Conditional handover method, communication device, and storage medium

Abstract

The present application discloses a conditional handover method, a communication device, and a storage medium. The method comprises: sending pre-configuration information to a terminal device, the pre-configuration information comprising candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information, and the handover scenario indication information is used for determining a trigger condition for use. Correspondingly, when receiving the pre-configuration information, the terminal device determines, on the basis of the handover scenario indication information in the pre-configuration information, a trigger condition used for cell handover. The solution of the present application can effectively reduce handover delay while ensuring the robustness of cell handover.

Description

Conditional switching method, communication device, and storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on December 14, 2023, with application number 202311731490.8 and application name “Conditional switching method, communication equipment, storage medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a conditional switching method, communication equipment, and storage medium. Background Art

[0003] In New Radio (NR), for a UE in the RRC_CONNECTED state, if the UE moves from one cell to another, the network decides whether to perform a handover based on the Layer 3 (L3) measurement results of the User Equipment (UE) and determines the target cell for the handover based on the UE's measurement results.

[0004] In order to prevent the original base station from being unable to send the switching command to the UE in time due to drastic changes in the UE signal, conditional handover (CHO) was introduced in NR R16. At the same time, layer 1 or layer 2 triggered mobility (L1 / L2-Triggered Mobility, LTM) was introduced, which uses layer 2 (L2) signaling for switching based on layer 1 (L1) measurement results to reduce switching delay. Conditional LTM (CLTM) of LTM will be introduced later, that is, the UE autonomously evaluates the alternative cells based on the trigger conditions configured by the network, and autonomously switches once they are met. The difference from conditional handover is that the trigger conditions here can be thresholds or conditions configured based on L1 measurement results.

[0005] In 6th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (6G) scenarios, if CLTM is used, the advantage of LTM based on L1 measurement results is low handover latency. In some scenarios, LTM can eliminate the need for L2 restart, improving service continuity. However, this can lead to ping-pong handover issues. On the other hand, if conditional handover is triggered based on L3 measurement results, L3 measurement results comprehensively consider the quality of the cell's multiple beams, improving handover robustness. However, the L3 handover evaluation latency is significant, potentially preventing timely handover. Therefore, in scenarios that support both CLTM and conditional handover, how can the impact of handover latency be reduced while ensuring robustness? Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a conditional switching method, a communication device, and a storage medium, which effectively reduce the switching delay while ensuring the robustness of cell switching.

[0007] In one aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a conditional switching method, the method comprising:

[0008] Send pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information; the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used.

[0009] Optionally, the trigger condition includes: a trigger condition based on L1 and / or a trigger condition based on L3.

[0010] Optionally, the trigger condition corresponds to different switching modes, and the switching modes include: CLTM, or conditional switching; the conditional switching includes CHO and CPAC.

[0011] Optionally, the switching scenario indication information includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following: control unit identification, data unit identification information, base station identification information, service cell does not need to restart identification information, group identification information, and frequency group identification information.

[0012] Optionally, the identification information is used to indicate that when the identification information of the candidate cell is the same as that of the current serving cell, the trigger condition based on L1 is adopted, and the trigger condition based on L3 is not adopted at the same time.

[0013] Optionally, the switching scenario indication information includes one or more group information and cell identification information within the group corresponding to the group information.

[0014] Optionally, the group information is used to indicate that cells within the same group adopt a trigger condition based on L1, and cells between different groups adopt a trigger condition based on L3.

[0015] Optionally, the switching scenario indication information includes one or more frequency group information and frequency information corresponding to the frequency group information.

[0016] Optionally, the frequency group information is used to indicate that cells within the same frequency group adopt a trigger condition based on L1, and cells between frequency groups adopt a trigger condition based on L3.

[0017] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a conditional switching method, the method comprising:

[0018] Receive pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information;

[0019] Determine a trigger condition for cell switching according to the switching scenario indication information.

[0020] Optionally, the handover scenario indication information includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following: control unit identification information, data unit identification information, base station identification information, serving cell restart-not-required identification information, group identification information, and frequency group identification information;

[0021] The determining of the triggering condition for cell switching according to the switching scenario indication information includes:

[0022] If the identification information of the candidate cell is the same as that of the current serving cell, the trigger condition based on L1 is adopted; if they are different, the trigger condition based on L3 is adopted.

[0023] Optionally, the handover scenario indication information includes one or more group information and cell identification information within the group corresponding to the group information;

[0024] The group information is used to indicate that cells within the same group adopt a trigger condition based on L1, and cells between different groups adopt a trigger condition based on L3.

[0025] Optionally, the switching scenario indication information includes one or more frequency group information and frequency information corresponding to the frequency group information;

[0026] The frequency group information is used to indicate that cells within the same frequency group adopt a trigger condition based on L1, and cells between frequency groups adopt a trigger condition based on L3.

[0027] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, comprising:

[0028] The sending module is used to send pre-configuration information to the terminal device, where the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and switching scenario indication information; the switching scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used.

[0029] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, comprising:

[0030] A receiving module, configured to receive pre-configuration information, wherein the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and switching scenario indication information;

[0031] The information processing module is used to determine the triggering condition used for cell switching according to the switching scenario indication information.

[0032] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program executes the steps of the aforementioned conditional switching method when executed by a processor.

[0033] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the aforementioned conditional switching method when running the computer program.

[0034] The conditional switching method, communication device, and storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present application use different trigger conditions to perform switching evaluation according to different scenarios of the terminal device to determine whether to use CLTM or conditional switching. At the same time, in order to enable the terminal device to know the trigger conditions that need to be adopted, the network sends pre-configuration information to the terminal device, which includes alternative cell information, trigger conditions, and switching scenario indication information; wherein the switching scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used. Accordingly, after the terminal device receives the pre-configuration information, it can determine the trigger conditions used for cell switching based on the switching scenario indication information therein. By using the solution of the present application, the terminal device can minimize the switching delay as much as possible in a scenario that supports CLTM+conditional switching at the same time, reduce the delay and service interruption caused by switching, and reduce or avoid switching failures, thereby improving user experience.

[0035] Furthermore, the switching scene indication information can be specifically expressed in a variety of ways and information to enhance convenience and flexibility. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the CCU-DDU-AP architecture;

[0037] FIG2 is a flow chart of a conditional switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG4 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In order to make the above-mentioned objectives, features and beneficial effects of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0042] The communication systems to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable include, but are not limited to, narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) systems, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) systems, code division multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000) systems, time division synchronization code division multiple access (TDSCDMA) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, fifth-generation mobile communications (5G) systems, new radio (NR) systems, and future evolution systems such as sixth generation (6G), seventh generation (7G), etc., or vehicle-mounted wireless short-range communication systems, or multiple communication convergence systems.

[0043] The technical solution of this application is also applicable to different network architectures, including but not limited to relay network architecture, dual-connection architecture, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) architecture, device-to-device (D2D) architecture, and other architectures.

[0044] The devices in the embodiments of the present application include network devices and may also include terminals. Network devices, also known as access network devices, are devices deployed in a radio access network (RAN) to provide wireless communication functions. For example, they may be base stations (BS) (also known as base station equipment) or base station controllers (BSC).

[0045] The base station (BS) in the embodiment of the present application, which may also be referred to as a base station device, is a device deployed in a radio access network (RAN) to provide wireless communication functions. For example, in the second-generation (2G) network, the device providing the base station function includes the base transceiver station (BTS), in the third-generation (3G) network, the device providing the base station function includes the node B (NodeB), in the fourth-generation (4G) network, the device providing the base station function includes the evolved node B (eNB), in the wireless local area network (WLAN), the device providing the base station function is the access point (AP), and in the 5G new radio (NR) network, the device providing the base station function is the next generation node base station (gNB) and the evolved node B (ng-eNB), where the gNB and the terminal communicate using NR technology, and the ng-eNB and the terminal communicate using evolved universal terrestrial radio access (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio) technology. The base station in the embodiment of the present application also includes a device that provides base station functions in a future new communication system.

[0046] The base station controller in the embodiment of the present application, which may also be referred to as a base station controller device, is a device for managing base stations, such as a base station controller (BSC) in a 2G network, a radio network controller (RNC) in a 3G network, and may also refer to a device for controlling and managing base stations in future new communication systems.

[0047] The term "terminal" in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as "terminal equipment" and may refer to various forms of terminal equipment, such as user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device. The terminal equipment may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0048] It should be noted that the brackets used in this specification may mean "for example." For example, "base station (NodeB)" or "base station (i.e., NodeB)" refers to NodeB as an example of a "base station." In other words, a "base station" in this specification may be, but is not limited to, a "NodeB."

[0049] The embodiments of the present application provide a conditional switching method and communication device. For scenarios that support both CLTM and conditional switching, and in combination with the possible architecture of a 6G user-centric network, different conditions are defined and two trigger conditions are configured to determine whether to use CLTM or conditional switching, thereby effectively reducing the switching delay while ensuring the robustness of cell switching.

[0050] The following first briefly describes the conditional switching introduced in NR R16 and the LTM for switching based on L1 measurement results.

[0051] Conditional switching means that the UE reports the measurement results in advance when the current channel quality and other conditions do not meet the switching requirements. The network pre-configures one or more alternative cells for the UE based on the measurement results reported by the UE and configures the switching conditions at the same time. When the switching conditions are met, the UE directly switches to one of the alternative cells, and then the original base station can be notified to release the UE connection.

[0052] Among them, the event of the user switching condition can be an A3 and / or A5 event, or an A4 event. The measurement results in different events are all L3 measurement results. The L1 measurement results need to be filtered by L3 before they can be used to determine whether the triggering conditions for event reporting are met. The L3 filtering means that within the preconfigured arrival target time (Time-to-Target, TTT) time, the UE will perform multiple measurements and evaluations, and the measurement results need to be processed based on the last measurement results. This processing process is called L3 filtering. The L3 filtering formula is as follows: F n =(1-a)×F n-1 +a×M n

[0053] in:

[0054] M n It is the measurement result received by the physical layer;

[0055] F n is the measurement result after L3 filtering;

[0056] F n-1 It is the measurement result after the last L3 filtering process;

[0057] a=1 / 2 (k / 4) , k is the configured filterCoefficient parameter, that is, the filtering factor.

[0058] If the event conditions are met within the TTT time, the relevant event is triggered to be reported, or in the conditional switching, the target cell is considered to meet the switching event conditions.

[0059] For dual connectivity (DC) scenarios, that is, scenarios where two base stations are connected at the same time, the primary and secondary cells (PSCells) can also perform conditional switching, called CPAC (conditional PSCell addition change); in addition, conditional switching also includes conditional switching of the primary cell (Pcell) and PSCell at the same time, called CHO+CPAC.

[0060] To prevent the original base station from being unable to send a handover command to the UE in a timely manner due to drastic UE signal fluctuations, NR Release 16 introduced conditional handover (CHO), primarily for PCells. Furthermore, Release 18 introduced Layer 1 / L2-Triggered Mobility (LTM), which uses Layer 2 (L2) signaling based on Layer 1 (L1) measurement results to reduce handover latency. This L1 measurement-based handover can be used for both Master Cell Group (MCG) LTM and Secondary Cell Group (SCG) LTM. Conditional LTM (CLTM) will be introduced later. This allows the UE to autonomously evaluate candidate cells based on network-configured trigger conditions and initiate handover if they are met. Unlike conditional handover, the trigger conditions here can be thresholds or conditions configured based on L1 measurement results.

[0061] The preparation process for LTM introduced in NR R18 includes: the network configures alternative cell information based on the measurement results reported by the UE.

[0062] The LTM execution process is as follows: the network instructs the UE to periodically report L1 measurement results, or to instruct the UE to report L1 measurement results at a specific time. Based on the L1 measurement results reported by the UE, the network determines the target cell for handover and sends a cell handover instruction, namely a MAC Control Element (MAC CE), to the UE. This instruction carries the target configuration identifier and, optionally, the timing advance (TA), the transmission configuration indicator-state ID (TCI-state ID), and the uplink transmission configuration indicator-state ID (ULTCI-state ID). If the TA information is carried, the UE can wait for direct scheduling via the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) without performing a random access (RA) procedure in the target cell. Alternatively, the UE can use pre-configured configuration grant resources to send uplink information. If the TA is not available, a RACH procedure must be performed in the target cell to complete synchronization and obtain TA and beam information.

[0063] The UE can notify the base station of the handover completion by sending a Radio Resource Control Reconfiguration Complete message. For processes that require a RACH procedure, the handover is considered successful after the RACH procedure is completed. If a RACH procedure is not required, the handover is considered successful after the UE successfully receives the first uplink data sent by the network.

[0064] CLTM is the conditional switching of LTM. It means that the UE autonomously evaluates the candidate cells based on the trigger conditions configured by the network. Once the trigger conditions are met, it will autonomously switch. Unlike conditional switching, the trigger conditions here can be thresholds or conditions configured based on L1 measurement results.

[0065] In 6G research, in order to avoid frequent switching affecting user experience and maintain continuous service to UE, a possible CCU-DDU-AP architecture is proposed as shown in Figure 1.

[0066] In this architecture, the Cloud Control Unit (CCU) and Distributed Data Unit (DDU) are introduced.

[0067] The CCU is located in the control plane (CP) of the core network (CN) and provides network management and control plane functions. This includes traditional control plane functions such as system information management related to the access stratum (AS) / non-access stratum (NAS), establishment / maintenance / release of radio resource control (RRC) connections, paging control, and security functions, including bearer management, mobility management, UE measurement, report management, and NAS information transmission. The CCU also performs management plane functions in the User Centric Access Network (UCAN), such as UE context management and access point (AP) management.

[0068] The DDU serves as the anchor point for the user plane (UP), managing basic UP functions and the antenna RF transmission functions primarily responsible for the AP. It also uses low-frequency transmission / reception points (TRPs) to ensure wider coverage and high-frequency TRPs to ensure service transmission.

[0069] If CLTM is used in 6G scenarios, the advantage of LTM based on L1 measurement results is low switching latency. In some scenarios, L2 restart may not be required, which is beneficial to the continuity of service transmission. However, it may cause ping-pong switching problems. If conditional switching based on L3 measurement results is used as a trigger, the L3 measurement results will comprehensively consider the quality of the cell's multiple beams, which can improve the robustness of the switching. However, the switching evaluation latency based on L3 measurement results is relatively large.

[0070] To address the above issues, embodiments of the present application provide a conditional handover method and communication device. Based on different scenarios of a terminal device, different trigger conditions are used to perform handover evaluations to determine whether to use CLTM or conditional handover. To inform the terminal device of the trigger conditions to be adopted, the network sends pre-configuration information to the terminal device. This pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information; the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used. Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the terminal device can determine the trigger conditions to be used for cell handover based on the handover scenario indication information therein.

[0071] It should be noted that the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application can be various forms of terminal devices. In the following embodiments, the terminal device is taken as UE as an example.

[0072] As shown in FIG2 , it is a flow chart of the conditional switching method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0073] In step 201, the network sends pre-configuration information to the UE, where the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information.

[0074] The switching scene indication information is used to determine the triggering condition to be used.

[0075] The trigger conditions may include: L1-based trigger conditions and / or L3-based trigger conditions. The trigger conditions correspond to different handover modes, including CLTM or conditional handover; the conditional handover includes CHO and CPAC, and CLTM includes Master Cell Group (MCG) CLTM and Secondary Cell Group (SCG) CLTM.

[0076] The above-mentioned various triggering conditions and corresponding switching methods have been described in detail above and will not be repeated here.

[0077] Accordingly, the UE receives the pre-configuration information and determines the triggering conditions for cell handover based on the handover scenario indication information in the pre-configuration information in step 202. The UE can then perform a series of operations such as measurement, event reporting, target cell determination, and cell handover completion based on the determined triggering conditions.

[0078] The conditional switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applicable to 3G, 4G, 5G, and the above-mentioned 6G network architecture. The network device that sends the pre-configuration information to the UE in the above step 201 can be a base station in the corresponding network, such as NodeB, eNodeB (Evolved Node B), gNodeB (the next Generation Node B), CU (Control unit), DU (Data Unit), or CCU, DDU, etc.

[0079] The solution of this application is further described below by taking the example of configuring two sets of trigger conditions for each candidate cell, that is, the above pre-configured information includes both trigger conditions based on L1 and trigger conditions based on L3.

[0080] In a specific implementation, the switching scene indication information can be implemented in a variety of ways. For example:

[0081] In a non-limiting embodiment, the switching scenario indication information may include identification information, and each alternative cell corresponds to one identification information; when the identification information indicates that the alternative cell has the same identification information as the current serving cell, the trigger condition based on L1 is adopted, and the trigger condition based on L3 is not adopted at the same time.

[0082] The identification information may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: a control unit identifier, data unit identifier information, base station identifier information, serving cell restart-not-required identifier information, group identifier information, frequency group identifier information, etc. The control unit identifier may be a CCU identifier or CU identifier information, and the data unit identifier information may be a DDU identifier or DU identifier information.

[0083] For example, the network may place the identifier of the CCU, CU, DDU, DU, or NodeB to which each candidate cell belongs as the identification information in the candidate cell configuration information.

[0084] Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE can determine whether the current serving cell and the target cell or the alternative cell belong to the same CCU or DDU or NodeB or CU or DU based on the above-mentioned identification information corresponding to each alternative cell in the received pre-configuration information; if so, it is determined that the cell switching uses the triggering conditions based on L1 and the CLTM switching method is used for cell switching; otherwise, it is determined that the cell switching uses the triggering conditions based on L3 and the conditional switching method is used for cell switching.

[0085] For another example, the network may configure candidate cells located under the same CCU, DDU, CU, DU, or NodeB as the same group and assign the same group identification information. Alternatively, the network may configure some candidate cells as the same group and assign the same group identification information. In addition, the group identification information corresponding to the UE's current serving cell needs to be notified to the UE. For example, the pre-configuration information may also include the group identification information corresponding to the UE's current serving cell, or the UE may be notified via other messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

[0086] Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE can determine whether the group identification information of the current serving cell and the target cell is the same based on the group identification information corresponding to each alternative cell in the received pre-configuration information; if so, it determines that the cell switching uses the trigger condition based on L1 and adopts the CLTM switching method for cell switching; otherwise, it determines that the cell switching uses the trigger condition based on L3 and adopts the conditional switching method for cell switching.

[0087] For another example, the network may pre-specify that cell switching between one or more frequency layers can adopt the CLTM switching method, such as CLTM can be performed between cells on FR2, or it may be stipulated that cells on frequency 1 or frequencies 2 and 3 can perform CLTM, and conditional switching is required across the frequency range. Accordingly, frequency group identification information is set, and the frequency group identification information may correspond to one or more frequency bands, or one or more frequency points. Accordingly, each alternative cell corresponds to a frequency group identification information. In addition, the frequency group information corresponding to the UE's current serving cell also needs to be notified to the UE, for example, the pre-configuration information also includes the frequency group identification information corresponding to the UE's current serving cell, or the UE may be notified through other messages, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0088] Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE can determine whether the frequency group identification information of the current serving cell and the target cell is the same based on the frequency group identification information corresponding to each alternative cell in the received pre-configuration information; if so, it is determined that the cell switching uses the trigger condition based on L1 and the CLTM switching method is used for cell switching; otherwise, it is determined that the cell switching uses the trigger condition based on L3 and the conditional switching method is used for cell switching.

[0089] For another example, the network can set the service cell does not need to restart identification information based on the relationship between the UE's current service cell and the alternative cell. When the alternative cell with the same service cell does not need to restart identification as the current service cell is the target cell, the trigger condition that the UE needs to use is the trigger condition based on L1; otherwise, the trigger condition that the UE needs to use is the trigger condition based on L3.

[0090] In another non-limiting embodiment, the switching scenario indication information may include one or more group information and cell identification information within the group corresponding to the group information, and the group information is used to indicate that the cells within the same group adopt the trigger condition based on L1, and the cells between different groups adopt the trigger condition based on L3. That is, the network can group different cells according to the CCU or DDU or CU or DU or NodeB to which they belong, and group the cells belonging to the same CCU or DDU or CU or DU or NodeB as a group. For the Intra-CCU or CU or DDU or DU or NodeB scenario, that is, switching between cells within the same group, the trigger condition based on L1 can be used; for the inter-CCU / DDU / NodeB scenario, that is, switching between cells between groups, the trigger condition based on L3 can be used. Alternatively, the network can also configure different alternative cells in the same group as needed. It should be noted that the cell identification information within the group includes not only the alternative cell identification information, but also the UE's current serving cell identification information.

[0091] Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE can determine the triggering condition for cell switching according to whether the current serving cell and the target cell are in the same group.

[0092] In another non-limiting embodiment, the handover scenario indication information may include one or more frequency group information and frequency information within the group corresponding to the frequency group information. The frequency group information is used to indicate that L1-based triggering conditions are used between cells within the same frequency group, and L3-based triggering conditions are used between cells between frequency groups. In other words, the network may group different cells based on their corresponding frequency information, grouping cells with the same frequency or frequency band, or cells with multiple frequencies or frequency bands, and indicating the frequency information corresponding to each frequency group.

[0093] Accordingly, after receiving the pre-configuration information, the UE can determine the corresponding frequency group information based on the frequency of the current serving cell, and determine the frequency group information corresponding to the target cell. If the two are the same, the trigger condition used is determined to be the trigger condition based on L1; otherwise, the trigger condition used is determined to be the trigger condition based on L3.

[0094] Yes, using the conditional switching method provided in the embodiment of the present application, different trigger conditions can be used to perform switching evaluation according to different scenarios of the UE to determine whether to use CLTM or conditional switching, so that the UE can minimize the switching delay as much as possible in scenarios that support CLTM+conditional switching, reduce the impact of delay and service interruption caused by switching, and at the same time reduce or avoid switching failures, thereby improving user experience.

[0095] Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, as shown in FIG3 , which is a structural diagram of the communication device.

[0096] The communication device 300 of this embodiment includes a sending module 301, which is used to send pre-configuration information to the UE. The pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information; the handover scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used.

[0097] The above-mentioned communication device 300 is a network device, for example, it can be a core network device, such as an Access & Mobility Management Function (AMF), or it can be an access network device, such as a CCU, CU or base station.

[0098] Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, as shown in FIG4 , which is a structural diagram of the communication device.

[0099] The communication device 400 of this embodiment includes:

[0100] Receiving module 401, configured to receive pre-configuration information, wherein the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and handover scenario indication information;

[0101] The information processing module 402 is configured to determine a triggering condition for cell handover according to the handover scenario indication information.

[0102] The communication device 400 can be various forms of terminal devices.

[0103] For other related descriptions of the above-mentioned communication device 300 and the communication device 400, reference can be made to the related descriptions in the corresponding embodiment of FIG2 , which will not be repeated here.

[0104] In a specific implementation, the above-mentioned device may correspond to a chip with corresponding functions in a network device and / or a user device, such as a SOC (System-On-a-Chip), a baseband chip, a chip module, etc.

[0105] In specific implementations, the various modules / units included in the various devices and products described in the above embodiments may be software modules / units, hardware modules / units, or partly software modules / units and partly hardware modules / units. For example, for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip, the various modules / units included therein may all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, or at least some of the modules / units may be implemented in the form of software programs, which run on a processor integrated inside the chip, and the remaining (if any) modules / units may be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip module, the various modules / units included therein may all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units may be located in the same component (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some of the modules / units may be located in the same component (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some of the modules / units may be located in the same component (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module. The element can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the chip module, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated in the terminal, the various modules / units contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (for example, chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components in the terminal, or, at least some modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the terminal, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits.

[0106] The present application also discloses a storage medium, which is a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is run, some or all of the steps of the method shown in FIG2 can be executed. The storage medium may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc. The storage medium may also include a non-volatile memory or a non-transitory memory, etc.

[0107] 5 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a hardware structure diagram of a communication device, wherein the communication device includes a processor 501 , a memory 502 , and a transceiver 503 .

[0108] Processor 501 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application. Processor 501 may also include multiple CPUs, and processor 501 may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. The processor here may refer to one or more devices, circuits, or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0109] The memory 502 may be a ROM or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a RAM or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose any restrictions on this. The memory 502 can be independent (in this case, the memory 502 can be located outside the device or inside the device), or it can be integrated with the processor 501. Among them, the memory 502 can contain computer program code. The processor 501 is used to execute the computer program code stored in the memory 502, thereby implementing the method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0110] The processor 501, memory 502, and transceiver 503 are connected via a bus. The transceiver 503 is used to communicate with other devices or a communication network. Optionally, the transceiver 503 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The device used to implement the receiving function in the transceiver 503 can be considered a receiver, which is used to perform the receiving steps in the embodiments of the present application. The device used to implement the transmitting function in the transceiver 503 can be considered a transmitter, which is used to perform the steps in the method embodiments of the present application.

[0111] When the structural diagram shown in Figure 5 is used to illustrate the structure of the communication device involved in the above embodiments, the processor 501 is used to control and manage the operations of the communication device. For example, the processor 501 is used to support the communication device in executing all or part of the steps in Figure 2 and / or the operations performed by the communication device in other processes described in the embodiments of this application. The processor 501 can communicate with other network entities, such as the above-mentioned network devices, via the transceiver 503. The memory 502 is used to store program code and data of the communication device.

[0112] It should be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein simply describes 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 " / " as used herein indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0113] The term "plurality" used in the embodiments of the present application refers to two or more.

[0114] The first, second, etc. descriptions appearing in the embodiments of this application are only for illustration and distinction of the description objects. There is no order, nor does it indicate any special limitation on the number of devices in the embodiments of this application, and cannot constitute any limitation on the embodiments of this application.

[0115] The "connection" appearing in the embodiments of the present application refers to various connection methods such as direct connection or indirect connection to achieve communication between devices, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose any limitations on this.

[0116] 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.

[0117] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments 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 or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, the process or function described in 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 device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless means.

[0118] 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.

[0119] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods, devices, and systems can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic; for example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation; for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0120] Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0121] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may be physically arranged separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0122] The above-mentioned integrated unit implemented in the form of a software functional unit can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The above-mentioned software functional unit is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform some steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0123] Although the present application is disclosed as above, the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A conditional switching method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Send pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and switching scenario indication information; the switching scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The trigger conditions include: A trigger condition based on L1, and / or a trigger condition based on L3.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The trigger conditions correspond to different switching modes, and the switching modes include: CLTM, or conditional switching; the conditional switching includes CHO and CPAC.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The switching scenario indication information includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following: control unit identification, data unit identification information, base station identification information, serving cell does not need to restart identification information, group identification information, and frequency point group identification information.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The identification information is used to indicate that when the identification information of the candidate cell is the same as that of the current serving cell, the trigger condition based on L1 is adopted, and the trigger condition based on L3 is not adopted at the same time.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The switching scenario indication information includes one or more group information and cell identification information within the group corresponding to the group information.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The group information is used to indicate that cells within the same group adopt a trigger condition based on L1, and cells between different groups adopt a trigger condition based on L3.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The switching scenario indication information includes one or more frequency point group information and frequency point information corresponding to the frequency point group information.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The frequency point group information is used to indicate that cells within the same frequency point group adopt a trigger condition based on L1, and cells between frequency point groups adopt a trigger condition based on L3.

10. A conditional switching method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Receiving pre-configuration information, where the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and switching scenario indication information; A trigger condition for cell switching is determined according to the switching scenario indication information.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The switching scenario indication information includes identification information, and the identification information includes one or more of the following: control unit identification, data unit identification information, base station identification information, serving cell does not need to restart identification information, group identification information, frequency point group identification information; The determining of the triggering condition for cell switching according to the switching scenario indication information includes: If the identification information of the candidate cell is the same as that of the current serving cell, the trigger condition based on L1 is adopted; if they are different, the trigger condition based on L3 is adopted.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The switching scenario indication information includes one or more group information and cell identification information within the group corresponding to the group information; The group information is used to indicate that cells within the same group adopt a trigger condition based on L1, and cells between different groups adopt a trigger condition based on L3.

13. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The switching scenario indication information includes one or more frequency point group information and frequency point information corresponding to the frequency point group information; The frequency point group information is used to indicate that cells within the same frequency point group adopt a trigger condition based on L1, and cells between frequency point groups adopt a trigger condition based on L3.

14. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises: The sending module is used to send pre-configuration information to the terminal device, where the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and switching scenario indication information; the switching scenario indication information is used to determine the trigger conditions to be used.

15. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device comprises: A receiving module, used to receive pre-configuration information, wherein the pre-configuration information includes candidate cell information, trigger conditions, and switching scenario indication information; The information processing module is used to determine the triggering condition used for cell switching according to the switching scenario indication information.

16. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the conditional switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 are executed, or the steps of the conditional switching method according to any one of claims 10 to 13 are executed.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: It comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be run on the processor, and when the processor runs the computer program, it executes the steps of the conditional switching method described in any one of claims 1 to 9, or executes the steps of the conditional switching method described in any one of claims 10 to 13.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 when the computer program is executed.

19. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

20. A chip module, characterized in that: The chip module includes a storage device, a chip, and a communication interface, and the chip is used to execute the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13.

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