Serving cell determination method and device

Abstract

This disclosure proposes a serving cell determination method, which is related to the field of communications, and the technical solution of this application is to determine a new serving cell for a user equipment (UE) whose current serving cell is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, when the location information acquisition status of this UE does not meet the preset conditions. According to the embodiment of this application, a new serving cell is determined for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not meet the preset conditions, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not meet the preset conditions, which causes uplink synchronization to be impossible and communication to be not performed normally.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of mobile communication technology, and in particular to a serving cell determination method and apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are being introduced into mobile communication systems as an important technology for providing radio resources via satellites and drones rather than terrestrial base stations. When user equipment (UE) accesses a mobile communication system through an NTN, the UE needs to perform pre-compensation of timing advance (TA) based on the acquired location information to achieve uplink synchronization. However, since the UE cannot always obtain location information, uplink synchronization cannot be achieved and normal communication cannot be performed. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] An embodiment of a first aspect of the present disclosure provides a serving cell determination method, the method being performed by a user equipment (UE), a current serving cell of the UE is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, and the method includes determining a new serving cell when an acquisition status of location information of the UE does not satisfy a preset condition. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] Optionally, the step of determining a new serving cell when the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy a preset condition includes the step of determining a new serving cell when the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset duration.

[0005] Optionally, the preset condition includes any one of the following: the location information is not obtained by the UE; and the location information is obtained by the UE but at least one of a reliability and an uncertainty of the location information does not meet a preset threshold requirement.

[0006] Optionally, determining the new serving cell comprises determining a new serving cell by cell selection, where the UE is in an unconnected state.

[0007] Optionally, the step of determining a new serving cell by cell selection includes a step of determining a new serving cell in order from high frequency priority to low frequency priority based on a pre-configured frequency priority configuration, the pre-configured frequency priority configuration indicating that the priority of a frequency used in an NTN cell is lower than the priority of a frequency used in a TN cell, where the frequencies used in the NTN cell and the TN cell are different.

[0008] Optionally, the step of determining a new serving cell by the cell selection includes a step of determining a new serving cell based on a preset cell priority setting in order from high cell priority to low cell priority, the preset cell priority setting indicating that the priority of an NTN cell is lower than the priority of a TN cell, where the frequency used in the NTN cell and the TN cell are the same.

[0009] Optionally, the method further comprises the step of performing cell measurements based on pre-defined measurement criteria.

[0010] Optionally, the preset measurement criterion includes: if the signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset same-frequency measurement threshold and the acquisition status meets a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell; where, if the frequencies used by the same-frequency cell and the current serving cell are the same, the signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset different-frequency measurement threshold, and the acquisition status meets a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on a first category cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on a first category cell. performing a measurement, where a priority of a frequency used in the first category cell is equal to or lower than a priority of a frequency used in the current serving cell; if the signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset inter-frequency measurement threshold, a high priority measurement relax is configured in the UE, and the acquisition status satisfies a preset condition, not performing a cell measurement on a second category cell; otherwise, performing a cell measurement on a second category cell, where a priority of a frequency used in the second category cell is higher than a priority of a frequency used in the current serving cell.

[0011] Optionally, the method further comprises logging information that the acquisition situation does not satisfy a preset condition by Minimized Drive Test (MDT) logging.

[0012] Optionally, the step of determining a new serving cell includes a step of switching a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to the new serving cell based on pre-configured switching information, the pre-configured switching information indicating a TN cell that can be used as the new serving cell when the acquisition status does not satisfy a pre-configured condition, where the UE is in a connected state.

[0013] Optionally, the method further includes a step of sending a first message to a network device, the first message instructing the network device to switch a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to a TN cell, where the UE is in a connected state.

[0014] Alternatively, the step of sending the first message to the network device includes: sending the first message to the network device by media access control element (MAC CE) signaling; or sending the first message to the network device by radio resource control (RRC) signaling based on a preset trigger condition, where the preset trigger condition includes that the acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0015] Optionally, determining the new serving cell includes determining a TN cell as the new serving cell through a connection reestablishment process, where the UE is in a connected state.

[0016] An embodiment of a second aspect of the present disclosure provides a serving cell determination method, the method being executed by a network device, the method including: determining a new serving cell for a UE based on a message sent by the UE, where a current serving cell of the UE is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, and the message is sent by the UE when location information acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0017] Optionally, the message is transmitted by the UE when the acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0018] Optionally, the preset condition includes any one of the following: the location information is not obtained by the UE; and the location information is obtained by the UE but at least one of a reliability and an uncertainty of the location information does not meet a preset threshold requirement.

[0019] Optionally, the method further includes switching a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to a TN cell.

[0020] Optionally, the step of determining a new serving cell for the UE further includes the steps of sending a measurement indication message to the UE, receiving a measurement report reported by the UE after performing cell measurement based on the measurement indication message, and determining the TN cell to be the new serving cell based on the measurement report.

[0021] An embodiment of a third aspect of the present disclosure provides a serving cell determination apparatus, a current serving cell of the apparatus is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, and the apparatus includes a processing module for determining a new serving cell when an acquisition status of location information does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0022] Optionally, the processing module determines a new serving cell when the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0023] Optionally, the preset condition includes any one of the following: the location information is not obtained by the UE; and the location information is obtained by the UE but at least one of a reliability and an uncertainty of the location information does not meet a preset threshold requirement.

[0024] Optionally, the processing module determines a new serving cell by cell selection, where the UE is in an unconnected state.

[0025] Optionally, the processing module determines a new serving cell by cell selection based on a step of determining a new serving cell in order from high frequency priority to low frequency priority based on a preset frequency priority setting, the preset frequency priority setting indicating that the priority of a frequency used in an NTN cell is lower than the priority of a frequency used in a TN cell, where the frequencies used in the NTN cell and the TN cell are different.

[0026] Optionally, the processing module determines a new serving cell by cell selection based on a step of determining a new serving cell in order from high cell priority to low cell priority based on a preset cell priority setting, where the preset cell priority setting indicates that the priority of an NTN cell is lower than the priority of a TN cell, where the frequencies available in the NTN cell and the TN cell are the same.

[0027] Optionally, the processing module is further adapted to perform cell measurements based on pre-defined measurement criteria.

[0028] Optionally, the preset measurement criterion includes: if the signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset same-frequency measurement threshold and the acquisition status meets a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell; where, if the frequencies used by the same-frequency cell and the current serving cell are the same, the signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset different-frequency measurement threshold, and the acquisition status meets a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on a first category cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on a first category cell. performing cell measurement on a cell of a second category when a priority of a frequency used in the first category cell is equal to or lower than a priority of a frequency used in the current serving cell; if a signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset inter-frequency measurement threshold, a high priority measurement relax is configured for the UE, and the acquisition status satisfies a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on a cell of a second category when a signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset inter-frequency measurement threshold, a high priority measurement relax is configured for the UE, and the acquisition status satisfies a preset condition; otherwise, performing cell measurement on a cell of a second category when a priority of a frequency used in the second category cell is higher than a priority of a frequency used in the current serving cell.

[0029] Optionally, the processing module further logs information that the acquisition situation does not satisfy a preset condition by Minimized Drive Test (MDT) logging.

[0030] Optionally, the processing module switches a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to the new serving cell based on preset switching information, and the preset switching information indicates a TN cell that can be used as the new serving cell when the acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition, and where the UE is in a connected state.

[0031] Optionally, the apparatus further includes a transceiver module, wherein the transceiver module sends a first message to a network device, the first message instructing the network device to switch a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to a TN cell, where the UE is in a connected state.

[0032] Alternatively, the transceiver module sends the first message to the network device by media access control element (MAC CE) signaling, or sends the first message to the network device by radio resource control (RRC) signaling based on a preset triggering condition, where the preset triggering condition includes that the acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0033] Optionally, the processing module determines a TN cell as the new serving cell through a connection reestablishment process, where the UE is in a connected state.

[0034] An embodiment of a fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a serving cell determination apparatus, the apparatus including: a processing module for determining a new serving cell for a UE based on a message sent by the UE, where a current serving cell of the UE is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, and the message is sent by the UE when location information acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0035] Optionally, the message is transmitted by the UE when the acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0036] Optionally, the preset condition includes any one of the following: the location information is not obtained by the UE; and the location information is obtained by the UE but at least one of a reliability and an uncertainty of the location information does not meet a preset threshold requirement.

[0037] Optionally, the processing module switches a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to a TN cell.

[0038] Optionally, the device further includes a transceiver module, which sends a measurement indication message to the UE and receives a measurement report reported by the UE after performing cell measurement according to the measurement indication message, and the processing module further determines the TN cell as the new serving cell according to the measurement report.

[0039] An embodiment of a fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a communications device, comprising a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, the processor being respectively connected to the transceiver and the memory, and configured to control radio signal transmission and reception of the transceiver by executing computer-executable instructions on the memory, thereby realizing the serving cell determination method of the embodiment of the first aspect described above or the serving cell determination method of the embodiment of the second aspect.

[0040] An embodiment of a sixth aspect of the present disclosure proposes a computer storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, realizes the serving cell determination method of the embodiment of the first aspect or the serving cell determination method described in the embodiment of the second aspect. Effect of the Invention

[0041] The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a serving cell determination method and device, and when the location information acquisition status of a UE with an NTN cell as its current serving cell does not meet a preset condition, a new serving cell is determined for the UE. According to the embodiment of the present application, a new serving cell is determined for a UE with a location information acquisition status that does not meet a preset condition, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, which makes it impossible to achieve uplink synchronization and prevents normal communication.

[0042] Additional features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present disclosure. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0043] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent and understandable from the following detailed description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the drawings. [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 11] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 12] 4 is a schematic flowchart of another serving cell determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 13] 4 is a schematic flowchart of another serving cell determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 14] 4 is a schematic flowchart of another serving cell determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a serving cell determination device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a serving cell determination device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of another serving cell determination device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 18] FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of another serving cell determination device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 19] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 20] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a chip provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0044] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail, and examples of the embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar reference numerals throughout indicate the same or similar elements, or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative and are intended to explain the present disclosure, and should not be understood as limitations on the present disclosure.

[0045] In order to better understand the serving cell determination method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application, the following first describes a communication system applied in the embodiment of the present application.

[0046] Referring to Figure 1, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. This communication system can include, but is not limited to, one network device and one terminal device, and the number and form of devices shown in Figure 1 are used for illustration only and do not constitute a limitation of the embodiment of the present application, and in actual application, it can include two or more network devices and two or more user equipments. Take as an example that the communication system shown in Figure 1 includes one network device 101 and one user equipment 102.

[0047] It should be noted that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, such as a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a 5G new radio (NR) system, or other future new mobile communication systems.

[0048] The network device 101 in the embodiment of the present application is a network-side entity for transmitting or receiving a signal. For example, the network device 101 may be an evolved base station (eNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation base station (gNB) in an NR system, a base station in other future mobile communication systems, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device. The network device provided by the embodiment of the present application may be composed of a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), where the CU is also called a control unit, and a CU-DU structure is adopted to separate the protocol layer of a network device, for example, a base station, to centrally control the functions of some protocol layers in the CU, and to distribute the functions of some or all of the remaining protocol layers to the DU, and to centrally control the DU by the CU.

[0049] The user equipment 102 in the embodiment of the present application is a user-side entity for receiving or transmitting signals, such as a mobile phone. The user equipment may also be called a user equipment (UE), a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal device (MT), etc. The user equipment may be an automobile with a communication function, a smart car, a mobile phone, a wearable device, a tablet (Pad), a personal computer with a wireless transmission and reception function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device for industrial control, a wireless terminal device for self-driving, a wireless terminal device for remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device for smart grid, a wireless terminal device for transportation safety, a wireless terminal device for smart city, a wireless terminal device for smart home, etc. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the user equipment.

[0050] It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiments of the present application is intended to more clearly explain the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art can appreciate that as system architectures evolve and new traffic scenarios emerge, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can be similarly applied to similar problems.

[0051] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are an important technology that provides radio resources via satellites and drones rather than terrestrial base stations, and are being introduced into mobile communication systems. When user equipment (UE) accesses a mobile communication system through an NTN, the UE needs to perform pre-compensation of timing advance (TA) based on the acquired location information to achieve uplink synchronization.

[0052] At present, the premise of using NTN to access a mobile communication system is that the UE can obtain location information. However, in reality, the UE cannot always obtain location information. For example, when inside a building, the UE cannot obtain location information. If the UE does not have location information, the UE cannot perform TA pre-compensation, cannot perform uplink synchronization, and cannot perform communication normally.

[0053] In order to solve the above problems of the prior art, the present application provides a serving cell determination method and device, which determines a new serving cell for a UE whose current serving cell is an NTN cell when the location information acquisition status of the UE does not meet the preset condition. According to the embodiment of the present application, a new serving cell is determined for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, which makes it impossible to achieve uplink synchronization and prevents normal communication.

[0054] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0055] 2 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the method can be performed by a UE, and the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following step S201:

[0056] In step S201, if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition, a new serving cell is determined.

[0057] In this embodiment, when the acquisition status of location information of a UE that has an NTN cell as its current serving cell does not satisfy a preset condition, a new serving cell can be determined for the UE.

[0058] In this embodiment, the location information of the UE may be only a specific type of location information, such as global navigation satellite system (GNSS) location information, or may be location information obtained by various other positioning methods, such as location information obtained by long term evolution (LET) / new radio (NR) positioning or Wi-Fi / Bluetooth positioning.

[0059] In some embodiments, the above step S201 may be performed to determine a new serving cell when the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0060] In practical applications, due to sudden circumstances, the location information acquisition status of the UE may not meet the preset conditions at some point in time or for a very short period of time, i.e., the location information acquisition status of the UE can be restored to meet the preset conditions within a short period of time, in which case, determining a new serving cell for the UE has no obvious advantages compared with keeping the UE in the current serving cell, or would even cause additional overhead, i.e., in this case, there is no need to determine a new serving cell for the UE.

[0061] Therefore, in practical applications, when the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset time length, a new serving cell can be determined for the UE, where the preset time length can be determined based on experience, for example, when historical data shows that the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches several seconds, the preset time length can be set to several seconds.

[0062] In some embodiments, the pre-set condition may include any one of: location information not being obtained by the UE; and location information being obtained by the UE but at least one of the reliability and uncertainty of the location information not meeting a set threshold requirement.

[0063] Specifically, the fact that the UE's location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE cannot acquire location information, or that the duration during which the UE cannot acquire location information reaches a preset time length. For example, the fact that the UE cannot acquire location information may be that the UE cannot acquire location information by a specific positioning method, or that the UE cannot acquire location information by any positioning method.

[0064] In addition, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE can acquire the location information, but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement, or that the duration during which the UE can acquire the location information, but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement, reaches a preset time length. Here, the reliability of the location information represents the degree to which the location information is reliable, and the uncertainty of the location information represents the usable accuracy of the location information. In some embodiments, the preset threshold requirement may include a threshold for the reliability and / or the uncertainty. For example, if the threshold for the reliability is 30% and the threshold for the certainty is 100 meters, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters. Also, for example, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% for a certain time period and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters for a certain time period. In some embodiments, in addition to the thresholds for the reliability and / or uncertainty, the preset threshold requirement may further include a tolerance limit value. For example, if the tolerance limit value for the reliability and uncertainty is 5%, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than (30%-5%) and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than (100 meters+100*5% meters). Here, the tolerance limit value for the uncertainty may be expressed by a specific numerical value, for example, 10, and the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the uncertainty of the location information acquired by the UE is greater than (100 meters+10 meters), for example.

[0065] In some embodiments, the pre-set threshold requirement may be signaled to the UE by the network device via a broadcast message or using a dedicated message via RRC signaling.

[0066] By implementing this embodiment, a new serving cell is determined for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, making uplink synchronization impossible and preventing normal communication.

[0067] 3 is a schematic flow chart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the method can be executed by a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a disconnected state, and the method provides a way for the UE to determine a new serving cell when the location information acquisition situation of the UE does not meet a preset condition, and can include but is not limited to the following step S301:

[0068] In step S301, if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition, a new serving cell is determined by cell selection.

[0069] In this embodiment, the UE being in an unconnected state may mean that the UE is in an idle state or that the UE is in an inactive state, for example, the UE is not currently connected to a network device.

[0070] The location information of the UE may be only a specific type of location information, such as GNSS location information, or may be location information obtained using various other positioning methods, such as location information obtained using LET / NR positioning or Wi-Fi / Bluetooth positioning.

[0071] In some embodiments, the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition may include that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0072] In practical applications, due to sudden circumstances, the location information acquisition status of the UE may not meet the preset conditions at some point in time or for a very short period of time, i.e., the location information acquisition status of the UE can be restored to meet the preset conditions within a short period of time, in which case, determining a new serving cell for the UE has no obvious advantages compared with keeping the UE in the current serving cell, or would even cause additional overhead, i.e., in this case, there is no need to determine a new serving cell for the UE.

[0073] Therefore, in practical applications, when the time during which the UE's location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition reaches a preset time length, a new serving cell can be determined for the UE, where the preset time length can be determined based on experience, for example, when historical data shows that the time during which the UE's location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition reaches several seconds, this preset time length can be set to several seconds.

[0074] In some embodiments, the pre-set condition may include any one of: location information is not acquired by the UE; and location information is acquired by the UE but at least one of the reliability and uncertainty of the location information does not meet a set threshold requirement.

[0075] Specifically, the fact that the UE's location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE cannot acquire location information, or that the duration during which the UE cannot acquire location information reaches a preset time length. For example, the fact that the UE cannot acquire location information may be that the UE cannot acquire location information by a specific positioning method, or that the UE cannot acquire location information by any positioning method.

[0076] Also, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement, or that the duration during which the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement reaches a preset time length. Here, the reliability of the location information represents the degree to which the location information is reliable, and the uncertainty of the location information represents the usable accuracy of the location information. In some embodiments, the preset threshold requirement may include a threshold for the reliability and / or the uncertainty. For example, if the threshold for the reliability is 30% and the threshold for the certainty is 100 meters, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters. Also, for example, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% for a certain time period and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters for a certain time period. In some embodiments, in addition to the thresholds for the reliability and / or uncertainty, the preset threshold requirement may further include a tolerance limit value. For example, if the tolerance limit value for the reliability and uncertainty is 5%, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than (30%-5%) and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than (100 meters+100*5% meters). Here, the tolerance limit value for the uncertainty may be expressed by a specific numerical value, for example, 10, and the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the uncertainty of the location information acquired by the UE is greater than (100 meters+10 meters), for example.

[0077] In some embodiments, the pre-set threshold requirement may be signaled to the UE by the network device via a broadcast message or using a dedicated message via RRC signaling.

[0078] In this embodiment, if the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN serving cell, when the UE is currently in a disconnected state and the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not meet a preset condition, the UE can determine a new serving cell for the UE by performing cell selection (e.g., cell selection / reselection). In some embodiments, in order to avoid the UE re-determining the NTN serving cell and communication problems occurring again due to the acquisition status of the location information not meeting the preset condition, in the cell selection, the UE preferentially determines the terrestrial network (TN) as the new serving cell, and only when the TN cell cannot be determined as the new serving cell, the NTN cell is considered to be determined as the new serving cell. Specifically, when performing cell selection, the UE can perform it based on a preset priority setting, and the preset priority setting allows the UE to preferentially determine the TN cell as the new serving cell, i.e., the preset priority setting allows the UE to select the TN cell first, while selecting from the NTN cell when the TN cell cannot be determined as the new serving cell.

[0079] By implementing this embodiment, for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, when the UE is in an unconnected state, cell selection is performed based on a priority setting in which the priority of an NTN cell is lower than the priority of a TN cell, and a new serving cell is determined for the UE, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, making uplink synchronization impossible and preventing normal communication.

[0080] 4 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 4, the method can be performed by a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a disconnected state, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following step S401:

[0081] In step S401, if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition, a new serving cell is determined by cell selection.

[0082] For a detailed explanation of step S401, please refer to the explanation of step S301, and therefore the explanation will be omitted here.

[0083] In a mobile communication network, there may be cases where the same frequency exists in the NTN and the TN, and cases where the same frequency does not exist in the NTN and the TN.

[0084] If the same frequency does not exist in NTN and TN, NTN and TN use different frequency bands, so that the frequencies used in the NTN cell and the TN cell are different, and the above step S401 can be realized by the following step S4011.

[0085] In step S4011, a new serving cell is determined in the order from high frequency priority to low frequency priority based on a preset frequency priority setting, which indicates that the priority of the frequency used in the NTN cell is lower than the priority of the frequency used in the TN cell.

[0086] In this embodiment, when the same frequency does not exist in the NTN and the TN, it is shown that the frequency band used in the NTN is different from the frequency band used in the TN. For example, the NTN can be used in a frequency band of [frequency 1, frequency 2], and the TN can be used in a frequency band of [frequency 3, frequency 4], and there is no overlap between the frequency band of [frequency 1, frequency 2] and the frequency band of [frequency 3, frequency 4]. In order to preferentially determine the TN cell as the new serving cell of the UE, cell selection / reselection can be performed in order from high frequency priority to low frequency priority according to a frequency priority setting in which the priority of the frequency used in the NTN is lower than the priority of the frequency used in the TN. That is, when performing cell selection / reselection, first, a cell that can be used as a new serving cell is determined from among the cells having a high frequency priority, and if all the cells having a high frequency priority cannot be used as the new serving cell, a cell that can be used as a new serving cell is selected from among the cells having a low frequency priority. Since the priority of the frequency used in the NTN is lower than the priority of the frequency used in the TN, and the frequency priority of the TN cell is higher than the frequency priority of the NTN cell, when performing cell selection / reselection, the TN cell can be preferentially determined as the new serving cell, and only when a TN cell that can be used as the new serving cell cannot be found, a cell that can be used as the new serving cell is selected from among the NTN cells.

[0087] For example, when the frequency band used in the NTN is set to have the lowest priority, when performing selection / reselection, the UE first finds a cell available as a new serving cell among NR or other radio access technology (RAT) cells (i.e., TN cells) corresponding to the frequency band used in the TN, and if found, the UE selects or reselects this cell to reside in, and the selected or reselected cell may be a suitable cell or an acceptable cell. If not found, the UE searches for a cell available as a new serving cell among cells (i.e., NTN cells) corresponding to the frequency band used in the NTN. Here, for example, the cell corresponding to the frequency band used in the NTN can be set to a prohibited cell or an acceptable cell. Here, the prohibited cell prohibits the UE from residing in it, and the acceptable cell selects the UE to reside in it only if a suitable cell is not found.

[0088] By implementing this embodiment, when a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions is in an unconnected state, cell selection is performed in order from high frequency priority to low frequency priority based on the preset frequency priority setting, and a TN cell can be preferentially determined as a new serving cell for the UE, thereby preventing communication problems from reoccurring due to the location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset conditions.

[0089] 5 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 5, the method can be performed by a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a disconnected state, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following step S501:

[0090] In step S501, if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition, a new serving cell is determined by cell selection.

[0091] For a detailed explanation of step S501, please refer to the explanation of step S301, and therefore the explanation will be omitted here.

[0092] In a mobile communication network, there may be cases where the same frequency exists in the NTN and the TN, and cases where the same frequency does not exist in the NTN and the TN.

[0093] If the same frequency exists in NTN and TN, the NTN and TN can use the same frequency band, so that the above step S501 can be realized by the following step S5011.

[0094] In step S5011, a new serving cell is determined based on a preset cell priority setting in the order of high cell priority to low cell priority, where the preset cell priority setting indicates that the priority of the NTN cell is lower than the priority of the TN cell.

[0095] In this embodiment, when the same frequency exists in NTN and TN, it is shown that the frequency band used in NTN and the frequency band used in TN are the same or partially the same. For example, NTN can be used in a frequency band that is [frequency 1, frequency 2], and TN can be used in a frequency band that is [frequency 3, frequency 4], and there is an overlap between the frequency band that is [frequency 1, frequency 2] and the frequency band that is [frequency 3, frequency 4]. In order to preferentially determine the TN cell as the new serving cell of the UE, cell selection / reselection can be performed in the order of high cell priority to low cell priority according to a cell priority setting in which the frequency priority of the NTN cell is lower than the frequency priority of the TN cell. That is, when performing cell selection / reselection, first, a cell that can be used as a new serving cell is determined from among the cells having a high cell priority, and if all the cells having a high cell priority cannot be used as the new serving cell, a cell that can be used as a new serving cell is selected from among the cells having a low cell priority. Since the priority of the NTN cell is lower than that of the TN cell, when performing cell selection / reselection, the TN cell can be preferentially determined as a new serving cell, and only when a TN cell is not found to be available as a new serving cell, a cell available as a new serving cell is selected from among the NTN cells. Here, for example, the NTN cell can be set as a forbidden cell or an acceptable cell. Here, a forbidden cell prohibits the UE from residing in it, and an acceptable cell selects the UE to residing in it only when a suitable cell is not found.

[0096] For example, assume that the current serving cell of the UE is NTN cell 0, and there are three TN cells and three NTN cells available for selection, which are TN cell 1, TN cell 2, TN cell 3, NTN cell 1, NTN cell 2, and NTN cell 3, respectively, where TN cell 1 and TN cell 2 have a first cell priority, TN cell 3 has a second cell priority, NTN cell 1 has a third cell priority, NTN cell 2 and NTN cell 3 have a fourth cell priority, and the first cell priority is greater than the second cell priority, the second cell priority is greater than the third cell priority, and the third cell priority is greater than the fourth cell priority. When performing cell selection / reselection, the UE first finds a cell available as a new serving cell among the cells with the first cell priority, and since both TN cell 1 and TN cell 2 have the first cell priority, the UE selects from TN cell 1 and TN cell 2, and if TN cell 1 is available as a new serving cell, the UE selects TN cell 1 to reside. If both TN Cell 1 and TN Cell 2 are not applicable for use as a new serving cell, the UE finds a cell available as a new serving cell from among the cells with the second cell priority, and since only TN Cell 3 has the second cell priority, if TN Cell 3 is available as a new serving cell, the UE selects and resides in TN Cell 3. If TN Cell 3 is also not applicable for use as a new serving cell, the UE finds a cell available as a new serving cell from among the cells with the third cell priority, and since NTN Cell 1 has the third cell priority, if NTN Cell 1 is available as a new serving cell, the UE selects and resides in NTN Cell 1.If NTN cell 1 is also not applicable for use as a new serving cell, the UE finds a cell that can be used as a new serving cell among the cells with the fourth cell priority, and since NTN cell 2 and NTN cell 3 both have the fourth cell priority, the UE selects from NTN cell 2 and NTN cell 3, where NTN cell 2 is set as a forbidden cell, i.e., NTN cell 2 does not allow the UE to reside, and NTN cell 3 is set as an acceptable cell, i.e., NTN cell 3 allows the UE to reside, and if no other more suitable cell is found, since NTN cell 3 is available as a new serving cell, the UE selects NTN cell 3 to reside in.

[0097] By implementing this embodiment, when a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions is in an unconnected state, a new serving cell can be selected in order from high cell priority to low cell priority based on the preset cell priority setting, and a TN cell can be determined as the new serving cell for the UE, thereby preventing the UE from re-determining an NTN serving cell and reoccurring communication problems due to the location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset conditions.

[0098] 6 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 6, the method can be performed by a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a disconnected state, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following steps S601 to S602:

[0099] In step S601, if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition, cell measurement is performed based on a preset measurement criterion.

[0100] In order to be able to select the most suitable cell, before performing cell selection / reselection, it is usually necessary to perform cell measurements to determine relevant attributes of the serving cell and neighboring cells.

[0101] In this embodiment, the cell measurement is performed based on a preset measurement criterion, which may be preset by a network device and notified to the UE.

[0102] In some embodiments, the preset measurement criterion includes: if a signal quality of a current serving cell of a UE is greater than a preset same-frequency measurement threshold and the acquisition status of location information of the UE meets a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell, where the same-frequency cell and the current serving cell use the same frequency; if a signal quality of a current serving cell of the UE is greater than a preset different-frequency measurement threshold and the acquisition status of location information of the UE meets a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on a first category cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on a first category cell. and performing cell measurement on a cell of a first category, where a priority of a frequency used in a cell of a first category is equal to or lower than a priority of a frequency used in the current serving cell; if the signal quality of the UE's current serving cell is greater than a preset different frequency measurement threshold, a high priority measurement relax is configured for the UE, and the UE's location information acquisition status satisfies a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on a cell of a second category; otherwise, performing cell measurement on a cell of the second category, where a priority of a frequency used in a cell of a second category is higher than a priority of a frequency used in the current serving cell.

[0103] In this embodiment, when determining whether to perform cell measurement, in addition to setting the measurement threshold, etc., it is also considered whether the acquisition status of the UE's location information meets the preset condition. If the measurement threshold requirement is met and the acquisition status of the UE's location information meets the preset condition, the UE does not need to perform the corresponding measurement. If any of the conditions is not met, for example, if the measurement threshold is not met or if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not meet the preset condition, the UE needs to perform the corresponding measurement.

[0104] Specifically, for example, when the same frequency point is used in NTN and TN, if the signal quality of the current serving cell of the UE is greater than a same frequency measurement threshold such as an intra search threshold, and if the acquisition status of the UE's location information meets a preset condition, it is not necessary to measure other same frequency cells that have the same frequency as the current serving cell, otherwise it is necessary to measure other same frequency cells. Also, for example, if the signal quality of the current serving cell of the UE is greater than a different frequency measurement threshold such as a non-intra search threshold, and if the acquisition status of the UE's location information meets a preset condition, it is not necessary to measure cells that use the same priority as the frequency used in the current serving cell or a frequency lower than the frequency priority used in the current serving cell, otherwise it is necessary to measure these cells. Also, for example, if the signal quality of the current serving cell of the UE is greater than a different frequency measurement threshold such as a non-intra search threshold, a high priority measurement relax such as highPriorityMeasRelax is set, and the acquisition status of the UE's location information meets a preset condition, it is not necessary to measure cells that use a frequency higher than the frequency priority used in the current serving cell, otherwise it is necessary to measure these cells.

[0105] In step S602, a new serving cell is determined by cell selection.

[0106] For details and specific implementation of the above step S602, reference may be made to the descriptions of steps S301, S401 and S501, and the description will be omitted here.

[0107] By implementing this embodiment, when a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition is in an unconnected state, cell measurement is performed and cell selection is performed to determine a new serving cell, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, which makes it impossible to achieve uplink synchronization and thus makes it impossible to perform normal communication.

[0108] 7 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 7, the method can be performed by a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a disconnected state, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following steps S701 to S702:

[0109] In step S701, if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition, information that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy the preset condition is logged by minimized drive test logging.

[0110] In this embodiment, based on a preset trigger condition for minimization drive test (MDT) logging, if the UE's location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, the UE can perform MDT logging to log information related to the UE's location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset condition.

[0111] This preset trigger condition for MDT logging may be preset by a network device. For example, the network device sets a logged MDT for the UE when the UE is in a connected state, and sets the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy the preset condition as the trigger condition for MDT logging.

[0112] After logging information related to the fact that the UE's location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, the UE can report the information to the network device via the UE information reporting flow.

[0113] In step S702, a new serving cell is determined by cell selection.

[0114] For details and specific implementation of the above step S702, reference may be made to the descriptions of steps S301, S401 and S501, and the description will be omitted here.

[0115] By implementing this embodiment, for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition, when the UE is in an unconnected state, MDT logging is performed to log information related to the UE's location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset condition, and cell selection is performed to notify a network device of information related to the UE's location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset condition, and a new serving cell is determined for the UE, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, making uplink synchronization impossible and communication impossible to perform normally.

[0116] 8 is a schematic flowchart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. 8, the method can be used for a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a disconnected state, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following steps S801-S803:

[0117] In step S801, if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition, information that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy the preset condition is logged by minimized drive test logging.

[0118] In this embodiment, based on a preset trigger condition for minimization drive test (MDT) logging, if the UE's location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, the UE can perform MDT logging to log information related to the UE's location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset condition.

[0119] This preset MDT logging trigger condition may be preset by a network device. For example, the network device sets a logged MDT for the UE when the UE is in a connected state, and sets the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy the preset condition as the trigger condition for MDT logging.

[0120] After logging information related to the fact that the UE's location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, the UE can report the information to the network device via the UE information reporting flow.

[0121] In step S802, cell measurements are performed based on preset measurement criteria.

[0122] For details and specific implementation of the above step S802, reference may be made to the description of step S601, and the description will be omitted here.

[0123] In step S803, a new serving cell is determined by cell selection.

[0124] For details and specific implementation of the above step S803, reference may be made to the descriptions of steps S301, S401 and S501, and the description will be omitted here.

[0125] By implementing this embodiment, for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition, when the UE is in an unconnected state, MDT logging is performed to log information related to the UE's location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset condition, cell measurement is performed and cell selection is performed to notify a network device of information related to the UE's location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset condition, and a new serving cell is determined for the UE, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, making uplink synchronization impossible and communication impossible.

[0126] 9 is a schematic flow chart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, the method can be executed by a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a connected state. The method provides a way for the UE to determine a new serving cell when the location information acquisition situation of the UE does not meet a preset condition, and can include but is not limited to the following step S901:

[0127] In step S901, if the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy the preset condition, the serving cell of the UE is switched from the NTN cell to a new serving cell based on preset switching information, where the preset switching information indicates a TN cell that can be used as the new serving cell when the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy the preset condition.

[0128] In this embodiment, the UE being in a connected state may refer to, for example, that the UE is currently connected to a network device.

[0129] The location information of the UE may be only a specific type of location information, such as GNSS location information, or may be location information obtained using various other positioning methods, such as location information obtained using LET / NR positioning or Wi-Fi / Bluetooth positioning.

[0130] In some embodiments, the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition may include the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0131] In practical applications, due to sudden circumstances, the location information acquisition status of the UE may not meet the preset conditions at some point in time or for a very short period of time, i.e., the location information acquisition status of the UE can be restored to meet the preset conditions within a short period of time, in which case, determining a new serving cell for the UE has no obvious advantages compared with keeping the UE in the current serving cell, or would even cause additional overhead, i.e., in this case, there is no need to determine a new serving cell for the UE.

[0132] Therefore, in practical applications, when the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset time length, a new serving cell can be determined for the UE, where the preset time length can be determined based on experience, for example, when historical data shows that the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches several seconds, the preset time length can be set to several seconds.

[0133] In some embodiments, the pre-set condition may include any one of: location information is not acquired by the UE; and location information is acquired by the UE but at least one of the reliability and uncertainty of the location information does not meet a set threshold requirement.

[0134] Specifically, the fact that the UE's location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE cannot acquire location information, or that the duration during which the UE cannot acquire location information reaches a preset time length. For example, the fact that the UE cannot acquire location information may be that the UE cannot acquire location information by a specific positioning method, or that the UE cannot acquire location information by any positioning method.

[0135] Also, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement, or that the duration during which the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement reaches a preset time length. Here, the reliability of the location information represents the degree to which the location information is reliable, and the uncertainty of the location information represents the usable accuracy of the location information. In some embodiments, the preset threshold requirement may include a threshold for the reliability and / or the uncertainty. For example, if the threshold for the reliability is 30% and the threshold for the certainty is 100 meters, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters. Also, for example, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% for a certain time period and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters for a certain time period. In some embodiments, in addition to the thresholds for the reliability and / or uncertainty, the preset threshold requirement may further include a tolerance limit value. For example, if the tolerance limit value for the reliability and uncertainty is 5%, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than (30%-5%) and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than (100 meters+100*5% meters). Here, the tolerance limit value for the uncertainty may be expressed by a specific numerical value, for example, 10, and the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the uncertainty of the location information acquired by the UE is greater than (100 meters+10 meters), for example.

[0136] In some embodiments, the pre-set threshold requirement may be signaled to the UE by the network device via a broadcast message or using a dedicated message via RRC signaling.

[0137] In this embodiment, when the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN serving cell, when the UE is currently in a connected state and the location information acquisition status of the UE does not meet the preset condition, the UE can perform switching to a new serving cell based on the preset switching information. This preset switching information may be preset in the UE. In order to avoid the communication problem caused by the location information acquisition status not meeting the preset condition due to the UE reselecting the NTN serving cell, the switching trigger condition set in this preset switching information includes that the location information acquisition status of the UE does not meet the preset condition, where the set switching target cell is a TN cell.

[0138] For example, if the UE's current serving cell is an NTN serving cell and the UE's location information acquisition status does not meet the preset conditions, the UE triggers a process of performing switching and switches to the switching target cell set in the preset switching information.

[0139] By implementing this embodiment, for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, when the UE is in a connected state, switching is performed based on preset switching information to switch to a TN cell as the new serving cell, so that the UE remains resident in the current NTN serving cell, thereby avoiding communication problems caused by the location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset conditions.

[0140] 10 is a schematic flow chart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, the method can be executed by a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a connected state, and the method provides a way for the UE to determine a new serving cell when the location information acquisition situation of the UE does not meet a preset condition, and can include but is not limited to the following step S1001:

[0141] In step S1001, if the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy a preset condition, a first message is sent to the network device, and the first message instructs the network device to switch the serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to the TN cell.

[0142] In this embodiment, the UE being in a connected state may refer to, for example, that the UE is currently connected to a network device.

[0143] The location information of the UE may be only a specific type of location information, such as GNSS location information, or may be location information obtained using various other positioning methods, such as location information obtained using LET / NR positioning or Wi-Fi / Bluetooth positioning.

[0144] In some embodiments, the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition may include the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0145] In practical applications, due to sudden circumstances, the location information acquisition status of the UE may not meet the preset conditions at some point in time or for a very short period of time, i.e., the location information acquisition status of the UE can be restored to meet the preset conditions within a short period of time, in which case, determining a new serving cell for the UE has no obvious advantages compared with keeping the UE in the current serving cell, or would even cause additional overhead, i.e., in this case, there is no need to determine a new serving cell for the UE.

[0146] Therefore, in practical applications, when the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset time length, a new serving cell can be determined for the UE, where the preset time length can be determined based on experience, for example, when historical data shows that the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches several seconds, the preset time length can be set to several seconds.

[0147] In some embodiments, the pre-set condition may include any one of: location information is not acquired by the UE; and location information is acquired by the UE but at least one of the reliability and uncertainty of the location information does not meet a set threshold requirement.

[0148] Specifically, the fact that the UE's location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE cannot acquire location information, or that the duration during which the UE cannot acquire location information reaches a preset time length. For example, the fact that the UE cannot acquire location information may be that the UE cannot acquire location information by a specific positioning method, or that the UE cannot acquire location information by any positioning method.

[0149] Also, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement, or that the duration during which the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement reaches a preset time length. Here, the reliability of the location information represents the degree to which the location information is reliable, and the uncertainty of the location information represents the usable accuracy of the location information. In some embodiments, the preset threshold requirement may include a threshold for the reliability and / or the uncertainty. For example, if the threshold for the reliability is 30% and the threshold for the certainty is 100 meters, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters. Also, for example, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% for a certain time period and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters for a certain time period. In some embodiments, in addition to the thresholds for the reliability and / or uncertainty, the preset threshold requirement may further include a tolerance limit value. For example, if the tolerance limit value for the reliability and uncertainty is 5%, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than (30%-5%) and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than (100 meters+100*5% meters). Here, the tolerance limit value for the uncertainty may be expressed by a specific numerical value, for example, 10, and the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the uncertainty of the location information acquired by the UE is greater than (100 meters+10 meters), for example.

[0150] In some embodiments, the pre-set threshold requirement may be signaled to the UE by the network device via a broadcast message or using a dedicated message via RRC signaling.

[0151] In this embodiment, when the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN serving cell, if the UE is currently in a connected state and the UE's location information acquisition status does not meet the preset conditions, the UE can send a message to the network device to instruct the network device to perform a switching process, and after receiving this message, the network device performs the switching to switch the UE's serving cell from the NTN cell to the TN cell as the new serving cell.

[0152] For example, if the UE reports a message to the network device indicating that the location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, and after the network device receives this message, if it finds that the UE's current NTN serving cell is a primary cell (PCell), it can trigger a PCell switching process to switch the UE's serving cell from this NTN cell to a TN cell; if it finds that the UE's current NTN serving cell is a primary secondary cell (PSCell), it can trigger a PScell ​​exchange process to switch the UE's serving cell from the NTN cell to a TN cell; if it finds that the UE's current NTN serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell), it can trigger an Scell ​​removal or deactivation process to prevent the NTN cell from being used as a serving cell, and switch the UE's serving cell to the TN cell.

[0153] In some embodiments, after receiving this message, the network device may send a measurement instruction message to the UE to instruct the UE to perform cell measurement and report a measurement report including the cell measurement result, while the network device determines a target cell to which the UE is switched based on the measurement report reported by the UE during the above-mentioned switching.

[0154] In some embodiments, the step of sending the first message to the network device can be realized by sending the first message to the network device by media access control element (MAC CE) signaling, or sending the first message to the network device by radio resource control (RRC) signaling based on a preset trigger condition, where the preset trigger condition includes that the location information acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0155] Specifically, the UE may report a message indicating that the location information acquisition status does not meet a preset condition to the network device by MAC CE signaling or RRC signaling. When reporting this message by MAC CE signaling, if there is currently no uplink resource available for reporting this message, a scheduling request (SR) flow may be triggered to request an uplink resource for reporting this message. When reporting this message by RRC signaling, the message may be reported via a measurement report based on a preset report trigger condition. This preset trigger condition may be preset by the network device and notified to the UE. When the location information acquisition status of the UE does not meet the preset condition, a measurement report report is triggered to report a message indicating that the location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition to the network device. The UE may report this message and the cell measurement result simultaneously in this measurement report, or may report only this message in the measurement report.

[0156] By implementing this embodiment, when a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions is in a connected state, the network device sends a message to the network device to instruct the network device to execute a switching process, so that the network device switches the UE's serving cell to the TN cell as the new serving cell, thereby avoiding communication problems caused by the UE still currently residing in the NTN serving cell and the location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset conditions.

[0157] 11 is a schematic flow chart of a serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 11, the method can be executed by a UE, the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN cell, and the UE is currently in a connected state, and the method provides a way for the UE to determine a new serving cell when the location information acquisition situation of the UE does not meet a preset condition, and can include but is not limited to the following step S1101:

[0158] In step S1101, if the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy a preset condition, the TN cell is determined as a new serving cell through a connection reestablishment process.

[0159] In this embodiment, the UE being in a connected state may refer to, for example, that the UE is currently connected to a network device.

[0160] The location information of the UE may be only a specific type of location information, such as GNSS location information, or may be location information obtained using various other positioning methods, such as location information obtained using LET / NR positioning or Wi-Fi / Bluetooth positioning.

[0161] In some embodiments, the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition may include the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0162] In practical applications, due to sudden circumstances, the location information acquisition status of the UE may not meet the preset conditions at some point in time or for a very short period of time, i.e., the location information acquisition status of the UE can be restored to meet the preset conditions within a short period of time, in which case, determining a new serving cell for the UE has no obvious advantages compared with keeping the UE in the current serving cell, or would even cause additional overhead, i.e., in this case, there is no need to determine a new serving cell for the UE.

[0163] Therefore, in practical applications, when the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset time length, a new serving cell can be determined for the UE, where the preset time length can be determined based on experience, for example, when historical data shows that the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches several seconds, the preset time length can be set to several seconds.

[0164] In some embodiments, the pre-set condition may include any one of: location information is not acquired by the UE; and location information is acquired by the UE but at least one of the reliability and uncertainty of the location information does not meet a set threshold requirement.

[0165] Specifically, the fact that the UE's location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE cannot acquire location information, or that the duration during which the UE cannot acquire location information reaches a preset time length. For example, the fact that the UE cannot acquire location information may be that the UE cannot acquire location information by a specific positioning method, or that the UE cannot acquire location information by any positioning method.

[0166] Also, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement, or that the duration during which the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement reaches a preset time length. Here, the reliability of the location information represents the degree to which the location information is reliable, and the uncertainty of the location information represents the usable accuracy of the location information. In some embodiments, the preset threshold requirement may include a threshold for the reliability and / or the uncertainty. For example, if the threshold for the reliability is 30% and the threshold for the certainty is 100 meters, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters. Also, for example, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% for a certain time period and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters for a certain time period. In some embodiments, in addition to the thresholds for the reliability and / or uncertainty, the preset threshold requirement may further include a tolerance limit value. For example, if the tolerance limit value for the reliability and uncertainty is 5%, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than (30%-5%) and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than (100 meters+100*5% meters). Here, the tolerance limit value for the uncertainty may be expressed by a specific numerical value, for example, 10, and the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the uncertainty of the location information acquired by the UE is greater than (100 meters+10 meters), for example.

[0167] In some embodiments, the pre-set threshold requirement may be signaled to the UE by the network device via a broadcast message or using a dedicated message via RRC signaling.

[0168] In this embodiment, if the current serving cell of the UE is an NTN serving cell, when the UE is currently in a connected state and the UE's location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, the UE may consider that a radio link failure (RLF) currently occurs. In this case, the UE may initiate a connection reestablishment process to reestablish to another cell, for example, to reestablish to a TN cell as a new serving cell.

[0169] By implementing this embodiment, for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not meet the preset conditions, if the UE is in a connected state, a connection reconfiguration process is initiated to reconfigure the UE to the TN cell as the new serving cell, thereby avoiding communication problems caused by the UE still currently residing in the NTN serving cell and the location information acquisition status not meeting the preset conditions.

[0170] 12 is a schematic flowchart of another serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 12, the method can be performed by a network device, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following step S1201.

[0171] In step S1201, a new serving cell is determined for the UE based on a message sent by the UE that has the NTN cell as its current serving cell. This message is sent by the UE when the location information acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0172] In this embodiment, when a UE with an NTN cell as its current serving cell has a location information acquisition status that does not satisfy a preset condition, if the UE is currently in a connected state, the UE can send a message to a network device, and the network device can determine a new serving cell for the UE based on the received message.

[0173] In this embodiment, the location information of the UE may be only a specific type of location information, such as global navigation satellite system (GNSS) location information, or may be location information obtained through various other positioning methods, such as location information obtained through long term evolution (LET) / new radio (NR) positioning or Wi-Fi / Bluetooth positioning.

[0174] In some embodiments, the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition may include the fact that the acquisition status of the UE's location information does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0175] In practical applications, due to sudden circumstances, the location information acquisition status of the UE may not meet the preset conditions at some point in time or for a very short period of time, i.e., the location information acquisition status of the UE can be restored to meet the preset conditions within a short period of time, in which case, determining a new serving cell for the UE has no obvious advantages compared with keeping the UE in the current serving cell, or would even cause additional overhead, i.e., in this case, there is no need to determine a new serving cell for the UE.

[0176] Therefore, in practical applications, when the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset time length, a new serving cell can be determined for the UE, where the preset time length can be determined based on experience, for example, when historical data shows that the duration during which the location information acquisition status of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition reaches several seconds, the preset time length can be set to several seconds.

[0177] In some embodiments, the pre-set condition may include any one of: location information is not acquired by the UE; and location information is acquired by the UE but at least one of the reliability and uncertainty of the location information does not meet a set threshold requirement.

[0178] Specifically, the fact that the UE's location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE cannot acquire location information, or that the duration during which the UE cannot acquire location information reaches a preset time length. For example, the fact that the UE cannot acquire location information may be that the UE cannot acquire location information by a specific positioning method, or that the UE cannot acquire location information by any positioning method.

[0179] Also, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement, or that the duration during which the UE can acquire the location information but the reliability and / or uncertainty of the acquired location information does not satisfy the preset threshold requirement reaches a preset time length. Here, the reliability of the location information represents the degree to which the location information is reliable, and the uncertainty of the location information represents the usable accuracy of the location information. In some embodiments, the preset threshold requirement may include a threshold for the reliability and / or the uncertainty. For example, if the threshold for the reliability is 30% and the threshold for the certainty is 100 meters, the fact that the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters. Also, for example, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than 30% for a certain time period and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than 100 meters for a certain time period. In some embodiments, in addition to the thresholds for the reliability and / or uncertainty, the preset threshold requirement may further include a tolerance limit value. For example, if the tolerance limit value for the reliability and uncertainty is 5%, the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the reliability of the location information acquired by the UE is lower than (30%-5%) and / or the uncertainty of the location information is greater than (100 meters+100*5% meters). Here, the tolerance limit value for the uncertainty may be expressed by a specific numerical value, for example, 10, and the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy the preset condition may be that the uncertainty of the location information acquired by the UE is greater than (100 meters+10 meters), for example.

[0180] In some embodiments, the pre-set threshold requirement may be signaled to the UE by the network device via a broadcast message or using a dedicated message via RRC signaling.

[0181] By implementing this embodiment, the network device determines a new serving cell for the UE based on the message sent by the UE when the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, which causes uplink synchronization to be impossible and communication to be not performed normally.

[0182] 13 is a schematic flowchart of another serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, as shown in FIG. 13, the method can be performed by a network device, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following steps S1301 to S1302.

[0183] In step S1301, a new serving cell is determined for the UE based on a message sent by the UE that has the NTN cell as its current serving cell. This message is sent by the UE when the location information acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0184] For a detailed explanation of step S1301, please refer to the explanation of step S1201, and therefore the explanation will be omitted here.

[0185] In step S1302, the serving cell of the UE is switched from the NTN cell to the TN cell.

[0186] In this embodiment, after receiving a message indicating that the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, the network device performs a switch to switch the UE's serving cell from the NTN cell to the TN cell as the new serving cell.

[0187] For example, if the UE reports a message to the network device indicating that the location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, and after the network device receives this message, if it finds that the UE's current NTN serving cell is a primary cell (PCell), it can trigger a PCell switching process to switch the UE's serving cell from this NTN cell to a TN cell; if it finds that the UE's current NTN serving cell is a primary secondary cell (PSCell), it can trigger a PScell ​​exchange process to switch the UE's serving cell from the NTN cell to a TN cell; if it finds that the UE's current NTN serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell), it can trigger an Scell ​​removal or deactivation process to prevent the NTN cell from being used as a serving cell, and switch the UE's serving cell to the TN cell.

[0188] In some embodiments, the message indicating that the acquisition status of the location information does not satisfy the preset condition may be reported to the network device in one of the following ways: reporting a message to the network device by media access control element (MAC CE) signaling; and reporting a message to the network device in a measurement report by radio resource control (RRC) signaling based on a preset reporting trigger condition, where the preset reporting trigger condition includes that the acquisition status of the location information does not satisfy the preset condition.

[0189] Specifically, the UE may report a message indicating that the location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition to the network device by MAC CE signaling or RRC signaling. When reporting this message by MAC CE signaling, if there is currently no available uplink resource for reporting this message, a scheduling request (SR) flow may be triggered to request an uplink resource for reporting this message. When reporting this message by RRC signaling, it may be reported via a measurement report based on a preset report trigger condition. This preset trigger condition may be preset by the network device and notified to the UE. When the location information acquisition status of the UE does not meet the preset condition, a measurement report report is triggered to report a message indicating that the location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition to the network device. The UE may report this message and the cell measurement result simultaneously in this measurement report, or may report only this message in the measurement report.

[0190] By executing this embodiment, the network device switches the serving cell of the UE to the TN cell as the new serving cell based on the message sent by the UE when the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, thereby avoiding communication problems caused by the UE still currently residing in the NTN serving cell and the location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset condition.

[0191] 14 is a schematic flowchart of another serving cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, as shown in FIG. 14, the method can be performed by a network device, and the method can include, but is not limited to, the following steps S1401 to S1402.

[0192] In step S1401, a new serving cell is determined for the UE based on a message sent by the UE that has the NTN cell as its current serving cell. This message is sent by the UE when the location information acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0193] For a detailed explanation of step S1401, please refer to the explanation of step S1201, and therefore the explanation will be omitted here.

[0194] In some embodiments, the above step S1401 can be realized by the following steps S14011 to S14013.

[0195] In step S14011, a measurement instruction message is sent to the UE.

[0196] In step S14012, receive a measurement report reported by the UE after performing cell measurement based on the measurement indication message.

[0197] In step S14013, a TN cell is determined as a new serving cell based on the measurement report.

[0198] In this embodiment, after receiving a message indicating that the UE's location information acquisition status does not meet the preset condition, the network device can send a measurement instruction message to the UE to instruct the UE to perform cell measurement and report a measurement report including the cell measurement result, and the network device determines a target cell to which the UE is switched based on the measurement report reported by the UE.

[0199] In step S1402, the serving cell of the UE is switched from the NTN cell to the TN cell as the new serving cell.

[0200] For a detailed explanation of step S1402, please refer to the explanation of step S1302, and therefore the explanation will be omitted here.

[0201] By executing this embodiment, the network device sends a measurement instruction message to the UE based on a message sent by the UE when the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, determines a TN cell to be a new serving cell based on the measurement report reported by the UE based on this measurement instruction message, switches the UE's serving cell to this TN cell, and selects the TN cell that is optimal for the UE as a new serving cell, thereby avoiding communication problems caused by the UE still currently residing in the NTN serving cell and the location information acquisition status not satisfying the preset conditions.

[0202] In the above embodiments provided by the present application, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described from the perspective of a network device and a user equipment, respectively. In order to realize each function in the method provided by the above embodiments of the present application, the network device and the user equipment may include a hardware configuration and a software module, and each of the above functions may be realized in the form of a hardware configuration, a software module, or a combination of a hardware configuration and a software module. Certain functions among the above functions may be executed in the form of a hardware configuration, a software module, or a combination of a hardware configuration and a software module.

[0203] Corresponding to the serving cell determination method provided by some of the above embodiments, the present disclosure further provides a serving cell determination device, and since the serving cell determination device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure corresponds to the serving cell determination method provided by some of the above embodiments, the embodiments of the serving cell determination method are also applied to the serving cell determination device provided by this embodiment, and will not be described in detail in this embodiment. Figure 15 is a schematic configuration diagram of a serving cell determination device proposed by the present disclosure.

[0204] 15 is a schematic diagram of a serving cell determination apparatus 1500 provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. The serving cell determination apparatus 1500 can be applied to a UE. The current serving cell of the UE is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell.

[0205] As shown in FIG. 15, a serving cell determination apparatus 1500 includes a processing module 1501 for determining a new serving cell when the acquisition status of the location information of the UE does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0206] By implementing this embodiment, a new serving cell is determined for a UE whose location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset conditions, making uplink synchronization impossible and preventing normal communication.

[0207] In some embodiments, the processing module 1501 determines a new serving cell when the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0208] In some embodiments, the preset condition includes any one of the following: the location information has not been obtained by the UE; and the location information has been obtained by the UE but at least one of a reliability and an uncertainty of the location information does not meet a preset threshold requirement.

[0209] In some embodiments, the processing module determines a new serving cell by cell selection, where the UE is in an unconnected state.

[0210] In some embodiments, the processing module 1501 determines a new serving cell by cell selection based on a pre-configured frequency priority setting in order from high frequency priority to low frequency priority, where the pre-configured frequency priority setting indicates that the priority of a frequency used in an NTN cell is lower than the priority of a frequency used in a TN cell, where the frequencies used in the NTN cell and the TN cell are different.

[0211] In some embodiments, the processing module 1501 determines a new serving cell by cell selection based on a step of determining a new serving cell in order from high cell priority to low cell priority based on a pre-configured cell priority setting, where the pre-configured cell priority setting indicates that the priority of an NTN cell is lower than the priority of a TN cell, where the available frequencies of the NTN cell and the TN cell are the same.

[0212] In some embodiments, the processing module 1501 further performs cell measurements based on pre-defined measurement criteria.

[0213] In some embodiments, the preset measurement criteria include: if a signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset same-frequency measurement threshold and the acquisition status satisfies a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell; where frequencies used by the same-frequency cell and the current serving cell are the same, if a signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset different-frequency measurement threshold and the acquisition status satisfies a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on a first category cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on a first category cell. and performing cell measurement on the first category cell, where a priority of a frequency used in the first category cell is equal to or lower than a priority of a frequency used in the current serving cell; and if a signal quality of the current serving cell is greater than a preset inter-frequency measurement threshold, a high priority measurement relax is configured for the UE, and the acquisition status satisfies a preset condition, not performing cell measurement on a second category cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on a second category cell, where a priority of a frequency used in the second category cell is higher than a priority of a frequency used in the current serving cell.

[0214] In some embodiments, the processing module 1501 further logs information that the acquisition conditions do not meet pre-set conditions through Minimized Drive Test (MDT) logging.

[0215] In some embodiments, the processing module 1501 switches a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to the new serving cell based on pre-configured switching information, the pre-configured switching information indicating a TN cell that can be used as the new serving cell when the acquisition status does not satisfy a pre-configured condition, and where the UE is in a connected state.

[0216] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 16 , the apparatus 1500 further includes a transceiver module 1502, which transmits a first message to a network device, the first message instructing the network device to switch a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to a TN cell, where the UE is in a connected state.

[0217] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1502 sends the first message to the network device by media access control element (MAC CE) signaling, and sends the first message to the network device by radio resource control (RRC) signaling based on a preset triggering condition, where the preset triggering condition includes the acquisition status not satisfying a preset condition.

[0218] In some embodiments, the processing module 1501 determines a TN cell as the new serving cell through a connection reconfiguration process, where the UE is in a connected state.

[0219] 17 is a schematic diagram of another serving cell determining apparatus 1700 provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. The serving cell determining apparatus 1700 can be applied to a network device.

[0220] As shown in FIG. 17, the apparatus 1700 includes a processing module 1701 for determining a new serving cell for a UE based on a message sent by the UE, where a current serving cell of the UE is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, and the message is sent by the UE when the location information acquisition situation does not satisfy a preset condition.

[0221] By implementing this embodiment, the network device determines a new serving cell for the UE based on the message sent by the UE when the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE still resides in the current serving cell and the location information acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition, which causes uplink synchronization to be impossible and communication to be not performed normally.

[0222] In some embodiments, the message is transmitted by the UE when the acquisition status does not satisfy a preset condition and the duration during which the acquisition status does not satisfy the preset condition reaches a preset length of time.

[0223] In some embodiments, the preset condition includes any one of the following: the location information has not been obtained by the UE; and the location information has been obtained by the UE but at least one of a reliability and an uncertainty of the location information does not meet a preset threshold requirement.

[0224] In some embodiments, the processing module 1701 switches the serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to a TN cell.

[0225] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 18, the apparatus further includes a transceiver module 1702 for sending a measurement indication message to the UE and receiving a measurement report reported by the UE after performing cell measurement based on the measurement indication message. The processing module 1701 further determines the TN cell to be the new serving cell based on the measurement report.

[0226] Referring to Figure 19, Figure 19 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication device 1900 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1900 may be a network device, a user equipment, a chip, a chip system, or a processor, etc. that supports the network device to realize the above method, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor, etc. that supports the terminal device to realize the above method. This device can realize the method described in the embodiment of the above method, and specifically, the description of the embodiment of the above method can be referred to.

[0227] The communication device 1900 may include one or more processors 1901. The processor 1901 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processor. The baseband processor can process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor can control a communication device (e.g., a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal device, a terminal device chip, a DU or a CU, etc.), execute a computer program, and process data of the computer program.

[0228] Optionally, the communication device 1900 may further include one or more memories 1902 capable of storing a computer program 1904, and the processor 1901 may execute the computer program 1904, thereby causing the communication device 1900 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the memory 1902 may further store data. The communication device 1900 and the memory 1902 may be provided separately or integrated.

[0229] Optionally, the communication device 1900 may further include a transceiver 1905 and an antenna 1906. The transceiver 1905 realizes a transmitting and receiving function and may be referred to as a transmitting and receiving unit, a transceiver, or a transmitting and receiving circuit, etc. The transceiver 1905 may include a receiver and a transmitter, where the receiver realizes a receiving function and may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitter realizes a transmitting function and may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0230] Optionally, the communication device 1900 may further include one or more interface circuits 1907. The interface circuit 1907 receives and transmits code instructions to the processor 1901. The processor 1901 executes the code instructions to cause the communication device 1900 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0231] If the communication device 1900 is a user equipment, the processor 1901 performs step S201 of FIG. 2, step S301 of FIG. 3, step S401 of FIG. 4, step S501 of FIG. 5, steps S601 to S602 of FIG. 6, steps S701 to S702 of FIG. 7, steps S801 to S803 of FIG. 8, step S901 of FIG. 9, and step S1101 of FIG. 11, and the transceiver 1905 performs step S1001 of FIG. 10.

[0232] 12, steps S1301 and S1302 in FIG. 13, and steps S14013 and S1402 in FIG. 14, and the transceiver 1905 executes steps S14011 and S14012 in FIG.

[0233] In one embodiment, the processor 1901 may include a transceiver for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transmitting and receiving circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transmitting and receiving circuit, the interface, or the interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transmitting and receiving circuit, the interface, or the interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transmitting and receiving circuit, the interface, or the interface circuit may be used for transmitting or conveying signals.

[0234] In one embodiment, the processor 1901 may store a computer program 1903, which, when executed on the processor 1901, may cause the communication device 1900 to execute the methods described in the above method examples. The computer program 1903 may be hardened in the processor 1901, in which case the processor 1901 may be realized by hardware.

[0235] In one embodiment, the communication device 1900 may include circuitry capable of implementing the functions of transmitting or receiving or communicating in the above method embodiments. The processor and transceiver described in this application may be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a hybrid signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver may also be fabricated in a variety of IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), n-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMOS), p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0236] The communication device described in the above embodiment may be a network device or a terminal device (the first terminal device in the above method embodiment), but the scope of the communication device described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited to that in FIG. 19. The communication device may be an independent device or a part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) An independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or a chip system or subsystem; (2) a set having one or more ICs, optionally including a storage component for storing data, computer programs; (3) ASICs such as modems (4) A module that can be incorporated into other devices; (5) Receivers, terminal equipment, smart terminal devices, mobile phones, wireless devices, handhelds, mobile units, in-vehicle devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc. (6) Others, etc. may also be used.

[0237] When the communication device may be a chip or a chip system, reference may be made to the structural schematic diagram of the chip shown in Fig. 20. The chip shown in Fig. 20 includes a processor 2001 and an interface 2002. Here, the number of the processors 2001 may be one or more, and the number of the interfaces 2002 may be more than one.

[0238] When the chip realizes the functions of the user equipment in the embodiment of the present application, the processor 2001 performs step S201 of FIG. 2, step S301 of FIG. 3, step S401 of FIG. 4, step S501 of FIG. 5, steps S601 to S602 of FIG. 6, steps S701 to S702 of FIG. 7, steps S801 to S803 of FIG. 8, step S901 of FIG. 9, and step S1101 of FIG. 11, and the interface 2002 performs step S1001 of FIG. 10.

[0239] When the chip realizes the functions of a network device in an embodiment of the present application, the processor 2001 executes step S1201 of FIG. 12, steps S1301 to S1302 of FIG. 13, and steps S14013 and S1402 of FIG. 14 via the interface 2002, and the interface 2002 executes steps S14011 to S14012 of FIG. 14.

[0240] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory 2003 for storing necessary computer programs and data.

[0241] Those skilled in the art can also understand that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in the embodiments of the present application can be realized by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Whether such functions are realized by hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design requirements of the entire system. Those skilled in the art can use the above functions realized in various ways for each specific application, but this realization should not be understood as going beyond the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

[0242] An embodiment of the present application further provides a system for realizing serving cell determination, the system including a communication device serving as a user equipment in the embodiment of FIG. 10 and a communication device serving as a network device in the embodiment of FIG. 11, or the system including a communication device serving as a user equipment in the embodiment of FIG. 20 and a communication device serving as a network device.

[0243] The present application further provides a readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement the functionality of any of the method embodiments described above.

[0244] The present application further provides a computer program product which, when executed by a computer, implements the functionality of any of the above method embodiments.

[0245] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs. The process or function according to the above embodiments of the present application is generated in whole or in part when loading and running a computer program on a computer. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer program may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, radio, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer, or may include a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid state disk (SSD)).

[0246] Those skilled in the art will understand that the various numerals such as 1st, 2nd, etc. in the present application are merely a division for the convenience of explanation, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, nor indicate a sequence of events.

[0247] In the present application, "at least one" can be described as "one" or "multiple", and "multiple" can be "two", "three", "four" or more, and is not limited to the present application. In the embodiments of the present application, for one technical feature, the technical features in the technical feature type are distinguished by "first", "second", "third", "A", "B", "C", and "D", etc., and there is no order of precedence or precedence or order of magnitude between the technical features described in "first", "second", "third", "A", "B", "C", and "D".

[0248] As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any computer program product, apparatus, and / or device (e.g., magnetic disks, optical disks, memories, programmable logic devices (PLDs)) that provides machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions that are machine-readable signals. The term "machine-readable signal" refers to any signal for providing machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor.

[0249] The systems and techniques described herein may be implemented in a computing system including a back-end component (e.g., a data server), or a computing system including a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or a computing system including a front-end component (e.g., a user computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with embodiments of the systems and techniques described herein), or a computing system including any combination of such back-end, middleware, and front-end components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and the Internet.

[0250] A computer system may include clients and servers, which are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server is created by computer programs running on corresponding computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

[0251] It should be understood that steps can be rearranged, added, or deleted using the various types of flows shown above. For example, each step described in the present disclosure can be performed in parallel, sequentially, or in a different order, but is not limited herein as long as the technical solution disclosed in the present disclosure can achieve the desired results.

[0252] It should also be understood that the various embodiments described in this application may be practiced alone or in combination with other embodiments where permitted by the technical proposal.

[0253] Those skilled in the art can recognize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. How a specific function is implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can realize the described functions using different methods for each specific application, but such realization should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0254] As those skilled in the art can clearly understand, for convenience and conciseness of description, the specific operating processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments, and the description will be omitted here.

[0255] As described above, the present application only provides specific embodiments, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can easily imagine that modifications or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A serving cell determination method, the method being executed by a user equipment (UE), a currently accessed serving cell of the UE being a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, the method comprising: determining a new serving cell if location information of the UE has not been acquired by the UE; A method for determining a serving cell comprising the steps of:

2. The step of determining a new serving cell comprises: determining a new serving cell by cell selection; The serving cell determination method according to claim 1 .

3. If location information of the UE has not been acquired by the UE, the method further comprises: and performing cell measurements based on preset measurement criteria before determining a new serving cell. The serving cell determination method according to claim 2 .

4. The preset measurement criteria are: If the signal quality of the currently accessed serving cell is greater than a preset same-frequency measurement threshold and location information of the UE is acquired by the UE, then not performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell; otherwise, performing cell measurement on the same-frequency cell, and determining whether the frequency of the same-frequency cell and the frequency of the currently accessed serving cell are the same; If the signal quality of the currently accessed serving cell is greater than a preset inter-frequency measurement threshold and location information of the UE is acquired by the UE, then do not perform cell measurement on a first category cell; otherwise, perform cell measurement on a first category cell, and the first category cell is a cell whose frequency priority is equal to or lower than the frequency priority of the currently accessed serving cell; If the signal quality of the currently accessed serving cell is greater than a preset inter-frequency measurement threshold, a high priority measurement relax is configured for the UE, and location information of the UE is acquired by the UE, then do not perform cell measurement on a second category cell; otherwise, perform cell measurement on a second category cell, where the second category cell is a cell whose frequency priority is higher than the frequency priority of the currently accessed serving cell; Any one of the following: The serving cell determination method according to claim 3 .

5. If location information of the UE has not been acquired by the UE, the method further comprises: Before determining a new serving cell, the method further includes logging information indicating that location information of the UE has not been acquired by the UE through Minimized Drive Test (MDT) logging. The serving cell determination method according to claim 2 .

6. The step of determining a new serving cell comprises: When the UE is in an RRC connected state, switching a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to the new serving cell based on preset switching information, the preset switching information including the step of indicating a NTN cell that can be used as the new serving cell when location information of the UE has not been acquired by the UE. The serving cell determination method according to claim 1 .

7. The step of determining a new serving cell comprises: If the UE is in an RRC connected state, sending a first message to a network device, the first message instructing the network device to switch a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to a TN cell. The serving cell determination method according to claim 1 .

8. The step of transmitting the first message to a network device comprises: transmitting the first message to the network device by Media Access Control (MAC CE) signaling; The serving cell determination method according to claim 7 .

9. The step of transmitting the first message to a network device includes: transmitting the first message to the network device by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling based on a preset trigger condition, the preset trigger condition including that location information of the UE has not been acquired by the UE; The serving cell determination method according to claim 7 .

10. The step of determining a new serving cell comprises: When the UE is in an RRC connected state, determining a TN cell as the new serving cell through a connection reestablishment process; The serving cell determination method according to claim 1 .

11. 1. A serving cell determination method, the method being performed by a network device, the method comprising: determining a new serving cell for a user equipment (UE) based on a message sent by the UE, the message being sent by the UE when a currently accessed serving cell of the UE is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell and location information of the UE has not been obtained by the UE; A method for determining a serving cell comprising the steps of:

12. After the step of determining a new serving cell for the UE, the method further comprises: and switching a serving cell of the UE from the NTN cell to a terrestrial network (TN) cell. The serving cell determination method according to claim 11 .

13. The step of determining a new serving cell for the UE comprises: sending a measurement indication message to the UE; receiving a measurement report reported by the UE after performing cell measurement based on the measurement indication message; determining the TN cell to be the new serving cell based on the measurement report; The serving cell determination method according to claim 11 .

14. 1. A communications device, comprising: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, the processor being connected to the transceiver and the memory, respectively, and configured to execute computer-executable instructions on the memory to control the transceiver to transmit and receive radio signals, thereby implementing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 10; A communication device comprising:

15. 1. A communications device, comprising: a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, the processor being connected to the transceiver and the memory, respectively, and configured to execute computer-executable instructions on the memory to control the transceiver to transmit and receive radio signals, thereby implementing the method according to any one of claims 11 to 13. A communication device comprising:

16. A computer program comprising: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is realized. A computer program comprising:

17. A computer program comprising: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 11 to 13 is realized. A computer program comprising:

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