Neighbor cell self-organization method and system for non-terrestrial networks

Abstract

This invention discloses a method and system for neighbor cell self-organization of a spaceborne base station in a non-terrestrial network. The spaceborne base station sends a request message to the core network via an NG link. Upon receiving the request, the core network filters out the end-node information of neighboring spaceborne base stations that are associated with the service wavelength of the current spaceborne base station within a target time period. This end-node information is then encapsulated and fed back to the current spaceborne base station. The spaceborne base station establishes an XN link with the corresponding neighboring spaceborne base station based on the end-node information within the target time period and completes the wavelength-neighbor cell update through the XN link. This invention achieves decentralized predictive neighbor cell updates, improving network robustness and handover continuity, accurately matching dynamic changes in wavelength-position neighbor cells, adapting to multi-wavelength cell configurations, optimizing resource utilization and decision-making efficiency, improving overall network configuration accuracy and scheduling efficiency, and meeting future large-scale networking needs, thus benefiting the long-term development of the industry.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of neighbor cell configuration technology for NTN satellite base stations, and specifically to a method and system for self-organizing neighbor cells of satellite base stations in non-terrestrial networks. Background Technology

[0002] Non-terrestrial Networks (NTN) connections are bidirectional connections established through non-terrestrial networks (such as satellite networks). With the accelerated large-scale deployment and commercial application of NTNs, satellite-based base stations, as the core access nodes of space-based communication networks, directly determine the service continuity and communication service quality during inter-cell handover by ensuring timely and accurate neighbor cell configuration and dynamic updates. This is a key technological aspect for guaranteeing seamless NTN coverage across the entire network.

[0003] Currently, the configuration and updating of neighbor cells for satellite-based base stations primarily employs a centralized control model from the ground control center, supplemented by inter-satellite link interaction. This model mainly involves the ground control center coordinating the planning and batch distribution of basic neighbor cell relationships across the entire network, constructing a core neighbor cell list. At present, this method of configuring neighbor cells for satellite-based base stations has revealed some configuration defects. For example, the coverage radii and serving cell topologies of satellite-based base stations, such as those on low-Earth orbit satellites, often change dynamically on a minute or even second-by-second basis, causing neighbor cell relationships to change rapidly accordingly. However, the centralized updates from the ground control center are limited by the transmission latency and instability of the satellite-to-ground link, as well as the weak onboard data processing capabilities of some satellite-based base stations. This makes it difficult to respond in real-time to changes in the field topology, easily leading to asynchronous neighbor cell configuration updates and discrepancies between the information and the actual coverage scenario, thus severely impacting the success rate of terminal handover and the user's communication experience. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the shortcomings of centralized management of neighbor cells in satellite-borne base stations, which suffers from poor timeliness and negatively impacts user experience, this application proposes a method and system for self-organizing neighbor cells of satellite-borne base stations in non-terrestrial networks.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for self-organizing neighboring cells of a spaceborne base station in a non-terrestrial network. The method includes: the spaceborne base station sending a request message to the core network based on an NG link, the request message including its own ephemeris data and the spectral position data it covers; after receiving the request message from the spaceborne base station, the core network filters out the end node information of neighboring spaceborne base stations that are associated with the service spectral position of the spaceborne base station within a target time period, and encapsulates the end node information and feeds it back to the spaceborne base station; after receiving the end node information returned by the core network, the spaceborne base station establishes an XN link with the corresponding neighboring spaceborne base station within the target time period based on the end node information, and completes the spectral position-neighboring cell update through the XN link.

[0006] Furthermore, the request information also includes the waveform change information of the satellite-borne base station in multiple future time periods; the end node information includes the end nodes of neighboring satellite-borne base stations that are adjacent to the waveform of the satellite-borne base station in multiple future time periods, and the effective time window of each end node.

[0007] The method further includes a rule for determining the correlation between the service wavelengths, which includes the satellite directly covering the wavelength or the wavelengths covered by the satellite having spatial adjacency with the wavelength.

[0008] Furthermore, the request information also includes standardized information elements, the IP address and port number required to establish the XN link.

[0009] The method further includes the following steps: after the satellite base station receives the end node information returned by the core network, it determines whether there is already an XN link between itself and the neighboring satellite base stations in the end node list; otherwise, it establishes an XN link with the neighboring satellite base stations that have not established an XN link.

[0010] The method further includes an XN link removal process, which includes: the satellite base station queries whether the satellite base station corresponding to the existing XN link appears in the neighboring satellite base station end node information sent by the core network; if not, the corresponding XN link is disconnected and the wavelength neighbor cell configuration of the corresponding satellite base station is removed.

[0011] The method further includes an initialization process, which includes the participating satellite base stations establishing a connection with the core network based on the NG link and sending their own end node information to the core network.

[0012] Furthermore, the end-node information in the method includes ephemeris data and wave position data. In another aspect, the present invention proposes a system comprising a satellite-borne base station and a core network, wherein when the satellite-borne base station needs to perform neighbor cell configuration, the satellite-borne base station and the core network are configured to perform neighbor cell configuration using any of the methods described above.

[0013] The system further includes a satellite autonomous management component, which is used to periodically send the satellite's wavelength information table to the corresponding onboard base station.

[0014] The self-organizing method of neighbor cell relationships between satellite base stations adopted in this invention improves the dynamic adaptation capability of satellite base stations in NTN scenarios. It can respond to changes in the field topology in the NTN environment in real time, improve the speed of neighbor cell relationship iteration, avoid the problems of asynchronous neighbor cell configuration updates and information deviation from the actual coverage scenario caused by satellite-to-ground link transmission delay and unstable link transmission, and improve the success rate of terminal handover and user communication experience. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of the method of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the system of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of the method of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the method of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0016] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of this disclosure, the technical solutions of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of this disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort should fall within the scope of protection of this disclosure. Furthermore, for clarity, parts unrelated to the described exemplary embodiments have been omitted from the drawings.

[0017] In this specification, it should be understood that terms such as "comprising" or "having" are intended to indicate the presence of features, figures, steps, behaviors, components, portions, or combinations thereof disclosed herein, and are not intended to exclude the possibility of one or more other features, figures, steps, behaviors, components, portions, or combinations thereof being present or added. It should also be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other.

[0018] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail. This detailed description should not be considered as a limitation of the present invention, but rather as a more detailed description of certain aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention.

[0019] It should be understood that the terminology used in this invention is merely for describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, with respect to numerical ranges in this invention, it should be understood that the upper and lower limits of the range and each intermediate value between them are specifically disclosed. Any stated value or intermediate value within a stated range, as well as each smaller range between any other stated value or intermediate value within said range, are also included in this invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may be independently included or excluded from the range.

[0020] Unless otherwise stated, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. While only preferred methods and materials have been described herein, any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the implementation or testing of this invention. All references to this specification are incorporated by way of citation to disclose and describe methods and / or materials associated with those references. In the event of any conflict with any incorporated reference, the content of this specification shall prevail.

[0021] This invention improves the neighbor cell configuration technology for spaceborne base stations in non-terrestrial network (NTN) scenarios. (Refer to...) Figure 1 One embodiment of the present invention proposes a method for self-organizing neighboring cells of a satellite-based base station in a non-terrestrial network. The method includes: the satellite-based base station sending a request message to the core network based on an NG link, the request message including its own ephemeris data and the spectral position data it covers; after receiving the request message from the satellite-based base station, the core network filters out the end node information of neighboring satellite-based base stations that are associated with the service spectral position of the satellite-based base station within a target time period, and encapsulates the end node information and feeds it back to the satellite-based base station; after the satellite-based base station receives the end node information returned by the core network, it establishes an XN link with the corresponding neighboring satellite-based base station within the target time period based on the end node information, and completes the spectral position-neighboring cell update through the XN link.

[0022] In the above embodiments, the NG link refers to the communication link under the NG protocol, which is a dual communication channel between the satellite base station and the core network; the XN link is a logical interconnection link between satellite base station nodes, used for direct cooperation between satellite base stations without going through the core network, to achieve lossless handover, dual connectivity, data forwarding, configuration synchronization, etc. The satellite base station of the present invention obtains the association relationship between the serving cell and the wave position on the side of the neighboring satellite base station through the link establishment message (XN SETUP RESPONSE), and updates the local wave position neighbor cell configuration accordingly. For any target wave position, the neighboring satellite cells corresponding to the wave position and adjacent wave positions are uniformly configured as the associated neighbor cells of the wave position.

[0023] This invention achieves dynamic neighbor cell updates based on wavelength correlation through NG and XN protocol adaptation and an inter-satellite autonomous interaction mechanism. After obtaining the end-node information of neighboring satellite-based base stations associated with the service wavelength of the satellite's base station through the core network, the satellite-based base station configures neighbor cells independently with these neighboring base stations via XN links. This eliminates the need for a ground-based central core network, allowing each satellite-based base station to independently self-organize, thus achieving decentralization in the self-organizing network. This avoids ground-to-satellite transmission delays and instability, improving user experience.

[0024] In this invention, the beam position data is obtained from the local beam position information table periodically sent by the satellite autonomous management component to the satellite's onboard base station. The beam position table is a configuration table in the onboard base station that records parameters such as the number, direction, coverage, power, time slot / frame mapping, and neighbor cell association of all available beams. It is the core configuration file for the base station to control beam scanning, coverage, handover, and neighbor cell pairing.

[0025] Based on the above embodiments, the present invention further improves upon this invention by including, in addition to, the request information, the wave position change information of the satellite-based base station for multiple future time periods; the end-node information includes the end-nodes of neighboring satellite-based base stations adjacent to the wave position of the satellite-based base station in multiple future time periods, and the effective time window of each end-node. In this invention, each satellite-based base station can configure corresponding neighbor cells for one or more future time periods. When a satellite-based base station configures for multiple time periods, the request information sent by the satellite-based base station includes the coverage wave position data of the satellite-based base station for multiple future time periods; after receiving the wave position data for multiple future time periods reported by the satellite base station, the core network analyzes the data one by one according to the time periods, filters out the neighboring satellite end-nodes adjacent to the wave position of the satellite-based base station in each target time period, and adds an effective time window to each end-node, forming a multi-time period neighbor satellite information list and feeding it back to the satellite-based base station; the satellite-based base station establishes XN links with the corresponding neighboring satellite-based base stations according to the effective time window of each time period, and updates the configuration of the neighboring cells with the wave position in that time period. This embodiment further introduces a time dimension, completing the establishment of neighboring satellite base station XN based on time points, and realizing predictive periodic management of neighbor cell configuration.

[0026] Based on the above embodiment, the present invention further improves upon this invention by determining the correlation of the service wavelength positions as follows: the satellite directly covers the wavelength position, or the wavelength position covered by the satellite itself has a spatial adjacency attribute with the wavelength position. Wavelength positions are the basis for neighbor cell discovery and configuration, and Xn links are established and updated based on wavelength position relationships. To ensure real-time transmission, this embodiment identifies satellite-borne base stations covering the wavelength position or spatially adjacent to it as having a correlation of service wavelength positions, and subsequently establishes and updates Xn link connections for these correlated satellite-borne base stations.

[0027] Based on the above embodiment, the present invention further improves upon this invention by including standardized information elements, the IP address and port number required to establish the XN link, in the request information. This embodiment further improves the NG link between the satellite-borne base station and the core network by adding standardized information elements to the information transmitted through the NG link to define the communication data format, and by carrying the IP address and port number required for the self-establishment of the XN link in the request information. Furthermore, to assist the core network screening process, the request information also encapsulates the ephemeris and wavelet table of the request-initiating satellite-borne base station.

[0028] Based on the above embodiment, the present invention further improves the process of establishing the XN link by determining whether a neighboring star-borne base station in the end-node list already has an XN link with itself after receiving the end-node information returned by the core network. If not, it establishes an XN link with a neighboring star-borne base station that has not established an XN link.

[0029] Based on the above embodiment, the present invention further improves the method by including an XN link removal process. This process includes the onboard base station querying whether the onboard base station corresponding to an existing XN link appears in the neighboring onboard base station end node information sent by the core network. If not, the link is disconnected and the corresponding onboard base station's neighbor cell configuration is removed. In this embodiment, for neighboring satellites that do not appear in the neighboring satellite list returned by the core network but for which the onboard base station has established an XN link, the onboard base station triggers an XN link disconnection process and simultaneously removes the neighbor cell configuration of the serving cell under that neighboring satellite, thus avoiding resource redundancy.

[0030] The above-described embodiment of adding and removing XN links for spaceborne base stations avoids the shortcomings of existing technologies where the serving cell corresponding to some wavelengths of a spaceborne base station may change dynamically. Furthermore, traditional neighbor cell configurations do not associate wavelengths with cell bindings, leading to mismatches between neighbor cell configuration information and the actual serving cell, resulting in terminal handover failures. This embodiment, by establishing and removing XN links in real time, synchronously updates neighbor cell information, improving the matching degree between neighbor cell configuration information and the serving cell, and ensuring timely terminal handover.

[0031] Based on the above embodiment, the present invention further improves the method by including an initialization process, which includes the participating satellite base station establishing a connection with the core network based on the NG link and sending its own end node information to the core network.

[0032] Based on the above embodiment, the present invention is further improved, wherein the end node information includes ephemeris data and wave position data. Reference Figure 2 This invention also proposes a system including a satellite-based base station and a core network. When the satellite-based base station needs to perform neighbor cell configuration, the satellite-based base station and the core network are configured to perform neighbor cell configuration using the method described in any of the above embodiments. In this invention, the satellite-based base station is a satellite-based base station, and the core network is located on the ground. Through the self-organizing network method of this invention, communication with the ground core segment is reduced, latency is lowered, and the timeliness of neighbor cell configuration is improved.

[0033] Based on the above system embodiments, the present invention further improves upon the system by including a satellite autonomous management component, which is used to periodically send the satellite wavelength information table to the corresponding satellite base station.

[0034] Reference Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the dynamic configuration workflow of one embodiment of the present invention. In the initial stage, multiple satellite-based base stations synchronously report and store the end-node information applied to the self-establishment of the XN link to the core network through the standard extended NG protocol, laying the foundation for subsequent inter-satellite interaction between satellite-based base stations. Figure 3 In one example, during a given time period, the satellite-based base station covers spectral position 1 / 2 in cell 0 and spectral position 3 / 4 in cell 1. The satellite's autonomous management component periodically sends ephemeris and spectral position data to the satellite-based base station. At this time, the neighboring satellite base station (Base Station 1) covers spectral position 5 in cell 2, and the satellite-based base station and the neighboring satellite base station (Base Station 1) have an XN link connection. When the spectral position of the serving cell of the satellite-based base station changes, the satellite-based base station sends a request for neighboring satellite nodes in the ad hoc network to the core network. The core network, based on stored information, filters out the end node information of neighboring satellite base stations that are associated with the serving spectral position of the satellite-based base station within the target time period, such as... Figure 3 The end-node information of neighboring satellites 2 to n is obtained. Based on the end-node information, the satellite-based base station learns that neighboring satellite 1 is no longer adjacent to it. It randomly disconnects the XN link with neighboring satellite 1 and removes its neighbor cell relationship. It then establishes XN links with neighboring satellites 2 to n, configuring the corresponding neighbor cell relationships, thus completing the self-organizing network for this time period. When the service wavelength of the satellite-based base station changes again, it resends a request to the core network and repeats the above self-organizing steps to achieve real-time matching and connection with neighboring satellite-based base stations.

[0035] Reference Figure 4 , Figure 4 The embodiment introduces a time-dimensional control mechanism, and Figure 3 The most significant difference in the embodiments is that the request information also includes the wavefront change information of the satellite-borne base station for multiple future time periods, and the end-node information includes the neighboring satellite-borne base station end-nodes whose wavefronts are adjacent to the satellite-borne base station for multiple future time periods, as well as the effective time window of each end-node. For example... Figure 4 In the process, the satellite's self-management component sends ephemeris and position data, including current time data and data for multiple future time points, to the onboard base station. When the onboard base station sends a request to the core network, it sends its own position-related data for the current time point and the position-related data for multiple future time points to the core network. The core network calculates the neighboring satellite nodes that are adjacent to the target position at different time points according to the time dimension, and calculates the effective time of each node. Subsequently, the core network encapsulates the neighboring satellite nodes and their effective time windows into end-node information and feeds it back to the onboard base station.

[0036] When reorganizing the network after subsequent waveform changes, the satellite-based base station no longer needs to communicate with the core network. Instead, it can directly initiate XN link connections based on the neighboring satellite base station and the corresponding time window in the end node information sent by the core network, further improving the efficiency of the self-organizing network.

[0037] The technical solution of this invention realizes decentralized predictive neighbor cell updates, improves network robustness and handover continuity, accurately matches dynamic changes in wave position neighbor cells, adapts to multi-wave position cell configurations, optimizes resource utilization and decision-making efficiency, improves the accuracy of network configuration and scheduling efficiency, and adapts to future large-scale networking needs.

[0038] In this disclosure, similar or identical parts between the various embodiments can be referred to interchangeably. Each embodiment focuses on describing the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for embodiments other than the method, such as devices, computer program products, and computer-readable media, since they are substantially similar to the method embodiments, the descriptions are relatively simple; relevant details can be found in the description of the method embodiments. These embodiments also possess similar beneficial technical effects to the corresponding method. Since the beneficial technical effects of the method have already been described in detail above, they will not be repeated here.

[0039] The units or modules described in the embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in software or programmable hardware. The described units or modules can also be located in a processor, and the names of these units or modules do not necessarily constitute a limitation on the unit or module itself.

[0040] The foregoing has described specific embodiments of this disclosure. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recited in the claims may be performed in a different order than that shown in the embodiments and may still achieve the desired result. Furthermore, the processes depicted in the drawings do not necessarily require the specific or sequential order shown to achieve the desired result. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing are also possible or may be advantageous.

[0041] The above description is merely an embodiment of this disclosure and is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Various modifications and variations can be made to this disclosure by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this disclosure should be included within the scope of the claims of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for neighboring cell self-organization of spaceborne base stations in non-terrestrial networks, characterized in that, The method includes: The satellite-based base station sends a request message to the core network via the NG link. The request message includes its own ephemeris data and the spectral data it covers. After receiving the request information from the satellite-borne base station, the core network filters out the end node information of neighboring satellite-borne base stations that are associated with the service wavelength of the satellite-borne base station within the target time period, and encapsulates the end node information and feeds it back to the satellite-borne base station. After receiving the end node information returned by the core network, the satellite-based base station establishes an XN link with the corresponding neighboring satellite-based base station in the target time period based on the end node information, and completes the beam position-neighbor cell update through the XN link.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The request information also includes waveform change information for the satellite-borne base station over multiple future time periods; The end-node information includes neighboring satellite-borne base station end-nodes that are adjacent to the wavelength of the satellite-borne base station in multiple future time periods, as well as the effective time window of each end-node.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rules for determining the correlation of service wavelengths include that the satellite directly covers the wavelength or the wavelength covered by the satellite itself has a spatial adjacency attribute with the wavelength.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The request information also includes standardized information elements, the IP address and port number required to establish the XN link.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The XN link establishment process includes, after the satellite base station receives the end node information returned by the core network, determining whether there is already an XN link between itself and the neighboring satellite base stations in the end node list; otherwise, establishing an XN link with the neighboring satellite base stations that have not established an XN link.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes an XN link removal process, which includes: the satellite base station queries whether the satellite base station corresponding to the existing XN link appears in the neighboring satellite base station end node information sent by the core network; if not, the corresponding XN link is disconnected and the wavelength neighbor cell configuration of the corresponding satellite base station is removed.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method also includes an initialization process, which includes the participating satellite base stations establishing a connection with the core network based on the NG link and sending their own end node information to the core network.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The end-node information includes ephemeris data and wave position data.

9. A system, characterized in that, It includes a spaceborne base station and a core network, wherein when the spaceborne base station needs to perform neighbor cell configuration, the spaceborne base station and the core network are configured to perform neighbor cell configuration using the method described in claims 1-8.

10. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that, The system also includes a satellite autonomous management component, which is used to periodically send the satellite's wavelength information table to the corresponding onboard base station.

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