Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications. Provided are a communication method and apparatus, which can implement AI / ML-based mobility optimization at a low calculation cost and / or transmission cost. The communication method comprises: a network device configuring, by means of a first message, a first action related to mobility (e.g., cell handover or re-selection) for a terminal device and a trigger condition for executing the first action, such that the terminal device can execute the first action on the basis that the trigger condition is met. Therefore, the first action can be executed when AI / ML enhancement has an obvious gain, and an extra calculation cost and / or data transmission cost caused by the execution of a no-gain AI / ML model is avoided.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on September 5, 2023, with application number 202311146474.2 and application name “Communication Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular to communication methods and devices. Background Art

[0003] In a wireless communication system, when a terminal device moves, it may move from the coverage of one cell to the coverage of another cell. In order to ensure the service continuity and communication quality of the terminal device, the terminal device needs to switch between different cells. Currently, cell switching is a process in which the network device determines the target cell based on the reference signal receive power (RSRP), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), or reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) of the neighboring cell of the current serving cell measured and reported by the terminal device at a certain moment, and instructs the terminal device to switch from the current cell to the target cell.

[0004] However, the above-mentioned cell switching decision process may result in poor switching performance of the terminal device, such as disconnection during the switching process, ping-pong switching, or short-term stay in a cell and then quickly switching to another cell (short-term access cell), etc. These situations will have a negative impact on the user experience. To avoid such switching situations, mobility optimization solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) have been introduced. For example, network equipment uses AI / ML models to predict the RSRP of each cell over a period of time, determines the target cell based on the prediction results, and instructs the terminal device to perform cell switching. However, the execution of inference (or training) of the AI / ML model may require additional computing costs and / or data transmission costs.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus that can implement AI / ML-based mobility optimization with low computing cost and / or transmission cost.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a component of the terminal device, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the terminal device, or by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The method includes: receiving a first message. The first message includes condition information and action information, the condition information is used to indicate the triggering condition for the terminal device to perform the first action, the action information is used to indicate the first action, the first action is associated with mobility, and the triggering condition includes at least one of the following: the terminal device is located at a preset position, the movement trajectory of the terminal device is a preset trajectory, the channel state information CSI measured by the terminal device is a preset CSI, the speed of the terminal device reaches a preset speed, the time of the terminal device reaches a preset time, the terminal device measures a cell of a preset frequency band or frequency point, or the terminal device meets or completes a preset event. When the triggering condition is met, the first action is executed.

[0009] Based on the communication method, the network device configures the first action related to mobility (such as cell switching or reselection) and the triggering condition for executing the first action for the terminal device through the first message, so that the terminal device can execute the first action when the triggering condition is met. Thus, in the scenario of mobility optimization based on AI / ML, when the cell switching or reselection is not ideal based on the existing switching method (the triggering condition is set based on the reason or condition that the cell switching or reselection may be not ideal), AI / ML can be used to perform cell switching or reselection enhancement to improve the switching or reselection performance, thereby reducing the computing cost and data transmission cost brought by model training or reasoning in other cell switching or reselection scenarios that do not need to be implemented by AI / ML, and avoiding resource waste. In other words, the first action (such as AI / ML model training or reasoning, target data collection or reporting) is performed when there is a significant gain in AI / ML enhancement, avoiding the additional computing cost and / or data transmission cost brought by the execution of the AI / ML model without gain.

[0010] In one possible design, the preset event may include: a measurement event and / or a mobility event, wherein the mobility event may include cell switching or reselection.

[0011] In one possible design, the first action may include at least one of the following: collecting target data, ceasing to collect target data, or reporting target data; wherein the target data is used by the network device to perform mobility-related model training or inference. In this design, the AI / ML model is deployed on the network device side, meaning that the network device implements AI / ML-based mobility optimization. The network device can perform AI / ML model inference or training based on target data collected and reported by the terminal device based on trigger conditions, thereby improving the mobility performance of the terminal device.

[0012] In one possible design solution, the target data may include: data used for model input and / or data used for model training.

[0013] In one possible design, the data used for model input may include at least one of the following: measurement results of the current serving or resident cell, measurement results of neighboring cells of the current serving or resident cell, CSI of the current serving cell, motion characteristics of the terminal device, service information of the terminal device, or time information of the terminal device. In an embodiment of the present application, the data used for model input can be used as input data for model training or as input data for model inference.

[0014] In a possible design scheme, the data used for model training may include at least one of the following: cell switching or reselection execution time, cell switching success, cell switching failure, ping-pong switching, short-time access cell, QoE change before and after cell switching, change in measurement results of at least one cell, measurement results of the current service or resident cell at a future time, measurement results of the neighboring area of ​​the current service or resident cell at a future time, reselection success, reselection failure, or frequent reselection. Among them, the cell switching or reselection execution time can be understood as the cell switching or reselection start time or start time. In the embodiment of the present application, the data used for model training may include label data and / or true value data for model training. The data used for model training may have a binding relationship with the above-mentioned data used for model input, that is, the data used for model training and the data used for model input may constitute one or more groups of the form (x i ,y i ) training data, i is the data sequence number, x i The data used for model input mentioned above can also be understood as the input data for model training. i The data used for model training can be label data and / or true value data. The corresponding relationship between the data used for model training and the data used for model input can be explicitly or implicitly indicated, and there is no limitation on this. i Can be used with model input x i The output data at the time of the training is compared, and based on the comparison results, the trainable parameters in the model are adjusted through methods such as back propagation and gradient descent to obtain a model for inference.

[0015] In a possible design scheme, the first action may include at least one of the following: performing mobility-related model reasoning, performing mobility-related model training, or obtaining mobility-related prediction data. Based on this design scheme, the AI / ML model is deployed on the terminal device side, that is, the terminal device implements mobility optimization, and the terminal device can perform AI / ML model reasoning or training based on trigger conditions, and obtain mobility-related prediction data to improve the mobility performance of the terminal device. In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device performs AI / ML model reasoning or training, which may be performed on the terminal device, or on a device associated with the terminal device (such as a server), and there is no limitation on this.

[0016] In one possible design scheme, the prediction data may include at least one of the following: the target cell for cell switching or reselection, the success probability of performing cell switching or reselection, the signal quality of the current serving or resident cell, the signal quality of at least one neighboring cell of the current serving or resident cell, or the time to perform cell switching or reselection.

[0017] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or by a component of the network device, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the network device, or by a logic module or software that can realize all or part of the network device functions. The method includes: determining condition information and action information. The condition information is used to indicate the triggering condition for the terminal device to perform a first action, the action information is used to indicate the first action, the first action is associated with mobility, and the triggering condition includes at least one of the following: the terminal device is located at a preset position, the movement trajectory of the terminal device is a preset trajectory, the channel state information CSI measured by the terminal device is a preset CSI, the speed of the terminal device reaches a preset speed, the time of the terminal device reaches a preset time, the terminal device measures a cell of a preset frequency band or frequency point, or the terminal device meets or completes a preset event. Send a first message. The first message includes condition information and action information.

[0018] In one possible design, the preset event may include: a measurement event and / or a mobility event, wherein the mobility event may include cell switching or reselection.

[0019] In one possible design scheme, the first action may include at least one of the following: collecting target data, stopping collecting target data, or reporting target data; wherein the target data is used by the network device to perform mobility-related model training or reasoning.

[0020] In one possible design solution, the target data may include: data used for model input and / or data used for model training.

[0021] In one possible design scheme, the data used for model input may include at least one of the following: measurement results of the current serving or resident cell, measurement results of the neighboring cells of the current serving or resident cell, CSI of the current serving cell, motion characteristics of the terminal device, service information of the terminal device, or time information of the terminal device.

[0022] In one possible design scheme, the data used for model training may include at least one of the following: cell switching or reselection execution time, cell switching success, cell switching failure, ping-pong switching, short-time access to the cell, change in quality of experience (QoE) before and after cell switching, change in measurement results of at least one cell, measurement results of the current service or resident cell at a future time, measurement results of neighboring cells of the current service or resident cell at a future time, reselection success, reselection failure, or frequent reselection.

[0023] In one possible design scheme, the first action may include at least one of the following: performing mobility-related model reasoning, performing mobility-related model training, or obtaining mobility-related prediction data.

[0024] In one possible design scheme, the prediction data may include at least one of the following: the target cell for cell switching or reselection, the success probability of performing cell switching or reselection, the signal quality of the current serving or resident cell, the signal quality of at least one neighboring cell of the current serving or resident cell, or the time to perform cell switching or reselection.

[0025] Among them, the technical effects of the method in the second aspect can refer to the technical effects described in the method in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0026] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a module, unit, or means for executing the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect, and the module, unit, or means can be implemented by hardware, software, or by executing the corresponding software implementation through hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions, such as a transceiver module and a processing module. For example, the transceiver module is used to indicate the transceiver function of the communication device, and the processing module is used to perform functions of the communication device other than the transceiver function.

[0027] In one possible design solution, the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module, wherein the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the third aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the third aspect.

[0028] In one possible design, the communication device described in the third aspect may further include a storage module that stores a program or instruction. When the processing module executes the program or instruction, the communication device described in the third aspect may execute the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

[0029] Among them, the communication device described in the third aspect can be a terminal device or a network device, or it can be a chip (system) or other parts or components that can be set in the terminal device or network device, or it can be a device that includes a terminal device or a network device. This application does not limit this.

[0030] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is used to communicate with a module outside the communication device; the processor is used to execute a computer program or instruction so that the communication device executes the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0031] In a fifth aspect, a communication device (for example, the communication device may be a chip or a chip system) is provided, which includes a processor for implementing the functions involved in the first or second aspect above.

[0032] In some possible designs, the communication device includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and / or data.

[0033] In one possible design, the processor can be integrated with the memory.

[0034] In some possible designs, when the communication device is a chip system, it can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0035] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a transceiver and a processor, wherein the transceiver is used to exchange information between the communication device and other communication devices, and the processor executes program instructions to perform the method described in the first or second aspect.

[0036] In one possible design, the communication device described in aspect 6 may further include a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or provided separately. The memory may be used to store the computer program and / or data involved in the method described in aspect 1 or aspect 2 above.

[0037] It should be understood that the fourth to sixth aspects above include modules, units, or means corresponding to the methods described in the first or second aspects above, and the modules, units, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units for performing the functions involved in the above methods.

[0038] It can be understood that when the communication device provided in any one of the fourth to sixth aspects is a chip, the above-mentioned sending action / function can be understood as output, and the above-mentioned receiving action / function can be understood as input.

[0039] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer-readable storage medium is run on a communication device, the communication device can execute the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0040] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a communication device, enables the communication device to execute the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0041] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a terminal device for executing the method described in the first aspect and a network device for executing the method described in the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a cell switching process;

[0043] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which a terminal device moves between cells;

[0044] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a cell handover scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] The embodiments of the present application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features around a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the figures. Furthermore, combinations of these solutions may also be used.

[0050] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, Internet of Vehicles communication systems, 4th generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, and future communication systems, such as 6th generation (6G) mobile communication systems.

[0051] The following first describes the relevant technologies involved in the embodiments of this application.

[0052] Cell switching

[0053] Due to the movement of the terminal device, the signal quality of the cell currently accessed by the terminal device may deteriorate, and it is necessary to switch to a cell with better signal quality to obtain service. For the traditional switching process, the switching of the terminal device is controlled by the network device, that is, the network device instructs the terminal device which cell to switch to and how to switch by sending a switching command. As shown in Figure 1, after receiving the switching command, the terminal device accesses the target cell according to the content contained in the switching command. Therefore, the network side needs to obtain the target cell identifier. The specific switching steps include the following:

[0054] S101: A source base station sends a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration (RRC Reconfiguration) message to a terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RRC reconfiguration message from the source base station.

[0055] The source base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal device in the connected state to instruct the terminal device to perform measurement, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes parameters such as measurement object, report configuration, and measurement identifier.

[0056] The reporting configuration defines measurement report configuration, including reporting evaluation criteria, such as whether measurement reports are triggered by measurement events or reported periodically. For example, a measurement event can be at least one of Event A1, Event A2, Event A3, Event A4, Event A5, Event A6, Event B1, or Event B2. The threshold corresponding to a measurement event is a reference value for determining whether an event enters or exits. The specific value of this threshold is typically configured by the network device.

[0057] The following describes these measurement events and their corresponding thresholds:

[0058] Event A1 indicates that the measurement result of the serving cell is higher than a preset threshold. Assume that the threshold is Thresh. When inequality A1-1 is satisfied, event A1 is entered. When inequality A1-2 is satisfied, event A1 is exited.

[0059] Among them, inequality A1-1 (entry condition): Ms-Hys>Thresh.

[0060] Among them, inequality A1-2 (exit condition): Ms+Hys<Thresh.

[0061] Ms is the measurement result of the current serving cell, Hys is the hysteresis parameter of this event, and Thresh and Hys can be configured by the network side.

[0062] Event A2 indicates that the measurement result of the serving cell is lower than a preset threshold. Assume that the threshold is Thresh. When inequality A2-1 is satisfied, event A2 is entered. When inequality A2-2 is satisfied, event A2 is exited.

[0063] Among them, inequality A2-1 (entry condition): Ms+Hys<Thresh.

[0064] Among them, inequality A2-2 (exit condition): Ms-Hys>Thresh.

[0065] Ms is the measurement result of the current serving cell, Hys is the hysteresis parameter of this event, and Thresh and Hys can be configured by the network side.

[0066] Event A3 indicates that the measurement result of the same-frequency neighboring cell is higher than the measurement result of the special cell (SpCell). When inequality A3-1 is satisfied, event A3 is entered, and when inequality A3-2 is satisfied, event A3 is left.

[0067] Among them, inequality A3-1 (entry condition): Mn+Ofn+Ocn-Hys>Mp+Ofp+Ocp+Off.

[0068] Among them, inequality A3-2 (exit condition): Mn+Ofn+Ocn+Hys<Mp+Ofp+Ocp+Off.

[0069] Among them, Mn is the measurement result of the same-frequency neighboring cell, Ofn is the frequency (can also be replaced by frequency point or frequency band) offset of the same-frequency neighboring cell, Ocn is the cell-specific offset (CIO) of the same-frequency neighboring cell, Mp is the measurement result of the special cell, Ofp is the frequency (can also be replaced by frequency point or frequency band) offset of the special cell, Ocp is the cell-specific offset of the special cell, Hys is the hysteresis parameter of the event, and Off is the offset parameter of the event. Except for Mn and Mp, which are obtained during the measurement process, Ofn, Ocn, Hys, Ofp, Ocp and Off can all be configured by the network side.

[0070] Event A4 indicates that the measurement result of the inter-frequency neighboring cell is higher than the preset threshold. Assume that the threshold is Thresh. When inequality A4-1 is satisfied, event A4 is entered. When inequality A4-2 is satisfied, event A4 is left.

[0071] Among them, inequality A4-1 (entry condition): Mn+Ofn+Ocn-Hys>Thresh.

[0072] Among them, inequality A4-2 (exit condition): Mn+Ofn+Ocn+Hys<Thresh.

[0073] Among them, Mn is the measurement result of the inter-frequency neighboring cell, Ofn is the frequency (can also be replaced by frequency point or frequency band) offset of the inter-frequency neighboring cell, Ocn is the cell-specific offset of the inter-frequency neighboring cell, and Hys is the hysteresis parameter of the event. Among them, Ofn, Ocn, Hys and Thresh can be configured by the network side.

[0074] Event A5 indicates that the measurement result of the special cell is lower than the first threshold, and the measurement result of the neighboring cell is higher than the second threshold. Assuming that the first threshold is ThreshA51 and the second threshold is ThreshA52, when inequality A5-1 and inequality A5-2 are met, event A5 is entered, where there is no restriction on the order of the two entry conditions. When at least one of inequality A5-3 or inequality A5-4 is met, event A5 is left.

[0075] Among them, inequality A5-1 (entry condition 1): Mp+Hys<ThreshA51.

[0076] Inequality A5-2 (entry condition 2): Mn+Ofn+Ocn-Hys>ThreshA52.

[0077] Among them, inequality A5-3 (exit condition 1): Mp-Hys>ThreshA51.

[0078] Inequality A5-4 (exit condition 2): Mn+Ofn+Ocn+Hys<ThreshA52.

[0079] Among them, Mp is the measurement result of the special cell, Mn is the measurement result of the neighboring cell, Ofn is the frequency (can also be replaced by frequency point or frequency band) offset of the neighboring cell, Ocn is the cell-specific offset of the neighboring cell, and Hys is the hysteresis parameter of the event. Among them, Ofn, Ocn, Hys, ThreshA51 and ThreshA52 can be configured by the network side.

[0080] Event A6 indicates that the neighboring cell's measurement result is higher than the serving cell's measurement result. When inequality A6-1 is satisfied, event A6 is entered, and when inequality A6-2 is satisfied, event A6 is exited.

[0081] Among them, inequality A6-1 (entry condition): Mn+Ocn–Hys>Ms+Ocs+Off.

[0082] Among them, inequality A6-2 (exit condition): Mn+Ocn+Hys <Ms+Ocs+Off。

[0083] Among them, Ms is the measurement result of the serving cell, Mn is the measurement result of the neighboring cell, Ocn is the cell-specific offset of the neighboring cell, Ocs is the cell-specific offset of the serving cell, Hys is the hysteresis parameter of the event, and Off is the offset parameter of the event. Except for Mn and Ms, which are obtained during the measurement process, Ocn, Hys, Ocs, and Off can all be configured by the network side.

[0084] Event B1 indicates that the measurement result of the heterogeneous system neighboring cell is higher than the preset threshold. Assume that the threshold is Thresh. When inequality B1-1 is satisfied, event B1 is entered. When inequality B1-2 is satisfied, event B1 is exited.

[0085] Among them, inequality B1-1 (entry condition): Mn+Ofn-Hys>Thresh.

[0086] Among them, inequality B1-2 (exit condition): Mn+Ofn+Hys<Thresh.

[0087] Among them, Mn is the measurement result of the heterogeneous system neighboring cell, Ofn is the frequency (which can also be replaced by frequency point or frequency band) offset of the heterogeneous system neighboring cell, and Hys is the hysteresis parameter of the event. Among them, Ofn, Hys and Thresh can be configured by the network side.

[0088] Event B2 indicates that the measurement result of the special cell is lower than the first threshold, and the measurement result of the heterogeneous system neighboring cell is higher than the second threshold. Assume that the first threshold is ThreshB21 and the second threshold is ThreshB22. When inequalities B2-1 and B2-2 are satisfied, event B2 is entered. When at least one of inequalities B2-3 or inequalities B2-4 is satisfied, event B2 is left.

[0089] Among them, inequality B2-1 (entry condition 1): Mp+Hys<ThreshB21.

[0090] Inequality B2-2 (entry condition 2): Mn+Ofn+Ocn-Hys>ThreshB22.

[0091] Among them, inequality B2-3 (exit condition 1): Mp-Hys>ThreshB21.

[0092] Inequality B2-4 (Exit condition 2): Mn+Ofn+Ocn+Hys<ThreshB22.

[0093] Among them, Mp is the measurement result of the special cell, Mn is the measurement result of the heterogeneous system neighboring cell, Ofn is the frequency (can also be replaced by frequency point or frequency band) offset of the heterogeneous system neighboring cell, and Hys is the hysteresis parameter of the event. Among them, Ofn, Ocn, Hys, ThreshB21 and ThreshB22 can be configured by the network side.

[0094] Among them, SpCell can be understood as, for the first terminal device configured with dual connection, SpCell refers to the primary cell (PCell) of the master cell group (MCG) or the primary secondary cell group cell (PSCell) of the secondary cell group (SCG); if dual connection is not configured, the special cell refers to PCell.

[0095] When a measurement result (which may be a filtered measurement result) meets the entry conditions of a measurement event and lasts for the time-to-trigger (TTT), the measurement event is considered to have been met. The TTT can be configured by the network or agreed upon in advance. It is understood that, through agreement, meeting the exit conditions of a measurement event and continuing for a certain period of time can also be considered to have met the measurement event.

[0096] S102: The terminal device sends a measurement report to the source base station. Correspondingly, the source base station receives the measurement report from the terminal device.

[0097] After the terminal device measures the cell according to the RRC reconfiguration message, it generates a measurement report to report various events to the source base station.

[0098] S103: The source base station executes a handover decision.

[0099] After receiving the measurement report, the source base station determines based on the measurement report to perform cell switching, that is, switching from the source base station to the target base station.

[0100] S104: The source base station sends a handover request (Handover Request) to the target base station. Correspondingly, the target base station receives the handover request from the source base station.

[0101] S105: The target base station performs admission control.

[0102] The target base station determines whether to allow the terminal device to access based on the handover request. If the judgment result is allowed, it sends a handover confirmation message to the source base station. The handover request confirmation includes parameters such as the new cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) and the target base station security-related algorithm.

[0103] S106: The target base station sends a handover request acknowledgment (Handover Request ACK) to the source base station. Correspondingly, the source base station receives the handover request acknowledgment from the target base station.

[0104] S107: The source base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the RRC reconfiguration message from the source base station.

[0105] After receiving the handover confirmation message from the target base station, the source base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message (handover command) to the terminal device. The content contained in the RRC reconfiguration message comes from the handover request confirmation of S106. Specifically, the handover command in the NR system contains relevant information of the target cell and the relevant configuration parameters required for the terminal device to access the target cell. For example, target cell information (such as the physical cell identifier (PCI) of the target cell and the frequency information corresponding to the target cell), the C-RNTI allocated by the target cell to the terminal device, the random access channel (RACH) resource information required to access the target cell (such as dedicated RACH resources and / or public RACH resources), etc.

[0106] S108. The terminal device performs random access to the target base station.

[0107] The terminal device initiates random access to the target base station according to the handover command. In the existing handover process, the terminal device will disconnect from the source base station, and there will be a brief interruption in the terminal device's data transmission and reception before successfully accessing the target base station.

[0108] S109: The terminal device sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the target base station. Correspondingly, the target base station receives the RRC reconfiguration complete message from the terminal device.

[0109] The above-mentioned cell switching is that the network device determines the target cell based on the RSRP, SINR, or RSRQ of the neighboring cell of the current serving cell measured and reported by the terminal device at a certain moment, and instructs the terminal device to switch from the current cell to the target cell.

[0110] In addition to the above cell handover process, there are other possible mobility-related processes, such as cell reselection and conditional handover (CHO), which are also applicable to the present invention and will not be described in detail here.

[0111] Still taking the above-mentioned cell switching as an example, in one possible scenario, as shown in Figure 2 (a), the current serving cell of the terminal device is cell 0. During the process of the terminal device moving from cell 0 to cell 1, if there is no interference from cell 2, the signal quality (such as RSRP) of cell 0 gradually decreases, and the signal quality of cell 1 gradually increases. According to the above-mentioned switching method, the network device configures a switching event for the terminal device. The terminal device finds that the configured switching event is met at time T0 and reports the RSRP at time T0. Based on the RSRP reported by the terminal device, the network device determines that the target cell is cell 1 and can instruct the terminal device to switch to cell 1.

[0112] However, as shown in Figure 2(b), due to the physical environment, there is a very narrow area at the junction of Cell 0 and Cell 1 where Cell 2 has higher signal quality. If the terminal device moves along Route 2, at time T0, the RSRP of Cell 2 measured by the terminal device is much higher than that of Cell 0 and Cell 1, causing the network device to instruct the terminal device to switch to Cell 2. However, because the area with higher signal quality in Cell 2 is very narrow, if the terminal device continues to move, it may soon need to switch to Cell 1 again, or it may not be able to switch to Cell 1 in time, resulting in a disconnection. This brief stop or disconnection in Cell 2 affects the user experience and is undesirable during the handover process.

[0113] The situation is similar for cell reselection. It is also possible that a terminal device reselects to a certain cell and then quickly reselects to another cell. Frequent reselection will increase the power consumption of the terminal device and affect the user experience.

[0114] To avoid the above-mentioned scenario of undesirable mobility, an AI / ML-based mobility optimization solution has been introduced. For example, the network device uses the AI / ML model to predict the RSRP of each cell at T0+t at T0, and then determines that the target cell should be cell 1 based on the predicted RSRP of each cell at T0+t, thereby instructing the terminal device to switch to cell 1. However, the execution of inference (or training) of the AI / ML model requires additional computing costs. If the inference (or training) of the AI / ML model is performed on the terminal device, it will consume the limited energy of the terminal device and affect the user experience; if the inference (or training) of the AI / ML model is performed on the network device, the terminal device may need to upload the input data of the AI / ML model (for the training of supervised AI / ML models, the labels and / or true value data required for the training of the AI / ML model may also be required), which will incur additional transmission costs.

[0115] To this end, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method that can reduce the additional computing costs and / or transmission costs brought by AI / ML solutions.

[0116] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following explanations are made before introducing the embodiments of the present application.

[0117] First, in the embodiments of the present application, "used to indicate" can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing a certain "indication information" as being used to indicate A, it can include the indication information directly indicating A or indirectly indicating A, and does not necessarily mean that the indication information carries A.

[0118] The information indicated by the indication information is called the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, such as but not limited to, directly indicating the information to be indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein there is an association between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. For example, it is also possible to use the arrangement order of each piece of information agreed in advance (such as specified in the protocol) to achieve the indication of specific information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, it is also possible to identify the common parts of each piece of information and indicate them uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by indicating the same information separately.

[0119] In addition, the specific indication method can also be various existing indication methods, such as but not limited to the above-mentioned indication methods and various combinations thereof. The specific details of the various indication methods can be referred to the prior art and will not be repeated herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when it is necessary to indicate multiple information of the same type, there may be a situation where the indication methods for different information are different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the selected indication method. In this way, the indication method involved in the embodiment of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that can enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0120] The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole, or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in this application. Among them, the sending period and / or sending time of these sub-information can be predefined, for example, predefined according to the protocol, or configured by the transmitting device by sending configuration information to the terminal device. Among them, the configuration information can, for example, but not limited to, include one or a combination of at least two of RRC signaling, media access control (MAC) layer signaling and physical layer signaling. Among them, MAC layer signaling, for example, includes MAC-control element (CE); physical (PHY) layer signaling, for example, includes downlink control information (DCI).

[0121] Second, in the embodiments of the present application, the first, second, and various numerical numbers are merely distinctions for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, different indication information is used to distinguish one from another. For another example, the first indication information and the second indication information are merely used to distinguish different areas and do not limit their order. Those skilled in the art will understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean that they are different.

[0122] Third, in the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if" and "if" all mean that the device (such as a terminal device or an access network device) will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances. It does not limit the time, and does not require the device (such as a terminal device or an access network device) to have a judgment action when implementing it, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0123] At the same time, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0124] Finally, the network architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0125] The following first introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application:

[0126] The embodiments of the present application will present various aspects, embodiments, or features around a system that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that each system may include additional devices, components, modules, etc., and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the figures. Furthermore, combinations of these solutions may also be used.

[0127] For example, Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the communication system includes a network device and a terminal device. The network device and the terminal device can communicate directly with each other or forward the communication through other devices. It should be noted that Figure 3 exemplarily shows one network device and one terminal device, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0128] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may also be referred to as an access network (RAN) node, access network device, RAN entity or access node, etc., which is located on the network side of the above-mentioned communication system to help the terminal device achieve wireless access, and has a device with wireless transceiver function or a chip or chip system that can be set in the device. The network device includes but is not limited to: a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation base station (gNB), a next-generation base station in a 6G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a Wi-Fi system, etc. The network device may be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, an open radio access network (ORAN), or a wireless controller in a centralized radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Optionally, the RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the access network device in V2X technology may be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the network device in this application may also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). The network device in this application may also be a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions.

[0129] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes respectively implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately, or they can be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0130] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0131] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the form of the network device. The device used to implement the function of the network device can be a network device; it can also be a device that can support the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the network device or used in conjunction with the network device.

[0132] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device is a terminal that accesses the above-mentioned communication system and has a wireless transceiver function or a chip or chip system that can be set in the terminal. The terminal device can also be called user equipment (UE), user device, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a vehicle-mounted terminal, an RSU with terminal function, etc. The terminal device of the present application can also be a vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted component, vehicle-mounted chip or vehicle-mounted unit that is built into the vehicle as one or more components or units. The vehicle can implement the method provided by the present application through the built-in vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted module, vehicle-mounted component, vehicle-mounted chip or vehicle-mounted unit.

[0133] The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form factor of the terminal. The device used to implement the functions of the terminal device can be the terminal device; it can also be a device that supports the terminal device to implement the functions, such as a chip system. The device can be installed in the terminal device or used in conjunction with the terminal device. In the embodiments of this application, the chip system can be composed of chips or include chips and other discrete devices.

[0134] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device and the network device may be deployed with an AI / ML module, and the AI / ML module is a module with artificial intelligence / machine learning computing capabilities. When the AI / ML module is deployed on a communication device or a communication apparatus, the communication device or the communication apparatus may perform model training, model reasoning and other processing based on the AI ​​model. When the method of the embodiment of the present application is applied to a 5G system, the AI / ML module may be located in a RAN device (the separation architecture is located in a CU / DU), may be located in a terminal device or in a device associated with a terminal device (such as a server), may be a separate network element entity RAN intelligent control (RAN intelligent controller, RIC) module, and may be located independently or non-independently in the core network.

[0135] It should be noted that the solutions in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other communication systems, and the corresponding names can also be replaced by the names of corresponding functions in other communication systems.

[0136] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to FIG4 and FIG5 .

[0137] For example, FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. This communication is illustrated using the communication between the network device and the terminal device shown in FIG3 as an example. Of course, the subject that executes the terminal device action in this method may also be a device / module in the terminal device, such as a chip, processor, or processing unit in the terminal device; the subject that executes the network device action in this method may also be a device / module in the network device, such as a chip, processor, or processing unit in the network device, and this embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0138] As shown in FIG4 , the communication method includes:

[0139] S401: The network device determines condition information and action information.

[0140] S402: The network device sends a first message to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first message from the network device.

[0141] The first message includes the condition information and the action information, that is, the condition information and the action information are carried in the first message and sent.

[0142] Optionally, the first message may be an RRC message or a MAC-CE, etc., which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0143] S403: When the trigger condition is met, the terminal device executes the first action.

[0144] The following describes S401 and S403 respectively, focusing on S401:

[0145] In the embodiment of the present application, the condition information is used to indicate the triggering condition for the terminal device to perform the first action, and the action information is used to indicate the first action. The first action is associated with mobility, and the mobility is used to represent mobility events such as cell switching or cell reselection that occur during the movement of the terminal device.

[0146] In the case where the first action is associated with cell switching, the network device can adopt the switching method shown in Figure 1 above, and after a period of statistics, it can be known that the cell switching is not ideal or performs poorly according to the existing switching method, and the trigger condition and the first action can be determined and configured based on the statistical situation. The trigger condition can be configured to characterize the conditions or reasons for the cell switching being not ideal or performing poorly according to the existing switching method, and the first action can be configured to avoid the occurrence of the cell switching being not ideal or performing poorly. In an embodiment of the present application, in order to avoid the situation where the cell switching is not ideal or performing poorly, when the scene conditions or reasons that may cause the cell switching to be not ideal or performing poorly occur, the mobility optimization enhancement based on AI / ML is enabled, and the cell switching decision is related to the AI / ML model reasoning or prediction result, and the implementation of the AI / ML model reasoning or prediction is related to the execution result of the first action. Otherwise, the mobility optimization enhancement based on AI / ML is not enabled, thereby reducing the additional computing cost and / or transmission cost brought by the AI / ML solution. Similarly, when the first action is associated with cell reselection, the network device can also determine and configure the trigger condition and the first action for the terminal device in a statistical manner (which can be counted by the terminal device and reported to the network device for aggregation). In the case of unsatisfactory or poorly performing cell reselection scenarios or reasons, AI / ML-based mobility optimization enhancement is enabled. The cell reselection decision is related to the AI / ML model reasoning or prediction results, which will not be described in detail. It should be understood that the first action configured is different depending on the deployment location of the AI / ML model. Please refer to the relevant description below for details.

[0147] The triggering conditions may include at least one of the following: the terminal device is located at a preset position, the movement trajectory of the terminal device is a preset trajectory, the CSI measured by the terminal device is a preset CSI, the speed of the terminal device reaches a preset speed, the time of the terminal device reaches a preset time, the terminal device measures a cell in a preset frequency band or frequency point, or the terminal device satisfies or completes a preset event. For the terminal device, as long as the above triggering conditions are met, the first action can be executed. It should be understood that different triggering conditions can correspond to different first actions, and one first action can correspond to multiple triggering conditions, which is not limited to this.

[0148] The terminal device is located at a preset position: it may mean that the terminal device moves to a preset position point or a preset position range. That is to say, when the terminal device is moving, if its position is a preset position or is within a preset position range, the first action is performed. The preset position range can be represented by a geographical area surrounded by a number of coordinates, or can be represented by other methods such as center coordinates + radius, and there is no limitation on this. In the embodiment of the present application, the preset position can be a physical position, a relative position, or a position represented by a synchronization signal block (SSB), etc., and there is no limitation on this. It should be understood that when judging whether to trigger the first action based on the position of the terminal device, the error between the actual position of the terminal device and the preset position needs to be considered. In other words, the first action can be performed if the error between the actual position of the terminal device and the preset position is within the preset error range.

[0149] The terminal device's movement trajectory satisfies a preset trajectory: The terminal device's movement trajectory can refer to the movement trajectory of the terminal device at the aforementioned location granularity or at the cell granularity. Taking location granularity as an example, the terminal device's movement trajectory can be composed of several location coordinates traversed by the terminal device during its movement. A terminal device's movement trajectory satisfies the preset movement trajectory when the trajectory graph formed by the location coordinates is consistent with the preset location trajectory graph. Taking cell granularity as an example, a terminal device's movement trajectory satisfies the preset trajectory when the terminal device enters or leaves a preset cell, or when the sequence of cells traversed by the terminal device is consistent with the preset cell sequence. A cell sequence can refer to a sequence of cells traversed by the terminal device during its movement after powering on. For example, if the terminal device moves from cell 1 to cell 0 and then to cell 5, the sequence of cells traversed by the terminal device can be represented as cell 1 -> cell 0 -> cell 5. For example, if the preset cell sequence is cell 1 -> cell 0 -> cell 3, and the actual sequence of cells traversed by the terminal device is the preset cell sequence, the movement trajectory is considered to meet the trigger condition. In other words, if the movement trajectory generated by the terminal device during its movement is consistent with the preset movement trajectory, the first action can be executed.

[0150] The CSI measured by the terminal device is the preset CSI: it may mean that the CSI measured by the terminal device according to the reference signal (such as CSI-reference signal (RS)) during the movement is consistent with the preset CSI, and it can also be understood as satisfying the CSI measurement (or channel measurement) event. Among them, the preset CSI may refer to a preset (original) channel matrix, a preset precoding matrix or a mathematical transformation result thereof, etc., which can be used to characterize the characteristic quantity of the channel state. In the embodiment of the present application, the network device can configure one or more preset CSIs in the form of a table or sequence. Thus, the terminal device can match the measured CSI with one or more preset CSIs, and the first action can be performed if the match is consistent. It should be understood that the terminal device is in different positions and the corresponding measured CSI is different. Therefore, the CSI measured by the terminal device and the position of the terminal device have a mapping relationship, and the CSI measured by the terminal device can correspond to the position of the terminal device to a certain extent. In other words, the CSI measured by the terminal device can be used to characterize the position or movement trajectory of the terminal device, and the preset CSI can be used to characterize the position of the terminal device that affects the cell switching decision. In addition, there may be a certain error between the CSI measured by the terminal device and the preset CSI. If the error is within the preset error range, the CSI measured by the terminal device can be considered to be the preset CSI.

[0151] The speed of the terminal device reaches a preset speed: This may refer to the terminal device's movement speed reaching a preset speed and / or the terminal device's acceleration reaching a preset acceleration. When the optimal handover / reselection position is determined, changes in the terminal device's movement speed and / or acceleration may also change the handover or reselection time. Therefore, determining the terminal device's speed can be used to determine the cell handover or reselection time.

[0152] The above trigger conditions related to the position, motion trajectory, measured CSI and speed of the terminal device can be called spatial type trigger conditions.

[0153] The time of the terminal device reaches the preset time: it may mean that the current clock of the terminal device reaches a preset time point or is within a preset time period. The preset time can be expressed as an absolute value or a relative value of the time. Since the service characteristics of cells at different times may be different, the switching / reselection results may be different, and different switching / reselection configurations may be required. The configuration may include whether to enable mobility optimization enhancement based on AI / ML. Therefore, the time judgment of the terminal device can be used to determine the switching / reselection configuration. In other words, the preset time may be a time period or time point that may cause the switching / reselection results to be different and thus configure whether to enable mobility optimization enhancement based on AI / ML. This type of trigger condition may be called a time type trigger condition.

[0154] The terminal device measures a cell with a preset frequency band or frequency: Since the coverage of cells of different frequency bands / frequencies may be different, the switching / reselection decision of cells of some frequency bands / frequencies may result in unsatisfactory cell switching / reselection results. Therefore, the cell with a preset frequency band or frequency may be a cell that affects the switching / reselection decision and causes unsatisfactory switching / reselection results. That is to say, when the terminal device performs cell measurement, if it measures a cell with a preset frequency band or frequency, it can perform the first action. It should be understood that there can be multiple cells located in the same frequency band or frequency. This type of trigger condition can be called a frequency domain type trigger condition.

[0155] The terminal device meets or completes a preset event: the preset event may include a measurement event and / or a mobility event. Among them, the mobility event may include cell switching or reselection. For example, the measurement event may include channel measurement, cell measurement, etc. The cell measurement configuration may refer to the measurement configuration sent by the source base station to the terminal device in S101; the channel measurement event may refer to the explanation of the above CSI measurement part; the cell measurement event may refer to the explanation in S101; the mobility event related to cell switching may include cell switching or reselection execution time, cell switching success, cell switching failure, ping-pong switching, short-term access to the cell, whether the change in the quality of experience (QoE) (including rate and / or delay) before and after the switching is greater than (less than or equal to) the QoE change threshold, whether the change (change value, change rate) of the measurement result of at least one cell is greater than (less than or equal to) the measurement change threshold, reselection success, reselection failure, or frequent reselection, etc. It should be understood that the terminal device meeting or completing the preset event may also be replaced by the terminal device determining that the preset event occurs. This type of trigger condition may be referred to as an event type trigger condition.

[0156] In an embodiment of the present application, the settings of the QoE change threshold, measurement change threshold and other thresholds can be configured by the network device to the terminal device, or can be configured locally by the terminal device, or can be determined by negotiation between the network device and the terminal device.

[0157] It should be understood that the above examples give the above-mentioned trigger conditions. In addition to the above-mentioned trigger conditions, other conditions that can be used to trigger the execution of the first action can also be included to avoid the occurrence of undesirable cell switching or reselection situations, such as the terminal device measuring a preset cell (the preset cell is a cell that affects the cell switching or reselection decision), or the terminal device determines that the preset conditions are met based on the output of the preset model (the preset model can be configured by the network device), etc., and there is no limitation on this. In addition, the condition information can include at least one of the above-mentioned trigger conditions. When multiple trigger conditions are configured, the terminal device can perform the first action when all the configured trigger conditions are met at the same time, or it can perform the first action when a certain number of trigger conditions and / or a certain number of trigger conditions are met at the same time (such as 80% of the trigger conditions are met), and there is no limitation on this.

[0158] In the embodiment of the present application, to avoid the occurrence of undesirable cell switching or reselection situations, the AI / ML model for mobility optimization can be deployed on the network device side or on the terminal device side. Based on the different locations of model deployment, the first action of the network device configuration also varies.

[0159] In a scenario where a mobility optimization model is deployed on a network device, in one possible design, the first action may include at least one of the following: collecting target data, stopping target data collection, or reporting target data. In other words, in this scenario, the terminal device performs actions such as data collection and reporting. The target data is used by the network device for mobility-related model training or inference and may include data used as model input and / or data used for model training.

[0160] The data used for model input can be used as input data for model training or as input data for model reasoning. The data used for model input may include at least one of the following: measurement results of the current serving or resident cell, measurement results of the neighboring cells of the current serving or resident cell, CSI of the current serving cell, motion characteristics of the terminal device, service information of the terminal device, or time information of the terminal device (or time information of the network device, which may be equivalent). Among them, the current serving cell refers to the cell to which the terminal device is connected when it is in a connected state, the current resident cell refers to the cell in which the terminal device resides when it is in an idle state, the current serving or resident cell and the cell in which the terminal device receives the first message may be the same cell or different cells, and the measurement results of the current serving or resident cell and its neighboring cells may include one or more of the parameters such as RSRP, SINR, and RSRQ, which are not limited to this. The motion characteristics of the terminal device may include the position, speed, acceleration and other characteristics of the terminal device, which are not limited to this. The service information of the terminal device may include the QoE requirements of the terminal device (such as service transmission rate, transmission delay and other requirements). The time information of the terminal device can be a time point or a time period, and can be expressed as relative time or absolute time, without limitation.

[0161] It should be understood that the above examples illustrate several types of data used for mobility-related model input. In addition, other data that can be used by the model to make cell handover or reselection judgments, such as historical cell handover / reselection information of the terminal device, may also be included, without limitation. In addition, the data used for model input in the embodiments of the present application can be one-dimensional data or data composed of multiple dimensions such as time, space, and frequency domains, without limitation.

[0162] The data used for model training may include label data and / or true value data for model training. During model training, the data used for model training can be compared with the data output during model training, and based on the comparison results, the trainable parameters in the model (for example, weight parameters in an artificial neural network) are adjusted through methods such as backpropagation and gradient descent to obtain a model for implementing reasoning (inference model).

[0163] The data used for model training may include at least one of the following: cell switching or reselection execution time, cell switching success, cell switching failure, ping-pong switching, short-term access to cell, QoE change before and after cell switching, change in measurement results of at least one cell, measurement results of the current serving or resident cell at a future time, measurement results of neighboring cells of the current serving or resident cell at a future time, reselection success, reselection failure, or frequent reselection. Among them, as a possible implementation method, cell switching success, cell switching failure, ping-pong switching, short-term access to cell, reselection success, reselection failure, and frequent reselection indicate the occurrence or occurrence of cell switching success, cell switching failure, ping-pong switching, short-term access to cell, reselection success, reselection failure, and frequent reselection, which belong to label data used for model training and can be represented by 0 or 1, such as cell switching success is 0 and cell switching failure is 1. The cell switching or reselection execution time, the QoE change before and after the cell switching, the change in the measurement results of at least one cell (such as the serving cell, the resident cell, or the neighboring cell), the measurement results of the current serving or resident cell at a future time, or the measurement results of the neighboring cell of the current serving or resident cell at a future time are the true value data used for model training.

[0164] It should be noted that the data used for model training can be bound to time. For example, a cell handover at time t1 results in a successful handover, while a cell handover at time t2 results in a failed handover. Here, time t1 and the successful handover result, and time t2 and the cell handover failure each constitute a set of data. Similarly, the data used for model training can be bound to cells. For example, a handover from cell 1 to cell 2 results in a successful handover, while a handover from cell 1 to cell 3 results in a failed handover. Here, cell 1, cell 2, and the successful handover result constitute one set of data, while cell 1, cell 3, and the failed handover result constitute another set of data.

[0165] In one possible implementation, the time information of the terminal device can be used as both model input data and label data and / or true value data for model training. As an example, time information (such as the first time) is used as model input data, and the model prediction output can be the probability of successful cell switching, that is, the prediction result can represent the probability of successful cell switching at the first time; time information (such as the execution time of cell switching or reselection) is used as true value data for model training, indicating that the model can be used to predict the appropriate time to perform cell switching or reselection, and performing cell switching or reselection at this time can achieve the expected best effect.

[0166] In the case where the data used for model input is the input data for model training, the input data for model training and the data used for model training can constitute training data, such as (x i ,y i), where i is the data sequence number, x i is the input data for model training, y i The true value and / or label data used for model training. In the embodiment of the present application, the correspondence between the data used for model training and the data used for model input that constitute the training data can be indicated in an explicit or implicit manner, and there is no limitation on this. For example, each input data for model training corresponds to a first index, and each data used for model training corresponds to a second index. The two data constituting the training data can be indicated by the first index and the second index.

[0167] When the first action is to collect target data, the network device can also configure an end condition for collecting target data for the terminal device. The end condition is included in the action information and can be at least one of the following: the amount of target data collected reaches a preset amount, the target data collection duration reaches a preset collection duration, or the terminal device meets the trigger condition corresponding to stopping target data collection. In other words, if the terminal device determines that the above end condition is met during the process of collecting target data, the collection of the target data is completed. Furthermore, the terminal device can report the collected target data. Optionally, the end condition can also be determined by negotiation between the network device and the terminal device, or locally configured by the terminal device, and this is not limited.

[0168] In the case where the first action is to stop collecting target data or reporting target data, in one possible scenario, the trigger condition may include a condition for triggering the collection of target data and a condition for triggering the stop of collecting target data or reporting target data. That is, the terminal device may start collecting target data when the condition for triggering the collection of target data is met, and stop collecting target data or reporting target data when the condition for triggering the stop of collecting target data or reporting target data is met. At this time, stopping collecting target data may mean clearing the collected target data, retaining the collected target data, or reporting the collected target data. Reporting target data refers to sending the collected target data to a network device or other device (such as a server). The other device may be determined by the network device configuration, agreed in advance by both parties, or determined autonomously by the terminal device. In another possible scenario, the network device may configure the terminal device to periodically collect target data. When the trigger condition is met, stopping collecting target data may mean clearing the collected target data, retaining the collected target data, or reporting the collected target data. Reporting target data may mean reporting the target data collected in the latest cycle. Optionally, the configuration related to periodic collection can also be determined by negotiation between the network device and the terminal device, agreed in advance, or locally configured by the terminal device, and there is no limitation on this. It should be understood that when the first action is to stop collecting target data or report target data, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the start and end conditions for executing target data collection.

[0169] It should be noted that the cell where the terminal device is located when reporting the target data and the cell where the terminal device is located when receiving the first message may be the same cell, or may not be the same cell, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this. The cell involved in the target data may include the cell where the target data is reported or the cell where the first message is received, or may not include the cell where the target data is reported or the cell where the first message is received, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this. In addition, the network device that receives the target data reported by the terminal device and the network device that sends the first message to the terminal device may be the same network device, or may not be the same network device, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0170] In a scenario where the model for mobility optimization is deployed on the terminal device side, in a possible design scheme, the first action may include at least one of the following: performing mobility-related model reasoning, performing mobility-related model training, or obtaining mobility-related prediction data.

[0171] Among them, the execution of mobility-related model reasoning (inference model) is used to predict one or several mobility-related data (i.e., prediction data) such as cell switching or reselection in the future. The input data for model reasoning may include the data collected by the terminal device in the above-mentioned design scheme for model input, and may also include other data determined by the terminal device itself, which will not be elaborated on. The execution of mobility-related model training is the mobility-related training of the configuration model such as cell switching or reselection to obtain a model for executing mobility-related reasoning. The data used for model training may include the data collected by the terminal device in the above-mentioned design scheme for model input and the true value and / or label data for model training, and may also include other data determined by the terminal device itself, which will not be elaborated on. The acquisition of mobility-related prediction data may be the prediction data obtained by the terminal device from the local area by executing mobility-related model reasoning, or may refer to the prediction data obtained by the terminal device from other devices such as a server.

[0172] It should be understood that the terminal device performs AI / ML model reasoning or training, which may be performed on the terminal device or on a device associated with the terminal device (such as a server), without limitation.

[0173] In the embodiment of the present application, the prediction data may include at least one of the following: a target cell for cell handover or reselection, a probability of success in performing cell handover or reselection, a signal quality of a currently serving or resident cell, a signal quality of at least one neighboring cell of the currently serving or resident cell, or a time to perform cell handover or reselection. The cell signal quality may include RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.

[0174] It should be understood that there may be one or more mobility-related models in the embodiments of the present application, and different models may implement different functions. For example, model 1 is used to predict the target cell for cell switching or reselection, and model 2 is used to predict the time for performing cell switching or reselection. Different models may correspond to different identifiers, and the network device may indicate the model used by the terminal device to complete the first action through an identifier (identity, ID), or the network device may indicate the model used by the terminal device to complete the first action through a function, and there is no limitation on this.

[0175] For S403:

[0176] After obtaining the trigger condition and the first action, the terminal device determines whether the trigger condition is met during operation. If the trigger condition is met, the first action is executed; if the trigger condition is not met, the first action is not executed.

[0177] In the scenario where the model for mobility optimization is deployed on the network device side, that is, the first action is to collect target data, stop collecting target data, or report at least one of the target data, the terminal device can collect data used for network device to perform cell switching or reselection related reasoning or training when the trigger condition is met, so that the network device can achieve AI / ML-based mobility optimization enhancement.

[0178] In the scenario where the model for mobility optimization is deployed on the terminal device side, that is, the first action is to perform at least one of mobility-related model inference, mobility-related model training, or obtain mobility-related prediction data, the terminal device can perform AI / ML-based mobility optimization enhancement based on the collected data when the trigger conditions are met.

[0179] Exemplarily, the triggering condition is that the sequence of cells that the terminal device passes through is cell 1-》cell 2-》cell 3. As shown in Figure 5, the current serving cell of the terminal device is cell 3, and the neighboring cells of the current serving cell are cell 0, cell 2, and cell 4. The first action is to collect the RSRP of the current serving cell and the RSRP of the neighboring cells 0 and 4 of the current serving cell. Therefore, when the terminal device determines that the sequence of cells that it passes through is cell 1-》cell 2-》cell 3, the terminal device starts to measure and collect the RSRP of cell 3, cell 0, and cell 4 until the preset collection time is reached and the data collection is terminated. The collected RSRP of cell 3, cell 0, and cell 4 is reported to the network device, so that the network device performs model training or inference based on the RSRP of cell 3, cell 0, and cell 4, such as predicting the target cell for the next cell switching of the terminal device during movement, and indicating it to the terminal device.

[0180] Based on the communication method shown in Figure 4, the network device configures a first action related to mobility (such as cell switching or reselection) and a trigger condition for executing the first action for the terminal device through a first message, so that the terminal device can execute the first action based on the condition that the trigger condition is met. Therefore, in the scenario of mobility optimization based on AI / ML, when it is determined that the cell switching or reselection is not ideal based on the existing switching method (the trigger condition is set based on the reason or condition that the cell switching or reselection may be not ideal), AI / ML can be used to perform cell switching or reselection enhancement to improve the switching or reselection performance, which can reduce the computing cost and / or data transmission cost brought by model training or reasoning in other cell switching or reselection scenarios that do not require mobility optimization based on AI / ML.

[0181] It can be understood that the "cell" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be replaced by "sector" or "beam".

[0182] It can be understood that in the above embodiments, the methods and / or steps implemented by the network device can also be implemented by components that can be used for the network device (such as a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software); the methods and / or steps implemented by the terminal device can also be implemented by components that can be used for the terminal device (such as a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, logic module, or software).

[0183] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by this application. Accordingly, this application also provides a communication device, which is used to implement the various methods in the above method embodiments. The communication device can be a network device in the above method embodiments, or a device including a network device, or a component that can be used for a network device, such as a chip or a chip system. Alternatively, the communication device can be a terminal device in the above method embodiments, or a device including a terminal device, or a component that can be used for a terminal device, such as a chip or a chip system.

[0184] It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0185] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0186] Taking the communication device as a network device or terminal device in the above method embodiment as an example, Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, communication device 600 includes: a processing module 601 and a transceiver module 602. The processing module 601 is used to perform the processing functions of the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiment. The transceiver module 602 is used to perform the transceiver functions of the network device or terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0187] Among them, all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module and will not be repeated here.

[0188] Since the communication device 600 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0189] In one possible design solution, in the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver module 602 may include a receiving module and a sending module (not shown in FIG6 ).

[0190] In one possible design, the communication device 600 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG6 ) storing a program or instruction. When the processing module 601 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 600 may perform the functions of the network device or terminal device in the method shown in FIG4 .

[0191] It should be understood that the processing module 601 involved in the communication device 600 can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component, which can be a processor or a processing unit; the transceiver module 602 can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component, which can be a transceiver or a transceiver unit.

[0192] For example, FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a network device or a terminal device, or may be a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be provided in the network device or the terminal device. As shown in FIG7 , the communication device 700 may include a processor 701. In one possible design scheme, the communication device 700 may further include a memory 702 and / or a transceiver 703. The processor 701 is coupled to the memory 702 and the transceiver 703, such as by a communication bus.

[0193] The following is a detailed introduction to the various components of the communication device 700 with reference to FIG7 :

[0194] The processor 701 is the control center of the communication device 700 and can be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 701 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0195] In one possible design, the processor 701 may execute various functions of the communication device 700 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 702 and calling data stored in the memory 702 .

[0196] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 701 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG. 7 .

[0197] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 700 may also include multiple processors, such as the processor 701 and the processor 704 shown in FIG7 . Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0198] Among them, the memory 702 is used to store the software program for executing the solution of this application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 701. The specific implementation method can refer to the above method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0199] In one possible design, the memory 702 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, an optical disc storage (including a compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 702 may be integrated with the processor 701 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 701 via an interface circuit (not shown in FIG. 7 ) of the communication device 700. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0200] Transceiver 703 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, if communication device 700 is a terminal device, transceiver 703 can be used to communicate with an access network device or another terminal device. For another example, if communication device 700 is a network device, transceiver 703 can be used to communicate with a terminal device or another network device.

[0201] In one possible design, transceiver 703 may include a receiver and a transmitter (not separately shown in FIG7 ), wherein the receiver is used to implement a receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement a sending function.

[0202] In one possible design scheme, the transceiver 703 can be integrated with the processor 701, or it can exist independently and be coupled to the processor 701 through the interface circuit of the communication device 700 (not shown in Figure 7). This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit this.

[0203] It should be noted that the structure of the communication device 700 shown in FIG7 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. An actual communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0204] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 700 can refer to the technical effects of the methods described in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0205] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the functions of the above-mentioned method embodiment are realized.

[0206] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, which implements the functions of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0207] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0208] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0209] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0210] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0211] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0212] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0213] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or an access network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0214] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art may understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit may implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0215] Although the present application has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, it is apparent that various modifications and combinations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Accordingly, this specification and the drawings are merely illustrative of the present application as defined by the appended claims and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of the present application. Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receive a first message, the first message including condition information and action information, the condition information is used to indicate a trigger condition for the terminal device to perform a first action, the action information is used to indicate the first action, the first action is associated with mobility, and the trigger condition includes at least one of the following: the terminal device is located at a preset position, the movement trajectory of the terminal device is a preset trajectory, the channel state information CSI measured by the terminal device is a preset CSI, the speed of the terminal device reaches a preset speed, the time of the terminal device reaches a preset time, the terminal device measures a cell of a preset frequency band or frequency point, or the terminal device satisfies or completes a preset event; When the trigger condition is met, the first action is performed.

2. A communication method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Determine condition information and action information, where the condition information is used to indicate a trigger condition for the terminal device to perform a first action, the action information is used to indicate the first action, the first action is associated with mobility, and the trigger condition includes at least one of the following: the terminal device is located at a preset position, the movement trajectory of the terminal device is a preset trajectory, the channel state information CSI measured by the terminal device is a preset CSI, the speed of the terminal device reaches a preset speed, the time of the terminal device reaches a preset time, the terminal device measures a cell of a preset frequency band or frequency point, or the terminal device satisfies or completes a preset event; A first message is sent, wherein the first message includes the condition information and the action information.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The preset event includes: a measurement event and / or a mobility event, and the mobility event includes a cell handover or reselection.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first action includes at least one of the following: collecting target data, stopping collecting the target data, or reporting the target data; wherein the target data is used by the network device to perform the mobility-related model training or reasoning.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The target data includes: data used for model input and / or data used for model training.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The data used for model input includes at least one of the following: measurement results of the current serving or resident cell, measurement results of neighboring cells of the current serving or resident cell, CSI of the current serving cell, motion characteristics of the terminal device, service information of the terminal device, or time information of the terminal device.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: The data used for model training includes at least one of the following: cell switching or reselection execution time, cell switching success, cell switching failure, ping-pong switching, short-term access to the cell, the change in quality of experience (QoE) before and after the cell switching, the change in the measurement results of at least one cell, the measurement results of the current service or resident cell at a future time, the measurement results of the neighboring cells of the current service or resident cell at a future time, reselection success, reselection failure, or frequent reselection.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first action includes at least one of the following: executing the mobility-related model reasoning, executing the mobility-related model training, or acquiring the mobility-related prediction data.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The prediction data includes at least one of the following: the target cell for the cell switching or reselection, the success probability of executing the cell switching or reselection, the signal quality of the current serving or resident cell, the signal quality of at least one neighboring cell of the current serving or resident cell, or the time to execute the cell switching or reselection.

10. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. A communication device, characterized in that: It includes a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 9 through a logic circuit or executing code instructions.

12. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store computer instructions, and the processor is used to execute the computer instructions, so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is implemented.

13. A communication chip, characterized in that: Instructions are stored therein, and when the chip is run on a communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is implemented.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is implemented.

15. A computer program product, characterized in that The device comprises a computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed on a communication device, the communication device implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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