Cell handover method, and equipment and system

Abstract

A cell handover method, and an equipment and a system. The method, which is applied to a first base station, comprises: if it is determined that a user equipment (UE) needs to be switched from a first cell to a second cell, determining whether the UE is able to use a first radio resource configuration in the second cell, wherein the first radio resource configuration is allocated by the first cell to the UE; and if the UE is able to use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell, sending a first handover command to the UE, wherein the first handover command is used for instructing the UE to use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell. By means of the method, network overheads can be reduced.

Description

Cell switching method, device and system

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on October 31, 2023, with application number 202311439072.1 and application name “Cell Switching Method, Device and System”, 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 in particular to a cell switching method, device, and system. Background Art

[0003] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), represented by non-terrestrial devices such as satellites, drones, and high-altitude platforms, offer advantages such as wide coverage, long communication distances, high reliability, flexibility, and high throughput. Because this communication method is unaffected by geographical conditions, climate conditions, and natural disasters, it has been widely used in aviation, maritime, and military communications. Introducing NTN equipment, such as satellites, into fifth-generation mobile networks (5G) and future 5G networks can provide communication services to areas difficult to reach by terrestrial networks, such as oceans and forests. This can enhance the reliability of 5G communications, providing more stable and high-quality communication services to users on trains, airplanes, and other modes of transportation. It can also provide more data transmission resources and support a greater number of connections.

[0004] However, due to the mobility of satellites or user equipment (UE), UE often switches cells, so switching commands need to be frequently transmitted in the communication network, resulting in a large network overhead.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a cell switching method, device, and system, which can reduce network overhead.

[0007] In the first aspect, the present application provides a cell switching method, which is applied in a first base station, including: if it is determined that a user equipment UE needs to be switched from a first cell to a second cell, then judging whether the UE can use a first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, wherein the first wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell; if the UE can use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, then sending a first switching command to the UE, and the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0008] The cell switching method provided in the present application can be applied in a scenario where both a first cell and a second cell are service cells of a first base station, wherein the first cell is a source cell and the second cell is a target cell. When a UE switches from a source cell to a target cell, the first base station can determine whether the wireless resource configuration currently available for the UE in the second cell is the same as the first wireless resource configuration already allocated to the UE by the source cell. If the same, the UE is instructed to continue using the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell. Since the UE continues to use the first wireless resource configuration, there is no need to reconfigure the resource, thereby reducing the transmission overhead of reconfiguring the wireless resource between the first base station and the UE's network, that is, reducing the network overhead.

[0009] In one possible implementation, if a first base station determines that a UE needs to be handed over from a source cell to a target cell, and determines whether the UE can continue to use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell, that is, determines whether the UE can inherit the first radio resource configuration in the target cell, and if so, sends a first handover command to the UE. When the UE receives the first handover command, since the first handover command does not carry a new radio resource configuration, the UE can determine that it can continue to use the first radio resource configuration after handing over to the target cell, and updates the current serving cell to the second cell according to the first handover command. The first handover command can carry a first identifier, which is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell. Optionally, the identifier indicating the second cell can be a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the second cell. Since the direct transmission distance between the UE and the NTN equipment is long, the transmission overhead is greater than that of terrestrial communication transmission. Therefore, reducing the transmission overhead when handing over cells can significantly reduce network overhead.

[0010] Optionally, the first base station determines whether the radio resource of the target cell is occupied based on the radio resource in the first radio resource configuration. If the radio resource is not occupied, that is, idle, the same radio resource can be allocated to the UE, and the UE can continue to use the first radio resource configuration in the target cell. If the radio resource is occupied, it is determined that the UE cannot use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell, and the second cell reallocates radio resources to the UE and generates a second radio resource configuration. The first base station sends a second handover command to the UE, where the second handover command carries the second radio resource configuration.

[0011] In a possible implementation manner, the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the first base station and the UE may determine the type of the handover command by pre-agreement or according to protocol provisions. If the handover command including the second radio resource configuration is determined to be the second handover command, if the UE receives the second handover command, the UE reconfigures the second radio resource configuration according to the second radio resource configuration indicated in the second handover command.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the third cell is the serving cell of the second base station, and the second cell is the serving cell of the first base station. The UE needs to be handed over from the third cell of the second base station to the second cell. In this scenario, the third cell is the source cell, and the second cell is the target cell. The UE's handover from the source cell to the target cell requires interaction between the second base station and the first base station. The cell switching method also includes: receiving a switching request, where the switching request is sent by the second base station when the UE needs to switch from the third cell to the second cell, and the switching request is used to request the UE to use a third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell; if the UE can use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, sending a first switching request confirmation to the second base station, where the first switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends the first switching command to the UE, and the first switching command is also used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell; if the UE cannot use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, sending a second switching request confirmation to the second base station, where the second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends a second switching command to the UE.

[0014] The cell switching method provided in the present application can be applied to the scenario where the target cell is the second cell of the first base station and the source cell is the third cell of the second base station. The second base station allocates a third wireless resource configuration to the UE. When the UE needs to switch from the third cell to the second cell, the second base station makes a request to the first base station to continue using the third wireless resource configuration. The first base station determines whether the third wireless resource configuration can continue to be used in the second cell, that is, whether the wireless resources that the second cell can currently provide to the UE are the same as the wireless resources in the third wireless resource configuration allocated to the UE by the third cell. If they are the same, the UE can continue to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and there is no need to reconfigure the resources, thereby reducing the overhead caused by reconfiguring the wireless resources between the first base station and the UE network.

[0015] In a scenario where the target cell is the second cell of the first base station and the source cell is the third cell of the second base station, the first base station, the second base station, and the UE may determine the type of the handover command by pre-agreement or in accordance with protocol provisions. If a handover command including the second radio resource configuration is determined to be a second handover command, if the UE receives the second handover command, the UE reconfigures the radio resource configuration according to the second radio resource configuration indicated in the second handover command. If the handover command carries only the first identifier, it is a first handover command. If the UE receives the first handover command, the UE inherits the third radio resource configuration, that is, continues to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: determining, based on a pre-stored resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the first radio resource configuration or the second radio resource configuration in the second cell. In a scenario where both the first cell and the second cell are serving cells of the first base station, the first base station may pre-store the resource allocation rule, and both the first cell and the second cell allocate radio resources to the UE based on the pre-stored resource allocation rule.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a negotiation request sent by the second base station, the negotiation request being used to indicate a resource allocation rule; and determining, based on the resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the third radio resource configuration or the second radio resource configuration in the second cell. In a scenario where the target cell is the second cell of the first base station and the source cell is the third cell of the second base station, the first base station and the second base station negotiate to determine the resource allocation rule, and based on the resource allocation rule, the second cell and the third cell allocate radio resources to the UE.

[0018] Since the cell switching method provided in the present application needs to determine whether the wireless resources allocated to the UE by the second cell, that is, the target cell, can continue to use the wireless resource configuration allocated to the UE by the source cell, such as the first wireless resource configuration allocated by the first cell, or the third wireless resource configuration allocated by the third cell, in order to increase the possibility of the UE inheriting the wireless resource configuration, in the present application, each cell can allocate wireless resources to the UE through resource allocation rules and obtain wireless resource configuration, thereby achieving the effect of reducing network overhead.

[0019] In the second aspect, the present application provides a cell switching method, which is applied in a UE and includes: receiving a first switching command, wherein the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use a first wireless resource configuration in a second cell, and the first wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell; according to the first switching command, switching from the first cell to the second cell, and using the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0020] This method can be applied in a scenario where both the first cell and the second cell are service cells of a first base station, wherein the first cell is a source cell and the second cell is a target cell.

[0021] In one possible implementation, it also includes: switching from the third cell to the second cell according to the first switching command, and using the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the first switching command is also used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell.

[0022] This method can be applied in a scenario where the third cell is a service cell of a second base station and the second cell is a service cell of a first base station, wherein the third cell is a source cell and the second cell is a target cell.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0024] In the third aspect, the present application provides a cell switching method, which is applied in a second base station, including: if it is determined that a user equipment UE needs to be switched from a third cell to a second cell, a switching request is sent to a first base station, and the switching request is used to request the UE to use a third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell; if a first switching request confirmation is received, a first switching command is sent to the UE, and the first switching request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0025] This method can be applied in a scenario where the third cell is a service cell of a second base station and the second cell is a service cell of a first base station, wherein the third cell is a source cell and the second cell is a target cell.

[0026] In one possible implementation, it also includes: if a second handover request confirmation is received, sending a second handover command to the UE, the second handover request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station that the UE uses a second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, the second handover command carries the second wireless resource configuration, and the second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a negotiation request to the first base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; and determining, based on the resource allocation rule, that the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration in the third cell.

[0029] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a cell switching method, which is applied in a first base station and includes: receiving a switching request, wherein the switching request is sent by the second base station when the UE needs to switch from the third cell to the second cell, and the switching request is used to request the UE to use a third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell; if the UE can use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, a first switching request confirmation is sent to the second base station, and the first switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends the first switching command to the UE, and the first switching command is also used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0030] In one possible implementation, it also includes: if the UE cannot use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, sending a second switching request confirmation to the second base station, and the second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends a second switching command to the UE, and the second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0032] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a negotiation request sent by the second base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; and determining, based on the resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration or the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0033] In the fifth aspect, the present application provides a first base station, including: a processing module, used to determine whether the UE can use a first wireless resource configuration in the second cell if it is determined that the UE needs to be switched from the first cell to the second cell, wherein the first wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell; a sending module, used to send a first switching command to the UE if the processing module determines that the UE can use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the sending module is also used to send a second switching command to the UE if the processing module determines that the UE cannot use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the second switching command carries a second wireless resource configuration, wherein the second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

[0035] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: a receiving module, configured to receive a handover request, where the handover request is sent by the second base station when the UE needs to be handed over from the third cell to the second cell, and the handover request is used to request the UE to use a third radio resource configuration in the second cell, where the third radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell; the sending module, further configured to, if the processing module determines that the UE can use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, send a first handover request confirmation to the second base station, where the first handover request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends the first handover command to the UE, where the first handover command is also used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell; and the sending module, further configured to, if the processing module determines that the UE cannot use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, send a second handover request confirmation to the second base station, where the second handover request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the second radio resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends a second handover command to the UE.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the processing module is specifically configured to determine, based on a pre-stored resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the first radio resource configuration or the second radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the receiving module is further used to receive a negotiation request sent by the second base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; the processing module is further used to determine whether the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration or the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell based on the resource allocation rule.

[0039] In the sixth aspect, the present application provides a UE, including: a receiving module for receiving a first switching command, wherein the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use a first wireless resource configuration in a second cell, and the first wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell; a processing module for switching from the first cell to the second cell according to the first switching command, and using the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the first handover command is further used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the processing module is further used to switch from the third cell to the second cell according to the first handover command, and use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, where the third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0042] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a second base station, comprising: a sending module, configured to send a handover request to a first base station if a processing module determines that a user equipment UE needs to be handed over from a third cell to a second cell, wherein the handover request is used to request the UE to use a third radio resource configuration in the second cell, where the third radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell;

[0043] The sending module is also used to send a first switching command to the UE if the receiving module receives a first switching request confirmation, the first switching request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the sending module is also used to send a second switching command to the UE if the receiving module receives a second switching request confirmation, and the second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the second switching command carries the second wireless resource configuration, which is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the sending module is further used to send a negotiation request to the first base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; the processing module is further used to determine, based on the resource allocation rule, that the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration in the third cell.

[0047] In the eighth aspect, the present application provides a first base station, including: a receiving module, receiving a handover request, the handover request is sent by the second base station when the UE needs to switch from the third cell to the second cell, and the handover request is used to request the UE to use a third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell; the sending module is also used to send a first handover request confirmation to the second base station if the processing module determines that the UE can use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the first handover request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends the first handover command to the UE, and the first handover command is also used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the sending module is also used to send a second switching request confirmation to the second base station if the processing module determines that the UE cannot use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends a second switching command to the UE. The second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

[0049] In a possible implementation manner, the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0050] In one possible implementation, the receiving module is further used to receive a negotiation request sent by the second base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; the processing module is further used to determine whether the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration or the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell based on the resource allocation rule.

[0051] In the ninth aspect, the present application provides a system comprising: a UE and a first base station, wherein the first base station is used to implement part or all of the operations of any possible implementation method of the first aspect; and the UE is used to implement part or all of the operations of any possible implementation method of the second aspect.

[0052] In one possible implementation, the system further includes a second base station, which is used to implement part or all of the operations of any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0053] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a system, including: a UE, a first base station and a second base station, wherein the first base station is used to implement part or all of the operations of any possible implementation method of the first aspect, or the first base station is used to implement part or all of the operations of any possible implementation method of the fourth aspect; the UE is used to implement part or all of the operations of any possible implementation method of the second aspect, and the second base station is used to implement part or all of the operations of any possible implementation method of the third aspect.

[0054] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one processor and a communication interface, wherein the interface circuit is used to exchange computer instructions or data with the processor; when the at least one processor executes a program or instruction, the communication device implements part or all of the operations of the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect; or, the communication device implements part or all of the operations of the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect; or, the communication device implements part or all of the operations of the third aspect and any possible implementation of the third aspect; or, the communication device implements part or all of the operations of the fourth aspect and any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0055] In the twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements part or all of the operations included in the method described in any of the aforementioned aspects and any possible implementation method of any of the aforementioned aspects.

[0056] In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on a processor, implement part or all of the operations included in the method described in any of the preceding aspects and any possible implementation of any of the preceding aspects.

[0057] In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising: a port circuit and a processor. The port circuit is connected to the processor, and the processor is configured to cause the chip to perform some or all of the operations included in the method described in any of the preceding aspects and any possible implementation of any of the preceding aspects.

[0058] It should be understood that the second to fourteenth aspects of the present application are consistent with or correspond to the technical solutions of the first aspect of the present application, and the beneficial effects achieved by each aspect and the corresponding feasible implementation methods are similar, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0059] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0060] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a terrestrial communication network structure provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of a first deployment solution for identifying cells in a satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of a second deployment solution for identifying cells in a satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of another cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of another cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a transparent architecture of a satellite communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a regeneration architecture of a satellite communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of another regeneration architecture of a satellite communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of another regeneration architecture of a satellite communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG11 is a schematic flow chart of another cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which different physical areas correspond to resource groups according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a first base station provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of another first base station provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a second base station provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG17 is a schematic structural diagram of a device 60 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG18 is a schematic structural diagram of a device 70 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG19 is a schematic structural diagram of a system 600 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG20 is a schematic structural diagram of a system 700 provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0080] In order to enable people in this technical field to better understand the solutions in this application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below in combination with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments.

[0081] The term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship between 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.

[0082] In the description and claims of the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order of objects. For example, the terms "first target object" and "second target object" are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order of objects.

[0083] In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be interpreted as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0084] In the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more. For example, "multiple processing units" means two or more processing units; "multiple systems" means two or more systems.

[0085] For ease of understanding, the following first explains the relevant nouns or terms used in the embodiments of this application:

[0086] 1. NTN equipment

[0087] NTN is a general term for networks involving non-terrestrial flying objects (devices). Non-terrestrial networks typically include satellite communication networks, high-altitude platform systems (HAPS), and air-to-ground networks. The NTN devices applicable to the embodiments of this application have the characteristics of these NTNs. NTN devices include satellites, airships, drones, and the like.

[0088] 2.UE

[0089] Also known as terminal equipment, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc., it refers to a device that provides at least one of voice and data connectivity to users. For example, UE includes: mobile phones, laptops, PDAs, tablets, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, wireless terminals in smart cities (Smart City), wireless terminals in smart homes (Smart Home), wireless terminals in industrial control (Industrial Control), wireless terminals in self-driving (Self Driving), wireless terminals in remote medical surgery (Remote Medical Surgery), wireless terminals in smart grids (Smart Grid), wireless terminals in transportation safety (Transportation Safety), etc.

[0090] 3. Base Station

[0091] Also known as access network equipment, it refers to the Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes (or devices) that connect UEs to wireless networks. RAN nodes include: evolved Node B (gNB), Transmission Reception Point (TRP), evolved Node B (eNB), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Access Point (AP), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Home Base Station, or Base Band Unit (BBU). For example, in a possible network structure, the base station may include a centralized unit (CU) node, a distributed unit (DU) node, or a RAN device including a CU node and a DU node, wherein the RAN device including the CU node and the DU node splits the protocol layer of the gNB in ​​the NR system, places the functions of some protocol layers under central control of the CU, and distributes the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layers in the DU, and the DU is centrally controlled by the CU.

[0092] 4. Core network equipment

[0093] Refers to the equipment in the Core Network (CN) that provides service support for UE. Core network equipment includes Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) entity, Session Management Function (SMF) entity, User Plane Function (UPF) entity, etc.

[0094] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure of terrestrial communication provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the network 100 includes a base station 10 and a UE 20. For terrestrial communication, a base station can include multiple cells. The identifier of each cell is relatively stable and does not change within a certain period of time, such as within a month. The cell identifier includes a cell identifier and a broadcast area identifier. The cell identifier includes a PCI and a global cell identifier (Cell Global Identifier, CGI); the broadcast area identifier includes a tracking area code (Tracking Area Code, TAC) and a tracking area identity (Tracking Area Identity, TAI). Referring to Figure 1, the base station 10 includes a first cell and a second cell. The embodiment of the present application takes the example that the UE needs to update the PCI of the cell after cell switching, and the PCIs of the first cell and the second cell are different as an example, but is not limited to this.

[0095] For NTN, taking satellite communications as an example, since satellites move at high speeds, the physical area covered by the satellites varies. The higher the satellite's orbit, the larger its coverage area, but also the longer the communication delay. Generally speaking, satellite orbits can be divided into low Earth Orbiting (LEO), medium Earth Orbiting (MEO), and geosynchronous Earth Orbiting (GEO), depending on their altitude. LEO's orbital altitude is 160km to 2000km; MEO's orbital altitude is 2000km to 35,786km; and GEO's orbital altitude is 35,786km. The relative position of satellites operating in these orbits to the Earth is not affected by the Earth's rotation. There are two deployment options for the cell identifiers and broadcast area identifiers in the satellite:

[0096] The first deployment scheme, shown in Figure 2, binds each cell's identifier to a physical area. Assuming that the first and second cells in Figure 1 are located in physical area 2 in Figure 2, their physical areas on Earth remain unchanged. Their corresponding cell identifiers and broadcast area identifiers remain unchanged, or remain unchanged for a period of time. Furthermore, the frequencies associated with the first and second cells remain unchanged. As shown in Figure 2, after a satellite (referred to as the old satellite, using satellite 2 in Figure 2 as an example) moves away, another satellite (referred to as the new satellite, using satellite 1 in Figure 2 as an example) provides communication services for the first and second cells. For example, the satellite movement trajectories in Figure 2 show that after satellite 2 moves, its coverage area changes from physical area 2 to physical area 3. After satellite 1 moves, its coverage area changes from physical area 1 to physical area 2. Since the first and second cells remain in physical area 2, the physical areas remain unchanged. For the new satellite in physical area 2, satellite 1, the cell identifier of the first cell is the same as the cell identifier of the first cell on satellite 2, and the area identifier broadcast by the first cell on satellite 1 is the same as the area identifier broadcast by the first cell on satellite 2. The same applies to the second cell. In this deployment method, the cell identifier and physical area are bound together. Assuming the UE's location remains unchanged, the cell perceived by the UE also remains unchanged. In this deployment, the high-speed movement of the satellite does not change the cell perceived by the UE. Within the physical area of ​​coverage identified by the satellite, each cell still corresponds to the cell identifier of its current physical area. There is no need to trigger a cell handover for the UE due to satellite changes, thus reducing the number of cell handovers in the network and lowering signaling overhead. Cells in this deployment scheme are called quasi-earth fixed cells.

[0097] The second deployment scheme is shown in Figure 3. Each cell's identifier is bound to a satellite. Referring to the example in Figure 3, satellite 1 covers physical area 1, satellite 2 covers physical area 2, and satellite 3 covers physical area 3. The identifier of the first cell in physical area 1 covered by satellite 1 is bound to satellite 1, the identifier of the second cell in physical area 2 covered by satellite 2 is bound to satellite 2, and the identifier of the third cell in physical area 3 covered by satellite 3 is bound to satellite 3. It can be understood that these cell identifiers are scanned across the physical coverage area as the satellites move. Assuming that satellite 1 moves from covering physical area 1 to covering physical area 2, the position of the first cell shown in Figure 3 corresponds to the position of the second cell currently shown in Figure 3 as satellite 1 moves. That is, even if a UE currently located at the second cell's location in Figure 3 remains stationary, the movement of satellite 2 causes the UE's accessed cell to switch from the second cell to the first cell.

[0098] In these two deployment schemes, whether in the first deployment scheme, the UE frequently switches cells due to the movement of the UE (rapid movement), or in the second deployment scheme, the UE frequently switches cells due to the rapid movement of the satellite. Frequent cell switching and reconfiguration of wireless resources will cause the problem of large network overhead for switching, increasing the burden on the network. Especially for NTN communications, the transmission distance of signals such as switching signaling and wireless resource configuration is longer, which will cause greater network overhead than terrestrial network communications and a heavier network burden. In order to solve this problem, the embodiment of the present application provides a method for cell switching, which can reduce the network overhead caused by switching cells. The embodiment of the present application takes the NTN device as a satellite as an example for explanation. Other NTN devices such as airships can be implemented with reference to the embodiment of the present application and will not be described one by one.

[0099] Figure 4 is a flow chart of a cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, the method is applied in the first base station. Referring to Figure 1, the service cell of the first base station 10 includes a first cell and a second cell. The first cell where the UE is currently located is the source cell, and the second cell to be switched to is the target cell for illustration. The method includes: S101 and S102.

[0100] S101. If the first base station determines that the UE needs to be handed over from the first cell to the second cell, the first base station determines whether the UE can use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell, where the first radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell.

[0101] The first cell and the second cell are both service cells of the first base station. A cell being a service cell of a certain base station means that the cell is a cell managed or served by the base station.

[0102] Exemplarily, a UE is in a first cell, and the first cell, i.e., the source cell, allocates a first radio resource configuration to the UE. The first base station determines whether to allow the UE to continue to use the first radio resource configuration in a second cell, i.e., the target cell. The determination may be made based on whether the radio resources corresponding to the first radio resource configuration in the current radio resources of the target cell are idle radio resources. For example, the radio resource corresponding to the first radio resource configuration is a resource, denoted as radio resource A. If the radio resources that the target cell can currently allocate to the UE, i.e., the idle radio resources in the target cell include radio resource A, then it is determined that the same radio resource A as that in the source cell can be allocated to the UE, and the UE can continue to use the first radio resource configuration in the target cell. It should be noted that the target cell continuing to use the first radio resource configuration can also be understood as the target cell allocating the radio resources corresponding to the first radio resource configuration to the UE. Exemplarily, the radio resource configuration includes configurations of a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI), a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource, and a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource.

[0103] S102. If the first base station determines that the UE can use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell, the first base station sends a first handover command to the UE, where the first handover command is used to instruct the UE to use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0104] Exemplarily, if the radio resources in the first radio resource configuration are not occupied by other devices, that is, the radio resources in the first radio resource configuration are idle, then the UE is allowed to continue using the first radio resource configuration, and the target cell does not need to reallocate radio resources for the UE, nor does it need to reconfigure the radio resources. When the UE receives the first handover command, it can determine that the first base station agrees that it can continue to use the first radio resource configuration in the target cell after switching to the target cell, or inherit the first radio resource configuration, based on the fact that the first handover command does not carry a new radio resource configuration. The UE only needs to update the current serving cell to the second cell, such as replacing the PCI of the current serving cell with the PCI of the second cell, thereby reducing the transmission overhead of reconfiguring the radio resources and reducing network overhead.

[0105] Optionally, the first handover command may be an L1 or L2 handover command, for example, the first handover command is a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer control element or a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0106] FIG5 is a flow chart of another cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , based on FIG4 , the method further includes S103 , which is executed after S101 .

[0107] S103. If the first base station determines that the UE cannot use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell, it sends a second handover command to the UE, where the second handover command carries the second radio resource configuration, where the second radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

[0108] Exemplarily, the radio resource in the first radio resource configuration is a radio resource group, referred to as radio resource A. If radio resource A is fully or partially occupied by other devices in a second cell, i.e., a target cell, the UE is not permitted to continue using the first radio resource configuration in the target cell. The target cell reallocates radio resources to the UE, and the UE accordingly obtains a second radio resource configuration. The first base station generates a second handover command, the second handover command carrying the second radio resource configuration. After receiving the second handover command, the UE reconfigures itself according to the second radio resource configuration.

[0109] Optionally, the first base station and the UE may pre-agree or determine the type of the handover command according to protocol provisions. For example, if the handover command carries the second wireless resource configuration, it indicates that the handover command is a second handover command, indicating that the first base station has determined that the UE cannot continue to use the first wireless resource configuration in the target cell; if the handover command does not carry the second wireless resource configuration, it indicates that the handover command is a first handover command, indicating that the first base station has determined that the UE can continue to use the first wireless resource configuration in the target base station. In this way, by indicating whether the wireless resource configuration needs to be reconfigured, there is no need to separately indicate whether the wireless resource configuration needs to be reconfigured, which can save transmission overhead.

[0110] Optionally, before receiving the switching command (including the first switching command or the second switching command), the UE can also obtain random configuration information for the UE to switch to the second cell, i.e., the target cell, from the first cell, i.e., the source cell, and the UE can access the target cell through the random configuration information.

[0111] Optionally, the second handover command may be an L3 handover command, for example, the second handover command is a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

[0112] Based on the methods of Figures 4 and 5, the first base station may also carry the identifier of the target cell in the first switching command or the second switching command to instruct the UE to switch from the first cell to the target cell (i.e., the second cell). Optionally, the first switching command does not need to carry other information. For example, in a scenario where the first cell and the second cell are both service cells of the first base station, the first base station sends a first switching command to the UE, and the UE switches to the second cell according to the identifier of the second cell in the first switching command. To continue using the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, the UE only needs to update the current service cell to the second cell, such as replacing the PCI of the current service cell with the PCI of the second cell. Alternatively, the first base station sends a second switching command to the UE, and the UE switches to the second cell according to the identifier of the second cell in the second switching command, and reconfigures the wireless resources according to the second wireless resource configuration carried by the second switching command.

[0113] In one possible implementation, the source cell and the target cell belong to the same base station, such as the first base station shown in the above example. In another possible implementation, the source cell and the target cell belong to different base stations respectively. In the embodiment of the present application, the third cell is the service cell of the second base station, and the second cell is the service cell of the first base station. The UE needs to switch from the third cell of the second base station to the second cell. The third cell is the source cell, and the second cell is the target cell. This is explained as an example. Figure 6 is a flow chart of another cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, the method is applied in the first base station, the second base station and the UE. The method includes: S201 to S212.

[0114] S201. The second base station sends a handover request to the first base station.

[0115] The cell currently accessed by the UE is the third cell of the second base station. The UE uses the third radio resource configuration allocated to the UE by the third cell in the third cell. If the UE needs to be handed over from the third cell to the second cell, the third cell is considered the source cell, and the second cell is considered the target cell. The second base station may send a handover request to the first base station, requesting the UE to continue using the third radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0116] Optionally, the handover request may carry indication information, where the indication information is used to request that the UE be handed over to the second cell and that the third radio resource configuration needs to continue to be used, or to request to inherit the third radio resource configuration of the third cell.

[0117] S202. The first base station receives a handover request, and determines, based on the third radio resource configuration requested in the handover request, whether the second cell can allocate the same radio resource configuration as the third radio resource configuration to the UE.

[0118] If yes, execute step S203; if no, execute step S207.

[0119] S203: If the first base station determines that the third radio resource configuration can be used in the second cell, it sends a first handover request confirmation to the second base station, where the first handover request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0120] For example, the first handover request confirmation carries indication information, instructing the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0121] Optionally, if the second cell can allocate wireless resources to the UE that are the same as the wireless resources in the third wireless resource configuration, that is, it is determined that the UE can use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, the first switching request confirmation can instruct the UE to adopt the current third wireless resource configuration unchanged, or instruct the UE to inherit the third wireless resource configuration.

[0122] S204: The second base station receives confirmation of the first handover request.

[0123] S205. The second base station sends a first handover command to the UE according to the received first confirmation request.

[0124] Optionally, the second base station may send an L1 or L2 handover command to the UE as the first handover command, and the first handover command indicates an identifier of the second cell, such as the PCI of the second cell. Because the UE can continue to use the third radio resource configuration, the first handover command does not carry the radio resource configuration (because it is the same as the third radio resource configuration and can be inherited), and there is no need to reconfigure the radio resource, thereby reducing network overhead.

[0125] In the actual usage scenario, the first handover command is a command that carries a first identifier and indicates the identifier of the second cell for the source base station and the UE. In an embodiment of the present application, when the source cell and the target cell are the service base stations of the same base station, the inherited wireless resource configuration is the first wireless resource configuration, and the first handover command instructs the UE to inherit the first wireless resource configuration. When the source cell and the target cell are the service base stations of different base stations, the inherited wireless resource configuration is the third wireless resource configuration, and the first handover command instructs the UE to inherit the third wireless resource configuration. This is a distinction, but it does not mean that the first handover command is a different command in different scenarios. For the source base station and the UE, the first handover command is used to instruct the UE to inherit the current wireless resource configuration, and the second handover command is used to instruct the UE to reconfigure the wireless resources according to the wireless resources reallocated by the target cell.

[0126] S206. The UE receives the first handover command, and according to the first handover command, continues to use the third radio resource configuration and updates the cell identifier.

[0127] The third radio resource configuration provided in the embodiments of the present application does not include a cell identifier, such as a PCI, where the PCI is indicated by the first identifier carried in the first handover command; or, the third radio resource configuration includes a cell identifier, but after the UE receives the first handover command, it continues to use the third radio resource configuration according to the first handover command and modifies the PCI in the third radio resource configuration to the PCI of the second cell. With this cell handover method, the UE does not need to be reconfigured and only needs to update the PCI of the third cell to the PCI of the second cell, thereby reducing the overhead caused by the transmission of configuration signaling in the network.

[0128] S207: The first base station determines that the UE cannot use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, and the second cell reallocates radio resources to the UE to obtain the second radio resource configuration.

[0129] Optionally, if the radio resource in the third radio resource configuration is called radio resource B, when the second cell allocates radio resources to the UE, if radio resource B of the second cell is partially or completely occupied, the first base station determines that the UE cannot use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, and the second cell reallocates radio resources to the UE based on currently idle radio resources to obtain a second radio resource configuration. For example, the second radio resource configuration generated by the second cell may be an RRC reconfiguration message, etc.

[0130] S208. The first base station sends a second handover request confirmation to the second base station, where the second handover request confirmation instructs the UE to use the second radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0131] For example, the second handover request confirmation carries indication information, instructing the UE not to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0132] The second handover request confirmation carries the second radio resource configuration.

[0133] S209: The second base station receives the second handover request confirmation, and generates a second handover command according to the second confirmation request.

[0134] The second handover command is used to instruct the UE to use the second radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0135] S210. The second base station sends a second handover command to the UE.

[0136] Exemplarily, the second handover command carries the second radio resource configuration and an identifier of the second cell, which may be a PCI.

[0137] S211. The UE receives a second handover command, switches to a second cell according to the second handover command, uses a second radio resource configuration in the second cell, and re-updates the radio resource configuration.

[0138] In the scenario provided by this example, the current cell is the third cell.

[0139] S212 is executed after S206 and S211.

[0140] S212. The UE accesses the second cell.

[0141] Optionally, before receiving the switching command (including the first switching command or the second switching command), the UE can obtain random configuration information for the UE to switch to the second cell from the third cell of the second base station, and the UE can access the second cell according to the random configuration information and the switching command.

[0142] Optionally, the UE may also access the second cell according to the handover command in a random access-free manner.

[0143] Exemplarily, the handover command may be a first handover command or a second handover command, and the handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, such as the PCI of the second cell.

[0144] In the cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application, if the first base station determines that the UE can continue to use the third wireless resource configuration allocated to the UE by the third cell in the target cell, i.e., the second cell, the UE only needs to update the PCI of the source cell to the PCI of the target cell according to the PCI of the target cell indicated by the switching command, and can continue to communicate without the need to reconfigure the wireless resources when switching the cell, that is, it can reduce the overhead caused by reconfiguring the wireless resources between devices in the network.

[0145] The cell switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the satellite communication scenario of the following example. The satellite communication scenario includes a transparent architecture and a regeneration architecture. In the transparent architecture, the base station is located on the ground behind the gateway, and the satellite is mainly used as a repeater and can perform radio frequency (RF) processing, such as frequency conversion, amplification and beam management. In the regeneration architecture, the satellite carries the entire base station or part of the functions of the base station, for example, data packets can be decoded and processed on the satellite. Due to the ability to support inter-satellite links (ISL), the regeneration architecture is more flexible, has a wider coverage and better performance. In the embodiment of the present application, several satellite communication scenarios are cited to describe the role of the satellite in the above-mentioned cell switching method, but these scenarios are only examples and are not limited to this.

[0146] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a transparent architecture of a satellite communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7 , the architecture 200 includes a base station 10, a UE 20, a satellite 30, and a core network device 40. The architecture 200 is a transparent satellite architecture, and the functions of the satellite 30 include: radio frequency filtering, frequency conversion and amplification. That is, the satellite 30 mainly acts as an L1 relay to regenerate the physical layer signal and does not have other higher protocol layers. That is, in the cell handover method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the satellite 30 can be used as the L1 transmission of the base station (including any one or both of the first base station or the second base station in the above example).

[0147] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a regeneration architecture for a satellite communication network according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG8 , architecture 300 includes a UE 20, a satellite 30, and a core network device 40. In this regeneration architecture 300, there is no regeneration satellite with an ISL, and satellite 30 has base station processing capabilities. In other words, in the cell handover method according to an embodiment of the present application, satellite 30 can be used as a base station (including either or both of the first base station or the second base station in the above example).

[0148] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a regenerative architecture of another satellite communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG9 , the network includes a base station 10, a UE 20, a satellite 30, and a core network device 40. The regenerative architecture 400 includes an ISL, and the satellite 30 has base station processing functions. In other words, in the cell handover method provided in an embodiment of the present application, the satellite 30 can be used as a base station (including either or both of the first base station or the second base station in the above example).

[0149] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of another regeneration architecture of a satellite communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG10 , the network includes a base station 10, a UE 20, a satellite 30, and a core network device 40. In this regeneration architecture 500, an ISL is provided, and the satellite 30 performs the DU processing function of a base station (gNB), which is shown as gNB-DU in FIG10 . That is, in the cell handover method provided in an embodiment of the present application, the satellite 30 can be used as a base station (including either or both of the first base station or the second base station in the above example) to implement the DU processing function, and the base station 10 performs the CU processing function of the base station, which is shown as gNB-CU in FIG10 .

[0150] Optionally, the architecture of the satellite communication network can also be that the satellite has a new networking architecture capability of the base station (Integrated Access And Backhual, IAB). That is to say, in the cell switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the satellite 30 can be used as the IAB of the base station to provide better network coverage and capacity.

[0151] Figure 11 is a flow chart of another cell switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11, the method is based on the method provided in Figure 6 and is applied in the first base station, the second base station and the UE. The method is executed before S201 and also includes: S213 to S216.

[0152] S213. The second base station sends a negotiation request for radio resource allocation to the first base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule.

[0153] Optionally, the first base station may also send the negotiation request to the second base station to indicate the resource allocation rule. The embodiment of the present application is illustrated by taking the second base station sending the negotiation request to the first base station as an example, but is not limited to this.

[0154] For example, the resource pool of each cell may include multiple types of wireless resources, such as C-RNTI, SRS and PUCCH resources. Each cell can divide these wireless resources into multiple resource groups. The embodiment of the present application takes the consistent number of resource groups divided in each cell as an example, such as each cell includes 5 resource groups, 100 resource groups, etc. Each resource group may contain the same type of wireless resources or cross-type wireless resources (for example, including multiple types of wireless resources).

[0155] Resource allocation rules can be determined as different resource allocation rules based on the needs of actual usage scenarios. Examples are as follows:

[0156] Example 1: The resource allocation rule is based on the rules set for each cell.

[0157] In one possible implementation, resource allocation rules can be set for cells along the direction of the satellite's orbit. Referring to Figure 4 , Cell 1 is the serving cell of Satellite 1, and Cell 2 is the serving cell of Satellite 2. Assuming UE 1 is stationary in Cell 2, when the satellite moves, its trajectory moves from Satellite 1 to Satellite 2, requiring UE 1 to switch from Cell 1 to Cell 2. Assuming each cell has five resource groups available for allocation to the UE, each cell can be assigned a priority level to determine the order of radio resource allocation, based on the order of the cells along the direction of the satellite's orbit. For example, the five resource groups are designated as Resource Group 1, Resource Group 2, Resource Group 3, Resource Group 4, and Resource Group 5. The resource allocation rule for Cell 1 is, in descending order of priority, Resource Group 2, Resource Group 3, Resource Group 4, Resource Group 5, and Resource Group 1. The resource allocation rule for Cell 2 is, in descending order of priority, Resource Group 1, Resource Group 2, Resource Group 3, Resource Group 4, and Resource Group 5. UE 1 has been assigned Resource Group 1 by Cell 2 and has undergone radio resource configuration, such as the first radio resource configuration. Before satellite 1 moves and reaches coverage of a UE, cell 1 may provide radio resources to other UEs. According to cell 1's resource allocation rules, radio resources in resource group 2, resource group 3, and resource group 4 are prioritized for other UEs, such as UE 2, UE 3, and UE 4, respectively. When satellite 1 moves and UE 1 needs to access cell 1, resource group 1 in cell 1 becomes idle. UE 1 is then assigned resource group 1 and inherits the first radio resource configuration. Because resource group priorities differ in the resource allocation rules of each cell along the satellite's trajectory, a UE is more likely to have idle radio resources when switching cells, increasing its likelihood of inheriting the radio resource configuration.

[0158] In one possible implementation, the resource allocation rule may be set according to the PCI of each cell. Assuming there are N cells in total, and the PCI of each cell is represented by 1 (generally speaking, the PCIs of two adjacent cells are different), the resource allocation rule may be that the resource group with the highest priority in each cell is the resource group with I mod N = a (such as a = 0), that is, each cell preferentially uses the resource group with I mod N = a. If this resource group is occupied, the resource group with I mod N = a + 1 is used, and so on. In the embodiment of the present application, it is still assumed that each cell has five groups of resources that can be allocated to the UE, and the five groups of resources are respectively recorded as resource group 1, resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4, and resource group 5. For example, for the cell with I = i, the resource group with the highest priority in cell 3 is i mod 5 = 0, and resource group 1 has the highest priority. After calculation, assuming the cell with PCI = i, that is, the resource groups of cell 3 are allocated in the order of highest priority to lowest: resource group 1, resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 5, and resource group 4. Using this calculation method, each cell can calculate its allocation order from high to low priority based on the PCI. Because adjacent cells have different PCIs, the calculated allocation order from high to low priority may also vary. Therefore, referring to the above example, when a UE switches cells (usually to an adjacent cell), the radio resources allocated to the UE by the source cell are more likely to be idle in the target cell, increasing the likelihood of inheriting the radio resource configuration.

[0159] Example 2: The resource allocation rule is based on the rules set in each physical area.

[0160] Assume that the satellite's trajectory includes three physical regions, designated as physical region 1, physical region 2, and physical region 3, each corresponding to a cell. Each physical region is assigned a priority corresponding to the order of wireless resource allocation. For example, if the resource pool in each physical region includes five resource groups, designated as resource group 1, resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4, and resource group 5, then the resource allocation rule for physical region 1 is, in descending order of priority, resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4, resource group 5, and resource group 1. The resource allocation rule for physical region 2 is, in descending order of priority, resource group 1, resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4, and resource group 5. The resource allocation rule for physical region 3 is, in descending order of priority, resource group 3, resource group 4, resource group 5, resource group 1, and resource group 2.

[0161] In one possible implementation, for the deployment scenario of Figure 3 where the identifier of each cell is bound to the physical area, such as physical area 1 corresponds to cell 1, physical area 2 corresponds to cell 2, and physical area 3 corresponds to cell 3, the resource allocation rule for cell 1 is that the allocation order from high priority to low is: resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4, resource group 5 and resource group 1; the resource allocation rule for cell 2 is that the allocation order from high priority to low is: resource group 1, resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4 and resource group 5, and the resource allocation rule for cell 3 is that the allocation order from high priority to low is: resource group 3, resource group 4, resource group 5, resource group 1 and resource group 2.

[0162] In one possible implementation, for the deployment scenario of Figure 4 where the identifier of each cell is bound to the satellite, when the satellite moves and the cell of the satellite, such as cell 4, corresponds to physical area 1, as shown in the first and second rows of Figure 12, the resource allocation rule of cell 4 is that the allocation order from high to low priority is: resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4, resource group 5 and resource group 1. When the satellite moves and cell 4 corresponds to physical area 2, the resource allocation rule of cell 4 is that the allocation order from high to low priority is: resource group 1, resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4 and resource group 5. Furthermore, due to the movement of the satellite, cell 4 may be partially in physical area 1 and partially in physical area 2. For this situation, a time point T can be set. Before the time point, cell 4 corresponds to the resource pool of physical area 1. The resource allocation rule can be changed as the satellite moves. Taking the third and fourth rows of Figure 12 as an example, when a small part of cell 4 moves to physical area 2 and most of it is in physical area 1, that is, in the scenario of the third row, the resource allocation rule can be: cell 4 is for UEs within the range to the left of the vertical line in Figure 12, according to the physical area In the resource pool of domain 1, wireless resources are allocated in the order of resource group priority from high to low. For UEs within the range to the right of the vertical line in Figure 12, wireless resources outside the resource pool of physical area 2 are allocated. From time T, when half of cell 4 moves to physical area 2 and half is in physical area 1, that is, in the scenario of the fourth row, the resource allocation rule can be that cell 4 allocates wireless resources outside the resource pool of physical area 1 to UEs within the range to the left of the vertical line in Figure 12, and allocates wireless resources in the order of resource group priority from high to low in the resource pool of physical area 2 to UEs within the range to the right of the vertical line in Figure 12. The allocation method of Figure 12 is only an example. In the embodiment of the present application, by setting different priority orders of resource groups in two adjacent physical areas, when the satellite moves to different physical areas, the resource allocation rules corresponding to the cells it is bound to are also different. When the UE switches cells, the wireless resources it has allocated are more likely to be idle, which can increase the possibility of the UE inheriting the wireless resource configuration.

[0163] Example 3: Resource allocation rules can be randomly allocated

[0164] The embodiment of the present application also provides a resource allocation rule. For example, if each cell includes five resource groups, each cell can randomly obtain the priority order of the resource groups. The resource allocation rule obtained by this random allocation method can effectively avoid the situation where each cell allocates wireless resources in the order of resource group numbers from small to large. If each cell uniformly allocates wireless resources in the order of small to large, when UE 1 accesses cell 1, cell 1 will prioritize allocating resource group 1 to UE 1. When UE 2 accesses cell 2, cell 2 will also first allocate resource group 1 to UE 1. In this case, if UE 1 needs to access cell 2, resource group 1 has already been occupied by UE 2. UE 1 can no longer use resource group 1 and cannot inherit the wireless resource configuration of resource group 1. Therefore, random allocation makes it possible for each cell to allocate resource groups to UEs in a different order, reducing the possibility of wireless resources that need to be inherited being occupied, thereby increasing the possibility of UE inheriting wireless resource configuration.

[0165] In the resource allocation rules of the above examples of the embodiment of the present application, only the priority order of the resource groups in the resource pool is listed. In actual use scenarios, each cell can still use other wireless resources outside the resource pool. That is, for a cell, the wireless resources that can be used by the cell are still all wireless resources. The embodiment of the present application only specifies the priority of the allocation of each wireless resource. Optionally, the wireless resources outside the resource pool can be sorted in priority order with reference to the above examples, and allocated according to the priority order, etc., which will not be elaborated in detail in the embodiment of the present application. For example, the priority of the resource pool is resource group 1, resource group 2, resource group 3, resource group 4, resource group 5. When the wireless resources in resource group 1 are occupied or used up, the cell can give priority to using the resources in resource group 2. When the wireless resources in resource group 2 are occupied or used up, the cell can give priority to using the wireless resources in resource group 3, and so on.

[0166] S214. The first base station determines, according to the resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the third radio resource configuration or the second radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0167] In the method shown in Figure 6, the wireless resource in the third wireless resource configuration is wireless resource B. If the second cell of the first base station can determine the resource allocation rule according to the negotiation request and determine that the wireless resource B in its corresponding wireless resource is idle, then it is determined that the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell. If the second cell of the first base station can determine the resource allocation rule according to the negotiation request and determine that the wireless resource B in its corresponding wireless resource is occupied, then according to the resource allocation rule in the above example, the resource group used by the UE in the second cell is determined, the resource group is allocated to the UE, and the second wireless resource configuration is obtained.

[0168] S215. The second base station uses the resource allocation rule to determine that the UE uses the third radio resource configuration in the third cell.

[0169] Before S215, the first base station sends a handover request to the second base station, requesting the UE to handover to the third cell. The method can be described with reference to FIG6 and will not be elaborated here.

[0170] Optionally, in the scenario shown in Figure 6, the second base station may determine, based on the resource allocation rule, that the UE uses a third radio resource configuration in the third cell. If the third cell of the second base station determines, based on the resource allocation rule determined by the negotiation request, that radio resource B is idle among its corresponding radio resources, then the radio resource of the third radio resource configuration is radio resource B.

[0171] The negotiation request provided in the embodiment of the present application enables the base stations of each cell to negotiate and obtain the same resource allocation rules. Each cell allocates wireless resources to the UE according to the resource allocation rules, and is more likely to obtain the same wireless resource configuration. It can increase the possibility of inheriting the third wireless resource when switching cells, thereby reducing network overhead.

[0172] In one possible implementation, based on the cell switching method provided in Figure 4 or Figure 5, the first cell can determine that the UE uses the first wireless resource configuration in the first cell according to the resource allocation rules pre-stored by the first base station, and the second cell can determine that the UE uses the first wireless resource configuration or the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell according to the resource allocation rules pre-stored by the first base station. The method refers to the example of S214 (S214 takes determining whether the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration or the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell as an example), and will not be elaborated on.

[0173] The pre-stored resource allocation rules provided in the embodiment of the present application enable each cell to allocate wireless resources to the UE according to the same resource allocation rules, which increases the possibility of obtaining the same wireless resource configuration and increases the possibility of inheriting the first wireless resource when switching cells, thereby reducing network overhead.

[0174] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a first base station provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG13 , the first base station 10 includes: a processing module 101 and a sending module 102 .

[0175] The first base station provided in Figure 13 can be used in a scenario where both the source cell and the target cell are service cells of the first base station, and the identifier of the target cell is different from the identifier of the source cell, wherein the source base station is the first cell and the target base station is the second cell.

[0176] The processing module 101 is configured to determine whether the UE can use a first radio resource configuration in the second cell if it is determined that the UE needs to be handed over from the first cell to the second cell, wherein the first radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell.

[0177] For example, the first cell and the second cell may both be service cells of the first base station.

[0178] The sending module 102 is configured to send a first handover command to the UE if the processing module 101 determines that the UE can use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell. The first handover command is used to instruct the UE to use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0179] In one possible implementation, the sending module 102 is further used to send a second switching command to the UE if the processing module 101 determines that the UE cannot use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the second switching command carries the second wireless resource configuration, wherein the second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

[0180] In one possible implementation, based on the scenario provided in FIG. 13 , the processing module 101 is specifically configured to determine, according to a pre-stored resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the first radio resource configuration or the second radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0181] It should be understood that the modules shown in FIG13 are merely examples, and the processing module 101 and the sending module 102 may perform their operations with reference to the method portion in the embodiments of the present application, or perform variations of their operations.

[0182] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of another first base station provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG14 , the first base station 10 further includes a receiving module 103. The first base station provided in FIG14 can be used in a scenario where the target cell is the second cell of the first base station, the source cell is the third cell of the second base station, and the identifier of the target cell is different from the identifier of the source cell.

[0183] The receiving module 103 is used to receive a handover request. The handover request is sent by the second base station when the UE needs to be handed over from the third cell of the second base station to the second cell. The handover request is used to request the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell.

[0184] The sending module 102 is also used to send a first switching request confirmation to the second base station if the processing module 101 determines that the UE can use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The first switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends a first switching command to the UE.

[0185] The sending module 102 is also used to send a second switching request confirmation to the second base station if the processing module 101 determines that the UE cannot use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends a second switching command to the UE.

[0186] In one possible implementation, for the scenario illustrated in FIG14 , the first handover command may instruct the UE to inherit the third radio resource configuration. For example, the first handover command carries a first identifier for indicating the identifier of the second cell. When the UE receives the handover command with only the first identifier, it is informed that it should continue to use the current radio resource configuration, i.e., the third radio resource configuration. The second handover command may carry the second radio resource configuration and the first identifier. If the UE receives the second radio resource configuration and the first identifier, it is informed that it needs to reconfigure according to the second radio resource configuration and updates the identifier of the current cell according to the instruction of the first identifier.

[0187] In one possible implementation, based on the scenario provided in FIG14 , the first base station and the second base station may first negotiate to determine resource allocation rules, and both allocate wireless resources to the UE according to the priority order of the resource allocation rules, using the method described in the above example.

[0188] The receiving module 103 is further configured to receive a negotiation request sent by the second base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule.

[0189] The processing module 101 is further configured to determine, according to the resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the third radio resource configuration or the second radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0190] It should be understood that the modules shown in FIG14 are merely examples, and the processing module 101, the sending module 102, and the receiving module 103 may perform their operations with reference to the method portion in the embodiments of the present application, or perform variations of their operations.

[0191] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG15 , the UE 20 includes: a receiving module 201 and a processing module 202 .

[0192] The receiving module 201 is used to receive a first switching command, wherein the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use a first wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The first wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell, and both the first cell and the second cell are service cells of the first base station.

[0193] The processing module 202 is configured to switch from the first cell to the second cell according to the first handover command, and use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0194] In one possible implementation, receiving module 201 is further configured to receive a first handover command, wherein the first handover command is further configured to instruct the UE to use a third radio resource configuration in the second cell, where the third radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell, which is a serving cell of the second base station. Processing module 202 is further configured to switch from the third cell to the second cell according to the first handover command, and use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0195] In one possible implementation, the handover command carries the identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command, the second handover command or the first handover command; the processing module 202 is further used to update the identifier of the current cell with the identifier of the second cell according to the handover command.

[0196] It should be understood that the modules shown in FIG15 are merely examples, and the receiving module 201 and the processing module 202 may perform their operations with reference to the method portion in the embodiments of the present application, or perform variations of their operations.

[0197] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a second base station provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG16 , the second base station 50 includes: a sending module 501 , a processing module 502 and a receiving module 503 .

[0198] The second base station 50 provided in FIG16 can be used in a scenario where the target cell is the second cell of the first base station, the source cell is the third cell of the second base station, and the identifier of the target cell is different from the identifier of the source cell. The first base station can refer to the first base station 10 provided in FIG14 .

[0199] The sending module 501 is used to send a handover request to the first base station if the processing module 502 determines that the UE needs to be handed over from the third cell to the second cell. The handover request is used to request the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell. The third cell is the service cell of the second base station, and the second cell is the service cell of the first base station.

[0200] The sending module 501 is also used to send a first switching command to the UE if the receiving module 503 receives a first switching request confirmation. The first switching request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0201] In one possible implementation, the sending module 501 is also used to send a second switching command to the UE if the receiving module 503 receives a second switching request confirmation. The second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The second switching command carries the second wireless resource configuration, and the second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

[0202] In a possible implementation, the handover command carries the identifier of the second cell, and is used to instruct the UE to update the identifier of the current cell with the identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

[0203] In a possible implementation, the sending module 501 is further configured to send a negotiation request to the first base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule.

[0204] The processing module 502 is further configured to determine, according to the resource allocation rule, that the UE uses a third radio resource configuration in the third cell.

[0205] It should be understood that the modules shown in FIG16 are merely examples, and the sending module 501, the processing module 502, and the receiving module 503 may perform their operations with reference to the method portion in the embodiments of the present application, or perform variations of their operations.

[0206] In addition, as shown in Figure 17, Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device 60 in an embodiment of the present application. The device 60 shown in Figure 17 includes a transceiver unit 601 and a processing unit 602. The device 60 can be used to perform methods S101 and S102, S101 to S103, S201 to S212, or S213 to S216 in the above embodiments. When the device 60 is used to perform the method in the above embodiment, the device 60 is equivalent to the first base station, or the UE, or the second base station mentioned in the method.

[0207] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The functional units in the embodiments of the present application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. For example, in the above embodiment, the transceiver unit 601 and the processing unit 602 can be the same unit or different units; the transceiver unit 601 and the processing unit 602 can be the same unit or different units. The above-mentioned integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware, such as a chip, or in the form of software functional units.

[0208] In addition, an embodiment of the present application further provides a device 70, as shown in FIG18 , which is a schematic diagram of the structure of the device 70 according to an embodiment of the present application. The device 70 may include a processor 701, a memory 702 coupled to the processor 701, and a transceiver 703. The transceiver 703 may be a communication interface, an optical module, etc., and is used to receive messages or data information. The processor 701 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and a NP, and is used to perform the forwarding processing steps in the device exemplified in the above embodiment. The processor may also be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof. The processor 701 may be a single processor or may include multiple processors. The memory 702 may include volatile memory, such as random-access memory (RAM); the memory may also include non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD); the memory 702 may also include a combination of the above types of memory. The memory 702 may refer to a single memory or may include multiple memories for storing program instructions. In one embodiment, the memory 702 stores computer-readable instructions, which include multiple software modules, such as a sending module, a radio resource control module, and a receiving module. After executing each software module, the processor 701 may perform corresponding operations according to the instructions of each software module. In this embodiment, the operation performed by a software module actually refers to the operation performed by the processor 701 according to the instructions of the software module. Optionally, the processor 701 may also store program codes or instructions for executing the embodiments of the present application. In this case, the processor 701 does not need to read the program codes or instructions from the memory 702.

[0209] The device 70 can be used to execute the method in the above embodiment. Specifically, the device 70 can act as a first base station to execute the operations in methods S101 to S102, or S101 to S103, or S201 to S212, or S213 to S216. For example, the processor 702 can be used to determine whether the UE can use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell if it is determined that the UE needs to switch from the first cell to the second cell, wherein the first wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell, and the first cell and the second cell are both service cells of the first base station; the communication interface 701 can be used to send a first switching command to the UE if the UE can use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

[0210] Alternatively, the device 70 may perform the operations in method S201 to S212, or S213 to S216 as a UE. For example, the communication interface 701 is configured to receive a first handover command, where the first handover command is used to instruct the UE to use a first radio resource configuration in a second cell, where the first radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell, and both the first cell and the second cell are serving cells of the first base station; and the processor 702 is configured to, according to the first handover command, switch from the first cell to the second cell, and use the first radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0211] Alternatively, the device 70 may perform the operations in methods S201 to S212, or S213 to S216, as a second base station. For example, the communication interface 701 is configured to, if the processor 702 determines that the UE needs to be handed over from the third cell to the second cell, send a handover request to the first base station, the handover request being used to request the UE to use a third radio resource configuration in the second cell, the third radio resource configuration being allocated to the UE by the third cell, the third cell being the serving cell of the second base station, and the second cell being the serving cell of the first base station; and if a first handover request confirmation is received, send a first handover command to the UE, the first handover request confirmation being used to instruct the second base station to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, the first handover command being used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell.

[0212] The present application also provides a system, as shown in FIG19 , which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a system 600 provided in an embodiment of the present application. System 600 may include a first base station 10 and a UE 20. The structure of the first base station 10 is shown in FIG13 , FIG17 , and FIG18 , and the structure of the UE 20 is shown in FIG14 , FIG17 , and FIG18 . System 600 may refer to the method portion of the embodiment of the present application to perform its operations, or perform variations of its operations, such as the method provided in FIG4 - FIG5 , and perform its operations, or variations of its operations.

[0213] The present application also provides a system, as shown in FIG20 , which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a system 700 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The system 700 may include a first base station 10, a UE 20, and a second base station 50. For the structure of the first base station 10, refer to FIG13 , FIG17 , and FIG18 ; for the structure of the UE 20, refer to FIG14 , FIG17 , and FIG18 ; and for the structure of the first base station 10, refer to FIG15 , FIG17 , and FIG18 . The system 700 may refer to the method portion of the embodiment of the present application to perform its operations, or perform variations of its operations, such as the methods provided in FIG6 and FIG11 , to perform its operations, or variations of its operations.

[0214] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores instructions. When the computer-readable storage medium is executed on a processor, it implements part or all of the operations in any of the methods in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0215] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including a computer program, which, when executed on a processor, implements part or all of the operations in any of the methods in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0216] The present application also provides a chip including an interface circuit and a processor connected to each other, wherein the processor is configured to cause the chip to execute part or all of the operations in any of the methods in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0217] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, including: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory is used to store programs or instructions, when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the chip system implements part or all of the operations of any one of the methods of any one of the embodiments described above.

[0218] Optionally, there may be one or more processors in the chip system. The processor may be implemented in hardware or software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

[0219] Optionally, the memory in the chip system may be one or more. The memory may be integrated with the processor or may be provided separately from the processor, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the memory may be a non-transient processor, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which may be integrated with the processor on the same chip or provided on different chips. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the type of memory or the configuration of the memory and the processor.

[0220] Exemplarily, the chip system can be an FPGA, an ASIC, a system on chip (SoC), a CPU, an NP, a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a microcontroller (MCU), a programmable logic device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

[0221] The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like (if any) in the specification and claims of this application and in the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a particular order or sequential sequence. It should be understood that the terms used in this manner are interchangeable where appropriate so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, e.g., a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0222] 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.

[0223] 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 illustrative. For example, the division of units is only a logical business 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 an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0224] Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and 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.

[0225] In addition, each business unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into a single unit. The above-mentioned integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware or software business units.

[0226] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software business unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, all or part of the technical solution of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, ROM, RAM, Random Access Memory, disk or optical disk, etc. Various media that can store program code.

[0227] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in one or more of the examples above, the services described herein may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, these services may be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, wherein communication media include any medium that facilitates the transmission of computer programs from one location to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0228] The above specific implementation methods further describe in detail the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of this application. It should be understood that the above are only specific implementation methods of this application.

[0229] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A cell switching method, characterized in that: The method is applied in a first base station, comprising: If it is determined that the user equipment UE needs to be handed over from the first cell to the second cell, determining whether the UE can use a first radio resource configuration in the second cell, wherein the first radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell; If the UE can use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, a first switching command is sent to the UE, where the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Also includes: If the UE cannot use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, a second switching command is sent to the UE, where the second switching command carries a second wireless resource configuration, wherein the second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Also includes: receiving a handover request, where the handover request is sent by the second base station when the UE needs to be handed over from the third cell to the second cell, and the handover request is used to request the UE to use a third radio resource configuration in the second cell, where the third radio resource configuration is allocated by the third cell to the UE; If the UE can use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, sending a first handover request confirmation to the second base station, where the first handover request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends the first handover command to the UE, where the first handover command is also used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell; If the UE cannot use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, a second switching request confirmation is sent to the second base station, where the second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends a second switching command to the UE.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Also includes: According to a pre-stored resource allocation rule, it is determined whether the UE uses the first radio resource configuration or the second radio resource configuration in the second cell.

6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Also includes: receiving a negotiation request sent by the second base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; According to the resource allocation rule, it is determined that the UE uses the third radio resource configuration or the second radio resource configuration in the second cell.

7. A cell switching method, characterized in that: The method is applied in a user equipment UE, and includes: receiving a first handover command, wherein the first handover command is used to instruct the UE to use a first radio resource configuration in the second cell, and the first radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell; According to the first switching command, switch from the first cell to the second cell, and use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that Also includes: According to the first switching command, switching is performed from the third cell to the second cell, and the third wireless resource configuration is used in the second cell. The first switching command is also used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The third wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

10. A cell switching method, characterized in that: The method is applied in a second base station, comprising: If it is determined that the user equipment UE needs to be handed over from the third cell to the second cell, a handover request is sent to the first base station, where the handover request is used to request the UE to use a third radio resource configuration in the second cell, where the third radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the third cell; If a first handover request confirmation is received, a first handover command is sent to the UE, wherein the first handover request confirmation is used to send a first handover command to the UE. The second base station instructs the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that If a second switching request confirmation is received, a second switching command is sent to the UE. The second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell. The second switching command carries the second wireless resource configuration, and the second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: Also includes: The handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that: Also includes: Sending a negotiation request to the first base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; According to the resource allocation rule, it is determined that the UE uses the third radio resource configuration in the third cell.

14. A first base station, characterized in that: include: a processing module, configured to determine whether a user equipment UE can use a first radio resource configuration in the second cell if it is determined that the user equipment UE needs to be switched from the first cell to the second cell, wherein the first radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell; A sending module is used to send a first switching command to the UE if the processing module determines that the UE can use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, wherein the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

15. The first base station according to claim 14, characterized in that: The sending module is also used to send a second switching command to the UE if the processing module determines that the UE cannot use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the second switching command carries a second wireless resource configuration, wherein the second wireless resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the second cell.

16. The first base station according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that: Also includes: a receiving module, configured to receive a handover request, wherein the handover request is sent by the second base station when the UE needs to be handed over from the third cell to the second cell, and the handover request is used to request the UE to use a third radio resource configuration in the second cell, and the third radio resource configuration is allocated by the third cell to the UE; The sending module is further configured to send a first handover request confirmation to the second base station if the processing module determines that the UE can use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, wherein the first handover request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends the first handover command to the UE, and the first handover command is also used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell; The sending module is also used to send a second switching request confirmation to the second base station if the processing module determines that the UE cannot use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the UE to use the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, so that the second base station sends a second switching command to the UE.

17. The first base station according to any one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that: The handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

18. The first base station according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that: The processing module is specifically used to determine, according to a pre-stored resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the first wireless resource configuration or the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

19. The first base station according to claim 16, characterized in that: The receiving module is further used to receive a negotiation request sent by the second base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; The processing module is further used to determine, according to the resource allocation rule, whether the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration or the second wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

20. A user equipment UE, characterized in that: include: A receiving module, configured to receive a first handover command, wherein the first handover command is used to instruct the UE to use a first radio resource configuration in the second cell, and the first radio resource configuration is allocated to the UE by the first cell; A processing module is used to switch from the first cell to the second cell according to the first switching command, and use the first wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

21. The UE according to claim 20, characterized in that The first handover command is further used to instruct the UE to use the third radio resource configuration in the second cell. The processing module is further used to switch from the third cell to the second cell according to the first switching command, and use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, where the third wireless resource configuration is allocated by the third cell to the UE.

22. The UE according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that: The handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

23. A second base station, characterized in that: include: a sending module, configured to send a handover request to the first base station if the processing module determines that the user equipment UE needs to be handed over from the third cell to the second cell, wherein the handover request is used to request the UE to use a third radio resource configuration in the second cell, and the third radio resource configuration is allocated by the third cell to the UE; The sending module is also used to send a first switching command to the UE if the receiving module receives a first switching request confirmation, the first switching request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station that the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the first switching command is used to instruct the UE to use the third wireless resource configuration in the second cell.

24. The second base station according to claim 23, characterized in that: The sending module is also used to send a second switching command to the UE if the receiving module receives a second switching request confirmation, and the second switching request confirmation is used to instruct the second base station that the UE uses a second wireless resource configuration in the second cell, and the second switching command carries the second wireless resource configuration, which is allocated by the second cell to the UE.

25. The second base station according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that: The handover command carries a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to indicate an identifier of the second cell, wherein the handover command includes the first handover command or the second handover command.

26. The second base station according to any one of claims 23 to 25, characterized in that: The sending module is further used to send a negotiation request to the first base station, where the negotiation request is used to indicate a resource allocation rule; The processing module is further used to determine, according to the resource allocation rule, that the UE uses the third wireless resource configuration in the third cell.

27. A system, characterized in that: include: The first base station according to any one of claims 14 to 19; A user equipment UE as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 22.

28. The system according to claim 27, characterized in that Also includes: The second base station as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 26.

Images