Location area update method and apparatus, method and apparatus for triggering location area update, method and apparatus for paging location area update, and device and storage medium

Abstract

Disclosed in the present disclosure are a location area update method and apparatus, a method and apparatus for triggering a location area update, a method and apparatus for paging a location area update, and a device and a storage medium. The method for triggering a location area update comprises: acquiring from a location area mapping relationship a tag value of a target cell, a tag value of the current cell and a location area list of the current cell, wherein the target cell is a cell where a terminal resides when being in an idle state most recently, and the location area mapping relationship comprises a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a tag value of the cell; acquiring a general location area list, which is stored corresponding to the target cell, wherein the general location area list is obtained by means of performing detection when the terminal is in the idle state most recently; comparing the general location area list with the location area list of the current cell, and comparing the tag value of the current cell with the tag value of the target cell, so as to obtain comparison results; and according to the comparison results, determining whether to trigger a location area update procedure.

Description

Location area updating and triggering, paging method, device, equipment and storage medium

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application CN 202310595660.8, entitled “Location Area Update and Triggering, Paging Method, Apparatus, Equipment and Storage Medium,” filed on May 24, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a location area updating and triggering, paging method, apparatus, device and storage medium. Background Art

[0004] With the evolution of the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) and the development of the sixth generation mobile network (6G) technology, 5G evolution (also known as 5G Advanced) technology has begun to adopt satellite links as non-terrestrial communication networks (NTN), and satellite links are regarded as the most important technology for the next generation of communications.

[0005] In the future of 6G, the integration of terrestrial mobile communications technology and satellite links to form a ground-to-space integrated communications system will be a significant evolution of current network coverage. Currently, terrestrial mobile communications technology can only cover less than 40% of the world's land area. For the vast majority of land area, oceans are impossible to reach with ground base stations. To expand coverage, future mobile communications will require the use of aerial technology, specifically satellite technology (including low- and medium-orbit satellites) as a key coverage measure.

[0006] Unlike traditional base stations built at fixed locations, the Low Earth Orbit Satellite (LEO or LEOs) in satellite links are mobile, and the cell coverage area also changes with the movement of the low Earth satellites. In other words, when the terminal does not move, cell reselection may occur after a period of time, and even the location area update process may be triggered. For terminals in the idle state, this will cause them to be frequently woken up to update the location area, including establishing Radio Resource Control (RRC) connections, Non-access stratum (NAS) connections, and sending and receiving location registration related information. This not only consumes power for the terminal, but also brings a considerable signaling overhead burden to the communication network.

[0007] It can be seen that how to reduce unnecessary location area update processes, lower terminal power consumption and reduce communication network signaling overhead are issues that need to be solved by non-terrestrial mobile base stations (eg, near-Earth satellites).

[0008] Summary of the Invention

[0009] The present disclosure provides a location area update and triggering method, a paging method, an apparatus, a device and a storage medium, which are used to reduce the frequency of location area updates and lower the signaling overhead caused by location area updates.

[0010] The present disclosure provides a method for triggering location area update, which is applied to a terminal and provides communication services for the terminal through a non-terrestrial communication network. The method comprises: obtaining a label value of a target cell, a label value of a current cell, and a location area list of the current cell from a location area mapping relationship, wherein the target cell is the cell where the cell resides when it is in an idle state for the last time, and the location area mapping relationship comprises a mapping relationship between the location area list of the cell and the label value; obtaining a total location area list stored corresponding to the target cell, wherein the total location area list is obtained by detection when the cell is in an idle state for the last time; comparing the total location area list with the location area list of the current cell, and comparing the label value of the current cell with the label value of the target cell to obtain a comparison result; and judging whether to trigger the location area update process according to the comparison result.

[0011] The present disclosure also provides a location area update method, which is applied to a non-terrestrial communication network, wherein the non-terrestrial communication network provides communication services for a terminal, and the method includes: obtaining a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value; and transmitting the location area mapping relationship to the terminal.

[0012] The present disclosure also provides a paging method, which is applied to a non-terrestrial communication network, wherein the non-terrestrial communication network provides communication services for a terminal, the method comprising: obtaining a label value corresponding to a cell providing services for the terminal from a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value; obtaining at least one target cell mapped to the same label value as the cell providing services from the location area mapping relationship; and sending a paging signaling for the terminal to the at least one target cell.

[0013] The present disclosure also provides a device for triggering location area update, which is applied to a terminal and provides communication services for the terminal through a non-terrestrial communication network, including: a first acquisition module, used to obtain the label value of the target cell, the label value of the current cell and the location area list of the current cell from the location area mapping relationship, wherein the target cell is the cell where the cell resides when it is in an idle state for the last time, and the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the location area list of the cell and the label value; a second acquisition module, used to obtain the total location area list stored corresponding to the target cell, wherein the total location area list is obtained by detection when it is in an idle state for the last time; a comparison module, used to compare the total location area list with the location area list of the current cell, and compare the label value of the current cell with the label value of the target cell to obtain a comparison result; a trigger module, used to determine whether to trigger the location area update process based on the comparison result.

[0014] The present disclosure also provides a location area update device, which is applied to a non-terrestrial communication network, wherein the non-terrestrial communication network provides communication services for a terminal. The device includes: an acquisition module, which is used to obtain a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a cell's location area list and a label value; and a transmission module, which is used to transmit the location area mapping relationship to the terminal.

[0015] The present disclosure also provides a paging device, which is applied to a non-terrestrial communication network, wherein the non-terrestrial communication network provides communication services for a terminal, and the device includes: a first acquisition module, which is used to obtain a label value corresponding to a cell providing services for the terminal from a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value; a second acquisition module, which is used to obtain at least one target cell mapped to the same label value as the cell providing services from the location area mapping relationship; and a paging module, which is used to send a paging signaling for the terminal to the at least one target cell.

[0016] The seventh aspect of the present disclosure provides an electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; a memory on which one or more programs are stored, and when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors execute the method for triggering location area update according to the present disclosure, or execute the location area update method according to the present disclosure, or execute the paging method according to the present disclosure.

[0017] The present disclosure further provides a computer storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the processor executes the method for triggering location area update according to the present disclosure, or executes the location area update method according to the present disclosure, or executes the paging method according to the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a space-ground integrated communication system using satellites as non-terrestrial links provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG2 is a schematic diagram showing that a cell does not update system information block parameters, resulting in inconsistency between the cell coverage area and the broadcast location area;

[0020] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of timely updating of cell system information block parameters so that the cell coverage area and the broadcast location area are consistent according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG4 is a flow chart of a method for triggering location area update applied to a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG5 is a flow chart of a method for triggering location area update applied to a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of a method for updating a location area applied to a satellite according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG7 is a flow chart of a method for applying a paging terminal to a satellite according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG8 is a flow chart of a method for applying a paging terminal to a satellite according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of the position of a terminal in a T1 time period according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of the position of the terminal in the T2 time period provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0028] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for triggering location area update according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0029] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a location area updating device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a paging device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0031] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The following describes the specific embodiments of the present disclosure in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0033] As used in this disclosure, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0034] The terms used in the present disclosure are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.As used in the present disclosure, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0035] When the terms “comprising” and / or “made of…” are used in the present disclosure, it specifies the existence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but does not preclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0036] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in this disclosure have the same meanings as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art. It will also be understood that terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and this disclosure, and will not be interpreted as having an idealized or overly formal meaning unless expressly defined in this disclosure.

[0037] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a space-ground integrated communication system using satellites as non-ground links.

[0038] The disclosed embodiments can be applied to the architecture shown in Figure 1 . In this architecture, a terrestrial satellite antenna array uplinks communication signals to each satellite, using C-band, Ku-band, or Ka-band. Each satellite forwards the communication signals to the target area, using L-band and S-band. Terminals supporting L-band and S-band can receive the communication signals forwarded by the satellites, ensuring that the terminals are covered by the signal.

[0039] As the satellite moves, the cell coverage area is constantly changing. At different times, no matter the cell actively and dynamically modifies the coverage area information or keeps it unchanged, there will be a problem of unnecessary location area changes for the terminal.

[0040] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing that the cell coverage area and the broadcast location area are inconsistent due to the cell not updating the system information block (SIB) parameters.

[0041] In Figure 2, the terminal's location area remains essentially unchanged between time T1 and time T2. However, because cell updates are not instantaneous, the location area may not be updated in a timely manner. During this delay, as the satellite moves, the terminal changes from being covered by cell 2 to being covered by cell 3. Because the actual location area of ​​the cell is not updated in a timely manner, the terminal perceives a change in location area, triggering a location area update. Failure to update the location area may result in the terminal being unable to be paged.

[0042] If each cell can update the SIB parameters in time so that the broadcasted location area of ​​the cell is consistent with the actual coverage area of ​​the cell, the above problem will not occur. However, this will cause the terminal to frequently trigger location area updates.

[0043] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of timely updating of cell SIB parameters so that the cell coverage area is consistent with the broadcast location area.

[0044] As shown in FIG3 , since the location area of ​​the cell is updated in time before time T2 , although the terminal is covered by cell 3 instead of cell 2 as the satellite moves, the location area of ​​the terminal does not change.

[0045] The inventors have analyzed and discovered that the triggering conditions for the location area update process in the current related art mostly refer to the 3GPP solution. That is, as long as the terminal detects a location area change and the new location area is not in the location area list of the current cell, the terminal is required to switch from the idle state to the connected state and perform the location area update process. This solution is relatively reasonable for fixed base stations. However, for mobile satellites that act as base stations (also called base station satellites), this solution will cause the terminal to frequently perform location area updates, which is a huge and useless waste for both the terminal and the base station satellite.

[0046] Based on the above analysis, the embodiments of the present disclosure propose a method for triggering location area update, a location area update method, and a paging method to balance the frequency of location area update and the paging success rate.

[0047] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for triggering location area update, which is applied to a terminal and provides communication services to the terminal via a non-terrestrial communication network such as a satellite.

[0048] FIG4 is a flow chart of a method for triggering location area update on the terminal side, which includes the following steps 401 to 404 .

[0049] In step 401, the label value of the target cell, the label value of the current cell, and the location area list of the current cell are obtained from the location area mapping relationship, wherein the target cell is the cell where the target cell resides when it was last in an idle state, and the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the location area list of the cell and the label value.

[0050] In some embodiments, before obtaining the label value of the target cell, the label value of the current cell, and the location area list of the current cell from the location area mapping relationship (i.e., step 401), the location area mapping relationship issued by the non-terrestrial communication network after the most recent location area update is obtained.

[0051] In some embodiments, when cell reselection occurs, the terminal obtains the label value of the target cell, the label value of the current cell, and the location area list of the current cell from the location area mapping relationship.

[0052] In some embodiments, the location area lists of at least two cells in the location area mapping relationship are mapped to the same label value.

[0053] It should be noted that it is not necessary to map the location area lists of at least two cells to the same label value. The mapping relationship between the location area lists and the label values ​​can be configured according to the scenario. In the location area mapping relationship, the location area lists of at least two cells are mapped to the same label value, so that when the terminal undergoes cell reselection (i.e., cell switching) resulting in a cell change, the label value remains unchanged.

[0054] In an exemplary embodiment, cell reselection can be triggered by movement of a non-terrestrial communication network such as a satellite, or by movement of the terminal itself. Specifically, the movement of the non-terrestrial communication network or the terminal itself causes changes in the signal quality of the cell monitored by the terminal. When the terminal is in an idle / inactive state, the terminal continuously monitors the signal quality of neighboring cells and the current cell in order to reside in a cell with higher priority or better channel quality. When a neighboring cell meets certain reselection decision criteria, the terminal will reselect to access the reselected cell for residency.

[0055] In step 402, a total location area list stored in the corresponding target cell is obtained, wherein the total location area list is obtained by the most recent detection in the idle state.

[0056] In some embodiments, the total location area list includes a location area list of a target cell detected by the terminal last time in the idle state and a location area list of each neighboring cell that can be detected. The target cell is the cell where the terminal resides when it is last in the air-conditioning state.

[0057] Step 403 : compare the total location area list with the location area list of the current cell, and compare the label value of the current cell with the label value of the target cell to obtain a comparison result.

[0058] The comparison result includes information on whether there are overlapping location areas in the total location area list and the location area list of the current cell, and includes information on whether the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell.

[0059] In step 404, it is determined whether to trigger the location area update process based on the comparison result.

[0060] Different comparison results correspond to different ways of determining whether to trigger the location area update process, including but not limited to the following cases.

[0061] Case 1: The comparison result shows that there is no overlapping location area between the total location area list of the target cell and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell, so the location area update process is not triggered.

[0062] If the label value does not change, even if a cell reselection occurs and there are no overlapping location areas in the location area lists of the cells before and after the reselection, there is no need to trigger the location area update process, thereby reducing the frequency of location area updates.

[0063] Case 2: The comparison result is that there is no overlapping location area in the total location area list of the target cell and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell, and the moving distance value between the target moment when the terminal was last in the idle state and the current moment exceeds the critical distance value, triggering the location area update process.

[0064] In the case of cell reselection and there are no overlapping location areas in the location area lists of the cells before and after the reselection, if the distance the terminal has moved from the last time it was in the idle state to the current time exceeds the critical distance value, in order to ensure communication quality, the location area update process will be triggered even if the tag value has not changed, thereby taking into account the reduction of the location area update frequency and the stability of communication quality.

[0065] Case 3: The comparison result is that there is no overlapping location area in the total location area list of the target cell and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell, and the moving distance between the target moment when the terminal was last in the idle state and the current moment does not exceed the critical distance value, and the location area update process is not triggered.

[0066] In the case of cell reselection and there are no overlapping location areas in the location area lists of the cells before and after the reselection, if the distance the terminal has moved from the last time it was in the idle state to the current time does not exceed the critical distance value, and the label value has not changed, the location area update process will not be triggered, thereby taking into account the stability of the location area update frequency and the communication quality. When the communication quality can be guaranteed based on the moving distance, the location area update frequency is minimized.

[0067] Case 4: The comparison result shows that there is no overlapping location area between the total location area list of the target cell and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is different from the label value of the target cell, triggering the location area update process.

[0068] When cell reselection occurs and there are no overlapping location areas in the location area lists of the cells before and after reselection, and when the label value changes, a location area update process is triggered to ensure communication quality.

[0069] Case 5: The comparison result shows that there are overlapping location areas in the total location area list of the target cell and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is different from the label value of the target cell, so the location area update process is not triggered.

[0070] When cell reselection occurs and there are overlapping location areas in the location area lists of the cells before and after reselection, the location area update process is not triggered even if the label value changes before and after cell reselection, thereby reducing the frequency of location area updates.

[0071] Case 6: The comparison result shows that there are overlapping location areas in the total location area list of the target cell and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell, so the location area update process is not triggered.

[0072] When cell reselection occurs and there are overlapping location areas in the location area lists of the cells before and after the reselection, if the label values ​​before and after the cell reselection do not change, the location area update is not triggered, thereby reducing the location area update frequency.

[0073] In some embodiments, for the above cases 2 and 3, the process of the terminal obtaining the moving distance value between the target moment when the terminal was last in the idle state and the current moment includes: obtaining information about the first position at the current moment, and obtaining information about the second position at the target moment when the terminal was last in the idle state in the record; determining the distance value between the first position and the second position based on the information about the first position and the information about the second position as the moving distance value between the target moment when the terminal was last in the idle state and the current moment.

[0074] It should be noted that, when the terminal's location can be accurately located, the terminal can obtain accurate first and second location information, and thus obtain a relatively accurate movement distance value. When the movement distance value does not exceed the critical distance value, it indicates that the actual movement distance of the terminal is short, no substantial location area change has occurred, and there is no need to trigger a location area update process. Conversely, when the movement distance value exceeds the critical distance value, it indicates that the actual movement distance of the terminal is long, a substantial location area change has occurred, and a location area update process needs to be triggered. If the terminal's location cannot be accurately located, the movement distance value may not be used to determine whether to trigger a location area update process.

[0075] The location of the terminal can be located using a variety of positioning technologies, such as using the terminal's own Global Positioning System (GPS) to locate the location. There is no limitation on the positioning method used here. Any timing technology that can accurately locate the terminal's location and can be known by the terminal in a timely manner can be applied to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0076] It should be noted that the cell reselection in the embodiment of the present disclosure refers to the terminal switching from one cell to another cell as the camped cell, and the cell reselection process and the location area update process are two different processes.

[0077] In an exemplary embodiment, FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a method for triggering location area update by a terminal, which specifically includes the following steps 501 to 508 .

[0078] In step 501, when in idle state, the terminal reads the label values ​​and location area lists of the current serving cell and all detectable neighboring cells, stores them in the terminal's database for preservation, and obtains geographic location information in idle state and saves it in the database.

[0079] In step 502, the movement of the satellite beam or the movement of the terminal itself causes cell reselection.

[0080] In step 503, the terminal obtains the label value of the reselected cell and the current location area list, and compares them with the most recently stored label value and the most recently stored location area list.

[0081] In step 504 , the terminal determines whether there are overlapping location areas in the current location area list and the most recently stored location area list. If not, the terminal executes step 505 . If so, the terminal executes step 508 .

[0082] In step 505 , the terminal determines whether the label value of the reselected cell is the same as the most recently stored label value. If so, step 506 is executed; otherwise, step 507 is executed.

[0083] In step 506 , the terminal further determines whether the distance value calculated between the current geographic location information and the geographic location information in the idle state exceeds a set threshold. If so, step 507 is executed; otherwise, step 508 is executed.

[0084] In step 507, the terminal determines that the current location area has substantially changed, and triggers interactive signaling with the core network via the satellite uplink to trigger the location area update process, thereby ending the process.

[0085] In step 508, the terminal determines that there is no substantial change in the current location area, does not trigger interactive signaling with the core network, and does not trigger the location area update process.

[0086] In step 501, obtaining and saving the idle state geographic location information is optional. The geographic location information is saved only if the terminal can accurately locate its current location. Accordingly, if the terminal does not store its current location information, there is no need to perform the further determination in step 506. If the tag values ​​are the same, step 508 can be performed directly without triggering the location area update process.

[0087] In the disclosed embodiment, a mapping relationship between a cell's location area list and a label value is saved in a location area mapping relationship, and whether to trigger a location area update process is determined according to changes in the label value and the location area list. This ensures that even if a cell reselection causes a change in the location area list, the signaling interaction process for the location area update will not necessarily be triggered under the control of the label value. This provides controllable parameters for reducing the frequency of location area updates being triggered, and provides the possibility of reducing unnecessary signaling interaction processes and reducing signaling overhead caused by location area updates. This ensures that cell reselection is no longer the only necessary condition for triggering a location area update. Even if a cell reselection occurs and the location area after the reselection is no longer in the location area list of the cell previously providing service, the signaling interaction process for the location area update will not necessarily be triggered. This greatly reduces the frequency of location area updates being triggered and reduces unnecessary signaling interaction processes.

[0088] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a location area updating method, which is applied to non-terrestrial communication networks such as satellites that provide communication services to terminals.

[0089] FIG6 is a flow chart of a location area updating method applied to a non-terrestrial communication network such as a satellite, including the following steps 601 to 602 .

[0090] In step 601, a location area mapping relationship is acquired, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value.

[0091] In some embodiments, obtaining the location area mapping relationship (i.e., step 601) includes: obtaining the location area mapping relationship sent by the core network, wherein the location area mapping relationship is generated in the following manner: the core network obtains a list of location areas where each cell is currently located, and obtains a label value corresponding to the location area list; and establishes a location area mapping relationship based on the cell, the location area list where the cell is currently located, and the label value corresponding to the location area list.

[0092] There are various conditions for triggering the core network to perform a location area update. For example, the non-terrestrial communication network may send a location area update request to the core network after receiving the location area update request sent by the terminal. Alternatively, the core network may update the location area mapping relationship upon detecting that the location area update conditions are met and then send the updated location area mapping relationship to the terminal via the non-terrestrial communication network. The triggering conditions for the terminal to send a location area update request may refer to the conditions for the terminal to trigger a location area update according to the embodiments of the present disclosure and will not be repeated here.

[0093] The location area list includes at least one location area, and the location area list of a cell includes each location area within the coverage of the cell.

[0094] The core network obtains a list of location areas where each cell is currently located, which may specifically include: re-detecting the geographical coordinate range covered by each cell; comparing the geographical coordinate range of each location area with the geographical coordinate range covered by the cell, obtaining a location area that overlaps with the geographical coordinate range covered by the cell, and thus obtaining a list of location areas currently corresponding to the cell.

[0095] In step 602, the location area mapping relationship is transmitted to the terminal.

[0096] In this embodiment, the non-terrestrial communication network transmits the location area mapping relationship to the terminal, so that the terminal can determine whether to trigger the location area update process according to the location area mapping relationship, which greatly reduces the triggering frequency of the location area update and reduces unnecessary signaling interaction processes.

[0097] Based on the location area update method and the method for triggering location area update proposed above, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a paging method, which is applied to a non-terrestrial communication network that provides communication services to a terminal.

[0098] FIG7 is a flow chart of a method for paging a terminal in a non-terrestrial communication network, which includes the following steps 701 to 703 .

[0099] In step 701, a label value corresponding to a cell providing service to a terminal is obtained from a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value.

[0100] The cell providing service to the terminal refers to the cell where the terminal resides when it initiates location area update for the last time.

[0101] In step 702, at least one target cell mapped to the same label value as the serving cell is obtained from the location area mapping relationship.

[0102] In step 703, a paging signaling for the terminal is sent to at least one target cell.

[0103] In some embodiments, the non-terrestrial communication network first pages the serving cell and associated cells, which overlap with the serving cell's location area. If this paging fails, the non-terrestrial communication network sends paging signaling to at least one target cell with the same location tag as the serving cell, and then successfully pages the terminal again. If paging is successful for the serving cell and associated cells, the entire service flow is successfully established.

[0104] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for a non-terrestrial communication network that provides communication services to a terminal, paging is performed on the terminal using a maximum of two paging operations in cells of different geographical ranges, that is, two groups of cells mapped to the same label value are used, and one group of cells includes at least one cell, thereby ensuring that the terminal can be paged as long as it is in the service area.

[0105] In an exemplary embodiment, FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a satellite paging terminal, including steps 801 to 807 .

[0106] In step 801, the satellite determines that there is a called service requiring paging of the terminal.

[0107] In step 802, the satellite obtains the identifier of the location area provided by the terminal when it last sent a location area update request, and sends a paging instruction to all cells corresponding to the location area.

[0108] In step 803 , the satellite determines whether a paging response returned by the terminal is received. If not, step 804 is executed. If so, step 807 is executed.

[0109] In step 804 , the satellite obtains the tag value of the terminal when sending the location area update most recently, and sends a paging instruction to other cells mapped to the same tag value, where the other cells are at least one cell excluding the cell to which the paging instruction was sent in step 802 .

[0110] In step 805 , the satellite determines whether a paging response returned by the terminal is received. If not, step 806 is executed. If so, step 807 is executed.

[0111] In step 806, the satellite determines that the terminal has left the service area and processes the problem according to the existing solution of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), thereby ending the process.

[0112] In step 807, the satellite determines that the terminal has been paged, and performs subsequent services normally, ending the process.

[0113] The following describes the method of constructing the location area mapping relationship and the process of triggering location area update involved in the above embodiments with reference to a specific example.

[0114] Assuming there are five cells, Figure 9 shows the terminal's location during time period T1. The mapping relationship between cells, location area lists, and label values ​​in the location area mapping relationship is shown in Table 1. In this mapping relationship, cells 1, 2, and 3 are mapped to the same label value "1111," while cells 4 and 5 are mapped to the same label value 2222. In this example, the general principle for label value deployment is that a cluster of cells with adjacent coverage, overlapping signal coverage, or significant signal coverage overlap in the current area can be configured with the same label value. As shown in Figure 9, cells 1, 2, and 3 have a large intersection area and overlap with each other's signal coverage areas, so they can be configured with the same label value 1111. Cell 4 has no significant coverage overlap with cells 1, 2, and 3, so the label value 2222 is configured for cell 4. Cell 5 has significant coverage overlap with cell 4, so the same label value can be configured for both cells 5 and 4.

[0115] Of course, this is only an example. In practice, there may be no overlap between multiple cells configured with the same label value. Whether there is overlap is not a necessary condition for configuring the same label value.

[0116] The broadcast location area list is the location area list of each cell obtained during the last location area update (see the relevant description of the location area update method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure).

[0117] As shown in Table 1, the location area list of each cell is obtained during the last location area update, and the label value corresponding to the location area list of each cell is obtained.

[0118] The terminal's actual location at time T1 is near the intersection of cells 1, 2, and 3. For cells 1 through 5, the terminal can detect cells 1, 2, 3, and 4, but not cell 5. The terminal records the parameters shown in Table 1 and saves them to the database. If the terminal's precise GPS location information is available at this time, this location information can also be saved to the database. If precise GPS positioning is unavailable, the use of location information to calculate distance traveled to determine whether to trigger a location area update is canceled.

[0119] Table 1 Cell information corresponding to time period T1

[0120] Due to the movement of the satellite providing communication services to the terminal or the slight movement of the terminal, the terminal may reselect between various cells. Assuming that the terminal position has not changed significantly during this period, that is, the calculated movement distance value of the terminal according to the geographical location coordinates before and after positioning does not exceed the preset threshold, then at this time, regardless of whether the cell is reselected, the solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure will not trigger the location area update process. However, when the cell is reselected according to the solution of the related art, if the cell reselection causes the location area list to not overlap, the location area update process will be triggered. Refer to Table 3 to compare the implementation effects of the solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure with the solution of the related art.

[0121] During time period T2, the terminal experiences significant displacement. Assume that the distance moved by the terminal exceeds the preset threshold and moves to the border between cells 4 and 5. Figure 10 shows the terminal's location during time period T2. Table 2 shows the cell information corresponding to time period T2.

[0122] Table 2 Cell information corresponding to time period T2

[0123] Statistics are collected on the triggering of location area updates based on various terminal mobility scenarios. Table 3 shows a comparison of the implementation effects of the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure and those of related technologies. It can be seen that the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure in the second, third, and last rows do not require triggering a location area update process, while traditional solutions do. This indicates that the method for triggering location area updates provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can significantly reduce the frequency of location area updates.

[0124] Table 3 Comparison of the implementation effects of the solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure and the existing traditional solution

[0125] For the completion of the network-side paging process, a worst-case scenario is given: assuming that the terminal has initiated a location area update process in cell 1, the core network now stores the tag value "1111" and the location area list (1, 2) of cell 1. Assuming that the terminal reselects from cell 1 to cell 3, the method for triggering location area update provided in accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure will not trigger the location area update process. When paging the terminal, the network side first tries to use the tag value Tag=1111, and sends a paging instruction to cell 1 and cell 2 in the location area list that contains at least one location area in (1, 2). If no response is received within a specific time, paging will continue to be initiated to other cells mapped by the tag value Tag=1111, that is, cell 3. At this time, because the terminal is in cell 3, the terminal will respond normally, and the entire communication process will be completed sequentially.

[0126] It can be seen that the paging method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in conjunction with the method for triggering location area update provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, reduces unnecessary location area update processes on the basis of appropriately sacrificing a certain paging delay, avoids repeated wake-up of the terminal, can reduce terminal power consumption, and can also reduce the signaling overhead of non-terrestrial communication networks and core networks.

[0127] According to the method for triggering location area update, the location area update method and the paging method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is no need to change the 5G or 6G terminal and the network-side hardware environment. They can be implemented only through software, thereby reducing the frequency of location area updates, ensuring the paging success rate, and reducing terminal power consumption and communication network signaling overhead.

[0128] The method for triggering location area update provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented in the baseband chip of the terminal.

[0129] The steps of the various methods above are divided only for clarity of description. During implementation, they can be combined into one step or some steps can be split and decomposed into multiple steps. As long as they include the same logical relationship, they are all within the scope of protection of this disclosure. Adding insignificant modifications or introducing insignificant designs to the algorithm or process without changing the core design of the algorithm and process are all within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0130] The present disclosure also provides a device for triggering a location area update, which is applied to a terminal and provides communication services to the terminal via a non-terrestrial communication network. The specific implementation of the device can be found in the description of the method for triggering a location area update according to the present disclosure, and will not be repeated here. Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the device, which includes a first acquisition module 1101, a second acquisition module 1102, a comparison module 1103, and a triggering module 1104.

[0131] The first acquisition module 1101 is used to obtain the label value of the target cell, the label value of the current cell and the location area list of the current cell from the location area mapping relationship, wherein the target cell is the cell where the cell resided when it was last in an idle state, and the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the location area list of the cell and the label value.

[0132] The second acquisition module 1102 is configured to acquire a total location area list stored in the corresponding target cell, wherein the total location area list is acquired by the most recent detection in the idle state.

[0133] The comparison module 1103 is configured to compare the total location area list with the location area list of the current cell, and compare the label value of the current cell with the label value of the target cell to obtain a comparison result.

[0134] The triggering module 1104 is configured to determine whether to trigger a location area update process according to the comparison result.

[0135] The present disclosure also provides a location area update device for use in a non-terrestrial communication network providing communication services to a terminal. The specific implementation of the device can be found in the description of the location area update method according to the present disclosure and will not be repeated here. Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the device, including an acquisition module 1201 and a transmission module 1202.

[0136] The acquisition module 1201 is configured to acquire a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value.

[0137] The transmission module 1202 is configured to transmit the location area mapping relationship to the terminal.

[0138] The present disclosure also provides a paging device for use in a non-terrestrial communication network providing communication services to a terminal. The specific implementation of the device can be found in the description of the paging method according to the present disclosure and will not be repeated here. Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the device, including: a first acquisition module 1301, a second acquisition module 1302, and a paging module 1303.

[0139] The first acquisition module 1301 is configured to acquire a label value corresponding to a cell providing services to a terminal from a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value.

[0140] The second acquisition module 1302 is configured to acquire, from the location area mapping relationship, at least one target cell mapped to the same label value as the serving cell.

[0141] The paging module 1303 is configured to send paging signaling to the terminal to at least one target cell.

[0142] The functions or modules included in the apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be used to execute the methods described in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The specific implementation and technical effects thereof can be referred to the description of the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0143] It should be noted that all modules involved in this embodiment are logical modules. In actual applications, a logical unit can be a physical unit, a part of a physical unit, or a combination of multiple physical units. In addition, to highlight the innovations of this disclosure, this embodiment does not include units that are not closely related to solving the technical problems proposed by this disclosure. However, this does not mean that other units do not exist in this embodiment.

[0144] 14 , an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic device, which includes: one or more processors 1401 ; a memory 1402 on which one or more programs are stored, and when the one or more programs are executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors execute the methods according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0145] In addition, the electronic device may further include one or more I / O interfaces 1403 connected between the processor and the memory, and configured to implement information interaction between the processor and the memory.

[0146] The processor 1401 is a device with data processing capabilities, including but not limited to a central processing unit (CPU); the memory 1402 is a device with data storage capabilities, including but not limited to random access memory (RAM, more specifically SDRAM, DDR, etc.), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and flash memory (FLASH); the I / O interface (read-write interface) 1403 is connected between the processor 1401 and the memory 1402, and can realize information interaction between the processor 1401 and the memory 1402, including but not limited to a data bus (Bus), etc.

[0147] In some embodiments, the processor 1401 , the memory 1402 , and the I / O interface 1403 are connected to each other via a bus, and further connected to other components of the computing device.

[0148] This embodiment further provides a computer storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to perform the methods according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. To avoid repeated description, the specific steps of each method are not repeated here.

[0149] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that all or some of the steps, systems, and functional modules / units in the methods applied for above may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and appropriate combinations thereof. In hardware implementations, the division between the functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, a physical component may have multiple functions, or a function or step may be performed by several physical components in cooperation. Some or all physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, or a microprocessor, or implemented as hardware, or implemented as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on a computer-readable medium, which may include a computer storage medium (or non-transitory medium) and a communication medium (or temporary medium). As is well known to those skilled in the art, the term computer storage medium includes volatile and non-volatile, removable, and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storing information (such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data). Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, it is well known to those skilled in the art that communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media.

[0150] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "includes," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus comprising the element.

[0151] Those skilled in the art will understand that although some embodiments described herein include certain features included in other embodiments but not other features, the combination of features from different embodiments is meant to be within the scope of the present embodiment and to form different embodiments.

[0152] It is understood that the above embodiments are merely exemplary embodiments for illustrating the principles of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art may make various modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit and substance of the present disclosure, and such modifications and improvements are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A location area update triggering method, applied to a terminal, providing communication services to the terminal via a non-terrestrial communication network, the method comprising: Obtaining a label value of a target cell, a label value of a current cell, and a location area list of the current cell from a location area mapping relationship, wherein the target cell is a cell that was most recently resided in an idle state, and the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the location area list of the cell and the label value; Obtaining a total location area list stored corresponding to the target cell, wherein the total location area list is obtained by the most recent detection when the cell is in an idle state; Comparing the total location area list with the location area list of the current cell, and comparing the label value of the current cell with the label value of the target cell to obtain a comparison result; Determine whether to trigger the location area update process according to the comparison result.

2. The location area update triggering method according to claim 1, wherein: Before obtaining the label value of the target cell, the label value of the current cell, and the location area list of the current cell from the location area mapping relationship, the method further includes: The location area mapping relationship issued by the non-terrestrial communication network after the most recent location area update is obtained.

3. The location area update triggering method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining whether to trigger a location area update process according to the comparison result includes: The comparison result is that there is no overlapping location area between the total location area list and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell, and the location area update process is not triggered.

4. The location area update triggering method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining whether to trigger a location area update process according to the comparison result includes: The comparison result is that there is no overlapping location area between the total location area list and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell, and the moving distance value between the target moment when the terminal was last in an idle state and the current moment exceeds the critical distance value, triggering the location area update process.

5. The location area update triggering method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining whether to trigger a location area update process according to the comparison result includes: The comparison result is that there is no overlapping location area between the total location area list and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell, and the moving distance value between the target moment when the terminal was last in an idle state and the current moment does not exceed the critical distance value, and the location area update process is not triggered.

6. The location area update triggering method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining whether to trigger a location area update process according to the comparison result includes: The comparison result is that there is no overlapping location area between the total location area list and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is different from the label value of the target cell, triggering the location area update process.

7. The location area update triggering method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining whether to trigger a location area update process according to the comparison result includes: The comparison result is that there are overlapping location areas in the total location area list and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is different from the label value of the target cell, so the location area update process is not triggered.

8. The location area update triggering method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining whether to trigger a location area update process according to the comparison result includes: The comparison result is that there are overlapping location areas in the total location area list and the location area list of the current cell, and the label value of the current cell is the same as the label value of the target cell, and the location area update process is not triggered.

9. The location area update triggering method according to claim 1, wherein: The total location area list includes the location area list of the target cell and the location area list of adjacent cells detected in the idle state most recently.

10. A location area updating method, applied to a non-terrestrial communication network, the non-terrestrial communication network providing communication services to a terminal, the method comprising: Acquire a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value; The location area mapping relationship is transmitted to the terminal.

11. The location area updating method according to claim 10, wherein: Obtaining the location area mapping relationship includes: Obtain the location area mapping relationship sent by the core network, The core network obtains a list of location areas where each cell is currently located, and obtains a label value corresponding to the location area list, and establishes the location area mapping relationship according to the cell, the list of location areas where the cell is currently located, and the label value corresponding to the location area list.

12. A paging method, applied to a non-terrestrial communication network, the non-terrestrial communication network providing communication services to a terminal, the method comprising: Obtaining, from a location area mapping relationship, a label value corresponding to a cell serving the terminal, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value; Acquire, from the location area mapping relationship, at least one target cell mapped to the same label value as the serving cell; Sending paging signaling for the terminal to the at least one target cell.

13. A device for triggering location area update, applied to a terminal, for providing communication services to the terminal via a non-terrestrial communication network, comprising: a first acquisition module, configured to acquire a label value of a target cell, a label value of a current cell, and a location area list of the current cell from a location area mapping relationship, wherein the target cell is a cell that was most recently resided in an idle state, and the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between the location area list of the cell and the label value; A second acquisition module is configured to acquire a total location area list stored corresponding to the target cell, wherein the total location area list is obtained by the most recent detection when the cell is in an idle state; a comparison module, configured to compare the total location area list with the location area list of the current cell, and compare the label value of the current cell with the label value of the target cell to obtain a comparison result; The triggering module is used to determine whether to trigger the location area update process according to the comparison result.

14. A location area updating device, applied to a non-terrestrial communication network, the non-terrestrial communication network providing communication services to a terminal, the device comprising: An acquisition module, configured to acquire a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value; A transmission module is used to transmit the location area mapping relationship to the terminal.

15. A paging device, applied to a non-terrestrial communication network, the non-terrestrial communication network providing communication services to a terminal, the device comprising: A first acquisition module is configured to acquire a label value corresponding to a cell serving the terminal from a location area mapping relationship, wherein the location area mapping relationship includes a mapping relationship between a location area list of a cell and a label value; A second acquisition module is configured to acquire, from the location area mapping relationship, at least one target cell mapped to the same label value as the cell providing service; The paging module is configured to send a paging signaling to the terminal to the at least one target cell.

16. An electronic device comprising: at least one processor; a memory having at least one program stored thereon, wherein when the at least one program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor executes the method for triggering location area update according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or Execute the location area updating method according to any one of claims 10-11, or Execute the paging method described in claim 12.

17. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to execute the method for triggering location area update according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or Execute the location area updating method according to any one of claims 10-11, or Execute the paging method described in claim 12.

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