Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: acquiring first information of at least one candidate network device, the first information of the candidate network device comprising information of a transmission path between a first network device and the candidate network device; and, according to the first information, executing at least one of the following: sending to at least one second network device second information, used for instructing to prohibit a service for a terminal device, the at least one second network device belonging to the at least one candidate network device, and the first network device being a service network device of the terminal device; sending to the terminal device third information, used for indicating whether to allow switching to the at least one second network device; and sending to a core network device a first request message, used for requesting transmission of data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device. Thus, the present application reduces the mobile interruption time and the switching overhead of terminal devices.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 12, 2023, with application number 202311175536.2 and invention name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0003] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), such as satellite communications, have significant advantages such as global coverage, long-distance transmission, flexible networking, easy deployment, and freedom from geographical restrictions. They have been widely used in many fields, including maritime communications, positioning and navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, and earth observation.

[0004] Cell handover and reselection in new radio (NR) systems are typically triggered primarily by device mobility, where the transmission path between the source and destination base stations is relatively fixed and propagation delays are minimal. However, in NTN communication systems (e.g., LEO satellite networks), the dynamic topology between the source and destination base stations results in a non-fixed transmission path and relatively long propagation delays. This results in low device efficiency in handover / reselection modes triggered primarily by network device (e.g., satellite) mobility.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can reduce the mobility interruption time and switching overhead of a terminal device, thereby improving the working efficiency of the terminal device in a switching / reselection mode mainly triggered by the movement of a network device.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first network device. The first network device here can refer to the first network device itself or a processor, module, chip, or chip system in the first network device that implements the method, and this application does not limit this. The method includes:

[0008] A first network device obtains first information of at least one candidate network device, where the first information of each candidate network device includes information of a transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; the first network device performs at least one of the following based on the first information: sends second information to at least one second network device, where the second information is used to instruct the at least one second network device to prohibit serving the terminal device, wherein the at least one second network device belongs to the at least one candidate network device and the first network device is the serving network device of the terminal device; or, sends third information to the terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to the at least one second network device; or, sends a first request message to a core network device, where the first request message is used to request the core network device to send uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device.

[0009] The first information of each candidate network device includes information about the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device.

[0010] Specifically, the information about the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device includes one or more of the following: the specific transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device, the number of hops included in the transmission path, the transmission path delay, the transmission path distance, weight information corresponding to the transmission path, the orbital altitude of the candidate network device, the type of the candidate network device, the orbital type of the candidate network device, etc. The weight information may correspond to the transmission cost, transmission rate, transmission priority, etc. of the path.

[0011] It should be understood that the first request information can be used to request the core network device to send the uplink data and / or downlink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device.

[0012] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the first network device obtains at least one candidate network device.

[0013] In a possible implementation, network device #1 (an example of a first network device) sends a request message #1 to network device #2 (an example of a candidate network device), and correspondingly, network device #2 receives the request message #1.

[0014] Among them, the request message #1 can be used to request the first information of the network device #2, or the request message #1 can be used to request the network device #2 to confirm the first information of the network device #2, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0015] It should be understood that the ground station node can also serve as a transit node between the switching source and destination satellite nodes.

[0016] It should be understood that the transmission path of the source-destination satellite node may also change in different time periods, and the first information of the candidate network device may also be updated accordingly.

[0017] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the interactive interface between the first network device and the candidate network device.

[0018] In one example, the interaction interface between the first network device and the candidate network device reuses the NGAP interface from the base station to the core network.

[0019] In another example, the interaction interface between the first network device and the candidate network device reuses interfaces such as X2AP and XnAP between base stations.

[0020] Based on the above scheme, the first network device can exchange relevant information of the transmission path (i.e., the first information) with at least one candidate network device, and determine whether to instruct the terminal device to switch to the candidate network device based on the first information of each candidate network device, thereby avoiding the terminal device from accessing an inappropriate candidate network device (i.e., the second network device), and can reduce the mobile interruption time of the terminal device, thereby improving the working efficiency of the terminal device in the switching / reselection mode triggered mainly by the movement of the network device.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, sending second information to at least one second network device based on the first information, or sending third information to the terminal device, also includes: determining the at least one second network device based on the first condition based on the first information.

[0022] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the first condition for determining whether the first information of the candidate network device satisfies the first condition is related to the parameters included in the first information.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information of the candidate network device includes the distance between the transmission path of the first network device and the candidate network device; and the first condition includes: the distance between the transmission path of the second network device and the first network device is greater than a first threshold; and / or, the distance between the transmission path of the second network device and the first network device is in the first M digits of the transmission path distance between the first network device and the at least one candidate network device, where M is a positive integer.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information of the candidate network device includes the number of hops in the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; and the first condition includes: the number of hops in the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is greater than or equal to a second threshold; and / or, the number of hops in the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is in the first N digits of the transmission path distance between the first network device and the at least one candidate network device, where N is a positive integer.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information of the candidate network device includes the delay of the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; and the first condition includes: the delay of the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is greater than a third threshold; and / or, the delay of the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is in the first K positions in the transmission path distance between the first network device and the at least one candidate network device, where K is a positive integer.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first information of the candidate network device includes the weight of the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; and the first condition includes: the weight of the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is greater than a fifth threshold; and / or, the weight of the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is in the first L positions in the transmission path distance between the first network device and the at least one candidate network device, where L is a positive integer.

[0027] Based on the above scheme, the first network device can determine the second network device with a longer mobile interruption time according to the first condition, and instruct the second network device to prohibit serving the terminal device, or indicate whether the terminal device can access the second network device, thereby preventing the second network device from accessing an inappropriate second network device, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the second information includes an identifier of a first time period and an identifier of a first area, and the second information is used to instruct the second network device to stop sending a measurement reference signal to the first area during the first time period, wherein the first area is the area where the terminal device is located.

[0029] It should be understood that the above-mentioned measurement reference signal can be one or more of the following: synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (synchronization signalandPBCH block, SSB), channel state information reference signal (channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS), tracking reference signal (Tracking Reference Signal, TRS), etc.

[0030] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the second information includes an identifier of a first time period and an identifier of a first area, and the second information is used to instruct the second network device to send an eighth information to the first area within the first time period, and the eighth information is used to instruct the terminal device to prohibit access, wherein the first area is the area where the terminal device is located.

[0031] As an example but not a limitation, the eighth information is included in a cell barred / restricted (CellBarred) indication message.

[0032] Based on the above solution, after the first network device determines the second network device that will cause a longer mobile interruption time, it sends a second message to the second network device, requesting the second network device to stop sending switching-related measurement signals to the area where the terminal device is located, or requesting the second network device to send a related message prohibiting access to the area where the terminal device is located, thereby avoiding the terminal device from measuring and accessing an inappropriate second network device, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time.

[0033] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the third information includes an identifier of the first period, and the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the first period, the first period does not overlap with the second period, and the second period is the sending period of the measurement reference signal of the second network device.

[0034] It should be understood that the first period and the second period can be understood as time windows configured by SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) information.

[0035] Based on the above scheme, the first network device can send a third message to the terminal device to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the first period that does not overlap with the signal sending period of the second network device, thereby avoiding the terminal device from measuring and accessing an inappropriate second network device, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time.

[0036] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the information on the transmission paths of the first network device and the candidate network device includes one or more of the following: the orbit height of the candidate network device, the type of the candidate network device, and the orbit type of the candidate network device.

[0037] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the third information includes the priority of the at least one candidate network device, and the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the priority of the at least one candidate network, wherein the priority of each candidate network device is determined based on at least one of the following: the track type of the first network device and the candidate network device, the distance between the first network device and the candidate network device, and the link type between the first network device and the candidate network device.

[0038] Specifically, the first network device instructs the terminal device to perform signal measurement and access according to the order of priority of the candidate network devices from high to low.

[0039] Optionally, only when the candidate network device with a higher priority fails the handover decision, the terminal device will measure the adjacent candidate network device with a lower priority and report the measurement result.

[0040] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific method for determining the priority of the candidate network device.

[0041] For example, at the same frequency, orbits that are both ascending and descending have a higher priority, while ascending and descending orbits have a lower priority. An ascending satellite is one that moves from south to north, such as when the z-axis velocity component Vz is greater than 0 in the Earth-centered Earth-fixed (ECEF) coordinate system. A descending satellite is one that moves from north to south, such as when the z-axis velocity component Vz is less than 0 in the Earth-centered Earth-fixed (ECEF) coordinate system.

[0042] For example, a short transmission path corresponds to a high priority, and a long transmission path corresponds to a low priority. It should be understood that the length of the aforementioned transmission path can be understood as the distance of the transmission path and / or the number of hops of the transmission path, which is not limited in the present embodiment.

[0043] Exemplarily, the same-orbit inter-satellite link corresponds to a high priority, the satellite-to-ground link corresponds to a high priority, and the different-orbit inter-satellite link corresponds to a low priority.

[0044] Based on the above scheme, the first network device can carry the priority of one or more candidate network devices in the third information sent to the terminal device, thereby instructing the terminal device to perform signal measurement and access to the candidate network device according to the priority, that is, by instructing the terminal device to prioritize access to the candidate network device with a shorter mobile interruption time, the terminal device is avoided from measuring and accessing an unsuitable second network device, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time and reducing the user's data transfer overhead during the switching process.

[0045] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method also includes: the first network device sends fourth information to the terminal device, and the fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device reports the mobile interruption time according to the second period, or the fourth information is used to indicate that when the mobile interruption time is greater than a fourth threshold, the terminal device reports the mobile interruption time.

[0046] As an example and not a limitation, the mobility interruption time is MIT (mobility interruption time).

[0047] Based on the above scheme, the first network device instructs the terminal device to report the mobile interruption time to the network device switched to, so that the network device switched to can determine whether to continue sending switching-related measurement signals to the area where the terminal device is located based on the mobile interruption time, thereby avoiding the remaining terminal devices in the same area as the terminal device from measuring and accessing the same inappropriate candidate network device, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time.

[0048] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first request message includes an identifier of the second network device, a second time period, and the first information, and the second time period is a time period for the terminal device to switch.

[0049] It should be understood that the first request message can be an early path switch request (Earlypathswitchrequest) message, and the core network device can be a user plane network element (UserPlaneFunction, UPF) or an access and mobility management function (Access and Mobility management Function, AMF), etc.

[0050] It should be understood that the second time period includes a conditional handover (CHO) time period of the terminal device. More specifically, the second time period is a time period before the terminal device accesses the target network.

[0051] Based on the above solution, the first network device can request the core network device to send the user data of the terminal device to the candidate network device within the second time period before the terminal device switches to the candidate network device, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time and reducing the user transfer data overhead during the switching process.

[0052] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method also includes: the first network device sends fifth information to the terminal device, and the fifth information is used to indicate one or more third time periods, and the third time periods are time periods for allowing the terminal device to receive and / or send data / wireless signals.

[0053] It should be understood that the fourth time period is all or part of the time period during the mobility interruption time of the UE.

[0054] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the first network device indicates the third time period.

[0055] In one possible implementation, the fifth information includes one or more time period information. As an example and not a limitation, the fifth information includes MIT-DRX[t1, t2], MIT-DTX[t3, t4], and MIT-DRX / MIT-DTX[t5, t6]. MIT-DRX[t1, t2] is used to instruct the terminal device to stop receiving signals in the time period [t1, t2]; MIT-DTX[t3, t4] is used to instruct the terminal device to stop sending signals in the time period [t3, t4]; and MIT-DRX / MIT-DTX[t5, t6] is used to instruct the terminal device to stop receiving and sending data / wireless signals in the time period [t5, t6].

[0056] In another possible implementation, the fifth information includes a first moment and a first duration, wherein the first duration can be the duration of discontinuous reception DRX and / or discontinuous transmission DTX.

[0057] As an example but not a limitation, the first moment is the moment when the terminal device returns a switching response completion moment to one of the candidate network devices, and the first duration is 1s, that is, the terminal device stops sending data / wireless signals within 1s after sending the switching response moment.

[0058] Based on the above solution, the first network device instructs the terminal device to sleep in one or more third time periods during the switching / reselection process through the fifth information, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the terminal device during the switching / reselection process.

[0059] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a terminal device. The terminal device here can refer to the terminal device itself or a processor, module, chip, or chip system in the terminal device that implements the method, and this application does not limit this. The method includes:

[0060] The terminal device receives third information from the first network device, where the third information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to at least one second terminal device, where the first network device is the current serving network device of the terminal device; the terminal device performs cell switching based on the third information.

[0061] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the third information includes an identifier of the first period, and the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the first period, the first period does not overlap with the second period, and the second period is the sending period of the measurement reference signal of the second network device.

[0062] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the third information includes the priority of the at least one candidate network device, and the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the priority of the at least one candidate network.

[0063] It should be understood that the priority of each candidate network device is determined based on at least one of the following: the track type of the first network device and the candidate network device, the distance between the first network device and the candidate network device, and the link type between the first network device and the candidate network device.

[0064] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method also includes: the terminal device receives fourth information from the first network device, and the fourth information is used to indicate that the terminal device reports the mobile interruption time according to the second period; or, the fourth information is used to indicate that when the mobile interruption time is greater than a fourth threshold, the terminal device reports the mobile interruption time; the terminal device reports the mobile terminal time according to the fourth information.

[0065] It should be understood that the above-mentioned terminal device can report the mobile interruption time to the network device of the cell switched to (hereinafter referred to as the third network device), or the above-mentioned terminal device can report the mobile interruption time to the first network device, and the first network device forwards it to the third network device.

[0066] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific method in which the terminal device reports the mobile interruption time.

[0067] In one example, the terminal device can report the specific value of the mobile interruption time.

[0068] In another example, the terminal device can report a quantized value or level corresponding to the mobile terminal time. For example, the terminal device can indicate the level of the mobile interruption time using 1 bit, that is, the terminal device determines the level corresponding to the mobile interruption time based on whether the specific value of the mobile interruption time is greater than the sixth threshold, and reports the level corresponding to the mobile interruption time using 0 or 1.

[0069] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the fourth information is further used to indicate a second resource, where the second resource is a resource used by the terminal device to report the mobile interruption time.

[0070] It should be understood that the above-mentioned second resources include one or more of the following: time resources, frequency resources, polarization resources, beam resources, etc.

[0071] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method also includes: the terminal device receives fifth information from the first network device, and the fifth information is used to indicate one or more third time periods, and the third time period is a time period allowing the terminal device to receive and / or send data / wireless signals.

[0072] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a second network device. The second network device here can refer to the second network device itself or a processor, module, chip, or chip system in the second network device that implements the method, which is not limited in this application. The method includes:

[0073] The second network device obtains first information from the first network device, where the first information includes information about a transmission path between the second network device and the first network device; the second network device receives second information from the first network device, where the second information is used to instruct the second network device to prohibit serving the terminal device, where the first network device is the serving network device for the terminal device; and the second network device sends measurement reference information based on the second information.

[0074] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the second network device obtains the first network device. The specific manner can be referred to the specific manner in which the first network device obtains the candidate network device in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0075] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the second information includes an identifier of a first time period and an identifier of a first area, and the second information is used to instruct the second network device to stop sending a measurement reference signal to the first area during the first time period, wherein the first area is the area where the terminal device is located.

[0076] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the second network device sending measurement reference information according to the second information includes: the second network device stopping sending the measurement reference signal to the first area in the first time period according to the second information.

[0077] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the second information includes an identifier of a first time period and an identifier of a first area, and the second information is used to instruct the second network device to send an eighth information to the first area within the first time period, and the eighth information is used to instruct the terminal device to prohibit access, wherein the first area is the area where the terminal device is located.

[0078] As an example but not a limitation, the eighth information is included in a cell barred / restricted (CellBarred) indication message.

[0079] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the second network device sending the measurement reference information according to the second information includes: the second network device sending the eighth information to the first area within the first time period according to the second information.

[0080] Based on the above solution, after interacting with the first network device, the second network device prohibits serving terminal devices in a specific area according to the instruction of the first network device, thereby preventing the terminal device from measuring and accessing an inappropriate second network device, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time.

[0081] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a second network device. The second network device here can refer to the second network device itself or a processor, module, chip, or chip system that implements the method in the second network device, which is not limited in this application. The method includes:

[0082] The second network device receives fourth information from at least one terminal device, where the fourth information is used to indicate a mobility interruption time for the terminal device to switch to the second network device, and the at least one terminal device is in the same area; the second network device determines a strategy for sending a measurement reference signal to the area based on the mobility interruption time.

[0083] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the second network device determines a strategy for sending a measurement reference signal to the area based on the mobile interruption time, including: when the mobile interruption time reported by a terminal device is greater than a fourth threshold, the second network device stops sending a measurement reference signal to the area, or sends an eighth information to the area, where the eighth information is used to indicate that the terminal device is prohibited from access.

[0084] In combination with the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the second network device determines a strategy for sending a measurement reference signal to the area based on the mobile interruption time, including: when the number of terminal devices in the same area whose mobile terminal time is greater than the fourth threshold is greater than the sixth threshold, the second network device stops sending the measurement reference signal to the area or sends an eighth information to the area, where the eighth information is used to indicate that the terminal device is prohibited from access.

[0085] Based on the above scheme, after receiving the mobility interruption time of the terminal device in the same area, the second network device can determine the strategy of sending the measurement reference signal to the area according to the mobility interruption time of the terminal device in the area, thereby avoiding the terminal device measuring and accessing an inappropriate second network device, thereby shortening the mobility interruption time.

[0086] In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first network device. The first network device here can refer to the first network device itself or a processor, module, chip, or chip system that implements the method in the first network device, and this application does not limit this. The method includes:

[0087] The first network device obtains first information of at least one candidate network device, where the first information of the candidate network device includes information of a transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; the first network device sends a first request message to the core network device based on the first information, where the first request message is used to request the core network device to send uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device, where the at least one second network device belongs to the at least one candidate network device.

[0088] The first information of each candidate network device includes information about the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device.

[0089] In conjunction with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the information about the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device includes one or more of the following: a specific transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device, the number of hops included in the transmission path, a transmission path delay, a transmission path distance, and weight information corresponding to the transmission path. The weight information may correspond to a transmission cost, a transmission rate, a transmission priority, and the like of the path.

[0090] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a core network device. The core network device here can refer to the core network device itself or a processor, module, chip, or chip system that implements the method in the core network device, and this application does not limit this. The method includes:

[0091] The core network device receives a first request message from the first network device, where the first request message is used to request the core network device to send uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device; the core network device sends the uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device based on the first request message.

[0092] It should be understood that the first request information can be used to request the core network device to send the uplink data and / or downlink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device.

[0093] It should be understood that the first request message can be an early path switch request (Earlypathswitchrequest) message, and the core network device can be a user plane network element (UserPlaneFunction, UPF) or an access and mobility management function (Access and Mobility management Function, AMF), etc.

[0094] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first request message includes an identifier of the at least one second network device, a second time period, and first information, the second time period being the time period for the terminal device to switch, wherein the first information includes information about the transmission path of the first network device and the at least one second network device; and the core network device sends the uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device according to the first request message, including: the core network device determines the transmission path from the core network device to the at least one second network device according to the first request message; the core network device sends the uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device within the second time period according to the transmission path from the core network device to the at least one second network device.

[0095] It should be understood that the second time period is a conditional handover (CHO) time period of the terminal device.

[0096] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the first information includes information about the transmission path of the first network device and the second network device, including one or more of the following: a specific transmission path, the number of hops contained in the transmission path, the delay of the transmission path, and the weight information corresponding to the transmission path.

[0097] Based on the above solution, the first network device can request the core network device to send the user data of the terminal device to the candidate network device within the second time period before the terminal device switches to the candidate network device, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time.

[0098] In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit being used to obtain first information of at least one candidate network device, the first information of each candidate network device including information of a transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; the processing unit being used to perform at least one of the following according to the first information: sending second information to at least one second network device, the second information being used to instruct the at least one second network device to prohibit serving the terminal device, wherein the at least one second network device belongs to the at least one candidate network device and the first network device is the serving network device of the terminal device; or, sending third information to the terminal device, the third information being used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to the at least one second network device; or, sending a first request message to the core network device, the first request message being used to request the core network device to send the uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device.

[0099] It should be understood that the seventh aspect is an implementation method on the device side corresponding to the first aspect. The supplement, explanation and beneficial effects of the first aspect are also applicable to the seventh aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0100] In the eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit is used to receive third information from a first network device, the third information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to at least one second terminal device, the first network device is the current service network device of the terminal device; the processing unit is used to perform cell switching according to the third information.

[0101] It should be understood that the eighth aspect is an implementation method on the device side corresponding to the second aspect. The supplement, explanation and beneficial effects of the second aspect are also applicable to the eighth aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0102] In the ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit being used to obtain first information of a first network device, the first information including information of a transmission path between the second network device and the first network device; the transceiver unit is also used to receive second information from the first network device, the second information being used to instruct the second network device to prohibit serving a terminal device, the first network device being the serving network device of the terminal device; the processing unit is used to send measurement reference information based on the second information.

[0103] It should be understood that the ninth aspect is an implementation method on the device side corresponding to the third aspect. The supplement, explanation and beneficial effects of the third aspect are also applicable to the ninth aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0104] In the tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is used to receive fourth information from at least one terminal device, each of the fourth information is used to indicate the mobile interruption time of the terminal device switching to the second network device, and the at least one terminal device is in the same area; the processing unit is used to determine a strategy for sending a measurement reference signal to the area based on the mobile interruption time.

[0105] It should be understood that the tenth aspect is an implementation method on the device side corresponding to the fourth aspect. The supplement, explanation and beneficial effects of the fourth aspect are also applicable to the tenth aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0106] In the eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit is used to obtain first information of at least one candidate network device, the first information of each candidate network device including information of a transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; the processing unit is used to send a first request message to the core network device based on the first information, the first request message is used to request the core network device to send uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device, wherein the at least one second network device belongs to the at least one candidate network device.

[0107] It should be understood that the eleventh aspect is an implementation method on the device side corresponding to the fifth aspect. The supplement, explanation and beneficial effects of the fifth aspect are also applicable to the eleventh aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0108] In the twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit is used to receive a first request message from a first network device, wherein the first request message is used to request the core network device to send uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device; the processing unit is used to send the uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device according to the first request message.

[0109] It should be understood that the twelfth aspect is an implementation method on the device side corresponding to the sixth aspect. The supplement, explanation and beneficial effects of the sixth aspect are also applicable to the twelfth aspect and will not be repeated here.

[0110] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor configured to implement the method described in any one of the first to eleventh aspects, or any one of the implementations of the first to eleventh aspects. The processor is coupled to a memory configured to store instructions and data, and when the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the method described in any one of the first to eleventh aspects, or any one of the implementations of the first to eleventh aspects, can be implemented.

[0111] Optionally, the communication device may further include a memory. Optionally, the memory may be coupled to the processor. Optionally, the communication device may further include a communication interface, which is used for the device to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, hardware circuit, bus, module, pin, or other type of communication interface.

[0112] In one example, the communication device may be a network device, such as an access network device, or may be a device, module, or chip disposed in the network device, or may be a device that can be used in conjunction with the network device.

[0113] In another example, the communication device may be a terminal device, or may be a device, module, chip, etc. provided in the terminal device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the terminal device.

[0114] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, comprising at least one of a first network device, a second network device, a terminal device, and a core network device. The first network device is configured to execute the first network device described in the first aspect or the fifth aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect or the fifth aspect; the second network device is the second network device described in any implementation of the third to fourth aspects, or any implementation of the third to fourth aspects; the terminal device is the terminal device described in the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect; and the core network device is the core network device described in the sixth aspect or any implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0115] In the fifteenth aspect, the present application also provides a computer program, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method described in the above-mentioned first to eleventh aspects, or any implementation of the first to eleventh aspects.

[0116] In the sixteenth aspect, the present application also provides a computer program product, comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method described in any one of the implementations of the first to eleventh aspects above.

[0117] In the seventeenth aspect, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer executes the method described in any implementation of the above-mentioned first to eleventh aspects, or the first to eleventh aspects.

[0118] In the eighteenth aspect, the present application also provides a chip, which is used to read the computer program stored in the memory and execute the method described in the above-mentioned first to eleventh aspects, or any implementation of the first to eleventh aspects; or, the chip includes a method for executing the above-mentioned first to eleventh aspects, or any implementation of the first to eleventh aspects.

[0119] In a nineteenth aspect, the present application further provides a chip system, comprising a processor configured to support a device in implementing the method described in any of the above-mentioned aspects 1 to 11, or any of the implementations of aspects 1 to 11. In one possible design, the chip system further comprises a memory configured to store programs and data necessary for the device. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0120] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0121] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an application architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0122] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a satellite communication system;

[0123] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of satellite beam-wave position mapping at different times;

[0124] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a satellite communication system group handover / handover scenario;

[0125] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a switching process;

[0126] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0127] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a switching scenario proposed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0128] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a process 400 applicable to the communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0129] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a process 500 applicable to the communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0130] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a process 600 applicable to the communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0131] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a process 700 applicable to the communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0133] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1400 provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0134] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0135] The technical solution of the present application can be applied to satellite communication systems, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communications, drones and other non-terrestrial network (NTN) systems, for example, integrated communication and navigation (IcaN) systems, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and ultra-dense low-orbit satellite communication systems.

[0136] Satellite communication systems can be integrated with traditional mobile communication systems. For example, the mobile communication systems may include fourth-generation (4G) communication systems (e.g., long-term evolution (LTE) systems), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, fifth-generation (5G) communication systems (e.g., new radio (NR) systems), and future mobile communication systems.

[0137] The satellite communication system includes user equipment (UE) and network equipment. The user equipment may also be referred to as a user terminal, mobile station, etc. The network equipment may include one or more satellites and ground station equipment, and the ground station equipment may also be referred to as core network equipment. The satellite may be a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a non-geostationary earth orbit (NGEO) satellite, etc. The satellite may provide communication services, navigation services, and positioning services to the terminal equipment through multiple beams. The satellite uses multiple beams to cover the service area, and different beams can communicate through one or more of time division, frequency division, and space division. The satellite communicates wirelessly with the terminal equipment by broadcasting communication signals and navigation signals, etc., and the satellite can communicate wirelessly with the ground station equipment. The satellite mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a satellite base station, and may also include an orbital receiver or repeater for relaying information, or a network-side device carried on the satellite.

[0138] Refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the satellite provides communication services to the terminal device through multiple beams. The satellite in this scenario is a non-geostationary earth orbit (NGEO) satellite, and the satellite is connected to the core network equipment. The satellite uses multiple beams to cover the service area, and different beams can communicate through one or more of time division, frequency division and space division. The satellite provides communication and navigation services to the terminal device by broadcasting communication signals and navigation signals. The satellite mentioned in the embodiment of the present application may also be a satellite base station, or a network-side device carried on a satellite.

[0139] Satellite communication systems include transparent and non-transparent satellite architectures. Transparent transmission, also known as bent-pipe transmission, involves signals undergoing only frequency conversion and amplification on the satellite, rendering the satellite transparent to the signal, as if it were not there. Non-transparent transmission, also known as regenerative (on-board access / processing), involves the satellite performing some or all of the base station functions.

[0140] The terminal devices mentioned in the embodiments of the present application include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication functions, and may specifically refer to user equipment (UE), 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 may also be a satellite phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a wireless data card, a wireless modem, a machine type communication device, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device or a wearable device, 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 a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a terminal device in a 5G network or a future communication network, etc.

[0141] The ground station equipment is, for example, equipment in the core network (CN) of an existing mobile communication architecture (such as the 3GPP access architecture of a 5G network) or equipment in the core network of a future mobile communication architecture. As a bearer network, the core network provides an interface to the data network, and provides communication connection, authentication, management, policy control, and data service carrying for user equipment (UE). Among them, the CN may further include: Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Policy Control Function (PCF), User Plane Function (UPF), and other network elements. Among them, the AMF network element is used to manage the access and mobility of the UE, and is mainly responsible for UE authentication, UE mobility management, UE paging, and other functions.

[0142] The network device may also include, but is not limited to, an evolved node B (eNB), a baseband unit (BBU), an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP), or a transmission reception point (TRP). The network device may also be a gNB, TRP, or TP in a 5G system, or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system. In addition, the network device may also be a network node constituting a gNB or TP, such as a BBU, or a distributed unit (DU). Alternatively, the network device may be a device that performs network-side functions in a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT), an Internet of Vehicles (IoV) communication system, or other communication systems.

[0143] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an application architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application. A terrestrial mobile terminal (UE) accesses the network via the 5G new air interface. 5G access network equipment is deployed on a satellite and connected to the terrestrial core network via a wireless link. At the same time, a wireless link exists between satellites to complete signaling interaction and user data transmission between access network equipment. The various network elements in Figure 2 and their interfaces are described as follows:

[0144] Terminal device: A mobile device that supports the 5G new air interface, typically a mobile phone, tablet, or other mobile device. It can access the satellite network through the air interface and initiate calls, access the Internet, and other services.

[0145] 5G access network equipment: mainly provides wireless access services, dispatches wireless resources to access terminals, and provides reliable wireless transmission protocols and data encryption protocols, such as base stations.

[0146] 5G core network: This network provides services such as user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, and billing. It consists of multiple functional units, divided into control plane and data plane functional entities. The access and mobility management function (AMF) is responsible for user access management, security authentication, and mobility management. The user plane function (UPF) manages user plane data transmission, traffic statistics, and other functions.

[0147] Ground station: responsible for forwarding signaling and business data between satellite access network equipment and 5G core network.

[0148] 5G New Air Interface: The wireless link between the terminal and access network equipment.

[0149] Xn interface: The interface between 5G access network devices, mainly used for signaling interaction such as switching.

[0150] NG interface: The interface between 5G access network equipment and 5G core network, mainly used for interacting with core network NAS and other signaling, as well as user business data.

[0151] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a brief explanation of the terms involved in the present application is first given.

[0152] 1. Non-terrestrial networks (NTN)

[0153] These networks, which include nodes such as satellite networks, high-altitude platforms, and drones, offer significant advantages, including global coverage, long-distance transmission, flexible networking, easy deployment, and freedom from geographical constraints. They are already widely used in a variety of fields, including maritime communications, positioning and navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, and Earth observation. The integration of terrestrial 5G networks and satellite networks, leveraging their strengths and complementing their weaknesses, will form a seamless, integrated global communications network covering land, sea, air, space, and ground, meeting the diverse service needs of users everywhere.

[0154] As an important component of the NTN, the next-generation satellite network generally shows an ultra-dense and heterogeneous trend: First, the scale of the satellite network has grown from 66 satellites in the Iridium constellation to 720 satellites in the OneWeb constellation, and will eventually extend to the Starlink ultra-dense LEO satellite constellation of more than 12,000; second, the satellite network shows heterogeneous characteristics, developing from traditional single-layer communication networks to multi-layer communication networks. The functions of communication satellite networks are also becoming more complex and diversified, gradually becoming compatible with and supporting functions such as navigation enhancement, earth observation, and multi-dimensional information on-orbit processing.

[0155] 2. Staring beam communication system

[0156] Taking satellite communications as an example, based on the working mode of the payload (such as beam), it can usually be divided into staring (earth-fixed or quasi-earth fixed) and non-staring (earth-moving) satellite communication systems.

[0157] As shown in (a) of FIG3 , during a period of time, such as the time periods of T1 , T2 and T3 shown in the figure, the satellite beam coverage moves along with the satellite.

[0158] As shown in (b) of FIG3 , within a period of time, such as the time periods of T1 , T2 and T3 shown in the figure, the satellite dynamically adjusts the beam pointing so that the beam approximately covers the same area on the ground.

[0159] 3. Beam-to-wavelength mapping

[0160] In order to simplify the beam management and scheduling processes of the satellite network, it is generally necessary to pre-define the set of wave positions corresponding to the service area to complete the mapping between beams and wave positions. That is, at different times, the satellite beam will serve different wave positions.

[0161] As shown in Figure 4, the coverage area of ​​the SAT-1 satellite can be divided into multiple beam positions (e.g., a regular hexagon). The satellite uses a limited number of beams to serve different subsets of beam positions in a time-sharing manner. At time 1, the satellite uses two beams to serve beam positions x1, x2, and x3; at time 2, the satellite uses three beams to serve beam positions y1, y2, y3, and y4. It is worth noting that the coverage area of ​​the beams may vary at different tilt angles (antenna angles), so the mapping between beams and beam positions can be one-to-one or one-to-many.

[0162] 4. Mobility management issues

[0163] In the embodiment of the present application, it mainly refers to the reselection or handover of user equipment UE within a beam position. In a beam-hopping satellite communication system, the movement of satellite nodes may cause group handover (connected UE) or group reselection (idle UE) of users within a certain area beam position.

[0164] Taking group handover as an example, as shown in Figure 5, a UE cluster within a single beam in Zone-2, namely UE-G1 (UE-G1 contains multiple UEs). At time T1, UE-G1 is served by one or more beams of satellite SAT-2. At time T2, the movement of satellite SAT-2 causes this beam to be unavailable, and one or more beams of satellite SAT-1 take over UE-G1's service. Therefore, a group handover occurs for UE cluster UE-G1. In addition, due to the high satellite movement speed of approximately 7.5 km / s, the frequency of group handovers is approximately every few seconds to tens of seconds. In other words, in beam-hopping LEO satellite networks, group handovers driven primarily by network mobility have become the norm.

[0165] Mobility management mainly includes cell handover, cell reselection, registration update, and tracking area update. Taking cell handover as an example, as shown in Figure 6, the handover process of the terrestrial network mainly includes the following steps according to the stage division:

[0166] Switching preparation phase:

[0167] S201: The source base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message (RRCReconfiguration (MC)) related to measurement control to the UE.

[0168] Specifically, the source base station sends measurement configurations corresponding to multiple cells (including serving cells and neighboring cells) to the UE, and the UE measures the cell signal quality (such as reference signal received power (RSRP) and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ)) according to the measurement configuration.

[0169] S202, the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message (RRCReconfigurationComplete) to the source base station. That is, after receiving the measurement control sent by the source base station, the UE replies with the RRC reconfiguration complete message to the source base station.

[0170] S203, the UE sends a measurement report message (MeasurementReport) to the source base station.

[0171] Specifically, the UE performs signal measurement based on the received measurement control message and reports the measurement results to the network. The reporting method can be periodic reporting or event-triggered reporting. In event-triggered reporting, the reporting conditions can be configured as the service cell signal quality is less than the threshold value 1 and / or the neighboring cell signal quality is greater than the threshold value 2.

[0172] S204: The source base station makes a handover decision.

[0173] Specifically, the source base station selects a suitable neighboring cell according to the reporting result, and exchanges user handover-related context information, admission control, reserved resources and other information.

[0174] S205: The source base station sends a handover request message (HandoverRequest) to the target base station.

[0175] S206, destination base station admission control.

[0176] S207: The target base station sends a handover request acknowledgement message (HandoverRequestAcknowledge) to the source base station.

[0177] S208: The source base station sends a handover-related RRC reconfiguration message (RRCReconfiguration(HO)) to the UE.

[0178] Switch execution phase:

[0179] S209: The source base station sends a sequence number status transfer (SN STATUS TRANSFER) to the destination base station.

[0180] S210, the UE initiates a random access (Random Access), or MSG1 (Message 1), to the target base station.

[0181] During handover, the UE requires a dedicated random access preamble, which is different from the contention-based random access preamble used during initial access. Furthermore, the RACH time domain period during handover supports configurations of 10 / 20 / 40 / 80 / 160ms, the same as the RACH period configuration for initial access.

[0182] S211, the target base station sends a random access response (Random Access Response), or MSG2 (Message 2), to the UE.

[0183] S212, the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message (RRCReconfigurationComplete) to the target base station.

[0184] Switching completion stage:

[0185] S213, the destination base station sends a path switch request message (PATH SWITCH REQUEST) to the AMF.

[0186] S214, AMF sends a path switch request confirmation message (PATH SWITCH REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE) to the destination base station.

[0187] S215: The target base station sends a UE context release message (UE CONTEXT RELEASE) to the source base station.

[0188] S216: The target base station sends an RRC reconfiguration message (RRCReconfiguration (MC)) related to measurement control to the UE.

[0189] S217, the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete) to the target base station.

[0190] 4. Cell switching / reselection

[0191] For NR cells, there is an existing cell mobility management mechanism, for example, a cell reselection mechanism: the terminal device monitors the signal quality of the current resident cell and the neighboring cell in idle mode, and selects a cell with better signal quality and meeting the resident conditions to reside in. In the process of selecting a cell, the selected cell needs to meet certain conditions. For example, the terminal device monitors that the signal quality of the resident cell is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold can be indicated to the terminal device by the network device or pre-configured by the terminal device.

[0192] For another example, the mechanism of cell switching includes: cell switching triggered by signal quality (similar to the above-mentioned mechanism of cell reselection based on signal quality, which will not be described in detail) and cell switching triggered by location (a mechanism enhanced on the basis of cell switching triggered by signal quality, which can be applied to scenarios where the difference in signal quality between the center and the edge of the cell is not obvious). If the terminal device has established a connection with a certain cell, the cell can be called a serving cell or a source cell. Thereafter, if the location of the terminal device changes, the cell serving the terminal device no longer meets the conditions. For example, the distance between the terminal device and the source cell is greater than a predetermined threshold, and the distance between the terminal device and the target cell is less than a predetermined threshold. At this time, the terminal device can switch to the target cell and establish a connection with the target cell.

[0193] A cell can be understood as the area covered by a network device (such as a base station), or a part of the area covered by a network device (such as the area covered by a sector antenna). That is to say, one network device can correspond to one cell, and one network device can also correspond to multiple cells.

[0194] For cell reselection / handover, the network usually sends the measurement configuration and other parameters related to the adjacent cells to the UE in the form of broadcast. The UE compares its own measurement values ​​(such as RSRP and / or RSRQ and / or SINR) with the parameters sent by the network (such as reselection threshold, etc.), and autonomously reselects to the target neighboring cell if the conditions are met. It is worth noting that since the near-far effect is not obvious in NTN, the handover / reselection triggered solely by signal quality is inefficient. Therefore, NR / NTN considers location-assisted handover / reselection enhancement technologies, such as time / timer-based, UE location information (such as the distance between the UE and the reference point of the source cell is greater than threshold 1, and the distance between the UE and the reference point of the target cell is less than threshold 2) and timer / location + signal quality combination, etc., to achieve mobility management in the NTN network.

[0195] As can be seen above, existing NR / NTN handover / reselection is typically designed for UE-initiated handover / reselection, with a static source-target base station topology. In a static topology, the transmission path between the source and target base stations is relatively fixed, offering high transmission capacity and low latency.

[0196] However, in LEO scenarios, group handover / reselection, where network-side device (e.g., satellite) mobility is the primary trigger, is inefficient. Furthermore, the dynamic topology between source and destination satellites means transmission paths can be long, leading to long mobility interruptions and high signaling overhead during handover.

[0197] In view of this, in order to address the mobility management problem existing in the above-mentioned NTN network, an embodiment of the present application proposes a communication method that can shorten the mobile interruption time of the interrupting device.

[0198] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following points are explained:

[0199] First, in this application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their internal logical relationships.

[0200] Second, in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can mean: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c. Wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple, respectively.

[0201] Third, throughout this application, the terms "first," "second," and various numerical references (e.g., #1, #2, etc.) are used to distinguish between different messages for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. For example, they are used to distinguish between different messages, rather than to describe a specific order or precedence. It should be understood that the terms described in this manner are interchangeable, where appropriate, to enable description of scenarios beyond the embodiments of this application.

[0202] Fourth, in this application, the terms "comprise" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, products or apparatuses.

[0203] Fifth, in this application, "used to indicate" can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing that a certain indication information indicates A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and it does not mean that the indication information must carry A.

[0204] The indication methods involved in the embodiments of this application should be understood to encompass various methods that enable the party to be indicated to obtain information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately. The transmission period and / or timing of these sub-information can be the same or different. This application does not limit the specific transmission method.

[0205] In the embodiments of the present application, the "indication information" may be an explicit indication, i.e., a direct indication via signaling, or may be obtained based on parameters indicated by the signaling, in combination with other rules, other parameters, or by deduction. It may also be an implicit indication, i.e., based on a rule or relationship, or based on other parameters, or by deduction. This application does not impose specific limitations on this.

[0206] Sixth, in this application, "protocol" may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, such as the 5G protocol, the NR protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems, and this application does not limit this. "Predefined" may include pre-definition. For example, protocol definition. "Preconfiguration" can be implemented by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables, or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in the device, and this application does not limit its specific implementation method.

[0207] Seventh, in this application, "storage" may refer to storage in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be separate or integrated into an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories may also be partially separate and partially integrated into a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The memory may be any type of storage medium and is not limited in this application.

[0208] Eighth, in this application, if there is no logical conflict, "report", "feedback" and "send" can be interchanged.

[0209] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and can be applied to the communication system shown in FIG. 1 above.

[0210] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7 , the method 300 includes the following steps:

[0211] S310: A first network device obtains first information of at least one candidate network device.

[0212] The first information of each candidate network device includes information about the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device.

[0213] Specifically, the information on the transmission path of the first network device and the candidate network device includes one or more of the following: the specific transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device, the number of hops included in the transmission path, the transmission path delay, the transmission path distance, the weight information corresponding to the transmission path, etc., wherein the weight information can correspond to the transmission cost, transmission rate, transmission priority, etc. of the path.

[0214] It should be understood that the first information can also include time information related to the transmission paths of the first network device and the candidate network device.

[0215] The time information related to the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device includes one or more of the following: a timer, a valid time period, a time snapshot number, and the like.

[0216] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the first network device obtains at least one candidate network device.

[0217] In a possible implementation, network device #1 (an example of a first network device) sends a request message #1 to network device #2 (an example of a candidate network device), and correspondingly, network device #2 receives the request message #1.

[0218] Among them, the request message #1 can be used to request the first information of the network device #2, or the request message #1 can be used to request the network device #2 to confirm the first information of the network device #2, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0219] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a handover scenario proposed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, within the illustrated geographic area bw#17, the UE's source serving satellite is SAT-1 (hereinafter referred to as satellite 1), and the potential handover destination satellites are satellite 2, satellite 3, and satellite 4. The interaction information between the source-destination satellite pairs can be referred to in Table 1 below:

[0220] Table 1 Interaction information between source-destination satellite pairs

[0221] It should be noted that the ground station node can also serve as a transfer node between the switching source and destination satellite nodes.

[0222] It should be understood that the transmission path of the source-destination satellite node may also change in different time periods, and the first information of the candidate network device may also be updated accordingly.

[0223] As an example and not a limitation, during the time period [t1, t2], the transmission paths of satellite 1 and satellite 2 are satellite 1, x1, satellite 2 (x1 can be a satellite node, a ground station node, etc.). During the time period [t3, t4], the transmission paths of satellite 1 and satellite 2 are satellite 1, x2, x3, satellite 2 (x2 and x3 can be satellite nodes, a ground station node, etc.).

[0224] As an example but not limitation, time period information may also be expressed in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), such as [UTC_start, UTC_end] or [UTC_start, duration], where UTC_start, UTC_end, and duration are the start time, end time, and offset relative to the start time, respectively.

[0225] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the interactive interface between the first network device and the candidate network device.

[0226] In one example, the interaction interface between the first network device and the candidate network device reuses the NGAP interface from the base station to the core network.

[0227] In another example, the interaction interface between the first network device and the candidate network device reuses interfaces such as X2AP and XnAP between base stations.

[0228] It should be understood that the interaction interfaces between the first network device and the multiple candidate network devices can be different. For example, the interaction interface between network device #1 and candidate network device #A is an NGAP interface, and the interaction interface between network device #2 and candidate network device #B is an X2AP or XnAP interface.

[0229] S320: The first network device performs at least one of the following according to the first information:

[0230] sending second information to at least one second network device, where the second information is used to instruct the at least one second network device to prohibit serving the terminal device, wherein the at least one second network device belongs to the at least one candidate network device, and the terminal device is a terminal device currently served by the first network device; or

[0231] Sending third information to the terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to the at least one second network device; or

[0232] A first request message is sent to the core network device, where the first request message is used to request the core network device to send uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device.

[0233] Specifically, the specific process of the first network device performing the above-mentioned action according to the first information will be described below with reference to FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 .

[0234] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a process 400 applicable to the communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG9 , the process 400 includes the following steps:

[0235] S410 , network device # 1 obtains first information of network device # 2 .

[0236] It should be understood that network device #1 also obtains first information of at least one candidate network device (not shown in the figure), and network device #2 (an example of a second network device) is one of the one or more candidate network devices.

[0237] It should be understood that the specific manner in which network device #1 obtains the first information of network device #2, as well as the specific content of the first information, can be found in the relevant description of FIG. 7 and will not be repeated here.

[0238] The following describes two methods for network device #1 to shorten the mobility interruption time based on the first information from network device #2.

[0239] Method 1

[0240] Network device #1 determines the planning of the local / neighboring cell measurement reference signal related to the mobility management measurement based on the first information of network device #2. The above-mentioned first information can be used to determine the local / neighboring cell measurement reference information related to the mobility management measurement, such as the synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (synchronization signal and PBCH block, SSB), channel state information reference signal (channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS), tracking reference signal (Tracking Reference Signal, TRS) and other signals, which are not limited in this application.

[0241] In this implementation, network device #1 determines the planning of local / neighboring cell measurement reference signals related to mobility management measurements based on whether the first information from network device #2 satisfies a first condition. The first condition may be preset. Specifically, when the first information from network device #2 satisfies the first condition, network device #1 performs the following steps:

[0242] S420: Send a request message #2 to the network device #2. The request message #2 is used to request the network device #2 to prohibit serving the UE.

[0243] In a possible implementation, the request message #2 is used to request the network device #2 to stop sending the handover-related measurement reference signal to the first area within the first time period. The request message #2 includes an identifier of the first time period and an identifier of the first area.

[0244] In another possible implementation, the request message #2 is used to request network device #2 to send a related message prohibiting access (such as reusing an existing cell disabled / restricted (CellBarred) indication message) to the first area within a first time period, wherein the request message #2 includes an identifier of the first time period and an identifier of the first area.

[0245] It should be understood that in the above implementation, the first area is the area served by network device #1, and the terminal device is within the first area.

[0246] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the first condition for determining whether the first information of network device #2 satisfies the first condition is related to the parameters included in the first information.

[0247] By way of example and not limitation, when the information about the transmission path of network device #2 includes the distance between the transmission paths of network device #1 and network device #2, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0248] The transmission path distance between network device #1 and network device #2 is greater than or equal to threshold #1, which is (pre-)configured.

[0249] The transmission path distance between network device #1 and network device #2 is in the first M positions among the transmission path distances between network device #1 and multiple candidate destination satellites, where M is a positive integer and can be preset.

[0250] The transmission path distance between network device #1 and network device #2 is greater than or equal to threshold #1 and less than threshold #2, and threshold #1 and threshold #2 are (pre)configured.

[0251] By way of example and not limitation, when the information about the transmission path of network device #2 includes the number of hops in the transmission path between network device #1 and network device #2, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0252] The number of hops in the transmission paths of network device #1 and network device #2 is greater than or equal to a threshold #3, which is (pre-)configured.

[0253] The transmission path hop counts of network device #1 and network device #2 are in the first N digits of the transmission path hop counts between network device #1 and multiple candidate destination satellites, where N is a positive integer and may be preset.

[0254] The transmission path distance between network device #1 and network device #2 is greater than threshold #3 and less than threshold #4, and threshold #3 and threshold #4 are (pre)configured.

[0255] By way of example and not limitation, when the information about the transmission path of network device #2 includes the delay of the transmission path between network device #1 and network device #2, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0256] The transmission path delay between network device #1 and network device #2 is greater than or equal to threshold #5, which is (pre-)configured.

[0257] The transmission path delays between network device #1 and network device #2 are in the top K positions among the transmission path delays between network device #1 and multiple candidate destination satellites, where K is a positive integer and can be preset.

[0258] The transmission path distance between network device #1 and network device #2 is greater than threshold #5 and less than threshold #6, and threshold #5 and threshold #6 are (pre)configured.

[0259] By way of example and not limitation, when the information about the transmission path of network device #2 includes the weights (e.g., transmission costs) of the transmission paths of network device #1 and network device #2, the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0260] The transmission path weights of network device #1 and network device #2 are greater than or equal to threshold #7, which is (pre-)configured.

[0261] The transmission path delays between network device #1 and network device #2 are in the first L positions of the weights of the transmission paths between network device #1 and multiple candidate destination satellites, where L is a positive integer and can be preset.

[0262] The transmission path distance between network device #1 and network device #2 is greater than threshold #7 and less than threshold #8, and threshold #7 and threshold #8 are (pre)configured.

[0263] It should be understood that when the first information of network device #2 includes the above-mentioned multiple parameters, the first condition can be based on any one or more of the parameters included in the first information, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0264] As an example and not a limitation, in Figure 8, after satellite 1 obtains the first information of satellite 4 and determines that the transmission path distance from satellite 1 to satellite 4 meets the above-mentioned first condition, satellite 1 sends a scheduling request message to satellite 4, which is used to request satellite 4 to stop sending switching-related measurement signals to area bw#17 within the first time period.

[0265] Based on the above scheme, network device #1 can request network devices with transmission paths above the threshold to stop sending switching-related measurement signals to its own service area, thereby avoiding terminal-side measurement and selection of inappropriate target satellites (for example, the transmission path distance is too long), thereby shortening the mobile interruption time.

[0266] In another possible implementation, network device #1 can further adjust mobility management-related configuration information sent to the UE based on the first information of network device #2, such as adjusting SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) information, or measurement configuration information based on reference signals such as CSI-RS and TRS. The following takes adjusting SMTC configuration information as an example for explanation, that is, when the first information of network device #2 meets the above-mentioned first condition, network device #1 performs the following steps:

[0267] S430, network device #1 sends first indication information (an example of third information) to the UE, and correspondingly, the UE receives the first indication information.

[0268] In this implementation, the first indication information is used to instruct the UE to perform signal measurement according to a first period, where the first period does not overlap with a second period, and the second period is a period for sending a measurement reference signal of the network device #2.

[0269] As an example and not a limitation, in Figure 7, after satellite 1 obtains the first information of satellite 4 and determines that the transmission path distance from satellite 1 to satellite 4 meets the above-mentioned first condition, satellite 1 sends third information to the UE in area bw#17. The third information is used to instruct the UE to perform signal measurement according to cycle #1, and cycle #1 does not overlap with cycle #2. Cycle #2 is the transmission period of the measurement reference signal of satellite 4.

[0270] It should be understood that the period #1 and period #2 can be understood as the time windows configured by the SMTC information, that is, the time window for the UE to measure the reference signal does not include the measurement reference signal of satellite 4.

[0271] Furthermore, the UE performs signal measurement and cell switching according to the first indication information.

[0272] Based on the above solution, network device #1 can adjust the UE's mobility management-related configuration information to prevent the UE from measuring and switching to an inappropriate target satellite (for example, the transmission path distance is too long), thereby shortening the mobility interruption time.

[0273] Method 2

[0274] After receiving the first information from network device #2, network device #1 performs the following steps:

[0275] S440 , network device # 1 sends a request message # 3 (an example of a first request message) to the core network device. Correspondingly, the core network device receives the request message # 3.

[0276] The request message #3 is used to request the core network device to send uplink and / or downlink data of the terminal device to the network device #2. Exemplarily, the request message #3 can be an early path switch request (EarlyPathSwitchRequest) message, and the core network device can be a user plane function (UPF) or an access and mobility management function (AMF).

[0277] Specifically, the request message #3 includes the identifiers of one or more network devices, the second time period, and the first information of network device #2. The one or more network devices include network device #2. The following description uses the example where the request message #3 includes only the identifier of network device #2.

[0278] It should be noted that the second time period is included in the Conditional Handover (CHO) time period of the UE. More specifically, the second time period is before the moment when the UE accesses network device #2 (for example, before step S212 shown in FIG6 ).

[0279] It should be understood that the uplink / downlink data of the UE is the uplink and / or downlink data sent by the UE to the network device #1 before the second time period.

[0280] It should be understood that the above step S410 is performed before the handover preparation phase or during the handover preparation phase, and step S440 is performed during the aforementioned handover execution phase.

[0281] S450: The core network device determines a transmission path from the core network device to the network device #2 according to the request message #3.

[0282] Specifically, the core network device first needs to determine the transmission path from the core network device to the network device #2 according to the identifier of the network device #2 in the request message #3 and the first information of the network device #2.

[0283] It should be understood that the transmission path between the core network and network device #2 may or may not pass through network device #1, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0284] S460: The core network device sends the uplink / downlink data of the UE to the network device #2. Correspondingly, the network device #2 receives the uplink and / or downlink data of the UE.

[0285] Specifically, the core network device sends the uplink and / or downlink data of the UE to the network device #2 in the second time period through the transmission path from the core network device to the network device #2.

[0286] It should be noted that in Method 2, this embodiment of the present application does not limit whether network device #1 determines the relationship between network device #2's first information and the first condition after obtaining the first information of network device #2. In other words, network device #1 can send request message #3 only if the first information of network device #2 satisfies the first condition. Alternatively, network device #1 can send the first information of all obtained candidate network devices to the core network device without determining the first condition.

[0287] Based on the above solution, before the UE it serves switches to the target cell, network device #1 sends the acquired transmission path-related information of the target cell to the core network device, and requests the core network device to send the UE's uplink and / or downlink data to the target cell before the UE switches to the target cell, instead of sending the UE's uplink and / or downlink data to the destination cell through network device #1 after the switching is completed, thereby shortening the mobile interruption time.

[0288] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a process 500 applicable to the communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG10 , the process 500 includes the following steps:

[0289] S510, network device #1 sends second indication information (another example of third information) to the UE, where the second indication information is used to instruct the UE to perform signal measurement based on the priority of the candidate network devices. Correspondingly, the UE receives the second indication information.

[0290] The second indication information includes the priority of at least one network device pair, wherein each network device pair includes a candidate network device. It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the priority of each network device pair has the same meaning as the priority of each candidate network device and can be replaced with each other.

[0291] It should be understood that the at least one network device pair is a source-destination satellite pair, that is, each network device pair includes a network device #1 and a candidate network device.

[0292] It should be understood that before sending the second indication information, network device #1 obtains the first information of at least one candidate network device, thereby determining the priority of each candidate network device. The specific process of network device #1 obtaining the first information of at least one candidate network device can refer to the relevant description of method 300 and will not be repeated here.

[0293] It should be noted that, in this implementation, the first information of the candidate network device, in addition to the aforementioned content, also includes at least one of the following: the orbit height of the candidate network device, the type of the candidate network device, and the orbit type of the candidate network device.

[0294] In the embodiment of the present application, the basis for network device #1 to determine the priority of each network device pair includes one or more of the track type, the transmission path length, and the link type.

[0295] For example, at the same frequency, orbits that are both ascending and descending have a higher priority, while ascending and descending orbits have a lower priority. An ascending satellite is one that moves from south to north, such as when the z-axis velocity component Vz is greater than 0 in the Earth-centered Earth-fixed (ECEF) coordinate system. A descending satellite is one that moves from north to south, such as when the z-axis velocity component Vz is less than 0 in the Earth-centered Earth-fixed (ECEF) coordinate system.

[0296] For example, a short transmission path corresponds to a high priority, and a long transmission path corresponds to a low priority. The method for determining the transmission path distance may refer to method 300 and will not be described in detail here.

[0297] Exemplarily, the same-orbit inter-satellite link corresponds to a high priority, the satellite-to-ground link corresponds to a high priority, and the different-orbit inter-satellite link corresponds to a low priority.

[0298] In conjunction with FIG8 , Table 2 shows a priority configuration method for a network device pair.

[0299] Table 2 Priority configuration method for a network device pair

[0300] The network device pair including satellite 1 and satellite 2 has a priority of 3, the network device pair including satellite 1 and satellite 3 has a priority of 5, and the network device pair including satellite 1 and satellite 4 has a priority of 1. It is easy to understand that in Table 2, the larger the priority value, the higher the priority of the network device pair.

[0301] It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the correspondence between priority values ​​and high and low priorities.

[0302] S520: The UE performs signal measurement and cell switching according to the second indication information.

[0303] Specifically, the UE preferentially measures a candidate network device with a high priority, and if the handover decision is passed, the UE switches to the candidate network device.

[0304] If the candidate network device with the highest priority fails the handover decision, the UE measures the candidate device in the network device pair with the second highest priority, and so on.

[0305] In other words, in step S520, the UE measures the candidate network devices in descending order of priority of at least one network device pair, and only when the candidate network device with a high priority fails the switching decision, the UE measures the adjacent candidate network device with a low priority.

[0306] It should be noted that the above process 500 can be used alone or in combination with the process 400, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0307] Based on the above solution, network device #1 indicates the priority of at least one network device pair to the UE, so that the UE can measure the candidate network devices in descending order of priority, thereby avoiding the UE measuring and accessing inappropriate candidate network devices (for example, the UE switches between satellites in ascending and descending orbits).

[0308] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a process 600 applicable to the communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG11 , the process 600 includes the following steps:

[0309] S610: Network device #1 sends fourth information to the UE, where the fourth information is used to configure a reporting method and reporting resources for the first mobility interruption time.

[0310] It should be understood that the first mobility interruption time is the mobility interruption time during the process of the UE being handed over from the network device #1 to another network device (eg, the network device #2).

[0311] Correspondingly, the UE receives the fourth information from the network device #1.

[0312] The fourth information includes a first reporting method and a second resource, and the second resource is used to report the mobile interruption time.

[0313] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific reporting method of the mobile interruption time.

[0314] In a possible implementation manner, the first reporting manner is that when the mobility interruption time meets the second condition, the UE reports the mobility interruption time.

[0315] Exemplarily, the second condition is that the UE successfully performs a network handover (e.g., the UE successfully switches from network device #1 to network device #2), and the mobility interruption time is greater than threshold #8 (an example of the fourth threshold). In other words, the UE reports the mobility interruption time only when the UE successfully performs a network handover and the mobility interruption time is greater than the given threshold.

[0316] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific value of threshold #8. In one example, threshold #8 is 100ms. In another example, threshold #8 is 1s. Threshold #8 can be preset.

[0317] In a possible implementation, the first reporting manner is that the UE periodically reports the mobility interruption time according to a first reporting period, wherein the reporting period of the UE can be configured according to a handover frequency of the UE between network devices.

[0318] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific length of the period for the UE to report the mobility interruption time. In one example, the first reporting period is 5 seconds. In another example, the first reporting period is 200 seconds.

[0319] It should be understood that the fourth information indicates one or more of the following of the second resources: time resources, frequency resources, polarization resources, beam resources, etc.

[0320] S620: The UE is successfully handed over from network device #1 to network device #2.

[0321] S630: The UE reports the first mobility interruption time to the network device #2.

[0322] Specifically, the UE reports the mobility interruption time to the network device #2 on the second resource according to the first reporting mode indicated by the fifth information.

[0323] As an example but not a limitation, after the UE switches to network device #2, it is determined that the second condition is met, and the UE reports the mobility interruption time.

[0324] As an example but not a limitation, after the UE is switched to the network device #2, the mobility interruption time is reported to the network device #2 according to the first reporting cycle.

[0325] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific method of reporting the mobility interruption time by the UE.

[0326] In one example, the UE can report a specific value of the mobility interruption time.

[0327] In another example, the UE can report the level corresponding to the mobile interruption time. Specifically, the UE can indicate the level of the mobile interruption time using one bit. That is, the UE determines the level corresponding to the mobile interruption time based on whether the specific value of the mobile interruption time is greater than a third threshold, and reports the level corresponding to the mobile interruption time using 0 or 1. The third threshold may be preset.

[0328] S640: Network device #2 determines, based on the first mobility interruption time, a strategy for sending a measurement-related reference signal to the area where the UE is located.

[0329] By way of example and not limitation, when the mobility interruption time reported by the UE is less than threshold #8, network device #2 sends a handover-related measurement reference signal to the area where the UE is located. Alternatively, when the mobility interruption time reported by the UE is greater than threshold #8, network device #2 sends access-barred information to the area where the UE is located.

[0330] By way of example and not limitation, in Figure 8 , when the probability that the UE's mobility interruption duration within area bw#17 exceeds threshold #8 is less than threshold #9 (an example of the sixth threshold), network device #2 transmits a handover-related measurement reference signal to area bw#17. Alternatively, when the probability that the UE's mobility interruption duration within area bw#17 exceeds threshold #8 is greater than threshold #9, network device #2 transmits access prohibition information to area bw#17.

[0331] S650: Network device #2 sends seventh information to the UE, where the seventh information is used to configure a reporting method and reporting resources for the second mobility interruption time.

[0332] It should be understood that the second mobility interruption time is the mobility interruption time during the process of the UE being handed over from the network device #2 to other network devices.

[0333] It should be understood that network device #2 can execute step S640 or S650 first, or network device #2 can execute steps S640 and S650 simultaneously, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0334] It should be noted that the above-mentioned process 600 can be used alone or in combination with at least one of the processes 400 and 500, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0335] Based on the above scheme, network device #2 receives the mobility interruption time from at least one terminal device in the same area. When the mobility interruption time of the terminal device in the area is too long, it stops sending switching-related measurement information to the area where the UE is located or sends an access prohibition indication information to the area where the UE is located.

[0336] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a process 700 applicable to the communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG12 , the process 700 includes the following steps:

[0337] S710, network device #1 sends fifth information to the UE, where the fifth information is used to indicate a third time period, and the UE performs discontinuous reception DRX and / or discontinuous transmission DTX during the third time period.

[0338] Correspondingly, the UE receives the fifth information from the network device #1.

[0339] It should be understood that the third time period is the entire or partial time period during the cell handover / reselection process of the UE.

[0340] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which network device #1 indicates the third time period.

[0341] In one possible implementation, the fifth information includes one or more time period information. As an example and not a limitation, the second indication information includes MIT-DRX[t1, t2], MIT-DTX[t3, t4], and MIT-DRX / MIT-DTX[t5, t6]. MIT-DRX[t1, t2] is used to instruct the UE to stop receiving signals during the time period [t1, t2]; MIT-DTX[t3, t4] is used to instruct the UE to stop transmitting signals during the time period [t3, t4]; and MIT-DRX / MIT-DTX[t5, t6] is used to instruct the UE to stop both receiving and transmitting signals during the time period [t5, t6].

[0342] In another possible implementation, the fifth information includes a first moment and a first duration, wherein the first duration can be the duration of discontinuous reception DRX and / or discontinuous transmission DTX.

[0343] As an example and not a limitation, the first moment is the moment when the UE returns the switching response completion moment to network device #2 (for example, the moment when the RRC reconfiguration is sent). The first duration is 1s, that is, the UE stops sending signals within 1s after sending the switching response moment.

[0344] As an example and not a limitation, the first moment is the moment when network device #2 returns a RACH response to the UE (for example, the moment when MSG2 is returned), and the first duration is 800ms, that is, the UE stops receiving signals within 800ms after receiving the network MSG2.

[0345] S720: The UE performs DRX and / or DTX according to the fifth information.

[0346] Specifically, the UE enters a sleep mode according to the third time period, and the UE does not monitor the PDCCH and does not send and / or receive data.

[0347] It should be noted that the above-mentioned process 700 can be used alone or in combination with at least one of the processes 400, 500, and 600, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0348] Based on the above solution, the UE can stop receiving and / or sending data during the third time period configured by the network device #1, thereby reducing energy consumption during the mobility interruption time.

[0349] The method embodiment of the present application is described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The device embodiment of the present application is described below. It can be understood that the description of the method embodiment and the description of the device embodiment can correspond to each other. Therefore, for parts not described, reference can be made to the previous method embodiment.

[0350] It can be understood that in the above-mentioned method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by the terminal device can also be implemented by components that can be used for the terminal device (such as chips or circuits), and the methods and operations implemented by the network device can also be implemented by components that can be used for the network device (such as chips or circuits).

[0351] The above mainly introduces the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the interaction between various network elements. It can be understood that each network element, such as a transmitting end device or a receiving end device, includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function in order to implement the above functions. Those skilled in the art should be aware 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 a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner 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.

[0352] In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules of the transmitting device or the receiving device can be divided according to the above method example. 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. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The following is an example of dividing each functional module according to each function.

[0353] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0354] The device 1300 includes a transceiver unit 1310 and a processing unit 1320 , wherein the transceiver unit 1310 can be used to implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 1320 can be used to perform data processing.

[0355] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1310 may also be referred to as a communication interface or communication unit, and may include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit. The transceiver unit 1310 may be a transceiver (including a transmitter and / or a receiver), an input / output interface (including an input and / or output interface), a pin, or a circuit. The transceiver unit 1310 may be configured to perform the transmitting and / or receiving steps in the above-described method embodiments.

[0356] Optionally, the processing unit 1320 may be a processor (may include one or more), a processing circuit with processor functions, etc., and may be used to execute other steps except sending and receiving in the above method embodiment.

[0357] Optionally, the apparatus 1300 further includes a storage unit, which may be a memory, an internal storage unit (e.g., a register, a cache, etc.), an external storage unit (e.g., a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.), etc. The storage unit is used to store instructions, and the processing unit 1320 executes the instructions stored in the storage unit to cause the communication apparatus to perform the above method.

[0358] In one design, the apparatus 1300 may correspond to the network device (eg, the first network device or the second network device) in the above method embodiments, or a component of the network device (eg, a chip).

[0359] The device 1300 can implement the steps or processes executed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver unit 1310 can be used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 1320 can be used to perform the processing-related operations of the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0360] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1310 is used to obtain first information of at least one candidate network device, and the first information of each candidate network device includes information about the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; the processing unit 1320 is used to perform at least one of the following based on the first information: sending second information to at least one second network device, and the second information is used to instruct the at least one second network device to prohibit serving the terminal device, wherein the at least one second network device belongs to the at least one candidate network device, and the first network device is the serving network device of the terminal device; or, sending third information to the terminal device, and the third information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to the at least one second network device; or, sending a first request message to the core network device, and the first request message is used to request the core network device to send the uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device.

[0361] In another possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1310 is used to obtain first information of the first network device, where the first information includes information about the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device; the transceiver unit 1310 is also used to receive second information from the first network device, where the second information is used to indicate that the second network device prohibits serving the terminal device, and the first network device is the serving network device of the terminal device; the processing unit 1320 is used to send measurement reference information based on the second information.

[0362] When the device 1300 is used to execute the method in FIG. 7 to FIG. 12 , the transceiver unit 1310 may be used to execute the steps of sending and receiving information in the method; and the processing unit 1320 may be used to execute the processing steps in the method.

[0363] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0364] In another design, the apparatus 1300 may correspond to the terminal device in the above method embodiment, or be a component (such as a chip) of the terminal device.

[0365] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1310 is used to receive third information from a first network device, where the third information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to at least one second terminal device, and the first network device is the current service network device of the terminal device; the processing unit 1320 is used to perform cell switching based on the third information.

[0366] When the device 1300 is used to execute the method in FIG. 7 to FIG. 12 , the transceiver unit 1310 may be used to execute the steps of sending and receiving information in the method; and the processing unit 1320 may be used to execute the processing steps in the method.

[0367] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0368] It should also be understood that the device 1300 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combined logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art will understand that the device 1300 can be specifically a network device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the network device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. To avoid repetition, they will not be described here.

[0369] The apparatus 1300 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the devices (such as terminal devices and network devices) in the above-mentioned methods. This function can be implemented by hardware, or the corresponding software implementation can be executed by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the sending and receiving operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

[0370] In addition, the transceiver unit 1310 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

[0371] It should be noted that the apparatus in FIG13 may be a network element or device in the aforementioned embodiment, or may be a chip or chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. This is not limited here.

[0372] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1400 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1400 shown in Figure 14 includes a processor 1410, a memory 1420, and a transceiver 1430. The processor 1410 is coupled to the memory 1420 and is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 1420 to control the transceiver 1430 to transmit and / or receive signals.

[0373] It should be understood that the processor 1410 and memory 1420 described above can be combined into a single processing device, with the processor 1410 configured to execute program code stored in the memory 1420 to implement the aforementioned functions. In a specific implementation, the memory 1420 can also be integrated into the processor 1410 or independent of the processor 1410. It should be understood that the processor 1410 can also correspond to the various processing units in the aforementioned communication device, and the transceiver 1430 can correspond to the various receiving units and transmitting units in the aforementioned communication device.

[0374] It should also be understood that the transceiver 1430 may include a receiver (or receiver) and a transmitter (or transmitter). The transceiver may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more. The transceiver may also be a communication interface or interface circuit.

[0375] Specifically, the communication device 1400 may correspond to the device (terminal device or network device) in Figures 7 to 12 according to the embodiments of the present application. The communication device 1400 may include units of the method performed by the terminal device in Figures 7 to 12, or units of the method performed by the first network device, or units of the method performed by the second network device. It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the above-mentioned corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0376] When the communication device 1400 is a chip, the chip includes an interface unit and a processing unit, wherein the interface unit may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; and the processing unit may be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip.

[0377] During implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0378] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0379] The present application also provides a computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0380] The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0381] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may 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 may 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 may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available 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 high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0382] 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.

[0383] 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.

[0384] 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.

[0385] 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.

[0386] 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.

[0387] 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 a 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.

[0388] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

[0389] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on a computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components can communicate, for example, via local and / or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component on a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems via signals).

[0390] 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.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first network device acquires first information of at least one candidate network device, where the first information of each candidate network device includes information of a transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; The first network device performs at least one of the following according to the first information: Sending second information to at least one second network device, wherein the second information is used to instruct the at least one second network device to prohibit serving the terminal device, wherein the at least one second network device belongs to the at least one candidate network device, and the first network device is a serving network device for the terminal device; or Sending third information to a terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to the at least one second network device; or A first request message is sent to a core network device, where the first request message is used to request the core network device to send uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The sending of second information to at least one second network device according to the first information, or the sending of third information to a terminal device, further includes: According to the first information and based on a first condition, the at least one second network device is determined.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first information of the candidate network device includes a distance between the first network device and a transmission path of the candidate network device; and the first condition includes: The distance between the transmission paths of the second network device and the first network device is greater than a first threshold; and / or The transmission path distance between the second network device and the first network device is in the first M positions of the transmission path distance between the first network device and the at least one candidate network device, where M is a positive integer.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first information of the candidate network device includes the number of hops of the transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; and the first condition includes: The number of hops of the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is greater than a second threshold; and / or The number of hops of the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is in the first N digits of the transmission path distance between the first network device and the at least one candidate network device, where N is a positive integer.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first information of the candidate network device includes a delay of a transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; and the first condition includes: The delay of the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is greater than a third threshold; and / or The time delay of the transmission path between the second network device and the first network device is in the first K positions of the transmission path distance between the first network device and the at least one candidate network device, where K is a positive integer.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The second information includes an identifier of a first time period and an identifier of a first area, and the second information is used to instruct the second network device to stop sending a measurement reference signal to the first area in the first time period, wherein the first area is the area where the terminal device is located.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The third information includes an identifier of the first period, and the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the first period, the first period does not overlap with the second period, and the second period is a period for sending a measurement reference signal of the second network device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The information of the transmission paths of the first network device and the candidate network device includes one or more of the following: The orbit height of the candidate network device, the type of the candidate network device, and the orbit type of the candidate network device.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The third information includes a priority of the at least one candidate network device, and the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the priority of the at least one candidate network device, wherein the priority of each candidate network device is determined based on at least one of the following: The track types of the first network device and the candidate network device, the distances between the first network device and the candidate network device, and the link types between the first network device and the candidate network device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device sends fourth information to the terminal device, wherein the fourth information is used to instruct the terminal device to Report the mobile outage time regularly; or The fourth information is used to indicate that when the mobile interruption time is greater than a fourth threshold, the terminal device reports the mobile interruption time.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The first request message includes an identifier of the second network device, a second time period, and the first information, where the second time period is a time period for the terminal device to switch.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first network device sends fifth information to the terminal device, where the fifth information is used to indicate one or more third time periods, where the third time periods are time periods that allow the terminal device to receive and / or send data.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The first information of one of the candidate network devices also includes time information corresponding to the transmission path information of the first network device and the candidate network device.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The terminal device receives third information from the first network device, where the third information is used to indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to at least one second terminal device, and the first network device is a current serving network device of the terminal device; The terminal device performs cell switching according to the third information.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The third information includes an identifier of the first period, and the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the first period, the first period does not overlap with the second period, and the second period is a period for sending a measurement reference signal of the second network device.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The third information includes the priority of the at least one candidate network device, and the third information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform signal measurement according to the priority of the at least one candidate network device.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that The method further comprises: The terminal device receives fourth information from the first network device, where the fourth information is used to instruct the terminal device to report the mobile interruption time according to the second period; or The fourth information is used to indicate that when the mobile interruption time is greater than a fourth threshold, the terminal device reports the mobile interruption time; The terminal device reports the mobile interruption time according to the fourth information.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: The terminal device receives fifth information from the first network device, where the fifth information is used to indicate one or more third time periods, where the third time periods are time periods that allow the terminal device to receive and / or send data.

19. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The second network device acquires first information of the first network device, where the first information includes information of a transmission path between the second network device and the first network device; The second network device receives second information from the first network device, where the second information is used to instruct the second network device to prohibit serving the terminal device, and the first network device is a serving network device for the terminal device; The second network device sends measurement reference information according to the second information.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The second information includes an identifier of a first time period and an identifier of a first area, and the second information is used to instruct the second network device to stop sending a measurement reference signal to the first area in the first time period, wherein the first area is the area where the terminal device is located.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The second network device sending the measurement reference information according to the second information includes: The second network device stops sending the measurement reference signal to the first area in the first time period according to the second information.

22. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The second information includes an identifier of a first time period and an identifier of a first area, and the second information is used to instruct the second network device to send an eighth information to the first area within the first time period, and the eighth information is used to indicate that the terminal device is prohibited from access, wherein the first area is the area where the terminal device is located.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The second network device sending the measurement reference information according to the second information includes: The second network device sends the eighth information to the first area within the first time period according to the second information.

24. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The second network device receives fourth information from at least one terminal device, the fourth information being used to indicate a mobile interruption time when the one terminal device switches to the second network device, and the at least one terminal device is in the same area; the second network device receives fourth information from at least one terminal device, the fourth information being used to indicate a mobile interruption time when the one terminal device switches to the second network device, and the at least one terminal device is in the same area; The mobile interruption time determines a strategy for sending a measurement reference signal to the area.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that The second network device determines, according to the mobility interruption time, a strategy for sending a measurement reference signal to the area, including: When the mobile interruption time reported by a terminal device is greater than a fourth threshold, the second network device stops sending a measurement reference signal to the area, or sends eighth information to the area, where the eighth information is used to indicate that the terminal device is prohibited from access.

26. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that The second network device determines, according to the mobility interruption time, a strategy for sending a measurement reference signal to the area, including: When the number of terminal devices in the same area whose mobile terminal time is greater than the fourth threshold is greater than the sixth threshold, the second network device stops sending a measurement reference signal to the area or sends an eighth information to the area, wherein the eighth information is used to indicate that the terminal device is prohibited from access.

27. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first network device acquires first information of at least one candidate network device, where the first information of the candidate network device includes information of a transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device; The first network device sends a first request message to the core network device based on the first information, and the first request message is used to request the core network device to send the uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device, wherein the at least one second network device belongs to the at least one candidate network device.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that The information of the transmission paths of the first network device and the candidate network device includes one or more of the following: The specific transmission path between the first network device and the candidate network device, the number of hops included in the transmission path, the transmission path delay, the transmission path distance or the weight information corresponding to the transmission path, wherein the weight information includes at least one of the transmission cost, transmission rate or transmission priority of the transmission path.

29. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The core network device receives a first request message from the first network device, where the first request message is used to request the core network device to send uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device; The core network device sends the uplink data of the terminal device to the second network device based on the first request message.

30. The method according to claim 29, characterized in that The first request message includes an identifier of the second network device, a second time period, and first information, the second time period being a time period for the terminal device to switch, wherein the first information includes information about transmission paths between the first network device and the second network device; and The core network device sending the uplink data of the terminal device to the at least one second network device according to the first request message, comprising: The core network device determines, according to the first request message, a transmission path from the core network device to the second network device; The core network device sends the uplink data of the terminal device to the second network device within the second time period according to the transmission path from the core network device to the second network device.

31. The method according to claim 30, characterized in that The first information includes information about the transmission path between the first network device and the second network device, including one or more of the following: The specific transmission path, the number of hops included in the transmission path, the delay of the transmission path, and the weight information corresponding to the transmission path.

32. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises a unit or module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-13, 14-18, 19-23, 24-26, 27-28, 29-31.

33. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the processor being used to call computer program instructions stored in the memory to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13, or the method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 18, or the method as claimed in any one of claims 19 to 23, or the method as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 26, or the method as claimed in any one of claims 27 to 28, or the method as claimed in any one of claims 29 to 31.

34. A chip, characterized in that: It includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive data and / or information and transmit the received data and / or information to the processor, and the processor processes the data and / or information to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1-13, or the method as described in any one of claims 14-18, or the method as described in any one of claims 19-23, or the method as described in any one of claims 24-26, or the method as described in any one of claims 27-28, or the method as described in any one of claims 29-31.

35. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 18, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 19 to 23, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 26, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 27 to 28, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 29 to 31.

36. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 13, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 14 to 18, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 19 to 23, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 24 to 26, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 27 to 28, or cause the computer to execute the method as described in any one of claims 29 to 31.

37. A communication system, characterized in that: It includes at least one of a first network device, a terminal device, a second network device and a core network device, characterized in that the first network device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1-13 or any one of claims 27-28, the terminal device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 14-18, the first network device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 19-23 or any one of claims 24-26, and the core network device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 29-31.

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