Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application discloses a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a terminal device receives first indication information and second indication information in a first cell, wherein the first indication information is used for instructing to stop monitoring a group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI) of a first multicast broadcast service (MBS) session, and the second indication information is used for indicating that the first MBS session has no data temporarily or the second indication information is used for indicating that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated; performing reselection from the first cell to a second cell; and receiving data of the first MBS session in the second cell. The method can prevent the terminal device from missing reception of data of the MBS session after cell handover.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application with application number 202311871106.4 filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on December 29, 2023, and priority to the Chinese patent application with the invention name “A Communication Method and Device”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0003] Multicast and broadcast service (MBS) is a service for multiple user equipment (UE), such as live broadcast service, public safety service, batch software update service, etc.

[0004] Currently, New Radio (NR) MBS includes broadcast and multicast, where multicast can also be called multicast. In NR MBS, if a UE in an inactive radio resource control (RRC) state originally receives data for a multicast session in a first cell, and reselects to a second cell after receiving an instruction instructing the first cell to stop monitoring the group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI), the UE may continue to wait for a paging message in the second cell and only receive data for the multicast session after receiving the paging message.

[0005] If the judgment logic of the indication information sent by the first cell and the second cell to stop monitoring the G-RNTI is inconsistent, for example, the second cell will not send the indication information to the UE in the second cell because there is temporarily no data in the multicast session, then when the multicast session has data subsequently, the second cell will not send a paging message but directly send the data of the multicast session, then the UE will miss the data of the multicast session due to waiting for the paging message. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application discloses a communication method and apparatus, which can prevent a terminal device from missing MBS session data reception after switching cells.

[0007] The present application is introduced below from different aspects. It should be understood that the implementation methods and beneficial effects of the following different aspects can be referenced to each other.

[0008] In a first aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device or a module (for example, a chip) in the terminal device. The method may include: receiving first indication information and second indication information in a first cell, the first indication information being used to indicate to stop monitoring the group radio network temporary identifier G-RNTI of a first multicast broadcast service MBS session; the second indication information being used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the second indication information being used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; reselecting from the first cell to the second cell; and receiving data of the first MBS session in the second cell.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may instruct to stop monitoring the G-RNTI of the first MBS session through a first indication message, and may also indicate through a second indication message that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; furthermore, the terminal device may receive data of the first MBS session after reselecting a cell based on the fact that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the status of the first MBS session is deactivated.

[0010] It should be understood that currently, after receiving the first indication information, if the terminal device reselects a cell, it will wait for a paging message in the reselected cell (i.e., the second cell) until it receives the paging message and then receives the data of the multicast session. However, for example, when the first MBS session temporarily has no data, the second cell does not necessarily send a paging message, causing the terminal device to miss the data reception of the MBS session. In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can flexibly determine the operation after reselecting the cell based on the temporary lack of data in the first MBS session or the deactivated state of the first MBS session. For example, when the terminal device learns that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, it will not wait for the paging message, but will use other operations to obtain the data of the first MBS session. This method can prevent the terminal device from missing the data reception of the MBS session after switching cells.

[0011] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information includes third indication information and / or fourth indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the first MBS session has data, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated or the status of the first MBS session is activated.

[0012] Optionally, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and may also mean that the third indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is activated; the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session has data, and may also mean that the third indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated. The fourth indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated, and may also mean that the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session has data; the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is activated, and may also mean that the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0013] In the embodiment of the present application, one or two indication information may be used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the state of the first MBS session is deactivated, thereby improving the flexibility of indication.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; or, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0015] In the embodiment of the present application, whether the fifth indication information exists implicitly indicates that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the state of the first MBS session is deactivated, thereby expanding the indication function of the fifth indication information.

[0016] With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the fifth indication information includes at least one of a G-RNTI and a configuration parameter of a multicast broadcast radio bearer (MRB).

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first indication information and the second indication information are both carried in the first message.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, receiving the data of the first MBS session in the second cell includes: receiving the data of the first MBS session in a radio resource control RRC non-connected state or in an RRC connected state.

[0019] Optionally, the terminal device may determine, based on the fact that the first MBS session is temporarily without data or the first MBS session is in a deactivated state, in which RRC state (e.g., RRC unconnected state or RRC connected state) to receive data for the first MBS session after reselecting a cell. This method can prevent the terminal device from missing MBS session data reception after switching cells.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and the data of the first MBS session is received in the second cell, including: when there is a point-to-multipoint PTM configuration, the data of the first MBS session is received in the RRC non-connected state, and the PTM configuration is used for the terminal device in the RRC non-connected state to obtain the data of the first MBS session.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and the data of the first MBS session is received in the second cell, including: when there is no PTM configuration, initiating RRC connection recovery in the second cell; the RRC connection is used to obtain the data of the first MBS session.

[0022] Exemplarily, initiating RRC connection recovery in the second cell may be sending an RC recovery request (RRCResumeRequest) message to a network device that manages the second cell.

[0023] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first MBS session temporarily has no data and no PTM configuration is provided, RRC connection recovery is initiated in the second cell. This method can prevent the terminal device from missing MBS session data reception after switching cells.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and the data of the first MBS session is received in the second cell, including: receiving a system message in the second cell; when the system message does not include the configuration information of the multicast MCCH, initiating RRC connection recovery in the second cell; the RRC connection is used to obtain the data of the first MBS session.

[0025] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first MBS session temporarily has no data and the system message does not include multicast MCCH configuration information, RRC connection recovery is initiated in the second cell. This method can prevent the terminal device from missing MBS session data reception after switching cells.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and the data of the first MBS session is received in the second cell, including: monitoring the downlink control information DCI corresponding to the multicast MCCH message in the second cell; if the DCI is not monitored, initiating RRC connection recovery; the RRC connection is used to obtain the data of the first MBS session.

[0027] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first MBS session temporarily has no data and no DCI is monitored, RRC connection recovery is initiated in the second cell. This method can prevent the terminal device from missing MBS session data reception after switching cells.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated, and receiving data of the first MBS session in the second cell includes: monitoring a paging message in the second cell; the paging message is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

[0029] In a second aspect, the present application discloses a communication method, which can be executed by a first network device or a module (for example, a chip) in the first network device. The method may include: sending first indication information and second indication information to a terminal device in a first cell, the first indication information being used to indicate to stop monitoring the group radio network temporary identifier G-RNTI of the first multicast broadcast service MBS; the second indication information being used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the second indication information being used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; the second indication information being used for the terminal device to receive data of the first MBS session after cell reselection.

[0030] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may instruct, through first indication information, the network device to stop monitoring the G-RNTI of the first MBS session, and may also indicate, through second indication information, that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or that the first MBS session is in a deactivated state. In an embodiment of the present application, the second indication information is used by the terminal device, after cell reselection, to flexibly determine operations after reselecting a cell based on the temporary lack of data for the first MBS session or the deactivated state of the first MBS session. This method can prevent the terminal device from missing MBS session data reception after switching cells.

[0031] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information includes third indication information and / or fourth indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the first MBS session has data, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated or the status of the first MBS session is activated.

[0032] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; or, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0033] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the fifth indication information includes at least one of a G-RNTI and a configuration parameter of a multicast broadcast radio bearer (MRB).

[0034] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first indication information and the second indication information are both carried in the first message.

[0035] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device or a chip / circuit therein. The communication device is configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The communication device includes a unit capable of performing the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0036] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be a first network device or a chip / circuit therein. The communication device is configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The communication device includes a unit configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0037] In the third or fourth aspect, the communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit. For a detailed description of the transceiver unit and the processing unit, reference may be made to the device embodiments shown below. The beneficial effects of the third to fourth aspects may be referenced to the relevant descriptions of the first and second aspects, and are not further elaborated here.

[0038] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may include a processor and an interface circuit, and the processor is connected to the interface circuit. Wherein, the interface circuit is used to interact (or transmit and receive or input and output) information or data, and the processor is used to run program instructions so that the communication device performs the method described in any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, or any aspect thereof. Wherein, the interface circuit may be a communication interface, or a transceiver. The transceiver may be a radio frequency module in a communication device, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input and output interface of a chip or circuit.

[0039] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a readable storage medium having program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method described in any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, or any of the aspects above.

[0040] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a program product comprising program instructions, which, when executed, enables the method described in the first aspect, the second aspect, or any possible implementation of any of the aspects to be executed.

[0041] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a device, which can be implemented in the form of a chip or in the form of a device, and the device includes a processor. The processor is used to read and execute a program stored in a memory to execute the information interaction method provided by one or more of the above-mentioned first aspect, or the above-mentioned second aspect, or one or more of any possible implementation methods of any aspect. Optionally, the device also includes a memory, which is connected to the processor via a circuit. Further optionally, the device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used to receive information to be processed, and the processor obtains the information from the communication interface, processes the information, and outputs the processing results through the communication interface. The communication interface can be an input and output interface.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the processor and memory may be physically independent units, or the memory may be integrated with the processor.

[0043] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication system comprising a terminal device and a first network device; the terminal device is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the first network device is used to execute the method described in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0044] The technical effects achieved in the above-mentioned aspects can be referred to each other or to the beneficial effects in the method embodiments shown below, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] 1A to 1C are schematic diagrams of related technologies provided by embodiments of the present application;

[0046] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a business scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG5 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG6 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG8 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG9 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] 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.

[0055] In the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish different objects and do not limit the quantity or execution order. Moreover, words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units that are not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product, or device.

[0056] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means "or", for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, "at least one (item)", "the following one (item) or more (items)" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items (items). For example, at least one item (item) of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a, b, and c. Among them, a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0057] In the description of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary," "for example," or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete way.

[0058] It should be understood that in the description of this application, the terms "when," "if," and "if" all refer to the device performing a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances. They do not limit the time, do not require the device to perform a judgment action during implementation, and do not imply any other limitations. Specifically, "the device performing a corresponding action under certain objective circumstances" includes: the device performing the corresponding action under certain objective circumstances can perform the corresponding action only if the objective circumstances are met; or the device performing the corresponding action can perform the corresponding action only if the objective circumstances and other circumstances are met.

[0059] The term "simultaneously" in this application may be understood as at the same time point, within a period of time, or within the same cycle, and may be understood in conjunction with the context.

[0060] Elements used in the singular herein are intended to mean "one or more" rather than "one and only one" unless specifically stated otherwise.

[0061] Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

[0062] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, "A corresponds to B," "A corresponds to B," "A corresponds to B," or similar expressions indicate that B is associated with A and B can be determined based on A. Determining B based on A does not mean determining B based solely on A; B can also be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0063] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief introduction to the relevant technologies and terms of the present application is first given.

[0064] 1. MBS service transmission architecture

[0065] MBS is a service for multiple UEs, such as live broadcast services, public safety services, and batch software update services.

[0066] FIG1A exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of an MBS service transmission architecture.

[0067] As shown in Figure 1A, a data server can send MBS service data to a core network device (CN). The CN then sends the MBS data to a gNB, which then sends the MBS data to at least one UE receiving the MBS service. The data server can be the provider of the MBS data (MBS server).

[0068] When sending data from the core network to the base station, MBS services are transmitted over a common transmission channel, an MBS session. Each MBS session can contain at least one MBS Quality of Service (QoS) flow. When sending data from the base station to the UE, data packets are transmitted over the MBS session's data radio bearer (MRB). An MBS radio bearer has two transmission modes: PTM (point to multi-point) transmission and PTP (point to point) transmission.

[0069] In the embodiment of the present application, the MBS service may be a multicast service, a broadcast service, or a groupcast service, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0070] 2. RRC status

[0071] In 5G NR, UE has three RRC states: RRC connected state, RRC idle state, and RRC inactive state. The RRC inactive state can also be called the RRC inactive state.

[0072] In the RRC connected state, an RRC connection is established between the UE and the base station. When there is no data transmission, the base station can release the UE to the RRC idle state. In this state, no RRC connection is established between the base station and the UE. Alternatively, the base station can release the UE to the RRC inactive state, suspending the RRC connection. In this state, the base station still maintains the UE context information. The benefit of introducing the RRC inactive state is that compared to the RRC idle state, since the base station still retains the UE context, the UE can restore the RRC connection more quickly, reducing latency when services arrive.

[0073] The base station releases the UE to the RRC idle state or RRC inactive state by sending an RRC release message to the UE. When the UE receives an RRCRelease message containing suspend information (suspendConfig), the UE enters the RRC inactive state. For a UE in the RRC inactive state, when certain trigger conditions are met, such as the arrival of uplink traffic or receiving a paging message from the network, the UE triggers RRC connection recovery and sends an RRCResumeRequest message to the base station, which carries the inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) assigned to the UE by the last serving gNB.

[0074] 3. Multicast service

[0075] Multicast services are designed for services with high QoS requirements and require group management for multicast services. They can provide the same QoS level as unicast services.

[0076] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of a multicast service architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1B, the architecture includes a content provider (such as a data server corresponding to the service), a CN, a radio access network (RAN), and several UEs.

[0077] For multicast services, the core network needs to manage UE joining and leaving. A new MBS QoS flow has been introduced for transmission between the core network and base stations. For the RAN, both PTP and PTM transmission methods are supported for sending data to UEs, with dynamic switching between PTP and PTM controlled by the RAN. Currently, multicast services can only be provided to UEs in the RRC connected state, requiring the gNB and CN to maintain UE information corresponding to the multicast service group. Furthermore, MBS session deactivation / activation triggered by the core network is supported for multicast services, without the UE being aware of the service status.

[0078] (1) Multicast activation / deactivation process:

[0079] The MBS session deactivation process is only applicable to multicast.

[0080] The MBS session deactivation process is triggered by the MBS session management control plane network element (multicast / broadcast session management function, MB-SMF). The MBS session deactivation process is triggered when the MBS session management user plane network element (multicast / broadcast user plane function, MB-UPF) notifies the MBS session deactivation process when there is no downlink data to transmit within a period of time, or when the MBS session deactivation process is triggered when the MB-SMF directly receives a request from the application function (AF) or through the network exposure function (NEF).

[0081] The MBS Session Deactivation process is used to deactivate the data resources for an MBS session on a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) node. Triggered by the 5GC, the RAN releases the radio resources for the multicast session and stops transmitting multicast session data to the UE. The base station can either release the UE's RRC connection (idle / inactive) or not release it, without explicitly notifying the UE of the deactivation.

[0082] The MBS Session Activation procedure applies only to multicast. The MBS Session Activation procedure is triggered by the MB-SMF when it receives notification from the MB-UPF regarding downlink MBS session data, or when it receives a request directly from the AF or through the NEF. The MBS Session Activation procedure is used to activate the data resources for the MBS session on the NG-RAN node. Triggered by the 5GC, radio resources for the multicast session are established, and multicast session data transmission to the UE begins. UEs in RRC-IDLE and RRC Inactive states (referred to as inactive UEs) participating in the multicast session are paged.

[0083] (2) UE receives multicast session data in RRC non-connected state

[0084] The RRC non-connected state may refer to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state. Hereinafter, the connected state refers to the RRC connected state, and the non-connected state refers to the RRC non-connected state.

[0085] When there are too many multicast users in a cell, the number of connected users that the cell can accommodate may exceed the number. For example, possible deployment scenarios include: user-dense scenarios such as concert stadiums, and other public safety scenarios. To alleviate network congestion, the current protocol supports UEs that join multicast sessions to receive multicast session data in the RRC non-connected state. Non-connected UEs use PTM to receive multicast session data. The UE receives the multicast session according to the multicast configuration provided by the network device (also referred to as PTM configuration or multicast PTM configuration in this application). For a multicast session, the multicast PTM configuration for inactive UEs to receive multicast may include one or more of the following: a multicast session identifier (e.g., a temporary multicast group identifier (TMGI)), a multicast MRB configuration (e.g., a multicast MRB packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) configuration, a radio link layer control protocol (RLC) configuration, etc.), a G-RNTI for descrambling the multicast traffic channel (MTCH), multicast MTCH scheduling information, etc.

[0086] For a UE that has already joined a multicast session, the network device can send RRC signaling (RRCRelease message) to the UE to release the UE from the connected state to the RRC Inactive state. The RRCRelease message can instruct the UE to enter the RRC Inactive state to receive the multicast session. The network device has the following two methods to provide the PTM configuration for RRC Inactive state multicast: 1) Send the PTM configuration for the inactive state UE to receive the multicast session to the UE in the RRCRelease message. The specific multicast PTM configuration can be included in the SuspendConfig therein; 2) Similar to the above-mentioned method of providing MBS broadcast configuration, send it to the UE via a multicast broadcast multicast control channel (MCCH) message. If the UE has started receiving a multicast session in the connected state, the network device can instruct the UE to use the PTM configuration for receiving the multicast session in the RRC connected state to receive the multicast session in the RRC inactive state, or the network device can use the above two methods to provide the RRC inactive state multicast PTM configuration. It should be noted that the RRC inactive state multicast PTM configuration provided by the above two methods can be the same as the connected state configuration or different from the connected state configuration, depending on the network device.

[0087] For the case where the MBS broadcast configuration is sent to the UE via a multicast MCCH message, the multicast MCCH configuration method can be as follows: 1) The RRCrelease message can also include the multicast MCCH configuration of the cell for the UE to obtain the multicast MCCH message; 2) The multicast MCCH configuration can also be sent through the cell public signaling, similar to broadcasting, and the multicast MCCH configuration is sent in the system message (such as the SIBx message). The UE obtains the multicast MCCH configuration by reading the system message, and then reads the multicast MCCH message of the cell, and then obtains the PTM configuration of the multicast session through the multicast MCCH message.

[0088] (3) Non-connected UE receives MBS session data

[0089] Multicast MCCH messages are used to transmit control information, which may include multicast MTCH configuration information, such as the G-RNTI corresponding to the multicast MTCH and discontinuous reception (DRX) parameters. Multicast MCCH messages are sent periodically, and the UE uses the multicast broadcast multicast control channel radio network temporary identifier (MBS control channel RNTI, MCCH-RNTI) to monitor downlink control information (DCI) to obtain scheduling information for multicast MCCH messages.

[0090] The multicast MTCH logical channel (or multicast MTCH channel) carries user data for multicast services. The multicast MTCH channel is configured at the per-G-RNTI level, or per-MBS service level. The gNB uses the group RNTI (G-RNTI) to schedule service data to multiple UEs simultaneously. Each G-RNTI can be associated with at least one multicast service. UEs use the G-RNTI to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to obtain the DCI corresponding to the multicast MTCH.

[0091] FIG1C is a schematic diagram of a UE receiving data of an MBS session according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.

[0092] As shown in Figure 1C, the UE can first obtain a system message (such as a SIBx message). The system message contains control information for transmitting multicast services, that is, the configuration information of the multicast MCCH. The UE can know how to receive the multicast MCCH through the system message. Specifically, the system message contains the repetition period (repetition period, RP), offset (mcch-Offset), MCCH transmission time (mcch-duration), and modification period (modification period, MP) of the multicast MCCH. The UE then reads the message content of the multicast MCCH message according to the configuration information of the multicast MCCH, wherein the multicast MCCH message includes the MBS multicast configuration information, which is the configuration information of the multicast MTCH, G-RNTI, TMGI, and other necessary configurations for receiving broadcast services. Then, the UE receives the multicast service data (also called the multicast session data) on the multicast MTCH channel according to the MBS multicast configuration information.

[0093] (4) Inactive UE receives multicast configuration

[0094] At present, the common frequency resource (CFR) configuration for inactive UE to receive multicast is sent through a SIBx message and / or a multicast MCCH message or an RRCrelease message, and the specific information elements carried are the same.

[0095] Currently, the PTM configuration for multicast reception by inactive UEs is sent via RRC release messages and / or multicast MCCH messages. The specific information elements carried are the same, including MBS-SessionInfoListMulticast-r18. MBS-SessionInfoListMulticast-r18 contains the MBS session ID (TMGI), G-RNTI, DRX configuration, physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configuration, and the mapping relationship between MTCH and synchronization signal block (SSB).

[0096] 4. Community

[0097] A cell, also known as a cellular cell, refers to a partial or complete area covered by the signal of a base station in a cellular mobile communication system. Electronic devices in this area can communicate with the base station through wireless channels.

[0098] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, a cell does not refer to a physical area, but rather to an area covered by a base station signal. For example, the same physical area may be covered by cells of different base stations, wherein the cell formats and frequencies in the physical area may be the same or different. Among them, an electronic device is an electronic device with data processing and transceiver capabilities or a device in an electronic device (such as a chip or integrated circuit, etc.), and the above-mentioned electronic device may include a terminal device or a network-side device.

[0099] Based on the above, in order to better understand the communication method and related devices proposed in this application, the system architecture and business scenarios of the embodiments of this application are described below. It should be noted that the system architecture and business scenarios described in this application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by this application. It is known to those skilled in the art that with the evolution of the system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided by this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0100] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0101] As shown in Figure 2, the system architecture may include a network device 101 and a terminal device 102. The terminal device 102 may be wirelessly connected to the network device 101 and access the core network through the network device 101. The terminal device 102 may be fixed or mobile.

[0102] In this application, network device 101 manages at least two cells; network device 101 may include one or more network devices (such as base stations). For example, network device 101 is a single network device that manages at least two cells; for another example, network device 101 includes two network devices, each of which manages at least one cell.

[0103] In some embodiments, the terminal device 102 can access any cell managed by the network device 101 to achieve communication; the terminal device 102 can switch between two cells managed by the network device 101, where the two cells can be cells managed by different network devices. For an example, please refer to the relevant description of Figure 3 below.

[0104] The network device 101 can be an entity for transmitting or receiving signals, or a device for communicating with the terminal device 102. The network device can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system or a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, or a base station (NodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, or an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the network device can be a relay station, an access point, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a network device in a 5G network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. The network device can be a device in a wireless network, such as a RAN node that connects the terminal device 102 to a wireless network. Currently, some examples of RAN nodes include base stations, next-generation base stations (gNBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), evolved Node Bs (eNBs), home base stations, baseband units (BBUs), or access points (APs) in Wi-Fi systems. In one network architecture, network equipment may include centralized unit (CU) nodes, distributed unit (DU) nodes, or RAN equipment including CU nodes and DU nodes. In an O-RAN system, the CU may also be referred to as an O-CU, and the DU may also be referred to as an O-DU.

[0105] The terminal device 102 is an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals, and is mainly used to realize the function of wireless communication with the network device 101.

[0106] For example, terminal device 102 can be an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. The terminal device 102 may also be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a wearable device (such as a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a pedometer, etc.), a terminal device in a 5G network, or a future-evolved public land mobile communication network. The terminal device 102 may be a terminal device in a wireless network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The terminal device 102 may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted, or may be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.), or may be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.). In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device 102 may be a legacy UE, or may be an RB-level partial frequency hopping (RPFS) UE that supports SRS coverage and capacity enhancement, or may be other UEs. The present application does not limit the type of the terminal device 102. Among them, legacy UE refers to user equipment that supports existing mechanisms, for example, user equipment that supports release-15 and release-16.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device 102 or the network device 101 includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. In addition, the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be the terminal device 102 or the network device 101, or it can be a functional module in the terminal device 102 or the network device 101 that can call and execute a program.

[0108] It should be noted that the number and type of terminal devices 102 included in the system architecture shown in FIG2 are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. For example, more or fewer terminal devices 102 communicating with the network device 101 may be included. For the sake of simplicity, they are not described one by one in the accompanying drawings.

[0109] In addition, in the system architecture shown in Figure 2, although the network device 101 and the terminal device 102 are shown, the application scenario may not be limited to including the network device 101 and the terminal device 102. For example, it may also include a core network device or a device for carrying virtualized network functions, etc., wherein the core network device communicates through the network device 101 and the terminal device 102.

[0110] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR) and future communication systems, etc., without limitation here.

[0111] Furthermore, based on the system architecture of the communication system shown in FIG2 above, FIG3 is used to introduce an exemplary business scenario provided by this application.

[0112] FIG3 exemplarily shows that the at least two cells managed by the network device 101 are a first cell and a second cell.

[0113] Exemplarily, the network device 101 can be one network device, that is, the first cell and the second cell are cells managed by the same network device; or, the network device 101 can include multiple network devices, and the network devices managing the first cell and the second cell can be different network devices, such as the first cell is a cell managed by the first network device, and the second cell is a cell managed by the second network device.

[0114] In some embodiments, the terminal device 102 may receive data of an MBS session (e.g., a first MBS session) in a first cell, and reselect from the first cell to a second cell after receiving indication information instructing to stop monitoring G-RNTI (i.e., stop monitor G-RNTI indication information) in the first cell. The network devices managing the first cell and the second cell are different network devices, e.g., the first cell is a cell managed by the first network device, the second cell is a cell managed by the second network device, the first network device and the second network device are different network devices, and the reasons for sending the indication information instructing to stop monitoring G-RNTI between the first network device and the second network device are different (i.e., the judgment logic for sending the indication information is inconsistent).

[0115] Currently, upon receiving this information (i.e., the above-mentioned stop monitor G-RNTI indication information), the terminal device 102 stops monitoring the G-RNTI. If this indication information is received for all MBS sessions, the terminal device 102 will also stop monitoring the multicast MCCH-RNTI. It should be understood that, in this application, monitoring the G-RNTI may refer to monitoring the PDCCH using the G-RNTI, and monitoring the multicast MCCH-RNTI may refer to monitoring the PDCCH using the multicast MCCH-RNTI. In other words, monitoring a certain RNTI (such as the G-RNTI, MCCH-RNTI, or others) may refer to monitoring the PDCCH using a certain RNTI.

[0116] The indication information received by the terminal device 102 (i.e., the aforementioned stop monitor G-RNTI indication information) only indicates that monitoring of the G-RNTI has stopped. The reason for stopping monitoring of the G-RNTI is unclear. For example, the first cell may indicate that monitoring of the G-RNTI has stopped because there is temporarily no data. Different cells may also make different judgments. For example, some cells may determine that the indication information should be sent when there is no data for 2 seconds, while others may determine that the indication information should be sent when there is no data for 5 seconds. It is also unclear whether the sending of the stop monitor G-RNTI indication information considers the temporary lack of data for the first MBS session. For example, some cells may indicate that monitoring of the G-RNTI has stopped because there is temporarily no data for the MBS session, while others may not.

[0117] If the terminal device 102 receives the stop monitor G-RNTI indication information of the first MBS session in the first cell and then reselects to the second cell, the terminal device 102 will wait for the paging message (paging) in the second cell before monitoring the MCCH-RNTI. However, if the second cell does not send the stop monitor G-RNTI indication to the terminal device 102 because the first MBS session temporarily has no data, the second cell will not send a paging message when the subsequent first MBS session starts to have data, but will directly send the data of the first MBS session (because in the second cell, other UEs except the terminal device 102 are always monitoring the G-RNTI and MCCH-RNTI, but have not monitored the DCI of the scheduling data). At this time, the terminal device 102 that has reselected from the first cell will miss the service reception because it has been waiting for the paging message in the second cell.

[0118] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and apparatus, in which a network device may instruct, through first indication information, to stop monitoring the G-RNTI of a first MBS session, and may also indicate, through second indication information, that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or that the first MBS session is in a deactivated state. Furthermore, a terminal device may, based on the temporary lack of data for the first MBS session or the deactivated state of the first MBS session, receive data for the first MBS session after reselecting a cell. In this method, the terminal device may flexibly determine the operation after reselecting a cell based on the temporary lack of data for the first MBS session or the deactivated state of the first MBS session. For example, upon learning that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, the terminal device will not wait for a paging message, but instead will use other operations to obtain data for the first MBS session. This method can prevent the terminal device from missing data reception for the MBS session after switching cells.

[0119] In combination with the above system architecture, a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is described below.

[0120] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The functions performed by the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the terminal device, and the functions performed by the first network device in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (e.g., a chip) in the first network device.

[0121] As shown in FIG4 , the communication method may include the following steps:

[0122] S401: The first network device sends first indication information and second indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to instruct the G-RNTI to stop monitoring the first MBS session; the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated.

[0123] Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information from the first network device.

[0124] In one implementation, the first network device sends first indication information and second indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate to stop monitoring the G-RNTI of the first MBS session; and the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0125] In another implementation, the first network device sends first indication information and second indication information to the terminal device, the first indication information is used to indicate to stop monitoring the G-RNTI of the first MBS session; the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated.

[0126] The MBS service corresponding to the first MBS session may be a multicast service, a broadcast service, or a multicast service. For example, the MBS service corresponding to the first MBS session may be a live broadcast service, a public safety service, or a batch software update service.

[0127] In some other embodiments of the present application, the second indication information may also be referred to as reason information of the first indication information, that is, reason information for stopping monitoring the G-RNTI of the first MBS session.

[0128] In a possible implementation, the second indication information includes third indication information and / or fourth indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the first MBS session has data, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated or the status of the first MBS session is activated.

[0129] Optionally, the first indication information may also be the third indication information and / or the fourth indication information, that is, the third indication information and / or the fourth indication information may also be used to indicate that monitoring of the G-RNTI of the first MBS session should be stopped. In other words, after the indication information used in the current standard to indicate that monitoring of the G-RNTI of the first MBS session should be stopped is removed, the cessation of monitoring of the G-RNTI may be determined as long as a new information element (such as the third indication information and / or the fourth indication information) appears.

[0130] In some embodiments of the present application, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session is temporarily free of data, and may also mean that the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session is in an activated state; the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session has data, and may also mean that the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session is in a deactivated state. The fourth indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session is in a deactivated state, and may also mean that the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session has data; the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session is in an activated state, and may also mean that the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session is temporarily free of data.

[0131] Optionally, the first indication information and the second indication information may both be carried in the first message. For example, the third indication information and the fourth indication information may each be one bit of indication information in the first message.

[0132] Exemplarily, the first indication information and the second indication information may both be carried in the first message. Specifically, the third indication information and the first indication information may both be carried in the first message; or, the fourth indication information and the first indication information may both be carried in the first message; or, the first indication information, the third indication information and the fourth indication information may all be carried in the first message.

[0133] Exemplarily, the first message may be a multicast MCCH message or an RRCrelease message from the first cell.

[0134] Optionally, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried in different messages. Exemplarily, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried in different messages. Specifically, the third indication information and the first indication information may be carried in different messages; or the fourth indication information and the first indication information may be carried in different messages; or the first indication information, the third indication information, and the fourth indication information may be carried in different messages. For example, the third indication information and the fourth indication information may each be one bit of indication information in different messages.

[0135] In another possible implementation, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; or, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0136] Optionally, the fifth indication information includes at least one of a G-RNTI and a configuration parameter of a multicast broadcast radio bearer (MRB). Exemplarily, the G-RNTI may be G-RNTI-r18 and / or a specific value of the G-RNTI (RNTI-Value); the MRB configuration parameter may be a multicast MRB configuration (such as mrb-ListMulticast-r18) and / or a specific parameter of the multicast MRB configuration (such as MRB-ListBroadcast-r17).

[0137] Optionally, the first indication information and the second indication information are both carried in a first message. Exemplarily, the first message may be a multicast MCCH message or an RRC release message from the first cell.

[0138] Exemplarily, the second indication information may be multiple fields in the first message, and the fifth indication information may be at least one field among the multiple fields. For example, the first message is a multicast MCCH message, the second indication information (i.e., the multiple fields) may be the MBS session identifier field (e.g., mbs-SessionId-r18) and the G-RNTI field (e.g., G-RNTI-r18 or RNTI-Value) in the multicast MCCH message, and the fifth indication information (i.e., the at least one field) may refer to the G-RNTI field; for another example, the second indication information (i.e., the multiple fields) may be the MBS session identifier field and the MRB configuration field (e.g., mrb-ListMulticast-r18 or MRB-ListBroadcast-r17) in the multicast MCCH message, and the fifth indication information (i.e., the at least one field) may refer to the MRB configuration field; for another example, the second indication information (i.e., the multiple fields) may be the MBS session identifier field, the G-RNTI field, and the MRB configuration field in the multicast MCCH message, and the fifth indication information (i.e., the at least one field) may refer to the G-RNTI field and the MRB configuration field. It should be understood that the above fields may also be referred to as cells, fields, signaling, characters or bits.

[0139] It should be understood that the meaning of both the first indication information and the second indication information being carried in the first message may be that the first message includes the first indication information and the second indication information, or that the first indication information and the second indication information are information elements in the first message, or that the first message contains the first indication information and the second indication information. This application does not limit this statement.

[0140] S402: The terminal device reselects from the first cell to the second cell.

[0141] The first cell is a cell managed by the first network device, that is, the terminal device receives the first indication information and the second indication information in the first cell.

[0142] Optionally, the network device managing the second cell may be the first network device mentioned above; or it may not be the first network device mentioned above, for example, the device managing the second cell is the second network device, and the first network device and the second network device are different network devices.

[0143] S403: The terminal device receives data of the first MBS session in the second cell.

[0144] In some embodiments, after receiving the above-mentioned first indication information and second indication information in the first cell, the terminal device reselects from the first cell to the second cell; furthermore, it can receive data of the first MBS session in the radio resource control RRC non-connected state or in the RRC connected state.

[0145] The following exemplifies several implementations of the second indication information being used to instruct the terminal device to receive data of the first MBS session when the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0146] Optionally, the terminal device can receive data of the first MBS session in the RRC non-connected state when PTM is configured. The PTM configuration is used for the terminal device in the RRC non-connected state to obtain data of the first MBS session; when there is no PTM configuration, an RRC connection recovery process is initiated in the second cell (or the terminal device sends an RRCResumeRequest message to the network device); the RRC connection is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

[0147] It should be understood that the above-mentioned “having PTM configuration” may mean that the PTM configuration is available, or that the PTM configuration exists, or that the PTM configuration is obtainable; the above-mentioned “not having PTM configuration” may mean that the PTM configuration is unavailable, or that the PTM configuration does not exist, or that the PTM configuration is not obtainable.

[0148] Optionally, the terminal device receives a system message in the second cell; when the system message does not include multicast MCCH configuration information, the terminal device initiates an RRC connection recovery process (or initiating RRC connection recovery) in the second cell, such as sending an RRCResumeRequest message to the network device; the RRC connection is used to obtain data for the first MBS session. For example, the system message may be a SIBx message. In other embodiments of the present application, the system message does not include multicast MCCH configuration information, which may also be referred to as not reading the SIBx message, such as when SIB1 lacks scheduling information for the SIBx message.

[0149] Optionally, the terminal device may monitor downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to the multicast MCCH message in the second cell; if the DCI is not monitored, RRC connection recovery is initiated, such as by the terminal device sending an RRCResumeRequest message to the network device; the RRC connection is used to obtain data for the first MBS session. In other embodiments of the present application, failure to monitor the DCI corresponding to the multicast MCCH message may also be referred to as failure to read the multicast MCCH message, or failure to monitor the DCI using the multicast MCCH RNTI.

[0150] The following exemplarily introduces the implementation of the second indication information being used to indicate that the terminal device receives data of the first MBS session when the state of the first MBS session is deactivated: the terminal device can monitor the paging message in the second cell; the paging message is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

[0151] For example, the first MBS session is a multicast session, then the terminal device can first obtain the multicast MCCH configuration in the system message; based on the multicast MCCH configuration, the multicast MCCH message of the second cell is read (specifically, the UE uses MCCH-RNTI to monitor DCI to obtain the scheduling information of the multicast MCCH message, and its monitoring time position is provided by the multicast MCCH configuration). The multicast MCCH message includes the PTM configuration of the multicast session (or called MBS multicast configuration information), and the PTM configuration may include the configuration information of the multicast MTCH, G-RNTI, TMGI, etc.; then, the terminal device receives the data of the multicast session on the multicast MTCH channel according to the PTM configuration.

[0152] The method embodiment shown in Figure 4 above includes many possible implementation schemes. Some of the implementation schemes are illustrated below in conjunction with Figures 5 to 6. It should be noted that the relevant concepts, operations or logical relationships not explained in Figures 5 to 6 can refer to the corresponding descriptions in the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

[0153] In this application, the embodiments shown in Figures 5 and 6 can be respectively regarded as a separate embodiment, and the embodiments shown in Figures 5 and 6 can be independent of the technical solution of Figure 4; some steps in the embodiments shown in Figures 5 and 6 can also be regarded as separate embodiments.

[0154] FIG5 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0155] In the embodiment of the present application, a terminal device is a UE, a first cell is Cell1, a second cell is Cell2, a network device that manages Cell1 is a first network device, and a network device that manages Cell2 is a second network device is used as an example to introduce the communication method provided by the present application in detail. In the embodiment of the present application, the function performed by the UE can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the UE, the function performed by the first network device in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the first network device, and the function performed by the second network device in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the second network device.

[0156] In the embodiment of the present application, the second indication information is additional indication information. The embodiment of the present application introduces additional indication information to clarify the reason why the UE is instructed to stop monitor G-RNTI; based on the second indication information, the UE can clarify whether the reason why the MBS session is instructed to stop monitor G-RNTI is whether the MBS session temporarily has no data or the status of the MBS session is deactivated, thereby avoiding the UE being unable to determine whether to monitor MCCH-RNTI after performing cell reselection.

[0157] As shown in FIG5 , the communication method may include some or all of the following steps:

[0158] S501: A first network device sends a first message to a UE in Cell 1, where the first message includes first indication information and second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the second indication information is used to indicate that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated.

[0159] In some embodiments, the UE may receive stop monitor G-RNTI indication information (i.e., the above-mentioned first indication information) of the MBS service corresponding to the first MBS session in a multicast MCCH message or an RRCrelease message (i.e., the above-mentioned first message) of Cell1, and the message may also include cause information corresponding to the first indication information (i.e., the above-mentioned second indication information). For example, the cause information corresponding to the first indication information may be that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated or that the first MBS session temporarily has no data (no data).

[0160] Optionally, the cause information corresponding to the first indication information (i.e., the second indication information) may be additional 1-bit indication information, where the 1-bit indication information is used to indicate the state of the first MBS session. The 1-bit indication information may also be referred to as fourth indication information. For example, the 1-bit indication information may be 1 or 0. The 1-bit indication information being 1 indicates that the state of the first MBS session is activated, and the 1-bit indication information being 0 indicates that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated.

[0161] Optionally, the cause information corresponding to the first indication information (i.e., the second indication information) may be additional 1-bit indication information, and the 1-bit indication information is used to indicate whether the first MBS session has data. The 1-bit indication information may also be referred to as third indication information. For example, the 1-bit indication information may be 1 or 0. If the 1-bit indication information is 1, it indicates that the first MBS session has data; if the 1-bit indication information is 0, it indicates that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0162] Optionally, the cause information corresponding to the first indication information (i.e., the second indication information) may be additional new indication information indicating whether the first MBS session has data. This indication information may also be referred to as third indication information. For example, the third indication information may be indication information with an enumeration value of true or indication information with an enumeration value of false. The indication information with an enumeration value of true is used to indicate that the first MBS session has data, and the indication information with an enumeration value of false is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0163] Optionally, the cause information corresponding to the first indication information (i.e., the second indication information) may be additional new indication information indicating whether the status of the first MBS session is deactivated. This indication information may also be referred to as fourth indication information. For example, the fourth indication information may be indication information having an enumeration value of true or an enumeration value of false. The indication information having an enumeration value of true indicates that the status of the first MBS session is activated, and the indication information having an enumeration value of false indicates that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated.

[0164] In other embodiments of the present application, the cause information corresponding to the first indication information (i.e., the second indication information) may also only include the above-mentioned third indication information and fourth indication information (for example, whether to deactivate + whether there is data), and does not include the stop monitor G-RNTI indication information (i.e., the above-mentioned first indication information).

[0165] S502: The UE reselects from Cell 1 to Cell 2 managed by the second network device.

[0166] This application does not limit the method for UE to reselect a cell.

[0167] S503: The UE determines whether to initiate RRC connection recovery based on the fact that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the first MBS session is in a deactivated state.

[0168] In some embodiments, when the UE reselects Cell 2, the following logic may be executed:

[0169] Case 1: If the UE is instructed in Cell 1 that the first MBS session is temporarily without data (or the first MBS session is active, as long as the meaning is equivalent), then the UE reads the multicast MCCH message after reselecting Cell 2; then, the UE determines whether to initiate RRC connection resumption (resume). Exemplarily, the UE determines whether to initiate RRC connection resumption by specifically determining whether to send an RRCResumeRequest message to the second network device. The determination of whether to initiate RRC connection resumption can be based on whether PTM is configured, whether PTM is not configured, whether a multicast MCCH message is not read, and whether a SIBx message is not read.

[0170] For example, if there is PTM configuration, the UE can decide not to initiate resume. Then, the UE can maintain the RRC inactive state to receive data of the first MBS session, such as continuing to monitor MCCH-RNTI. If the current cell (i.e. Cell2) indicates stop monitor G-RNTI, it will not monitor G-RNTI. If there is no indication to stop monitor G-RNTI, it will monitor G-RNIT.

[0171] For example, if PTM is not configured, a multicast MCCH message is not read, or a SIBx message is not read, the UE can initiate a resume. Failure to read the multicast MCCH message may mean failure to read the DCI corresponding to the MCCH, that is, failure to monitor the DCI using the multicast MCCH RNTI; failure to read the SIBx message may mean that there is no SIBx message scheduling information in SIB1.

[0172] The second case: If the UE is indicated in Cell1 that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated (or the first MBS session is not temporarily without data, that is, there is data, as long as the meaning is equivalent), then the UE does not initiate resume (that is, maintains the RRC inactive state). After reselecting Cell2, the UE can monitor paging and read the multicast MCCH message after receiving paging.

[0173] S504: The UE receives data of the first MBS session in Cell2.

[0174] In one implementation, in step S503, if the UE initiates an RRC connection resume, the UE receives data for the first MBS session in the RRC connected state. For example, if PTM is not configured, a multicast MCCH message is not received, or a SIBx message is not received, the UE may initiate a resume, and the UE then receives data for the first MBS session in the RRC connected state.

[0175] In another implementation, in the above step S503, if the UE determines not to initiate RRC connection recovery, the UE may maintain the RRC inactive state to receive data of the first MBS session. For example, if the UE is indicated in Cell1 that there is temporarily no data for the first MBS session (i.e., the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data for the first MBS session) and PTM is configured, the UE does not initiate RRC connection recovery. The UE may maintain the RRC inactive state to receive data of the first MBS session, such as continuing to monitor MCCH-RNTI. If the current cell (i.e., Cell2) indicates to stop monitor G-RNTI, the UE does not monitor G-RNTI; otherwise, the UE monitors G-RNIT. For another example, if the UE is indicated in Cell1 that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated (i.e., the second indication information is used to indicate that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated), the UE does not initiate resume. After reselecting to Cell2, the UE may monitor paging, read the multicast MCCH message after receiving the paging, and then receive data of the first MBS session based on the multicast MCCH message.

[0176] The embodiment of the present application is based on the above-mentioned fifth indication information and the UE processing logic corresponding to the above-mentioned fifth indication information, so that the UE can clearly determine whether to remain in the RRC inactive state to continue waiting for paging or initiate an RRC connection to resume receiving services after reselecting a cell, thereby avoiding the UE missing the data reception of the MBS session.

[0177] FIG6 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0178] In the embodiment of the present application, a terminal device is a UE, a first cell is Cell1, a second cell is Cell2, a network device that manages Cell1 is a first network device, and a network device that manages Cell2 is a second network device is used as an example to introduce the communication method provided by the present application in detail. In the embodiment of the present application, the function performed by the UE can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the UE, the function performed by the first network device in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the first network device, and the function performed by the second network device in the embodiment of the present application can also be performed by a module (for example, a chip) in the second network device.

[0179] The current protocol does not specify whether the multicast MCCH message still includes the G-RNTI and MRB configuration after indicating stop monitor G-RNTI. In other words, the above two configurations are optional and can be retained or not included.

[0180] The embodiment of the present application can determine the reason why the MBS session is instructed to stop monitor G-RNTI based on whether the first message (such as the multicast MCCH message) contains G-RNTI and MRB configuration; based on the implicit indication information (i.e., the fifth indication information), the UE can clearly understand whether the reason why the MBS session is instructed to stop monitor G-RNTI is whether the MBS session temporarily has no data or the status of the MBS session is deactivated, thereby avoiding the UE being unable to determine whether to monitor MCCH-RNTI after performing cell reselection.

[0181] As shown in FIG6 , the communication method may include some or all of the following steps:

[0182] S601: A first network device sends a first message to a UE in Cell 1, where the first message includes first indication information, the first message includes fifth indication information, or the first message does not include the fifth indication information.

[0183] For example, the fifth indication information may be G-RNTI and / or MRB configuration.

[0184] In some embodiments, the UE may receive stop monitor G-RNTI indication information (i.e., the above-mentioned first indication information) of the MBS service corresponding to the first MBS session in a first message (e.g., a multicast MCCH message or an RRC release message) of Cell 1. The first message also includes fifth indication information (e.g., G-RNTI and / or MRB configuration).

[0185] Among them, the G-RNTI and / or MRB configuration is used to implicitly indicate the status of the first MBS session or whether the first MBS session has data. For example, if the first message has the fifth indication information (that is, the first message includes the fifth indication information), it indicates that the first MBS session has data; if the first message does not have the fifth indication information (that is, the first message does not include the fifth indication information), it indicates that the first MBS session temporarily has no data; or, for example, if the first message has the fifth indication information, the status of the first MBS session is activated; if the first message does not have the fifth indication information, it indicates that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated.

[0186] S602: The UE reselects from Cell 1 to Cell 2 managed by the second network device.

[0187] This application does not limit the method for UE to reselect a cell.

[0188] S603: The UE determines whether to initiate RRC connection recovery based on whether the first message includes the fifth indication information.

[0189] In some embodiments, if the first message includes fifth indication information (such as MRB configuration and / or G-RNTI) when the UE is instructed in Cell1 to stop monitoring the G-RNTI of the first MBS session, that is, implicitly indicating that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, then the UE reads the multicast MCCH message after reselecting Cell2; then, the UE determines whether to initiate RRC connection recovery (resume). Exemplarily, the UE determines whether to initiate RRC connection recovery by specifically determining whether to send an RRCResumeRequest message to the second network device. The determination of whether to initiate RRC connection recovery (resume) can be based on whether PTM configuration is present, whether PTM configuration is not present, whether a multicast MCCH message is not read, and whether a SIBx message is not read.

[0190] For example, if there is PTM configuration, the UE can decide not to initiate resume. Then, the UE can maintain the RRC inactive state to receive data of the first MBS session, such as continuing to monitor MCCH-RNTI. If the current cell (i.e. Cell2) indicates stop monitor G-RNTI, it will not monitor G-RNTI. If there is no indication to stop monitor G-RNTI, it will monitor G-RNIT.

[0191] For example, if PTM is not configured, a multicast MCCH message is not read, or a SIBx message is not read, the UE can initiate a resume. Failure to read the multicast MCCH message may mean failure to read the DCI corresponding to the MCCH, that is, failure to monitor the DCI using the multicast MCCH RNTI; failure to read the SIBx message may mean that there is no SIBx message scheduling information in SIB1.

[0192] The second case: If the UE is indicated in Cell1 that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated (or the first MBS session is not temporarily without data, that is, there is data, as long as the meaning is equivalent), then the UE does not initiate resume. After reselecting Cell2, the UE can monitor paging and read the multicast MCCH message after receiving paging.

[0193] S604: The UE receives data of the first MBS session in Cell2.

[0194] In one implementation, if the UE determines in step S603 above that an RRC connection resume is to be initiated, the UE may initiate an RRC connection resume and receive data for the first MBS session in the RRC connected state. For example, if no PTM is configured, no multicast MCCH message is received, or no SIBx message is received, the UE may initiate a resume and then receive data for the first MBS session in the RRC connected state.

[0195] In another implementation, in the above step S603, if the UE determines not to initiate RRC connection recovery, the UE can maintain the RRC inactive state to receive data of the first MBS session. For example, if the UE is indicated in Cell1 that the first MBS session temporarily has no data and has PTM configuration, the UE does not initiate RRC connection recovery. The UE can maintain the RRC inactive state to receive data of the first MBS session, such as continuing to monitor MCCH-RNTI. If the current cell (i.e., Cell2) indicates stop monitor G-RNTI, the UE does not monitor G-RNTI. If stop monitor G-RNTI is not indicated, the UE monitors G-RNIT. For another example, if the UE is indicated in Cell1 that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated, the UE does not initiate resume. After reselecting to Cell2, the UE can monitor paging, read the multicast MCCH message after receiving paging, and then receive data of the first MBS session based on the multicast MCCH message.

[0196] Exemplarily, the UE in the RRC inactive state receives the above PTM configuration via an RRC release message and / or a multicast MCCH message, and the specific carried information elements may be the same.

[0197] For example, both the RRC release message and the multicast MCCH message may include MBS-SessionInfoListMulticast-r18; MBS-SessionInfoListMulticast-r18 may include at least one of the following information elements: (1) MBS session identifier (such as mbs-SessionId-r18) and / or temporary multicast group identifier (such as TMGI-r17); (2) MRB configuration, such as multicast MRB configuration (such as mrb-ListMulticast-r18) and / or specific parameters of multicast MRB configuration (such as MRB-ListBroadcast-r17); (3) G-RNTI (such as G-RNTI-r18) and / or a specific value of G-RNTI (RNTI-Value).

[0198] It should be understood that the second indication information can be multiple fields (or called multiple information elements) in the first message, and the fifth indication information can be at least one field (or called at least one information element) in the second indication information. Therefore, to determine whether the first message includes the fifth indication information, that is, to determine whether the second indication information includes the fifth indication information.

[0199] Exemplarily, the second indication information may include the above-mentioned MBS session identifier (such as mbs-SessionId-r18) and / or temporary multicast group identifier (such as TMGI-r17), as well as the fifth indication information; the fifth indication information may be at least one of the above-mentioned multicast MRB configuration (such as mrb-ListMulticast-r18), the specific parameters of the multicast MRB configuration (such as MRB-ListBroadcast-r17), the G-RNTI (such as G-RNTI-r18) and the specific value of the G-RNTI (RNTI-Value).

[0200] The embodiment of the present application is based on the fifth indication information and the processing logic of the UE, so that after reselecting a cell, the UE can clearly determine whether to remain in the RRC inactive state to continue waiting for paging or initiate RRC connection recovery to receive data for the MBS session, thereby avoiding the UE missing the data reception of the MBS session.

[0201] The above content elaborates on the method provided by the present application. In order to facilitate the implementation of the above scheme of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides corresponding devices or equipment.

[0202] The present application divides the terminal device and the first network device into functional modules according to the above-mentioned method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in this application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The communication device of the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 7 to 9.

[0203] 7 , which is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7 , the communication device may include a transceiver unit 10 and a processing unit 20 .

[0204] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the terminal device shown above or a chip or circuit provided in the terminal device. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0205] In one design, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive first indication information and second indication information in a first cell, the first indication information is used to indicate to stop monitoring the group radio network temporary identifier G-RNTI of the first multicast broadcast service MBS session; the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; the processing unit 20 is used to: reselect from the first cell to the second cell; the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive data of the first MBS session in the second cell.

[0206] In a possible implementation, the second indication information includes third indication information and / or fourth indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the first MBS session has data, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated or the status of the first MBS session is activated.

[0207] In a possible implementation, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; or, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0208] In a possible implementation manner, the fifth indication information includes at least one of a G-RNTI and a configuration parameter of a multicast broadcast radio bearer (MRB).

[0209] In a possible implementation manner, both the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the first message.

[0210] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 10 is configured to receive data of the first MBS session in a radio resource control RRC non-connected state or in an RRC connected state.

[0211] In a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: when there is a point-to-multipoint PTM configuration, receive the data of the first MBS session in the RRC non-connected state, and the PTM configuration is used for the terminal device in the RRC non-connected state to obtain the data of the first MBS session.

[0212] In a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: initiate RRC connection recovery in the second cell when there is no PTM configuration; the RRC connection is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

[0213] In a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: receive a system message in the second cell; when the system message does not include multicast MCCH configuration information, initiate RRC connection recovery in the second cell; and the RRC connection is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

[0214] In a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: monitor the downlink control information DCI corresponding to the multicast MCCH message in the second cell; if no DCI is monitored, initiate RRC connection recovery; the RRC connection is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

[0215] In a possible implementation, the second indication information is used to indicate that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated, and the transceiver unit 10 is used to: monitor a paging message in the second cell; the paging message is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

[0216] In the embodiment of the present application, for descriptions of the first MBS session, the first indication information, the second indication information, etc., reference may be made to the introduction in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 above, and no further details will be given here.

[0217] It is understood that the specific description of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20, reference can be made to the method embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 6 above, and will not be described in detail here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiment of the present application refer to the technical effects of the method embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 6 above, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0218] Reusing Figure 7, in some embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the first network device shown above or a chip or circuit disposed in the first network device. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the first network device in the above method embodiments.

[0219] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the terminal device shown above or a chip or circuit provided in the terminal device. That is, the communication device may be used to execute the steps or functions performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0220] In one design, the transceiver unit 10 is used to: send a first indication message and a second indication message to a terminal device in a first cell, the first indication message is used to indicate to stop monitoring the group radio network temporary identifier G-RNTI of the first multicast broadcast service MBS; the second indication message is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the second indication message is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; the second indication message is used for the terminal device to receive data of the first MBS session after cell reselection.

[0221] In a possible implementation, the second indication information includes third indication information and / or fourth indication information, the third indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data or the first MBS session has data, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated or the status of the first MBS session is activated.

[0222] In a possible implementation, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; or, when the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the first MBS session temporarily has no data.

[0223] In a possible implementation manner, the fifth indication information includes at least one of a G-RNTI and a configuration parameter of a multicast broadcast radio bearer (MRB).

[0224] In a possible implementation manner, both the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in the first message.

[0225] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 20 is configured to obtain the first indication information and the second indication information.

[0226] In the embodiment of the present application, for descriptions of the first MBS session, the first indication information, the second indication information, etc., reference may be made to the descriptions in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 above, and they will not be described in detail here.

[0227] It is understood that the specific description of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20 shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit 10 and the processing unit 20, reference can be made to the method embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 6 above, and will not be described in detail here. In addition, the technical effects of the embodiment of the present application refer to the technical effects of the method embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 6 above, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0228] The above describes the terminal device and first network device according to the embodiments of the present application. The following describes possible product forms of the terminal device and the first network device. It should be understood that any product having the functions of the terminal device or the first network device described in FIG. 7 falls within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. It should also be understood that the following description is merely illustrative and does not limit the product forms of the communication device according to the embodiments of the present application to these examples.

[0229] In one possible implementation, in the communication device shown in FIG7 , the processing unit 20 may be one or more processors, and the transceiver unit 10 may be a transceiver. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 10 may be a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, wherein the transmitting unit may be a transmitter and the receiving unit may be a receiver, and the transmitting unit and receiving unit are integrated into a single device, such as a transceiver. In embodiments of the present application, the processor and transceiver may be coupled, and the connection method between the processor and transceiver is not limited in embodiments of the present application. During the execution of the above-described method, the process of sending information in the above-described method can be understood as the process of the processor outputting the above-described information. When outputting the above-described information, the processor outputs the above-described information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. After being output by the processor, the above-described information may require further processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information in the above-described method can be understood as the process of the processor receiving the above-described information. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the above-described information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above-described information, the above-described information may require further processing before being input into the processor.

[0230] Referring to Figure 8, Figure 8 is another structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment, and reference can be made to the description in the above method embodiment. The communication device can be a terminal device, or a first network device, or a chip therein. Exemplarily, the communication device includes one or more processors 1001 and a transceiver 1002. The communication device may further include a memory 1003. In one implementation, the communication device also includes an input and output device (not shown in Figure 8).

[0231] Processor 1001 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Memory 1003 is primarily used to store software programs and data. Transceiver 1002 may include control circuitry and an antenna. The control circuitry is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0232] When the communication device is powered on, the processor 1001 can read the software program in the memory 1003, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 1001 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1001. The processor 1001 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0233] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be provided independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be remotely arranged independent of the communication device.

[0234] The processor 1001 , the transceiver 1002 , and the memory 1003 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0235] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 above, the transceiver 1002 can be used to execute steps S401 and S403 in FIG. 4 , and the processor 1001 can be used to execute S402 in FIG. 4 , and / or other processes for the technology described herein.

[0236] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions performed by the first network device in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 , the transceiver 1002 can be used to execute step S401 in FIG. 4 , and / or other processes for the technology described herein.

[0237] In any of the above implementations, the processor 1001 may include a transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0238] In any of the above implementations, the processor 1001 may store instructions, which may be computer programs. The computer programs, when executed on the processor 1001, may cause the communication device to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. The computer programs may be embedded in the processor 1001, in which case the processor 1001 may be implemented by hardware.

[0239] In one implementation, the communication device may include a circuit that can implement the functions of sending, receiving, or communicating in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processor and transceiver described in this application can be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMetal-oxide-semiconductor, NMOS), P-channel metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (bipolar junction transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0240] It is understood that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application may also have more components than those in Figure 8, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. The method performed by the processor and transceiver shown above is only an example. For the specific steps performed by the processor and transceiver, please refer to the description of the method embodiment above.

[0241] In another possible implementation, the communication device shown in FIG8 may further include a processing unit, which may be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver unit 10 may be an input / output interface, or may be referred to as a communication interface, or an interface circuit, or an interface, etc. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 10 may be a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, the transmitting unit may be an output interface, the receiving unit may be an input interface, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be integrated into one unit, such as an input / output interface.

[0242] Referring to Figure 9, Figure 9 is another structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the communication device shown in Figure 9 includes a logic circuit 901 and an interface 902. That is, the above-mentioned processing unit can be implemented using a logic circuit 901, and the transceiver unit 10 can be implemented using an interface 902. Among them, the logic circuit 901 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit or a system on chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 902 can be a communication interface, an input and output interface, a pin, etc. Exemplarily, Figure 9 is shown as an example of a chip as the above-mentioned communication device, and the chip includes a logic circuit 901 and an interface 902.

[0243] In the embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit and the interface may also be coupled to each other. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection method between the logic circuit and the interface.

[0244] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions executed by the terminal device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 4 , the interface 902 is used to receive the first indication information and the second indication information.

[0245] Illustratively, when the communication apparatus is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions executed by the first network device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 4 , the interface 902 is used to send the first indication information and the second indication information.

[0246] In the embodiment of the present application, the description of the first indication information and the first time-frequency resource, etc. can be referred to the description of the method embodiment shown in FIG4 above, and will not be described in detail here. It is understood that the specific description of the logic circuit 901 and the interface 902 can also refer to the description of the processing unit and the transceiver unit shown in FIG7, and will not be repeated here.

[0247] It can be understood that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of hardware, or can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of software, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0248] For the specific implementation of each embodiment shown in FIG9 , reference may also be made to the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0249] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a first network device. The terminal device and the first network device can be used to execute the method in any of the aforementioned method embodiments (Figures 4 to 6).

[0250] In addition, the present application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and / or processing performed by the communication device (such as the above-mentioned terminal device and first network device) in the method provided by the present application.

[0251] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer code. When the computer code runs on a computer, it enables the computer to execute the operations and / or processing performed by the communication device (such as the above-mentioned terminal device and first network device) in the method provided by the present application.

[0252] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer code or computer program. When the computer code or computer program is run on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the communication device (such as the above-mentioned terminal device and first network device) in the method provided by the present application are executed.

[0253] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, or can be electrical, mechanical or other forms of connection.

[0254] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0255] 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 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.

[0256] 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 readable storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned readable storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program code.

[0257] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Receiving first indication information and second indication information in a first cell, where the first indication information is used to indicate stopping listening for a group radio network temporary identity (G-RNTI) of a first multicast broadcast service (MBS) session; the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session or the second indication information is used to indicate that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated; Reselecting from the first cell to a second cell; Receiving data of the first MBS session in the second cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The second indication information includes third indication information and / or fourth indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session or there is data in the first MBS session, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated or the state of the first MBS session is activated.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the second indication information includes fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated; Or, When the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the state of the first MBS session is deactivated; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The fifth indication information includes at least one of the G-RNTI and configuration parameters of a multicast broadcast radio bearer (MRB).

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that Both the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a first message.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that The receiving the data of the first MBS session in the second cell includes: Receiving the data of the first MBS session in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state or in the RRC connected state.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein When the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session, the receiving the data of the first MBS session in the second cell includes: When there is a point-to-multipoint (PTM) configuration, receiving the data of the first MBS session in the RRC idle state, where the PTM configuration is used for a terminal device in the RRC idle state to obtain the data of the first MBS session.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, When the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session, the receiving the data of the first MBS session in the second cell includes: When there is no such PTM configuration, initiating RRC connection restoration in the second cell; the RRC connection is used to obtain the data of the first MBS session.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, When the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session, the receiving the data of the first MBS session in the second cell includes: Receiving system information in the second cell; When the configuration information of the multicast control channel (MCCH) is not included in the system information, initiating the RRC connection restoration in the second cell; the RRC connection is used to obtain the data of the first MBS session.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session. Receiving data of the first MBS session in the second cell includes: Monitoring downlink control information DCI corresponding to the multicast MCCH message in the second cell; If the DCI is not monitored, initiating the RRC connection restoration; the RRC connection is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated. Receiving data of the first MBS session in the second cell includes: Monitoring a paging message in the second cell; the paging message is used to obtain data of the first MBS session.

12. A communication method, characterized in that, The method includes: Sending first indication information and second indication information to a terminal device in a first cell, where the first indication information is used to indicate stopping monitoring a group radio network temporary identity G-RNTI of a first multicast broadcast service MBS; the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session or the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; The second indication information is used for the terminal device to receive data of the first MBS session after cell reselection.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, The second indication information includes third indication information and / or fourth indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session or there is data in the first MBS session, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated or the status of the first MBS session is activated.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein When the second indication information includes fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; Or, When the second indication information includes the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that the status of the first MBS session is deactivated; when the second indication information does not include the fifth indication information, the second indication information is used to indicate that there is temporarily no data in the first MBS session.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein The fifth indication information includes at least one of the G-RNTI and configuration parameters of a multicast broadcast radio bearer MRB.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 - 15, characterized in that Both the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a first message.

17. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, Including a processor and an interface circuit, where the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices, and the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16 through logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

19. A readable storage medium, characterized in that, For storing a program, the program is executed by one or more processors, so that a device including the one or more processors executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

20. A communication system, characterized in that, Including: A terminal device for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, and a network device for performing the method according to any one of claims 12 to 16.

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