Configuration update method, first network device, second network device, and terminal device

Abstract

The present application relates to a configuration update method, a first network device, a second network device, a terminal device, a fifth network device, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a computer program, and a communication system. The configuration update method comprises: a first network device receiving a first request from a second network device, wherein the first network device is a network device that a terminal device accesses by means of an LTM process, and the first request is used for requesting the update of an LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device. In the embodiments of the present application, the continuity of an LTM process can be supported, and it is not necessary to re-prepare switching configuration each time a terminal device executes the LTM process, thereby saving on signaling overheads.

Description

Configuration update method, first network device, second network device and terminal device Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a configuration update method, a first network device, a second network device, a terminal device, a fifth network device, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a computer program, and a communication system. Background Art

[0002] In wireless communication systems, the handover process is generally triggered by L3 (Layer 3) signaling. To further reduce the latency of the handover process, related technologies have proposed cell handovers triggered by L1 (Layer 1) / L2 (Layer 2) signaling, namely LTM (L1 / L2-Triggered Mobility). The traditional network-triggered handover process only supports a terminal device performing a single cell handover. That is, after a terminal device executes LTM once, it needs to re-prepare the handover configuration, which results in a large signaling overhead.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of the present application provide a configuration update method, a first network device, a second network device, a terminal device, a fifth network device, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a computer program, and a communication system, which can save the signaling overhead of re-preparing the switching configuration.

[0005] This embodiment of the present application provides a configuration update method, including:

[0006] The first network device receives a first request from the second network device; wherein the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0007] This embodiment of the present application provides a configuration update method, including:

[0008] The second network device sends a first request to the first network device; wherein the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0009] This embodiment of the present application provides a configuration update method, including:

[0010] The terminal device receives RRC reconfiguration information from a first network device; wherein the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through a first LTM process;

[0011] The terminal device updates the LTM candidate cell configuration according to the RRC reconfiguration information, and sends RRC reconfiguration completion information to the first network device, and stops executing the second LTM process before determining that the RRC reconfiguration completion information is successfully transmitted.

[0012] This embodiment of the present application provides a configuration update method, including:

[0013] The fifth network device, when configured as an anchor device, receives a sixth request from the second network device; wherein the sixth request is used to request an indication of the network device currently connected to the terminal device; the anchor device is used to store information about the network device currently connected to the terminal device;

[0014] The fifth network device sends a sixth feedback to the second network device; wherein the sixth feedback is used by the second network device to determine the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected, so that the second network device sends a first request to the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected, and the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0015] An embodiment of the present application provides a first network device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program, the transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices, and the processor is configured to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the first network device executes the configuration update method described above.

[0016] An embodiment of the present application provides a second network device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program, the transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices, and the processor is configured to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the second network device executes the configuration update method described above.

[0017] An embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the terminal device performs the above-mentioned configuration update method.

[0018] An embodiment of the present application provides a fifth network device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program, the transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices, and the processor is configured to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the fifth network device executes the configuration update method described above.

[0019] An embodiment of the present application provides a chip for implementing the above-mentioned configuration update method.

[0020] Specifically, the chip includes: a processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the above-mentioned configuration update method.

[0021] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when executed by a device, enables the device to execute the above-mentioned configuration update method.

[0022] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the above-mentioned configuration update method.

[0023] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned configuration update method.

[0024] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including a first network device and a second network device for executing the above-mentioned configuration update method.

[0025] In an embodiment of the present application, after the terminal device accesses the first network device through the LTM process, the second network device sends a first request to the first network device to request to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device. Therefore, the continuity of the LTM process can be supported, and there is no need to re-prepare the switching configuration each time the terminal device executes the LTM process, saving signaling overhead. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a cell handover process across base stations.

[0028] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the basic process of LTM.

[0029] FIG4 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration update method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0030] FIG5 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration update method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0031] FIG6 is an interactive diagram of an application example of the configuration update method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] FIG7 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration update method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0033] FIG8 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between various devices in an application example of the configuration update method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] FIG9 is a flowchart of the interaction between devices in an application example of the configuration update method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] FIG10 is a schematic flowchart of a configuration update method according to yet another embodiment of the present application.

[0036] FIG11 is a schematic block diagram of a first network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0037] FIG12 is a schematic block diagram of a first network device according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0038] FIG13 is a schematic block diagram of a second network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0039] FIG14 is a schematic block diagram of a second network device according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0040] FIG15 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] FIG16 is a schematic block diagram of a fifth network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0042] FIG17 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0043] FIG18 is a schematic block diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0044] FIG19 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0046] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: New Radio (NR) system, NR system evolution system, NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) system, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), fifth-generation communication (5G) system, sixth-generation communication (6G) system or other communication systems.

[0047] Generally speaking, traditional communication systems support a limited number of connections and are easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, mobile communication systems will not only support traditional communications, but will also support, for example, device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, etc. The embodiments of the present application can also be applied to these communication systems.

[0048] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a dual connectivity (DC) scenario, and a standalone (SA) networking scenario.

[0049] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum can also be considered as a shared spectrum; or, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to an authorized spectrum, wherein the authorized spectrum can also be considered as an unshared spectrum.

[0050] The embodiments of the present application describe various embodiments in conjunction with network devices and terminal devices, wherein the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc.

[0051] The terminal device can be a station (STAION, ST) in a WLAN, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next-generation communication system such as an NR network, or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, etc.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.).

[0053] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc.

[0054] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0055] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be a device for communicating with a mobile device. The network device may be an access point (AP) in a WLAN, or a relay station or access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a network device (gNB) in an NR network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, or a network device in an NTN network, etc.

[0056] As an example and not a limitation, in an embodiment of the present application, the network device may have a mobile feature, for example, the network device may be a mobile device. Alternatively, the network device may be a satellite or a balloon station. For example, the satellite may be a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, etc. Optionally, the network device may also be a base station set up in a location such as land or water.

[0057] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device can provide services for a cell, and the terminal device communicates with the network device through the transmission resources used by the cell (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources). The cell can be a cell corresponding to the network device (for example, a base station). The cell can belong to a macro base station or a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cells here may include: metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0058] FIG1 exemplarily illustrates a communication system 100. The communication system includes a network device 110 and two terminal devices 120. In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may include multiple network devices 110, and each network device 110 may include a different number of terminal devices 120 within its coverage area, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0059] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, a device having a communication function in a network / system may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system shown in Figure 1 as an example, the communication device may include a network device and a terminal device having a communication function. The network device and the terminal device may be specific devices in the embodiments of the present application and will not be described in detail here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system, such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, and other network entities, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0060] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" is simply a description of an association between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0061] It should be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association. For example, "A indicates B" can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can be obtained through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C; it can also mean that there is an association between A and B.

[0062] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or an association relationship between the two, or a relationship between indication and being indicated, configuration and being configured, etc.

[0063] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0064] (1) Traditional switching process

[0065] Similar to LTE (Long Term Evolution) systems, NR systems support handovers for connected UEs. When a user using network services moves from one cell to another, or due to factors such as wireless transmission load adjustments, activation and maintenance, or equipment failure, the system transfers the user's communication link with the original cell to the new cell to ensure communication continuity and service quality. This is called a handover.

[0066] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the cell handover process across base stations. The general process is described as follows:

[0067] 1. The source base station triggers handover based on the L3 measurement results reported by the terminal and sends a handover request (HANDOVER REQUEST) to the target cell through the Xn interface;

[0068] 2. The target eNB accepts the handover request from the source eNB and provides the target cell's RRC (Radio Resource Control) configuration as part of the handover request acknowledgment (HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE) back to the source eNB.

[0069] 3. The source base station sends an RRC reconfiguration (RRCReconfiguration) to the UE to instruct the UE to initiate a handover procedure, as well as RRC configuration information for accessing the target cell.

[0070] 4. The UE accesses the target cell and sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the target cell. In order to establish uplink synchronization with the target cell, the UE needs to initiate a random access procedure to the target cell after receiving the handover command.

[0071] (2) LTM process

[0072] In related technologies, the handover process is generally triggered by L3 (Layer 3) signaling (RRC Reconfiguration). To further reduce the latency of the L3 handover process, related technologies support cell handover triggered by L1 / L2 signaling, namely LTM. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the basic process of LTM. As shown in Figure 3, LTM mainly includes the following steps:

[0073] 1. The UE reports the L3 measurement results to the base station, and the base station determines to initiate the LTM process and triggers the LTM candidate cell preparation;

[0074] 2. The base station sends an RRC message (i.e., RRCReconfiguration message) containing the LTM candidate cell configuration to the UE. The number of candidate cells is one or more;

[0075] 3. The UE stores the LTM candidate cell configuration and sends a reconfiguration completion message (i.e., RRCReconfigurationComplete message) back to the network.

[0076] 4. Before receiving the LTM cell handover command, the UE can perform uplink / downlink synchronization with the candidate cell in advance to reduce the interruption delay of the handover process.

[0077] 5. The UE performs L1 measurement on each candidate cell and reports the L1 measurement results to the network;

[0078] 6. The base station determines the target cell based on the L1 measurement results reported by the UE and instructs the UE to hand over to the target cell through the MAC Control Element (MAC CE).

[0079] 7. If the UE currently does not have a valid TA for the target cell, then after receiving the LTM cell handover command, the UE initiates a random access procedure to the target cell;

[0080] 8. The UE sends an indication of successful completion of LTM to the target cell.

[0081] When LTM was introduced, it only supported intra-CU (intra-CU switching) scenarios and did not involve interaction between Xn. To further expand the scenarios of LTM, related technologies have considered supporting inter-CU (inter-CU switching) LTM.

[0082] FIG4 is a schematic flow chart of a configuration update method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method can optionally be applied to the system shown in FIG1 , but is not limited thereto. The method includes:

[0083] S410. The first network device receives a first request from the second network device; wherein the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0084] In an embodiment of the present application, the first network device is a network device accessed through the LTM process, that is, the first network device is one of the candidate network devices in the LTM process, and serves as the target network device of an LTM process. Here, the LTM candidate network device can be understood as a network device configured with one or more LTM candidate cells. The LTM process may include: the terminal device receives the MAC CE issued by the network device it accesses, and performs cell switching according to the MAC CE. For example, the LTM process may include steps 5 to 7 in the above-mentioned related technology (II) LTM process. Among them, the cell switching can be inter-CU or intra-CU.

[0085] In some examples, the target network device may include a target base station (Target gNB, T-gNB).

[0086] In an embodiment of the present application, the second network device has an LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device, that is, the second network device is an LTM candidate network device of the terminal device, such as an LTM candidate base station (Candidate-gNB, C-gNB).

[0087] Corresponding to the above method, the present application also provides a configuration update method performed by the second network device. Figure 5 is a schematic flow chart of a configuration update method according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may include:

[0088] S510. The second network device sends a first request to the first network device; wherein the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0089] According to an embodiment of the present application, after a terminal device accesses a first network device through an LTM process, the second network device sends a first request, which is received by the first network device. The first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device on the second network device. In other words, after executing the LTM process, the original LTM candidate cell configuration can be retained and updated based on this, eliminating the need to re-prepare the LTM candidate cell configuration each time the terminal device executes the LTM process. This supports the continuity of the LTM process, thereby saving signaling overhead and ensuring the immediacy of handovers.

[0090] For example, the terminal device can complete the LTM candidate cell preparation through steps 1 to 3 shown in Figure 3 with the network device it connects to (such as a base station, which can be called the source network device). Optionally, the terminal device can also complete steps 4a and 4b as shown in Figure 3 to synchronize with the candidate cell in advance; thereafter, the terminal device can complete the LTM process through steps 5 to 7 as shown in Figure 3 to switch access to the target cell. The LTM process can be an inter-CU switch, and the terminal device accesses the first network device from the source network device through the LTM process. Afterwards, the first network device can receive the original LTM candidate cell configuration, and the terminal device also retains the original LTM candidate cell configuration and can update it on this basis without re-executing the LTM candidate cell preparation. One or more LTM processes can be initiated again.

[0091] Optionally, the above-mentioned updating of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device may include: releasing (or deleting) the configuration information of one or more LTM candidate cells associated with the terminal device under the second network device, and / or changing the configuration information of one or more LTM candidate cells associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0092] Optionally, the first request may include: an identifier of an LTM candidate cell whose configuration information needs to be released or changed, and / or an updated LTM candidate cell configuration. For example, assuming that the LTM candidate cells associated with the terminal device under the second network device include cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3; if the second network device needs to request a change in the configuration information of cell 3, the second network device may include the identifier of cell 3, and may also include the changed configuration information of cell 3; if the second network device needs to request the release of cell 3, the first request may include the identifier of cell 3, or include an updated LTM candidate cell configuration, which includes the configuration information of cell 1 and cell 2, but does not include the configuration information of cell 3.

[0093] In some embodiments, the above method may further include: the first network device sends a first feedback to the second network device; wherein the first feedback is used to confirm the update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

[0094] Correspondingly, for the second network device, the above method may further include: the second network device receives first feedback from the first network device; wherein the first feedback is used to confirm the update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

[0095] Optionally, the first feedback may be used to confirm that the second network device is allowed to update, and / or to confirm that the configuration update is complete. In some embodiments, the above method may further include: after receiving the first feedback, the second network device updates the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0096] In some embodiments, the above method may also include: the first network device sends a second request to the third network device; wherein the second request includes update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device, the update information is determined based on the first request, and the update information is used to instruct the third network device to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the third network device.

[0097] Optionally, the update information may include relevant configuration information determined by the first network device based on the update content requested by the second network device. Exemplarily, the update information may include an identifier of an LTM candidate cell whose configuration information the second network device needs to release or change, and / or an updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

[0098] Optionally, the updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device may include one or more of the following information: an identifier (ID) assigned by the first network device to each LTM candidate cell, an L1 measurement reporting configuration associated with the ID of the LTM candidate cell, a random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell, and a TCI (Transmission Configuration Indicator) status list associated with the LTM candidate cell.

[0099] According to the above optional manner, the third network device may update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the third network device according to the update information (for example, according to the allocation of the first network device).

[0100] Optionally, the first network device sending the second request to the third network device may be sent after the first network device receives the first request and before the first network device sends the first feedback.

[0101] It can be understood that the third network device is configured with the LTM candidate cell of the terminal device, that is, the third network device is an LTM candidate network device other than the second network device associated with the terminal device, such as a C-gNB.

[0102] In some embodiments, after the first network device sends the second request to the third network device, the method may further include: the first network device receiving second feedback from the third network device; wherein the second feedback includes the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device after being updated by the third network device. That is, the second feedback may include the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device on the third network device, which is newly determined by the third network device based on the second request, and may illustratively include configuration information of one or more LTM candidate cells.

[0103] Correspondingly, as an LTM candidate network device, the second network device can also receive a second request sent by the first network device. The second request is sent when the first network device receives a first request sent by other LTM candidate network devices (such as a third network device). The first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under other LTM candidate network devices (such as the third network device).

[0104] Specifically, the above method may also include: the second network device receives a second request from the first network device, wherein the second request includes update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device; the second network device updates the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device according to the update information.

[0105] In some embodiments, after the second network device receives the second request from the first network device, the above method may further include: the second network device sends a second feedback to the first network device; the second feedback includes the updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0106] To facilitate understanding of the above technical solution, FIG6 shows an interactive diagram of an application example of the configuration update method of an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6, the method may include the following steps:

[0107] 1. The first network device currently connected to the terminal device receives a first request from any LTM candidate network device (in this application example, candidate network device 1 is used as an example) to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration under the LTM candidate network device;

[0108] 2. The first network device sends a second request to other LTM candidate network devices (in this application example, candidate network device 2 and candidate network device 3 are used as examples), where the second request includes update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration;

[0109] 3. Candidate network device 2 and candidate network device 3 update the LTM candidate cell configuration according to the second request and send a second feedback to the first network device. The second feedback includes the updated LTM candidate cell configuration of the candidate network device;

[0110] 4. After receiving the second feedback, the first network device sends the first feedback to the candidate network device 1, so that the candidate network device 1 updates the LTM candidate cell configuration after receiving the first feedback.

[0111] In some embodiments, the above method may further include:

[0112] The first network device sends RRC reconfiguration information (RRCReconfiguration) to the terminal device; wherein the RRC reconfiguration information is used to instruct the terminal device to update the LTM candidate cell configuration;

[0113] The first network device receives RRC reconfiguration completion information from the terminal device.

[0114] Optionally, the first network device sending the RRC reconfiguration information to the terminal device and receiving the RRC reconfiguration completion information may be performed after the first network device receives the first request and before the first network device sends the first feedback. Optionally, this may be combined with the embodiment in which the first network device sends the second request to the third network device and receives the second feedback. For example, after the first network device receives the second feedback, the first network device sends the RRC reconfiguration information to the terminal device and receives the RRC reconfiguration completion information.

[0115] The above embodiment synchronizes the LTM candidate cell configuration to the terminal device, which can prevent the terminal device from using an outdated LTM candidate cell configuration to execute the LTM process.

[0116] According to the above-described embodiments of the present application, a communication system can pre-configure multiple candidate cells managed by different network devices for a terminal device, and can perform update operations such as adding / modifying / deleting the candidate cells at any time in subsequent LTM-related processes. However, according to the current signaling interaction process of the Xn interface between network devices, when a terminal device moves between the coverage areas of multiple candidate network devices, other candidate network devices other than the network device to which it is connected are unaware of the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected, which may result in the network being unable to update the LTM candidate cell configuration.

[0117] For example, the source network device (Source-gNB, S-gNB) requests the candidate network devices (including the second network device, the third network device, and the fifth network device) to provide / prepare candidate cell configurations for the LTM process, and generates an LTM configuration based on the feedback from the three candidate network devices and sends it to the terminal device. When the terminal device switches from the S-gNB to the first network device, if the second network device wants to delete some of the candidate cells previously provided, it cannot determine the target network device (i.e., the first network device) because it does not know the terminal device's location after moving, and therefore cannot initiate a configuration update.

[0118] In response to the above problems, the embodiments of the present application also provide a variety of optional implementation methods.

[0119] Method 1:

[0120] In some embodiments, the above method may also include: when confirming that the LTM process is completed, the first network device sends a first message to the anchor device; wherein the first message is used by the anchor device to update the network device information currently connected to the terminal device; the network device information is used by the LTM candidate network device associated with the terminal device to determine the network device currently connected to the terminal device.

[0121] Specifically, an anchor device is set up in the system to store information about the network device currently connected by the terminal device, such as the identifier of the network device currently connected by the terminal device. When the terminal device switches to accessing a first network device through the LTM process, the first network device sends a first message to the anchor device, instructing the anchor device to update the currently connected network device, specifically, to the first network device. Each LTM candidate network device can then determine, or in other words, query the anchor device to determine that the network device currently connected by the terminal device is the first network device, and can then send a first request to the first network device.

[0122] Accordingly, in some embodiments, the above method may further include:

[0123] The second network device sends a sixth request to the anchor device; wherein the sixth request is used to request an indication of the network device currently connected to the terminal device; the anchor device is used to save information about the network device currently connected to the terminal device;

[0124] The second network device receives the sixth feedback from the anchor device; wherein the sixth feedback is used by the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0125] That is, the second network device determines the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected by transmitting request information and feedback information between the second network device and the anchor device.

[0126] Optionally, the anchor device may be a network device or other device, such as a specific terminal device or an application server.

[0127] In some embodiments, the anchor device is a network device, and any LTM candidate network device of the terminal device can be configured as an anchor device. FIG7 is a schematic flow chart of a configuration update method according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may include:

[0128] S710: When the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device, the fifth network device receives a sixth request from the second network device; wherein the sixth request is used to request an indication of the network device currently connected to the terminal device; the anchor device is used to store information about the network device currently connected to the terminal device;

[0129] S720. The fifth network device sends a sixth feedback to the second network device; wherein the sixth feedback is used by the second network device to determine the network device currently connected to the terminal device, so that the second network device sends a first request to the network device currently connected to the terminal device, and the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0130] It can be understood that when any LTM candidate network device needs to update the LTM candidate cell configuration, it can send a sixth request to the anchor device to obtain a sixth feedback, thereby determining the network device currently connected to the terminal device and sending the first request to the currently connected network device.

[0131] In some embodiments, the above method may further include:

[0132] When configured as an anchor device, the fifth network device receives a first message from the first network device; wherein the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device accesses after completing the LTM process; the first message is used by the fifth network device to update the network device information currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0133] It can be understood that after the terminal device switches to access any network device through the LTM process, the network device can send a first message to the anchor device to enable the anchor device to update the network device information currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0134] It can be understood that, for the fifth network device, after it is configured as an anchor device, the order of receiving the sixth request and receiving the first message is not limited.

[0135] Optionally, the anchor device may not be a fixed network device, but may be changed during the LTM-related process.

[0136] In some embodiments, the initial anchor device may be determined during the LTM candidate cell preparation phase. Specifically, the above method may further include:

[0137] The fifth network device receives a seventh request sent by the fourth network device in the LTM candidate cell preparation phase; wherein the seventh request is used to request that the fifth network device be configured as an anchor device;

[0138] The fifth network device sends a seventh feedback to the fourth network device, wherein the seventh feedback is used to indicate whether the fifth network device accepts the configuration as an anchor device.

[0139] Among them, the fourth network device can be a network device accessed by the terminal device during the LTM candidate cell preparation stage, that is, a source network device, such as a source base station (Source-gNB, S-gNB).

[0140] According to the above embodiment, the fourth network device may request other network devices to configure them as anchor devices during the LTM candidate cell preparation phase. Optionally, the fourth network device may send a seventh request to one or more LTM candidate network devices.

[0141] Optionally, when the seventh feedback sent by the fifth network device is positive feedback, that is, the seventh feedback indicates that the fifth network device accepts the configuration as an anchor device, the fourth network device may send a second message to each LTM candidate network device to synchronize the information of the anchor device.

[0142] In some embodiments, the above method may also include: the first network device / the second network device receives a second message from a fourth network device; wherein the fourth network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device when preparing the LTM candidate cell; the second message is used by the first network device / the second network device to determine the initial anchor device.

[0143] Specifically, during the LTM candidate cell preparation phase, the fourth network device sends a second message to each LTM candidate network device associated with the terminal device. At this point, the terminal device has not yet accessed the first network device through the LTM process. The first network device is one of the LTM candidate network devices. Therefore, the first network device receives the second message and determines an initial anchor device based on the second message. Alternatively, the second network device may also receive the second message and determine an initial anchor device based on the second message.

[0144] Optionally, the anchor device can be changed in a subsequent LTM-related process. The embodiment of the present application also provides a method for changing the anchor device. Specifically, the configuration update method may also include:

[0145] When the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device, the fifth network device sends an eighth request to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein the eighth request is used to request the LTM candidate network device to accept the configuration as an anchor device;

[0146] Upon receiving positive feedback regarding the eighth request from the sixth network device, the fifth network device sends a third message to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; the third message is used to indicate that the sixth network device is a new anchor device.

[0147] Accordingly, from the perspective of the LTM candidate network device, the above method may further include: the first network device / the second network device receives a third message from the initial anchor device; wherein the third message is used by the first network device / the second network device to determine a new anchor device.

[0148] That is, the anchor device can execute the anchor device change process with other LTM candidate network devices. Specifically, the anchor device uses the eighth request to inquire with other subsequent LTM network devices whether they accept the configuration as the anchor device. If a positive feedback (ACK (Acknowledge) feedback) is received from a certain network device (the sixth network device), the original anchor device can synchronize the new anchor device information with the other LTM candidate network devices and release its own anchor device identity.

[0149] It can be understood that the case where the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device can be that the fifth network device is configured as the initial anchor device in the LTM candidate cell preparation stage, or that the fifth network device is configured as a new anchor device after sending positive feedback when receiving the eighth request from the anchor device.

[0150] In order to facilitate understanding of the above-mentioned method of determining the network device currently connected to the terminal device through the anchor device, this application provides an application example to exemplify the above-mentioned method in chronological order.

[0151] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between the various devices in this application example. In this application example, the network configures one or more C-gNBs (LTM candidate network devices) for the terminal device (UE), including C-gNB#1, C-gNB#2, C-gNB#3 and C-gNB#4.

[0152] Figure 9 is a flowchart of the interaction between the devices in this application example. As shown in Figure 9, in this application example, the configuration method may include:

[0153] 1. During the LTM candidate cell preparation phase, the S-gNB (fourth network device) sends a seventh request to any one or more C-gNBs. The seventh request may include an indication requesting the C-gNB to serve as an anchor gNB.

[0154] Correspondingly, the C-gNB sends the seventh feedback to the S-gNB. The seventh feedback may include: whether to accept the indication as the anchor device.

[0155] 2. After determining the anchor device, the S-gNB sends a second message to each C-gNB to synchronize the anchor device information with other C-gNBs.

[0156] 3. Based on the LTM candidate cell configuration, the network instructs the UE to perform the LTM process using an LTM cell handover command (MAC CE). For example, the S-gNB-DU (the distributed unit of the S-gNB) instructs the UE to handover to a candidate cell under C-gNB#1. In this case, C-gNB#1 becomes the T-gNB (target network device). As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the UE performs a handover from the S-gNB to C-gNB#1.

[0157] After confirming successful LTM completion (for example, by receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete message from the UE and / or an LTM completion indication from the T-gNB-DU), the T-gNB sends a first message to the anchor device. The first message updates the anchor device with the gNB information (network device information) currently connected to the UE. Furthermore, the first message may also include UE identification information. Furthermore, after each LTM process, the S-gNB must send the current C-gNB information and the candidate cell configuration under the C-gNB to the new S-gNB, i.e., the T-gNB.

[0158] 4. In the subsequent LTM process, assuming that C-gNB#2 wants to delete or update all or some of the LTM candidate cells under it, the actions of C-gNB#2 include:

[0159] (1) Sending a sixth request to the anchor device, where the sixth request is used to inquire the anchor device about the gNB (T-gNB) information currently accessed by the UE;

[0160] (2) The anchor device sends a sixth feedback to C-gNB#2. The sixth feedback is used to inform the T-gNB of the information.

[0161] (3) C-gNB#2 sends a first request to T-gNB#2. The first request is used to request the release of all or some of the candidate cells under C-gNB#2, or to request the update of configuration information of all or some of the candidate cells under C-gNB#2. Furthermore, the first request includes the identifiers of the candidate cells to be released / updated and / or the updated candidate cell configurations.

[0162] T-gNB sends a first feedback to C-gNB#2, where the first feedback is used to confirm that the configuration update is complete.

[0163] Optionally, before sending the first feedback, the T-gNB sends a second request to the other C-gNB and receives second feedback from the other C-gNB. The second request includes the ID of the candidate cell to be updated / released and / or the updated candidate cell configuration. The second feedback includes the candidate cell configuration updated by the C-gNB based on the second request.

[0164] Optionally, after receiving the second feedback, the T-gNB sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and after receiving the RRCReconfigurationComplete message from the UE, sends the first feedback to C-gNB#2.

[0165] (4) After receiving the first feedback, C-gNB#2 releases / updates the configuration reserved as the LTM candidate cell.

[0166] 5. The anchor device can execute the anchor device change process with other C-gNBs. For example, the anchor device asks other C-gNBs whether they are willing to become the new anchor device. If an ACK feedback is received from a C-gNB, the original anchor device synchronizes the new anchor device information with other C-gNBs and releases the anchor device identity.

[0167] In addition to the above-mentioned method 1 of determining the network device currently connected to the terminal device through the anchor device, the present application also provides other optional implementation methods to determine the network device currently connected to the terminal device.

[0168] Method 2:

[0169] In some embodiments, the configuration update method may further include:

[0170] When confirming that the LTM process is completed, the first network device sends a fourth message to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein the one or more LTM candidate network devices include the second network device, and the fourth message is used by the one or more LTM candidate network devices to determine that the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0171] It can be understood that the above LTM process is the LTM process for the terminal device to switch to the first network device. That is, when it is confirmed that the terminal device has switched to the first network device through the LTM process, the first network device sends a fourth message to other LTM candidate network devices to synchronize the network device information currently connected by the terminal device.

[0172] Accordingly, in some embodiments, the configuration update method may further include: the second network device receives a fourth message sent by the first network device when confirming completion of the LTM process; wherein the fourth message is used by the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0173] As an example, the configuration update method may include the following steps:

[0174] 1. Based on the LTM candidate cell configuration, the network instructs the UE to perform the LTM process through the LTM cell handover command (MAC CE). For example, the S-gNB-DU (the distributed unit of the S-gNB) instructs the UE to hand over to a candidate cell under C-gNB#1, and C-gNB#1 becomes the T-gNB (target network device).

[0175] After confirming that LTM is successfully completed (for example, receiving the RRCReconfigurationComplete message sent by the UE and / or receiving the LTM successful completion indication sent by the T-gNB-DU), the T-gNB sends a fourth message to other C-gNBs. The fourth message is used to update the gNB information currently accessed by the UE to other C-gNBs. Furthermore, the fourth message may also include UE identification information.

[0176] 2. When C-gNB#2 needs to update the candidate cell configuration under C-gNB#2, it determines the gNB currently connected to the UE based on the most recently received fourth message and performs the following steps:

[0177] (1) C-gNB#2 sends a first request to T-gNB#2. The first request is used to request the release of all or some candidate cells under C-gNB#2, or to request the update of configuration information of all or some candidate cells under C-gNB#2. Furthermore, the first request includes the identifiers of the candidate cells to be released / updated and / or the updated candidate cell configurations.

[0178] T-gNB sends a first feedback to C-gNB#2, where the first feedback is used to confirm that the configuration update is complete.

[0179] Optionally, before sending the first feedback, the T-gNB sends a second request to the other C-gNB and receives second feedback from the other C-gNB. The second request includes the ID of the candidate cell to be updated / released and / or the updated candidate cell configuration. The second feedback includes the candidate cell configuration updated by the C-gNB based on the second request.

[0180] Optionally, after receiving the second feedback, the T-gNB sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and after receiving the RRCReconfigurationComplete message from the UE, sends the first feedback to C-gNB#2.

[0181] (2) After receiving the first feedback, C-gNB#2 releases / updates the configuration reserved as the LTM candidate cell.

[0182] Method 3:

[0183] In some embodiments, before the second network device sends the first request to the first network device, the method may further include:

[0184] The second network device sends a third request to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein the third request is used to request the LTM candidate network device to confirm whether it is the network device currently connected by the terminal device;

[0185] The second network device receives third feedback from one or more LTM candidate network devices; wherein the third feedback is used by the second network device to determine the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0186] That is, when the LTM candidate network device needs to perform an LTM candidate cell configuration update, it asks other LTM candidate network devices whether they are the network devices currently connected to the terminal device, and determines the network device currently connected to the terminal device based on the responses of each device.

[0187] Optionally, the third feedback is positive feedback, and the first network device currently connected to the terminal device will send the third feedback, while other LTM candidate network devices may not send the third feedback. Alternatively, the third feedback can be positive feedback or negative feedback, and each LTM candidate network device (including the first network device) sends the third feedback.

[0188] Accordingly, for the first network device, the configuration update method further includes:

[0189] The first network device receives a third request from the second network device; wherein the third request is used to request the first network device to confirm whether it is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device;

[0190] The first network device sends a third feedback to the second network device; wherein the third feedback is used by the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0191] As an example, the configuration update method may include the following steps:

[0192] 1. Based on the LTM candidate cell configuration, the network instructs the UE to perform the LTM process through the LTM cell handover command (MAC CE). For example, the S-gNB-DU (the distributed unit of the S-gNB) instructs the UE to hand over to a candidate cell under C-gNB#1, and C-gNB#1 becomes the T-gNB (target network device).

[0193] 2. When C-gNB#2 needs to update its candidate cell configuration, it sends a third request to all other C-gNBs, querying whether each C-gNB is the gNB currently accessed by the UE. The T-gNB sends a third feedback to C-gNB#2. After receiving the third feedback, C-gNB#2 performs the following steps:

[0194] (1) C-gNB#2 sends a first request to T-gNB#2. The first request is used to request the release of all or some candidate cells under C-gNB#2, or to request the update of configuration information of all or some candidate cells under C-gNB#2. Furthermore, the first request includes the identifiers of the candidate cells to be released / updated and / or the updated candidate cell configurations.

[0195] T-gNB sends a first feedback to C-gNB#2, where the first feedback is used to confirm that the configuration update is complete.

[0196] Optionally, before sending the first feedback, the T-gNB sends a second request to the other C-gNB and receives second feedback from the other C-gNB. The second request includes the ID of the candidate cell to be updated / released and / or the updated candidate cell configuration. The second feedback includes the candidate cell configuration updated by the C-gNB based on the second request.

[0197] Optionally, after receiving the second feedback, the T-gNB sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and after receiving the RRCReconfigurationComplete message from the UE, sends the first feedback to C-gNB#2.

[0198] (2) After receiving the first feedback, C-gNB#2 releases / updates the configuration reserved as the LTM candidate cell.

[0199] In any embodiment of the present application, the information that needs to be exchanged between two network devices can be directly included in an XnAP (Xn Application Protocol) message or included in an RRC container within the XnAP message. In addition, the embodiments of the present application do not limit whether various requests / feedback / messages are carried by the same or different XnAP messages.

[0200] In some embodiments, the configuration update method may further include: upon receiving the first request, the CU (centralized unit) of the first network device instructing the DU (distributed unit) of the first network device to suspend triggering the LTM process.

[0201] That is, when the S-gNB receives the first request sent by other C-gNBs to request updating the LTM candidate cell configuration, the behavior of the S-gNB also includes: the S-gNB-CU instructs the S-gNB-DU to suspend the triggering of the LTM process.

[0202] Optionally, the CU may indicate to the DU the ID of the candidate cell that needs to be updated, so that the DU may suspend the LTM process of switching to the candidate cell corresponding to the ID.

[0203] Optionally, when the first network device initiates an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration to other LTM candidate network devices, the CU of the first network device may also instruct the DU to suspend triggering the LTM process.

[0204] In some embodiments, the above configuration update method may further include: when it is determined that the LTM candidate network device and / or the terminal device associated with the terminal device completes the LTM candidate cell configuration update, the CU instructs the DU to trigger the resumption of the LTM process.

[0205] That is, after the S-gNB confirms that the network side and / or the UE side has completed the update, the S-gNB's behavior also includes: instructing the S-gNB-DU to resume the LTM process.

[0206] Since the configuration update process is controlled by the CU and the LTM is triggered by the DU, the network and the terminal device are prone to configuration asynchrony. For example, if the LTM candidate network device has updated the LTM candidate cell configuration when the first network device and the terminal device complete the RRC reconfiguration process, the terminal device receives an LTM process to switch to the candidate cell under the LTM candidate network device, which will cause the terminal device to still use the old configuration, while the LTM candidate network device has completed the update. If the LTM candidate network device waits until the first network device and the terminal device complete the RRC reconfiguration process before updating the configuration, before the RRC reconfiguration completion information is successfully transmitted, the terminal device receives an LTM process triggered to the candidate cell under the LTM candidate network device, which will cause the network device to still use the old configuration, while the terminal device has already completed the update. Through the above embodiment, the CU instructs the DU to suspend the LTM process during the update process, which can avoid the network and the terminal using different configurations and causing switching failures.

[0207] Some embodiments of the present application also include an interaction process between various devices in the LTM candidate cell preparation phase.

[0208] Specifically, in some embodiments, before the terminal device accesses the first network device, the configuration update method further includes:

[0209] The first network device / the second network device receives a fourth request from the fourth network device; wherein the fourth request is used to instruct the first network device / the second network device to prepare an LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device; and the fourth request includes at least one of the following:

[0210] Measurement results related to terminal equipment;

[0211] a list of LTM candidate cells recommended by the fourth network device;

[0212] The maximum number of LTM candidate cells;

[0213] Reference configuration;

[0214] Request information, which is used to request the generation of a reference configuration;

[0215] The identifier of the terminal device.

[0216] Optionally, the fourth network device may send a fourth request to all LTM candidate network devices, including the first network device and the second network device. Specifically, the fourth request is used to request each LTM candidate network device to prepare an LTM candidate cell configuration for inter-CU LTM. The measurement results in the fourth request and the list of LTM candidate cells recommended by the fourth network device can be used by the LTM candidate network device to refer to determine the LTM candidate cell configuration. The maximum number of LTM candidate cells can be understood as the upper limit of the number of LTM candidate cells that can be configured by the LTM candidate network device. The reference configuration is used for the LTM candidate network device to provide an incremental configuration relative to the reference configuration. If the fourth request includes a reference configuration, the reference configuration is provided by the fourth network device, and the fourth request may not include request information for requesting the generation of a reference configuration. If the fourth request does not include a reference configuration, the fourth request may include the request information so that the LTM candidate network device provides a reference configuration.

[0217] In some embodiments, before the terminal device accesses the first network device and after the fourth request is sent, the configuration update method further includes:

[0218] The first network device / the second network device sends a fourth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein the fourth feedback includes relevant information of one or more LTM candidate cells prepared by the first network device / the second network device, and the relevant information of the LTM candidate cells includes at least one of the following:

[0219] Configuration information of LTM candidate cells;

[0220] Reference configuration;

[0221] A first identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the first identifier is used to distinguish the LTM candidate cell;

[0222] A second identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the second identifier is used by the terminal device to determine whether to reset relevant information of the LTM candidate cell when executing the LTM process;

[0223] Layer 1 measurement configuration for monitoring LTM candidate cells;

[0224] Random access configuration used to initiate early synchronization (early sync) to the LTM candidate cell.

[0225] Optionally, the fourth network device may include request information for generating a reference configuration in a fourth request sent to all or some of the LTM candidate network devices, and all or some of the LTM candidate network devices may then reply with the reference configuration in a fourth feedback. Alternatively, the fourth network device may not include the request information and reference configuration in the fourth request, assuming that each LTM candidate network device is required to provide a reference configuration in the fourth feedback.

[0226] Optionally, the first identifier of the LTM candidate cell is, for example, a CGI (Cell Global Identifier), a PCI (Physical Cell Identifier), or other identifiers.

[0227] Optionally, the second identifier of the LTM candidate cell is, for example, a CellNoReset ID associated with the LTM candidate cell.

[0228] Optionally, in the above embodiment, the fourth feedback may include information about only one candidate cell. If the first network device / the second network device has prepared multiple candidate cells, multiple first feedbacks need to be sent to the fourth network device. Alternatively, the fourth feedback may include information about all LTM candidate cells prepared by the first network device / the second network device.

[0229] In some embodiments, before the terminal device accesses the first network device, the configuration update method further includes:

[0230] The first network device / the second network device receives a fifth request from the fourth network device; wherein the fifth request includes at least one of the following:

[0231] A third identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the third identifier is an identifier allocated by the fourth network device;

[0232] L1 measurement reporting configuration for LTM candidate cells;

[0233] Random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to LTM candidate cells;

[0234] List of TCI states associated with LTM candidate cells.

[0235] Optionally, the third identifier is configured for each LTM candidate cell by the fourth network device after receiving configuration information of the LTM candidate cell fed back by each LTM candidate network device.

[0236] Optionally, the L1 measurement reporting configuration in the fifth request may be used by the first network device / the second network device to update or generate the L1 measurement reporting configuration included in the candidate cell configuration.

[0237] Optionally, after receiving the random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell and / or the TCI status list associated with the LTM candidate cell, the first network device / second network device sends the random access resource configuration and / or TCI status list to the DU associated with the candidate cell via the F1 interface. Alternatively, after the terminal device successfully accesses the first network device / second network device through the LTM process, the CU of the first network device / second network device then sends the information to the DU via the F1 interface.

[0238] In some embodiments, before the terminal device accesses the first network device and after the fifth request is sent, the configuration update method further includes:

[0239] The first network device / the second network device sends a fifth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein the fifth feedback includes the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the first network device / the second network device.

[0240] Optionally, the first network device / second network device may provide the LTM candidate cell configuration in the fifth feedback after receiving the fifth request, or may provide the LTM candidate cell configuration in the fourth feedback and then update it based on the fifth request, and provide the updated LTM candidate cell configuration in the fifth feedback.

[0241] Optionally, in the aforementioned embodiment, the seventh request sent by the fourth network device to other network devices to request to be the anchor device may be included in the fourth request or the fifth request.

[0242] Optionally, in the aforementioned embodiment, the third message for synchronizing anchor device information sent by the fourth network device to other network devices may be included in the fourth request or the fifth request.

[0243] The present application also provides a configuration update method for the terminal side. Figure 10 is a schematic flow chart of a configuration update method according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the method includes:

[0244] S1010. The terminal device receives RRC reconfiguration information from a first network device; wherein the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through a first LTM process;

[0245] S1020. The terminal device updates the LTM candidate cell configuration according to the RRC reconfiguration information, and sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the first network device. Before determining that the RRC reconfiguration completion message is successfully transmitted, the second LTM process is stopped.

[0246] Specifically, when a terminal device receives RRC reconfiguration information including an LTM candidate cell configuration, if the LTM candidate cell configuration indicates deletion / update of one or more candidate cells, the terminal device's response action includes updating the LTM candidate cell configuration according to the RRC reconfiguration information and submitting an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the underlying layer to send the RRC reconfiguration completion message. Before the RRC reconfiguration completion message confirms successful transmission, execution of the second LTM process, which may include any LTM process or a specific LTM process, is stopped.

[0247] Optionally, the successful transmission of the RRC reconfiguration completion information may be confirmed when at least one of the following conditions is met:

[0248] Receive RLC (Radio Link Control) ACK;

[0249] A new uplink scheduling is received, and the scheduled uplink resources have the same HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) process as the uplink that transmits the RRC reconfiguration complete information;

[0250] Receive downlink assignment.

[0251] In some embodiments, the second LTM process is used to switch to a first LTM candidate cell, where the first LTM candidate cell includes any LTM candidate cell of the terminal device or an LTM candidate cell whose configuration is indicated to be deleted or changed in the RRC reconfiguration information. In other words, the terminal device can suspend LTM switching for all LTM candidate cells or only for updated LTM candidate cells.

[0252] In some embodiments, stopping execution of the second LTM process includes:

[0253] When the LTM switching instruction is received, the second LTM process is canceled or postponed, wherein the second LTM process is postponed until the time when the RRC reconfiguration completion information is confirmed to be successfully transmitted.

[0254] Through the above embodiment, before the RRC reconfiguration completion information is successfully transmitted, the terminal device suspends the LTM process, which can avoid handover failure caused by the network and the terminal using different configurations.

[0255] FIG11 is a schematic block diagram of a first network device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application. The first network device 1100 may include:

[0256] The first communication module 1110 is used to receive a first request from a second network device; wherein the first network device 1100 is a network device accessed by the terminal device through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0257] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0258] Sending a first feedback to the second network device; wherein the first feedback is used to confirm updating the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

[0259] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0260] Send a second request to the third network device; wherein the second request includes update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device, the update information is determined based on the first request, and the update information is used to instruct the third network device to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the third network device.

[0261] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0262] Receive second feedback from a third network device; wherein the second feedback includes an updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device by the third network device.

[0263] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0264] Send RRC reconfiguration information to the terminal device and receive RRC reconfiguration completion information from the terminal device; wherein the RRC reconfiguration information is used to instruct the terminal device to update the LTM candidate cell configuration.

[0265] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0266] When the LTM process is confirmed to be completed, a first message is sent to the anchor device; wherein the first message is used by the anchor device to update the network device information currently connected to the terminal device; the network device information is used by the LTM candidate network device associated with the terminal device to determine the network device currently connected to the terminal device.

[0267] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0268] Receive a second message from a fourth network device; wherein the fourth network device is a network device to which the terminal device accesses when preparing the LTM candidate cell; the second message is used by the first network device 1100 to determine an initial anchor device.

[0269] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0270] A third message is received from the initial anchor device; wherein the third message is used by the first network device 1100 to determine a new anchor device.

[0271] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0272] When the LTM process is confirmed to be completed, a fourth message is sent to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein the one or more LTM candidate network devices include the second network device, and the fourth message is used by the one or more LTM candidate network devices to determine that the first network device 1100 is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0273] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0274] Receive a third request from the second network device and send a third feedback to the second network device; wherein the third request is used to request the first network device 1100 to confirm whether it is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device; the third feedback is used by the second network device to determine that the first network device 1100 is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0275] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG12 , the first network device 1100 further includes:

[0276] The first processing module 1210 is configured to, upon receiving a first request, instruct the DU through the CU to suspend triggering the LTM process.

[0277] In one embodiment, the first processing module 1210 is further configured to:

[0278] When it is determined that the LTM candidate network device associated with the terminal device and / or the terminal device completes the LTM candidate cell configuration update, the CU indicates to the DU the triggering of resuming the LTM process.

[0279] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0280] Before the terminal device accesses the first network device 1100, a fourth request is received from the fourth network device; wherein the fourth request is used to instruct the first network device 1100 to prepare an LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device; and the fourth request includes at least one of the following:

[0281] Measurement results related to terminal equipment;

[0282] a list of LTM candidate cells recommended by the fourth network device;

[0283] The maximum number of LTM candidate cells;

[0284] Reference configuration;

[0285] Request information; the request information is used to request the generation of a reference configuration;

[0286] The identifier of the terminal device.

[0287] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0288] Sending fourth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein the fourth feedback includes relevant information of one or more LTM candidate cells prepared by the first network device 1100, and the relevant information of the LTM candidate cells includes at least one of the following:

[0289] Configuration information of LTM candidate cells;

[0290] Reference configuration;

[0291] A first identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the first identifier is used to distinguish the LTM candidate cell;

[0292] A second identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the second identifier is used by the terminal device to determine whether to reset relevant information of the LTM candidate cell when executing the LTM process;

[0293] Layer 1 measurement configuration for monitoring LTM candidate cells;

[0294] Random access configuration used to initiate early synchronization to LTM candidate cells.

[0295] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0296] Before the terminal device accesses the first network device 1100, a fifth request is received from the fourth network device; wherein the fifth request includes at least one of the following:

[0297] A third identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the third identifier is an identifier allocated by the fourth network device;

[0298] Layer 1 measurement reporting configuration for LTM candidate cells;

[0299] Random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to LTM candidate cells;

[0300] A list of transmission configuration indication states associated with LTM candidate cells.

[0301] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 is further configured to:

[0302] Send a fifth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein the fifth feedback includes the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the first network device 1100.

[0303] The first network device 1100 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the first network device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The corresponding processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects of each module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) in the first network device 1100 can be found in the corresponding description in the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) in the first network device 1100 of the embodiment of the application can be implemented by different modules (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0304] FIG13 is a schematic block diagram of a second network device 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The second network device 1300 may include:

[0305] The second communication module 1310 is used to send a first request to the first network device; wherein the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device 1300.

[0306] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0307] Receive first feedback from the first network device; wherein the first feedback is used to confirm updating the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

[0308] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG14 , the second network device 1300 further includes:

[0309] The second processing module 1410 is configured to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device in the second network device 1300 after receiving the first feedback.

[0310] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0311] A sixth request is sent to the anchor device and a sixth feedback is received from the anchor device; wherein the sixth request is used to request an indication of the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected; the anchor device is used to save information about the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected; and the sixth feedback is used by the second network device 1300 to determine that the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected.

[0312] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0313] Receive a second message from a fourth network device; wherein the fourth network device is a network device to which the terminal device accesses when preparing the LTM candidate cell; the second message is used by the second network device 1300 to determine an initial anchor device.

[0314] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0315] A third message is received from the initial anchor device; wherein the third message is used by the second network device 1300 to determine a new anchor device.

[0316] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0317] Receive a fourth message sent by the first network device when confirming completion of the LTM process; wherein the fourth message is used by the second network device 1300 to determine that the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0318] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0319] A third request is sent to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device and a third feedback is received from the one or more LTM candidate network devices; wherein the third request is used to request the LTM candidate network device to confirm whether it is the network device currently connected to the terminal device; and the third feedback is used by the second network device 1300 to determine the network device currently connected to the terminal device.

[0320] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0321] receiving a second request from the first network device; wherein the second request includes update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device;

[0322] As shown in FIG14 , the second network device 1300 further includes:

[0323] The third processing module 1420 is configured to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device 1300 according to the update information.

[0324] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0325] Sending a second feedback to the first network device; the second feedback includes the updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device 1300.

[0326] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0327] Receive a fourth request from a fourth network device; wherein the fourth request is used to instruct the second network device 1300 to prepare an LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device; the fourth request includes at least one of the following:

[0328] Measurement results related to terminal equipment;

[0329] a list of LTM candidate cells recommended by the fourth network device;

[0330] The maximum number of LTM candidate cells;

[0331] Reference configuration;

[0332] Request information, which is used to request the generation of a reference configuration;

[0333] The identifier of the terminal device.

[0334] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0335] Sending fourth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein the fourth feedback includes relevant information of one or more LTM candidate cells prepared by the second network device 1300, and the relevant information of the LTM candidate cells includes at least one of the following:

[0336] Configuration information of LTM candidate cells;

[0337] Reference configuration;

[0338] A first identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the first identifier is used to distinguish the LTM candidate cell;

[0339] A second identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the second identifier is used by the terminal device to determine whether to reset relevant information of the LTM candidate cell when executing the LTM process;

[0340] Layer 1 measurement configuration for monitoring LTM candidate cells;

[0341] Random access configuration used to initiate early synchronization to LTM candidate cells.

[0342] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0343] Receive a fifth request from a fourth network device; wherein the fifth request includes at least one of the following:

[0344] A third identifier of the LTM candidate cell, where the third identifier is an identifier allocated by the fourth network device;

[0345] Layer 1 measurement reporting configuration for LTM candidate cells;

[0346] Random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to LTM candidate cells;

[0347] A list of transmission configuration indication states associated with LTM candidate cells.

[0348] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1310 is further configured to:

[0349] The second network device 1300 sends a fifth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein the fifth feedback includes the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device 1300.

[0350] The second network device 1300 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the second network device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The corresponding processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects of each module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) in the second network device 1300 can be found in the corresponding description in the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) in the second network device 1300 of the embodiment of the application can be implemented by different modules (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0351] FIG15 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 1500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 1500 may include:

[0352] The third communication module 1510 is configured to receive RRC reconfiguration information from a first network device, wherein the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through the first LTM process;

[0353] The fourth processing module 1520 is configured to update the LTM candidate cell configuration according to the RRC reconfiguration information, and send an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the first network device, and stop executing the second LTM process before determining that the RRC reconfiguration completion message is successfully transmitted.

[0354] In one embodiment, the second LTM process is used to switch to a first LTM candidate cell, where the first LTM candidate cell includes any LTM candidate cell of the terminal device or an LTM candidate cell whose configuration is indicated to be deleted or changed in RRC reconfiguration information.

[0355] In one embodiment, the fourth processing module 1520 is specifically configured to:

[0356] When the LTM switching instruction is received, the execution of the second LTM process is canceled or the execution of the second LTM process is postponed.

[0357] The terminal device 1500 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects corresponding to the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the terminal device 1500 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the terminal device 1500 of the embodiment of the application can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0358] FIG16 is a schematic block diagram of a fifth network device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The fifth network device 1600 may include:

[0359] The fourth communication module 1610 is configured to receive a sixth request from the second network device and send a sixth feedback to the second network device when the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device;

[0360] Among them, the anchor device is used to save the network device information currently connected by the terminal device; the sixth request is used to request the network device currently connected by the terminal device; the sixth feedback is used by the second network device to determine the network device currently connected by the terminal device, so that the second network device sends a first request to the network device currently connected by the terminal device, and the first request is used to request to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

[0361] In one embodiment, the fourth communication module 1610 is further configured to:

[0362] When the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device, it receives a first message from the first network device; wherein the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device accesses after completing the LTM process; the first message is used by the fifth network device to update the network device information currently accessed by the terminal device.

[0363] In one embodiment, the fourth communication module 1610 is further configured to:

[0364] Receive a seventh request sent by the fourth network device in the LTM candidate cell preparation phase and send a seventh feedback to the fourth network device; wherein the seventh request is used to request that the fifth network device be configured as an anchor device; and the seventh feedback is used to indicate whether the fifth network device accepts the configuration as an anchor device.

[0365] In one embodiment, the fourth communication module 1610 is further configured to:

[0366] When the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device, an eighth request is sent to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein the eighth request is used to request the LTM candidate network device to accept the configuration as an anchor device;

[0367] In case of receiving positive feedback for the eighth request from the sixth network device, a third message is sent to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; the third message is used to indicate that the sixth network device is a new anchor device.

[0368] The fifth network device 1600 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the fifth network device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects corresponding to the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the fifth network device 1600 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the fifth network device 1600 of the embodiment of the application can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0369] Figure 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1700 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1700 includes a processor 1710, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to enable the communication device 1700 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0370] In one embodiment, the communication device 1700 may further include a memory 1720. The processor 1710 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1720 to enable the communication device 1700 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0371] The memory 1720 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1710 , or may be integrated into the processor 1710 .

[0372] In one embodiment, the communication device 1700 may further include a transceiver 1730 , and the processor 1710 may control the transceiver 1730 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, the transceiver 1730 may send information or data to other devices, or receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0373] The transceiver 1730 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1730 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0374] In one embodiment, the communication device 1700 may be a network device of an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1700 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0375] In one embodiment, the communication device 1700 may be a terminal device of an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1700 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0376] 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 1800 according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1800 includes a processor 1810, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0377] In one embodiment, the chip 1800 may further include a memory 1820. The processor 1810 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1820 to implement the method executed by the terminal device or the network device in the embodiment of the present application.

[0378] The memory 1820 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1810 , or may be integrated into the processor 1810 .

[0379] In one embodiment, the chip 1800 may further include an input interface 1830. The processor 1810 may control the input interface 1830 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0380] In one embodiment, the chip 1800 may further include an output interface 1840. The processor 1810 may control the output interface 1840 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0381] In one embodiment, the chip can be applied to the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0382] In one embodiment, the chip can be applied to the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0383] The chips used in the network device and the terminal device may be the same chip or different chips.

[0384] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0385] The processor mentioned above may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor mentioned above may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0386] The memory mentioned above may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM).

[0387] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0388] Figure 19 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system 1900 includes a first network device 1100 and a second network device 1300. Optionally, the system may further include one or more of a terminal device, a fifth network device, and a fourth network device.

[0389] Each of these can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the corresponding devices in the above method. For the sake of brevity, they will not be described in detail here.

[0390] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function in accordance with the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, computer, server or data center by wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0391] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0392] 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.

[0393] The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A configuration update method, comprising: The first network device receives a first request from the second network device; wherein, the first network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device through a mobility LTM process triggered by layer 1 / layer 2; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further includes: The first network device sends a first feedback to the second network device; wherein, the first feedback is used to confirm the update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The method further includes: The first network device sends a second request to the third network device; wherein, the second request contains update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device, the update information is determined according to the first request, and the update information is used to instruct the third network device to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the third network device.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The method further includes: The first network device receives a second feedback from the third network device; wherein, the second feedback includes the updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device by the third network device.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein The method further includes: The first network device sends radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration information to the terminal device; wherein, the RRC reconfiguration information is used to instruct the terminal device to update the LTM candidate cell configuration; The first network device receives RRC reconfiguration completion information from the terminal device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein The method further includes: When confirming the completion of the LTM process, the first network device sends a first message to the anchor device; wherein, the first message is used for the anchor device to update the network device information of the currently accessed network device of the terminal device; the network device information is used to determine the currently accessed network device of the terminal device by the LTM candidate network device associated with the terminal device.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The method further includes: The first network device receives a second message from the fourth network device; wherein, the fourth network device is a network device accessed by the terminal device when preparing for the LTM candidate cell; the second message is used for the first network device to determine the initial anchor device.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein The method further includes: The first network device receives a third message from the initial anchor device; wherein, the third message is used for the first network device to determine a new anchor device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein The method further includes: When confirming the completion of the LTM process, the first network device sends a fourth message to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein, the one or more LTM candidate network devices include the second network device, and the fourth message is used for the one or more LTM candidate network devices to determine that the first network device is the currently accessed network device of the terminal device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein The method further includes: The first network device receives a third request from the second network device; wherein, the third request is used to request the first network device to confirm whether it is the currently accessed network device of the terminal device; The first network device sends a third feedback to the second network device; wherein, the third feedback is used for the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein The method further includes: When receiving the first request, a central unit (CU) of the first network device instructs a distributed unit (DU) of the first network device to suspend triggering the LTM process.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The method further includes: When determining that the LTM candidate network device associated with the terminal device and / or the terminal device has completed the update of the LTM candidate cell configuration, the CU instructs the DU to resume triggering the LTM process.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-12, wherein Before the terminal device accesses the first network device, the method further includes: The first network device receives a fourth request from a fourth network device; wherein, the fourth request is used to instruct the first network device to prepare the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device; the fourth request includes at least one of the following: Measurement results related to the terminal device; A list of LTM candidate cells recommended by the fourth network device; The maximum value of the number of LTM candidate cells; Reference configuration; Request information for requesting the generation of the reference configuration; The identifier of the terminal device.

14. According to the method of claim 13, wherein, The method further includes: The first network device sends a fourth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the fourth feedback includes information related to one or more LTM candidate cells prepared by the first network device, and the information related to the LTM candidate cells includes at least one of the following: The configuration information of the LTM candidate cell; Reference configuration; The first identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is used to distinguish the LTM candidate cell; The second identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is used for the terminal device to determine whether to reset the information related to the LTM candidate cell when performing the LTM process; Layer 1 measurement configuration for monitoring the LTM candidate cell; Random access configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell.

15. According to the method of any one of claims 1 - 14, wherein, Before the terminal device accesses the first network device, the method further includes: The first network device receives a fifth request from the fourth network device; wherein, the fifth request includes at least one of the following: The third identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is an identifier assigned by the fourth network device; Layer 1 measurement reporting configuration of the LTM candidate cell; Random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell; A list of transmission configuration indication states associated with the LTM candidate cell.

16. According to the method of claim 15, wherein, The method further includes: The first network device sends a fifth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the fifth feedback includes the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the first network device.

17. A configuration update method, comprising: The second network device sends a first request to the first network device; wherein, the first network device is the network device accessed by the terminal device through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

18. According to the method of claim 17, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device receives a first feedback from the first network device; wherein, the first feedback is used to confirm the update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

19. According to the method of claim 18, wherein, The method further includes: After receiving the first feedback, the second network device updates the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

20. According to the method of any one of claims 17 - 19, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device sends a sixth request to the anchor device; wherein, the sixth request is used to request an indication of the network device currently accessed by the terminal device; the anchor device is used to store the network device information currently accessed by the terminal device. The second network device receives a sixth feedback from the anchor device; wherein, the sixth feedback is used for the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

21. According to the method of claim 20, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device receives a second message from the fourth network device; wherein, the fourth network device is the network device accessed by the terminal device when preparing the LTM candidate cell; the second message is used for the second network device to determine the initial anchor device.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device receives a third message from the initial anchor device; wherein, the third message is used for the second network device to determine the new anchor device.

23. The method according to any one of claims 17-19, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device receives a fourth message sent by the first network device when confirming the completion of the LTM process; wherein, the fourth message is used for the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

24. The method according to any one of claims 17-19, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device sends a third request to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein, the third request is used to request the LTM candidate network device to confirm whether it is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device. The second network device receives a third feedback from one or more LTM candidate network devices; wherein, the third feedback is used for the second network device to determine the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

25. The method according to any one of claims 17-24, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device receives a second request from the first network device; wherein, the second request includes update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device. The second network device updates the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device according to the update information.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device sends a second feedback to the first network device; the second feedback includes the updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

27. The method according to any one of claims 17-26, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device receives a fourth request from a fourth network device; wherein, the fourth request is used to instruct the second network device to prepare the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device; the fourth request includes at least one of the following: Measurement results related to the terminal device; The LTM candidate cell list recommended by the fourth network device; The maximum value of the number of LTM candidate cells; Reference configuration; Request information, which is used to request the generation of a reference configuration; The identifier of the terminal device.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device sends a fourth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the fourth feedback includes the relevant information of one or more LTM candidate cells prepared by the second network device, and the relevant information of the LTM candidate cells includes at least one of the following: The configuration information of the LTM candidate cell; Reference configuration; The first identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is used to distinguish the LTM candidate cell; The second identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is used for the terminal device to determine whether to reset the relevant information of the LTM candidate cell in the case of executing the LTM process; The layer 1 measurement configuration for monitoring the LTM candidate cell; The random access configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell.

29. The method according to any one of claims 17-28, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device receives a fifth request from the fourth network device; wherein, the fifth request includes at least one of the following: The third identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is the identifier assigned by the fourth network device; The layer 1 measurement reporting configuration of the LTM candidate cell; The random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell; The transmission configuration indication status list associated with the LTM candidate cell.

30. According to the method of claim 29, wherein, The method further includes: The second network device sends a fifth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the fifth feedback includes the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

31. A configuration update method, comprising: The terminal device receives RRC reconfiguration information from a first network device; wherein, the first network device is the network device accessed by the terminal device through the first LTM process; The terminal device updates the LTM candidate cell configuration according to the RRC reconfiguration information, and sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the first network device, and stops executing the second LTM process before determining that the transmission of the RRC reconfiguration complete message is successful.

32. According to the method of claim 31, wherein, The second LTM process is used to switch to a first LTM candidate cell, and the first LTM candidate cell includes any LTM candidate cell of the terminal device or the LTM candidate cell whose configuration is indicated to be deleted or changed in the RRC reconfiguration information.

33. According to the method of claim 31 or 32, wherein, The stopping of executing the second LTM process includes: In the case of receiving an LTM handover instruction, canceling the execution of the second LTM process or delaying the execution of the second LTM process.

34. A configuration update method, comprising: When the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device, it receives a sixth request from the second network device; wherein, the sixth request is used to request an indication of the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected; the anchor device is used to save the information of the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected. The fifth network device sends a sixth feedback to the second network device; wherein, the sixth feedback is used for the second network device to determine the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected, so that the second network device sends a first request to the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected, and the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

35. According to the method of claim 34, wherein, The method further includes: When the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device, it receives a first message from the first network device; wherein, the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device is connected after completing the LTM process; the first message is used for the fifth network device to update the information of the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected.

36. According to the method of claim 34 or 35, wherein, The method further includes: The fifth network device receives a seventh request sent by the fourth network device during the LTM candidate cell preparation phase; wherein, the seventh request is used to request to configure the fifth network device as an anchor device. The fifth network device sends a seventh feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the seventh feedback is used to indicate whether the fifth network device accepts being configured as the anchor device.

37. According to the method of any one of claims 34 - 36, wherein, The method further includes: When the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device, it sends an eighth request to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein, the eighth request is used to request the LTM candidate network devices to accept being configured as the anchor device. Upon receiving an affirmative feedback from the sixth network device for the eighth request, the fifth network device sends a third message to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; the third message is used to indicate that the sixth network device is the new anchor device.

38. A first network device, comprising: The first communication module is used to receive a first request from the second network device; wherein, the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device is connected through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

39. According to the first network device of claim 38, wherein, The first communication module is further used to: Send a first feedback to the second network device; wherein, the first feedback is used to confirm the update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

40. According to the first network device of claim 38 or 39, wherein, The first communication module is further used to: Send a second request to the third network device; wherein, the second request includes the update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device, the update information is determined according to the first request, and the update information is used to instruct the third network device to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the third network device.

41. According to the first network device of claim 40, wherein, The first communication module is further used to: Receive a second feedback from the third network device; wherein, the second feedback includes the updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device by the third network device.

42. The first network device according to any one of claims 38 - 41, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: Send RRC reconfiguration information to the terminal device and receive RRC reconfiguration complete information from the terminal device; wherein, the RRC reconfiguration information is used to instruct the terminal device to update the LTM candidate cell configuration.

43. The first network device according to any one of claims 38 - 42, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: When confirming the completion of the LTM process, send a first message to the anchor device; wherein, the first message is used for the anchor device to update the network device information to which the terminal device is currently connected; the network device information is used to determine the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected by the LTM candidate network device associated with the terminal device.

44. The first network device according to claim 43, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: Receive a second message from a fourth network device; wherein, the fourth network device is the network device to which the terminal device is connected when preparing the LTM candidate cell; the second message is used for the first network device to determine the initial anchor device.

45. The first network device according to claim 44, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: Receive a third message from the initial anchor device; wherein, the third message is used for the first network device to determine a new anchor device.

46. The first network device according to any one of claims 38 - 42, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: When confirming the completion of the LTM process, send a fourth message to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein, the one or more LTM candidate network devices include the second network device, and the fourth message is used for the one or more LTM candidate network devices to determine that the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected.

47. The first network device according to any one of claims 38 - 42, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: Receive a third request from the second network device and send a third feedback to the second network device; wherein, the third request is used to request the first network device to confirm whether it is the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected; the third feedback is used for the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected.

48. The first network device according to any one of claims 38 - 47, wherein, The first network device further includes: A first processing module, configured to, when receiving the first request, instruct the DU to suspend triggering the LTM process through the CU.

49. The first network device according to claim 48, wherein, The first processing module is further configured to: When determining that the LTM candidate network device associated with the terminal device and / or the terminal device has completed the update of the LTM candidate cell configuration, instruct the DU to resume triggering the LTM process through the CU.

50. The first network device according to any one of claims 38 - 49, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: Before the terminal device accesses the first network device, receive a fourth request from a fourth network device; wherein, the fourth request is used to instruct the first network device to prepare the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device; the fourth request includes at least one of the following: Measurement results related to the terminal device; A list of LTM candidate cells recommended by the fourth network device; The maximum value of the number of LTM candidate cells; Reference configuration; Request information; the request information is used to request the generation of a reference configuration; The identifier of the terminal device.

51. The first network device according to claim 50, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: Send a fourth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the fourth feedback includes information related to one or more LTM candidate cells prepared by the first network device, and the information related to the LTM candidate cells includes at least one of the following: The configuration information of the LTM candidate cell; Reference configuration; The first identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is used to distinguish the LTM candidate cell; The second identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is used for the terminal device to determine whether to reset the information related to the LTM candidate cell when performing the LTM process; The layer 1 measurement configuration for monitoring the LTM candidate cell; The random access configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell.

52. The first network device according to any one of claims 38 - 51, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: Before the terminal device accesses the first network device, receive a fifth request from the fourth network device; wherein, the fifth request includes at least one of the following: The third identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is an identifier assigned by the fourth network device; The layer 1 measurement reporting configuration of the LTM candidate cell; The random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell; The transmission configuration indication status list associated with the LTM candidate cell.

53. The first network device according to claim 52, wherein, The first communication module is further configured to: Send a fifth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the fifth feedback includes the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the first network device.

54. A second network device, comprising: A second communication module, configured to send a first request to the first network device; wherein, the first network device is the network device accessed by the terminal device through the LTM process; the first request is used to request an update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

55. The second network device according to claim 54, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Receive a first feedback from the first network device; wherein, the first feedback is used to confirm the update of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device.

56. The second network device according to claim 55, wherein, The second network device further includes: A second processing module, configured to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device after receiving the first feedback.

57. The second network device according to any one of claims 54 - 56, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Send a sixth request to the anchor device and receive a sixth feedback from the anchor device; wherein, the sixth request is used to request an indication of the network device currently accessed by the terminal device; the anchor device is used to save the information of the network device currently accessed by the terminal device; the sixth feedback is used for the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device currently accessed by the terminal device.

58. The second network device according to claim 58, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Receive a second message from the fourth network device; wherein, the fourth network device is the network device accessed by the terminal device when preparing the LTM candidate cell; the second message is used for the second network device to determine the initial anchor device.

59. The second network device according to claim 58, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Receive a third message from an initial anchor device; wherein, the third message is used by the second network device to determine a new anchor device.

60. The second network device according to any one of claims 54 - 56, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Receive a fourth message sent by the first network device when confirming the completion of the LTM process; wherein, the fourth message is used by the second network device to determine that the first network device is the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected.

61. The second network device according to any one of claims 54 - 56, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Send a third request to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device and receive a third feedback from the one or more LTM candidate network devices; wherein, the third request is used to request the LTM candidate network devices to confirm whether they are the network devices to which the terminal device is currently connected; the third feedback is used by the second network device to determine the network device to which the terminal device is currently connected. The second network device according to any one of claims 54 - 61, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Receive a second request from the first network device; wherein, the second request includes update information of the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device. The second network device further includes: A third processing module, configured to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device according to the update information. The second network device according to claim 62, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Send a second feedback to the first network device; the second feedback includes the updated LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device. The second network device according to any one of claims 54 - 63, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Receive a fourth request from a fourth network device; wherein, the fourth request is used to instruct the second network device to prepare the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device; the fourth request includes at least one of the following: Measurement results related to the terminal device; A list of LTM candidate cells recommended by the fourth network device; The maximum value of the number of LTM candidate cells; Reference configuration; Request information, which is used to request the generation of a reference configuration; The identifier of the terminal device. The second network device according to claim 64, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Send a fourth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the fourth feedback includes information related to one or more LTM candidate cells prepared by the second network device, and the information related to the LTM candidate cells includes at least one of the following: The configuration information of the LTM candidate cell; Reference configuration; The first identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is used to distinguish the LTM candidate cell; The second identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is used by the terminal device to determine whether to reset the information related to the LTM candidate cell in the case of performing the LTM process; Layer 1 measurement configuration for monitoring the LTM candidate cell; Random access configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell. The second network device according to any one of claims 54 - 65, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: Receive a fifth request from a fourth network device; wherein, the fifth request includes at least one of the following: The third identifier of the LTM candidate cell, which is an identifier assigned by the fourth network device; The layer 1 measurement reporting configuration of the LTM candidate cell; The random access resource configuration for initiating early synchronization to the LTM candidate cell; The list of transmission configuration indication states associated with the LTM candidate cell. The second network device according to claim 66, wherein, The second communication module is further configured to: The second network device sends a fifth feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the fifth feedback includes the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device. A terminal device, comprising: A third communication module, configured to receive RRC reconfiguration information from a first network device; wherein, the first network device is the network device accessed by the terminal device through a first LTM process; The terminal device accesses the network device; A fourth processing module, configured to update the LTM candidate cell configuration according to the RRC reconfiguration information, send an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the first network device, and stop executing the second LTM process before determining that the transmission of the RRC reconfiguration complete message is successful.

69. The terminal device according to claim 68, wherein, The second LTM process is used to switch to a first LTM candidate cell, and the first LTM candidate cell includes any LTM candidate cell of the terminal device or the LTM candidate cell whose configuration is indicated to be deleted or changed in the RRC reconfiguration information.

70. The terminal device according to claim 68 or 69, wherein, The fourth processing module is specifically configured to: In the case of receiving an LTM handover instruction, cancel the execution of the second LTM process or postpone the execution of the second LTM process.

71. A fifth network device, comprising: A fourth communication module, configured to receive a sixth request from a second network device and send a sixth feedback to the second network device when the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device; Wherein, the anchor device is used to save the network device information currently accessed by the terminal device; the sixth request is used to request to indicate the network device currently accessed by the terminal device; the sixth feedback is used for the second network device to determine the network device currently accessed by the terminal device, so that the second network device sends a first request to the network device currently accessed by the terminal device, and the first request is used to request to update the LTM candidate cell configuration associated with the terminal device under the second network device.

72. The fifth network device according to claim 71, wherein, The fourth communication module is further configured to: Receive a first message from a first network device when the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device; wherein, the first network device is the network device accessed by the terminal device after completing the LTM process; the first message is used for the fifth network device to update the network device information currently accessed by the terminal device.

73. The fifth network device according to claim 71 or 72, wherein, The fourth communication module is further configured to: Receive a seventh request sent by a fourth network device during the LTM candidate cell preparation phase and send a seventh feedback to the fourth network device; wherein, the seventh request is used to request to configure the fifth network device as an anchor device; the seventh feedback is used to indicate whether the fifth network device accepts the configuration as the anchor device.

74. The fifth network device according to any one of claims 71-73, wherein, The fourth communication module is further configured to: When the fifth network device is configured as an anchor device, send an eighth request to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; wherein, the eighth request is used to request the LTM candidate network device to be configured as the anchor device. When receiving an affirmative feedback for the eighth request from a sixth network device, send a third message to one or more LTM candidate network devices associated with the terminal device; the third message is used to indicate that the sixth network device is the new anchor device.

75. A first network device, comprising: A transceiver, a processor, and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the first network device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

76. A second network device, comprising: A transceiver, a processor, and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the second network device executes the method according to any one of claims 17 to 30.

77. A terminal device, comprising: A transceiver, a processor, and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the terminal device executes the method according to any one of claims 31 to 33.

78. A fifth network device, comprising: A transceiver, a processor, and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the fifth network device executes the method according to any one of claims 34 to 37.

79. A chip, comprising: A processor, used to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that the device installed with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37.

80. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which when run on a device causes the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37.

81. A computer program product, comprising computer program instructions that cause a computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37.

82. A computer program, which causes a computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37.

83. A communication system, comprising: A first network device, used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16. A second network device, used to execute the method according to any one of claims 17 to 30.

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