Method and apparatus for switching states, method and apparatus for transmitting beacon signals

Abstract

This application discloses a state switching method and device, and a beacon signal transmission method and device, which belong to the field of communication technology, in which the state switching method includes: when monitoring a wake-up signal in a low power state, a terminal detects a beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information, and when the detection result is at least one of a result that the terminal has not detected the beacon signal and a result that the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal is lower than a pre-configured threshold, the terminal switches to an idle state.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] (Cross - reference to related applications) This application claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202110206796.6 filed in China on February 22, 2021, and all the contents of the said application are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] This application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a method and device for state switching, and a method and device for beacon signal transmission.

Background Art

[0003] Considering the demand for power saving, the terminal realizes receiving a wake - up signal with low power by adopting a simplified circuit, resulting in a certain loss in the detection sensitivity of the wake - up signal. For example, the detection sensitivity for the wake - up signal in the idle state is about - 100 dBm, while the sensitivity for detecting the wake - up signal in the low - power mode is - 70 dBm to - 90 dBm. However, during the process of the terminal detecting the wake - up signal in the low - power state, due to movement or environmental changes, the terminal moves out of the coverage range of the low - power wake - up signal, making it impossible to receive the wake - up signal transmitted by the network side.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of this application provide a state switching method and device, and a beacon signal transmission method and device, which can solve the problem in the prior art that when the terminal moves out of the coverage range of the low - power wake - up signal in the low - power state, the terminal and the network side lose the service because the terminal cannot receive the wake - up signal transmitted by the network side.[[ID=ID=29]]

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] [[ID=ID=34]] According to a first embodiment, a method for switching states is provided, which, when monitoring a wake-up signal in a low-power state, includes the terminal detecting a beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information, and the terminal switching from the sleep state to the idle state if the detection result is at least one of the following: the terminal did not detect the beacon signal, or the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal is lower than a pre-configured threshold.

[0006] According to a second aspect, a method for transmitting a beacon signal is provided, the method comprising a network-side device transmitting a beacon signal to a terminal, wherein the network-side device is a network-side device in a first cell of a plurality of cells, and the terminal moves within a target paging area that includes the radiation area of ​​the plurality of cells.

[0007] According to a third embodiment, a state switching device for use in a terminal is provided, which includes a detection module for detecting a beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information when monitoring a wake-up signal in a low-power state, and a switching module for switching to an idle state if the detection result is at least one of the following: that the beacon signal was not detected, or that the signal quality of the detected beacon signal is lower than a pre-set threshold.

[0008] According to a fourth aspect, a beacon signal transmitting device is provided for use in a network-side device, the device including a transmitting module for transmitting a beacon signal to a terminal, wherein the network-side device is a network-side device in a first cell of a plurality of cells, and the terminal moves within a target paging area including the radiation area of ​​the plurality of cells.

[0009] According to the fifth aspect, a terminal is provided, which includes a processor, memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and operable on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the method according to the first aspect are realized.

[0010] According to the sixth aspect, a network-side device is provided, which includes a processor, memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and operable on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the method according to the second aspect are realized.

[0011] According to the seventh aspect, a readable storage medium is provided, the readable storage medium storing a program or instruction, and when the program or instruction is executed by a processor, a step of the method according to the first aspect is realized, or a step of the method according to the second aspect is realized.

[0012] According to the eighth aspect, a chip is provided, the chip including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled with the processor, the processor running programs or instructions for network-side equipment, and used to implement steps of the method according to the first aspect or the method according to the second aspect.

[0013] According to the ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product being stored in a storage medium, and the computer program product being executed by at least one processor to realize a step of the method according to the first aspect or a step of the method according to the second aspect. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] In the embodiments of this application, when monitoring the wake-up signal in a low-power state, the determination of whether to switch to the idle state is made based on the detection result for the beacon signal. In other words, if the terminal does not detect the beacon signal, or if the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal falls below a preset threshold, the terminal moves out of the coverage range of the wake-up signal, and reception of the wake-up signal becomes impossible, resulting in a loss of service for both the terminal and the network. However, by activating the terminal to enable connection with the network by turning on modules such as radio frequency transmission / reception and baseband processing after the terminal switches to the idle state, the problem in the conventional technology where the terminal loses service for both the terminal and the network because it cannot receive the wake-up signal transmitted by the network when the terminal moves out of the coverage range of the low-power wake-up signal in a low-power state is solved. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] A block diagram of a wireless communication system to which the embodiments of this application can be applied is shown. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart illustrating the method for switching states in the embodiment of this application. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram showing the terminal of the embodiment of this application moving within the paging area. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the state switching device of the embodiment of this application. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device according to the embodiment of this application. [Figure 6] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the terminal of the embodiment of this application. [Figure 7] This is a schematic diagram of the network-side equipment structure of the embodiment of this application. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] The following clearly and completely describes the technical concepts in the embodiments of this application, linking them to the drawings of the embodiments. Clearly, the embodiments described are only some, and not all, embodiments of this application. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this application are all within the scope of protection of this application.

[0017] The terms "first," "second," etc., used in the specification and claims of this application are intended to distinguish similar subjects and not to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this manner is interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of this application can be carried out in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the subjects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same kind and do not limit the number of subjects. For example, the first subject may be one or more. In the specification and claims, "and / or" indicates at least one of the connected subjects, and the letter " / " generally indicates that the preceding and succeeding related subjects are in an "or" relationship.

[0018] It should be noted that the technologies described in the embodiments of this application are not limited to Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, but are also applicable to other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of this application are always used interchangeably, and the technologies described may be applied to the systems and radio technologies mentioned above, or to other systems and radio technologies. The following description illustrates a New Radio (NR) system and uses NR terminology in most of the following descriptions; however, these technologies may also be applied to applications other than NR systems, such as 6th Generation (6G) communication systems.

[0019] Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system to which an embodiment of this application can be applied. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and network-side equipment 12. Here, terminal 11 may also be called terminal equipment or user equipment (UE), and terminal 11 may be a mobile phone, tablet personal computer, laptop computer (or notebook computer), personal digital assistant (PDA), palmtop computer, netbook, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), mobile internet device (MID), wearable device or in-vehicle equipment (VUE), pedestrian terminal (PUE), etc. Wearable devices include bracelets, earphones, glasses, etc. It should be noted that this does not limit the specific type of terminal 11 in the embodiment of this application. Network-side equipment 12 may be a base station or a core network. Here, a base station may also be called a node B, an evolved node B, an access point, a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a B node, an evolved B node (eNB), a home B node, a home evolved B node, a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) node, a transmission receiving point (TRP), or any other appropriate term in the art, and the base station is not limited to any particular technical term as long as the same technical effect is achieved.It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, only the base station in the NR system is taken as an example, but the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0020] First, relevant terms related to this application will be introduced accordingly.

[0021] In the communication system designs of the Third-Generation (3G), Fourth-Generation (4G), and Fifth-Generation (5G) mobile communication technologies, different states of the user equipment (UE), such as the IDLE state and the CONNECTED state, are introduced. After the UE transmits and receives data, it can transition from the CONNECTED state to the IDLE state for power saving. In the IDLE state, the UE only needs to receive necessary synchronization information, paging information, and system information broadcast (SIB), etc. Compared with the CONNECTED state, the power can be significantly reduced. Generally, it can reach the level of a dozen mW or so, which is less than one-tenth of the CONNECTED state.

[0022] However, in the above IDLE state design, the terminal still needs to periodically turn on the transceiver and the corresponding signal processing module of the MODEM to appropriately process the received signals. Here, since these RF and MODEM modules cannot be completely turned off, the communication power in the IDLE state cannot be reduced. This is mainly due to the need to receive the above-mentioned synchronization information, paging information, and system information broadcast (SIB), etc.

[0023] By introducing a SLEEP state, the terminal can further reduce the reception of synchronization information, paging information, or SIBs while in SLEEP mode. This reduction in reception activity allows the radio frequency (RF) and modem (MODEM) modules to be turned off, thereby significantly reducing the power required for communication reception. Technically, this can be achieved by introducing a low-power receiver into the terminal's receiving module. This low-power receiver does not require signal detection (e.g., amplification, filtering, quantization) by the RF module or signal processing by the MODEM, but relies solely on passive matched filtering and relatively low-power wake-up signal processing. For example, after receiving a wake-up signal, the terminal turns on the main receiver to perform paging and signal monitoring in the idle state of system information.

[0024] The following further describes the Radio Resource Control (RRC) status and wake-up signal.

[0025] 1. RRC state Since mobile phones and networks communicate with each other via radio channels and exchange large amounts of information, both mobile phones and networks require a control mechanism to exchange and agree on configuration information; such a control mechanism is RRC. Different RRC states are introduced in 4G and 5G communication systems to maintain a relatively fixed communication state for terminals. In 5G NR, there are three RRC states: IDLE, INACTIVE, and CONNECTED, while 4G LTE has only two RRC states: RRC IDLE and RRC CONNECTED. The characteristics of the three states are as follows:

[0026] 1) RRC_IDLE (Idle Mode): Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) selection, Broadcast system information, Cell reselection mobility, The paging of end-of-movement data is initiated by the 5G Core network (5GC). The paging of the moving end data region is managed by 5GC. Discontinuous Reception (DRX) for Core Network (CN) paging, configured as a Non-Standalone (NAS) system.

[0027] 2) RRC_INACTIVE (Deactivation Mode): PLMN selection, Broadcast system information, Cell reselection mobility, Paging is initiated by the 5G Radio Access Network (Next Generation Radio Access Network, NG-RAN) (RAN paging). The notification area (RNA) based on RAN is managed by NG-RAN. RAN paging DRX configured with NG-RAN, To establish a 5GC-NG-RAN connection (including control plane / user plane) for the UE. The UE AS message is stored in NG-RAN and UE. NG-RAN identifies the RNA to which UE belongs.

[0028] 3) RRC_CONNECTED (Connection Mode): To establish a 5GC-NG-RAN connection (including control plane / user plane) for the UE. The UE AS message is stored in NG-RAN and UE. NG-RAN knows which cell UE belongs to. Transmitting unicast data to or from the UE. Network-controlled mobility, including measurement.

[0029] 2. Wake-Up Signal (WUS) To reduce receiving activity in the RRC IDLE state and significantly reduce the power of communication reception by effectively turning off the RF and MODEL modules, a low-power receiver can be introduced into the terminal's receiving module. This low-power receiver does not require signal detection (e.g., amplification, filtering, quantization, etc.) by the RF module or signal processing by the MODEM, and relies solely on passive matched filtering and relatively low-power signal processing.

[0030] The base station can activate a low-power receiver by triggering a wake-up signal on demand, thereby notifying it of the activation and triggering a series of flows within the terminal, such as modules for radio frequency transmission and reception and baseband processing. This wake-up signal may also be an on-off keying signal. That is, the receiver can become aware of the wake-up notification through processes such as simple energy detection and subsequent possible sequence detection and identification.

[0031] It should be explained that the low power referred to in this application is compared to the power level required for conventional MODEM baseband signal processing. When a low-power receiver is employed, the power consumed is only a fraction of the power based on conventional MODEM baseband signal processing methods, or even a thousandth of the power. Therefore, in this application, a wake-up signal received at low power may be called a low-power wake-up signal.

[0032] In the following sections, the method of switching states according to the embodiment of this application will be described in detail with reference to drawings, specific examples, and their application scenarios.

[0033] As shown in Figure 2, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for switching states, the steps of which include the following steps.

[0034] Step 202: When monitoring the wake-up signal in a low-power state, the terminal detects the beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information.

[0035] Step 204, The detection result is, The result was that the device did not detect the beacon signal, If the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal is lower than a preset threshold, or if at least one of these results is obtained, the terminal switches to idle mode.

[0036] Steps 202 and 204 of the embodiment of this application indicate that when monitoring the wake-up signal in a low-power state, the detection result for the beacon signal determines whether or not to switch to the idle state. In other words, if the terminal does not detect the beacon signal, or if the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal falls below a preset threshold, the terminal moves out of the coverage range of the wake-up signal, and reception of the wake-up signal becomes impossible, resulting in a loss of service for both the terminal and the network. However, by activating the terminal to enable connection with the network by turning on modules such as radio frequency transmission / reception and baseband processing after the terminal switches to the idle state, the problem in the conventional technology where the terminal loses service for both the terminal and the network because it cannot receive the wake-up signal transmitted by the network when the terminal moves out of the coverage range of the low-power wake-up signal in a low-power state is solved.

[0037] It should be explained that the pre-configured configuration information in this application may be transmitted from network-side equipment to a terminal, predetermined by a protocol, or pre-configured in the terminal, and this application does not limit the specific method for this, and any configuration may be implemented according to actual needs.

[0038] Generally speaking, the wake-up signal related to the embodiment of this application can only be transmitted when the network needs to wake up a terminal (for example, when the terminal needs to be woken up to monitor paging information), while the beacon signal is transmitted in a periodic format based on the resources configured by the network. Here, the resources configured by the network include resources transmitted to the terminal by network-side equipment or resources predefined by a protocol, and the specific configuration method may be configured according to the actual needs.

[0039] In an optional embodiment of the embodiments of this application, the steps of the method of the embodiments of this application may further include the following steps before the terminal detects the beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information:

[0040] Step 200, In an idle or connected state, the terminal acquires configuration information. Here, the configuration information in the embodiments of this application may include at least one of the following: the frequency of the beacon signal, the subcarriers of the beacon signal, the slots of the beacon signal, the sequence of the beacon signal, the period of the beacon signal, and the power of the beacon signal.

[0041] In the embodiments of this application, the signal quality of the beacon signal may include at least one of the signal reception strength and the path loss measurement value. Of course, the above-mentioned signal quality of the beacon signal is merely illustrative, and other parameters that can represent signal quality are also within the scope of protection of this application. The specific signal quality may be set according to the actual situation.

[0042] Selectively, the low-power state in the embodiments of this application includes the sleep state. In contrast to the idle state, the sleep state does not require signal detection by the RF module (e.g., amplification, filtering, quantization, etc.) or signal processing by the MODEM, and relies only on passive matched filtering and relatively low-power wake-up signal processing. After receiving the wake-up signal, the terminal turns on the main receiver to receive paging, system information, etc., and further enables signal monitoring in the idle state.

[0043] Based on this, in a specific application scenario, the method for switching to the idle state related to step 204 above may further include at least one of the following:

[0044] Step 204-11: If the terminal has not detected a beacon signal transmitted by a network-side device at a pre-configured resource location, it exits the SLEEP state and returns to the normal IDLE state monitoring mode.

[0045] Step 204-12: If the terminal detects that the quality of the beacon signal transmitted by the network-side device at a pre-configured resource location is lower than a pre-configured threshold, it exits the SLEEP state and returns to the normal IDLE state monitoring mode.

[0046] The detection of beacon signals in steps 204-11 and 204-12 above enables real-time tracking of the signal quality on the network side of the terminal, and based on the tracking results, it is possible to avoid the problem of not being able to receive the wake-up signal by moving outside the coverage range of the wake-up signal.

[0047] In a selective embodiment of the present invention, after the terminal switches its current state to an idle state, the terminal: 1) Cell search and, 2) Downlink synchronization, 3) Cell selection and, 4) Receiving system information within the selected cell, 5) Receiving paging information within the selected circle cell, 6) Perform at least one of the following operations: start a random access process within the selected circle cell.

[0048] As can be seen, in idle state, the terminal can perform the corresponding operations for low power conditions normally. In other words, in low power conditions, the terminal does not require signal detection by the RF module (e.g., amplification, filtering, quantization, etc.) or signal processing by the MODEM, and achieves power saving by relying only on passive matched filtering and relatively low-power wake-up signal processing. After receiving the wake-up signal, the terminal can turn on the main receiver to receive paging, system information, etc., and realize signal monitoring in the idle state.

[0049] In an optional embodiment of the embodiments of this application, the steps of the method of the embodiments of this application may further include the following steps:

[0050] Step 206: If the detection result satisfies the condition that the terminal has detected a beacon signal whose signal quality is above a preset threshold, the terminal monitors the wake-up signal while remaining in a low-power state.

[0051] It should be explained that the pre-set threshold values ​​in the embodiments of this application may be set according to the specific circumstances, and the embodiments of this application do not limit the specific values.

[0052] In the embodiments of this application, the terminal can transition from an idle state to a low-power state based on a network configuration or pre-configured conditions. If the low-power state includes a sleep state, the terminal monitors the low-power wake-up signal while in sleep mode and does not perform general idle state monitoring.

[0053] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, the method by which the terminal involved in step 202 detects a beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information may further include the process of the terminal moving within the target paging area in which it detects beacon signals transmitted by multiple cells, each based on the configuration information.

[0054] Here, the beacon signals transmitted by multiple cells may all be the same, some may be the same, or may be different from each other. As shown in Figure 3, in a multi-cell environment, the network transmits the same beacon signal from multiple cells or multiple different cell groups. For example, the same beacon signal can be transmitted within a single paging area (target paging area), and in SLEEP mode, the terminal moves within this paging area and only needs to monitor one normal beacon signal. That is, by monitoring only one beacon signal whose signal quality is above a preset threshold, the wake-up signal (WUS) can be received while remaining in SLEEP mode (i.e., low power state). Adjacent cells within the paging area transmit the same beacon signal.

[0055] Furthermore, in a multi-cell environment, for example, the network can transmit different beacon signals in different cells or different cell groups, for instance, in different cells or different cell groups within a single paging area. As shown in Figure 3, adjacent cells within a paging area transmit different beacon signals. Considering that a terminal may move between multiple cells in a sleep state, the terminal can obtain configuration information for multiple beacon signals corresponding to different cells or different cell groups from the network and continue to monitor multiple beacon signals. At this time, if the terminal successfully detects any one beacon signal (if it detects any one beacon signal whose signal quality is above a predetermined threshold), it can receive the wake-up signal (WUS) while remaining in the SLEEP state (i.e., low power state). Otherwise, it returns to the IDLE state and performs subsequent operations to avoid disconnection between the terminal and the network. The operations performed to return to the Idle state may be at least one of the following: 1) cell search, 2) downlink synchronization, 3) cell selection, 4) reception of system information within the selected cell, 5) reception of paging information within the selected cell, and 6) initiation of a random access process within the selected cell.

[0056] The above interpretation and explanation of this application is from the perspective of the terminal side. From the network side, this application further provides a method for transmitting beacon signals, the steps of which include the following steps.

[0057] Step 302, the network-side device transmits a beacon signal to the terminal. Here, the network-side device transmits a beacon signal in one or more cells within the target paging area. Here, the beacon signals transmitted by the network-side device in multiple cells within the target paging area are at least one of the following: beacon signals that are all the same, beacon signals that are partially the same, and beacon signals that are different from each other.

[0058] Step 304, the network-side device transmits the configuration information of the beacon signal to the terminal.

[0059] Here, the configuration information in the embodiment of the present application includes at least one of the frequency of the beacon signal, the subcarriers of the beacon signal, the slots of the beacon signal, the sequence of the beacon signal, the period of the beacon signal, and the power of the beacon signal.

[0060] In other words, in this application, network-side equipment can transmit a beacon signal, and the terminal can achieve stable reception of the wake-up signal by detecting the beacon signal in a low-power state and deciding whether or not to end the low-power state and return to the idle state.

[0061] It should be explained that in the state switching method and beacon signal transmission method according to the embodiment of this application, the execution unit may be a state switching device and a beacon signal transmission device, or a control module for executing the state switching method and beacon signal transmission method in the state switching device and beacon signal transmission device. In the embodiment of this application, the state switching device and beacon signal transmission device according to the embodiment of this application will be described using the execution of the state switching method and beacon signal transmission method by the state switching device and beacon signal transmission device as an example.

[0062] The embodiments of this application further provide a state switching device used in a terminal. As shown in Figure 4, this device is When monitoring the wake-up signal in a low-power state, a detection module 42 for detecting the beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information is provided, The detection result is, The result was that no beacon signal was detected, The system includes a switching module 44 for switching to an idle state if at least one of the following results is that the signal quality of the detected beacon signal is lower than a preset threshold.

[0063] In this application, when monitoring a wake-up signal in a low-power state, the determination of whether to switch to the idle state is made based on the detection result for the beacon signal. In other words, if the terminal does not detect the beacon signal, or if the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal falls below a preset threshold, the terminal moves outside the coverage range of the wake-up signal, making it impossible to receive the wake-up signal, and the terminal needs to switch to the idle state. By enabling reception of the wake-up signal with higher sensitivity in this idle state and ensuring continuous and stable reception of the wake-up signal, this invention solves the problem in conventional technology where, in a low-power state, if the terminal moves outside the coverage range of the low-power wake-up signal, it becomes impossible to receive the wake-up signal transmitted by the network side.

[0064] Selectively, the apparatus of the embodiments of this application may further include an acquisition module for acquiring configuration information in an idle or connected state before detecting a beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information.

[0065] Here, the configuration information includes at least one of the following: the frequency of the beacon signal, the subcarriers of the beacon signal, the slots of the beacon signal, the sequence of the beacon signal, the period of the beacon signal, and the power of the beacon signal.

[0066] Selectively, the signal quality of the beacon signal in the embodiments of this application includes at least one of the signal reception strength and the path loss measurement.

[0067] Selectively, the apparatus in the embodiments of this application may further include an executable module for performing at least one of the following operations after switching to an idle state: cell search, downlink synchronization, cell selection, reception of system information in the selected in-circuit cell, reception of paging information in the selected in-circuit cell, and initiation of a random access process in the selected in-circuit cell.

[0068] Selectively, the apparatus in the embodiments of this application may further include a holding module for monitoring a wake-up signal while remaining in a low-power state if the detection result satisfies the condition that a beacon signal has been detected in which the signal quality is above a preset threshold.

[0069] Selectively, the detection module in the embodiment of this application may further include a detection unit for detecting beacon signals transmitted by multiple cells, each based on configuration information, in the process of moving within a target paging area.

[0070] Selectively, the low-power state in the embodiments of this application includes the sleep state.

[0071] The state switching device in the embodiment of this application corresponds to the state switching method in Figure 2, and furthermore, the embodiment of this application provides a beacon signal transmitting device used in network-side equipment, and this device is It includes a first transmitting module for sending a beacon signal to a terminal, Here, the network-side equipment transmits a beacon signal in one or more cells within the target paging area.

[0072] Here, the beacon signals transmitted by multiple cells within the target paging area are at least one of the following: beacon signals that are all the same, beacon signals that are partially the same, and beacon signals that are different from each other.

[0073] Selectively, the beacon signal transmitting device in the embodiments of the present application may further include a second transmitting module for transmitting configuration information of the beacon signal to the terminal, wherein the configuration information in the embodiments of the present application includes at least one of the frequency of the beacon signal, the subcarriers of the beacon signal, the slots of the beacon signal, the sequence of the beacon signal, the period of the beacon signal, and the power of the beacon signal.

[0074] It should be explained that the above-mentioned beacon signal transmitting device corresponds to the above-mentioned beacon signal transmission method.

[0075] The state switching device and beacon signal transmitting device in the embodiments of this application may be a device, a component, an integrated circuit, or a chip in a terminal. This device may be a mobile terminal or a non-mobile terminal. Exemplary examples include, but are not limited to, the types of terminals 11 listed above. Non-mobile terminals may include servers, network-attached storage (NAS), personal computers (PCs), televisions (TVs), payroll machines or self-service machines, and the embodiments of this application are not specifically limited.

[0076] The state switching device and the beacon signal transmitting device in the embodiments of this application may be devices having an operating system. This operating system may be an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or any other possible operating system, and the embodiments of this application are not specifically limited.

[0077] The state switching device according to the embodiment of this application can implement each process realized by the embodiment of the method shown in Figure 2 and achieve the same technical effects, and to avoid repetition of the explanation, it will not be explained further here.

[0078] Selectively, as shown in Figure 5, embodiments of this application further provide a communication device 500 including a processor 501, a memory 502, and a program or instruction stored in the memory 502 and operable on the processor 501. For example, if the communication device 500 is a terminal, when this program or instruction is executed by the processor 501, each process of the embodiment of the state switching method or the beacon signal transmission method described above can be realized and the same technical effect can be achieved. If the communication device 500 is a network-side device, when this program or instruction is executed by the processor 501, each process of the embodiment of the state switching method or the beacon signal transmission method described above can be realized and the same technical effect can be achieved. To avoid repetition, no further explanation is provided here.

[0079] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal that realizes the embodiment of this application.

[0080] This terminal 600 includes, but is not limited to, components such as a radio frequency unit 601, a network module 602, an audio output unit 603, an input unit 604, a sensor 605, a display unit 606, a user input unit 607, an interface unit 608, a memory 609, and a processor 610.

[0081] As those skilled in the art will understand, the terminal 600 may further include a power supply (e.g., a battery) to power each component, and the power supply may be logically connected to the processor 610 by a power management system, thereby enabling functions such as charge / discharge management and power consumption management by the power management system. The terminal structure shown in Figure 6 does not constitute a limitation on the terminal, and the terminal may include more or fewer components than those shown, or combinations of some components, or configurations of different components, which will not be described further here.

[0082] It should be understood that, in the embodiments of this application, the input unit 604 may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) 6041 and a microphone 6042, the graphics processor 6041 processing still images or video image data obtained by an image capture device (e.g., a camera) in video capture mode or image capture mode. The display unit 606 may include a display panel 6061, which may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, organic light-emitting diodes, etc. The user input unit 607 includes a touch panel 6071 and other input devices 6072. The touch panel 6071 is also called a touchscreen. The touch panel 6071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. The other input devices 6072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (e.g., volume control buttons, switch buttons, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, or an operating lever, and will not be described further here.

[0083] In the embodiments of this application, the radio frequency unit 601 receives downlink data from network-side equipment, processes it in the processor 610, and transmits uplink data to the network-side equipment. Generally, the radio frequency unit 601 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low-noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like.

[0084] Memory 609 may be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. Memory 609 may mainly include a program or instruction storage area and a data storage area. Here, the program or instruction storage area can store an operating system, an application program or instructions necessary for at least one function (e.g., audio playback function, image playback function, etc.). Memory 609 may also include high-speed random access memory and non-volatile memory. Here, non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (Erasable PROM, EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (Electrically EPROM, EEPROM), or flash memory. For example, it may be at least one magnetic disk memory device, a flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state memory device.

[0085] The processor 610 may include one or more processing units. Optionally, the processor 610 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor. Here, the application processor primarily handles the operating system, user interface, and application programs or instructions, while the modem processor primarily handles wireless communication, such as a baseband processor. To be clear, the modem processor does not necessarily have to be integrated into the processor 610.

[0086] Here, when monitoring the wake-up signal in a low-power state, the processor 610 is used to detect the beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information. The processor 610 further detected that, The result was that the device did not detect the beacon signal, If the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal is lower than a pre-set threshold, or if at least one of these results is obtained, the terminal will be used to switch from sleep mode to idle mode.

[0087] As can be seen, when monitoring the wake-up signal in a low-power state, the detection result for the beacon signal can be used to determine whether or not to switch to the idle state. In other words, if the terminal does not detect the beacon signal, or if the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal falls below a preset threshold, the terminal moves out of the wake-up signal coverage range, and reception of the wake-up signal is not possible, resulting in a loss of service for both the terminal and the network. However, by activating the terminal to enable connectivity with the network by turning on modules such as radio frequency transmission / reception and baseband processing after the terminal switches to the idle state, the problem in conventional technology where the terminal and the network lose service because the terminal cannot receive the wake-up signal transmitted by the network when the terminal moves out of the low-power wake-up signal coverage range in a low-power state has been solved.

[0088] Selectively, the processor 610 is further used, in an idle or connected state, to allow the terminal to acquire configuration information before the terminal detects a beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information.

[0089] Selectively, the 610 processor further switches from a state where the terminal is in sleep mode and monitoring a low power wake-up signal to an idle state, Cell search and, Downlink synchronization, Cell selection and, Receiving system information within the selected cell, Receiving paging information within the selected circle cell, It is used to perform at least one of the following operations within the selected circle cell: initiating a random access process.

[0090] Selectively, the processor 610 is also used to monitor a power wake-up signal while the terminal remains in a sleep low-power state, if the detection result satisfies the condition that the terminal has detected a beacon signal whose signal quality is above a preset threshold.

[0091] Selectively, the processor 610 is also used in the process of moving within the target paging area for the terminal to detect beacon signals transmitted by multiple cells, each based on configuration information.

[0092] Specifically, the embodiments of this application further provide network-side equipment. As shown in Figure 7, this network-side equipment 700 includes an antenna 71, a radio frequency device 72, and a baseband device 73. The antenna 71 and the radio frequency device 72 are connected. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 72 receives information via the antenna 71 and transmits the received information to the baseband device 73 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 73 processes the information to be transmitted and transmits it to the radio frequency device 72, which processes the received information and then transmits it via the antenna 71.

[0093] The above-mentioned frequency band processing device may be located in the baseband device 73, and the method performed by the network-side equipment in the above embodiment may be implemented in the baseband device 73, which includes a processor 74 and a memory 75.

[0094] The baseband device 73 may include, for example, at least one baseband board on which multiple chips are installed. As shown in Figure 7, one of these chips is, for example, a processor 74, which is connected to memory 75 and calls a program in memory 75 to perform the operation of the network-side equipment shown in the embodiment of the above method.

[0095] The baseband device 73 may further include a network interface 76 used for exchanging information with the radio frequency device 72, which is, for example, a common public radio interface (CPRI).

[0096] Specifically, the network-side device of the embodiment of the present invention further includes instructions or programs stored in memory 75 and operable on processor 74, the processor 74 can call instructions or programs in memory 75 and perform the same technical effects as those performed by each module shown in Figure 7, and will not be described further here to avoid repetition.

[0097] Embodiments of this application further provide a readable storage medium, which may be non-temporary, on which a program or instruction is stored, and when this program or instruction is executed by a processor, each process of the embodiment of the state switching method and the beacon signal transmission method can be realized and the same technical effects can be achieved. To avoid repetition, no further explanation is provided here.

[0098] Here, the processor is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes computer-readable storage media such as computer read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0099] Embodiments of this application further provide a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled with the processor, the processor running programs or instructions for network-side equipment, and used to implement each process of the embodiments of the state switching method and the beacon signal transmission method, and achieving the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, no further explanation is provided here.

[0100] It should be understood that the chips referred to in the embodiments of this application may also be called system-level chips, system chips, chip systems, or system-on-a-chip, etc.

[0101] Embodiments of this application further provide a computer program product which is stored in a storage medium and is executed by at least one processor to implement each process of the embodiment of the state switching method and the beacon signal transmission method and achieve the same technical effects. To avoid repetition, no further explanation is provided here.

[0102] It should be noted that in this specification, the terms “include,” “incorporate,” or any other variation thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive “include.” Thus, a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a set of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements specific to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise specified, an element limited by the phrase “includes one of…” is not excluded from the existence of other identical elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes this element. It should also be noted that the scope of methods and apparatuses in embodiments of this application is not limited to performing functions in the illustrated or discussed order, but may include performing functions in a manner that is essentially simultaneous or in a reverse order based on the functions involved, and methods described in a different procedure than those described, for example, may be performed, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Furthermore, features described by reference to some examples may be combined with other examples.

[0103] As will be clearly evident to those skilled in the art from the above description of the embodiments, the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software and a necessary general-purpose hardware platform. Of course, they may also be implemented in hardware, but in many cases the former is a more preferred embodiment. With this understanding in mind, the technical proposal of this application may be embodied in the form of a software product, either substantially or in part with respect to the prior art. This computer software product is stored on a storage medium (e.g., ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and contains some instructions for causing a terminal (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, air conditioner, or network device, etc.) to perform the methods of each embodiment of this application.

[0104] The above describes embodiments of this application, accompanied by drawings; however, this application is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. The specific embodiments described above are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can, by the suggestion of this application, make many forms, as long as they do not deviate from the spirit and claims of this application, and all of these fall within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A method for switching states, When monitoring the wake-up signal in a low-power state, the terminal detects the beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information, The detection result is, The result was that the terminal did not detect the beacon signal, The terminal switches to a general idle state if at least one of the following occurs: the signal quality of the beacon signal detected by the terminal is lower than a preset threshold. Before the terminal detects the beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information, the method The terminal further includes acquiring the configuration information during the aforementioned general idle state or connected state, A method for switching states, wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the frequency of the beacon signal, the subcarrier of the beacon signal, the slot of the beacon signal, the sequence of the beacon signal, the period of the beacon signal, and the power of the beacon signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the signal quality of the beacon signal includes at least one of the signal reception strength and the path loss measurement value.

3. After the terminal switches to a general idle state, the terminal: Cell search and, Downlink synchronization, Cell selection and, Receiving system information within the selected cell, Receiving paging information within the selected circle cell, The method according to claim 1, comprising performing at least one of the following operations: initiating a random access process within a selected circle cell.

4. The aforementioned method, The method according to claim 1, further comprising the terminal monitoring the wake-up signal while remaining in the low-power state if the detection result satisfies the condition that the terminal has detected the beacon signal whose signal quality is above a preset threshold.

5. The terminal detects a beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information. The method according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the process of moving within a target paging area includes the terminal detecting the beacon signals transmitted by a plurality of cells based on the configuration information.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the low-power state includes a sleep state.

7. A state switching device used in a terminal, When monitoring the wake-up signal in a low-power state, a detection module is used to detect the beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information, The detection result is, The result was that the aforementioned beacon signal was not detected, The system includes a switching module for switching to general idle behavior if at least one of the following results is that the signal quality of the detected beacon signal is lower than a preset threshold, The aforementioned device is The system further includes an acquisition module for acquiring the configuration information in the general idle state or connected state before detecting a beacon signal based on pre-configured configuration information, A state-switching device wherein the configuration information includes at least one of the frequency of the beacon signal, the subcarrier of the beacon signal, the slot of the beacon signal, the sequence of the beacon signal, the period of the beacon signal, and the power of the beacon signal.

8. A terminal comprising a processor, memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and operable on the processor, wherein when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the steps of the state switching method described in any one of claims 1 to 6 are realized.

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