Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and an apparatus, which are used for achieving reasonable selection of target access devices, thus improving the service quality of terminal devices. The communication method comprises: on the basis of first information, a first communication apparatus determining a target access device of a terminal device, wherein the first information comprises movement path information of the terminal device and / or quality of experience of an alternative access device; and sending information of the target access device to a source access device of the terminal device.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on January 26, 2024, with application number 202410121427.0 and invention name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] The optical network structure is defined in the 5th generation fixed networks (F5G) of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Currently, the optical network includes four domains, namely the customer premises network (CPN), the access network (AN), the aggregation network (AggN) and the core network (CN). Each domain has its own controller, and the controller of any domain can be controlled by an end-to-end orchestrator (e2e-o). On the user access side, access devices such as optical network units (ONUs) can be used to provide network access to users and can be used to form wireless network communication technology (WiFi) network networking.

[0005] In current optical network technologies, when terminal devices switch, the selection of access devices is poor, resulting in reduced communication performance. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for achieving reasonable selection of target access devices and improving the service quality of terminal devices.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method can be applied to a first communication device. The first communication device can be a first management device or an orchestration device. The first communication device can also be a component in the first management device (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) or a component in the orchestration device, or the first communication device can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network element functions. The communication method includes: the first communication device determines the target access device of the terminal device based on the first information, the first information including the mobile path information of the terminal device and / or the experience quality of the alternative access device; and sends the information of the target access device to the source access device of the terminal device.

[0008] Based on the method described in the first aspect, the first communication device can reasonably select the target access device based on the mobile path information of the terminal device and / or the experience quality of the alternative access device, which can improve the accuracy of the target access device selection and improve the service quality of the terminal device.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the first communication device may further send the identifier of the terminal device to the orchestration device, and receive the moving path information from the orchestration device.

[0010] Based on this implementation, the first communication device may request the mobile path information of the terminal device from the orchestration device according to the identifier of the terminal device, and the orchestration device may determine and provide the mobile path information of the terminal device.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the method is applied to a first management device, and the first management device may also receive first signal strength information from the source access device, where the first signal strength information is used to indicate the downlink signal strength of the signals of one or more access devices received by the terminal device; the first management device may also send the first signal strength information to the orchestration device.

[0012] Based on this implementation, the first management device can obtain first signal strength information of the terminal device from the source access device and send the first signal strength information to the orchestration device. The first signal strength information can be used to determine the movement path information of the terminal device.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the first communication device may also receive a first request message from the orchestration device, where the first request message is used to request the first signal strength information, and the first request message includes an identifier of the terminal device; the first communication device may send the first signal strength information to the orchestration device based on the first request message.

[0014] Based on this implementation, the first communication device can provide the first signal strength information to the orchestration device based on a request from the orchestration device. Therefore, the orchestration device can decide whether the first communication device needs to provide the first signal strength information to the orchestration device.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the first communication device may also determine the identifier of the alternative access device based on the identifier of the terminal device, send the identifier of the alternative access device to the orchestration device, and receive the experience quality of the alternative access device from the orchestration device.

[0016] Based on this implementation method, the first communication device can determine the identifier of the alternative access device based on the identifier of the terminal device, and send the identifier of the alternative access device to the orchestration device to request the mobile path information of the terminal device. The orchestration device determines and provides the experience quality of the alternative access device.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the method is applied to a first management device, the alternative access device includes a first alternative access device, the first alternative access device is managed by the first management device, and the first management device may also send second information to the orchestration device, the second information including at least one of the throughput, latency or switching latency of the first alternative access device, and the second information is used to determine the quality of experience of the alternative access device.

[0018] Based on this implementation method, when the alternative access device is managed by the first management device, the first management device can send second information to the orchestration device, that is, send at least one of the throughput rate, latency or switching delay of the alternative access device, for the orchestration device to determine the experience quality of the alternative access device.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the first management device may receive a second request message from the orchestration device, where the second request message is used to request the second information, and the second request message includes an identifier of the terminal device and / or an identifier of the alternative access device; the first management device may send the second information to the orchestration device based on the second request message.

[0020] Based on this implementation, the first communication device can provide the second information to the orchestration device based on the request of the orchestration device. Therefore, the orchestration device can decide whether the first communication device needs to provide the second information to the orchestration device.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the method is applied to a first management device, and the candidate access device includes an access device managed by a second management device.

[0022] Based on this implementation, the orchestration device in any of the aforementioned implementations can manage both the first management device and the second management device, and the candidate access devices may include access devices managed by the second management device. Therefore, in a cross-domain handover scenario, the orchestration device can participate in determining the target access device. A cross-domain handover scenario involves candidate access devices in different domains. A domain can be understood as containing only access devices managed by a single management device.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the first communication device can determine the mobile path information based on the identifier of the terminal device; and / or, the first communication device can determine the identifier of the alternative access device based on the identifier of the terminal device, and determine the experience quality of the alternative access device based on the identifier of the alternative access device.

[0024] Based on this implementation, the movement path information may be determined by the first communication device, for example, by the first management device, or by the orchestration device.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the method is applied to a first management device, and the candidate access device is managed by the first management device.

[0026] Based on this implementation, in a non-cross-domain handover scenario, the first management device can determine the mobile path information, and the orchestration device may not be required to participate in determining the target access device.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the method is applied to an orchestration device, and the orchestration device can send a third request message to the first management device, where the third request message is used to request second signal strength information, and the second signal strength information is used to indicate the downlink signal strength of the signals of one or more access devices received by the terminal device, and the third request message includes an identifier of the terminal device; the orchestration device can also receive the second signal strength information and determine the mobile path information based on the second signal strength information.

[0028] Based on this implementation, if the orchestration device determines the mobile path information of the terminal device, the orchestration device can send a third request message to the first management device to request the second signal strength information. The second signal strength information can be reported to the first management device by the terminal device via the source access device.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the method is applied to an orchestration device, the alternative access device includes a first alternative access device, the first alternative access device is managed by a first management device, the orchestration device can send a fourth request message to the first management device, the fourth request message is used to request third information, the third information includes at least one of the throughput, delay or switching delay of the first alternative access device, and the second information is used to determine the experience quality of the alternative access device; the orchestration device can also receive the third information and determine the experience quality of the alternative access device based on the third information.

[0030] Based on this implementation, if the orchestration device determines the quality of experience of the candidate access device, the orchestration device may request third information from the first management device. The third information may indicate at least one performance parameter of the candidate access device: throughput, latency, or handover latency. The orchestration device may also determine the quality of experience of the candidate access device based on the third information.

[0031] In addition, the orchestration device may also send a request message similar to the fourth request message to the second management device (or more management devices, such as an AN controller), which may be used to request to receive performance parameters of alternative access devices similar to the third information (such as fourth information, used to indicate the performance parameters of alternative access devices managed by the second management device or other management devices). The orchestration device may then determine the path information of the terminal device based on the third information and the fourth information.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the quality of experience of the candidate access device includes location information and at least one of a throughput rate, a delay, or a switching delay of the candidate access device corresponding to the first location information.

[0033] Based on this implementation method, the quality of experience can indicate at least one of the throughput rate, latency or switching delay of the alternative access device at one or more locations. When determining the target access device, the reasonable selection of the target access device can be achieved by combining at least one of the throughput rate, latency or switching delay of the alternative access device at one or more locations.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the first communications device may further obtain a required quality of experience (QoE) of the terminal device; the first communications device may determine the first access device from the candidate access devices based on the required QoE of the terminal device, the mobile path information, and / or the QoE of the candidate access devices. The required QoE of the terminal device may, for example, include at least one of a throughput rate, latency, or handover latency required by the terminal device.

[0035] Based on this implementation, the target access device can be selected in combination with the experience quality required by the terminal device, further improving the rationality of the selection of the target access device to determine the target access device that meets the experience quality requirements.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the required quality of experience of the terminal device is determined based on the quality of experience of one or more services of the terminal device, so as to reasonably determine the required quality of experience of the terminal device. For example, if the terminal device has multiple services, the required quality of experience of the terminal device may be the quality of experience of the service with the highest experience quality among the multiple services of the terminal device, so that the service with the highest experience quality can be preferentially satisfied.

[0037] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method can be applied to an orchestration device or a component of an orchestration device (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). Alternatively, the first communication device can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network element functions. The communication method includes: the orchestration device can receive an identifier of a terminal device from a first management device, determine the mobile path information of the terminal device based on the identifier of the terminal device, and send the mobile path information to the first management device, where the mobile path information is used to determine the target access device of the terminal device.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the orchestration device may further determine the downlink signal strength of the terminal device according to the identifier of the terminal device, and determine the moving path information according to the downlink signal strength of the terminal device.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the orchestration device may also receive first signal strength information from the first management device, where the first signal strength information is used to indicate the downlink signal strength of signals from one or more access devices received by the terminal device, and the downlink signal strength of the terminal device includes the first signal strength information.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the orchestration device may further send a first request message to the first management device, where the first request message is used to request the first signal strength information, and the first request message includes an identifier of the terminal device.

[0041] In a possible implementation manner, the candidate access device includes an access device managed by a second management device.

[0042] The technical effects brought about by the above second aspect can be found in the description of the beneficial effects of the corresponding scheme in the above first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0043] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The communication method can be applied to an orchestration device or a component of an orchestration device (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.). Alternatively, the first communication device can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the network element functions. The communication method includes: the orchestration device can also receive an identifier of an alternative access device from a first management device, determine the experience quality of the alternative access device based on the identifier of the alternative access device, and send the experience quality of the alternative access device to the first management device, where the experience quality of the alternative access device is used to determine the target access device of the terminal device.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the alternative access device includes a first alternative access device, which is managed by the first management device. The orchestration device can also receive second information from the first management device, where the second information includes at least one of the throughput, latency, or switching latency of the first alternative access device; the orchestration device can also determine the quality of experience of the alternative access device based on the second information.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the orchestration device may further send a second request message to the first management device, where the second request message is used to request the second information, and the second request message includes an identifier of the terminal device and / or an identifier of the alternative access device.

[0046] In a possible implementation manner, the candidate access device includes an access device managed by a second management device.

[0047] In a possible implementation, the quality of experience of the candidate access device includes location information and at least one of a throughput rate, a delay, or a switching delay of the candidate access device corresponding to the first location information.

[0048] The technical effects brought about by the third aspect above can be found in the description of the beneficial effects of the corresponding scheme in the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0049] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The device can implement the method described in any possible implementation of any of the first to third aspects. The device has the functions of the first communication device or the second communication device. The device is, for example, a first management device, an orchestration device, or a source access device, or a functional module in the first management device, a functional module in the orchestration device, or a functional module in the source access device.

[0050] In an optional implementation, the device may include a module corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first aspect to the third aspect, and the module may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a hardware circuit combined with software. In an optional implementation, the device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module, a communication module, an interface unit, etc.). The transceiver unit can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module). When the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and the functional module can implement a sending function and a receiving function; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0051] Exemplarily, when the apparatus is used to execute the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect, the apparatus may include a communication unit and a processing unit.

[0052] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, comprising a processor configured to execute a computer program (or computer-executable instructions) stored in a memory, wherein when the computer program (or computer-executable instructions) is executed, the device performs the method as described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects. The device is used, for example, to implement a first management device, an orchestration device, or a source access device.

[0053] In one possible implementation, the processor and memory are integrated;

[0054] In another possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

[0055] The communication device also includes a communication interface, which is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices, such as sending or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface can be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface.

[0056] In the sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which is used to store computer programs or instructions. When the computer-readable storage medium is executed, the method described in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first to the third aspect and the method shown in any possible implementation thereof are implemented.

[0057] According to a seventh aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects to be implemented.

[0058] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device for executing the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0059] In the ninth aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes a logic circuit (or it can be understood that the chip system includes a processor, and the processor may include a logic circuit, etc.), and may also include an input and output interface. The input and output interface can be used to input messages and can also be used to output messages. The input and output interfaces can be the same interface, that is, the same interface can implement both the sending function and the receiving function; or, the input and output interfaces include an input interface and an output interface, the input interface is used to implement the receiving function, that is, for receiving messages; the output interface is used to implement the sending function, that is, for sending messages. The logic circuit can be used to perform the operations other than the sending and receiving functions in the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects above; the logic circuit can also be used to transmit messages to the input and output interface, or receive messages from other communication devices from the input and output interface. The chip system can be used to implement the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects above. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0060] Optionally, the chip system may further include a memory, which may be used to store instructions, and the logic circuit may call the instructions stored in the memory to implement corresponding functions.

[0061] In the tenth aspect, a communication method is provided, which may include the method implemented by the first communication device as shown in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the method implemented by the second communication device as shown in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0062] In an eleventh aspect, a communication system is provided, which may include a first management device and an orchestration device. The first management device may be used to implement the method described in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the orchestration device may be used to implement the method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and / or to implement the method described in the third aspect and any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the communication system may further include a second communication device, which may be used to receive target AP information from the first communication device.

[0063] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, which may include a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device may be configured to implement the method implemented by the first communication device as described in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the second communication device may be configured to receive target AP information from the first communication device.

[0064] The technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned third to twelfth aspects can be found in the description of the beneficial effects of the corresponding schemes in the above-mentioned first to second aspects, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0065] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical network structure;

[0066] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a module structure for implementing a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0073] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that "one embodiment", "one implementation", "one implementation method" or "one example" mentioned in the present application means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, "in one embodiment", "an implementation method", "one implementation method" or "in an example" appearing throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0074] Before introducing the present application, some of the terms used in the embodiments of the present application are briefly explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0075] Figure 1 shows a possible optical network architecture. Current optical networks include four domains: the CPN, AN, AggN, and CN. Each domain corresponds to a different device or entity that can be used to implement optical network architecture.

[0076] Among them, CPN can be used to achieve network access for terminal devices. For example, as shown in Figure 1, terminal devices can access the network through devices such as optical network units (edge ​​ONU, E-ONU), residential gateways (room gate, RG), wide area network (WAN) gateways (WAN gateway, WG), customer edges (CE) or industrial edges (industrial edge, IE) in the CPN.

[0077] An AN can refer to a collection of access connections that utilize or partially utilize optical transmission between service nodes or remote modules and user equipment, sharing the same network-side interface. As shown in Figure 1, the AN can include entities or devices such as ONUs and / or customer premises equipment (CPE), which can be used to provide network access to users to form a wireless network communication technology (WiFi) network. For example, in fiber to the remote (FTTR) technology, the ONU includes a primary optical network unit (P-ONU), which is connected to the E-ONU.

[0078] As shown in Figure 1, as one implementation of an AN, the AN can be composed of an optical line terminal (OLT), an optical distribution network (ODN), and ONUs. The ODN primarily includes passive components such as optical fibers and optical splitters and is therefore not shown in Figure 1. For example, the ODN can be used to connect the OLT and the ONU. On the network side, the OLT provides an interface between the optical access network and the service node or remote module, and communicates with the ONU on the user side via the ODN. The ODN provides optical transmission between the OLT and the ONU, primarily distributing optical signal power. The ONU provides a remote user-side interface for the optical access network.

[0079] As another implementation of the AN, the AN may include an optical transport network (OTN) edge device for processing dedicated line services.

[0080] AggN, or Optical Transport Network, has network aggregation capabilities and can be used for long-distance transmission. AggN accesses the core network through AggN edge devices. As shown in Figure 1, as an example of AggN, AggN includes a broadband network gateway (BNG) that connects the OLT and AggN edge devices to implement an optical transport network based on the Internet Protocol (IP) or Ethernet (Ethernet) protocol (IP / Eth AggN). As another example of AggN, AggN includes OTN. The OTN can be connected to the OTN edge device and the AggN edge device respectively. The OTN edge device and the OTN can communicate with the dedicated line service of the transmission terminal device.

[0081] The CN can be used for data storage and service support. For example, an AggN edge device can access the core network through a core provider edge (PE) device to support the transmission of core network data. Alternatively, an AggN edge device can access a cloud or local data center through a data center network element to support the transmission of cloud or local data center data.

[0082] Each of the above domains is managed by its own controller. In Figure 1, the CPN controller can be used to manage the CPN, the AN controller can be used to manage the AN, the AggN controller can be used to manage the AggN, and the CN controller can be used to manage the CN. In this application, the controller's management of the domain includes but is not limited to the management of network devices in the domain.

[0083] Taking the AN controller as an example, the AN controller can be used to manage access devices. The AN controller can communicate with access devices through the OLT, etc. An AN controller is, for example, an optical network management module or an optical network management system (network cloud engine-fiber access network, NCE-FAN). Alternatively, the AN controller can be used to manage devices in the CPN, such as E-ONUs, P-ONUs, RGs, WGs, CEs, or IEs.

[0084] In some implementations other than the example in FIG1 , the ONU and CPE may also be considered to belong to the CPN. In this case, the ONU and CPE may still be managed by the AN controller, or by the CPN controller or other management device, and this application does not specifically limit this.

[0085] 1 , an end-to-end orchestration management device may be used to manage the controller. The end-to-end orchestration management device is, for example, a network management system or a network server.

[0086] For the sake of convenience, in this application, the device used to implement the network access function is referred to as an access device (or access point (AP)), and the terminal device can access the network through the access device. Among them, the access device can be the E-ONU, P-ONU, RG, WG, CE or IE in Figure 1, or it can be other devices used to implement the wireless network access function not shown in Figure 1, or it can be a device used to implement the wireless network access function in other scenarios other than the optical network networking structure, which is not limited by this application. In some scenarios, the terminal device can also be connected to the ONU or CPE, and the access device can also be an ONU or CPE.

[0087] The following description uses an AP as an example. The term "AP" can be replaced with other names such as access devices, or with device names such as ONU, CPE, RG, WG, CE, or IE.

[0088] In this application, a terminal device may be a device that accesses a WiFi network, for example, a terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE). A terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, which can perform voice and / or data interaction through a WiFi network. The terminal device may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it may also be deployed on water (such as a ship); the terminal device may also be deployed in the air (such as an airplane, a balloon, and a satellite). The terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical care, 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, etc. The terminal device may include, for example, a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a device-to-device communication (D2D) terminal device, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) terminal device, a machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal device, an Internet of Things (IoT) terminal device, a subscriber unit (SU), a station (STA), a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a CPE, a fixed wireless access (FWA), an access terminal, a user terminal, a user agent, or a user device, etc. For example, it may include a mobile phone (or so-called "cellular" phone), a computer with a mobile terminal device, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, or computer-built-in mobile device, etc.Examples include personal communication service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other devices. Also included are limited devices, such as those with low power consumption, limited storage capacity, or limited computing power. Examples include information sensing devices such as barcode scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), and laser scanners.

[0089] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be referred to as wearable smart devices or smart wearable devices, etc., which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, etc., as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets, smart helmets, and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0090] The various terminals introduced above, if located on a vehicle (eg, placed in or installed in a vehicle), can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminal devices, which are also called on-board units (OBUs).

[0091] Currently, due to some reasons, the terminal device may perform AP switching (or roaming, or roaming switching). Among them, the AP providing services to the terminal device before the switching can be called the source AP or serving AP, and the AP selected by the switching process to provide services to the terminal device after the switching can be called the target AP or switching AP.

[0092] As an illustration of the handover process, the source AP periodically monitors the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the terminal device. Upon detecting a low RSSI event, the source AP sends an RSSI low event report or RSSI low event indication to the gateway (e.g., an AP), indicating the occurrence of a low RSSI event. A low RSSI event can mean that the RSSI of the source AP's signal received by the terminal device is less than or equal to the RSSI low event threshold, indicating that the terminal device's signal is poor. Optionally, upon receiving the user's low RSSI event report, the gateway sends information about one or more APs to the source AP. The source AP sends a beacon request to the terminal device. The terminal device then detects one or more APs, obtains the RSSI of the signals transmitted by the one or more APs, and sends the detection results to the source AP for analysis, such as comparing the RSSI values ​​of the one or more APs received by the terminal device. The source AP reports the analysis results to the gateway, which then makes a roaming decision based on the analysis results, selecting a target AP. The gateway may also consider the load of one or more APs when selecting a target AP.

[0093] After the gateway makes a roaming decision, it sends a user migration request to the source AP, and the terminal device performs a business support system (BSS) switch. After receiving the BSS switch response, the source AP sends a user migration completion message to the gateway, and then the terminal device manages authentication to the target AP.

[0094] Currently, the target AP is selected mainly based on the signal strength of the AP received by the terminal device during signal detection, and the accuracy of the target AP selection needs to be improved.

[0095] For example, since the location of the terminal device will change, the location of the terminal device may not always remain at the location when the terminal device performs signal detection. Therefore, the result of signal detection based on this location may not be applicable to other locations. Selecting an AP based solely on the signal detection result of this location may result in the selected target AP being unable to meet the network performance requirements after the terminal device moves, resulting in a reduced user experience.

[0096] In order to improve the accuracy of target AP selection and enhance the user's service experience in a WiFi network, the present application provides a communication method and apparatus.

[0097] The method can be performed by a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device can be a first management device or a component such as a module or chip in the first management device. The first management device can be used to manage APs. For example, the first management device can be an AN controller for managing a source AP (hereinafter referred to as the first AN controller). In addition, the first communication device can be an orchestration device or a component such as a module or chip in the orchestration device. The orchestration device can be connected to multiple AN controllers, for example, the orchestration device is used to manage AN controllers. For example, the orchestration device can be an end-to-end orchestration management device. The following description will be given by taking the example that the first management device is the first AN controller, or the example that the first communication device is the orchestration device.

[0098] The second communication device may be a source AP of the terminal device or a component such as a module or chip in the source AP. The following description will be made by taking the second communication device being the source AP as an example.

[0099] As shown in FIG2 , taking the execution entities as the first communication device and the second communication device as an example, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may include the following steps:

[0100] S101: The first communication device determines a target AP of a terminal device according to first information.

[0101] The first information may include mobile path information of the terminal device and / or quality of experience (QoE) of the candidate AP.

[0102] The following describes the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate APs.

[0103] (1) Mobile path information of terminal devices

[0104] Movement path information can be used to indicate the movement trajectory of a terminal device. For example, movement path information includes time and location information of the terminal device at that time. The location information may include geographic coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude) or area information (e.g., cell identifier, tracking area identifier). The time may be a moment or a period, without limitation.

[0105] Specifically, the movement trajectory of the terminal device may be a movement trajectory of the terminal device in the future. For example, the movement path information may be used to indicate the location of the terminal device within a period of time in the future.

[0106] As an example, the moving path information may include one or more <time, location> key-value pairs, and any key-value pair may be used to indicate the location of the terminal device at a future moment.

[0107] (2) Experience Quality of Alternative APs

[0108] In this application, a candidate AP may be a candidate AP of a target AP, i.e., the target AP may be determined from the candidate APs. The candidate AP may be one or more predefined or configured APs, or may be configured by an end-to-end orchestration management device, an AN controller, or a management system.

[0109] The identifier of the candidate AP can be determined based on the identifier of the terminal device. For example, different candidate APs can be defined or configured for different areas, so that the target AP can be determined from candidate APs in different ranges for terminal devices in different areas. The identifier of the terminal device can be used to characterize or determine the area to which the terminal device belongs, so the candidate AP can be determined based on the identifier of the terminal device; the area where the terminal device is located can also be determined based on the identifier of the terminal device, and then the candidate AP can be determined based on information such as the area identifier, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0110] The QoE of a candidate AP may indicate at least one of the throughput, latency, or handover delay of the candidate AP at at least one location. The at least one location may be within the signal coverage of the candidate AP. For example, the QoE of a candidate AP includes at least one <location, at least one of throughput, latency, or handover delay> key-value pair, each key-value pair representing at least one of throughput, latency, or handover delay at a location.

[0111] It is understandable that the present application does not limit the experience quality of the candidate AP and may also include other parameters that affect the user service experience and are not shown in the present application.

[0112] In the following, the method for determining the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate AP will be described, which will not be expanded here due to space limitations.

[0113] S102: The first communication device sends target AP information to the second communication device.

[0114] The target AP information can be used to identify the target AP, for example, the target AP identifier, name, etc. In this application, the AP identifier can be one or more of the AP's BSSID, the AP's media access control (MAC) address, or channel information, and this application does not specifically limit this.

[0115] Correspondingly, the second communication device can obtain the information of the target AP and perform roaming switching of the terminal.

[0116] In one possible embodiment, the first communication device may execute S101 based on a request from the second communication device. For example, before executing S101, the first communication device may interpret a handover request or handover indication from the second communication device. The handover request or handover indication may include an identifier of the terminal device. The handover request or handover indication may include an RSSI low event report, which may be used to indicate that the RSSI of the signal from the source AP received by the terminal device is lower than or equal to a certain RSSI threshold. The threshold may be preconfigured or predefined and is not specifically limited.

[0117] In this application, the identifier of the terminal device may include the MAC address of the terminal device. The identifier of the terminal device may also be a network identifier such as a user permanent identifier (SUPI) of the terminal device, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0118] Based on the process shown in FIG2 , a target AP can be reasonably selected according to the mobile path information of the terminal device and / or the experience quality of the candidate APs, which can improve the accuracy of target AP selection and improve the service quality of the terminal device.

[0119] Among them, since the position of the terminal device can be predicted based on the moving path of the terminal device, when selecting the target AP, an AP close to the moving trajectory position of the terminal device can be selected as the target AP to improve the service quality of the terminal device and avoid re-switching due to unsatisfactory target AP selection. In addition, since the experience quality will affect the service quality of the terminal device, and the experience quality of the same AP at different locations may be different, the target AP can be selected based on the experience quality of the target AP at at least one location, that is, an AP with better experience quality at at least one location can be selected as the target AP to improve the service quality of the terminal device. In addition, if the target AP is selected based on the moving path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the alternative AP, the future location of the terminal device can be considered, and an AP with better experience quality can be selected as the target AP based on the experience quality of the alternative AP at this location (or other locations near this location). This can further achieve reasonable selection of the target AP and improve the service quality of the terminal device.

[0120] Optionally, the communication between the first communication device and the second communication device can be carried out through the OLT. Taking the case where the first communication device is the first AN controller and the second communication device is the source AP as an example, before S101, the source AP can send a switching request of the terminal device to the first AN controller through the OLT. Optionally, the OLT can receive the switching request reported by the source AP through the interface or channel between the source AP and the OLT. The OLT can also provide the first AN controller with information about the source AP, such as the identifier of the source AP. For example, the OLT adds the information of the source AP to the switching request, or the OLT sends the switching request and the information of the source AP as a new message to the first AN controller. The information of the source AP can be used to indicate the source AP that sent the switching request. For example, it includes the BSSID, MAC address or channel information of the source AP.

[0121] In addition, in S102, the first AN controller may send the target AP information to the source AP via the OLT. Optionally, the first AN controller may also send the source AP information to the OLT, and the OLT may send the target AP information to the source AP based on the source AP information.

[0122] The following describes how the first communication device obtains the moving path information of the terminal device.

[0123] In the present application, the moving path information of the terminal device may be determined based on the identification of the terminal device.

[0124] In one possible embodiment, the first communication device may obtain the RSSI of a signal transmitted by at least one AP and received by the terminal device based on the terminal device's identifier. Furthermore, the first communication device may determine the terminal device's location information based on the RSSI, and perform path prediction of the terminal device based on the terminal device's location information to obtain the terminal device's movement path information. The at least one AP may include a candidate AP, or the at least one AP may be an AP other than a candidate AP, without specific limitation.

[0125] As an example, the first communication device may obtain the RSSIs of signals transmitted by at least three APs received by the terminal device, calculate the terminal device's location based on the at least three RSSIs, perform location prediction, and determine the terminal device's movement path information. Calculating the terminal device's location based on the RSSI does not fall within the scope of this application's protection and may be implemented with reference to existing technologies.

[0126] It can be understood that if the first communication device is a first management device, such as the first AN controller corresponding to the source AP, the first management device can provide the identifier of the terminal device to the source AP, and receive the RSSI of the signal sent by at least one AP received by the terminal device sent by the source AP. Before S101, the first management device can send the identifier of the terminal device to the source AP to request the source AP to provide the RSSI of the signal of at least one AP received by the terminal device. For example, the first management device can trigger the source AP to send a detection request to the terminal device to request the terminal device to detect the signal of at least one AP. Accordingly, the terminal device can send the RSSI of the signal received from at least one AP to the source AP, and the source AP can send the RSSI of at least one AP received by the terminal device to the first management device.

[0127] If the first communication device is an end-to-end orchestration management device, the end-to-end orchestration management device may obtain the RSSI of a signal sent by at least one AP and received by the terminal device from a first AN controller, wherein the first AN controller corresponds to the source AP of the terminal device.

[0128] Exemplarily, the end-to-end orchestration management device may send the terminal device's identifier to the first AN controller. The AN controller may, based on the terminal device's identifier, trigger one or more APs managed by the AN controller to send a detection signal. The at least one AP may include the terminal device's source AP and / or alternative AP, and / or may include at least one AP other than the source AP and the alternative AP. Accordingly, the terminal device may detect signals from one or more APs and may send the RSSI of the received signal from the at least one AP to the source AP. The source AP may then send the RSSI of the at least one AP received by the terminal device to the AN controller.

[0129] It can be understood that if the first communication device has obtained the moving path information of the terminal device before S101, the moving path information of the terminal device can be queried and obtained according to the identifier of the terminal device in S101.

[0130] The following describes how the first communication device obtains the experience quality of the candidate AP.

[0131] In the present application, the QoE of the candidate AP may be determined based on an identifier of the candidate AP. The QoE of the candidate AP may be used to indicate at least one of the throughput rate, latency, or handover time of a terminal device at a certain distance from the candidate AP, such as indicating at least one of the throughput rate, latency, or handover time of the candidate AP when the terminal device is at a certain location.

[0132] In one possible embodiment, the quality of experience of a candidate AP may be related to the performance parameters of the candidate AP. The performance parameters of a candidate AP can be understood as inherent parameters of the candidate AP, meaning that the performance parameters are independent of the distance of the terminal device from the candidate AP. For example, the performance parameters of the candidate AP include at least one of throughput, latency, or handover time. The performance parameters of the candidate AP here may also refer to at least one of real-time throughput, real-time latency, or real-time handover time. The performance parameters of the candidate AP can be used to determine the quality of experience of the candidate AP, meaning that they can be used to determine at least one of throughput, latency, or handover time at a certain distance from the candidate AP. Taking throughput as an example, the throughput performance parameter of the candidate AP can be used to determine the throughput of the candidate AP at one or more locations. For example, if the throughput parameter of the candidate AP is 500 bits per second (bps), at a distance of 50 meters from the candidate AP, the throughput is only 400 bps.

[0133] In this application, the QoE of a candidate AP may include a location (or location information) and at least one of throughput, latency, or switching time corresponding to the location. Taking throughput as an example, the QoE of a candidate AP may include a <location, throughput> key-value pair. In the above example of the throughput of a candidate AP, the QoE of the candidate AP may include a <location, throughput> key-value pair, where the location may indicate a location of 50 meters from the candidate AP and the throughput may indicate a throughput of 400 bps.

[0134] It is understood that if the first communication device is a first management device, such as an AN controller, the first management device may send a quality of experience request to the candidate AP, requesting at least one of the throughput rate, latency, or switching time of the candidate AP, and determine the quality of experience of the candidate AP based on at least one of the throughput rate, latency, or switching time of the candidate AP. In this case, the candidate APs may all be managed by the first management device. The first management device is, for example, the first AN controller corresponding to the source AP.

[0135] Among them, the method of calculating the experience quality of the candidate AP based on at least one of the throughput rate, delay or switching time of the candidate AP does not belong to the protection content of this application and can be implemented with reference to the existing technology.

[0136] If the first communication device is an end-to-end orchestration management device, the end-to-end orchestration management device may send a quality of experience request to at least one AN controller. The quality of experience request may include the identifier of the candidate AP. The end-to-end orchestration management device may also obtain the quality of experience of the candidate AP from the at least one AN controller. The at least one AN controller may include the first AN controller corresponding to the source AP and / or include other AN controllers other than the first AN controller. Any AN controller may be used to manage one or more candidate APs.

[0137] For example, if there are multiple candidate APs, and all of them are managed by the same AN ​​controller (referred to as the second AN controller), the end-to-end orchestration management device can request the second AN controller for the QoE of the candidate APs. The second AN controller can be the same AN ​​controller as the first AN controller, or a different AN controller.

[0138] For another example, if the candidate AP is managed by multiple AN controllers, the end-to-end orchestration management device can request the QoE of the candidate AP from each of the multiple AN controllers. Any AN controller can then provide the QoE of the candidate AP managed by the AN controller to the end-to-end orchestration management device. The multiple AN controllers may include the first AN controller and / or AN controllers other than the first AN controller.

[0139] In various embodiments of the present application, the first communication device may further determine the target AP based on the quality of experience required by the terminal device. The quality of experience required by the terminal device may, for example, include at least one of the throughput, latency, or handover latency required by the terminal device. For example, in S102, the first communication device may determine the target AP based on the quality of experience required by the terminal device, combined with the terminal device's mobile path information and / or the quality of experience of the candidate APs.

[0140] For example, when determining the target AP based on the experience quality required by the terminal device, the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the alternative AP, the first communication device can determine the location of the terminal device at a certain time in the future based on the mobile path information of the terminal device, and determine at least one of the throughput, delay or switching delay of the terminal device when it is at the location based on the location and the experience quality of the alternative AP. It can further compare at least one of the throughput, delay or switching delay of the terminal device when it is at the location with at least one of the throughput, delay or switching delay required by the terminal device to determine an alternative AP as the target AP whose at least one of the throughput, delay or switching delay at the location meets at least one of the throughput, delay or switching delay required by the terminal device.

[0141] The first communication device may determine the required quality of experience of the terminal device according to the quality of experience of one or more services of the terminal device.

[0142] If the terminal device has multiple services, the required quality of experience of the terminal device can be the quality of experience of the service with the highest quality of experience (such as at least one of throughput, latency, or switching delay) among the multiple services of the terminal device, so the service with the highest quality of experience can be prioritized. For example, when the terminal device has both instant chat service and online conference service, the quality of experience requirement for the online conference service is higher, then at least one of the throughput, latency, or switching delay of the online conference service can be selected as the required quality of experience of the terminal device. Therefore, the selected target AP can meet at least one of the throughput, latency, or switching delay of the online conference service.

[0143] In one embodiment of the present application, the first communication device may be deployed with a network management module for executing S101. As shown in FIG3 , the actions of the first communication device may be executed by the network management module. Alternatively, the actions of the first communication device may also be executed by a movement route module and / or a QoE module.

[0144] The movement route module can be used to predict the movement trajectory of the terminal device based on the terminal device's identifier, that is, to determine the movement path information of the terminal device. The QoE module can be used to calculate the quality of experience of the candidate AP.

[0145] Exemplarily, the network management module is deployed in the first communication device, and the movement route module and / or the QoE module can be deployed in the first communication device or in a device or equipment other than the first communication device. When the first communication device is deployed with the movement route module and the QoE module, the first communication device can predict the movement trajectory of the terminal device based on the identifier of the terminal device to determine the movement path information of the terminal device, and the first communication device can determine the quality of experience of the alternative AP based on the identifier of the terminal device.

[0146] In addition, the movement route module and / or the QoE module may also be deployed on a communication device other than the first communication device. For example, when the movement route module is deployed on a device other than the first communication device, the first communication device can obtain the movement path information of the terminal device from the device. For another example, when the QoE module is deployed on a device other than the first communication device, the first communication device can obtain the quality of experience of the candidate AP from the device.

[0147] As an example, when implemented by the network management module, the movement route module, and the QoE module, the target AP determination method may include the following steps:

[0148] 1a. After receiving handover information (e.g., a handover request or handover indication) from a terminal device, the network management module sends a predicted movement route request to the movement route module, instructing or requesting the movement route module to predict the terminal device's future movement route. The network management module may correspond to a source AP, for example, belonging to a first AN controller corresponding to the source AP, or may belong to an orchestration management device corresponding to the first AN controller. The predicted movement route request may be used to request movement path information of the terminal device. For example, the movement path information includes a <time, location> key-value pair.

[0149] As an example, a predicted movement route request may include an identifier of the terminal device and the RSSI of at least one AP of the terminal device. The RSSI of at least one AP of the terminal device may refer to the RSSI of a signal received by the terminal device from the at least one AP. The RSSI of at least one AP of the terminal device may come from a source AP.

[0150] 2a. Upon receiving a predicted route request, the route module obtains the RSSI of at least one access point (AP) for the terminal device from the request and calculates the terminal device's movement path based on the RSSI of the AP, thereby predicting the movement path. The predicted route is in the form of a <time, location> key-value pair.

[0151] 3a. The movement route module sends the movement path information of the terminal device to the network management module.

[0152] 1b. After receiving handover information (e.g., handover request or handover indication) from the terminal device, the network management module sends a QoE experience quality request of the candidate AP to the QoE module. The QoE experience quality request may be used to instruct or request the QoE module to determine the experience quality of the candidate AP.

[0153] Optionally, the quality of experience request may include an identifier of the candidate AP. The network management module may determine the identifier of the candidate AP according to the identifier of the terminal device.

[0154] 2b. After receiving the QoE experience quality request of the candidate AP, the QoE module determines the experience quality of the candidate AP.

[0155] The quality of experience of the candidate AP may include a key-value pair of <location, at least one of throughput, latency, or switching time>. The quality of experience of the candidate AP may be determined by the QoE module based on at least one performance parameter of the candidate AP: throughput, latency, or switching time. For example, the <location, throughput> key-value pair may be determined by the QoE module based on the throughput performance parameter of the candidate AP, the <location, latency> key-value pair may be determined by the QoE module based on the latency performance parameter of the candidate AP, and the <location, switching time> key-value pair may be determined by the QoE module based on the switching time performance parameter of the candidate AP.

[0156] 3b. The QoE module sends the experience quality of the candidate AP to the network management module.

[0157] 4. The network management module determines the target AP based on the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the alternative APs.

[0158] In step 4, the network management module can determine the location of the terminal device at a certain time in the future based on the mobile path information of the terminal device, and select an alternative AP with better performance in at least one of the throughput rate, delay or switching time at the location or a similar location as the target AP based on at least one of the throughput rate, delay or switching time at the location or a similar location indicated by the experience quality of the alternative AP.

[0159] In the above steps 1a and 1b, the handover information of the terminal device may come from the source AP of the terminal device. For example, the network management module may receive a handover request or a handover instruction from the source AP.

[0160] In one possible implementation, the predicted movement path request and the QoE request can be combined into a single request, which can include the identifier of the terminal device and the identifier of the candidate AP. In other words, the combined request can be used to request the movement path information of the terminal device and the QoE of the candidate AP.

[0161] It is understood that if the target AP is determined based on the mobile path information of the terminal device, steps 1a, 2a, 3a, and 4 can be performed. In this case, step 4 can be replaced by: the network management module determines the target AP based on the mobile path information of the terminal device. If the target AP is determined based on the experience quality of the alternative APs of the terminal device, steps 1b, 2b, 3b, and 4 can be performed. In this case, step 4 can be replaced by: the network management module determines the target AP based on the experience quality of the alternative APs.

[0162] The communication method provided by the present application is introduced below in conjunction with the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 6. The embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 6 below are respectively descriptions of the process of Figure 2 and various possible implementation methods related to Figure 2. In some cases, the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 6 can be used as an explanation of the process of Figure 2 and the above-mentioned implementation methods. In addition, the embodiments shown in Figures 4 to 6 are exemplary embodiments of the method provided by the present application, and should not be understood as these embodiments being the processes that must be strictly followed for the method provided by the present application.

[0163] In one embodiment of the present application, when the first communication device is a first AN controller, the first AN controller can determine the mobile path information of the terminal device based on the identifier of the terminal device, and determine the experience quality of the alternative AP based on the identifier of the alternative AP, and then determine the target AP based on the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the alternative AP. Alternatively, in this embodiment, the network management module, movement route module, and QoE module shown in Figure 3 can be deployed in the first AN controller. In this embodiment, the alternative AP can be managed by the first AN controller, and the alternative AP can include one or more APs, without specific limitation.

[0164] The following describes the method for determining the target AP of the terminal device in this embodiment with reference to FIG. 4 .

[0165] S201: The source AP of the terminal device detects a low RSSI event of the terminal device.

[0166] For example, the source AP detects that the RSSI of the signal of the source AP received by the terminal device is less than or equal to a threshold corresponding to the RSSI low event.

[0167] S202: The source AP sends a handover request of the terminal device to the OLT.

[0168] The switching request includes the identifier of the terminal device.

[0169] S203: The OLT sends a handover request of the terminal device to the first AN controller.

[0170] The switching request sent by the OLT to the first AN controller may further include information of the source AP.

[0171] S204: The first AN controller determines the moving path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate AP according to the handover request.

[0172] The candidate AP may be managed by the first AN controller.

[0173] In S204, the method for determining the mobile path information of the terminal device and the QoE of the candidate AP can refer to the description in this application. For example, the method for the first AN controller to determine the mobile path information of the terminal device can refer to steps 1a to 3a, that is, the network management module of the first AN controller can determine the mobile path information of the terminal device through the movement route module. For another example, the method for the first AN controller to determine the QoE of the candidate AP can refer to steps 1b to 3b, that is, the network management module of the first AN controller can determine the QoE of the candidate AP through the QoE module.

[0174] S204 may be used as an exemplary implementation of S101.

[0175] S205: The first AN controller determines a target AP from the candidate APs according to the moving path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate APs.

[0176] Among them, the method for determining the target AP can refer to the description in this application. For example, the method for the first AN controller to determine the mobile path information of the terminal device can refer to the description of step 4, that is, the first AN controller can determine the experience quality of the alternative AP through the network management module.

[0177] S205 can be used as an exemplary implementation of S102.

[0178] S206: The first AN controller sends the target AP information to the OLT.

[0179] The target AP information may include an identifier of the target AP.

[0180] S207: The OLT sends the target AP information to the source AP.

[0181] Optionally, in S206 , the first AN controller may send the target AP information and the source AP information to the OLT, and then in S207 , the OLT may send the target AP information to the source AP according to the source AP information.

[0182] It can be understood that S206 to S207 can be used as an exemplary implementation of S102.

[0183] Based on S207, the source AP can switch the terminal device based on the target AP information, and the terminal device can be served by the target AP after the switch. Since the target AP is determined based on the mobile path information and the experience quality of the alternative AP, the target AP can be reasonably determined in the time slot, thereby achieving better handover effect.

[0184] In another embodiment of the present application, when the first communication device is a first AN controller, the first AN controller can determine the mobile path information of the terminal device according to the identifier of the terminal device from the end-to-end orchestration management device, and determine the experience quality of the alternative AP according to the identifier of the alternative AP. The end-to-end orchestration management device then provides the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the alternative AP to the first AN controller, and the first AN controller then determines the target AP according to the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the alternative AP. The end-to-end orchestration management device in this embodiment can be used to manage one or more AN controllers including the first AN controller. In this embodiment, the network management module shown in Figure 3 can be deployed in the first AN controller, and the movement route module and the QoE module can be deployed in the end-to-end orchestration management device.

[0185] In this embodiment, the candidate APs may be managed by one or more AN controllers of the end-to-end orchestration management device, that is, the candidate APs are not required to be managed by the first AN controller.

[0186] The following describes the method for determining the target AP of the terminal device in this example with reference to FIG. 5 .

[0187] S301: The source AP of the terminal device detects a low RSSI event of the terminal device.

[0188] S302: The source AP sends a handover request of the terminal device to the OLT.

[0189] S303: The OLT sends a handover request of the terminal device to the first AN controller.

[0190] S301 to S303 may refer to S201 to S203 .

[0191] S304: The first AN controller determines an identifier of a candidate AP according to the handover request.

[0192] The first AN controller may determine the identifier of the candidate AP according to the identifier of the terminal device in the switching request.

[0193] S305: The first AN controller sends an inter-domain handover request to the end-to-end orchestration management device.

[0194] The cross-domain handover request may include the terminal device identifier and the candidate AP identifier. The terminal device identifier may be used to determine the moving route of the terminal device, and the candidate AP identifier may be used to determine the experience quality of the candidate AP.

[0195] S305 can be used as an example of steps 1a and 1b, that is, the inter-domain handover request sent by the first AN controller in S305 can be used as the predicted movement route request in step 1a and as the experience quality request in step 1b.

[0196] It can be understood that the above cross-domain handover request can also be replaced by a request or message with other names, and this application does not specifically limit it.

[0197] S306: The end-to-end orchestration management device determines the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate AP.

[0198] In S306, the end-to-end orchestration management device can determine the mobile path information of the terminal device based on the identifier of the terminal device. The end-to-end orchestration management device can also determine the identifier of the alternative AP based on the identifier of the terminal device, and determine the experience quality based on the identifier of the alternative AP. Among them, the method for determining the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the alternative AP can refer to the description in this application. For example, the method for the end-to-end orchestration management device to determine the mobile path information of the terminal device can refer to step 2a, that is, the end-to-end orchestration management device can determine the mobile path information of the terminal device through the motion route module. For another example, the method for the end-to-end orchestration management device to determine the experience quality of the alternative AP can refer to step 2b, that is, the end-to-end orchestration management device can determine the experience quality of the alternative AP through the QoE module.

[0199] In one possible example, before S306, the end-to-end orchestration management device may send the terminal device's identifier to the first AN controller, requesting or instructing the first AN controller to send the RSSI of one or more AP signals received by the terminal device to the end-to-end orchestration management device, as shown in S306-1. After receiving the terminal device's RSSI from the first AN controller (as shown in S306-2), in S306, the end-to-end orchestration management device may further determine the terminal device's mobile path information based on the RSSI of the one or more AP signals received by the terminal device.

[0200] In another possible example, before S306, the end-to-end orchestration management device may also send an identifier of the candidate AP to one or more AN controllers corresponding to the candidate AP, to collect at least one performance parameter of the candidate AP, including throughput, latency, or switching time, from the one or more AN controllers, as shown in S306-3. The one or more AN controllers corresponding to the candidate AP are one or more AN controllers used to manage the candidate AP. The one or more AN controllers corresponding to the candidate AP may include a first AN controller and / or a second AN controller. The second AN controller may include one or more AN controllers other than the first AN controller.

[0201] For example, if the candidate AP is the first candidate AP and the first candidate AP is managed by the first AN controller, then the one or more AN controllers corresponding to the candidate AP are the first AN controller. If the candidate AP is the second candidate AP and the second candidate AP is managed by the second AN controller, then the one or more AN controllers corresponding to the candidate AP are the second AN controller. If the candidate APs include the first candidate AP and the second candidate AP, and the first candidate AP is managed by the first AN controller and the second candidate AP is managed by the second AN controller, then the one or more AN controllers corresponding to the candidate APs are the first AN controller and the second AN controller.

[0202] In this example, after obtaining at least one performance parameter of the alternative AP including throughput, latency, or switching time from one or more AN controllers (as shown in S306-4), in S306, the end-to-end orchestration management device can determine the experience quality of the alternative AP based on at least one performance parameter of the alternative AP including throughput, latency, or switching time.

[0203] S307: The end-to-end orchestration management device sends the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate AP to the first AN controller.

[0204] S307 can be used as an example of steps 3a and 3b.

[0205] S308: The first AN controller determines a target AP from the candidate APs according to the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate APs.

[0206] S309: The first AN controller sends the target AP information to the OLT.

[0207] S310: The OLT sends the target AP information to the source AP.

[0208] S308 to S310 can refer to the description of S205 to S207 and will not be repeated here.

[0209] It can be understood that S309 to S310 can be used as an exemplary implementation of S102.

[0210] Based on S310, the source AP can switch the terminal device based on the target AP information, and the terminal device can be served by the target AP after the switch. Since the target AP is determined based on the mobile path information and the experience quality of the alternative AP, the target AP can be reasonably determined in the time slot, thereby achieving better handover effect.

[0211] In another embodiment of the present application, when the first communication device is an end-to-end orchestration management device, the end-to-end orchestration management device can determine the mobile path information of the terminal device based on the identifier of the terminal device, and determine the experience quality of the alternative AP based on the identifier of the alternative AP, and then determine the target AP based on the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the alternative AP. Or it can be said that in this embodiment, the network management module, movement route module, and QoE module shown in Figure 3 can be deployed in the end-to-end orchestration management device. In this embodiment, the alternative AP can be managed by one or more AN controllers, and the one or more AN controllers can include a first AN controller corresponding to the source AP.

[0212] The following describes the method for determining the target AP of the terminal device in this example with reference to FIG. 6 .

[0213] S401: The source AP of the terminal device detects a low RSSI event of the terminal device.

[0214] S402: The source AP sends a handover request of the terminal device to the OLT.

[0215] S403: The OLT sends a handover request of the terminal device to the first AN controller.

[0216] S401 to S403 may refer to S201 to S203 .

[0217] S404: The first AN controller determines an identifier of a candidate AP according to the handover request.

[0218] The first AN controller may determine the identifier of the candidate AP according to the identifier of the terminal device in the switching request.

[0219] S405: The first AN controller sends an inter-domain handover request to the end-to-end orchestration management device.

[0220] The cross-domain handover request may include the terminal device identifier and the candidate AP identifier. The terminal device identifier may be used to determine the moving route of the terminal device, and the candidate AP identifier may be used to determine the experience quality of the candidate AP.

[0221] It can be understood that the above cross-domain handover request can also be replaced by a request or message with other names, and this application does not specifically limit it.

[0222] S406: The end-to-end orchestration management device determines the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate AP.

[0223] S406 can be implemented with reference to S306.

[0224] S407: The end-to-end orchestration management device determines a target AP from the candidate APs based on the mobile path information of the terminal device and the experience quality of the candidate APs.

[0225] The implementation of S407 may refer to S205, except that the execution subject is replaced by the end-to-end orchestration management device instead of the first AN controller.

[0226] It can be understood that S204 can be used as an exemplary implementation of S101.

[0227] In addition, S407 may be used as an example of an implementation of step 4, that is, the target AP may be determined by the network management module deployed by the end-to-end orchestration management device.

[0228] S408: The end-to-end orchestration management device sends the target AP information to the first AN controller.

[0229] S409: The first AN controller sends the target AP information to the OLT.

[0230] S410: The OLT sends the target AP information to the source AP.

[0231] S409 to S410 can refer to the description of S206 to S207 and will not be repeated here.

[0232] It can be understood that S409 to S410 can be used as an exemplary implementation of S102.

[0233] Based on S410, the source AP can switch the terminal device based on the target AP information, and the terminal device can be served by the target AP after the switch. Since the target AP is determined based on the mobile path information and the experience quality of the alternative AP, the target AP can be reasonably determined in the time slot, thereby achieving better handover effect.

[0234] The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the device provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0235] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes modules, units or means corresponding to the method steps in the above method embodiments. The functions, units or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or the corresponding software can be implemented by hardware.

[0236] Exemplarily, referring to FIG. 7 , an apparatus 700 may include a processing module 701 and a transceiver module 702 .

[0237] Optionally, the transceiver module 702 may include a sending module and / or a receiving module. The sending module is used to perform the sending operation in the above method embodiment. The receiving module is used to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

[0238] It should be noted that the communication device 700 may include a sending module but not a receiving module. Alternatively, the communication device 700 may include a receiving module but not a sending module. The specific implementation depends on whether the above solution executed by the communication device 700 includes a sending action and a receiving action.

[0239] The processing module 701 is used for data processing, and the transceiver module 702 can implement corresponding communication functions.

[0240] Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a storage module, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 701 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage module so that the communication device 700 implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0241] Exemplarily, communication device 700 may be a first communication device or a component configurable in a first communication device. The first communication device may be, for example, a first AN controller (such as the first AN controller in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 ) or an end-to-end orchestration management device (such as the end-to-end orchestration management device in FIG. 7 ). Processing module 701 is configured to perform processing-related operations of the first communication device in the above method embodiments. Transceiver module 702 is configured to perform reception-related operations on the first communication device side in the above method embodiments.

[0242] For example, when used to implement the actions of the first communication device shown in Figure 2: the processing module 701 can be used to determine the target AP of the terminal device based on the first information; the transceiver module 702 can be used to send the information of the target AP. For another example, when used to implement the actions of the first AN controller shown in Figure 4: the processing module 701 can be used to execute S204 or S205, and the transceiver module 702 can be used to execute S203 and S206. For another example, when used to implement the actions of the first AN controller shown in Figure 5: the processing module 701 can be used to execute S204 or S205, and the transceiver module 702 can be used to execute S203 and S206. For another example, when used to implement the actions of the end orchestration management device shown in Figure 6: the processing module 701 can be used to execute S406 or S407, and the transceiver module 702 can be used to execute S405 and S408.

[0243] For example, when the first communication device is a first AN controller, communication device 700 may be an end-to-end orchestration management device or a component configurable in an end-to-end orchestration management device. Processing module 701 is configured to perform processing-related operations of the end-to-end orchestration management device in the above method embodiment. Transceiver module 702 is configured to perform reception-related operations of the end-to-end orchestration management device in the above method embodiment.

[0244] For example, when used to implement the actions of the end-to-end orchestration management device shown in Figure 5: the transceiver module 702 can be used to execute S305 and S307. The processing module 701 can be used to execute S306.

[0245] Alternatively, the communication device 700 may be a second communication device or a component configurable in the second communication device. The processing module 701 is configured to perform processing-related operations of the second communication device in the above method embodiment. The transceiver module 702 is configured to perform reception-related operations of the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0246] For example, when used to implement the actions of the second communication device shown in FIG2 : the transceiver module 702 is configured to receive information of a target AP.

[0247] It should be understood that all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module and will not be repeated here.

[0248] The processing module 701 in the above embodiment can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuits. The transceiver module 702 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuits. The transceiver module 702 can also be called a communication module or a communication interface.

[0249] Another structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown below. As shown in FIG8 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 800, comprising:

[0250] At least one processor 801; and a communication interface 803 communicatively connected to the at least one processor 801; the at least one processor 801 executes instructions stored in the memory 802, so that the device performs the method steps in the above method embodiment through the communication interface 803.

[0251] Optionally, the memory 802 is located outside the device 800 .

[0252] Optionally, the apparatus 800 includes the memory 802, which is connected to the at least one processor 801 and stores instructions executable by the at least one processor 801. FIG8 uses dashed lines to indicate that the memory 802 is optional for the apparatus 800.

[0253] The processor 801 and the memory 802 may be coupled via an interface circuit or may be integrated together, which is not limited here.

[0254] The specific connection medium between the processor 801, memory 802, and communication interface 803 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 8, the processor 801, memory 802, and communication interface 803 are connected via bus 804. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 8. The connection between other components is only for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, Figure 8 only uses a single bold line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0255] When the communication device 800 is a first communication device, the first communication device may include a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein the memory may store computer program codes, and the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver.

[0256] The processor is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data; control the first communication device, execute software programs, and process data from software programs. The memory is primarily used to store software programs and data. The transmitter is used to send signals to other communication devices or equipment, and the receiver is used to receive signals from other communication devices or equipment.

[0257] When communication device 800 is a chip in a first communication device, the chip may include a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The transceiver may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. The processor may be a processing module, a microprocessor, or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip. In the above method embodiment, the sending operation of the first communication device may be understood as an output of the chip, and the receiving operation of the first communication device in the above method embodiment may be understood as an input of the chip.

[0258] When the communication apparatus 800 is an end-to-end orchestration management device, the end-to-end orchestration management device may include a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein the memory may store computer program code, and the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver.

[0259] The processor is primarily responsible for processing communication protocols and data, controlling end-to-end orchestration and management equipment, executing software programs, and processing their data. The memory is primarily used to store software programs and data. The transmitter is used to send signals to other communication devices or equipment, and the receiver is used to receive signals from other communication devices or equipment.

[0260] When communication device 800 is a chip in an end-to-end orchestration management device, the chip may include a processor, memory, and a transceiver. The transceiver may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. The processor may be a processing module, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. In the above method embodiment, the sending operation of the end-to-end orchestration management device can be understood as the chip's output, and the receiving operation of the end-to-end orchestration management device in the above method embodiment can be understood as the chip's input.

[0261] When the communication device 800 is a second communication device, the second communication device may include a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein the memory may store computer program codes, and the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver.

[0262] The processor is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data; control the second communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. The memory is primarily used to store software programs and data. The transmitter is used to send signals to other communication devices or equipment, and the receiver is used to receive signals from other communication devices or equipment.

[0263] When communication device 800 is a chip in a second communication device, the chip may include a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The transceiver may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. The processor may be a processing module, a microprocessor, or an integrated circuit integrated on the chip. In the above method embodiment, the sending operation of the second communication device may be understood as an output of the chip, and the receiving operation of the second communication device in the above method embodiment may be understood as an input of the chip.

[0264] It should be understood that the processors mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor that is implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

[0265] Exemplarily, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0266] It should be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0267] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0268] It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0269] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, including a program or instructions. When the program or instructions are run on a computer, the method in the above method embodiment is executed.

[0270] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method in the above method embodiment to be executed.

[0271] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which may include a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device can be used to implement the method implemented by the first communication device in the above method embodiment, and the second communication device can be used to implement the method implemented by the second communication device in the above method embodiment. For example, the first communication device is used to execute the action implemented by the first communication device in the process shown in Figure 2, and the second communication device is used to execute the action implemented by the second communication device in the process shown in Figure 2. For another example, the first communication device is used to execute the action implemented by the first AN controller in the process shown in Figure 4, and the second communication device is used to execute the action implemented by the second source AP in the process shown in Figure 4.

[0272] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which may include an orchestration device and a first management device. The orchestration device can be used to implement the method implemented by the orchestration device in the above method embodiment, and the first management device can be used to implement the method implemented by the first management device in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the communication system may also include a second communication device, which can be used to implement the method implemented by the second communication device in the above method embodiment. For example, the orchestration device is used to execute the actions implemented by the end-to-end managed device in the process shown in Figure 5, the first management device is used to execute the actions implemented by the first AN controller in the process shown in Figure 5, and the second communication device is used to execute the actions implemented by the source AP in the process shown in Figure 5. For another example, the orchestration device is used to execute the actions implemented by the end-to-end managed device in the process shown in Figure 6, the first management device is used to execute the actions implemented by the first AN controller in the process shown in Figure 6, and the second communication device is used to execute the actions implemented by the source AP in the process shown in Figure 6.

[0273] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0274] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0275] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0276] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Determine a target access device for the terminal device according to first information, where the first information includes mobile path information of the terminal device and / or quality of experience of the alternative access device; Send information about the target access device to the source access device of the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: Sending the identifier of the terminal device to the orchestration device; The moving path information is received from the orchestration device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The method is applied to a first management device, and the method further includes: Receiving first signal strength information from the source access device, where the first signal strength information is used to indicate downlink signal strength of signals of one or more access devices received by the terminal device; Send the first signal strength information to the orchestration device.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The method further comprises: receiving a first request message from the orchestration device, where the first request message is used to request the first signal strength information, and the first request message includes an identifier of the terminal device; The sending the first signal strength information to the orchestration device includes: Send the first signal strength information to the orchestration device according to the first request message.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Determining the identifier of the candidate access device according to the identifier of the terminal device; Sending the identifier of the candidate access device to the orchestration device; Receive the quality of experience of the candidate access device from the orchestration device.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The method is applied to a first management device, the candidate access device includes a first candidate access device, and the first candidate access device is managed by the first management device. The method further includes: Second information is sent to the orchestration device, where the second information includes at least one of a throughput rate, a latency, or a switching latency of the first candidate access device, and the second information is used to determine a quality of experience of the candidate access device.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The method further comprises: receiving a second request message from the orchestration device, where the second request message is used to request the second information, and the second request message includes an identifier of the terminal device and / or an identifier of the alternative access device; The sending the second information to the orchestration device includes: According to the second request message, the second information is sent to the orchestration device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein: The method is applied to a first management device, and the candidate access device includes an access device managed by a second management device.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein Also includes: determining the moving path information according to the identification of the terminal device; and / or, Determining the identifier of the candidate access device according to the identifier of the terminal device; The experience quality of the candidate access device is determined according to the identifier of the candidate access device.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The method is applied to a first management device, and the candidate access device is managed by the first management device.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein The method is applied to an orchestration device, and determining the movement path information according to the identifier of the terminal device includes: Sending a third request message to the first management device, the third request message being used to request second signal strength information, where the second signal strength information is used to indicate downlink signal strengths of signals of one or more access devices received by the terminal device, and the third request message including an identifier of the terminal device; receiving the second signal strength information; The moving path information is determined according to the second signal strength information.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein The method is applied to an orchestration device, wherein the candidate access device includes a first candidate access device, and the first candidate access device is managed by a first management device. The method of determining the experience quality of the candidate access device according to an identifier of the candidate access device includes: Sending a fourth request message to the first management device, where the fourth request message is used to request third information, where the third information includes at least one of a throughput rate, a latency, or a switching latency of the first candidate access device, and the second information is used to determine a quality of experience of the candidate access device; receiving the third information; Determine the quality of experience of the candidate access device according to the third information.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein: The quality of experience of the candidate access device includes location information and at least one of a throughput rate, a delay, or a switching delay of the candidate access device corresponding to the first location information.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein: The method further comprises: Obtaining the required quality of experience of the terminal device; The determining the first access device from the candidate access devices according to the mobile path information and / or the experience quality of the candidate access devices includes: The first access device is determined from the candidate access devices according to the experience quality required by the terminal device, the mobile path information and / or the experience quality of the candidate access device.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein The required quality of experience of the terminal device is determined according to the QoE of one or more services of the terminal device.

16. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving an identifier of the terminal device from the first management device; determining the moving path information of the terminal device according to the identification of the terminal device; The moving path information is sent to the first management device, where the moving path information is used to determine a target access device of the terminal device.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The determining the moving path information of the terminal device according to the identifier of the terminal device includes: Determining the downlink signal strength of the terminal device according to the identifier of the terminal device; The moving path information is determined according to the downlink signal strength of the terminal device.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The method further comprises: Receive first signal strength information from the first management device, where the first signal strength information is used to indicate the downlink signal strength of signals from one or more access devices received by the terminal device, and the downlink signal strength of the terminal device includes the first signal strength information.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The method further comprises: A first request message is sent to the first management device, where the first request message is used to request the first signal strength information, and the first request message includes an identifier of the terminal device.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, wherein: The candidate access device includes an access device managed by a second management device.

21. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Receiving an identifier of a candidate access device from the first management device; determining the experience quality of the alternative access device according to the identifier of the alternative access device; The experience quality of the candidate access device is sent to the first management device, where the experience quality of the candidate access device is used to determine a target access device for the terminal device.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The candidate access device includes a first candidate access device, the first candidate access device is managed by the first management device, and the method further includes: receiving second information from the first management device, where the second information includes at least one of a throughput rate, a delay, or a switching delay of the first candidate access device; Determine the experience quality of the candidate access device according to the second information.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The method further comprises: A second request message is sent to the first management device, where the second request message is used to request the second information, and the second request message includes an identifier of the terminal device and / or an identifier of the alternative access device.

24. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein: The candidate access device includes an access device managed by a second management device.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein: The quality of experience of the candidate access device includes location information and at least one of a throughput rate, a delay, or a switching delay of the candidate access device corresponding to the first location information.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 16 to 20, or a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 21 to 25.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor configured to execute a computer program or instruction to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 16 to 20, or to implement the method according to any one of claims 21 to 25.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 16 to 20 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 21 to 25 is implemented.

29. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is executed by a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, or the method according to any one of claims 16 to 20, or the method according to any one of claims 21 to 25.

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