Broadcasting methods, broadcasting information reception methods, equipment, and electronic devices.

Abstract

This application provides a broadcasting method, a method for receiving broadcasting information, an apparatus, and electronic equipment, relating to the technical field of satellite communications. In this application, first, the edge area and non-edge area of ​​the current serving cell's coverage area are determined, then, first broadcasting information including a system information set related to the serving cell's adjacent cells and other information sets unrelated to the serving cell's adjacent cells is transmitted to the edge area, and second broadcasting information including other information sets but not system information sets is transmitted to the non-edge area. In this manner, it is possible to avoid broadcasting the system information set related to adjacent cells to the entire coverage area of ​​the serving cell, thereby reducing the satellite's system information transmission power consumption and improving the utilization rate of channel resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application with the application number 202410335350.7 and the invention title of "Broadcasting Method, Method for Receiving Broadcasting Information, Apparatus and Electronic Device", which was filed on March 22, 2024, and all of its contents are incorporated into this application by reference.

[0002] This application relates to the technical field of satellite communication, and in particular, to a broadcasting method, a method for receiving broadcasting information, an apparatus and an electronic device.

Background Art

[0003] The system information of the 5G communication system consists of a master information block (MIB) and a series of system information blocks (SIBs).

[0004] This series of SIBs includes some SIBs related to adjacent cells, for example, the neighboring configurations in SIB2, SIB3, SIB4, SIB5, and SIB19. The SIBs related to adjacent cells indicate the information of adjacent cells of the current serving cell, and include neighboring configuration information related to measurement, reselection, and neighboring ephemeris. Before the coverage of the current serving cell ends, based on the detection results of adjacent cells, the terminal can use the SIBs related to adjacent cells to detect and reselect adjacent cells, so that in the scenario of dynamic cell changes, the terminal can continuously camp on different cells, and the continuity of the terminal's network service utilization can be maintained.

[0005] In the protocol of the conventional 3GPP standard, the system information related to adjacent cells is transmitted at the cell level. To ensure the continuity of network service utilization for all terminals within the coverage range of the current serving cell, the network usually needs to broadcast the system information related to adjacent cells with the same content in the entire coverage range of the current serving cell.

[0006] Because the entire coverage area of ​​a currently located cell may include target terminals that do not currently require cell measurement or re-selection, such as target terminals located in the central region of the currently located cell, if the network still transmits system information related to adjacent cells across the entire coverage area in a broadcast manner, it will increase the satellite's transmit power consumption, occupy air interface links, and lead to a waste of channel resources. [Overview of the Initiative]

[0007] This application provides a broadcasting method, a broadcasting information receiving method, apparatus, and electronic equipment for reducing the transmission power consumption of a satellite when it transmits system information related to adjacent cells and improving the utilization rate of channel resources. The specific technical proposal is as follows:

[0008] In the first aspect, this application is, To determine the edge and non-edge areas of the current serving cell's coverage area, The process includes transmitting first broadcast information to the edge area, which includes a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell and other information sets unrelated to the adjacent cells of the serving cell, and transmitting second broadcast information to the non-edge area, which includes the other information sets but does not include the system information set. Provide broadcasting methods.

[0009] The above method avoids sending the same set of system information related to adjacent cells to all coverage areas of the serving cell, reduces the power consumption of network equipment when transmitting system information related to adjacent cells, and improves the utilization of channel resources.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the other information set includes scheduling information for system information, which instructs the terminal to obtain the system information set in an on-demand request manner or in a direct extraction manner. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly acquire the system information set. If the scheduling type of the system information set in the scheduling information is configured as a non-broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to acquire the system information set in the manner of the on-demand request.

[0011] According to the method described above, the terminal can determine the scheduling type of the system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell, and then obtain the system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell using either an on-demand request method or a direct extraction method.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the system information set includes at least the neighborhood configuration in SIB19, When the scheduling type of the aforementioned neighbor configuration is configured to broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly obtain the aforementioned neighbor configuration. If the scheduling type of the neighbor configuration is configured as a non-broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to acquire the neighbor configuration using an on-demand request method.

[0013] According to the method described above, after determining the scheduling type of the neighbor configuration, the terminal can obtain the neighbor configuration in SIB19 independently using either an on-demand request method or a direct extraction method.

[0014] In one possible implementation, transmitting the second broadcast information to the aforementioned non-edge area is: The scheduling type of the system information set in the second broadcast information is configured to be a non-broadcast type, Determining whether a request to acquire the system information set, issued by a terminal in the non-edge area based on the on-demand request method, has been received, If the answer is "yes", then the system information set will be issued to the terminal based on the acquisition request, If the answer is "No", this includes broadcasting the other set of information to the non-edge area.

[0015] According to the method described above, when a terminal device determines that there is system information related to an unreceived non-broadcast type adjacent cell, it can request the network device to issue a set of system information related to the adjacent cell of the serving cell, thereby reducing the transmission power consumption of the network device when transmitting the system information set related to the adjacent cell and saving system resources.

[0016] In one possible implementation, determining the edge and non-edge areas of the coverage area of ​​the current serving cell is: Determining the edge sub-areas of the aforementioned coverage area, In the coverage area, one or more candidate sub-areas are selected that extend from the edge sub-area to the interior of the coverage area by a set distance, This includes designating one or more candidate sub-areas as edge areas and the remaining sub-areas in the coverage area as non-edge areas.

[0017] According to the method described above, by determining edge areas and non-edge areas from the coverage area of ​​the serving cell, and then transmitting broadcast information containing different content depending on the broadcast method to the edge and non-edge areas after determining the edge and non-edge areas, it is possible to avoid transmitting the system information set related to adjacent cells to all coverage areas of the serving cell, thereby saving system resources and power consumption.

[0018] In one possible implementation, after determining the edge area and the non-edge area of the coverage area of the current serving cell, further determining whether the moving speed of the coverage area is greater than the moving speed of the terminals within the coverage area; if yes, determining the upper peripheral area projected in the moving direction of the edge area and the lower peripheral area opposite to the upper peripheral area, and changing the lower peripheral area to a non-edge area; if no, further including maintaining any one peripheral area of the edge area as it is.

[0019] According to the above method, based on the relative speed between the network device and the terminal device, the edge area is further simplified, so that the area where the network device transmits the system information set related to the adjacent cell to the terminal device becomes smaller, air interface resources can be saved, and the utilization rate of channel resources can be improved.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the coverage area is a closed area, the edge area is the outer peripheral edge of the closed area, and the width of the outer peripheral edge is equal to the width of n (n is an integer greater than or equal to 1) beam positions.

[0021] In a second aspect, the present application provides when accessing the network device in a non-edge area, receiving broadcast information from the network device, where the broadcast information includes another information set that is not related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell of the network device and includes scheduling information of the system information set, and does not include the system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell; determining the scheduling type of the system information set based on the scheduling information, and acquiring the system information set according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type. A method for receiving broadcast information is provided.

[0022] According to the above method, when the terminal device determines that there is system information related to an adjacent cell of a non-broadcast type that has not been received, by being able to obtain a system information set related to the adjacent cell in a data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type of the system information set, for each terminal within the coverage area, it is possible to avoid receiving a system information set related to the adjacent cell from the network device, reduce the transmission power consumption of the network device for transmitting the system information set related to the adjacent cell, save air interface resources, and improve the utilization rate of channel resources.

[0023] In one possible implementation, based on the above scheduling information, determining the scheduling type of the system information set and obtaining the system information set according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type includes: Based on the scheduling information, determining whether the scheduling type is a broadcast type or a non-broadcast type; When the scheduling type is the broadcast type, determining that the data acquisition method is to directly obtain the system information set; When the scheduling type is the non-broadcast type, determining that the data acquisition method is to determine a data request method corresponding to the operation state based on the current operation state of the terminal and request the network device for the system information set according to the data request method.

[0024] According to the above method, the terminal device determines an acquisition method for obtaining a system information set related to an adjacent cell based on the scheduling type of the system information set related to the adjacent cell in the scheduling information. Thus, when various types of terminal devices determine that there is system information related to an adjacent cell of a non-broadcast type that has not been received, they can request the network device to issue a corresponding system information set related to the adjacent cell.

[0025] In one possible implementation, when the operating state is idle, requesting the system information set from the network device according to the data request scheme is: To determine whether or not there is any unbroadcasted system information that has not been received, If "yes", the network device initiates a random access procedure to issue the system information set to the current terminal based on a first acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19, and issues the first acquisition request for the system information set to the network device in an on-demand system information request manner. If the answer is "No," this includes continuing to use the received system information.

[0026] According to the above method, idle terminal devices located in non-edge areas can request system information sets related to adjacent cells from network devices using an on-demand system information request scheme. This reduces the transmission power consumption required by network devices to transmit system information sets related to adjacent cells, conserves air interface resources, and improves the utilization rate of channel resources.

[0027] In one possible implementation, when the operating state is a connected state, requesting the system information set from the network device according to the data request scheme is: The system information set is reported to the network device in a dedicated system information request scheme, so that the network device issues the system information set to the current terminal based on a second acquisition request which includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19.

[0028] According to the above method, connected terminal devices located in non-edge areas can request a set of system information related to adjacent cells from network devices using a dedicated system information request scheme. This reduces the transmission power consumption required by network devices to transmit the system information set related to adjacent cells, conserves air interface resources, and improves the utilization rate of channel resources.

[0029] In a third aspect, this application is: An area partitioning module for determining the edge and non-edge areas of the current serving cell's coverage area, A data transmission module for transmitting first broadcast information to the edge area, which includes a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell and other information sets unrelated to the adjacent cells of the serving cell, and for transmitting second broadcast information to the non-edge area, which includes the other information sets but does not include the system information set. We provide broadcasting equipment.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the data transmission module further, The aforementioned other information set includes scheduling information for system information, which instructs the terminal to acquire the system information set in an on-demand request manner or in a direct extraction manner. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly acquire the system information set. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a non-broadcast type, it is used to instruct the terminal to acquire the system information set in the manner of the on-demand request.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the system information set includes at least the neighborhood configuration in SIB19, When the scheduling type of the aforementioned neighbor configuration is configured to broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly obtain the aforementioned neighbor configuration. If the scheduling type of the neighbor configuration is configured as a non-broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to acquire the neighbor configuration using an on-demand request method.

[0032] In one possible implementation, the data transmission module specifically, The scheduling type of the system information set in the second broadcast information is configured to a non-broadcast type. It is determined whether or not the request to acquire the system information set issued by a terminal in the non-edge area based on the on-demand request method has been received. If the answer is "yes", the system information set is issued to the terminal based on the acquisition request. If the answer is "No," it is used to broadcast the other set of information to the non-edge area.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the area partitioning module is specifically, Determine the edge sub-areas of the aforementioned coverage area, Within the coverage area, one or more candidate sub-areas are selected that extend from the edge sub-area towards the interior of the coverage area to a set distance. This is used to designate one or more candidate sub-areas as edge areas and the remaining sub-areas in the coverage area as non-edge areas.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the area partitioning module further, Determine whether the movement speed of the coverage area is greater than the movement speed of the terminals within the coverage area. If "Yes", determine the upper periphery and the lower periphery opposite to the upper periphery that are projected in the direction of movement of the edge area, and change the lower periphery to a non-edge area. If the answer is "No," it is used to maintain the perimeter of any one of the aforementioned edge areas as is.

[0035] In the fourth aspect, this application is, When accessing network equipment in a non-edge area, a data receiving module for receiving broadcast information from the network equipment includes other information sets that are not related to adjacent cells of the serving cell of the network equipment and include scheduling information of the system information set, but do not include the system information set related to adjacent cells of the serving cell, Based on the scheduling information, a data processing module is included for determining the scheduling type of the system information set and for acquiring the system information set according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type. We provide a device for receiving broadcast information.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the data processing module specifically, Based on the scheduling information, it is determined whether the scheduling type is a broadcast type or a non-broadcast type. If the scheduling type is the broadcast type, the data acquisition method is determined to be directly acquiring the system information set. If the scheduling type is the non-broadcast type, the data acquisition method is used to determine that the data acquisition method is to determine a data request method corresponding to the operating state based on the current operating state of the terminal, and to request the system information set from the network equipment according to the data request method.

[0037] In one possible implementation, when the operating state is idle, the data processing module specifically: Determine whether or not there is any unbroadcasted system information that has not been received. If "yes", the network device initiates a random access procedure to issue the system information set to the current terminal based on a first acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19, and issues the first acquisition request for the system information set to the network device in an on-demand system information request scheme. If the answer is "No," the received system information will be used to continue using it.

[0038] In one possible implementation, when the operating state is a connected state, the data processing module specifically, A dedicated system information request scheme is used to report the second acquisition request for the system information set to the network device, so that the network device issues the system information set to the current terminal based on a second acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19.

[0039] In the fifth aspect, this application is, Memory for storing computer programs, When the computer program stored in the memory is executed, it includes a processor for realizing the steps of the broadcasting method or the broadcasting information reception method described above. We provide electronic equipment.

[0040] In a sixth aspect, the present application relates to a computer-readable storage medium in which a computer program is stored, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, it enables the implementation of the steps of the above-described broadcasting method or broadcasting information reception method. To provide a computer-readable storage medium.

[0041] For each aspect of the second through sixth aspects described above, and the technical effects that can be achieved by each aspect, please refer to the description of the technical effects that can be achieved for the first aspect or the various possible solutions in the first aspect, and any unnecessary explanations will be omitted here. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0042] In the following, in order to more clearly explain the examples of this specification or the technical concepts in the prior art, we will briefly introduce the drawings that may be used in the descriptions of the examples or the prior art. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the drawings in the following descriptions are only a few examples of those described herein, and that other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative effort. [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a flowchart of the broadcasting method according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the network structure according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a network device according to an embodiment of this application transmits a system information set to a terminal device. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a simplified schematic diagram of the edge area according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing how a network device according to an embodiment of this application transmits other information sets in a non-edge area. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a flowchart of a method for receiving broadcast information according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a terminal device according to an embodiment of this application receives broadcast information. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a flowchart showing how an idle terminal device located in a non-edge area acquires a system information set according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing how a connected terminal device located in a non-edge area acquires a system information set according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario in which a terminal device according to an embodiment of this application acquires a system information set. [Figure 11] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a broadcasting device according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 12] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a broadcast information receiving device according to an embodiment of this application. [Figure 13] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device according to an embodiment of this application. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0043] In the following sections, the application will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings in order to further clarify its purpose, technical proposal, and advantages. The specific operating procedures in the embodiments of the method are also applicable to embodiments of the apparatus or system. In the description of this application, “multiple” is understood to mean “at least two.” “And / or” describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, “A and / or B” may indicate three cases: “A exists only,” “B exists only,” or “Both A and B exist.” “A and B are connected” may indicate two cases: “A and B are directly connected” and “A and B are connected via C.” Furthermore, in the description of this application, terms such as “first,” “second,” etc., are used merely for the purpose of distinguishing them and should not be understood as teaching or suggesting relative importance, nor should they be understood as teaching or suggesting order.

[0044] For the sake of understanding this application, we will first interpret the relevant terms used in this application.

[0045] cell In a cellular mobile communication system, a cell is the area covered by one base station or a part of a base station (fan-shaped antenna), and terminal equipment (mobile stations) within that area can reliably communicate with the base station via a radio channel. In a satellite communication system, a satellite cell is the area covered by radio waves from one satellite, and radio communication stations within that area can communicate using the satellite as a relay.

[0046] 5G System Information MIB: The master information block includes cell prohibition status information and basic physical layer information necessary for receiving additional system information.

[0047] System Information Block (SIB) SIB1: Defines the scheduling of other system information blocks and contains information necessary for initial access.

[0048] SIB2: Contains cell reselection information and is primarily related to serving cells.

[0049] SIB3: Includes serving frequency information related to cell reselection and information on adjacent cells with the same frequency.

[0050] SIB4: Includes information on adjacent cells with different NR frequencies related to cell reselection.

[0051] SIB5: Includes information on E-UTRA adjacent cells related to cell reselection.

[0052] SIB6: Includes ETWS primary notification.

[0053] SIB7: Includes ETWS secondary notifications.

[0054] SIB8: Includes CMAS alarm notification.

[0055] SIB9: Includes information related to GPS time and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

[0056] SIB19: NTN serving cell, including satellite parameters of adjacent cells.

[0057] The embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0058] Example 1: The system information blocks contain a variety of information types. Some of these information types, such as the neighborhood configuration in system information blocks SIB2, SIB3, SIB4, SIB5, and SIB19, are related to adjacent cells. For convenience of expression, the neighborhood configurations in system information blocks SIB2, SIB3, SIB4, SIB5, and SIB19 will collectively be referred to as the system information sets related to adjacent cells. These system information sets related to adjacent cells record neighborhood configuration information, and the terminal can detect and re-select adjacent cells based on the neighborhood configuration information (e.g., access criteria for adjacent cells, frequency of adjacent cells). Other system information blocks are not related to adjacent cells and include system information blocks related to local serving cells, such as SIB6-SIB8, or related to notifications and alarms. This application collectively refers to these system information blocks as other information sets. The system information blocks related to local serving cells record local configuration information, and the terminal can determine how to access the local area based on the local configuration information.

[0059] If a terminal is located within the satellite beam's coverage area (serving cell) and at the edge of the satellite's coverage area, the quality of the adjacent cell signal can be detected based on the SIB configuration associated with the adjacent cell. Before the serving cell's coverage ends, the terminal can switch from the current serving cell to the next serving cell based on the adjacent cell detection result, thereby ensuring that the terminal is in a different serving cell and guaranteeing continuity of network service acquisition.

[0060] Currently, in cellular mobile communication systems, terminals and networks typically use the 3GPP protocol for information interaction, and system information is transmitted at the cell level using the 3GPP protocol. This means the network needs to broadcast and transmit system information related to the same adjacent cell to all coverage areas within the serving cell. However, in satellite communication systems, the satellite network has a wide coverage range, a large number of beam positions, and all coverage areas of a serving cell may include target terminals that do not currently have a need for cell measurement or re-selection. Therefore, if the satellite network still broadcasts system information related to adjacent cells to all coverage areas, it increases the transmission power consumption of the satellite when transmitting system information related to adjacent cells to the coverage areas, occupies the air interface link, and leads to wasted channel resources.

[0061] In view of this, in order to reduce the transmission power consumption of a satellite when it transmits system information related to adjacent cells and to improve the utilization rate of channel resources, in a first aspect, the present application provides a broadcasting method that specifically includes first determining the edge area and non-edge area of ​​the coverage area of ​​the current serving cell, and then transmitting first broadcast information to the edge area, which includes a set of system information related to adjacent cells of the serving cell and other sets of information not related to adjacent cells of the serving cell, and transmitting second broadcast information to the non-edge area, which includes other sets of information but does not include a set of system information.

[0062] The method described in this application allows network equipment (satellite) to transmit a set of system information related to adjacent cells of a serving cell only in the edge area of ​​the serving cell, while transmitting a different set of information in the non-edge area of ​​the serving cell. By setting the scheduling type of the system information set related to adjacent cells to "non-broadcast" type, terminals in the non-edge area can request the system information set related to adjacent cells from the network equipment when they determine that there is non-broadcast type system information that has not been received. By using this method, it is possible to avoid transmitting the same system information related to adjacent cells to all coverage areas of the serving cell, thereby reducing the satellite's power consumption for transmitting system information and improving the utilization rate of channel resources.

[0063] As shown in Figure 1, this is a flowchart of the broadcasting method according to Embodiment 1 of this application, which includes the following S1 and S2.

[0064] S1: Determine the edge and non-edge areas of the current serving cell's coverage area.

[0065] Referring to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a network structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, the network structure includes terminal equipment and network equipment, and the method according to Embodiment 1 of this application may be implemented using network equipment.

[0066] Terminal equipment may also be referred to as user terminals or user equipment (UE), and terminal equipment may be deployed on the ground, including indoor, outdoor, portable, wearable, or in-vehicle devices. For example, terminal equipment may be a mobile phone, tablet, computer with wireless transmission and reception capabilities, virtual reality (VR) terminal equipment, augmented reality (AR) terminal equipment, wireless terminal in industrial control, in-vehicle terminal, or wireless terminal in self-driving. In this application, terminal equipment may also be referred to as terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, mobile station, mobile device, or UE terminal equipment.

[0067] Network equipment typically has wireless transmission and reception capabilities and mobile properties. In this application, network equipment may be satellites or balloon stations. For example, satellites may be Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), and High Elliptical Orbit (HEO). In the case of LEO satellites, the LEO satellite moves relative to the ground, and the coverage area on the ground changes with the satellite's movement. However, the signal propagation distance between the LEO satellite and terminal equipment is short (typically 500km to 1500km), and link loss is low, so the power requirements for the satellite's transmission to terminal equipment are not high.

[0068] In the case of GEO satellites, the orbital height of the GEO is typically over 30,000 km, and to ensure satellite signal coverage and increase the system capacity of the communication network, the satellite may cover the ground with multiple beams. For example, one satellite may cover the ground with tens or hundreds of beams, and one beam can cover a ground area with a diameter of tens to hundreds of kilometers. Of course, the network equipment may also be base stations installed on the ground or in water. For example, the network equipment may be next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) or next-generation-evolved NodeBs (ng-eNBs). Of these, gNBs provide user-side and control-side functions of a new air interface (new radio, NR) for the UE, and ng-eNBs provide user-side and control-side functions of evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) for the UE. This application does not specifically limit the number or type of network equipment.

[0069] Referring to Figure 3, Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which the network equipment according to this application transmits a system information set to terminal equipment. In the prior art, network equipment typically transmits cell system information (including other information sets unrelated to adjacent cells of the serving cell and system information sets related to adjacent cells of the serving cell) to each beam position in the ground coverage area (for example, a position corresponding to each grid in serving cell 1) in a periodic broadcasting manner.

[0070] In some embodiments, one terminal device within a ground coverage area searches for signals from neighboring cells, measures the signal quality of each neighboring cell, receives cell system information from network devices, and selects and accesses the appropriate cell. For example, if a terminal device is idle and performing cell reselection, it detects the signal quality of nearby neighboring cells, and if a cell within the neighboring cells meets the cell reselection criteria, the terminal device is reselected to that cell. Alternatively, for example, if a terminal device is connected, it is currently accessing a cell, and it detects the signal quality of the current serving cell and neighboring cells. If it determines that the signal quality of a neighboring cell is better than that of the serving cell, it may trigger a cell switching procedure and control the terminal device to access the neighboring cell with better signal quality.

[0071] In the embodiment of this application, terminals within the ground coverage area include, for example, target terminals that are far from adjacent cells, such as terminal UE1 in Figure 3. In actual application, such target terminals may not be able to retrieve information about nearby cells, and since there is currently no need for cell switching, such target terminals do not need to acquire a set of system information related to adjacent cells. In view of this, the network equipment of this application may first determine the edge area and non-edge area of ​​the current serving cell's coverage area, where the edge area is an area close to adjacent cells, and terminals in the edge area have a high need for cell switching.

[0072] The specific method for determining the edge and non-edge areas of a coverage area is as follows:

[0073] As shown in Serving Cell 1 in Figure 3, the network equipment first determines edge sub-areas of the coverage area (e.g., edge sub-areas 1-4), where the location of edge sub-area 1 indicates the location of one beam position of the cell, and beam position 1 in the drawing corresponds to edge sub-area 1. This application does not specifically limit the number of edge sub-areas in the coverage area. The network equipment then selects one or more candidate sub-areas in the coverage area that extend from the edge sub-areas inward to a set distance, and one or more candidate sub-areas may be designated as edge areas, for example, the outer perimeter of Serving Cell 1. In this application, the set distance may be the width of several, tens or hundreds of beam positions, and the set distance may be set according to the actual application needs.

[0074] After determining the edge area, the network equipment may further remove the edge area from the coverage area to obtain the remaining sub-areas, and finally, these remaining sub-areas may be designated as non-edge areas.

[0075] In the embodiments of this application, the coverage area of ​​a serving cell is related to the deployment location of network equipment and beams from network equipment, and the coverage area may be a completely enclosed area, and the shape of the coverage area may be a regular polygon such as a square, a regular hexagon, and a regular octagon. Of course, the shape of the coverage area may also be a circle, an ellipse, a star, or any other shape, and this application does not specifically limit this, and for the convenience of subsequent interpretations of edge areas and non-edge areas, this application describes the shape of the coverage area as a regular hexagon as an example.

[0076] In the embodiments of this application, as shown in Figure 3, the edge area may be the outer edge of a completely closed area, and the size of the satellite's ground coverage area will differ for different satellite systems, and the transmission period of the system information set to terminal equipment will differ. The width of the outer edge may be set to the width of n beam positions (n ​​is an integer greater than or equal to 1), for example, the width of one beam position, the width of two beam positions, and so on. This application does not specifically limit the width of the outer edge, and in specific implementations, network equipment may define the narrowest possible edge area while ensuring sufficient time for terminal equipment to receive the system information set related to adjacent cells within the edge area. In this way, the transmission power consumption of network equipment for transmitting the system information set related to adjacent cells can be reduced, and the utilization rate of channel resources can be improved.

[0077] In embodiments of this application, since each of the different orbiting satellites has a different rotation period when orbiting the Earth, the network equipment may further simplify the edge area in order to further reduce the transmission power consumption when the network equipment transmits a set of system information related to adjacent cells and to improve the utilization of channel resources, and the specific simplification process is as follows:

[0078] Referring to Figure 4, which is a simplified schematic diagram of an edge area according to an embodiment of the present invention, the network equipment may first determine whether the movement speed of the coverage area (its own movement speed) is greater than the movement speed of the terminals within the coverage area, and when it is determined that the movement speed of the coverage area is greater than the movement speed of the terminals within the coverage area, the network equipment may then determine the upper periphery (for example, sides 1 to 4 of the hexagonal edge area in Figure 4) and the lower periphery (for example, sides 5 and 6 of the hexagonal edge area in Figure 4) projected in the direction of satellite movement of the edge area, and when it is determined that the movement speed of the coverage area is greater than the movement speed of the terminals Therefore, since terminals can only migrate to the current serving cell's coverage area from the upper periphery and not from the lower periphery, network equipment may change the lower periphery of the edge area to a non-edge area, i.e., make only the upper periphery area of ​​the coverage area the final edge area. Network equipment may maintain one of the peripheries (edges 1 to 6) of the edge area constant, i.e., make the upper and lower periphery areas of the coverage area the final edge area, since terminals may migrate to the current serving cell's coverage area from either the upper or lower periphery when the network equipment determines that the movement speed of the coverage area is less than or equal to the movement speed of terminals within the coverage area.

[0079] By determining the edge and non-edge areas of the serving cell's coverage area and simplifying the edge area based on the movement speed of network devices and terminals, it is possible to minimize the transmission power consumption of network devices when transmitting system information sets, conserve air interface resources, and improve the utilization rate of channel resources.

[0080] S2: Transmits first broadcast information to the edge area, which includes a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell and other information sets not related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell; and transmits second broadcast information to the non-edge area, which includes other information sets but does not include the system information set.

[0081] Referring to Figure 5 in the embodiment of this application, Figure 5 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating how a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention transmits other information sets in a non-edge area. After determining the edge area and non-edge area of ​​a serving cell, the network device may transmit, in a broadcasting manner, to terminal devices located in the edge area, a first broadcast information set, i.e., a set of other information sets unrelated to the serving cell's neighboring cells, such as satellite configuration information related to the serving cell (ntn-config for serving cell in SIB19), and a set of system information sets related to the serving cell's neighboring cells (ntn-NeighCellConfigList in SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19), and to terminals located in the non-edge area, a second broadcast information set, i.e., another set of information unrelated to the serving cell's neighboring cells.

[0082] In embodiments of this application, other information sets include scheduling information for system information, such as scheduling information for a system information set associated with a serving cell or scheduling information for a system information set associated with an adjacent cell of a serving cell. The scheduling information is used to instruct a terminal to obtain the system information set associated with an adjacent cell in an on-demand request manner or by direct extraction manner.

[0083] Specifically, in scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as non-broadcasting (si-BroadcastStatus is set to notBroadcasting), the terminal is instructed to obtain the system information set (ntn-NeighCellConfigList in SIB2~SIB5 and SIB19) using the on-demand request (on demand SI) method.

[0084] In the embodiment of this application, if the scheduling type of the system information set in the scheduling information is configured as a broadcast type (si-BroadcastStatus is set to Broadcasting), the terminal may be instructed to directly obtain the ntn-NeighCellConfigList in SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19, and the network equipment may broadcast and transmit the system information set and other information sets related to the adjacent cell to the edge area. Specifically, the si-BroadcastStatus corresponding to the system information set and other information sets may both be set to Broadcasting.

[0085] In the embodiment of this application, the system information set related to the adjacent cells of a serving cell includes at least a neighbor configuration (ntn-NeighCellConfigList) in the SIB19, the neighbor configuration is obtained by adding the sibType19Neigh subtype to a conventional system information block type (SIB~TypeInfo), and if the scheduling type of the neighbor configuration is configured as a broadcast type, the terminal may be instructed to obtain the neighbor configuration directly, and if the scheduling type of the neighbor configuration is configured as a non-broadcast type, the terminal may be instructed to obtain the neighbor configuration in the manner of an updated on-demand request (on demand SI). On the other hand, in the conventional art, since the sibType19Neigh subtype does not exist in the system information block type, terminal equipment cannot request the neighbor configuration in the SIB19 from network equipment in the manner of an on-demand request.

[0086] By broadcasting and transmitting the system information set related to adjacent cells to the edge area of ​​the serving cell, in most scenarios, terminals migrate to the serving cell due to cell reselection or switching in the edge area of ​​the serving cell. These terminals can directly obtain the system information set related to adjacent cells in the edge area. By transmitting only other information sets, including scheduling information for system information, to the non-edge areas of the serving cell, terminal equipment can request the system information set related to adjacent cells from network equipment if it does not receive it in the edge area. This avoids the network equipment from periodically transmitting the system information set related to adjacent cells to all areas of the serving cell's coverage area, reducing the transmission power consumption of network equipment when transmitting system information sets, conserving air interface resources, and improving channel resource utilization.

[0087] In embodiments of this application, in order to ensure that terminal devices located in non-edge areas can also acquire system information sets related to adjacent cells, when a network device transmits second broadcast information to a non-edge area, it configures the scheduling type of the system information set related to adjacent cells in the second broadcast information to a non-broadcast type, determines whether a request to acquire a system information set related to adjacent cells issued by a terminal in a non-edge area based on an on-demand request method has been received, issues the system information set related to adjacent cells to the terminal based on the acquisition request when it is determined that the request to acquire a system information set has been received, and broadcasts a different information set to the non-edge area instead of a system information set when it is determined that the request to acquire a system information set has not been received.

[0088] In short, the broadcasting method according to this application may determine the edge and non-edge areas of the serving cell's coverage area, broadcast and transmit first broadcast information to the edge area, and transmit second broadcast information to the non-edge area. When it is determined that another set of information includes scheduling information for system information and that there is system information related to an unreceived non-broadcast type adjacent cell, the terminal device may determine a request method to request the network device to request the system information set related to the adjacent cell, based on the scheduling information. By using the above method, it is possible to avoid broadcasting and transmitting the same system information set related to the same adjacent cell to all areas within the coverage area, reduce the transmission power consumption of the network device when transmitting the system information set, conserve air interface resources, and improve the utilization rate of channel resources.

[0089] Example 2: Based on the network architecture shown in Figure 2 above, this application further provides a method for receiving broadcast information that can be executed on terminal equipment, which specifically includes, first, when accessing network equipment in a non-edge area, receiving broadcast information from network equipment that includes other information sets including scheduling information of a system information set that is unrelated to the adjacent cells of the serving cell of the network equipment and related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell, and does not include a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell; and second, determining the scheduling type of the system information set based on the scheduling information in the broadcast information, and acquiring the system information set according to a data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type.

[0090] The method described in this application allows a terminal to, when accessing network equipment in a non-edge area, first receive broadcast information from the network equipment, then determine the scheduling type of the system information set based on the scheduling information in the broadcast information, and finally acquire the system information set according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type. This prevents each terminal within the coverage area of ​​the serving cell from receiving the same system information related to an adjacent cell. By broadcasting system information sets related to adjacent cells using a broadcast scheduling type in edge areas and broadcasting system information sets related to adjacent cells using a non-broadcast scheduling type in non-edge areas, the transmission power consumption of the satellite when transmitting system information sets can be reduced, and the utilization rate of channel resources can be improved.

[0091] As shown in Figure 6, this is a flowchart of a method for receiving broadcast information according to Embodiment 2 of this application, which includes the following S1 and S2.

[0092] S1: When accessing network devices in a non-edge area, receive broadcast information from the network devices.

[0093] In the embodiments of this application, it is assumed that network device 1 includes a serving cell 1, network device 2 includes a serving cell 2, and that serving cell 1 provides network 1 and serving cell 2 provides network 2. A terminal device receives broadcast information from the current network device when it is determined that the serving cell (network 1) has been changed to the current satellite cell (network 2) (i.e., when the terminal device re-selects and accesses it), or when it is determined that the terminal device has moved within the coverage area of ​​the current network device's satellite cell (i.e., when the terminal device makes an initial access). However, terminal devices accessing network devices in different areas are differentiated in that the content of the broadcast information they receive differs. Specifically, for terminal devices accessing network equipment in the non-edge area of ​​a serving cell, the received broadcast information includes other information sets, including scheduling information of a system information set that is unrelated to the adjacent cells of the serving cell of the network equipment but is related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell, and does not include a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell. For terminal devices accessing network equipment in the edge area of ​​a serving cell, the received broadcast information further includes a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the satellite cell. In specific implementation, terminal devices may determine whether a serving cell switchover has occurred by determining whether there has been a change in the frequency point or physical cell ID.

[0094] Using the above method, terminal devices can receive broadcast information related to the switched serving cell from network devices when accessing network devices in a non-edge area.

[0095] S2: Based on the scheduling information, determine the scheduling type of the system information set, and acquire the system information set according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type.

[0096] Referring to Figure 7 in conjunction with the above-described Embodiment 1, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which terminal equipment receives broadcast information according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this scenario, terminals accessing network equipment in an edge area or a non-edge area can both receive broadcast information. However, in this application, terminals located in edge areas and non-edge areas have different methods for acquiring system information sets related to adjacent cells. In the embodiments of this application, terminals accessing network equipment in an edge area (e.g., UE1, UE2) may directly acquire system information sets related to adjacent cells from the broadcast information. This method is the same as in the prior art, and unnecessary explanations of overlapping parts are omitted. On the other hand, terminals accessing network equipment in a non-edge area (e.g., UE3-UE5) need to request system information sets related to adjacent cells from the network equipment using an on-demand system information request (SI) method. In specific implementations, after receiving broadcast information from the network equipment, terminal equipment may first determine the scheduling type of the system information set based on the scheduling information of the system information set related to adjacent cells of the serving cell in the broadcast information, and then acquire the system information set according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type.

[0097] In the embodiments of this application, the scheduling type may be broadcast type or non-broadcast type. In the case of a terminal accessed in an edge area, the scheduling type of the system information in the received broadcast information may be broadcast type, and the terminal device may decide that it can directly obtain a set of system information related to an adjacent cell. In the case of a terminal accessed in a non-edge area, the scheduling type of the system information set in the received broadcast information may be non-broadcast type, and the terminal device may first determine its own current operating state, determine a data request scheme corresponding to the current operating state, and finally request a set of system information related to an adjacent cell from the network device according to the data request scheme corresponding to the current operating state.

[0098] Typically, the vast majority of terminal devices located in non-edge areas migrate from the serving cell's edge area to the satellite cell. In accordance with conventional 3GPP specifications, such terminal devices can receive broadcast information in the edge area, including other information sets from the serving cell and system information sets related to the serving cell's neighboring cells. However, some special terminal devices located in non-edge areas may have migrated to the serving cell without passing through the serving cell's edge area, or they may have received complete broadcast information in the edge area but need to update their system information sets related to neighboring cells in the non-edge area. Examples include terminals that have been powered on in the non-edge area, terminals that have temporarily gone offline from their original cell and migrated to the current serving cell, and terminals that received a system information set in the serving cell's edge area but that system information set has expired in the non-edge area.

[0099] In order to enable the special terminal equipment described above to acquire system information sets related to adjacent cells, it may also acquire system information sets related to adjacent cells using the conventional on-demand system information request method (on-demand SI).

[0100] Regarding the conventional on-demand system information request (on-demand SI) flow, the conventional 3GPP protocol does not support terminals requesting system information SIB19 or neighbor configuration within SIB19 related to adjacent cells from network equipment using a request method; it only supports obtaining SIB19 using a broadcast method. Since SIB19 contains information necessary for local access, in order to enable specialized terminal equipment to obtain neighbor configuration within SIB19 according to actual application needs, this application extends the request for content related to adjacent cells in SIB19 in addition to the conventional on-demand SI flow, and allows terminals in different operating states to request a set of system information related to adjacent cells from network equipment using a data request method corresponding to the operating state. When extending the requirements for content related to adjacent cells in SIB19, specifically, a new subtype: sibType19Neigh may be defined in the conventional type SIB-TypeInfo, and this subtype may be used to indicate that ephemeris information related to adjacent cells (ntn-NeighCellConfigList in SIB19) needs to be retrieved using the updated on-demand SI method.

[0101] Referring to Figure 8, Figure 8 is a flowchart of an idle terminal device located in a non-edge area according to an embodiment of the present invention that acquires a system information set. As shown in Figure 8, the terminal device first receives the MIB, SIB1, and other information sets from the network device, which include only satellite configuration information related to the serving cell (ntn-config for serving cell in SIB19).

[0102] In the embodiment of this application, as shown in Figure 8, the terminal device may determine the scheduling type of the system information set related to the adjacent cell based on the scheduling information in SIB1, that is, determine the scheduling type of each of SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19. When a terminal device determines that the scheduling type of the system information set associated with an adjacent cell is non-broadcast type and that its own operating state is idle, the terminal device may first determine whether there is any unreceived non-broadcast type system information. If it is determined that there is unreceived non-broadcast type system information associated with an adjacent cell, the terminal device may initiate a random access flow so that the network device issues the system information set associated with the adjacent cell, i.e., SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19 including ntn-NeighCellConfigList, to the current terminal based on a first acquisition request. The terminal device may also issue a first acquisition request (UE request for on-demand system information) to the network device using an on-demand system information request scheme. This application does not specifically limit the type or number of system information associated with the adjacent cell to be acquired in the first acquisition request. In actual application, the terminal device may request corresponding target system information within the system information set associated with the adjacent cell defined by the network device. When it is determined that there is no unreceived non-broadcast type system information, the terminal device continues to use the received system information.

[0103] Referring to Figure 9, Figure 9 is a flowchart showing how a connected terminal device located in a non-edge area acquires a system information set according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the case of a connected terminal device, the conventional technology acquires on-demand SIs through a Dedicated SIB Request flow, and this Dedicated SIB Request flow only supports the acquisition of SIB12~SIB14, SIB20~SIB21 and posSIB. Therefore, this application extends the SIB~ReqInfo in the Dedicated SIB Request message to support the acquisition of system information related to adjacent cells such as SIB2~SIB5 and SIB19Neigh, and the specific flow is as follows.

[0104] As shown in Figure 9, connected terminal devices located in non-edge areas also first receive MIBs from network devices, SIB1, and other information sets that include only satellite configuration information related to the serving cell (ntn-config for serving cell in SIB19).

[0105] When a terminal device determines, based on scheduling information, that the scheduling type of the system information set related to an adjacent cell is non-broadcast type and its own operating state is connected, it may report a second acquisition request for the system information set related to the adjacent cell to the network device using a dedicated system information request scheme, so that the network device issues the system information set related to the adjacent cell to the current terminal based on the second acquisition request. For example, a terminal may report a Dedicated SIB Request, the reported Dedicated SIB Request includes a RequestedSIB-List of system information requests related to the adjacent cell, the terminal device may fill in the information of the system information set related to the adjacent cell to be acquired in the RequestedSIB-List, and request the network device to issue SIB2~SIB5 and SIB19 including ntn-NeighCellConfigList. Finally, when the network device receives the Dedicated SIB Request reported by the terminal device, it may issue the system information set related to the adjacent cell to the terminal device by Dedicated system information Delivery in RRCReconfiguration.

[0106] Under the current 3GPP protocol, SIB19 requires local and neighboring ephemeris information to be included. Since idle terminals cannot access the network and synchronize with the uplink without assistance based on the local ephemeris information, SIB19 is required to be transmitted in broadcast mode. Based on this, this application decouples satellite configuration information (local ephemeris information) and ephemeris information related to adjacent cells (neighboring ephemeris information) in SIB19 to different scheduling types. For example, by configuring the satellite configuration information in SIB19 to a broadcast type and the ephemeris information related to adjacent cells to a non-broadcast type, network equipment can broadcast two sets of SIB19 in one cell. That is, in the edge area of ​​the cell, it broadcasts SIB19 with local ephemeris information and SIB19 with neighboring ephemeris information, while in the non-edge area of ​​the cell, it broadcasts SIB19 without neighboring ephemeris information. By broadcasting two sets of SIB19 using this decoupling method, it is possible to avoid transmitting system information sets related to adjacent cells to terminal equipment with a low need to acquire such sets (terminal equipment in non-edge areas), thereby reducing the transmission power consumption of network equipment when transmitting system information sets related to adjacent cells, saving air interface resources, and improving the utilization rate of channel resources.

[0107] In the current 3GPP protocol, the Dedicated SIB Request for requesting a system information set while connected does not support requests for system information sets related to neighboring cells. In view of this, this application enhances the Dedicated SIB Request and extends the SIB-ReqInfo field so that network equipment can support requests for system information sets related to neighboring cells of connected terminal equipment (including neighboring cell information ntn-NeighCellConfigList in SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19). This extension of the SIB-ReqInfo field allows connected terminal equipment located in a non-edge area to request a system information set related to neighboring cells from network equipment when it is determined that there is unreceived, non-broadcast type system information related to neighboring cells. This reduces the transmission power consumption required for network equipment to send system information sets related to neighboring cells to terminal equipment, conserves air interface resources, and improves channel resource utilization.

[0108] To further clarify the essential points of the present invention, the following describes, with reference to Examples 1 and 2 and Figure 10, a procedure for terminal devices located in edge areas and non-edge areas (including terminal devices in idle and connected states) to acquire a set of system information related to an adjacent cell.

[0109] (i) In the case of idle terminal devices located in the edge area Step 1: First, the network equipment transmits the first broadcast information to the terminal equipment (UE1) located in the edge area, and the first broadcast information includes (1) MIB, (2) scheduling information for SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19, with SIB1 being determined to be transmitted as a broadcast type, (3) SIB2-SIB5, and (4) SIB19 which has local ephemeris information and neighbor ephemeris information attached.

[0110] Step 2: Idle terminal devices UE1 that have moved to the edge area of ​​Cell 1 (including terminal devices that are located in Cell 1 in various forms such as cell selection / reselection / switching / redirection) directly obtain a set of system information related to the adjacent cell from the first broadcast information in accordance with the 3GPP protocol specification.

[0111] Here, please note that in the case of a connected terminal device that has moved to the edge area of ​​cell 1, the flow for acquiring the system information set related to the adjacent cell is the same as that for an idle terminal device that has moved to the edge area of ​​cell 1 as described above, and unnecessary explanations for the overlapping parts will be omitted.

[0112] (ii) In the case of idle terminal devices (UE2) located in non-edge areas Step 1: First, the network equipment transmits the second broadcast information to the terminal equipment UE2 located in the non-edge area, and the second broadcast information includes (1) MIB, (2) scheduling information for SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19, in which it can be determined that the local ephemeris information in SIB19 is transmitted in broadcast type, and the neighbor ephemeris information in SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19 is transmitted in non-broadcast type (i.e., in the system information scheduling of SIB1, the si-BroadcastStatus of SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19NeighCell is configured as notBroadcasting), and (3) SIB19 which has only local ephemeris information attached and does not have neighbor ephemeris information attached.

[0113] Step 2: In the case of idle terminal equipment that has temporarily gone offline and moved to a non-edge area of ​​cell 1 (such as special terminal equipment that did not receive system information related to adjacent cells via broadcast in the edge area), SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19 (including ntn-NeighCellConfigList) are obtained according to the improved on-demand SI flow of this application.

[0114] (iii) In the case of a connected terminal device (UE3) located in a non-edge area Step 1: First, the network equipment transmits the second broadcast information to the terminal equipment UE3 located in the non-edge area, and the broadcast information includes (1) MIB, (2) scheduling information for SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19, in which it can be determined that the local ephemeris information in SIB19 is transmitted in broadcast type, and the neighbor ephemeris information in SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19 is transmitted in non-broadcast type (i.e., in SIB1, the si-BroadcastStatus of SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19NeighCell is configured as notBroadcasting), and (3) SIB19 which has only local ephemeris information attached and does not have neighbor ephemeris information attached.

[0115] Step 2: In the case of a connected terminal device that is powered on in a non-edge area of ​​cell 1 (such as a special terminal device that did not receive a set of system information related to an adjacent cell via broadcast in the edge area), when the terminal device determines that there is system information related to an adjacent cell that has not been received, the terminal device requests SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19 (including ntn-NeighCellConfigList) in a message of the Dedicated SIB Request Enhancement Scheme according to this application, and the network device issues SIB2-SIB5 and SIB19 (including ntn-NeighCellConfigList) to the terminal device in dedicated system information Delivery during RRCReconfiguration.

[0116] In short, the method of this application allows satellite communication systems to have a wider coverage range and more beam positions, and the overlapping coverage range between cells is limited. Therefore, terminals only need to ensure the continuity of their network service use in dynamic scenarios by measuring adjacent cells at the edge of the cell. However, while conventional techniques require network equipment to repeatedly transmit the entire system information set related to adjacent cells throughout the entire cell, this application transmits the system information set related to adjacent cells in a broadcast manner in the edge area of ​​the cell and in a manner combined with terminal requests in the non-edge area of ​​the cell. This significantly reduces the area over which network equipment repeatedly transmits the system information set. Furthermore, this application improves upon the conventional on-demand SI flow and enhances Dedicated SIB Requests, enabling it to meet terminal requests for acquisition of system information sets related to adjacent cells in various scenarios. This reduces the transmission power consumption of network equipment when transmitting system information sets related to adjacent cells, conserves air interface resources, and improves the utilization rate of channel resources.

[0117] Based on the method according to Embodiment 1 described above, the embodiment of this application further provides a broadcasting apparatus corresponding to the said method, and as shown in Figure 11, a schematic diagram of the structure of the broadcasting apparatus corresponding to Embodiment 1 of this application is shown, and the apparatus is An area partitioning module 1101 for determining the edge and non-edge areas of the current serving cell's coverage area, A data transmission module 1102 transmits first broadcast information to the edge area, which includes a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell and other information sets unrelated to the adjacent cells of the serving cell, and transmits second broadcast information to the non-edge area, which includes the other information sets but does not include the system information set. Includes.

[0118] In one possible implementation, the data transmission module 1102 further... The aforementioned other information set includes scheduling information for system information, which instructs the terminal to acquire the system information set in an on-demand request manner or in a direct extraction manner. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly acquire the system information set. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a non-broadcast type, it is used to instruct the terminal to acquire the system information set in the manner of the on-demand request.

[0119] In one possible implementation, the system information set includes at least the neighborhood configuration in SIB19, When the scheduling type of the aforementioned neighbor configuration is configured to broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly obtain the aforementioned neighbor configuration. If the scheduling type of the neighbor configuration is configured as a non-broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to acquire the neighbor configuration using an on-demand request method.

[0120] In one possible implementation, the data transmission module 1102 specifically, The scheduling type of the system information set in the second broadcast information is configured to a non-broadcast type. It is determined whether or not the request to acquire the system information set issued by a terminal in the non-edge area based on the on-demand request method has been received. If the answer is "yes", the system information set is issued to the terminal based on the acquisition request. If the answer is "No," it is used to broadcast the other set of information to the non-edge area.

[0121] In one possible implementation, the area partitioning module 1101 specifically, Determine the edge sub-areas of the aforementioned coverage area, Within the coverage area, one or more candidate sub-areas are selected that extend from the edge sub-area towards the interior of the coverage area to a set distance. This is used to designate one or more candidate sub-areas as edge areas and the remaining sub-areas in the coverage area as non-edge areas.

[0122] In one possible implementation, the area partitioning module 1101 further, Determine whether the movement speed of the coverage area is greater than the movement speed of the terminals within the coverage area. If "Yes", determine the upper periphery and the lower periphery opposite to the upper periphery that are projected in the direction of movement of the edge area, and change the lower periphery to a non-edge area. If the answer is "No," it is used to maintain the perimeter of any one of the aforementioned edge areas as is.

[0123] Based on the method according to Embodiment 2 described above, the embodiment of this application further provides a broadcast information receiving device corresponding to the said method, and as shown in Figure 12, a schematic diagram of the structure of the broadcast information receiving device corresponding to Embodiment 2 of this application is shown, and the device is When accessing network equipment in a non-edge area, a data receiving module 1201 for receiving broadcast information from the network equipment includes other information sets that are not related to adjacent cells of the serving cell of the network equipment and include scheduling information of the system information set, but do not include the system information set related to adjacent cells of the serving cell, Based on the scheduling information, the scheduling type of the system information set is determined, and a data processing module 1202 for acquiring the system information set according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type is provided. Includes.

[0124] In one possible implementation, the data processing module 1202 specifically, Based on the scheduling information, it is determined whether the scheduling type is a broadcast type or a non-broadcast type. If the scheduling type is the broadcast type, the data acquisition method is determined to be directly acquiring the system information set. If the scheduling type is the non-broadcast type, the data acquisition method is used to determine that the data acquisition method is to determine a data request method corresponding to the operating state based on the current operating state of the terminal, and to request the system information set from the network equipment according to the data request method.

[0125] In one possible implementation, when the operating state is idle, the data processing module 1202 specifically, Determine whether or not there is any unbroadcasted system information that has not been received. If "yes", the network device initiates a random access procedure to issue the system information set to the current terminal based on a first acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19, and issues the first acquisition request for the system information set to the network device in an on-demand system information request scheme. If the answer is "No," the received system information will be used to continue using it.

[0126] In one possible implementation, when the operating state is a connected state, the data processing module 1202 specifically, A dedicated system information request scheme is used to report the second acquisition request for the system information set to the network device, so that the network device issues the system information set to the current terminal based on a second acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19.

[0127] Based on the same concept of invention, embodiments of this application further provide electronic equipment capable of realizing the functions of the aforementioned broadcasting apparatus or broadcasting information receiving apparatus, referring to Figure 13. The electronic device includes at least one processor 1301 and a memory 1302 connected to the at least one processor 1301. In the embodiments of this application, the specific connection medium between the processor 1301 and the memory 1302 is not limited, and in Figure 13, the processor 1301 and the memory 1302 are connected via a bus 1300 as an example. In Figure 13, the bus 1300 is shown with a thick line, and the connection methods between other components are merely schematic and not limited thereto. The bus 1300 can be classified into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc., and for the sake of convenience, it is shown with only one thick line in Figure 13, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus. Alternatively, the processor 1301 may also be called a controller, and the name is not limited.

[0128] In the embodiment of this application, the memory 1302 stores instructions that can be executed by at least one processor 1301, and the at least one processor 1301 can execute the aforementioned broadcasting method or broadcasting information reception method by having it execute the instructions stored in the memory 1302. The processor 1301 can realize the functions of each module in the device shown in Figure 11 or 12.

[0129] Of these, the processor 1301, acting as the control center of the device, connects all parts of the entire control device via various interfaces and lines, operates or executes instructions stored in memory 1302, and retrieves data stored in memory 1302, thereby realizing various functions and processing data of the device and enabling overall monitoring of the device.

[0130] In one possible design, the processor 1301 may include one or more processing units, and the processor 1301 may be an integrated application processor and a modem processor, of which the application processor mainly handles the operating system, user interface and application programs, etc., and the modem processor mainly handles wireless communication. It is understood that the above modem processor does not have to be integrated into the processor 1301. In some embodiments, the processor 1301 and memory 1302 may be implemented on the same chip, and in some embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips, respectively.

[0131] The processor 1301 may be a general-purpose processor such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and can implement or execute the methods, steps and theoretical block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any general-purpose processor. The steps of the broadcasting method or broadcasting information receiving method disclosed in relation to the embodiments of this application may be implemented and executed directly by a hardware processor, or they may be implemented and executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0132] Memory 1302 is used as a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium to store non-volatile software programs, non-volatile computer executable programs and modules. Memory 1302 may include, for example, at least one of the following storage media: flash memory, hard disk, multimedia card, card-type memory, random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic storage device, magnetic disk, or optical disk. Memory 1302 is, but is not limited to, any other computer-accessible medium that can be used to attach to or store desired program code having instruction and data structure formats. Memory 1302 in the embodiments of this application may further be any other device capable of implementing circuitry or storage functions for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0133] By designing and programming the processor 1301, the code corresponding to the broadcasting method or broadcast information reception method introduced in the above-described embodiment can be hardcoded onto the chip, thereby enabling the chip to execute the steps of the broadcasting method in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 or the broadcast information reception method in the embodiment shown in Figure 6 during operation. The design and programming method for the processor 1301 is known to those skilled in the art, and unnecessary explanation is omitted here.

[0134] Based on the same concept of the invention, the embodiment of this application further provides a storage medium that, when executed by a computer, stores computer instructions causing the computer to execute the aforementioned broadcasting method or broadcasting information reception method.

[0135] In some possible embodiments, each aspect of the broadcasting method or broadcast information reception method according to the present application may further be implemented in the form of a program product including program code, which, when the program product is executed on a device, is used to cause the control device to perform the steps in the broadcasting method or broadcast information reception method according to the various exemplary embodiments of the present application described herein.

[0136] Those skilled in the art will understand that the embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Accordingly, this application may take the form of complete hardware embodiments, complete software embodiments, or embodiments combining software and hardware. Furthermore, this application may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-compatible storage media (including, but not limited to, magnetic disk memory, CD-ROM, optical memory, etc.) containing computer-compatible program code.

[0137] This application has been described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and / or blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, can be realized by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to create a machine, thereby creating a device for realizing one or more flows in the flowchart and / or one or more blocks in the block diagram, by instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device.

[0138] These computer program instructions may be stored in computer-readable memory that can guide a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, thereby creating a product that includes an instruction unit that enables the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory to perform functions specified in one or more flows of a flowchart and / or one or more blocks of a block diagram.

[0139] These computer program instructions may be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing device, and a series of operational steps may be executed on the computer or other programmable device to generate processing that is implemented by the computer, thereby providing steps for implementing one or more flows in a flowchart and / or one or more blocks in a block diagram.

[0140] It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and alterations can be made to this application without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, this application is intended to cover such modifications and alterations, provided that they fall within the scope of the claims of this application and the equivalent technical scope.

Claims

1. A broadcasting method applicable to network equipment, To determine the edge and non-edge areas of the current serving cell's coverage area, To transmit first broadcast information to the edge area, which includes a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell and other information sets unrelated to the adjacent cells of the serving cell; and to transmit second broadcast information to the non-edge area, which includes the other information sets but does not include the system information set. including, A broadcasting method characterized by the following features.

2. The aforementioned other information set includes scheduling information for system information, which instructs the terminal to acquire the system information set in an on-demand request manner or in a direct extraction manner. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly acquire the system information set. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a non-broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to acquire the system information set in the manner of the on-demand request. The broadcasting method described in feature 1.

3. The system information set includes at least the neighborhood configuration in SIB19, When the scheduling type of the aforementioned neighbor configuration is configured to broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly obtain the aforementioned neighbor configuration. If the scheduling type of the neighbor configuration is configured to be non-broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to acquire the neighbor configuration in the manner of an on-demand request. The broadcasting method described in feature 1.

4. Transmitting the second broadcast information to the aforementioned non-edge area means The scheduling type of the system information set in the second broadcast information is configured to be a non-broadcast type, Determining whether a request to acquire the system information set, issued by a terminal in the non-edge area based on the on-demand request method, has been received, If the answer is "yes", then the system information set will be issued to the terminal based on the acquisition request, If "No", broadcast the other information set to the non-edge area. including, The broadcasting method according to feature 2.

5. Determining the edge and non-edge areas of the coverage area of ​​the current serving cell mentioned above is: Determining the edge sub-areas of the aforementioned coverage area, In the coverage area, one or more candidate sub-areas are selected that extend from the edge sub-area to the interior of the coverage area by a set distance, The one or more candidate sub-areas are designated as the edge areas, and the remaining sub-areas in the coverage area are designated as the non-edge areas. including, The broadcasting method described in feature 1.

6. After determining the edge and non-edge areas of the current serving cell's coverage area, To determine whether the movement speed of the coverage area is greater than the movement speed of the terminals within the coverage area, If "Yes", then the upper periphery and the lower periphery opposite to the upper periphery projected in the direction of movement of the edge area are determined, and the lower periphery is changed to a non-edge area. If "No", then the area around any one of the aforementioned edge areas will be kept as is. including, The broadcasting method described in feature 1.

7. The coverage area is a completely enclosed area, the edge area is the outer edge of the completely enclosed area, and the width of the outer edge is equal to the width of n beam positions (where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1). The broadcasting method described in feature 1.

8. A method for receiving broadcast information applicable to terminal equipment, When accessing network equipment in a non-edge area, receiving broadcast information from the network equipment which is unrelated to the adjacent cells of the serving cell of the network equipment and includes other information sets including scheduling information of the system information set, and does not include the system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell, Based on the scheduling information, the scheduling type of the system information set is determined, and the system information set is acquired according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type. including, A method for receiving broadcast information characterized by the following features.

9. Based on the aforementioned scheduling information, the scheduling type of the system information set is determined, and the system information set is acquired according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type. Based on the scheduling information, determine whether the scheduling type is a broadcast type or a non-broadcast type. If the scheduling type is the broadcast type, then it is determined that the data acquisition method is to directly acquire the system information set. If the scheduling type is the non-broadcast type, the data acquisition method is determined to determine a data request method corresponding to the operating state based on the current operating state of the terminal, and to request the system information set from the network equipment according to the data request method. including, The method for receiving broadcast information according to feature 8.

10. When the operating state is idle, requesting the system information set from the network device according to the data request method is: To determine whether or not there is any unbroadcasted system information that has not been received, If "yes", the network device initiates a random access procedure to issue the system information set to the current terminal based on a first acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19, and issues the first acquisition request for the system information set to the network device using an on-demand system information request method. If the answer is "No", then the received system information will continue to be used. including, The method for receiving broadcast information according to feature 9.

11. When the aforementioned operating state is a connected state, requesting the system information set from the network device according to the aforementioned data request method is: The system information set is reported to the network device in a dedicated system information request scheme, so that the network device issues the system information set to the current terminal based on a second acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19. The method for receiving broadcast information according to feature 9.

12. An area partitioning module for determining the edge and non-edge areas of the current serving cell's coverage area, A data transmission module for transmitting first broadcast information to the edge area, which includes a system information set related to the adjacent cells of the serving cell and other information sets unrelated to the adjacent cells of the serving cell, and for transmitting second broadcast information to the non-edge area, which includes the other information sets but does not include the system information set. A broadcasting device characterized by the following features.

13. The aforementioned data transmission module further, The aforementioned other information set includes scheduling information for system information, which instructs the terminal to acquire the system information set in an on-demand request manner or in a direct extraction manner. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly acquire the system information set. In the scheduling information, if the scheduling type of the system information set is configured as a non-broadcast type, it is used to instruct the terminal to acquire the system information set in the manner of the on-demand request. The broadcasting apparatus according to feature 12.

14. The system information set includes at least the neighborhood configuration in SIB19, When the scheduling type of the aforementioned neighbor configuration is configured to broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to directly obtain the aforementioned neighbor configuration. If the scheduling type of the neighbor configuration is configured to be non-broadcast type, the terminal is instructed to acquire the neighbor configuration in the manner of an on-demand request. The broadcasting apparatus according to feature 12.

15. The aforementioned data transmission module is The scheduling type of the system information set in the second broadcast information is configured to a non-broadcast type. It is determined whether or not the request to acquire the system information set issued by a terminal in the non-edge area based on the on-demand request method has been received. If the answer is "yes", the system information set is issued to the terminal based on the acquisition request. If "No", the other set of information used to broadcast the other set of information to the non-edge area, The broadcasting apparatus according to feature 13.

16. The aforementioned area partitioning module is Determine the edge sub-areas of the aforementioned coverage area, Within the coverage area, one or more candidate sub-areas are selected that extend from the edge sub-area towards the interior of the coverage area to a set distance. Used to designate one or more candidate sub-areas as edge areas and the remaining sub-areas in the coverage area as non-edge areas, The broadcasting apparatus according to feature 12.

17. The aforementioned area partitioning module further, Determine whether the movement speed of the coverage area is greater than the movement speed of the terminals within the coverage area. If "Yes", determine the upper periphery and the lower periphery opposite to the upper periphery that are projected in the direction of movement of the edge area, and change the lower periphery to a non-edge area. If "No", then the area around any one of the aforementioned edge areas will be used to maintain its original state. The broadcasting apparatus according to feature 12.

18. When accessing network equipment in a non-edge area, a data receiving module for receiving broadcast information from the network equipment includes other information sets that are not related to adjacent cells of the serving cell of the network equipment and include scheduling information of the system information set, but do not include the system information set related to adjacent cells of the serving cell, Based on the scheduling information, a data processing module is included for determining the scheduling type of the system information set and for acquiring the system information set according to the data acquisition method corresponding to the scheduling type. A broadcast information receiving device characterized by the following features.

19. The aforementioned data processing module specifically, Based on the scheduling information, it is determined whether the scheduling type is a broadcast type or a non-broadcast type. If the scheduling type is the broadcast type, it is determined that the data acquisition method is to directly acquire the system information set. When the scheduling type is the non-broadcast type, the data acquisition method is used to determine that the data acquisition method is to determine a data request method corresponding to the operating state based on the current operating state of the terminal, and to request the system information set from the network equipment according to the data request method. The broadcast information receiving device according to feature 18.

20. When the aforementioned operating state is idle, the data processing module specifically: Determine whether or not there is any unbroadcasted system information that has not been received. If "yes", the network device initiates a random access procedure to issue the system information set to the current terminal based on a first acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19, and issues the first acquisition request for the system information set to the network device using an on-demand system information request method. If the answer is "No," the received system information will continue to be used. A broadcast information receiving device according to feature 19.

21. When the aforementioned operating state is a connected state, the data processing module specifically: A dedicated system information request scheme is used to report the second acquisition request for the system information set to the network device, so that the network device issues the system information set to the current terminal based on a second acquisition request that includes a request to acquire the neighbor configuration in at least SIB2 to SIB5 and SIB19. A broadcast information receiving device according to feature 19.

22. Memory for storing computer programs, When the computer program stored in the memory is executed, it includes a processor for realizing the steps of the broadcasting method described in any one of claims 1 to 7 or the steps of the broadcasting information receiving method described in any one of claims 8 to 11. An electronic device characterized by the following features.

23. A computer-readable storage medium in which a computer program is stored, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, it realizes the steps of the broadcasting method described in any one of claims 1 to 7 or the steps of the broadcasting information receiving method described in any one of claims 8 to 11. A computer-readable storage medium characterized by the following features.

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