may have relatively good signal quality and may be considered as candidate cells; therefore, it is necessary to measure the load factor of these cells, hence they are designated as cells to be measured.

[0162] If cell A's cell information includes both RSRP and SNR, then the RSRP of cell A is compared with a preset RSRP threshold, and the SNR of cell A's cell information is compared with a preset SNR threshold. If the RSRP of cell A's cell information is greater than the preset RSRP threshold, and the SNR of cell A's cell information is greater than the preset SNR, then cell A is determined to be a Class I cell. In other words, Class I cells are those whose signal quality can be directly determined from the cell list, and whose determined signal quality is relatively good. These cells may be considered as candidate cells, and their load factor needs to be measured; therefore, these cells are designated as cells to be measured.

[0163] If the RSRP in the cell information of cell A is less than or equal to a preset RSRP threshold, or if the SNR in the cell information of cell A is less than or equal to a preset SNR, then cell A is determined to be a non-measured cell. In other words, a non-measured cell is one whose signal quality can be directly determined from the cell list, and whose signal is identified as poor. If such a cell is used as the serving cell for a terminal device, the terminal device will still experience network lag, and this lag may even be exacerbated. Therefore, non-measured cells cannot be used as candidate cells, and their load factor is not measured. This reduces the computational load on the auxiliary modem and saves power consumption for the terminal device.

[0164] S509, the auxiliary modem sets the load factor of each non-test cell in the cell list to a preset value. The preset value is greater than the load factor of other cells in the cell list.

[0165] A preset value greater than the preset load factor threshold indicates that the preset value is a large value. In other words, the load factor of cells other than the cell to be measured is set to a large value. When the load factor of a cell is at the preset value, that cell cannot be selected as a candidate cell. The preset value can be set according to actual needs, as long as it is greater than the final calculated load factor of each cell to be measured in the cell list. This way, when selecting candidate cells from the subsequent cell list, cells not to be measured will not be selected as candidate cells, ensuring that the load factor of the candidate cells is relatively small, thus effectively solving the network lag problem.

[0166] As another implementation, the auxiliary modem can also remove non-test cells from the cell list and then only return the load factor of the test cells to the QoE detection module for the QoE detection module to screen candidate cells.

[0167] S510, secondary modem apply for antenna usage permission.

[0168] The primary and secondary modems share an antenna. As one possible implementation, when the secondary modem needs to use the antenna, it can request permission from the radio frequency front-end (RF front-end). Only after authorization from the RF front-end can the secondary modem use the antenna. This prevents interference with the primary modem's functionality, avoids interrupting normal operations, and ensures the continuity of modem services.

[0169] Next, for each cell to be measured, the following steps S511 and S512 are performed respectively to determine the load factor of each cell to be measured. The following explanation uses any cell to be measured, B (hereinafter referred to as cell B, or the second cell), as an example.

[0170] S511. After obtaining antenna usage rights, the secondary modem performs a cell search using the antenna based on the cell information of cell B, and detects the SSB and SIB1 of cell B.

[0171] Specifically, the secondary modem can perform a cell search based on the frequency information of cell B in the cell list to obtain the SSB signal of cell B. Then, based on the SSB signal, it determines the timing information and cell ID of cell B. Next, the secondary modem can detect the SIB1 of cell B based on the timing information and the frequency information of cell B. SIB1 contains the cell bandwidth of cell B.

[0172] S512, the secondary modem calculates the load factor of cell B based on the SSB and SIB1 of cell B.

[0173] It is understandable that the load factor of cell B represents the load situation of the cell. The greater the load of the cell, the greater the load factor, and the smaller the load of the cell, the smaller the load factor.

[0174] The load factor can be represented and calculated in various ways. In this embodiment, the load factor of cell B represents the energy of useful signals in the SSB of cell B within a preset time period.

[0175] Optionally, the noise energy in the SSB of cell B within a preset time period can be calculated based on the SSB, and the total energy of the SSB within that time period can be calculated based on the calculated SSB and SIB1. The energy of the useful signal within that time period is obtained by subtracting the noise energy from the total energy, i.e., the load factor. It should be noted that the total energy of the SSB within a certain time period refers to the total energy of the SSB within the cell bandwidth during that time period, not the downlink signal energy within a portion of the bandwidth.

[0176] It's understandable that the SSB signal transmitted by the base station is a downlink signal. The energy of the useful signal in the SSB is positively correlated with the cell load factor. The heavier the cell load, meaning the more terminal devices communicating in the cell, the more the base station will increase the power of the useful signal in the SSB to ensure that each terminal device can obtain basic communication service quality. Therefore, the greater the detected power of the useful signal in the SSB of a cell, the greater the energy of the useful signal in the SSB signal over a certain period of time. Conversely, the less the load, the greater the energy of the useful signal in the SSB signal.

[0177] Based on this, in this embodiment of the application, the energy of the useful signal in the SSB of the cell within a preset time period is used as the load factor, which can quantitatively reflect the cell load. Within the preset time period, the greater the energy of the useful signal in the SSB of the cell, that is, the greater the load factor, the greater the cell load; conversely, the smaller the energy of the useful signal in the SSB of the cell, that is, the smaller the load factor, the smaller the cell load.

[0178] After performing steps S511 and S512 once for each cell to be measured in the cell list, perform step S513 as follows.

[0179] S513, the secondary modem generates a load measurement report based on the load factor of the cell to be measured and the load factor (preset value) of the non-cell to be measured.

[0180] Optionally, the load measurement report can be in list format. Specifically, the load measurement report can be based on the above cell list, with the addition of a load factor column, which lists the load factor of each cell.

[0181] S514, the secondary modem returns the load measurement report to the QoE detection module.

[0182] After receiving the load measurement report, the S515 and QoE detection modules determine the RSRP and SNR of the second type of cell.

[0183] As described in step S508 above, the cell list may include second-category cells, i.e., cells that do not contain at least one of RSRP and SNR. Second-category cells may be considered as candidate cells, and therefore their load factors are calculated using the method described above. After determining the load factors, the RSRP and SNR of the second-category cells need to be determined to facilitate accurate selection of candidate cells. Alternatively, for first-category cells that have RSRP and SNR in the cell list, the RSRP and SNR can be retrieved again from the main modem to obtain the latest RSRP and SNR for the first-category cells, further improving the accuracy of candidate cell selection.

[0184] Specifically, for the second type of cell, the RSRP of the useful signal (denoted as SS_RSRP) and the average power of the noise (denoted as SS_NP) can be calculated based on the SSB. SS_RSRP is used as the RSRP of the cell, and the ratio of SS_RSRP to SS_NP is calculated to obtain SS_SNR. SS_SNR is then used as the SNR of the cell. See the following for details. Figure 7 Step S5121 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0185] The S516 and QoE detection modules determine candidate cells (also known as the seventh cell) based on the load measurement report and the RSRP and SNR of each cell. Among the candidate cells, the cell with the smallest load coefficient is the high signal quality cell (also known as the sixth cell). A high-quality service cell is a cell whose RSRP is greater than the preset RSRP threshold and whose SNR is greater than the preset SNR threshold.

[0186] Specifically, the QoE detection module first filters out high-quality serving cells, then sorts the high-quality serving cells according to their load coefficients, and determines candidate cells based on the sorting results.

[0187] S517, the QoE detection module determines whether the candidate cell is a serving cell; if the candidate cell is a serving cell, the process ends; if the candidate cell is not a serving cell, step S518 is executed.

[0188] After identifying candidate cells, the next step is to determine whether the candidate cell is the current serving cell of the terminal device. If the candidate cell is the current serving cell, it means that among the surrounding cells, there is no cell with a lower load than the serving cell and whose signal quality meets the requirements; that is, there is no candidate cell that meets the requirements, and therefore the process ends. If the candidate cell is not the current serving cell, it means that the candidate cell has a lower load (lower than the current serving cell) and its signal quality meets the requirements, and therefore the candidate cell is used as a candidate cell.

[0189] The S518 and QoE detection modules identify candidate cells as alternative cells (also known as the first cell).

[0190] The S519 and QoE detection modules send information about alternative cells to the main modem.

[0191] Information about the candidate cells includes, for example, the ID of the candidate cell.

[0192] After receiving the information from the alternative cell, the S520 and main modem switch the wireless network of the terminal device to the alternative cell.

[0193] "Switching the terminal device's wireless network to the backup cell" means that the terminal device connects to the backup cell, and the backup cell becomes the terminal device's serving cell. In other words, it means switching the backup cell to the terminal device's serving cell.

[0194] Here are several methods for the primary modem to switch networks to an alternative cell:

[0195] 1. The primary modem adjusts the RSRP of the candidate cell to a target value, which is higher than the RSRP of any other cell in the cell list.

[0196] It is understandable that the main modem periodically measures parameters such as RSRP and SNR of the periodic cells and generates a measurement report (hereinafter referred to as a cell measurement report) for each cell based on these parameters. The main modem reports each cell measurement report to the base station for the base station to manage the wireless network of the terminal equipment. Optionally, after receiving the cell measurement report reported by the terminal equipment, the base station can control the terminal equipment to perform cell handover based on the RSRP in the cell measurement report, switching the cell with the highest RSRP to the serving cell of the terminal equipment.

[0197] In this embodiment, after the primary modem adjusts the RSRP of the candidate cell, the adjusted RSRP is reported to the base station in the next cell measurement report. Based on the cell measurement report, the base station determines that the candidate cell has the highest RSRP and therefore sends a cell handover message to the candidate cell. The cell handover message indicates that the serving cell of the terminal device should be switched to the candidate cell. In response to the cell handover message, the terminal device switches its serving cell to the candidate cell.

[0198] Optionally, the target value can be a preset fixed value or a value determined based on the RSRP of each cell in the load measurement report. This application embodiment does not limit this.

[0199] In another embodiment, while increasing the RSRP of the candidate cell, the RSRP of other cells can also be decreased to suppress handover to other cells.

[0200] In other words, this method guides the base station to switch the terminal device's wireless network to the candidate cell by increasing the candidate cell's RSRP. This does not affect the base station's original cell switching logic, and the base station-driven cell switching makes the handover smoother, achieving a seamless handover without the user noticing, thus improving the user experience.

[0201] 2. The main modem searches for candidate cells based on their frequency information, disconnects from the current serving cell, and connects to the candidate cell.

[0202] This method allows the terminal device to actively switch cells, improving the accuracy and efficiency of cell handover.

[0203] 3. The primary modem adjusts the RSRP of the candidate cell to the target value, reports the adjusted RSRP to the base station in the next cell measurement report, and then starts a timer. If the primary modem receives a cell handover message from the base station instructing it to switch to the candidate cell before the timer expires, the process ends. If the primary modem does not receive a cell handover message from the base station instructing it to switch to the candidate cell before the timer expires, the primary modem searches for candidate cells based on their frequency information, disconnects from the current serving cell, and connects to the candidate cell.

[0204] In other words, method 1 is executed first, and it is determined whether method 1 takes effect within the preset time period. If method 1 does not take effect within the preset time period, method 2 is then executed.

[0205] This method can prevent cell handover failures due to base station overload or other reasons, thus improving the reliability of cell handover.

[0206] As one possible implementation, after a successful cell handover, the terminal device can return to execute the above step S502 to determine whether network lag has been improved, further enhancing network service performance and improving user experience.

[0207] The cell handover method provided in this application detects the load factor of surrounding cells when the QoE value is less than a preset QoE threshold, the RSRP of the serving cell is greater than a preset RSRP threshold, and the SNR is greater than a preset SNR threshold (i.e., when the QoE is poor but the signal quality of the serving cell is good). Based on the detection results, cells with lower loads and better signal quality than the current serving cell are selected as candidate cells, and the terminal device's network is switched to the candidate cell. The candidate cell has a lighter load, which can reduce or resolve lag; at the same time, although the network quality of the candidate cell may not be as good as the signal quality of the serving cell, it is still good and within an acceptable range, thus not causing lag. Therefore, this solution can solve the network lag problem of terminal devices, improve network service performance, and enhance user experience.

[0208] In the above embodiment, before measuring the load factor, cells with good signal quality and cells with uncertain signal quality are selected from the cell list as cells to be measured. Load measurement is only performed on the cells to be measured, so there is no need to perform measurement calculations on the cells not to be measured, which simplifies the algorithm and saves power consumption.

[0209] As another possible implementation, the secondary modem can also perform load measurements on all cells in the cell list, generate a load measurement report, and send it to the QoE detection module, which will then select candidate cells from the report.

[0210] The process of calculating the load factor will be further explained below.

[0211] For example, Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating another example of a cell handover method provided in this application. The explanation will continue using any cell B to be measured as an example. Figure 7 As shown, in step S512 above, the secondary modem calculates the load factor of cell B based on the SSB and SIB1 of cell B, including steps S5121 to S5128 below. The secondary modem is the main body executing the following steps, and will not be described again.

[0212] S5121. Calculate the RSRP (denoted as SS_RSRP, also known as the first RSRP) of the useful signal in the SSB of cell B and the average power of the noise (denoted as SS_NP, also known as the average power of noise).

[0213] In other words, SS_RSRP represents the RSRP of the useful signal in the SSB of cell B. SS_NP represents the average power of the noise in the SSB of cell B.

[0214] As explained in the terminology and concepts above, RSRP is the average power of the signal received on all REs carrying the reference signal within a symbol. In other words, SS_RSRP can be understood as the average power of the useful signal in the SSB on one RE. SS_NP is the average power of the noise received on all REs within a symbol. SS_NP can be understood as the average power of the noise on one RE.

[0215] S5122. Based on the cell information of cell B and the SIB of cell B, within the preset statistical duration TL, the SSB of cell B is divided into bandwidth and time slots. In the frequency domain, signals of x measurement bandwidths are obtained, each measurement bandwidth including s RBs. In the time domain, signals of m downlink time slots are obtained, each time slot including N symbols.

[0216] Where x and s are both positive integers, and m is a positive number. Of course, it is easier to calculate when m is a positive integer.

[0217] It is understood that, in this embodiment of the application, a signal within a preset duration period is also referred to as a signal within the preset duration. In this embodiment, a signal within a preset statistical duration TL is referred to as a signal within the preset statistical duration TL, and the preset statistical duration TL is also referred to as the first time period.

[0218] In this step, the downlink signal with duration TL in the SSB is divided into bandwidth and time slots, i.e., frequency domain and time domain segments are performed. The result of frequency domain segmentation is a signal with x measured bandwidths. The result of time domain segmentation is a signal with m downlink time slots. These are explained below.

[0219] 1) Bandwidth partitioning

[0220] Specifically, measurement bandwidth refers to the frequency range used to measure signal characteristics. The width of the measurement bandwidth can be set according to actual needs and the bandwidth capability of the secondary modem; therefore, measurement bandwidth can also be called capability bandwidth.

[0221] In this embodiment, bandwidth segmentation can be performed based on the cell bandwidth of cell B and the width of the measurement bandwidth. Each measurement bandwidth corresponds to a frequency range, and the set of frequency ranges of all measurement bandwidths covers the cell bandwidth of cell B. It is understood that cell bandwidth is generally wide, while the bandwidth capability of the secondary modem is limited. In this embodiment, the cell bandwidth is divided into several measurement bandwidths. This allows for the measurement and calculation of a larger bandwidth cell using devices with smaller bandwidths, saving on device investment. Moreover, by having multiple measurement bandwidths cover the entire cell bandwidth of cell B, it is easier to calculate signal energy more accurately subsequently, thereby improving the accuracy of load factor calculation.

[0222] In this embodiment, it is assumed that each measurement bandwidth includes s RBs, and the measurement bandwidth of cell B is divided into x measurement bandwidths. The number of RBs contained in the cell bandwidth of cell B is represented as k, then k = x * s. Where k, x, and s are all integers.

[0223] For example, Figure 8 A schematic diagram illustrating the principle of bandwidth segmentation is shown. (For example...) Figure 8 As shown, the cell bandwidth containing k RBs is divided in the frequency domain to obtain x measurement bandwidths, which are shown in the figure as measurement bandwidth 0 to measurement bandwidth x-1. Each measurement bandwidth includes s RBs, represented in the figure as RB 0 to RB s-1. Additionally, as shown, one RB includes 12 REs.

[0224] 2) Time slot division

[0225] Wireless signals can be divided in the time domain using time units such as frames, subframes, time slots, and symbols. SSB stands for downlink signal. For ease of distinction, in this embodiment, the time units used to divide SSB are referred to as downlink frames, downlink subframes, and downlink time slots.

[0226] For example, Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of an example wireless signal provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 9 As shown, the transmission timeline of the downlink signal can be divided into multiple downlink frames, as illustrated in the figure, from downlink frame t-1 to downlink frame t+1. Each downlink frame can have a preset duration, such as 10 milliseconds (ms). Each frame can be divided into z (z is an integer greater than 1) downlink subframes, as illustrated in the figure, from downlink subframe 0 to downlink subframe z-1. Each downlink subframe can have a preset duration (e.g., 1 ms). Each downlink subframe can include several downlink time slots, as illustrated in the figure, including downlink time slot 0 and downlink time slot 1. Each downlink time slot can include several symbols (e.g., 7 or 14), as illustrated in the figure, including 7 symbols.

[0227] Combination Figure 8 The signal structure shown can be segmented during time slot division based on the network type and / or sub-carrier spacing (SCS) of cell B. The network type of cell B can be obtained from the cell list. The SCS of cell B can be determined based on its frequency information. If the frequency information of cell B cannot determine a unique SCS, cell search can be used to further determine the SCS of cell B.

[0228] Specifically, due to differences in network standards and SCS, the number of downlink slots in each downlink subframe varies, as does the length of each downlink slot, resulting in different numbers of downlink slots (m) within the preset statistical duration TL. Taking a fixed downlink subframe duration of 1ms as an example, in an LTE system, one downlink subframe contains two downlink slots, each with a duration of 0.5ms. In a 5G NR system, when the SCS is 15kHz, one downlink subframe contains one downlink slot with a length of 1ms; when the SCS is 30kHz, one downlink subframe contains two downlink slots with a length of 0.5ms.

[0229] Specifically, in the method of this embodiment, firstly, the length of each downlink time slot is determined according to the network standard of cell B and / or cell B. Then, given a known preset statistical duration TL, the SSBs within the preset statistical duration TL are divided into time slots according to their lengths, resulting in m downlink time slots, where m = preset statistical duration TL / length of each downlink time slot. For example, if the preset statistical duration TL is 100ms, for an LTE system or a 5G NR system with an SCS of 30kHz, each downlink subframe includes 2 downlink time slots, and the length of each downlink time slot is ms. Therefore, dividing the SSBs within the preset statistical duration TL into time slots yields 100 / 0.5 = 20 downlink time slots, i.e., m = 20.

[0230] Furthermore, based on the network standard of cell B, the number of symbols contained in each downlink time slot can be further determined. In this embodiment, the number of symbols contained in each downlink time slot is represented as N, where N is a positive integer. For the LTE system, N = 7; for the 5G NR system, N = 14. N can be used to calculate the number of REs in the SSB, as detailed in subsequent step S5214.

[0231] The preset statistical duration TL can be set according to actual needs. For example, the preset statistical duration TL can be equal to the duration of one downlink subframe (1ms) or the duration of five downlink subframes (5ms). It should be understood that the longer the statistical duration, the more signal data is used to calculate the load factor, and the more accurate the calculated load factor will be.

[0232] It should be noted that this embodiment uses time slots as the unit for time-domain segmentation of the SSB as an example. A time slot is the time division unit of the SSB itself; therefore, using time slots as the unit allows for simpler, more accurate, and faster time-domain segmentation, improving algorithm efficiency. Of course, in other embodiments, other time units can also be used for time-domain segmentation. In any case, the value of TL is equal to the product of the number of segmented unit times m and the duration of a unit time (denoted as T), i.e., TL = m * T.

[0233] S5123. Based on SS_NP and the number of REs contained in one measurement bandwidth within one downlink time slot, calculate the noise energy NE on one measurement bandwidth within one downlink time slot.

[0234] As mentioned above Figure 8 As illustrated in the embodiment, each measurement bandwidth includes s RBs, and each RB typically includes 12 REs; as described above. Figure 9 As illustrated in the embodiment, each downlink time slot includes N symbols. Therefore, each measurement bandwidth within each downlink time slot includes s*12*N REs.

[0235] Furthermore, as described in step S5121 above, SS_NP represents the average power of noise in the SSB on one RE. Therefore, the noise energy NE in one measurement bandwidth within one downlink time slot is: the product of SS_NP and the number of REs in one measurement bandwidth within one downlink time slot, that is, NE = SS_NP * s * 12 * N.

[0236] S5124. Calculate the total energy ME of the signal (useful signal + noise) on each measurement bandwidth within each downlink time slot.

[0237] It should be understood that the number of downlink time slots is m, and the number of measurement bandwidths is x. Therefore, the total energy ME of the signal on each policy bandwidth of each downlink time slot is calculated to be m*x.

[0238] S5125. Calculate the difference between the total signal energy ME and the noise energy NE in each measurement bandwidth within each downlink time slot to obtain the useful signal energy SE (also known as the first useful energy) in each measurement bandwidth within each downlink time slot.

[0239] That is, SE=ME-NE=ME-SS_NP*s*12*N.

[0240] It should be understood that the total energy ME is m*x, and therefore the number of useful signal energy SEs in each downlink time slot in each measurement bandwidth is m*x.

[0241] S5126. Use SS_RSPR to normalize the useful signal energy SE on each measurement width in each downlink time slot to obtain the normalized useful signal energy SE_NORM (also known as the third useful energy).

[0242] Optionally, the quotient of the useful signal energy SE and SS_RSPR can be calculated, and the useful signal energy SE can be normalized.

[0243] That is, SE_NORM = SE / SS_RSPR.

[0244] S5127. Sum the normalized useful signal energy SE_NORM on x measurement bandwidths in each downlink time slot to obtain the normalized useful signal energy SE_CELL (also known as the second useful energy) on the cell bandwidth in each downlink time slot.

[0245] That is, SE_CELL(j)=(SE_NORM(0)+SE_NORM(1)+...+SE_NORM(x-1)).

[0246] Where SE_CELL(j) represents the normalized useful signal energy SE_CELL in the cell bandwidth of downlink time slot j. Downlink time slot j is any one of the m downlink time slots. (SE_NORM(0)) represents the normalized useful signal energy in the measurement bandwidth of downlink time slot j with index 0. (SE_NORM(1)) represents the normalized useful signal energy in the measurement bandwidth of downlink time slot i with index 1. (SE_NORM(x-1)) represents the normalized useful signal energy in the measurement bandwidth of downlink time slot j with index x-1.

[0247] Of course, in another embodiment, the sum of useful signals SE on x processing bandwidths within each downlink time slot can be calculated first to obtain the sum of m useful signal energies corresponding one-to-one with m downlink time slots (called the fourth useful energy). Then, SS_RSPR is used to normalize each useful signal energy sum to obtain the normalized useful signal energy SE_CELL on the cell bandwidth within each downlink time slot.

[0248] It should be understood that step S5127 calculates m SE_CELLs, and the m SE_CELLs correspond one-to-one with the m downlink time slots.

[0249] S5128. Sum the normalized useful signal energy SE_CELL on the cell bandwidth within the m downlink time slots of the statistical duration TL, and determine the load factor LR of cell B based on the summation result.

[0250] In one embodiment, when calculating the load factor LR of each cell, the preset statistical duration LT can be equal, and the number m of downlink time slots obtained by time slot division can also be equal. In this case, the normalized useful information energy SE_CELL on the cell bandwidth within the m downlink time slots can be summed, and the summation result can be directly determined as the load factor LR of cell B.

[0251] That is, LR(B)=(SE_CELL(0)+SE_CELL(1)+...+SE_CELL(m-1)).

[0252] Where LR(B) represents the load factor of cell B. (SE_CELL(0) represents the normalized useful signal energy in the cell bandwidth within the downlink time slot with sequence number 0. (SE_CELL(1)) represents the normalized useful signal energy in the cell bandwidth within the downlink time slot with sequence number 1. (SE_CELL(m-1)) represents the normalized useful signal energy in the cell bandwidth within the downlink time slot with sequence number m-1.

[0253] In another embodiment, when calculating the load factor LR of each cell, the selected preset statistical duration LT can be different, and the number m of downlink time slots obtained by time slot division can also be different. In this case, the normalized useful information energy SE_CELL on the cell bandwidth within m downlink time slots can be summed, and then the summation result (also called the first value) can be averaged according to the number of downlink time slots to obtain the average value of the normalized useful signal energy on the cell bandwidth within one downlink time slot. This average value is determined as the load factor LR of the cell.

[0254] That is, LR(B)=((SE_CELL(0)+SE_CELL(1)+...+SE_CELL(m-1)) / m.

[0255] In other words, whether the summation of the normalized useful signal energy SE_CELL over the cell bandwidth within m downlink time slots is directly used as the load factor, or the average value per unit time is calculated based on the summation result and the average value is used as the load factor, different cells use the same time length to calculate the load factor. This makes the load factors calculated between different cells comparable, thereby improving the accuracy of subsequent selection of candidate cells based on the load factor and improving the accuracy of cell handover.

[0256] In addition, this method normalizes the useful signal energy, converting the useful signal energy of each cell into a dimensionless value, thereby making the useful signal energy of different cells comparable, and thus making the load coefficient comparable, which facilitates analysis and cell handover decisions and improves the accuracy of cell handover.

[0257] The foregoing has detailed examples of cell handover methods provided in the embodiments of this application. It is understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the terminal device includes hardware and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware 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 in conjunction with the embodiments, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0258] This application embodiment can divide the terminal device into functional modules according to the above method example. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, such as a detection unit, a processing unit, a display unit, etc., or two or more functions can be integrated into one module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional module. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0259] It should be noted that all relevant content of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be referenced from the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and will not be repeated here.

[0260] The terminal device provided in this embodiment is used to execute the above-described cell handover method, and therefore can achieve the same effect as the above-described implementation method.

[0261] When using integrated units, the terminal device may further include a processing module, a storage module, and a communication module. The processing module is used to control and manage the actions of the terminal device. The storage module supports the execution of stored program code and data by the terminal device. The communication module supports communication between the terminal device and other devices.

[0262] The processing module can be a processor or a controller. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a microprocessor, etc. The storage module can be a memory. The communication module can specifically be a radio frequency circuit, a Bluetooth chip, a Wi-Fi chip, or other devices that interact with other terminal devices.

[0263] In one embodiment, when the processing module is a processor and the storage module is a memory, the terminal device involved in this embodiment can be a device having... Figure 3 The device with the structure shown.

[0264] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the cell handover method of any of the above embodiments.

[0265] This application also provides a computer program product that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the aforementioned steps to implement the cell handover method described in the above embodiments.

[0266] In addition, embodiments of this application also provide an apparatus, which may specifically be a chip, component or module. The apparatus may include a connected processor and a memory; wherein the memory is used to store computer execution instructions, and when the apparatus is running, the processor may execute the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to cause the chip to execute the cell handover method in the above method embodiments.

[0267] In this embodiment, the terminal device, computer-readable storage medium, computer program product or chip are all used to execute the corresponding methods provided above. Therefore, the beneficial effects that can be achieved can be referred to the beneficial effects in the corresponding methods provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0268] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, only the division of the above functional modules is used as an example. In actual applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0269] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of modules or units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0270] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. A component shown as a unit can be one or more physical units; that is, it can be located in one place or distributed in multiple different locations. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0271] Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0272] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, in essence, or the parts that contribute to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a device (which may be a microcontroller, chip, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods of the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0273] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A cell handover method, wherein the method is executed by a terminal device, characterized in that, The method includes: When the terminal device experiences network lag and the signal of the serving cell of the terminal device meets the first preset condition, the load factor of the serving cell and the load factor of the neighboring cells of the serving cell are determined; the load factor of the cell is positively correlated with the load of the cell, and the first preset condition includes at least one of the following: the reference signal received power RSRP is greater than a preset RSRP threshold, and the signal-to-noise ratio SNR is greater than a preset SNR threshold. A first cell is determined based on the first preset condition, the load factor of the serving cell, and the load factor of the neighboring cells; the first cell is the cell with the smallest load factor among the cells whose signals meet the first preset condition, and the load factor of the first cell is less than the load factor of the serving cell. The wireless network of the terminal device is switched to the first cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The load factor of the second cell represents the energy of the useful signal in the downlink signal of the second cell within a preset time period; the second cell is any one of the serving cell and the neighboring cells.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The downlink signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB); determining the load factor of the serving cell and the load factor of the neighboring cells of the serving cell includes: The SSB and SIB1 of the second cell are detected based on the cell information of the second cell. Based on the cell information of the second cell and the SIB1, the SSB in the first time period is divided into frequency domain segmentation and time domain segmentation respectively, to obtain signals of x measurement bandwidths in the frequency domain and signals of m sub-time periods in the time domain; x and m are both positive integers. Calculate the energy of the useful signal in each measurement bandwidth within each sub-time period to obtain m*x first useful energies; The load factor of the second cell is calculated based on m*x units of the first useful energy.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of calculating the load factor of the second cell based on m*x units of the first useful energy includes: Calculate the RSRP of the useful signal in the SSB to obtain the first RSRP; Based on the first RSRP and m*x first useful energies, calculate m second useful energies that correspond one-to-one with the m sub-time periods; wherein, the second useful energy corresponding to the i-th sub-time period is characterized by the cumulative result of x first useful energies within the i-th sub-time period, and the i-th sub-time period is any one of the m sub-time periods; The load factor of the second cell is determined based on the sum of m of the second useful energies.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of calculating m second useful energies corresponding one-to-one with the m sub-time periods based on the first RSRP and m*x first useful energies includes: Based on the first RSRP, the m*x first useful energies are normalized to obtain m*x third useful energies; The sum of x third useful energies within each of the sub-time periods is calculated to obtain m second useful energies corresponding one-to-one with the m sub-time periods.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The step of normalizing the m*x first useful energies according to the first RSRP to obtain m*x third useful energies includes: Calculate the quotient of the j-th first useful energy and the first RSRP to obtain the third useful energy corresponding to the j-th first useful energy; the j-th first useful energy is any one of the m*x first useful energies.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of calculating m second useful energies corresponding one-to-one with the m sub-time periods based on the first RSRP and m*x first useful energies includes: Calculate the sum of x first useful energies within each of the sub-time periods to obtain m fourth useful energies that correspond one-to-one with the m sub-time periods; Based on the first RSRP, the m fourth useful energies are normalized to obtain m second useful energies that correspond one-to-one with the m sub-time periods.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that, The preset duration is equal to the duration of one of the sub-time periods; determining the load factor of the second cell based on the sum of m second useful energies includes: Calculate the sum of m second useful energies to obtain the first value; The load factor of the second cell is obtained by calculating the quotient of the first value and m.

9. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that, The preset duration is equal to the duration of the first time period; The step of determining the load factor of the second cell based on the sum of m second useful energies includes: Calculate the sum of m of the second useful energy sources to obtain the load factor of the second cell.

10. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 9, characterized in that, The step of calculating the energy of the useful signal in each measurement bandwidth within each sub-time period to obtain m*x first useful energies includes: The average power of the noise in the SSB on a resource particle RE is calculated to obtain the average noise power; Determine the number of REs contained in a signal of one measurement bandwidth within one of the sub-time periods; The noise energy is obtained by multiplying the number of REs by the average noise power. Calculate the total energy of the signal in each measurement bandwidth within each sub-time period to obtain m*x total energies; Calculate the difference between each of the total energy and the noise energy to obtain m*x first useful energies.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, Each of the measured bandwidths includes s resource blocks (RBs), and each RB includes 12 resource instances (REs), where s is a positive integer; The determination of the number of REs contained in the signal of one measurement bandwidth within one of the sub-time periods includes: Based on the network standard of the second cell, determine the amount of symbolic data N contained in each sub-time period, where N is a positive integer; The number of REs is determined according to the following formula: Nre = s * 12 * N; Wherein, Nre represents the number of REs.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The network standard of the second cell is Long Term Evolution (LTE), and N is 7; or, the network standard of the second cell is New Radio (NR), and N is 14.

13. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 12, characterized in that, One sub-time period is one time slot.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, The first preset condition includes RSRP greater than a preset RSRP threshold and SNR greater than a preset SNR threshold; determining the load factor of the serving cell and the load factor of the neighboring cells of the serving cell includes: Obtain a cell list; the cell list includes cell information of the serving cell and the neighboring cells, and the cell information includes at least one of the cell frequency information, cell ID, cell network type, cell RSRP, and cell SNR; Based on the cell list, a third cell, a fourth cell, and a fifth cell are determined respectively; the third cell is a cell in the cell list whose cell information includes RSRP and SNR, and whose RSRP and SNR do not meet the first preset condition; the fourth cell is a cell in the cell list whose cell information includes RSRP and SNR, and whose RSRP and SNR meet the first preset condition; and the fifth cell is a cell in the cell list whose cell information does not include RSRP and / or SNR. The load factor of the third cell is set to a preset value, which is greater than the load factor of other cells in the cell list; Determine the load factor for each of the fourth and fifth cells.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, Determining the first cell based on the first preset condition, the load factor of the serving cell, and the load factor of the neighboring cells includes: Determine the RSRP and SNR of each of the fifth cells; A sixth cell is determined from the third, fourth, and fifth cells; the sixth cell is a cell whose RSRP and SNR satisfy the first preset condition. The seventh cell is obtained by determining the cell with the smallest load factor from the sixth cell. If the seventh cell is not the serving cell, then the seventh cell is determined to be the first cell.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that, The terminal device includes a first modem and a second modem; The cell list is generated by the first modem; Determining the load factor of each of the fourth and fifth cells includes: The load factor of each of the fourth and fifth cells is determined by the second modem.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The step of switching the wireless network of the terminal device to the first cell includes: Set the RSRP of the first cell to a target value, the target value being greater than the RSRP of the serving cell and other cells in the neighboring cells; Report a cell measurement report to the base station, the cell measurement report including the RSRP of the first cell; The terminal device receives a handover message sent by the base station, the handover message being used to instruct the terminal device to switch its wireless network to the first cell; In response to the handover message, the wireless network of the terminal device is switched to the first cell.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The step of switching the wireless network of the terminal device to the first cell includes: Based on the cell information of the first cell, search for the signal of the first cell; Disconnect from the serving cell; Establish a connection with the first cell based on the signal from the first cell.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that, The step of switching the wireless network of the terminal device to the first cell includes: Set the RSRP of the first cell to a target value, wherein the target value is greater than the RSRP of other cells in the first cell; Report a cell measurement report to the base station, the cell measurement report including the RSRP of the first cell; Start the timer; If a handover message is received from the base station before the timer expires, the wireless network of the terminal device is switched to the first cell; the handover message is used to indicate that the wireless network of the terminal device is switched to the first cell. If the handover message sent by the base station is not received before the timer expires, the signal of the first cell is searched according to the cell information of the first cell, the connection with the serving cell is disconnected, and a connection with the first cell is established according to the signal of the first cell.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that, The method further includes: The Quality of Experience (QoE) value of the terminal device is detected; the QoE value is negatively correlated with the degree of network lag. If the QoE value is less than the preset QoE threshold, it is determined that the terminal device is experiencing network lag.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The detection of the Quality of Experience (QoE) value of the terminal device includes: Identify the current application scenario of the terminal device; Based on the application scenario, load the model configuration parameters corresponding to the application scenario into the target model corresponding to the application scenario; The network evaluation result is determined based on at least one of the communication parameters and the service transmission parameters; the network evaluation result characterizes the transmission status of the wireless network of the terminal device. The network evaluation results are input into the target model to obtain the QoE value.

22. A terminal device, characterized in that, The terminal device includes: one or more processors, and a memory; The memory is coupled to the one or more processors, the memory being used to store computer program code, the computer program code including computer instructions, the one or more processors invoking the computer instructions to cause the terminal device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21.

23. A chip system, characterized in that, The chip system is applied to a terminal device, and the chip system includes one or more processors, the one or more processors being used to invoke computer instructions to cause the terminal device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that, when executed on a terminal device, cause the terminal device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21.

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