Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a first satellite-borne base station determining a first grid area where a first terminal device that accesses same is located; then, acquiring measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device; establishing a correlation between the measurement data and the first grid area (that is, the measurement data corresponds to the first grid area), so that statistics of measurement data of N terminal devices corresponding to the first grid area within a first time period can be compiled, so as to obtain statistical results of the measurement data corresponding to the first grid area; and finally, sending to a first device the statistical results of the measurement data corresponding to the first grid area. In this way, a first satellite-borne base station compiles statistics on measurement data for a grid area, or complies statistics on measurement data at a grid granularity, which in turn is equivalent to compiling statistics on measurement data for a certain fixed physical area on the ground.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on December 19, 2023, with application number 202311758418.4 and invention name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] By collecting statistics on the measurement data of terminal devices in a certain ground physical area, the network performance of the ground physical area is analyzed, and then it is determined whether the use of network resources in the ground physical area needs to be expanded, optimized, or problems are located.

[0005] In satellite communication systems, as satellites move, their coverage area changes relative to the ground. This means that satellite coverage cannot consistently correspond to a specific physical area on the ground. In other words, satellites never cover the same physical area. Consequently, it's impossible to continuously collect statistical measurement data from a satellite for a specific physical area, making it impossible to analyze network performance in that area. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for collecting statistics of measurement data corresponding to a grid area, and then analyzing the network performance of a fixed ground physical area through the measurement data corresponding to the grid area.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application proposes a communication method, which is applied to a satellite base station. The following description is based on the first satellite base station among M satellite base stations as the execution subject. The method includes:

[0008] The first satellite-borne base station determines a first grid area where a first terminal device connected to the first satellite-borne base station is located, then obtains measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device, and establishes a correspondence between the measurement data and the first grid area (that is, the measurement data corresponds to the first grid area), thereby statistically calculating the measurement data of N terminal devices corresponding to the first grid area within a first time period, thereby obtaining a statistical result of the measurement data corresponding to the first grid area, and finally sending the statistical result of the measurement data corresponding to the first grid area to the first device. Wherein, the N terminal devices include the first terminal device, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0009] In this method, the first grid area is a ground physical area, and the ground physical area represented by the first grid area is unique. Since there is a correspondence between the measurement data corresponding to the terminal device and the grid area, which is equivalent to the correspondence between the terminal device and the grid area in which it is located, this correspondence can represent the measurement data of the terminal device in the grid area. Based on this, the first satellite-borne base station can determine the measurement data of the terminal device in the first grid area according to this correspondence, and then calculate the measurement data corresponding to the first grid area, thereby realizing the first satellite-borne base station's statistical measurement data for the grid area, or statistical measurement data at the grid granularity, which is equivalent to calculating the measurement data for a fixed ground physical area.

[0010] Optionally, the first device receives measurement data statistics corresponding to the first grid area from the first satellite base station, and can further determine a performance indicator corresponding to the first grid area based on the measurement data statistics corresponding to the first grid area sent by M satellite base stations, thereby analyzing network performance for the first grid area, or in other words, analyzing network performance for the ground physical area corresponding to the first grid area. The M satellite base stations include the first satellite base station, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0011] In one possible design, the first satellite base station determines the first cell identifier to which the first terminal device is connected, and then determines the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier based on first mapping relationship information; wherein the first mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station remains unchanged.

[0012] In this method, the first satellite-borne base station is bound to the cell identifier. This means that as time passes, different satellite-borne base stations cover the first grid area, and therefore the cell identifiers corresponding to the first grid area are different. This allows the first satellite-borne base station to identify terminal devices within the first grid area over time.

[0013] In one possible design, the first mapping relationship information is determined based on the ephemeris information of the satellite where the first satellite-borne base station is located.

[0014] In one possible design, the first satellite base station determines the first cell identifier to which the first terminal device is connected, and then determines the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier based on the second mapping relationship information; wherein the second mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station is associated with the position of the first satellite base station.

[0015] In this method, as the first satellite-borne base station changes in position over time, the cell identifier served by the first satellite-borne base station changes, but the cell identifier corresponding to the first grid area remains unchanged; that is, the grid area identifier and the cell identifier are bound to each other, which is equivalent to the satellite-borne base station covering the first grid area being different over time, but the cell identifier corresponding to the first grid area remains unchanged; in this way, the first satellite-borne base station can serve different cell identifiers in the time dimension, and then determine the terminal equipment in the first grid area based on the cell identifier corresponding to the identifier of the first grid area.

[0016] In one possible design, the second mapping relationship information is determined based on the ephemeris information of the satellite where the first satellite-borne base station is located.

[0017] In one possible design, the range of the first grid area is greater than or equal to the coverage range of a single beam of the first satellite-borne base station.

[0018] In this way, fine-grained statistics of the performance indicators of the first grid area are achieved.

[0019] In one possible design, the first satellite-borne base station may send a measurement request message to the first terminal device, and then receive measurement data sent by the first terminal device.

[0020] In one possible design, the measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device includes one or more of the following information:

[0021] Hardware measurement data, used to indicate hardware performance or hardware capabilities of the first terminal device;

[0022] Transmission measurement data, used to indicate data transmission performance between the first terminal device and the first satellite-borne base station;

[0023] The cell measurement data is used to indicate the network communication performance of the cell of the first satellite-borne base station.

[0024] In a second aspect, the present application provides an apparatus comprising a unit for executing each step of the first aspect. Optionally, the apparatus may include a communication unit and a processing unit; the communication unit is configured to receive and send data, and the processing unit is configured to execute the method provided in the first aspect.

[0025] In a third aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a device comprising a transceiver and a processor; wherein the transceiver is configured to receive and transmit signals; and the processor is configured to execute program instructions, causing the communication device to perform the method provided in the first or second aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. The memory is configured to store program instructions; the processor can read the program instructions from the memory, causing the communication device to perform the method provided in the first aspect.

[0026] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device comprising at least one processing element and at least one storage element, wherein the at least one storage element is used to store programs and data, and the at least one processing element is used to execute the method provided in the first aspect above.

[0027] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a system, comprising: a satellite-borne base station for executing the above-mentioned first aspect.

[0028] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method provided in the first aspect. Optionally, the computer may be a communication device such as a terminal device or a network device.

[0029] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program code, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method provided in the first aspect. Optionally, the computer may be a communication device such as a network device or a terminal device.

[0030] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which is coupled to a memory and is used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method provided in the first aspect above.

[0031] Ninthly, embodiments of the present application further provide a chip system, comprising a processor configured to support a computer device in implementing the method provided in any of the above aspects. In one possible design, the chip system further comprises a memory configured to store the necessary programs and data for the computer device. The chip system may be composed of a chip alone, or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0032] Based on the implementations provided in the above aspects, the embodiments of the present application can be further combined to provide more implementations.

[0033] The technical effects that can be achieved in any of the second to ninth aspects mentioned above can be described with reference to the technical effects that can be achieved in the first aspect mentioned above, and the repetitions will not be discussed here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a general method for performance index statistics applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of satellite coverage applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of satellite coverage provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of satellite coverage provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a grid area provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of satellite coverage provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG9 is a statistical diagram of a performance indicator provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG10 is a structural diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG11 is a structural diagram of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The terms used in the following embodiments are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used in the specification and appended claims of the present application, the singular expressions "one", "a", "said", "above", "the" and "this" are intended to also include expressions such as "one or more", unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "one or more" refers to one, two or more; "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0046] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" in this specification mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the present application. Thus, phrases such as "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," and "in yet other embodiments" appearing in various places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more but not all embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "including," "comprising," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0047] The "multiple" involved in the embodiments of the present application means greater than or equal to two. It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

[0048] In order to better explain the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the concepts and terms involved in the embodiment of the present application are first briefly explained.

[0049] 1) A cell, also known as a cellular cell, refers to the area covered by a base station or a part of a base station (sector antenna) in a communication system. Within this area, terminal devices can communicate with network devices through wireless channels.

[0050] 2) Terminal equipment: A device that provides voice and / or data connectivity to users and can access network devices through a wireless interface. Terminal equipment can also be referred to as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT). In this application, terminal equipment can be fixed or mobile, and this application does not limit this.

[0051] 3) Performance indicators, also known as traffic statistics indicators, are the basic basis for analyzing network performance and include three elements: time, measurement data (or measurement indicators), and measurement objects. Time refers to time information such as the start, duration, and periodicity of network performance measurement; measurement data refers to data in the network that characterizes network performance and is required for network performance measurement, such as communication delay, number of successful paging calls, number of failed paging calls, CPU load, message traffic, CPU occupancy, average occupancy time, etc. of terminal equipment; and measurement objects refer to various physical or logical entities and their combinations measured by performance indicators (such as CPUs, ports, common control components, auxiliary components, destinations, etc.). See the performance indicators shown in Table 1 below:

[0052] Table 1

[0053] It will be understood that the above Table 1 uses Object 1 as the measurement object for exemplary description. New radio (NR) type performance indicators may include: cell measurement, distributed unit (DU) cell measurement, next generation NodeB (gNB) measurement in the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, neighboring cell measurement, cell operator measurement, wireless coverage area measurement, etc. Device type performance indicators may include: CPU performance measurement, interface performance measurement, etc. Transmission type performance indicators may include: traffic measurement, packet loss rate measurement, etc.

[0054] Based on this, NR-type performance indicator measurement data may include: congestion rate, call drop rate, handover success rate, paging success rate, etc. 5G cell user number, user access success rate, peak data rate, transmission rate, bit error rate, bit error rate, channel bandwidth, channel capacity, latency, propagation delay-bandwidth product, and round-trip latency. Device-type performance indicator measurement data may include: CPU load, CPU utilization. Optionally, transmission-type performance indicator measurement data may include: IP packet flow, packet loss rate, etc.

[0055] In terrestrial network (TN) communication systems, performance indicators provided by base stations can be used to evaluate network (including 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G) operations, thereby determining whether network resource utilization needs to be expanded, optimized, or issues need to be addressed. Since cells in TN communication systems are planned based on regions, or in other words, there is a one-to-one correspondence between cell IDs and terrestrial physical areas, the performance indicators of network equipment (such as base stations) and cells in TN communication systems can represent the network performance of the cell and base station coverage areas. Referring to Figure 1 , and assuming the test object is a base station, the base station's coverage area includes cells 1, 2, and 3, which correspond one-to-one to cell 1 (or area 1), cell 2 (or area 2), and cell 3 (or area 3) in the terrestrial physical area, respectively. Therefore, the base station can determine its performance indicators based on measurement data between terminal devices in cells 1, 2, and 3 and the base station during the test period, thereby evaluating the base station's network performance.

[0056] In a non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system, a network established using non-terrestrial communication technology, such as a network that uses spectrum resources on communication platforms such as satellite platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) platforms, or high altitude platform stations (HAPS) to provide communication services. For example, NTN may include, but is not limited to, satellite communication systems, UAV communication systems, and HAPS systems. Among them, according to the height of the satellite from the earth's surface (i.e., the satellite orbit height), the satellite communication system can be divided into a geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite communication system, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite communication system, and a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication system.

[0057] Taking a low-Earth orbit satellite communication system (hereinafter referred to as a low-Earth orbit satellite communication system) as an example, in a low-Earth orbit satellite communication system, as the low-Earth orbit satellite moves, the coverage area of ​​the low-Earth orbit satellite changes relative to the ground. Referring to Figure 2, the coverage area (referred to as cell t1 in the figure) corresponding to the low-Earth orbit satellite at time t1 (referred to as satellite t1 in the figure) on the ground is different from the coverage area (referred to as cell t2 in the figure) corresponding to the low-Earth orbit satellite at time t2 (referred to as satellite t2 in the figure) on the ground. This results in the low-Earth orbit satellite's coverage area not being able to correspond one-to-one with a specific ground area. Based on this, the low-Earth orbit satellite does not continuously communicate with the terminal devices in the area, so it is impossible to continuously determine the measurement data of a fixed ground physical area, and thus it is impossible to determine the performance indicators of the fixed ground physical area. In other words, it is impossible to determine the network performance of a specific measurement object in the fixed ground physical area. In addition, because the coverage area of ​​the low-Earth orbit satellite is very large, it often includes multiple measurement objects. Therefore, it is impossible to determine the corresponding performance indicators for a specific measurement object in a fine-grained manner, and thus it is impossible to analyze the network performance of a specific measurement object in a fine-grained manner.

[0058] Therefore, the present application provides a communication method for implementing, in a satellite communication system, statistics on the performance indicators of each grid area in a ground physical area, thereby analyzing network performance for a fixed ground physical area at a grid granularity. This method can be applied to a satellite-borne base station that communicates with a terminal device. See Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The system architecture includes a satellite-borne base station 310 and a terminal device 320; wherein the satellite-borne base station 310 can also be referred to as a satellite-borne RAN (Radio Access Network) device. The execution entity of the embodiments of the present application is not limited herein.

[0059] The terminal device 320 includes but is not limited to: UE, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device can be applied to at least one of the following scenarios for communication: eMBB, ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), mMTC, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, or smart city, etc. This application does not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device 320.

[0060] It can be understood that the technical solution of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, 5G system or new radio (NR), non-terrestrial networks (NTN) and future communication systems, such as the sixth generation mobile communication system, etc., and the present application is not limited to this.

[0061] Before explaining the embodiments of the present application in detail, the satellite communication scenarios to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable are first combined:

[0062] Scenario 1, see Figure 4. The low-orbit satellite communication system includes low-orbit satellites 1 and 2. At time T1, the coverage area of ​​low-orbit satellite 1 (cell 1) includes grid areas with grid identifiers "13" and "18," while the coverage area of ​​low-orbit satellite 2 (cell 2) includes grid areas with grid identifiers "3" and "8." At time T2, the coverage area of ​​low-orbit satellite 1 (cell 1) includes grid areas with grid identifiers "18" and "23," while the coverage area of ​​low-orbit satellite 2 (cell 2) includes grid areas with grid identifiers "8" and "13." It can be seen that cell IDs (cells) correspond one-to-one with low-orbit satellites (or are bound to each other). As the low-orbit satellites move, the cell ID corresponding to any grid area changes. For example, the grid area with grid identifier "13" corresponds to cell 1 at time T1 and cell 2 at time T2. This means that the same physical area is covered by different cells (with different cell PCIs) at different times.

[0063] Scenario 2, see Figure 5. The low-orbit satellite communication system includes low-orbit satellites 1, 2, and 3. At time T1, low-orbit satellite 2 covers cell 1, and low-orbit satellite 1 covers cell 2. At time T2, low-orbit satellite 2 covers cell 2, low-orbit satellite 3 covers cell 1, and low-orbit satellite 1 covers cell 3. At both time T1 and T2, cell 1 corresponds to grid regions with grid identifiers "3" and "8," cell 2 corresponds to grid regions with grid identifiers "13" and "18," and cell 3 corresponds to grid regions with grid identifiers "23" and "28." As can be seen, the cell ID (cell) corresponds to (or is bound to) the grid region, similar to how the cell ID is bound to the physical area on the ground. As the low-orbit satellite moves, if its coverage exceeds a cell, another low-orbit satellite will continue to cover that cell using the corresponding cell ID. The movement of the low-orbit satellite does not cause the cell ID corresponding to the grid region to change. For example, cell 2 is covered by LEO satellite 1 at time T1 and by LEO satellite 2 at time T2. At both times, the grid identifiers for cell 2 are "13" and "18." This means that the same cell (with different PCIs) covers the same physical area at different times, but the LEO satellites corresponding to the same cell at different times are different.

[0064] In combination with the above two scenarios, the embodiment of the present application is explained in detail with the first satellite-borne base station among the satellite-borne base stations corresponding to M satellites as the execution entity. Referring to FIG6 , the process includes:

[0065] S610: A first satellite-borne base station determines a first grid area where a first terminal device accessing the first satellite-borne base station is located, where the first grid area is a ground physical area.

[0066] S620: The first satellite-borne base station obtains measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device, where the measurement data corresponds to the first grid area.

[0067] S630: The first satellite-borne base station counts the measurement data of N terminal devices corresponding to the first grid area within a first time period to obtain a statistical result of the measurement data corresponding to the first grid area, where the N terminal devices include the first terminal device, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0068] S640: The first satellite-borne base station sends the measurement data statistics results corresponding to the first grid area to the first device.

[0069] In the embodiment of the present application, the grid region is obtained by dividing the ground according to longitude and latitude information. Referring to FIG7 , the ground is divided into multiple cells according to the preset units of longitude and latitude. Any cell represents a grid region, that is, any grid region has unique longitude and latitude location information. Each grid region includes a unique identifier, such as grid regions corresponding to identifiers such as "8," "13," and "18." The preset units of longitude and latitude can be set according to different requirements and are not limited to this.

[0070] In S610, when the terminal device accesses the network, it selects a connection cell ID. Based on this, the first satellite-borne base station can determine the identifier of the grid area corresponding to the cell ID to which the terminal device is connected, and further determine the grid area where the terminal device is located. Optionally, the terminal device can access the satellite-borne base station in a random access manner, which is not limited in this application.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the first satellite-borne base station determines the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier based on the first mapping relationship information; wherein the first mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite-borne base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite-borne base station remains unchanged. For example, in the scenario of Figure 4, the first satellite-borne base station (assuming that it is the satellite-borne base station corresponding to the low-orbit satellite 2 at this time) determines that the cell ID to which the terminal device is connected is cell2, and the identifier of the grid area corresponding to cell2 at this time is "8", and then determines that the grid area where the terminal device is located is the area corresponding to the identifier "8".

[0072] Furthermore, the first mapping relationship information is predetermined based on the satellite ephemeris information of the first satellite-borne base station. The satellite ephemeris information includes the satellite's position information, velocity information, and beam azimuth information. Because each grid region has unique longitude and latitude location information, the first satellite-borne base station can establish a mapping relationship with each grid region in the time dimension based on the corresponding satellite's ephemeris information. The first mapping relationship information is described below in conjunction with FIG. 4 .

[0073] Referring to Figure 4, assuming that the grid area where the terminal device is located is identified as "13", the first satellite-borne base station is the base station on the first satellite among the M satellites (taking low-orbit satellite 1 as an example below), the first satellite-borne base station can determine the first time period of low-orbit satellite 1 covering the grid area identified as "13" based on the position information, speed information and beam azimuth information (or sub-satellite point information) of low-orbit satellite 1. Referring to Figure 8, it is assumed that the low-orbit satellite 1 covers the grid area marked as "10" as determined based on the position information of the low-orbit satellite 1, and the first starting time (such as 11:00) and the first ending time (such as 11:05) corresponding to the low-orbit satellite 1 covering the grid area marked as "10" are determined; then, based on the distance between the grid area marked as "10" and the grid area marked as "13" and the speed information of the low-orbit satellite 1, the time (such as 1 hour) required for the low-orbit satellite 1 to move to the grid area marked as "13" is determined, and then the second starting time (such as 12:00) and the second ending time (such as 12:05) corresponding to the low-orbit satellite 1 covering the grid area marked as "13" can be determined based on the first starting time (such as 11:00), the first ending time (such as 11:05) and the required time (such as 1 hour) to obtain the first time period (12:00-12:05) of the low-orbit satellite 1 covering the grid area marked as "13".

[0074] Based on the above description, the first satellite-borne base station can establish a mapping relationship between the identifier of the grid area ("13") and the cell ID corresponding to the first satellite (or the cell ID corresponding to the first satellite-borne base station) and the first time period (12:00-12:05) during which the first satellite covers the grid area. According to the same technical solution, the first satellite-borne base station can establish a mapping relationship between the identifiers of the P grid areas covered by the first satellite and the cell ID corresponding to the first satellite-borne base station and the time period corresponding to the P grid areas covered by the first satellite. Based on this, the first mapping relationship information corresponding to the satellite-borne base station of the low-orbit satellite 1 includes: the first time period for the cell ID (cell1) corresponding to the low-orbit satellite 1 to cover the grid area "13" is (12:00-12:05), the first time period for the cell ID corresponding to the low-orbit satellite 1 to cover the grid area "23" is (12:05-12:10), and so on.

[0075] Similarly, any of the M satellite-borne base stations can establish corresponding first mapping relationship information. For example, the first mapping relationship information corresponding to the satellite-borne base station of low-orbit satellite 2 includes: the first time period of the cell ID (cell2) corresponding to low-orbit satellite 2 covering grid area "8" is (12:05-12:10), the first time period of the cell ID (cell2) corresponding to low-orbit satellite 2 covering grid area "18" is (12:10-12:15), and so on.

[0076] In another possible implementation, the first satellite base station determines the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier based on the second mapping relationship information; wherein the second mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station is associated with the position of the first satellite base station. For example, in the scenario of Figure 5, the first satellite base station (assuming that it is the satellite base station corresponding to the low-orbit satellite 2 at this time) determines that the cell ID to which the terminal device is connected is cell2, and the identifier of the grid area corresponding to cell2 at this time is "18", and then determines that the grid area where the terminal device is located is the area corresponding to the identifier "18".

[0077] Alternatively, the second mapping relationship information may be predetermined based on the ephemeris information of the satellite of the first satellite-borne base station. Thus, the first satellite-borne base station may establish a mapping relationship between the first satellite-borne base station and each grid region in the time dimension based on the ephemeris information of the corresponding satellite. Based on the above-described solution, similarly, the second mapping relationship information is described below in conjunction with FIG. 5 .

[0078] Referring to Figure 5, the second mapping relationship information corresponding to the onboard base station of the low-orbit satellite 1 includes: the cell ID (cell2) covering the grid area "13", and the second time period of the low-orbit satellite 1 serving the cell ID (cell2) is (13:00-13:10); the cell ID (cell3) covering the grid area "23", and the second time period of the low-orbit satellite 1 serving the cell ID (cell3) is (13:10-13:20);...

[0079] Similarly, any of the M satellite-borne base stations can establish corresponding second mapping relationship information. For example, the second mapping relationship information corresponding to the satellite-borne base station of low-orbit satellite 2 includes: cell ID (cell2) covering grid area "13", and the second time period for low-orbit satellite 2 to serve cell ID (cell2) is (13:10-13:20); cell ID (cell3) covering grid area "23", and the second time period for low-orbit satellite 2 to serve cell ID (cell3) is (13:20-13:30); ...

[0080] In this way, each satellite-borne base station can determine the grid area where the terminal device is located when accessing the terminal device. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the range of any grid area is greater than or equal to the coverage range of a single satellite beam, thereby achieving fine-grained statistical performance indicators for the ground physical area.

[0081] In S620, the first satellite-borne base station may send a measurement request message to the terminal device, and then receive measurement data sent by the terminal device. The measurement data includes one or more of the following information:

[0082] Hardware measurement data, used to indicate hardware performance or hardware capabilities of the first terminal device;

[0083] Transmission measurement data, used to indicate data transmission performance between the first terminal device and the first satellite-borne base station;

[0084] The cell measurement data is used to indicate the network communication performance of the cell of the first satellite-borne base station.

[0085] Referring to Table 1 above, the hardware measurement data is equivalent to the measurement data of the performance indicator of the device type, the transmission measurement data is equivalent to the measurement data of the performance indicator of the transmission type, and the cell measurement data is equivalent to the measurement data of the performance indicator of the NR type. This application does not limit the specific measurement data.

[0086] In S630, the first time period may be determined based on the time period during which the first satellite base station covers the first grid area. For example, the first time period is less than or equal to the time period during which the first satellite base station covers the first grid area. This application does not limit this.

[0087] Optionally, the measurement data of each terminal device also includes the corresponding measurement time. Assuming that the first grid area includes N terminal devices, the first satellite-borne base station can integrate the measurement data of the N terminal devices according to the measurement time corresponding to the measurement data of the N terminal devices, and then obtain the measurement data statistics corresponding to the first grid area. For example, the measurement time corresponding to the measurement data of the terminal device UE1 is 12:00, the measurement time corresponding to the measurement data of the terminal device UE2 is 12:01, and the terminal devices UE1 and UE2 are located in the grid area marked as "13", and then the measurement data statistics corresponding to the first grid area can be expressed as: measurement data x1 of the terminal device UE1 - "13" - 12:00, measurement data x2 of the terminal device UE2 - "13" - 12:01.

[0088] In S640, the first device may be a core network element. The following description takes the first device as a ground network management (MBB Automation Engine, MAE; wherein, Mobile Broadband (MBB)) platform as an example. Referring to Figure 9, the satellite base station (including satellite base station 1 (S-gNB_1), satellite base station 2 (S-gNB_2), ..., satellite base station M (S-gNB_M)) sends the measurement data statistics corresponding to the first grid area to the MAE platform through the air interface protocol, and then the MAE platform integrates the measurement data statistics corresponding to the first grid area of ​​the M satellite base stations, thereby obtaining the performance indicators of the first grid area.

[0089] Optionally, the interface definition of the air interface protocol (or grid-level performance indicator definition) may include the base station L3 service layer (or control layer), the base station L2 service layer (or data layer), and the base station L1 service layer (or physical layer), and the air interface protocol may be the protocol corresponding to the southbound interface. In this way, the performance indicators of the first grid area are determined by using measurement data corresponding to the first grid area collected by multiple satellite base stations, thereby analyzing the network performance of the ground physical area corresponding to the first grid area.

[0090] In the above method, the ground physical area is gridded, so that any area of ​​the ground physical area is represented by a corresponding grid area. Based on this, for any grid area, the onboard base station can determine the measurement data of the terminal devices within each grid area, thereby achieving the statistical performance indicators corresponding to the grid area, or statistical performance indicators at the grid granularity, which is equivalent to statistical performance indicators for a fixed ground physical area.

[0091] It should also be noted that each step involved in the above embodiments or examples can be performed by a corresponding device, or by a module, chip, processor, or chip system within the device, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The above embodiments are only described as being performed by a corresponding device. In addition, the specific implementation methods or examples in the above embodiments do not limit the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0092] It should be noted that in each of the above embodiments, some steps may be selected for implementation, and the order of the steps in the diagrams may be adjusted for implementation, and this application does not limit this. It should be understood that executing some of the steps in the diagrams, adjusting the order of the steps, or combining them for specific implementation all fall within the scope of protection of this application.

[0093] It is understandable that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the various devices involved in the above embodiments include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and method steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0094] It can be understood that the above-mentioned network architecture and application scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new services, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0095] It should be noted that the "steps" in the embodiments of this application are merely illustrative and serve as a method of expression for a better understanding of the embodiments. They do not constitute a substantial limitation on the execution of the solutions of this application. For example, the "steps" can also be understood as "features." Furthermore, the steps do not constitute any limitation on the execution order of the solutions of this application. Any changes to the order of steps, or any operations such as step merging or splitting that do not affect the implementation of the overall solution, resulting in new technical solutions, are also within the scope of this application.

[0096] Based on the same technical concept, this application also provides a device that can be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 3. The device is used to implement the methods provided in the above embodiments and can be applied to the satellite-based base stations involved in the above embodiments. Referring to Figure 10, a communication device 1000 includes a communication unit 1001 and a processing unit 1002.

[0097] The communication unit 1001 is used to receive and send data, and supports the communication device 1000 to communicate with other devices.

[0098] The processing unit 1002 is used to control and manage the actions of the communication device 1000 and execute the steps performed by the satellite base station in the communication methods provided in the above embodiments or examples.

[0099] Optionally, the communication device 1000 further includes a storage unit for storing program code and / or data of the communication device 1000 .

[0100] The communication unit 1001 may be referred to as an input / output unit, a transceiver unit, etc., and may be a transceiver or a communication interface; the processing unit 1002 may be a processor. When the communication device 1000 is a module (e.g., a chip) in a communication device, the communication unit 1001 may be an input / output interface, an input / output circuit, or an input / output pin, etc., and may also be referred to as an interface, a communication interface, or an interface circuit; the processing unit 1002 may be a processor, a processing circuit, or a logic circuit, etc.

[0101] In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 may be applied to the first satellite-borne base station of the embodiment shown in Figure 6. The processing unit 1002 is configured to:

[0102] Used to determine a first grid area where a first terminal device accessing the first satellite-borne base station is located, where the first grid area is a ground physical area; obtain measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device through the communication unit 1001, where the measurement data corresponds to the first grid area; count the measurement data of N terminal devices corresponding to the first grid area within a first time period to obtain a statistical result of the measurement data corresponding to the first grid area, where the N terminal devices include the first terminal device, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and send the statistical result of the measurement data corresponding to the first grid area to the first device through the communication unit 1001.

[0103] Optionally, the processing unit 1002 is specifically configured to:

[0104] Determine the first cell identifier to which the first terminal device is connected; determine the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier based on the first mapping relationship information; wherein the first mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station remains unchanged.

[0105] Optionally, the first mapping relationship information is determined based on the ephemeris information of the satellite where the first satellite-borne base station is located.

[0106] Optionally, the processing unit 1002 is specifically configured to:

[0107] Determine the first cell identifier to which the first terminal device is connected; determine the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier based on the second mapping relationship information; wherein the second mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station is associated with the position of the first satellite base station.

[0108] Optionally, the second mapping relationship information is determined based on the ephemeris information of the satellite where the first satellite-borne base station is located.

[0109] Optionally, the range of the first grid area is greater than or equal to the coverage range of a single beam of the first satellite-borne base station.

[0110] Optionally, the communication unit 1001 is specifically configured to:

[0111] Send a measurement request message to the first terminal device; receive measurement data sent by the first terminal device.

[0112] Optionally, the measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device includes one or more of the following information;

[0113] Hardware measurement data, used to indicate hardware performance or hardware capabilities of the first terminal device;

[0114] Transmission measurement data, used to indicate data transmission performance between the first terminal device and the first satellite-borne base station;

[0115] The cell measurement data is used to indicate the network communication performance of the cell of the first satellite-borne base station.

[0116] It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or may exist physically 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 software functional units.

[0117] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0118] Based on the above embodiments, embodiments of the present application further provide a device, which may be a network device in the system shown in Figure 3 . The device can implement the methods in the above embodiments and has the functionality of communication device 1000. Referring to Figure 11 , communication device 1100 includes a transceiver 1101, a processor 1102, and a memory 1103. Transceiver 1101, processor 1102, and memory 1103 are interconnected.

[0119] Optionally, the transceiver 1101, the processor 1102, and the memory 1103 are interconnected via a bus 1104. The bus 1104 may be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus. The bus may be classified as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, FIG11 shows only one thick line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0120] The transceiver 1101 is used to receive and send signals to achieve communication with other devices.

[0121] The functions of the processor 1102 can be referred to the description in the above embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0122] The processor 1102 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor 1102 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof. When implementing the above functions, the processor 1102 may be implemented through hardware, or may also execute corresponding software implementations through hardware. The steps of the method disclosed in the above embodiments of the present application may be directly executed by the processor 1102, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor 1102.

[0123] The memory 1103 is used to store program instructions, data, etc. Specifically, the program instructions may include program code, which includes computer operation instructions. The memory 1103 may include volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM); it may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk memory, hard disk drive (HDD), or solid state drive (SSD). The memory 1103 can also be any other medium that can be used to carry or store program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, and this application does not limit this. The processor 1102 executes the program instructions stored in the memory 1103 to implement the above functions, thereby implementing the method provided in the above embodiment.

[0124] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which includes a computer program; when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the method provided in the above embodiments.

[0125] Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer executes the method provided in the above embodiments.

[0126] Optionally, the above-mentioned computer may include, but is not limited to, communication devices such as terminal devices and network devices.

[0127] The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0128] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide a chip, which is used to read a computer program stored in a memory to implement the method provided in the above embodiments. Optionally, the chip may include a processor, which is coupled to the memory and is used to read the computer program stored in the memory to implement the method provided in the above embodiments. Optionally, the chip may also include components such as a memory, a communication interface, and a power supply module. The memory is used to store computer programs; the communication interface is used to receive and send data; and the power supply unit is used to power the processor.

[0129] Based on the above embodiments, embodiments of the present application provide a chip system that includes a processor for supporting a computer device in implementing the functions of the terminal device described in the above embodiments. In one possible design, the chip system also includes a memory for storing the necessary programs and data for the computer device. The chip system can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0130] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0131] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0132] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0133] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0134] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the first satellite-based base station, including: Determine a first grid area where a first terminal device accessing the first satellite-borne base station is located, where the first grid area is a ground physical area; Acquire measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device, where the measurement data corresponds to the first grid area; Counting measurement data of N terminal devices corresponding to the first grid area in a first time period to obtain a measurement data statistical result corresponding to the first grid area, where the N terminal devices include the first terminal device, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; Sending the measurement data statistics result corresponding to the first grid area to the first device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Determining the grid area where the terminal device accessing the first satellite-borne base station is located includes: Determining a first cell identifier to which the first terminal device is connected; Determine the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier according to the first mapping relationship information; wherein the first mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station remains unchanged.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first mapping relationship information is determined according to the ephemeris information of the satellite where the first satellite-borne base station is located.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Determining the grid area where the terminal device accessing the first satellite-borne base station is located includes: Determining a first cell identifier to which the first terminal device is connected; Determine the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier according to the second mapping relationship information; wherein the second mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station is associated with the position of the first satellite base station.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The second mapping relationship information is determined according to the ephemeris information of the satellite where the first satellite-borne base station is located.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The range of the first grid area is greater than or equal to the coverage range of a single beam of the first satellite-borne base station.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Acquiring measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device, including: Sending a measurement request message to the first terminal device; Receive measurement data sent by the first terminal device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device includes one or more of the following information; Hardware measurement data, used to indicate hardware performance or hardware capability of the first terminal device; Transmission measurement data, used to indicate data transmission performance between the first terminal device and the first satellite-borne base station; The cell measurement data is used to indicate the network communication performance of the cell of the first satellite-borne base station.

9. A device, characterized in that: including a communication unit and a processing unit; The communication unit is used to receive and send data; A processing unit, configured to determine a first grid area where a first terminal device accessing the first satellite-borne base station is located, where the first grid area is a ground physical area; Acquire measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device through the communication unit, where the measurement data corresponds to the first grid area; Counting measurement data of N terminal devices corresponding to the first grid area in a first time period to obtain a measurement data statistical result corresponding to the first grid area, where the N terminal devices include the first terminal device, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1; The measurement data statistics result corresponding to the first grid area is sent to the first device through the communication unit.

10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that The processing unit is specifically used for: Determining a first cell identifier to which the first terminal device is connected; Determine the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier according to the first mapping relationship information; wherein the first mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station remains unchanged.

11. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that The first mapping relationship information is determined according to the ephemeris information of the satellite where the first satellite-borne base station is located.

12. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that The processing unit is specifically used for: Determining a first cell identifier to which the first terminal device is connected; Determine the identifier of the first grid area corresponding to the first cell identifier according to the second mapping relationship information; wherein the second mapping relationship information indicates the correspondence between the cell identifier of the first satellite base station and the grid area at different times, and the cell identifier of the first satellite base station is associated with the location of the first satellite base station.

13. The device according to claim 12, characterized in that The second mapping relationship information is determined according to the ephemeris information of the satellite where the first satellite-borne base station is located.

14. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that: The range of the first grid area is greater than or equal to the coverage range of a single beam of the first satellite-borne base station.

15. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that The communication unit is specifically used for: Sending a measurement request message to the first terminal device; Receive measurement data sent by the first terminal device.

16. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 15, characterized in that: The measurement data corresponding to the first terminal device includes one or more of the following information; Hardware measurement data, used to indicate hardware performance or hardware capability of the first terminal device; Transmission measurement data, used to indicate data transmission performance between the first terminal device and the first satellite-borne base station; The cell measurement data is used to indicate the network communication performance of the cell of the first satellite-borne base station.

17. A device, characterized in that include: transceiver, used to receive and send signals; A processor, configured to execute program instructions so that the communication device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

19. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is coupled to a memory and is used to read and execute program instructions stored in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

20. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is executed by a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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