Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: a first management unit receives a first message from a first access network device, sends a second message to the first access network device, and sends a third message to a first radio frequency unit, wherein the first message is used for requesting to allocate a communication resource for a terminal device, the second message is used for indicating that a communication resource has been allocated for the terminal device, the third message comprises a communication resource configuration, the terminal device communicates with the first radio frequency unit by means of at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration, and the at least one communication resource is some or all of communication resources in a communication resource set provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management. The first management unit allocates or schedules a dedicated communication resource for the terminal device, so that the terminal device does not need to execute corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment during mobile and radio frequency unit handover, thereby shortening the handover interruption time.

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 31, 2024, with application number 202410139221.0 and application 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 communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] In mobile communication systems, the movement of terminal devices causes changes in the communication link between the terminal device and the access network equipment. Based on the terminal device's movement, the access network equipment instructs the terminal device to perform a cell handover. The handover process from the source cell to the target cell may cause a period of interruption, impacting the user experience. Therefore, reducing this handover interruption has become a pressing issue. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for reducing handover interruption time.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be performed by a first management unit or a module of the first management unit (such as a processor, processing unit, chip, chip system or circuit, etc.). Optionally, the method can also be implemented by a logical node, logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first management unit. Exemplarily, the following takes the first management unit performing the communication method as an example. The method may include the following steps: the first management unit receives a first message from a first access network device, after which the first management unit may send a second message to the first access network device, and then the first management unit may send a third message to the first radio frequency unit, wherein the first message is used to request allocation of communication resources for the terminal device, the second message is used to indicate that the communication resources have been allocated to the terminal device, and the third message may include a communication resource configuration. The terminal device can communicate with the first radio frequency unit through at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration, and the at least one communication resource can be part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management.

[0007] In this method, dedicated communication resources (or specific communication resources) are allocated or scheduled to the terminal device through the first management unit. This allows the terminal device to avoid having to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment during the process of moving and switching radio frequency units, thereby reducing the switching interruption time and helping to improve the user experience.

[0008] Accordingly, in a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first access network device or a module of the first access network device (such as a processor, a processing unit, a chip, a chip system or a circuit, etc.). Optionally, the method can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first access network device. Exemplarily, the following takes the first access network device executing the communication method as an example. The method may include the following steps: the first access network device provides a communication resource set to a first management unit, after which the first access network device may send a first message to the first management unit, and then the first access network device may receive a second message from the first management unit, wherein the first message is used to request allocation of communication resources for the terminal device, and the second message is used to indicate that communication resources have been allocated to the terminal device. For example, the terminal device may communicate with the first radio frequency unit based on some or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set.

[0009] The technical effects that can be achieved in the second aspect can be referred to the technical effects that can be achieved in the first aspect mentioned above, and will not be repeated here.

[0010] In a possible implementation provided in the first aspect or the second aspect, if the second message includes at least one communication resource allocated to the terminal device, the first access network device may generate a communication resource configuration based on the at least one communication resource. Afterwards, the first access network device may send a fourth message to the first management unit. Accordingly, the first management unit receives the fourth message, wherein the at least one communication resource may be part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set, and the fourth message may include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device. Optionally, when the first management unit does not receive the fourth message, the first management unit may generate a communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device based on the at least one communication resource.

[0011] In the above implementation, if the first management unit can obtain the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device from the first access network device, it does not need to generate the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device itself, thereby reducing the resource consumption caused by generating the communication resource configuration. In addition, if the first management unit cannot obtain the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device from the first access network device, this can reduce the communication overhead between the first access network device and the first management unit, and similarly reduce the resource consumption caused by generating the communication resource configuration on the first access network device.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner provided in the first aspect or the second aspect, the first access network device sends a first transmission block to the first management unit. Accordingly, the first management unit receives the first transmission block from the first access network device. Thereafter, the first management unit may send the first transmission block and first indication information to the first radio frequency unit, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the use of a first communication resource to transmit the first transmission block, and the first communication resource is included in at least one communication resource.

[0013] In the above implementation, during downlink data transmission, the first management unit schedules dedicated communication resources for transmitting the first transmission block. This makes the transmission of the first transmission block more reasonable and more in line with the actual needs of the terminal device. Furthermore, by introducing the first management unit to manage the communication resources of the terminal device, the terminal device does not need to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment during movement and radio frequency unit switching, thereby reducing switching interruption time.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner provided in the first aspect or the second aspect, the first radio frequency unit sends a second transmission block to the first management unit, and accordingly, the first management unit receives the second transmission block from the first radio frequency unit. Thereafter, the first management unit may send the second transmission block to the first access network device, and accordingly, the first access network device receives the second transmission block from the first management unit.

[0015] In the above implementation, during the uplink data transmission process, the terminal device also uses the dedicated communication resources scheduled by the first management unit to transmit the second transmission block to the first radio frequency unit. Since the first radio frequency unit knows the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device, it receives the second transmission block on the dedicated communication resource, and also knows the identity of the terminal device. In this way, the first radio frequency unit can transmit the second transmission block to the first access network device on a specific user plane channel.

[0016] In a possible implementation method provided in the first aspect, the first management unit may send a first switching indication and a second switching indication to the first radio frequency unit, and accordingly, the first radio frequency unit receives the first switching indication and the second switching indication from the first management unit, wherein the first switching indication is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching, and the second switching indication is used to instruct to stop providing communication services to the terminal device.

[0017] In the above implementation method, when the signal quality measurement report reported by the terminal device is parsed and processed by the first management unit, the first management unit can send the first switching indication and the second switching indication to the first radio frequency unit in a timely and accurate manner when determining that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched.

[0018] In a possible implementation provided in the first aspect or the second aspect, the first access network device sends a third switching indication and a fourth switching indication to the first management unit. Accordingly, the first management unit receives the third switching indication and the fourth switching indication from the first access network device. Thereafter, the first management unit may send a fourth switching indication and a fifth switching indication to the first radio frequency unit, wherein the third switching indication is used to indicate the execution of radio frequency unit switching, the fourth switching indication is used to indicate the terminal device to perform beam switching, and the fifth switching indication is used to indicate the first radio frequency unit to stop providing communication services to the terminal device.

[0019] In the above implementation, when the signal quality measurement report reported by the terminal device is parsed and processed by the first access network device, the first access network device can promptly and accurately send the third switching indication and the fourth switching indication to the first management unit when determining that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched. This allows the first management unit to promptly know that radio frequency unit switching and beam switching need to be performed, so that the radio frequency unit switching can be performed promptly and effectively, and the fourth switching indication can be sent to the first radio frequency unit, further enabling the terminal device to perform beam switching in a timely manner.

[0020] In a possible implementation manner provided in the first aspect, the method further includes: the first management unit can send second indication information and communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device to the second radio frequency unit, wherein the second indication information is used to instruct the second radio frequency unit to provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0021] For example, the first management unit may also send, to the second radio frequency unit, beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device. Thereafter, the second radio frequency unit may use the beam direction information to communicate with the terminal device.

[0022] In the above implementation, after knowing that the RF unit corresponding to the terminal device is switched from the first RF unit to the second RF unit, a second indication information and communication resource configuration can be sent to the second RF unit so that the second RF unit can provide communication services to the terminal device in a timely manner.

[0023] In a possible implementation manner provided in the second aspect, the method also includes: the first access network device may send a fifth message to the second access network device, wherein the fifth message is used to request communication resources managed by the first management unit, and the fifth message may include communication resources provided by the first access network device that can be managed by the first management unit. Afterwards, the first access network device may receive a sixth message from the second access network device, wherein the sixth message may include communication resources provided by the second access network device that can be managed by the first management unit. Then, the first access network device may determine a communication resource set based on the communication resources provided by the first access network device that can be managed by the first management unit and the communication resources provided by the second access network device that can be managed by the first management unit.

[0024] In the above implementation method, the first access network device determines the communication resource set through interactive negotiation with the second access network device, so that the communication resource set can meet the resource requirements of the terminal device for switching services between the first access network device and the second access network device, and can enable the first access network device and the second access network device to provide corresponding services for the terminal device using consistent communication resources.

[0025] In a possible implementation manner provided by the first aspect or the second aspect, the first message may include at least one of the following: identification information of the terminal device or identification information of the first radio frequency unit.

[0026] In the above implementation, when the first message includes identification information of the terminal device, the identification information of the terminal device can be used by the first management unit to accurately associate the allocated communication resources with the terminal device itself. When the first message includes identification information of the first radio frequency unit, this can facilitate the first management unit to subsequently send the communication resource configuration to the corresponding radio frequency unit in a timely and accurate manner.

[0027] In a possible implementation manner provided in the first aspect or the second aspect, each communication resource in the communication resource set may include at least one of the following: a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, a code domain resource, or a space domain resource.

[0028] On the third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be implemented by the interaction of multiple communication devices (such as a first access network device, a second access network device and a first network element). In the method, the first access network device can send a first message to the second access network device, and the second access network device can send a second message to the first network element after receiving the first message, wherein the first message is used to request switching of the access network device, the first message may include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device, and at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration may be part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set. The communication resource set is determined by negotiation between the first access network device and the second access network device, and the communication resource set can be provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management, and the second message is used to indicate that the user plane channel termination point is switched from the first access network device to the second access network device.

[0029] In this method, the terminal device does not need to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment to achieve the switching of the user plane channel termination point from the first access network device to the second access network device (for example, the migration of the L2 protocol stack anchor point from the first access network device to the second access network device). This can facilitate the subsequent low-interruption switching in a wider area (for example, across management units) and facilitate the subsequent negotiation of whether the second management unit can continue to use at least one communication resource allocated by the first management unit to the terminal device.

[0030] Optionally, when the first message does not include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device, the above method can also realize the migration of the management rights and L2 protocol stack anchor of one or more terminal devices from the first access network device to the second access network device (such as access network device 2), thereby reducing the load of the first access network device.

[0031] In a possible implementation provided in the third aspect, the first management unit is connected to the first radio frequency unit, and the first radio frequency unit provides communication services for the terminal device; the method also includes: the second access network device can send a third message to the first access network device based on the first message, wherein the third message is used to indicate that the second access network device agrees to the switching of the access network device, and after receiving the third message, the first access network device can send a fourth message to the first management unit, wherein the fourth message is used to indicate that the access network device has switched, and the fourth message may include reconfiguration information corresponding to the terminal device, and the reconfiguration information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform a reconfiguration operation. After receiving the fourth message, the first management unit can send the reconfiguration information to the first radio frequency unit, and after receiving the reconfiguration information, the first radio frequency unit can send the reconfiguration information to the terminal device.

[0032] In the above implementation method, the first access network device sends the fourth message to the first management unit, which can facilitate the terminal device to perform reconfiguration operations in a timely manner without performing corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment, thereby realizing the relocation (or migration) of the L2 protocol stack anchor from the first access network device to the second access network device, that is, realizing the switching of the access network device, and facilitating subsequent low-interruption switching across management units.

[0033] In a possible implementation method provided in the third aspect, the fourth message also includes identification information or address information of the second access network device; the method also includes: the first management unit can establish a user plane channel and / or control plane channel with the second access network device based on the identification information or address information of the second access network device.

[0034] In the above implementation, the first management unit can facilitate data transmission and / or signaling transmission between the first management unit and the second access network device by establishing a user plane channel and / or a control plane channel with the second access network device.

[0035] In a possible implementation method provided in the third aspect, the reconfiguration operation may include at least one of the following: Packet Data Convergence Protocol PDCP reconfiguration, PDCP reestablishment, Radio Link Control RLC reconfiguration, RLC reestablishment, Service Data Adaptation Protocol SDAP reconfiguration, Media Access Control MAC reconfiguration or MAC reset.

[0036] In the above implementation, the terminal device does not need to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment. Instead, the switching of the access network device is completed by performing a reconfiguration operation, thereby effectively realizing the migration of the L2 protocol stack anchor point.

[0037] In a possible implementation provided in the third aspect, the second access network device is connected to the first management unit and the second management unit respectively, and the second management unit is connected to the second radio frequency unit; the method also includes: the second access network device can send first indication information and second indication information to the first management unit, wherein the first indication information is used to instruct the first management unit to stop providing resource management services for the terminal device, and the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching. After receiving the first indication information and the second indication information, the first management unit can send second indication information and third indication information to the first radio frequency unit, wherein the third indication information is used to instruct the first radio frequency unit to stop providing communication services for the terminal device. The second access network device can also send fourth indication information to the second management unit, wherein the fourth indication information is used to instruct the second management unit to provide resource management services for the terminal device. After receiving the fourth indication information, the second management unit can send fifth indication information to the second radio frequency unit, wherein the fifth indication information is used to instruct the second radio frequency unit to provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0038] For example, the second access network device may also send beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device to the second management unit. After receiving the beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device, the second management unit may send the beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device to the second radio frequency unit. The second radio frequency unit may then use the beam direction information to communicate with the terminal device.

[0039] In the above implementation, when the signal quality measurement report reported by the terminal device is parsed and processed by the second access network device, the second access network device can promptly and accurately send the first indication information and the second indication information to the first management unit when determining that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched. This can facilitate the first management unit to promptly know that the radio frequency unit switching and beam switching need to be performed, so that the radio frequency unit switching can be performed promptly and effectively, and the second indication information and the third indication information can be sent to the first radio frequency unit, so that the first radio frequency unit can effectively stop providing communication services to the terminal device, and can further enable the terminal device to perform beam switching in a timely manner. In addition, the second access network device can facilitate the second management unit to promptly know that resource management services will be provided to the terminal device by sending the fourth indication information to the second management unit, so that the second management unit can further send the fifth indication information to the second radio frequency unit so that the second radio frequency unit can provide communication services to the terminal device in a timely manner.

[0040] In a possible implementation manner provided in the third aspect, the second access network device can be connected to the first management unit and the second management unit respectively, and the second management unit is connected to the second radio frequency unit; the method also includes: the first management unit can send a sixth indication message to the second access network device, wherein the sixth indication message is used to instruct the first management unit to stop providing resource management services for the terminal device, and the first management unit can also send a seventh indication message and an eighth indication message to the first radio frequency unit, wherein the seventh indication message is used to instruct the first radio frequency unit to stop providing communication services for the terminal device, and the eighth indication message is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching. After receiving the sixth indication message, the second access network device can send a ninth indication message to the second management unit, wherein the ninth indication message is used to instruct the second management unit to provide resource management services for the terminal device. After receiving the ninth indication message, the second management unit can send a tenth indication message to the second radio frequency unit, wherein the tenth indication message is used to instruct the second radio frequency unit to provide communication services for the terminal device.

[0041] For example, after receiving the sixth indication information, the second access network device may also send, to the second management unit, beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device. After receiving the beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device, the second management unit may send the beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device to the second radio frequency unit. Thereafter, the second radio frequency unit may use the beam direction information to communicate with the terminal device.

[0042] In the above implementation, when the signal quality measurement report reported by the terminal device is parsed and processed by the first management unit, the first management unit can promptly and accurately send the sixth indication information to the second access network device when determining that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched. This can facilitate the first access network device to promptly know that the radio frequency unit needs to be switched, and can send the seventh indication information and the eighth indication information to the first radio frequency unit, so that the first radio frequency unit can effectively stop providing communication services to the terminal device, and can further enable the terminal device to perform beam switching in a timely manner. In addition, the second access network device can facilitate the second management unit to promptly know that resource management services will be provided to the terminal device by sending the ninth indication information to the second management unit, so that the second management unit can further send the tenth indication information to the second radio frequency unit so that the second radio frequency unit can provide communication services to the terminal device in a timely manner.

[0043] In a possible implementation provided in the third aspect, the method also includes: the second access network device can send a fifth message to the second management unit, wherein the fifth message is used to request the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device, and after receiving the fifth message, the second management unit can send a sixth message to the second access network device, wherein the sixth message is used to indicate that the second management unit agrees to issue a request for the same communication resource configuration, or can also be used to indicate that the second management unit agrees to issue the same communication resource configuration for the terminal device, or can also be used to indicate that the second management unit agrees to allocate the same at least one communication resource to the terminal device.

[0044] In the above implementation, when the second management unit can allocate the same at least one communication resource to the terminal device, or can issue the same communication resource configuration to the terminal device, when the terminal device moves from the coverage of the first radio frequency unit to the coverage of the second radio frequency unit, the terminal device does not need to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment, and does not need to perform L2 protocol stack-related reconfiguration or re-establishment.

[0045] In a possible implementation manner provided in the third aspect, each communication resource in the communication resource set may include at least one of the following: a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, a code domain resource, or a space domain resource.

[0046] In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device capable of implementing the method of any possible implementation of any of the first to third aspects above. The communication device can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the communication device includes a processor configured to support the communication device in executing the corresponding functions of the first management unit, the second management unit, the first access network device, the second access network device, the first radio frequency unit, the second radio frequency unit, the terminal device, or the first network element in the method described above. The communication device may also include a memory, which may be coupled to the processor and stores program instructions and data necessary for the communication device. Optionally, the communication device also includes a communication interface for supporting communication between the communication device and other devices.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the communication device includes corresponding functional modules for implementing the steps in the above method. The functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0049] In one possible embodiment, the structure of the communication device includes a transceiver module and a processing module, which can perform the corresponding functions in the above method example. For details, please refer to the description of the method in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first aspect to the third aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0050] In a fifth aspect, the present application further provides a communication device, which includes a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor implements the method in any possible implementation of any aspect of the first to third aspects above through a logic circuit or by executing a computer program or instruction. Optionally, the communication device also includes a memory for storing computer programs or instructions.

[0051] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication system, comprising multiple communication devices (such as a first management unit or a second management unit or a first access network device or a second access network device or a first radio frequency unit or a second radio frequency unit or a terminal device or a first network element). The relevant functional implementations of the first management unit or the second management unit or the first access network device or the second access network device or the first radio frequency unit or the second radio frequency unit or the terminal device or the first network element can be referred to the relevant descriptions mentioned in the first aspect or the second aspect or the third aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0052] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer executes the method in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0053] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the computer executes a method in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0054] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a chip, which may include a processor and a memory (or the chip is coupled to the memory), wherein the chip executes program instructions in the memory to perform the method in any possible implementation of any of the first to third aspects above. "Coupled" refers to the direct or indirect connection of two components to each other, such as electrical connection between two components.

[0055] In a tenth aspect, the present application further provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a computer device to implement the method in any possible implementation of any of the first to third aspects above. In one possible implementation, the chip system also includes a memory for storing programs and data necessary for the computer device. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0056] Based on the implementation methods provided in the above aspects, this application can also be further combined to provide more implementation methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0057] FIG1 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a possible communication system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG2a exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a CU-DU separation architecture adopted by a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG2 b exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a CU-DU-RU separation architecture adopted by a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG3 exemplarily shows a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG4 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG5 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of uplink and downlink data transmission provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG6 exemplarily shows a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG7 exemplarily shows a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG8 exemplarily shows another application scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG9 exemplarily shows a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG10 exemplarily shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG11 exemplarily shows a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0069] Before introducing the technical solution provided by this application, some of the terms involved in this application are first explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0070] (1) Beam: refers to the main lobe of the directional array pattern. Optionally, a network device (such as a base station) can adjust the antenna weights so that the beam of the network device can point in different directions and have different coverage ranges (or coverage areas).

[0071] (2) Layer 1 (L1) may refer to the physical (PHY) layer, Layer 2 (L2) may refer to any one or more of the media access control (or media access control) layer or the media access control protocol layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer or the radio link control protocol layer, the packet data convergence protocol (or packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer, and the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and Layer 3 (L3) may refer to the radio resource control (RRC) layer.

[0072] (3) Signal quality: In the embodiment of the present application, the signal quality may be signal strength. The parameter used to reflect or represent the signal strength may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: reference signal receiving power (RSRP), reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ), or received signal strength indication (RSSI).

[0073] (4) Synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB): The SSB consists of three parts: the primary synchronization signal (PSS), the secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and the PBCH. Both the PSS and SSS are synchronization signals. The PSS can be used to transmit the cell ID, and the SSS can be used to transmit the cell group ID. The cell ID and the cell group ID together determine the multiple physical cell identities (PCIs) in the communication system. The PBCH can be used by terminal devices to obtain information about the cell they are accessing.

[0074] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, "sending information" can be understood as one device sending information to another device, or it can also be understood as one logic module within a device sending information to another logic module. For example, "a network device sending information" can be understood as the network device sending information to another device (such as a terminal device), or it can be understood as logic module 1 in the network device sending information to logic module 2 in the terminal device.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present application, "receiving information" can be understood as one device receiving information from another device, or as a logic module within a device receiving information from another logic module. For example, "a network device receiving information" can be understood as the network device receiving information from another device (such as a terminal device), or as logic module 1 in the network device receiving information from logic module 2 in the terminal device.

[0076] In the embodiments of the present application, "sending information to a terminal device" can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal. This can include sending information to the terminal directly or indirectly. "Receiving information from a terminal" can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal, which can include receiving information from the terminal directly or indirectly. The information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination of the information, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the embodiments of the present application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated here.

[0077] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0078] The following describes the communication system architecture to which the communication method provided in this application is applicable. It should be noted that these descriptions are for the purpose of facilitating understanding by those skilled in the art and do not limit the scope of protection claimed in this application.

[0079] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) system, code division multiple access (CDMA) system, wireless local area network (WLAN), sidelink communication system, fourth generation (4G) communication system, fifth generation (5G) communication system, sixth generation (6G) communication system or other future evolution systems, or other various wireless communication systems using wireless access technology. As long as there is a cell switching demand in the communication system, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be adopted.

[0080] A network element in a communication system can send signals to or receive signals from another network element. The signals may include information, signaling, or data. A network element may also be replaced by an entity, network entity, device, communication device, communication module, node, communication node, etc. The embodiments of this application use a network element as an example for description.

[0081] Figure 1 exemplarily shows a possible communication system architecture diagram applicable to embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 , the communication system architecture may include a terminal device and at least one network device (such as network device 1, network device 2, and network device 3).

[0082] Among them, the network device is a node in the radio access network (RAN), which can also be called a base station, or a RAN node (or device) or a RAN entity or an access network device or an access node, etc., which is used to help terminal devices achieve wireless access. Currently, some examples of network equipment include: evolved NodeB (eNodeB), access point (AP), access point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP), next generation node B (gNB) in 5G network, transmitting point (TP), transmission reception point (TRP), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), macro base station, micro base station (also known as small station), relay station, base band unit (BBU), or network equipment in communication systems evolved after 5G, such as 6G. The network device may also be other devices with network device functions, such as a gNB or TRP or TP in a 5G system, or one or a group (including multiple antenna panels) of antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system. In addition, the network device may also be a device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication or other communication system that performs base station functions, etc. It may also include a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) system, and a network device in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system, that is, it can be deployed on a high-altitude platform or satellite. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0083] For example, in some possible network structures, the network device may be a CU, a DU, a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (or radio unit, RU), etc. The CU and the DU may be separately configured, or may be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio device or a radio unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). In this network architecture, the signaling generated by the CU may be sent to the terminal device via the DU, or the signaling generated by the terminal device may be sent to the CU via the DU. The DU may not parse the signaling but directly encapsulate it through the protocol layer and transparently transmit it to the terminal device or the CU. In this network architecture, the CU is divided into a network device on the radio access network side. In addition, the CU may also be divided into a network device on the core network side, and this application does not limit this. For example, the functions of the PDCP layer and above protocol layers are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the RLC layer and the MAC layer, etc.) are set in the DU. It can be understood that the above division of the processing functions of the CU and DU according to the protocol layer is only an example, and can also be divided in other ways. For example, the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the functions of the protocol layers at and below the RLC layer are set in the DU. For example, the CU or DU can be divided into functions with more protocol layers, and the CU or DU can also be divided into partial processing functions with protocol layers.

[0084] It is understandable that in different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0085] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may adopt a CU-DU separation architecture, which may also be referred to as a distributed deployment architecture, or a CU-DU-RU separation architecture may be adopted. For example, Figure 2a is a schematic diagram of a CU-DU separation architecture adopted by a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2a, the network device may logically include a CU and one or more DUs, each DU may be connected to the CU via an F1 interface, and information interaction between different DUs may be completed based on the forwarding of the CU. The CU and DU may be physically set together or physically separated, and there is no limitation. Among them, the CU may support the functions of the RRC layer protocol, the PDCP protocol, and the SDAP protocol; the DU may support the functions of the RLC layer protocol, the MAC layer protocol, and part of the PHY layer or all of the PHY layer. For a detailed description of each of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0086] For another example, Figure 2b is a schematic diagram of a CU-DU-RU separation architecture adopted by a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2b, the network device can logically include a CU, a DU, and a RU. The CU and the DU can be physically set together or physically separated, and there is no limitation. Among them, the CU can support the functions of the RRC layer protocol, the PDCP protocol, and the SDAP protocol; the DU can support the functions of the RLC layer protocol and the MAC layer protocol, and can also support the functions of some PHY layer protocols; the RU can support the functions of some or all PHY layers. It can be understood that in the CU-DU-RU separation architecture, the interface between the DU and the RU can be called the fronthaul, the interface between the CU and the DU can be called the midhaul, and the interface between the CU and the core network can be called the backhaul.

[0087] A terminal device is a device that provides voice or data connectivity to users. It can also be an IoT device. It can also be called a terminal, user equipment (UE), access terminal equipment, vehicle-mounted terminal, industrial control terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), remote station, remote terminal equipment, mobile device, UE terminal equipment, terminal equipment, wireless communication equipment, UE agent, or UE device. For example, terminal devices include handheld devices with wireless connectivity and vehicle-mounted devices.Currently, terminal devices can be: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, customer-premises equipment (CPE), subscriber units (SU), satellite phones, cellular phones, smart phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, wireless data cards, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, handheld devices, laptop computers, computers with wireless transceiver functions, virtual reality (VR) terminal devices, augmented reality (AR) terminal devices, head mounted displays (HMDs), wireless terminals in industrial control, mobile internet devices (MIDs), vehicle-mounted terminal devices (e.g., cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed trains, etc.), wireless terminals in self-driving cars, remote medical devices, etc. Medical), wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, wearable terminal devices (such as smart watches, smart bracelets, pedometers, etc.), vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, factory machines / equipment, machine type communication (MTC) terminals, ships or robots, etc.

[0088] In the embodiments of the present application, the network devices and terminal devices may be fixed or mobile. The network devices and terminal devices may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or vehicle-mounted, or may be deployed on water (such as a ship), or may be deployed in the air (such as an airplane, balloon, or satellite).

[0089] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of a network device (such as a base station) may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station function. The control subsystem that includes the base station function here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of a terminal device may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or a modem) in the terminal device, or by a device that includes the terminal function.

[0090] In an embodiment of the present application, communication between a terminal device and a network device refers to the terminal device sending an uplink signal or uplink information to the network device, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel, and / or the network device sending a downlink signal or downlink information to the terminal device, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel. In order to communicate with the network device, the terminal device needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the network device (that is, the terminal device resides in the cell controlled by the network device). The cell that establishes a wireless connection with the terminal device is called the service cell of the terminal device (that is, the cell that provides services to the terminal device).

[0091] The terminal device may be located within the coverage of one or more cells (carriers), and the cell providing services to the terminal device may be one or more. For example, in the communication system architecture shown in Figure 1, the terminal device is simultaneously located within the coverage of the cell controlled by network device 1, the cell controlled by network device 2, and the cell controlled by network device 3, and the cell controlled by network device 1, the cell controlled by network device 2, and the cell controlled by network device 3 can all provide services for the terminal device. It should be understood that one network device can control multiple cells at the same time. When there are multiple cells providing services to the terminal device, the terminal device may operate in a manner of carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC), or coordinated multiple points transmission / reception (CoMP), and one or more cells may provide the terminal device with one or more of the following tasks: wireless resources corresponding to more than one transmission parameter set.

[0092] It can be understood that the communication system and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0093] The specific implementation of the communication method in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0094] It can be understood that Figures 3 to 9 below are illustrated by taking multiple communication devices (such as a first management unit, a second management unit, a first access network device, a second access network device, a first radio frequency unit, a second radio frequency unit, a terminal device or a first network element) as the execution subject of the interaction diagram as an example, but the present application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction diagram. For example, the first management unit may be a mobility unit (MU) 1, the second management unit may be MU2, the first access network device may be a combination of CU1 and DU1, the second access network device may be a combination of CU2 and DU2, the first radio frequency unit may be RU1, the first radio frequency unit may be RU2, the terminal device may be UE, and the first network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element. Among them, the AMF network element is mainly used for mobility management and access management, etc. For example, it can receive the non-access stratum (NAS) signaling of the terminal device (including mobility management (MM) signaling and session management (SM) signaling) and related signaling of the access network device (such as the base station granularity N2 signaling that interacts with the AMF network element), complete the user registration process and the forwarding of SM signaling and mobility management. For example, it can be a mobility management entity (MME) in a 4G communication system or an AMF network element in a 5G communication system. For example, in future communication systems such as 6G communication systems, the access management network element can still be an AMF network element, or have other names, which is not limited in this application. It should be understood that when CU1 and DU1 are not deployed separately, CU1 and DU1 are a whole; when CU1 and DU1 are deployed separately, CU1 and DU1 communicate through the F1 interface. When CU2 and DU2 are deployed together, they are a whole. When CU2 and DU2 are deployed separately, they communicate through the F1 interface.

[0095] It should be understood that the method performed by the first management unit in the present application may also be performed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the first management unit, and may also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first management unit. The method performed by the second management unit in the present application may also be performed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the second management unit, and may also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second management unit. The method performed by the first access network device in the present application may also be performed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the first access network device, and may also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first access network device. The method performed by the second access network device in the present application may also be performed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the second access network device, and may also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second access network device. The method performed by the first radio frequency unit in the present application may also be performed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the first radio frequency unit, and may also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the first radio frequency unit. The method performed by the second radio frequency unit in the present application may also be performed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the second radio frequency unit, and may also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the second radio frequency unit. The method performed by the terminal device in the present application may also be performed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the terminal device, and may also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the terminal device. The method performed by the first network element in the present application may also be performed by a module (such as a chip, a chip system, or a processor) applied to the first network element, and may also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module, or software that can realize all or part of the functions of the first network element.

[0096] FIG3 exemplarily illustrates a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method is applicable to the communication system architecture shown in FIG1 . As shown in FIG3 , the method includes:

[0097] For example, the following takes the first access network device as a combination of CU1 and DU1, the second access network device as a combination of CU2 and DU2, the first management unit as MU1, the first radio frequency unit as RU1, the second radio frequency unit as RU2, the third radio frequency unit as RU3, and two terminal devices (such as UE1 and UE2) as an example to introduce the application scenarios to which the communication method shown in Figure 3 is applicable.

[0098] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , MU1 can be connected to DU1 and DU2 respectively, and MU1 can also be connected to RU1, RU2 and RU3 respectively. Among them, MU1 has two major functions: (1) data routing and distribution function; (2) scheduling function of communication resources required for communication between terminal equipment and access network equipment. For example, UE1 and UE2 are located within the coverage area of ​​RU1, and UE1 and UE2 can communicate with RU1 respectively. Among them, the service running on UE1 does not have the service requirement of low interruption switching or the service requirement of frequent and rapid movement, and the service running on UE2 has the service requirement of low interruption switching and / or the service requirement of frequent and rapid movement. For example, UE2 moves from the coverage area of ​​RU1 to the coverage area of ​​RU2, or then moves from the coverage area of ​​RU2 to the coverage area of ​​RU3. It should be noted that in the existing CU-DU-RU separation architecture, one RU is fixedly connected to one DU, while in the application scenario shown in FIG4 , one RU is not fixedly connected to a certain DU, but can be connected to different DUs through the routing function of MU1.

[0099] It should be understood that CU1 and DU1 (or CU2 and DU2) can be deployed in a separate architecture, or can be deployed in a non-separate architecture (or can be called a merged architecture deployment), and this embodiment of the application is not limited to this. Among them, CU1 and CU2 can communicate through the Xn interface.

[0100] It is understandable that for the mobility management of terminal devices such as UE2, reference may be made to the technical solutions provided in the following steps 301 to 303.

[0101] Step 301: A first access network device sends a first message to a first management unit. Correspondingly, the first management unit receives the first message from the first access network device.

[0102] The first message is used to request the first management unit to allocate communication resources to the terminal device.

[0103] Exemplarily, the first message may include at least one of the following: identification information of the terminal device or identification information of the first radio frequency unit. The identification information of the terminal device can facilitate the first management unit to promptly identify to which terminal device the communication resources are allocated, or can also be used for the first management unit to associate the allocated communication resources with the terminal device itself. The identification information of the first radio frequency unit can facilitate the first management unit to subsequently promptly and accurately determine to which radio frequency unit the communication resource configuration is to be sent, thereby facilitating the communication resource configuration to be further sent to the terminal device through the corresponding radio frequency unit (such as the first radio frequency unit). Optionally, the first management unit can be connected to multiple radio frequency units (such as the first radio frequency unit, the second radio frequency unit, and the third radio frequency unit, etc.) respectively. It should be understood that the terminal device is currently within the coverage range of the first radio frequency unit, and the terminal device can communicate with the first radio frequency unit.

[0104] For example, the identification information of the terminal device may be the identity, name, index or other information that can uniquely identify the terminal device. The identification information of the first radio frequency unit may be the identity, name, index or other information that can uniquely identify the first radio frequency unit.

[0105] The following describes the implementation process of the first access network device sending the first message to the first management unit through the following possible implementation methods.

[0106] Method 1: When the first access network device identifies, based on the service characteristics included in the service data reported by the terminal device, that the terminal device has a service requirement for low-interruption switching, the first access network device may send a first message to the first management unit.

[0107] Method 2: When the first access network device identifies that the terminal device has a business need for frequent and rapid movement (for example, the terminal device moves from the coverage of the first radio frequency unit to the coverage of the second radio frequency unit, or then moves from the coverage of the second radio frequency unit to the coverage of the third radio frequency unit), the first access network device can send a first message to the first management unit.

[0108] It is understandable that the above-mentioned method 1 or method 2 can be implemented separately, or can be implemented in combination (or in combination).

[0109] Optionally, before the first access network device sends the first message to the first management unit, the first access network device may first provide (or allocate) a communication resource set to the first management unit so that the communication resource set is managed by the first management unit. For example, the first management unit may allocate and schedule communication resources for the terminal device based on the communication resource set. It should be understood that for terminal devices that do not have business requirements for low-interruption switching or business requirements for frequent and rapid movement, the allocation and scheduling of communication resources are still performed by the first access network device. For example, for terminal devices such as UE1 mentioned above, the function of the first management unit (such as MU1) is data distribution. For downlink data, MU1 sends the downlink data from the first access network device to the first radio frequency unit (such as RU1); for uplink data, MU1 sends the uplink data from the first radio frequency unit to the first access network device. Among them, terminal devices such as UE1 are located within the coverage area of ​​the first radio frequency unit, and terminal devices such as UE1 can communicate with the first radio frequency unit.

[0110] For example, a communication resource set may include one or more communication resources. Each of the one or more communication resources may include at least one of the following: a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, a code domain resource, or a spatial domain resource. It should be understood that a communication resource may refer to an air interface physical resource (or may be referred to as an air interface resource).

[0111] Several possible ways to determine the communication resource set are introduced below.

[0112] Implementation method 1: The first access network device sends a fifth message to the second access network device. The fifth message is used to request communication resources managed by the first management unit. Optionally, the fifth message may include communication resources manageable by the first management unit and provided by the first access network device. After receiving the fifth message, if the fifth message includes communication resources manageable by the first management unit and provided by the first access network device, the second access network device may determine the communication resources manageable by the first management unit based on the communication resources manageable by the first management unit and provided by the first access network device, combined with its own communication resource usage. If the fifth message does not include communication resources manageable by the first management unit and provided by the first access network device, the second access network device may determine the communication resources manageable by the first management unit based on its own communication resource usage. Thereafter, the second access network device may send a sixth message to the first access network device. The sixth message may include communication resources manageable by the first management unit and provided by the second access network device. Then, after receiving the sixth message, the first access network device can determine the communication resource set based on the communication resources manageable by the first management unit provided by the first access network device and the communication resources manageable by the first management unit provided by the second access network device.

[0113] For example, assuming that the first access network device is access network device 1 and the second access network device is access network device 2, and the fifth message includes communication resources (e.g., communication resource 1, communication resource 2, and communication resource 3) that can be managed by the first management unit and provided by access network device 1, access network device 1 sends the fifth message to access network device 2. The fifth message is used to request communication resources managed by the first management unit. The fifth message includes communication resource 1, communication resource 2, and communication resource 3 that can be managed by the first management unit and provided by access network device 1. After receiving the fifth message, access network device 2 can learn that communication resource 1, communication resource 2, and communication resource 3 that can be managed by the first management unit and provided by access network device 1. Thereafter, based on communication resource 1, communication resource 2, and communication resource 3, and in combination with its own communication resource usage, access network device 2 can determine that the communication resources that can be managed by the first management unit are communication resource 2 and communication resource 3, and can send a sixth message to access network device 1. The sixth message includes communication resource 2 and communication resource 3 that can be managed by the first management unit and provided by access network device 2. Then, after receiving the sixth message, the access network device 1 can determine that the communication resource set that can be managed by the first management unit is {communication resource 2, communication resource 3} based on the communication resource 2 and communication resource 3 that can be managed by the first management unit provided by the access network device 2 and the communication resource 1, communication resource 2 and communication resource 3 that can be managed by the first management unit provided by the access network device 1.

[0114] It should be understood that the above-mentioned implementation method 1 can also be understood as the implementation process of the first access network device and the second access network device performing online negotiation (or advance negotiation or real-time negotiation) to determine the communication resource set.

[0115] Implementation method 2: The first access network device and the second access network device predefine a set of communication resources manageable by the first management unit through a protocol. For example, the first access network device and the second access network device can predefine which communication resources are provided to the first management unit for management through a protocol.

[0116] Optionally, the first access network device may also configure or define by itself which communication resources to provide to the first management unit for management.

[0117] It can be understood that, for the communication resource set provided to the first management unit for management, the first access network device and the second access network device will no longer use the communication resources included in the communication resource set subsequently. For example, take the coverage of the first radio frequency unit with two terminal devices (such as terminal device 1 and terminal device 2). Among them, terminal device 1 is a terminal device that does not have a business demand for low-interruption switching or a business demand for frequent and fast movement, and the terminal device is a terminal device that has a business demand for low-interruption switching and / or a business demand for frequent and fast movement. When the first access network device (or the second access network device) communicates with terminal device 1, it will not use the communication resources included in the communication resource set provided to the first management unit for management.

[0118] Step 302: The first management unit sends a second message to the first access network device. Correspondingly, the first access network device receives the second message from the first management unit.

[0119] The second message is used to indicate that communication resources have been allocated to the terminal device. For example, the second message may be a response message to the first message.

[0120] For example, in one example, the second message includes at least one communication resource allocated by the first management unit to the terminal device. In another example, the second message does not include at least one communication resource allocated by the first management unit to the terminal device.

[0121] In one possible implementation, when the second message includes at least one communication resource allocated to a terminal device by the first management unit, the first access network device, after receiving the second message, may generate a communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device based on the at least one communication resource included in the second message. Subsequently, the first access network device may send a fourth message to the first management unit. The fourth message may include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device. Optionally, the fourth message may include identification information of the first radio frequency unit. It should be understood that when the first message includes identification information of the first radio frequency unit, the fourth message may not need to carry the identification information of the first radio frequency unit. When the first message does not include identification information of the first radio frequency unit, the fourth message may carry the identification information of the first radio frequency unit. This facilitates the first management unit to promptly and accurately transmit the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device to the corresponding first radio frequency unit, thereby enabling the communication resource configuration to be further transmitted to the corresponding terminal device via the first radio frequency unit.

[0122] In another possible implementation, when the second message does not include the at least one communication resource allocated by the first management unit to the terminal device, the first management unit itself generates a communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device based on the at least one communication resource allocated to the terminal device.

[0123] Optionally, in the process of the first management unit allocating communication resources to the terminal device, the first management unit may also additionally allocate an identity identifier (or temporary identity identifier) ​​to the terminal device. The identity identifier (or temporary identity identifier) ​​is used to uniquely identify the terminal device within the first management unit. In this way, it is convenient for the first management unit to effectively manage multiple terminal devices, or effectively maintain the association relationship (or mapping relationship) between multiple terminal devices and corresponding communication resources. When the first management unit allocates an identity identifier (or temporary identity identifier) ​​to the terminal device, the first management unit may carry the identity identifier (or temporary identity identifier) ​​in the second message. It should be understood that the identity identifier (or temporary identity identifier) ​​can also be used to timely and effectively identify the identity of the terminal device during the mobility management process of the terminal device.

[0124] Step 303: The first management unit sends a third message to the first radio frequency unit. Correspondingly, the first radio frequency unit receives the third message from the first management unit.

[0125] For example, the third message may include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device. Optionally, the third message may also include at least one of the following: identification information of the terminal device or an identity (or temporary identity) allocated to the terminal device by the first management unit.

[0126] The at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration is a communication resource allocated by the first management unit to the terminal device for communication (or can be understood as a communication resource for data transmission). The terminal device can communicate with the first radio frequency unit by using one of the at least one communication resource. Optionally, the at least one communication resource is part or all of the communication resources in a set of communication resources provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management.

[0127] It should be understood that after receiving the third message, the first radio frequency unit may send the communication resource configuration included in the third message to the terminal device.

[0128] For example, the communication resource configuration may include at least one of the following: one or more time domain resource configurations, one or more frequency domain resource configurations, one or more code domain resource configurations, or one or more space domain resource configurations.

[0129] In one possible implementation, the communication resource configuration content used by the terminal device is generated by the first access network device. When the first management unit receives the fourth message from the first access network device, the first management unit can obtain the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device from the fourth message, and can carry (or carry or include or contain) the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device in the third message and send it to the first radio frequency unit.

[0130] In another possible implementation, the communication resource configuration content used by the terminal device is generated by the first management unit. The first management unit can carry the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device generated by itself in the third message and send it to the first radio frequency unit.

[0131] Optionally, after the terminal device receives the corresponding communication resource configuration, the communication resources used for each data transmission (e.g., uplink data transmission or downlink data transmission) of the terminal device are scheduled by the first management unit. In this way, the introduction of a new unit (or new node) (e.g., the first management unit) can manage the allocation and scheduling of communication resources across access network devices / sites / gNBs / CUs / DUs.

[0132] The following describes the uplink data transmission process and downlink data transmission process for a terminal device through the following possible examples.

[0133] Example 1: Downlink data transmission process.

[0134] In an embodiment of the present application, the first access network device can packetize the downlink data to obtain a first transmission block (TB). The first transmission block can also be called a MAC protocol data unit (PDU). Afterwards, the first access network device can send the first transmission block to the first management unit. After receiving the first transmission block, the first management unit can select (or schedule) a first communication resource from at least one communication resource allocated to the terminal device for transmitting the first transmission block, and can generate a first indication information based on the first communication resource. Then, the first access network device can send the first transmission block and the first indication information to the first radio frequency unit. The first indication information is used to instruct the first radio frequency unit to use the first communication resource to transmit the first transmission block. It should be understood that the first indication information refers to information related to control signaling.

[0135] For example, take the first access network device as access network device 1, the first management unit as MU1, the first radio frequency unit as RU1, and the terminal device as UE2 as an example. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of uplink and downlink data transmission provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, a downlink user plane channel 1 (or downlink user plane data channel 1) can be established between the access network device 1 and MU1 for UE2. A downlink user plane channel 2 (or downlink user plane data channel 2) can be established between MU1 and RU1 for UE2. After MU1 receives the first transmission block from the access network device 1 on the downlink user plane channel 1, since MU1 has learned the identification information of RU1 corresponding to UE2 through the above-mentioned first message or the above-mentioned fourth message, it can know to send the first transmission block to RU1. In this way, MU1 can send the first transmission block to RU1 through the downlink user plane channel 2, and RU1 further sends the first transmission block to UE2. It can be understood that MU1 not only sends the first transmission block to RU1 through the downlink user plane channel 2, but also sends the first indication information to RU1 through the control plane channel. In this way, RU1 can use the first communication resource (or can be understood as a specific communication resource or a dedicated communication resource) indicated by the first indication information to send the first transmission block to UE2.

[0136] Example 2: Uplink data transmission process.

[0137] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device may send uplink data (e.g., a second transport block) to a first radio frequency unit. The second transport block may also be referred to as a MAC PDU. After receiving the second transport block, the first radio frequency unit may send the second transport block to the first management unit. After receiving the second transport block, the first management unit may send the second transport block to the first access network device.

[0138] For example, the terminal device may use a communication resource (or a specific communication resource or dedicated communication resource) (such as a second communication resource) indicated by the first management unit to send a second transport block to the first radio frequency unit. The communication resource is included in at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration. After receiving the second transport block on the communication resource indicated by the first management unit, the first radio frequency unit may identify (or determine) the identification information (such as an identity) of the corresponding terminal device, and may therefore use a specific second uplink user plane channel (i.e., an uplink user plane channel established between the first management unit and the first radio frequency unit for the terminal device) to send the second transport block to the first management unit. After receiving the second transport block on the specific second uplink user plane channel, the first management unit may also identify the identification information of the corresponding terminal device, and may therefore use a specific first uplink user plane channel (i.e., an uplink user plane channel established between the first management unit and the first access network device for the terminal device) to send the second transport block to the first access network device. The first access network device may then receive the second transport block on the specific first uplink user plane channel.

[0139] It should be understood that a certain communication resource indicated by the first management unit may be indicated in advance (or in advance) by the first management unit to the terminal device, or may be predefined. Optionally, a certain communication resource indicated by the first management unit may also be indicated by the first management unit based on the seventh message of the terminal device. For example, the terminal device may send a seventh message to the first radio frequency unit, and the first radio frequency unit further sends the seventh message to the first management unit. The seventh message is used to indicate that the terminal device is about to send uplink data. After receiving the seventh message, the first management unit may select (or schedule) a certain communication resource from at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration, and may send an eighth message to the first radio frequency unit, and the first radio frequency unit further sends the eighth message to the terminal device. The eighth message may be used to indicate the communication resource, or may be used to instruct the terminal device to use the communication resource to send uplink data.

[0140] For example, please continue to refer to Figure 5. As shown in Figure 5, an uplink user plane channel 1 (or uplink user plane data channel 1) can be established between the access network device 1 and MU1 for UE2. An uplink user plane channel 2 (or uplink user plane data channel 2) can be established between MU1 and RU1 for UE2. UE2 can use the dedicated communication resources indicated by MU1 to send a second transmission block to RU1. Since RU1 has learned the communication resource configuration corresponding to UE2 and the identification information of UE2 through the above-mentioned third message, after receiving the second transmission block on the dedicated communication resource, RU1 can identify the identity of UE2, and therefore can use the uplink user plane channel 2 for UE2 to send the second transmission block to MU1. After receiving the second transmission block on the uplink user plane channel 2 for UE2, MU1 can also identify the identity of UE2, and therefore can also use the uplink user plane channel 1 for UE2 to send the second transmission block to the access network device 1. Afterwards, the access network device 1 can receive the second transmission block on the uplink user plane channel 1 for UE2.

[0141] It is understandable that, in addition to data transmission, the terminal device can also report a signal quality measurement report (or reference signal measurement report), which can facilitate the first access network device or the first management unit to make a handover (HO) judgment (such as determining whether a radio frequency unit switch is required or whether a beam switch is required). For example, the signal quality measurement report may include the reference signal received power of the serving cell where the terminal device is located, the signal received power or signal quality of the neighboring cell, etc. For example, the reference signal may be an SSB, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a tracking reference signal (or tracking reference signal, TRS), etc.

[0142] Optionally, the signal quality measurement report reported by the terminal device may be parsed and processed by the first access network device, or may also be parsed and processed by the first management unit.

[0143] By way of example, the following describes the judgment process of radio frequency unit switching and beam switching through the following possible implementation methods.

[0144] Implementation method one: The signal quality report reported by the terminal device is parsed and processed by the first management unit. If the first management unit determines, through parsing and processing the signal quality measurement report, that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device (which can be understood as the radio frequency unit providing communication services to the terminal device) needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device (which can be understood as the beam where the terminal device is located, or the beam direction used by the terminal device) needs to be switched, then a first switching indication and a second switching indication can be sent to the first radio frequency unit. The first switching indication can be used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching; the second switching indication can be used to instruct the first radio frequency unit to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, or it can also be used to indicate that the first radio frequency unit is about to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, or it can also be used to indicate that the terminal device is about to leave the coverage of the first radio frequency unit. It should be understood that after determining that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched, the first management unit can switch the radio frequency unit providing communication services to the terminal device from the first radio frequency unit to the corresponding radio frequency unit (such as the second radio frequency unit) based on the signal quality measurement report. Optionally, the first switching indication may include which beam the terminal device needs to switch to (for example, the terminal device needs to switch from the first beam included in the coverage range of the first radio frequency unit to the second beam included in the coverage range of the second radio frequency unit), or may also include identification information of the terminal device. For example, the first switching indication and the second switching indication may be carried (or include or contain or carry) in the same message, or may be carried in different messages respectively, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. After receiving the first switching indication and the second switching indication, the first radio frequency unit may, based on the second switching indication, stop providing communication services to the terminal device after successfully sending the first switching indication to the terminal device (or may be referred to as stopping providing communication services to the terminal device, that is, stopping the data transmission and reception communication process to the terminal device).

[0145] For example, take the first management unit as MU1, the first radio frequency unit as RU1, the second radio frequency unit as RU2, and the terminal device as UE2. When UE2 is about to move from the coverage of RU1 to the coverage of RU2, MU1 can determine, based on the signal quality measurement report reported by UE2, that the RU used to provide communication services for UE2 needs to be switched from RU1 to RU2. In this way, MU1 can send a first switching indication and a second switching indication to RU1. After receiving the first switching indication and the second switching indication, RU1 can stop providing communication services to UE2 based on the second switching indication after successfully sending the first switching indication to UE2.

[0146] Implementation Method 2: The signal quality measurement report reported by the terminal device is parsed and processed by the first access network device. If the first access network device determines, through parsing and processing the signal quality measurement report, that the RF unit corresponding to the terminal device and the beam corresponding to the terminal device need to be switched, it may send a third switching indication and a fourth switching indication to the first management unit. The third switching indication may be used to instruct the first management unit to perform RF switching; the fourth switching indication may be used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching. Optionally, the third switching indication may include which RF unit to switch to (e.g., switching from the first RF unit to the second RF unit), or may include identification information of the second RF unit. The fourth switching indication may include which beam the terminal device needs to switch to (e.g., switching from a first beam within the coverage range of the first RF unit to a second beam within the coverage range of the second RF unit), or may include identification information of the terminal device. For example, the third switching indication and the fourth switching indication may be carried in the same message, or may be carried in different messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0147] After receiving the third switching indication and the fourth switching indication, the first management unit may switch the radio frequency unit providing communication services to the terminal device from the first radio frequency unit to the second radio frequency unit according to the third switching indication, and may send a fourth switching indication and a fifth switching indication to the first radio frequency unit. The fifth switching indication may be used to instruct the first radio frequency unit to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, or may also be used to indicate that the first radio frequency unit is about to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, or may also be used to indicate that the terminal device is about to leave the coverage of the first radio frequency unit. For example, the fourth switching indication and the fifth switching indication may be carried in the same message, or may also be carried in different messages respectively, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. After receiving the fourth switching indication and the fifth switching indication, the first radio frequency unit may, based on the fifth switching indication, stop providing communication services to the terminal device after successfully sending the fourth switching indication to the terminal device.

[0148] For example, take the first access network device as access network device 1, the first management unit as MU1, the first radio frequency unit as RU1, the second radio frequency unit as RU2, and the terminal device as UE2. When UE2 is about to move from the coverage of RU1 to the coverage of RU2, the access network device 1 can determine, based on the signal quality measurement report reported by UE2, that the RU used to provide communication services for UE2 needs to be switched from RU1 to RU2. In this way, the access network device 1 can send a third switching indication and a fourth switching indication to MU1. After receiving the third switching indication and the fourth switching indication, MU1 can switch the radio frequency unit providing communication services for UE2 from RU1 to RU2 according to the third switching indication, and can send a fourth switching indication and a fifth switching indication to RU1. After receiving the fourth switching indication and the fifth switching indication, RU1 can, based on the fifth switching indication, stop providing communication services to UE2 after successfully sending the fourth switching indication to UE2.

[0149] It is understood that after sending the first switching indication and the second switching indication to the first radio frequency unit, or sending the fourth switching indication and the fifth switching indication to the first radio frequency unit, or switching the radio frequency unit providing communication services for the terminal device from the first radio frequency unit to the second radio frequency unit, the first management unit may send second indication information and the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device to the second radio frequency unit. The second indication information may be used to instruct the second radio frequency unit to provide communication services for the terminal device, or may be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit is about to provide communication services for the terminal device, or may be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit is about to serve the terminal device, or may be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit is about to serve the terminal device, or may be used to indicate that the terminal device is about to enter the coverage range of the second radio frequency unit. It is understood that the terminal device is currently within the coverage range of the second radio frequency unit, and the terminal device can communicate with the second radio frequency unit using one of the at least one communication resources indicated by the communication resource configuration. For example, the second indication information and the communication resource configuration may be carried in the same message, or may be carried in different messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that an uplink user plane channel and a downlink user plane channel are established between the first management unit (such as MU1) and the second radio frequency unit (such as RU2) for the terminal device so that the terminal device can perform uplink and downlink data transmission.

[0150] Optionally, when the terminal device moves from the coverage of the second radio frequency unit to the coverage of the third radio frequency unit, the radio frequency unit providing communication services for the terminal device can be switched from the second radio frequency unit to the third radio frequency unit with reference to implementation method one or implementation method two in step 303 above. In this way, the terminal device can communicate with the third radio frequency unit within the coverage of the third radio frequency unit by using one of the at least one communication resources indicated by the above communication resource configuration. It should be understood that an uplink user plane channel and a downlink user plane channel are established for the terminal device between the first management unit (such as MU1) and the third radio frequency unit (such as RU3) so that the terminal device can perform uplink and downlink data transmission.

[0151] It is understandable that, during the process of the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device switching from the first radio frequency unit to the second radio frequency unit, and then switching from the second radio frequency unit to the third radio frequency unit, the first access network device providing services for the terminal device has not been switched. In this way, the L2 protocol stack anchor point is always located at the first access network device, so the terminal device does not need to perform L2 protocol stack reset-related operations and / or RRC reconfiguration-related operations (such as PDCP reconfiguration, PDCP re-establishment (including key update), RLC reconfiguration, RLC re-establishment, SDAP reconfiguration, MAC reconfiguration or MAC reset) during the movement and radio frequency unit switching process, which helps to reduce the switching interruption time and ensure the continuity of data transmission of the terminal device during the movement process.

[0152] It can be seen from the above steps 301 to 303 that dedicated communication resources (or specific communication resources) are allocated or scheduled to the terminal device through the first management unit. This allows the terminal device to move and switch between radio frequency units without having to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment, thereby reducing the switching interruption time and helping to improve user experience.

[0153] Based on the technical solution of the communication method illustrated in FIG3 , the communication method illustrated in FIG3 is described in detail below through the specific example shown in FIG6 . In the specific example shown in FIG6 , the terminal device is UE2, the first access network device is access network device 1, the second access network device is access network device 2, the first management unit is MU1, the first radio frequency unit is RU1, and the second radio frequency unit is RU2.

[0154] FIG6 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6 , the specific flow of the method may include:

[0155] Step 601: Access network device 1 negotiates with access network device 2 about a set of communication resources that can be managed by MU1.

[0156] Optionally, the implementation process of step 601 may refer to the implementation process of determining the communication resource set in the above step 301, which will not be repeated here.

[0157] Step 602: Access network device 1 sends a communication resource set to MU1. Correspondingly, MU1 receives the communication resource set from access network device 1.

[0158] Optionally, the implementation process of step 602 may refer to the implementation process of the first access network device providing the communication resource set to the first management unit in the above step 301, which will not be repeated here.

[0159] Step 603: Access network device 1 sends a first message to MU1. Correspondingly, MU1 receives the first message from access network device 1.

[0160] Optionally, the implementation process of step 603 may refer to the implementation process of step 301 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0161] Step 604: MU1 sends a second message to access network device 1. Correspondingly, access network device 1 receives the second message from MU1.

[0162] Optionally, the implementation process of step 604 may refer to the implementation process of step 302 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0163] Step 605: MU1 sends the communication resource configuration corresponding to UE2 to RU1. Correspondingly, RU1 receives the communication resource configuration corresponding to UE2 from MU1.

[0164] Optionally, the implementation process of step 605 may refer to the implementation process of the first management unit sending the third message to the first radio frequency unit in the above step 303, which will not be repeated here.

[0165] Step 606: RU1 sends the communication resource configuration to UE2. Correspondingly, UE2 receives the communication resource configuration from RU1.

[0166] Optionally, the implementation process of step 606 may refer to the implementation process of the first radio frequency unit sending the communication resource configuration to the terminal device in the above step 303, which will not be repeated here.

[0167] Optionally, after executing step 606, the embodiment of the present application may further execute steps 607 to 610. By executing steps 607 to 610, the RU corresponding to UE2 may be switched from RU1 to RU2, but the access network device 1 may still provide services for UE2. In this way, the L2 protocol stack anchor point is always located at the access network device 1, so that UE2 does not need to perform L2 protocol stack reset-related operations and / or RRC reconfiguration-related operations during the process of movement and RU switching, which helps to reduce the switching interruption time and ensure the continuity of data transmission of UE2 during the movement. In addition, dedicated communication resources are allocated or scheduled to the terminal device through the first management unit, so that the terminal device does not need to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment during the process of movement and radio frequency unit switching, thereby reducing the switching interruption time and helping to improve user experience.

[0168] Step 607: Access network device 1 sends a first indication message to MU1. Correspondingly, MU1 receives the first indication message from access network device 1.

[0169] The above step 607 is an optional step.

[0170] The first indication message may include a third switching indication and a fourth switching indication. For example, the first indication message may also include which RU needs to be switched to (for example, it needs to be switched from RU1 to RU2), or it may also include the identification information of RU2. Optionally, the first indication message may also include which beam UE2 needs to switch to (for example, UE2 needs to switch from a beam within the coverage of RU1 to a beam within the coverage of RU2), or it may also include the identification information of UE2.

[0171] Optionally, the implementation process of step 607 may refer to the implementation process of the first access network device sending the third switching indication and the fourth switching indication to the first management unit in the above step 303, which will not be repeated here.

[0172] Step 608: MU1 sends a second indication message to RU1. Correspondingly, RU1 receives the second indication message from MU1.

[0173] In one example, when step 607 is performed, that is, the signal quality measurement report reported by UE2 is parsed and processed by access network device 1, the second indication message may include the fourth handover indication and the fifth handover indication. In another example, when step 607 is not performed, that is, the signal quality measurement report reported by UE2 is parsed and processed by MU1, the second indication message may include the first handover indication and the second handover indication. For example, the second indication message may also include identification information of UE2.

[0174] Step 609: RU1 sends a third indication message to UE2. Correspondingly, UE2 receives the third indication message from RU1.

[0175] In one example, when the signal quality measurement report reported by UE2 is parsed and processed by access network device 1, the third indication message may include a fourth switching indication. In another example, when the signal quality measurement report reported by UE2 is parsed and processed by MU1, the third indication message may include a first switching indication. Optionally, the third indication message may also include which beam UE2 needs to switch to (for example, UE2 needs to switch from a beam within the coverage of RU1 to a beam within the coverage of RU2), or may also include identification information of UE2.

[0176] Step 610: MU1 sends a fourth indication message to RU2. Correspondingly, RU2 receives the fourth indication message from MU1.

[0177] In one example, when the signal quality measurement report reported by UE2 is parsed and processed by access network device 1, the fourth indication message may include the second indication information and the communication resource configuration corresponding to UE2. In another example, when the signal quality measurement report reported by UE2 is parsed and processed by MU1, the fourth indication message may also include the second indication information and the communication resource configuration corresponding to UE2. For example, the fourth indication message in either of the above two examples may also include beam direction information required for RU2 to communicate with UE2. Optionally, the fourth indication message may also include third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate which beam direction RU2 uses to communicate with UE2, or may also be used to indicate the beam direction required for RU2 to communicate with UE2.

[0178] It should be understood that in step 610, an uplink user plane channel and a downlink user plane channel may be established between MU1 and RU2 for UE2, so that UE2 can perform uplink and downlink data transmission.

[0179] It can be seen from the above steps 601 to 610 that during the process of UE2 performing RU switching, the access network device 2 that provides services to UE2 has not yet switched (that is, the access network device 1 still provides the corresponding services to UE2). In this way, since the L2 protocol stack anchor point is always located at the access network device 1, UE2 does not need to perform L2 protocol stack reset related operations and / or RRC reconfiguration related operations during the movement and RU switching process, thereby reducing the switching interruption time and helping to improve the user experience. In addition, by allocating or scheduling dedicated communication resources to the terminal device through the first management unit, the terminal device does not need to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment during the movement and radio frequency unit switching process, thereby reducing the switching interruption time and helping to improve the user experience.

[0180] FIG7 exemplarily shows a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The method is applicable to the communication system architecture shown in FIG1 . As shown in FIG7 , the method may include:

[0181] For example, the following takes the first access network device as access network device 1 (such as a combination of CU1 and DU1), the second access network device as access network device 2 (such as a combination of CU2 and DU2), the first management unit as MU1, the second management unit as MU2, the terminal device as UE, and multiple radio frequency units (such as RU1, RU2, RU3, RU4, RU5 and RU6) as an example to introduce the application scenarios to which the communication method shown in Figure 7 is applicable.

[0182] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of another application scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, MU1 can be connected to DU1 and DU2 respectively, and MU1 can also be connected to RU1, RU2 and RU3 respectively; MU2 can be connected to DU2, and MU2 can also be connected to RU4, RU5 and RU6 respectively. It should be understood that because RU1, RU2 and RU3 are all connected to the same MU (such as MU1) or because RU4, RU5 and RU6 are all connected to the same MU (such as MU2), the communication scheme shown in Figure 3 above can be adopted for UE mobility management. When the UE moves from the coverage of RU3 to the coverage of RU4 or from the coverage of RU4 to the coverage of RU3, the communication scheme shown in Figure 7 can be adopted.

[0183] Among them, MU1 and MU2 both have two major functions: (1) data routing and distribution function; (2) scheduling function of communication resources required for terminal equipment to communicate with access network equipment. For example, if the UE is within the coverage of RU3, the UE can communicate with RU3. It should be noted that in the existing CU-DU-RU separation architecture, one RU is fixedly connected to one DU, while in the application scenario shown in Figure 8, one RU is not fixedly connected to a certain DU, but can be connected to different DUs through the routing function of the MU (such as MU1).

[0184] It should be understood that CU1 and DU1 (or CU2 and DU2) can be deployed in a separate architecture, or can be deployed in a non-separate architecture (or can be called a merged architecture deployment), and this embodiment of the application is not limited to this. Among them, CU1 and CU2 can communicate through the Xn interface.

[0185] It is understandable that for the mobility management of terminal devices such as the above-mentioned UE (such as the implementation scheme of the UE moving to the coverage of RU3 or the implementation scheme of the UE moving from the coverage of RU3 to the coverage of RU4), reference can be made to the technical solutions provided in the following steps 701 to 702. It should be understood that the xth message (such as the first message, the second message, etc.) involved in the communication scheme illustrated in Figure 7 or Figure 9 below is partially or completely different from the content indicated (or included or carried) by the xth message (such as the first message, the second message, etc.) involved in the communication scheme illustrated in Figure 3 or Figure 6 above. In addition, the xth indication information (such as the first indication information, the second indication information, etc.) involved in the communication scheme illustrated in Figure 7 or Figure 9 below is partially or completely different from the content indicated (or included or carried) by the xth indication information (such as the first indication information, the second indication information, etc.) involved in the communication scheme illustrated in Figure 3 or Figure 6 above. The xth indication message (such as the first indication message, the second indication message, etc.) involved in the communication scheme illustrated in Figure 7 or Figure 9 below is partially or completely different from the content indicated (or included or carried) by the xth indication message (such as the first indication message, the second indication message, etc.) involved in the communication scheme illustrated in Figure 3 or Figure 6 above.

[0186] Step 701: A first access network device sends a first message to a second access network device. Correspondingly, the second access network device receives the first message from the first access network device.

[0187] The first message may be used to request switching of the access network device.

[0188] Optionally, the first message may include a communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device. The at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration is part or all of the communication resources in a communication resource set. The communication resource set is determined by negotiation between the first access network device and the second access network device. The communication resource set is provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management. Exemplarily, each communication resource in the communication resource set may include at least one of the following: time domain resources, frequency domain resources, code domain resources, or spatial domain resources.

[0189] It should be understood that the relevant implementation process of communication resource configuration in step 701 can refer to the relevant implementation process of communication resource configuration in the communication solution shown in Figure 3 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0190] Step 702: The second access network device sends a second message to the first network element according to the first message. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the second message from the second access network device.

[0191] The second message may be used to request the first network element to switch the user plane channel termination point (or data channel termination point) from the first access network device to the second access network device. For example, the second message may be a path switch request message.

[0192] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the first message, the second access network device may send a second message to the first network element (such as an AMF network element). After receiving the second message, the first network element may instruct the second network element (such as a user plane function (UPF) network element) to switch the user plane channel termination point from the first access network device to the second access network device through the interaction process between the core network network elements. Among them, the UPF network element is used for packet routing and forwarding, or quality of service (QoS) processing of user plane data. For example, in a 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a UPF network element. In future communication systems such as a 6G communication system, the user plane network element may still be a UPF network element, or have other names, which is not limited in this application.

[0193] It is understood that the first management unit may be connected to the first access network device, the first management unit may also be connected to the second access network device, and the first management unit may also be connected to the first radio frequency unit. The terminal device is within the coverage range of the first radio frequency unit, and the first radio frequency unit can provide communication services for the terminal device. For example, after receiving the first message, the second access network device may also send a third message to the first access network device based on the first message. The third message indicates that the second access network device agrees to the access network device handover. In other words, the third message indicates that the second access network device confirms that the access network device handover can proceed. For example, the third message may be a response message to the first message. After receiving the third message, the first access network device may send a fourth message to the first management unit based on the third message. The fourth message may indicate that the access network device has undergone a handover, or may indicate that the terminal device needs to perform a reconfiguration (such as an L2 reconfiguration). For example, the fourth message may include reconfiguration information corresponding to the terminal device. The reconfiguration information instructs the terminal device to perform a reconfiguration operation. Optionally, the fourth message may further include at least one of the following: identification information or address information of the second access network device, or identification information of the terminal device. When the fourth message includes the identification information or address information of the second access network device, the first management unit may establish a user plane channel and / or a control plane channel with the second access network device based on the identification information or address information of the second access network device.

[0194] After receiving the fourth message, the first management unit may send the reconfiguration information corresponding to the terminal device to the first radio frequency unit according to the fourth message. After receiving the reconfiguration information corresponding to the terminal device, the first radio frequency unit may send the reconfiguration information to the corresponding terminal device. After receiving the reconfiguration information, the terminal device may perform a reconfiguration operation (such as an L2 reconfiguration process). For example, the reconfiguration operation may include at least one of the following: PDCP reconfiguration, PDCP reestablishment (including key update), RLC reconfiguration, RLC reestablishment, SDAP reconfiguration, MAC reconfiguration or MAC reset, etc. In this way, after performing the reconfiguration operation, the terminal device can communicate with the second access network device via the first radio frequency unit and the first management unit, so that the radio frequency unit is not switched, but the switching from the first access network device to the second access network device is completed.

[0195] For example, the first access network device is access network device 1, the second access network device is access network device 2, the first management unit is MU1, the first radio frequency unit is RU3, the terminal device is UE, the first network element is the AMF network element, and the second network element is the UPF network element. When the load of access network device 1 needs to be reduced due to the excessive number of UEs served by access network device 1, or when the UE moves to the coverage area of ​​RU3 and the L2 protocol stack anchor needs to be relocated (or migrated) from access network device 1 to access network device 2, access network device 1 can send a first message to access network device 2. After receiving the first message, access network device 2 can send a second message to the AMF network element. After receiving the second message, the AMF network element can instruct the UPF network element to switch the user plane channel termination point from access network device 1 to access network device 2 through the interaction process between core network network elements. In addition, after receiving the first message, access network device 2 can also send a third message to access network device 1 after confirming that the access network device can be switched. After receiving the third message, access network device 1 may send a fourth message to MU1 according to the third message. After receiving the fourth message, MU1 may send the reconfiguration information corresponding to the UE to RU3 according to the fourth message. After receiving the reconfiguration information corresponding to the UE, RU3 may send the reconfiguration information to the corresponding UE. After receiving the reconfiguration information, the UE may perform the reconfiguration operation. In this way, after performing the reconfiguration operation, the UE may communicate with access network device 2 via RU3 and MU1, so that the RU is not switched, but the switching from access network device 1 to access network device 2 is completed (that is, the data communication path of the UE is changed from UE-RU3-MU1-access network device 1 to UE-RU3-MU1-access network device 2).

[0196] It can be seen from the above steps 701 to 702 that the terminal device can switch the user plane channel termination point from the first access network device to the second access network device (for example, the L2 protocol stack anchor point is migrated from the first access network device to the second access network device) without performing corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment. This can facilitate the subsequent low-interruption switching in a wider area (for example, across management units) and facilitate subsequent negotiation on whether the second management unit can continue to use at least one communication resource allocated by the first management unit to the terminal device.

[0197] It should be understood that by executing the technical solutions provided in steps 701 to 702 above, load balancing management of access network devices can also be achieved. It can be understood that in the process of implementing load balancing management of access network devices, the first message in step 701 above may not include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device. For example, when the number of terminal devices served by the first access network device (such as access network device 1) is greater than or equal to the quantity threshold, the technical solutions provided in steps 701 to 702 above can be executed to achieve the migration of the management rights and L2 protocol stack anchors of one or more terminal devices from the first access network device to the second access network device (such as access network device 2), thereby reducing (or alleviating or reducing) the load of the first access network device.

[0198] For example, consider the application scenario illustrated in FIG8 . In one example, consider the case where the load on access network device 1 needs to be reduced due to the excessive number of UEs served by access network device 1. Access network device 1 can send a first message to access network device 2. The first message does not include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the UE. After receiving the first message, access network device 2 can send a second message to a first network element (e.g., an AMF network element). After receiving the second message, the first network element can, through interaction between core network elements, instruct the second network element (e.g., a UPF network element) to switch the user plane channel termination point from access network device 1 to access network device 2. Furthermore, after receiving the first message, access network device 2 can also send a third message to access network device 1 after confirming that access network device switching is possible. After receiving the third message, access network device 1 can send a fourth message to MU1 based on the third message. After receiving the fourth message, MU1 can send reconfiguration information corresponding to the UE to RU3 based on the fourth message. After receiving the reconfiguration information corresponding to the UE, RU3 can send the reconfiguration information to the corresponding UE. After receiving the reconfiguration information, the UE can perform the reconfiguration operation. After performing the reconfiguration operation, the UE can communicate with access network device 2 via RU3 and MU1. This allows the UE to complete the handover from access network device 1 to access network device 2 without switching the RU. The technical solution provided in this example can thus migrate the management rights and L2 protocol stack anchor of the UE from access network device 1 to access network device 2, helping to reduce the load on access network device 1 and thus achieving load balancing management of access network devices.

[0199] In another example, consider a UE that has moved to the coverage of RU3 and is about to move further to the coverage of RU4. Access network device 1 may send a first message to access network device 2. The first message includes the communication resource configuration corresponding to the UE. After receiving the first message, access network device 2 may send a second message to a first network element (e.g., an AMF network element). After receiving the second message, the first network element may, through interaction between core network elements, instruct the second network element (e.g., a UPF network element) to switch the user plane channel termination point from access network device 1 to access network device 2. Furthermore, after receiving the first message, access network device 2 may also send a third message to access network device 1 after confirming that access network device switching is possible. After receiving the third message, access network device 1 may send a fourth message to MU1 based on the third message. After receiving the fourth message, MU1 may send reconfiguration information corresponding to the UE to RU3 based on the fourth message. After receiving the reconfiguration information corresponding to the UE, RU3 may send the reconfiguration information to the corresponding UE. After receiving the reconfiguration information, the UE may perform reconfiguration operations. In this way, after performing the reconfiguration operation, the UE can communicate with access network device 2 via RU3 and MU1. This allows the RU to be switched without completing the handover from access network device 1 to access network device 2. The technical solution provided by this example can achieve the migration of the L2 protocol stack anchor from access network device 1 to access network device 2 without performing corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment, facilitating subsequent low-interruption handover across MUs.

[0200] It is understandable that the second access network device can be connected to the second management unit, and the second management unit can be connected to the second radio frequency unit. In an embodiment of the present application, after executing steps 701 and 702 above, the management rights and L2 protocol stack anchor of the terminal device (such as UE) are migrated from the first access network device to the second access network device. In the case where the first message includes the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device, the second access network device can obtain the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device from the first message. In this way, the second access network device can send a fifth message to the second management unit. The fifth message can be used to request the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device, or it can be used to request the allocation of the same communication resource configuration to the terminal device, or it can be used to request the allocation of at least one identical communication resource to the terminal device. After receiving the fifth message, the second management unit can determine whether the same communication resource configuration can be issued based on the fifth message and in combination with the communication resources it manages. If the second management unit determines that the same communication resource configuration can be issued to the terminal device, the second management unit can send a sixth message to the second access network device. Among them, the sixth message can be used to indicate a request to agree to issue the same communication resource configuration, or can also be used to indicate an agreement to allocate the same communication resource configuration to the terminal device, or can also be used to indicate an agreement to allocate the same at least one communication resource to the terminal device, or can also be used to indicate that the same at least one communication resource can be provided (or allocated) to the terminal device. Optionally, the sixth message may include the same communication resource configuration. It should be understood that when the second management unit can allocate the same at least one communication resource to the terminal device, or can issue the same communication resource configuration to the terminal device, when the terminal device moves from the coverage of the first radio frequency unit to the coverage of the second radio frequency unit, the terminal device does not need to perform corresponding operations such as physical layer baseband adjustment and / or physical layer radio frequency adjustment, and does not need to perform reconfiguration or re-establishment related to the L2 protocol stack.

[0201] If the second management unit determines that it cannot issue the same communication resource configuration to the terminal device, the second management unit may allocate one or more communication resources to the terminal device based on the communication resources it manages, and may send a seventh message to the second access network device. The seventh message may indicate that the same communication resource configuration cannot be issued to the terminal device, or may indicate that a new communication resource configuration is to be issued to the terminal device. Optionally, the seventh message may include one or more communication resources corresponding to the terminal device. In one example, when the seventh message includes one or more communication resources corresponding to the terminal device, the second access network device generates a new communication resource configuration based on the one or more communication resources, and sends the new communication resource configuration to the second management unit. The second management unit then sends the new communication resource configuration to the second radio frequency unit, which then sends the new communication resource configuration to the corresponding terminal device. In another example, when the seventh message does not include one or more communication resources corresponding to the terminal device, the second management unit generates a new communication resource configuration based on the one or more communication resources, and then sends the new communication resource configuration to the second radio frequency unit via the second management unit. The second radio frequency unit then sends the new communication resource configuration to the corresponding terminal device.

[0202] It should be understood that when a terminal device moves from the coverage of a first radio frequency unit to the coverage of a second radio frequency unit, radio frequency unit switching and beam switching are involved. By way of example, the following describes the determination process of radio frequency unit switching and beam switching through the following possible implementations.

[0203] Implementation method 1: The signal quality measurement report reported by the terminal device is parsed and processed by the second access network device. If the second access network device determines that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched by parsing and processing the signal quality measurement report, it can send first indication information and second indication information to the first management unit. The first indication information can be used to instruct the first management unit to stop providing resource management services for the terminal device, or can also be used to instruct the first management unit to no longer manage the communication resources of the terminal device, or can also be used to indicate that the terminal device is about to leave the first management unit, or can also be used to indicate that the first management unit is about to stop providing resource management services for the terminal device; the second indication information can be used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching. Optionally, the second indication information may include which beam the terminal device needs to switch to (for example, the terminal device needs to switch from a first beam included in the coverage range of the first radio frequency unit to a second beam included in the coverage range of the second radio frequency unit), or may also include identification information of the terminal device. For example, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried in the same message, or may also be carried in different messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0204] After receiving the first indication information and the second indication information, the first management unit may send the second indication information and the third indication information to the first radio frequency unit according to the first indication information. The third indication information may be used to instruct the first radio frequency unit to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, or may be used to indicate that the first radio frequency unit is about to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, or may be used to indicate that the terminal device is about to leave the coverage of the first radio frequency unit. It should be understood that the first management unit may stop the corresponding management of the terminal device by reclaiming at least one communication resource allocated to the terminal device, or by stopping providing resource management services to the terminal device. For example, the second indication information and the third indication information may be carried in the same message, or may be carried in different messages respectively, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. After receiving the second indication information and the third indication information, the first radio frequency unit may stop providing communication services to the terminal device based on the third indication information after successfully sending the second indication information to the corresponding terminal device.

[0205] Optionally, after determining that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched, the second access network device may also send a fourth indication message to the second management unit. The fourth indication message may be used to indicate that the second management unit provides resource management services for the terminal device, or may also be used to indicate that the second management unit is about to provide resource management services for the terminal device, or may also be used to indicate that the communication resources of the terminal device are about to be managed by the second management unit. After receiving the fourth indication message, the second management unit may send a fifth indication message to the second radio frequency unit. The fifth indication message may be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit provides communication services for the terminal device, or may also be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit is about to provide communication services for the terminal device, or may also be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit is about to serve the terminal device, or may also indicate that the terminal device is about to enter the coverage range of the second radio frequency unit.

[0206] It is understandable that, after determining that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched, the second access network device may also send beam direction information required for communication between the second radio frequency unit and the terminal device to the second management unit. After receiving the beam direction information required for communication between the second radio frequency unit and the terminal device, the second management unit may send the beam direction information required for communication between the second radio frequency unit and the terminal device to the second radio frequency unit. The second radio frequency unit may then use the beam direction information to communicate with the terminal device. Optionally, after determining that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the terminal device needs to be switched, the second access network device may also send an indication message to the second management unit. This indication message may be used to indicate which beam direction the second radio frequency unit uses for communication with the terminal device, or may be used to indicate the beam direction required for communication between the second radio frequency unit and the terminal device. After receiving the indication message, the second management unit may send the indication message to the second radio frequency unit. The second radio frequency unit may then use the beam direction indicated by the indication message to communicate with the terminal device.

[0207] For example, let's take the second access network device as access network device 2, the first management unit as MU1, the second management unit as MU2, the first radio frequency unit as RU3, the second radio frequency unit as RU4, and the terminal device as a UE. When the UE is about to move from the coverage area of ​​RU3 to the coverage area of ​​RU4, access network device 2 may determine, based on the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE, that the RU providing communication services for the UE needs to be switched from RU3 to RU4. In this way, access network device 2 may send first indication information and second indication information to MU1. After receiving the first indication information and the second indication information, MU1 may send second indication information and third indication information to RU3 based on the first indication information. After receiving the second indication information and the third indication information, RU3 may, based on the third indication information, stop providing communication services to the UE after successfully sending the second indication information to the corresponding UE. Optionally, after determining that the RU corresponding to the UE needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the UE needs to be switched, access network device 2 may also send fourth indication information to MU2. After receiving the fourth indication information, MU2 may send fifth indication information to RU4. For example, after determining that the RU corresponding to the UE needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the UE needs to be switched, access network device 2 may also send beam direction information required for RU4 to communicate with the UE to MU2. After receiving the beam direction information required for communication between RU4 and the UE, MU2 may send the beam direction information required for communication between RU4 and the UE to RU4. RU4 can then use this beam direction information to communicate with the UE.

[0208] Implementation Method 2: The signal quality report reported by the terminal device is parsed and processed by the first management unit. If the first management unit determines, through parsing and processing the signal quality measurement report, that the radio frequency unit corresponding to the terminal device and the beam corresponding to the terminal device need to be switched, sixth indication information may be sent to the second access network device. The sixth indication information may be used to instruct the first management unit to stop providing resource management services for the terminal device, or to instruct the first management unit to no longer manage the communication resources of the terminal device, or to indicate that the terminal device is about to leave the first management unit, or to indicate that the first management unit is about to stop providing resource management services for the terminal device. After receiving the sixth indication information, the second access network device may send ninth indication information to the second management unit based on the sixth indication information. The ninth indication information may be used to instruct the second management unit to provide resource management services for the terminal device, or to indicate that the second management unit is about to provide resource management services for the terminal device, or to indicate that the second management unit is about to manage the communication resources of the terminal device. After receiving the ninth indication information, the second management unit may send tenth indication information to the second radio frequency unit based on the ninth indication information. Among them, the tenth indication information can be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit provides communication services for the terminal device, or it can also be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit is about to provide communication services for the terminal device, or it can also be used to indicate that the second radio frequency unit is about to serve the terminal device, or it can also indicate that the terminal device is about to enter the coverage range of the second radio frequency unit.

[0209] In addition, the first management unit may also send seventh indication information and eighth indication information to the first radio frequency unit. The seventh indication information may be used to instruct the first radio frequency unit to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, or may also be used to indicate that the first radio frequency unit is about to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, or may also be used to indicate that the terminal device is about to leave the coverage of the first radio frequency unit. The eighth indication information may be used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching. After receiving the seventh indication information and the eighth indication information, the first radio frequency unit may stop providing communication services to the terminal device based on the seventh indication information after successfully sending the eighth indication information to the corresponding terminal device. Optionally, the eighth indication information may include which beam the terminal device needs to switch to (for example, the terminal device needs to switch from the first beam included in the coverage of the first radio frequency unit to the second beam included in the coverage of the second radio frequency unit), or may also include identification information of the terminal device. For example, the seventh indication information and the eighth indication information may be carried in the same message, or may be carried in different messages respectively, and this embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0210] It is understandable that, after receiving the sixth indication information, the second access network device may also send, to the second management unit, beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device based on the sixth indication information. After receiving the beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device, the second management unit may send the beam direction information required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device to the second radio frequency unit. Thereafter, the second radio frequency unit may use the beam direction information to communicate with the terminal device. Optionally, after receiving the sixth indication information, the second access network device may also send an indication information to the second management unit based on the sixth indication information. The indication information may be used to indicate which beam direction the second radio frequency unit uses to communicate with the terminal device, or may be used to indicate the beam direction required for the second radio frequency unit to communicate with the terminal device. After receiving the indication information, the second management unit may send the indication information to the second radio frequency unit. Thereafter, the second radio frequency unit may use the beam direction indicated by the indication information to communicate with the terminal device.

[0211] For example, let's continue with the example of the second access network device being access network device 2, the first management unit being MU1, the second management unit being MU2, the first radio frequency unit being RU3, the second radio frequency unit being RU4, and the terminal device being UE. When the UE is about to move from the coverage of RU3 to the coverage of RU4, MU1 can determine, based on the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE, that the RU used to provide communication services for the UE needs to be switched from RU3 to RU4. In this way, MU1 can send sixth indication information to access network device 2. After receiving the sixth indication information, access network device 2 can send ninth indication information to MU2 based on the sixth indication information. After receiving the ninth indication information, MU2 can send tenth indication information to RU4 based on the ninth indication information. In addition, MU1 can also send seventh indication information and eighth indication information to RU3. After receiving the seventh indication information and the eighth indication information, RU3 can, based on the seventh indication information, stop providing communication services to the UE after successfully sending the eighth indication information to the corresponding UE. For example, after receiving the sixth indication information, access network device 2 may also send, to MU2, beam direction information required for communication between RU4 and the UE based on the sixth indication information. After receiving the beam direction information required for communication between RU4 and the UE, MU2 may send the beam direction information required for communication between RU4 and the UE to RU4. RU4 may then use the beam direction information to communicate with the UE.

[0212] It should be understood that the radio frequency unit switching and beam switching (which can be understood as communication resource switching) described in the above implementation method one or implementation method two can be decoupled from the access network device switching (i.e., L2 protocol stack anchor switching) described in the above steps 701 to 702. In other words, the radio frequency unit switching and beam switching described in the above implementation method one or implementation method two can be performed independently of the access network device switching described in the above steps 701 to 702. In addition, when the terminal device is about to move from the coverage of the first radio frequency unit to the coverage of the second radio frequency unit, the communication resources of the terminal device are managed (i.e., communication resource management services are provided to the terminal device) through a newly introduced management unit (such as the second management unit), thereby achieving low-interruption switching in a wider area (such as from the first management unit to the second management unit).

[0213] Based on the technical solution of the communication method illustrated in FIG7 , the communication method illustrated in FIG7 is described in detail below through the specific example shown in FIG9 . In the specific example shown in FIG9 , the terminal device is a UE, the first access network device is access network device 1, the second access network device is access network device 2, the first management unit is MU1, the second management unit is MU2, the first radio frequency unit is RU3, the second radio frequency unit is RU4, and the first network element is an AMF network element.

[0214] FIG9 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG9 , the specific flow of the method may include:

[0215] Step 901: Access network device 1 sends a first message to access network device 2. Correspondingly, access network device 2 receives the first message from access network device 1.

[0216] Optionally, the implementation process of step 901 may refer to the implementation process of step 701 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0217] Step 902: Access network device 2 sends a third message to access network device 1. Correspondingly, access network device 1 receives the third message from access network device 2.

[0218] Optionally, the implementation process of step 902 may refer to the implementation process of the second access network device sending the third message to the first access network device in the above step 702, which will not be repeated here.

[0219] Step 903: Access network device 2 sends a second message to the AMF network element. Correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the second message from access network device 2.

[0220] Optionally, the implementation process of step 903 may refer to the implementation process of the second access network device sending the second message to the first network element in the above step 702, which will not be repeated here.

[0221] Step 904: Access network device 1 sends a fourth message to MU1. Correspondingly, MU1 receives the fourth message from access network device 1.

[0222] Optionally, the implementation process of step 904 may refer to the implementation process of the first access network device sending the fourth message to the first management unit in the above step 702, which will not be repeated here.

[0223] Step 905: MU1 sends reconfiguration information to RU3. Correspondingly, RU3 receives the reconfiguration information from MU1.

[0224] Optionally, the implementation process of step 905 may refer to the implementation process of the first management unit sending the reconfiguration information to the first radio frequency unit in the above step 702, which will not be repeated here.

[0225] Step 906: RU3 sends reconfiguration information to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the reconfiguration information from RU3.

[0226] Optionally, the implementation process of step 906 may refer to the implementation process of the first radio frequency unit sending reconfiguration information to the terminal device in the above step 702, which will not be repeated here.

[0227] Optionally, after executing step 906, the embodiment of the present application may further execute steps 907, 908, and 909 to 912 (or execute steps 907, 908, and 913 to 916). It should be understood that steps 909 to 912 are triggered when the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by the access network device 2; and steps 913 to 916 are triggered when the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by MU1. By executing steps 907, 908, and 909 to 912 (or executing steps 907, 908, and 913 to 916), extremely low-interruption switching between RUs connected to different MUs can be achieved for the UE on the basis of MU2 continuing to use the communication resource configuration sent by MU1 to the UE, and low-interruption switching in a wider area (such as across MUs) can be achieved.

[0228] Step 907: Access network device 2 sends a fifth message to MU2. Correspondingly, MU2 receives the fifth message from access network device 2.

[0229] Optionally, the implementation process of step 907 may refer to the above implementation process of the second access network device sending the fifth message to the second management unit, which will not be repeated here.

[0230] Step 908: MU2 sends the sixth message to access network device 2. Correspondingly, access network device 2 receives the sixth message from MU2.

[0231] Optionally, the implementation process of step 908 may refer to the above implementation process of the second management unit sending the sixth message to the second access network device, which will not be repeated here.

[0232] Step 909: Access network device 2 sends a first indication message to MU1. Correspondingly, MU1 receives the first indication message from access network device 2.

[0233] When the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by the access network device 2, the first indication message may include first indication information and second indication information. For example, the first indication information is used to indicate that MU1 is about to stop providing resource management services for the UE, and the second indication information is used to instruct the UE to perform beam switching. Optionally, the first indication message may also include which beam the UE needs to switch to (for example, the UE needs to switch from a beam within the coverage of RU3 to a beam within the coverage of RU4), or may also include identification information of the UE.

[0234] Step 910: MU1 sends a second indication message to RU3. Correspondingly, RU3 receives the second indication message from MU1.

[0235] When the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by access network device 2, the second indication message may include second indication information and third indication information. For example, the third indication information is used to indicate that RU3 is about to stop providing communication services to the UE. Optionally, the second indication message may also include the beam to which the UE needs to switch (for example, the UE needs to switch from a beam within the coverage area of ​​RU3 to a beam within the coverage area of ​​RU4), or may also include UE identification information.

[0236] In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the first indication message, MU1 may send a second indication message to RU3 based on the first indication information carried in the first indication message.

[0237] Step 911: Access network device 2 sends a third indication message to MU2. Correspondingly, MU2 receives the third indication message from access network device 2.

[0238] When the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by the access network device 2, the third indication message may include fourth indication information. For example, the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the MU2 is about to provide resource management services for the UE.

[0239] In an embodiment of the present application, when the access network device 2 determines that the RU corresponding to the UE needs to be switched and the beam corresponding to the UE needs to be switched, it can send a third indication message to MU2.

[0240] Step 912: MU2 sends a fourth indication message to RU4. Correspondingly, RU4 receives the fourth indication message from MU2.

[0241] When the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by the access network device 2, the fourth indication message may include fifth indication information. For example, the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the RU 4 will provide communication services for the UE.

[0242] Step 913: MU1 sends a fifth indication message to access network device 2. Correspondingly, access network device 2 receives the fifth indication message from MU1.

[0243] In the case where the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by MU1, the fifth indication message may include sixth indication information. For example, the sixth indication information is used to indicate that MU1 is about to stop providing resource management services for the UE.

[0244] Step 914: MU1 sends a sixth indication message to RU3. Correspondingly, RU3 receives the sixth indication message from MU1.

[0245] When the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by MU1, the sixth indication message may include seventh indication information and eighth indication information. For example, the seventh indication information is used to indicate that RU3 is about to stop providing communication services to the UE, and the eighth indication information is used to instruct the UE to perform beam switching. Optionally, the sixth indication message may also include which beam the UE needs to switch to (for example, the UE needs to switch from a beam within the coverage area of ​​RU3 to a beam within the coverage area of ​​RU4), or may also include UE identification information.

[0246] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the sixth indication message, RU3 can stop providing communication services to the UE based on the seventh indication information carried by the sixth indication message and after successfully sending the eighth indication information carried by the sixth indication message to the corresponding UE.

[0247] Step 915: Access network device 2 sends a seventh indication message to MU2. Correspondingly, MU2 receives the seventh indication message from access network device 2.

[0248] In the case where the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by MU1, the seventh indication message may include ninth indication information. For example, the ninth indication information is used to indicate that MU2 is about to provide resource management services for the UE.

[0249] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the fifth indication message, the access network device 2 may send a seventh indication message to the MU 2 based on the sixth indication information carried in the fifth indication message.

[0250] Step 916: MU2 sends an eighth indication message to RU4. Correspondingly, RU4 receives the eighth indication message from MU2.

[0251] In the case where the signal quality measurement report reported by the UE is parsed and processed by MU1, the eighth indication message may include tenth indication information. For example, the tenth indication information is used to indicate that RU4 will provide communication services for the UE.

[0252] In this embodiment of the present application, after receiving the seventh indication message, MU2 may send an eighth indication message to RU4 based on the ninth indication information carried in the seventh indication message.

[0253] From the above steps 901 to 916, it can be seen that the L2 protocol stack anchor switching (i.e., access network device switching) and RU switching / beam switching (which can be understood as communication resource switching) are decoupled, that is, it can be understood that the L2 protocol stack anchor switching and RU switching / beam switching can be performed independently. In addition, when the UE is about to move from the coverage of RU3 to the coverage of RU4, the newly introduced MU2 is used to manage the UE's communication resources (i.e., provide communication resource management services for the UE), thereby achieving low-interruption switching in a wider area (for example, from MU1 to MU2).

[0254] It should be noted that in the description of this application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, the ordinal numbers such as "first", "second", and "third" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. In addition, the terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations appearing in this application all mean "including but not limited to" unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0255] In addition, it should be noted that each step involved in the above embodiments can be performed by a corresponding device, or by a component such as a chip, processor, or chip system within the device, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The above embodiments are described only as examples of execution by corresponding devices.

[0256] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0257] It should be noted that in each of the above embodiments, some steps may be selected for implementation, and the order of the steps in the diagrams may be adjusted for implementation, and this application does not limit this. It should be understood that executing some of the steps in the diagrams, adjusting the order of the steps, or combining them for specific implementation all fall within the scope of protection of this application.

[0258] It is understandable that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the various devices involved in the above embodiments include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and method steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0259] It should be understood that the "steps" in the embodiments of this application are merely illustrative, a method of expression used to better understand the embodiments, and do not constitute a substantive limitation on the implementation of the solutions of this application. For example, the "steps" can also be understood as "features." Furthermore, the steps do not constitute any limitation on the execution order of the solutions of this application. Any changes in the order of steps, or any operations such as step merging or step splitting that do not affect the implementation of the overall solution, resulting in new technical solutions, are also within the scope of this application.

[0260] The following is a schematic diagram of the structure of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the first management unit or the second management unit or the first access network device or the second access network device or the first radio frequency unit or the second radio frequency unit or the terminal device or the first network element in the above-mentioned method embodiments, thereby also achieving the beneficial effects of the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0261] As shown in FIG10 , a communication device 1000 includes a transceiver module 1001 (or a communication module, a transceiver unit, or a communication unit, for sending and receiving data) and a processing module 1002 (or a processing unit). The communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the first management unit, the second management unit, the first access network device, the second access network device, the first radio frequency unit, the second radio frequency unit, the terminal device, or the first network element in the method embodiments shown in FIG3 to FIG9 .

[0262] Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 may include a receiving module and / or a transmitting module. The receiving module may be used by the communication device 1000 to receive signals (information or data, etc.); the transmitting module may be used by the communication device 1000 to transmit signals (information or data, etc.). The transmitting module may transmit signals (information or data, etc.) under the control of the processing module 1002, and the receiving module may receive signals (information or data, etc.) under the control of the processing module 1002.

[0263] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the first management unit (such as MU1) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 6 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to receive a first message from the first access network device. The first message is used to request the allocation of communication resources for the terminal device. The transceiver module 1001 is also used to send a second message to the first access network device. The second message is used to indicate that communication resources have been allocated to the terminal device. The transceiver module 1001 is also used to send a third message to the first radio frequency unit. The third message may include a communication resource configuration. The terminal device can communicate with the first radio frequency unit through at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration, and the at least one communication resource can be part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management. The processing module 1002 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as generating a communication resource configuration based on at least one communication resource.

[0264] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the first access network device (such as access network device 1) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 6 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to provide the communication resource set to the first management unit. The transceiver module 1001 is also used to send a first message to the first management unit. The first message is used to request the allocation of communication resources for the terminal device. The transceiver module 1001 is also used to receive a second message from the first management unit. The second message is used to indicate that communication resources have been allocated to the terminal device. For example, the communication resource set can be determined by negotiation between the first access network device and the second access network device. The processing module 1002 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as generating a communication resource configuration based on at least one communication resource, or it can also be used to group downlink data to generate a first transmission block, or it can also determine the communication resources that can be managed by the first management unit based on its own communication resource usage.

[0265] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the first radio frequency unit (such as RU1) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 6 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to receive a third message from the first management unit. The third message may include a communication resource configuration. The terminal device can communicate with the first radio frequency unit through at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration, and the at least one communication resource can be part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management. The processing module 1002 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as negotiating with the first management unit to establish an uplink and downlink user plane channel for the terminal device.

[0266] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the second radio frequency unit (e.g., RU2) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 6 above: the transceiver module 1001 is configured to receive second indication information from the first management unit and the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device. The second indication information is used to indicate the provision of communication services for the terminal device. The processing module 1002 is configured to perform corresponding processing operations, such as negotiating with the first management unit to establish uplink and downlink user plane channels for the terminal device.

[0267] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the first access network device (such as access network device 1) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 7 to 9 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to send a first message to the second access network device. The first message is used to request the switching of the access network device. The first message may include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device. The at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration may be part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set. The communication resource set may be determined by negotiation between the first access network device and the second access network device. The communication resource set may be provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management. The processing module 1002 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as providing corresponding services for the terminal device, or it may also be used to determine whether it is necessary to migrate the L2 protocol stack anchor to other access network devices (such as the second access network device).

[0268] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the second access network device (such as access network device 2) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 7 to 9 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to receive a first message from the first access network device. The first message is used to request the switching of the access network device. The first message may include the communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device. The at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration may be part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set. The communication resource set may be determined by negotiation between the first access network device and the second access network device. The transceiver module 1001 is also used to send a second message to the first network element based on the first message. The second message is used to indicate that the user plane channel termination point is switched from the first access network device to the second access network device. The processing module 1002 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as providing corresponding services for the terminal device, or it can also be used to parse and process the signal quality measurement report reported by the terminal device.

[0269] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the first management unit (such as MU1) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 7 to 9 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to receive a fourth message from the first access network device. The fourth message is used to indicate that the access network device has switched, and the fourth message may include reconfiguration information corresponding to the terminal device, and the reconfiguration information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform a reconfiguration operation. The transceiver module 1001 is also used to send reconfiguration information to the first radio frequency unit according to the fourth message. Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 can also be used to receive first indication information and second indication information from the second access network device. The first indication information is used to indicate that resource management services should be stopped for the terminal device, and the second indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device should perform beam switching. Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 can also be used to send second indication information and third indication information to the first radio frequency unit according to the first indication information. The third indication information is used to indicate that communication services should be stopped for the terminal device. The processing module 1002 is configured to perform corresponding processing operations, such as establishing a user plane channel and / or a control plane channel with the second access network device according to the identification information or address information of the second access network device.

[0270] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the second management unit (such as MU2) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 7 to 9 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to receive fourth indication information from the second access network device. The fourth indication information is used to indicate the provision of resource management services for the terminal device. The transceiver module 1001 is also used to send fifth indication information to the second radio frequency unit based on the fourth indication information. The fifth indication information is used to indicate the provision of communication services for the terminal device. Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 can also be used to receive ninth indication information from the second access network device. The ninth indication information is used to indicate the provision of resource management services for the terminal device. Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 can also be used to send tenth indication information to the second radio frequency unit based on the ninth indication information. The tenth indication information is used to indicate the provision of communication services for the terminal device. The processing module 1002 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as allocating communication resources to the terminal device or scheduling communication resources used for uplink and downlink data transmission of the terminal device.

[0271] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the first radio frequency unit (such as RU3) in the method embodiments shown in Figures 7 to 9 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to receive reconfiguration information from the first management unit. The transceiver module 1001 is also used to send reconfiguration information to the terminal device. Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 can also be used to receive second indication information and third indication information from the first management unit. The second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching, and the third indication information is used to instruct to stop providing communication services to the terminal device. Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 can also be used to receive seventh indication information and eighth indication information from the first management unit. The seventh indication information is used to instruct to stop providing communication services to the terminal device, and the eighth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching. The processing module 1002 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as negotiating with the first management unit to establish an uplink and downlink user plane channel for the terminal device.

[0272] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the function of the second radio frequency unit (such as RU4) in the method embodiment shown in Figures 7 to 9 above: the transceiver module 1001 is used to receive the fifth indication information from the second management unit. The fifth indication information is used to indicate that a communication service is provided for the terminal device. Optionally, the transceiver module 1001 can also be used to receive the tenth indication information from the second management unit. The tenth indication information is used to indicate that a communication service is provided for the terminal device. The processing module 1002 is used to perform corresponding processing operations, such as negotiating with the second management unit to establish an uplink and downlink user plane channel for the terminal device.

[0273] For a more detailed description of the transceiver module 1001 and the processing module 1002 , please refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 9 , which will not be repeated here.

[0274] It should be understood that the transceiver module 1001 in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a communication interface or a communication interface-related circuit component, and the processing module 1002 can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component.

[0275] It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0276] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, or a server, etc.) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0277] As another possible product form, as shown in Figure 11, a communication device 1100 includes: a communication interface 1101 and a processor 1102. Optionally, the communication device 1100 also includes a memory 1103. The communication interface 1101, the processor 1102, and the memory 1103 are interconnected. When the communication device 1100 is used to implement the technical solutions involved in the first management unit (or the second management unit or the first access network device or the second access network device or the first radio frequency unit or the second radio frequency unit or the terminal device or the first network element or the second network element) in the above embodiments, the communication interface 1101 can be used to implement the function of the above-mentioned transceiver module 1001 when executing the technical solutions involved in the first management unit (or the second management unit or the first access network device or the second access network device or the first radio frequency unit or the second radio frequency unit or the terminal device or the first network element or the second network element), and the processor 1102 is used to implement the function of the above-mentioned processing module 1002 when executing the technical solutions involved in the first management unit (or the second management unit or the first access network device or the second access network device or the first radio frequency unit or the second radio frequency unit or the terminal device or the first network element or the second network element).

[0278] Optionally, the communication interface 1101, the processor 1102, and the memory 1103 are interconnected via a bus 1104. Bus 1104 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. Buses can be classified as address buses, data buses, control buses, and the like. For ease of illustration, FIG11 shows only one thick line, but this does not imply that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0279] Communication interface 1101 is used to receive and send data. For example, when the communication device 1100 is a terminal device as shown in Figure 1, the communication interface 1101 can communicate with the network device (such as network device 2) as shown in Figure 1, or can also communicate with other devices (such as other terminal devices or servers) outside the communication system architecture shown in Figure 1. In one example, the communication interface can be a transceiver device with integrated data transceiver functions. In another example, the communication interface can also be composed of a transmitter and a receiver, wherein the transmitter is used to send data and the receiver is used to receive data.

[0280] Optionally, the communication interface 1101 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transmitter is used to transmit signals, messages, information, or data. The receiver is used to receive signals, messages, information, or data. For example, the transmitter transmits signals, messages, information, or data under the control of the processor 1102. The receiver receives signals, messages, information, or data under the control of the processor 1102.

[0281] The functions of processor 1102 can refer to the description of the corresponding functions involved in the first management unit or the second management unit or the first access network device or the second access network device or the first radio frequency unit or the second radio frequency unit or the terminal device or the first network element or the second network element in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here. Processor 1102 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP, etc. Processor 1102 can further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip can be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD can be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof. When implementing the above functions, processor 1102 can be implemented through hardware, or can also execute corresponding software implementations through hardware.

[0282] The memory 1103 is used to store program instructions, etc. Specifically, the program instructions may include program code, which includes computer operation instructions. The memory 1103 may include random access memory (RAM), and may also include non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as at least one disk storage. The processor 1102 executes the program instructions stored in the memory 1103 to implement the above functions, thereby implementing the method steps required to be executed by the first management unit or the second management unit or the first access network device or the second access network device or the first radio frequency unit or the second radio frequency unit or the terminal device or the first network element or the second network element in the above embodiments.

[0283] Based on the same concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes multiple communication devices (a first management unit or a second management unit or a first access network device or a second access network device or a first radio frequency unit or a second radio frequency unit or a terminal device or a first network element). Among them, the first management unit can be used to implement the technical solution involved in the first management unit in the above embodiment. The second management unit can be used to implement the technical solution involved in the second management unit in the above embodiment. The first access network device can be used to implement the technical solution involved in the first access network device in the above embodiment. The second access network device can be used to implement the technical solution involved in the second access network device in the above embodiment. The first radio frequency unit can be used to implement the technical solution involved in the first radio frequency unit in the above embodiment. The second radio frequency unit can be used to implement the technical solution involved in the second radio frequency unit in the above embodiment. The terminal device can be used to implement the technical solution involved in the terminal device in the above embodiment. The first network element can be used to implement the technical solution involved in the first network element in the above embodiment.

[0284] Based on the same concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer executes the method provided in the above embodiment.

[0285] Based on the same concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer, the computer executes the method provided in the above embodiment.

[0286] The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0287] Based on the same concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, which may include a processor and a memory (or the chip is coupled to the memory), and the chip executes program instructions in the memory to perform the method provided in the above embodiment. Wherein, "coupling" refers to the direct or indirect connection between two components, such as coupling can refer to the electrical connection between two components.

[0288] Based on the same concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a computer device to implement the functions involved in the communication device (such as the first management unit or the second management unit or the first access network device or the second access network device or the first radio frequency unit or the second radio frequency unit or the terminal device or the first network element, etc.) in the above embodiments. In one possible implementation, the chip system also includes a memory, which is used to store the necessary programs and data for the computer device. The chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0289] The methods provided in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, they can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiments of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state drive (SSD)).

[0290] The steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in hardware, software units executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software units can be stored in RAM, ROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or other storage media in any form known in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can be arranged in an ASIC.

[0291] 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.

[0292] 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.

[0293] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the first management unit, the method includes: receiving a first message from a first access network device, where the first message is used to request allocation of communication resources for a terminal device; Sending a second message to the first access network device, where the second message is used to indicate that communication resources have been allocated to the terminal device; Sending a third message to the first radio frequency unit, where the third message includes communication resource configuration; In which, the terminal device communicates with the first radio frequency unit through at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration, and the at least one communication resource is part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set provided by the first access network device to the first management unit for management.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: receiving a fourth message from the first access network device, where the fourth message includes the communication resource configuration; or, The communication resource configuration is generated based on the at least one communication resource.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The method further comprises: receiving a first transmission block from the first access network device; The first transmission block and first indication information are sent to the first radio frequency unit, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first transmission block is transmitted using a first communication resource, where the first communication resource is included in the at least one communication resource.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The method further comprises: receiving a second transmission block from the first radio frequency unit; Send the second transmission block to the first access network device.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The method further comprises: Sending a first switching indication and a second switching indication to the first radio frequency unit; The first switching indication is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching, and the second switching indication is used to instruct to stop providing communication services to the terminal device.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The method further comprises: receiving a third switching instruction and a fourth switching instruction from the first access network device; sending the fourth switching instruction and the fifth switching instruction to the first radio frequency unit; Among them, the third switching indication is used to instruct the execution of radio frequency unit switching, the fourth switching indication is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching, and the fifth switching indication is used to instruct to stop providing communication services to the terminal device.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein: The method further comprises: Send second indication information and the communication resource configuration to the second radio frequency unit, where the second indication information is used to indicate providing communication services for the terminal device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The first message includes at least one of the following: identification information of the terminal device or identification information of the first radio frequency unit.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein Each communication resource in the communication resource set includes at least one of the following: a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, a code domain resource or a space domain resource.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a first access network device, the method includes: providing a communication resource set to a first management unit; Sending a first message to the first management unit, where the first message is used to request allocation of communication resources for the terminal device; A second message is received from the first management unit, where the second message is used to indicate that communication resources have been allocated to the terminal device.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The method further comprises: Sending a fifth message to the second access network device, where the fifth message is used to request communication resources managed by the first management unit, and the fifth message includes communication resources that can be managed by the first management unit and are provided by the first access network device; receiving a sixth message from the second access network device, the sixth message including communication resources that can be managed by the first management unit and are provided by the second access network device; The communication resource set is determined according to the communication resources that can be managed by the first management unit and provided by the first access network device, and the communication resources that can be managed by the first management unit and provided by the second access network device.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein: The method further comprises: If the second message includes at least one communication resource allocated to the terminal device, generating a communication resource configuration according to the at least one communication resource, the at least one communication resource being part or all of the communication resources in the communication resource set; A fourth message is sent to the first management unit, where the fourth message includes the communication resource configuration.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein: The method further comprises: Sending a first transmission block to the first management unit.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein: The method further comprises: A second transmission block is received from the first management unit.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein: The method further comprises: A third switching indication and a fourth switching indication are sent to the first management unit, wherein the third switching indication is used to instruct the execution of radio frequency unit switching, and the fourth switching indication is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein: The first message includes at least one of the following: identification information of the terminal device or identification information of the first radio frequency unit.

17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein: Each communication resource in the communication resource set includes at least one of the following: a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, a code domain resource or a space domain resource.

18. A communication method, characterized in that: include: A first access network device sends a first message to a second access network device, where the first message is used to request handover of the access network device, the first message includes a communication resource configuration corresponding to the terminal device, at least one communication resource indicated by the communication resource configuration is part or all of the communication resources in a communication resource set, the communication resource set is determined by negotiation between the first access network device and the second access network device, and the communication resource set is provided by the first access network device to a first management unit for management; The second access network device sends a second message to the first network element based on the first message, where the second message is used to instruct a user plane channel termination point to switch from the first access network device to the second access network device.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The first management unit is connected to a first radio frequency unit, and the first radio frequency unit provides communication services for the terminal device; The method further comprises: The second access network device sends a third message to the first access network device according to the first message, where the third message is used to indicate that the second access network device agrees to the switching of the access network device; The first access network device sends a fourth message to the first management unit according to the third message, where the fourth message is used to indicate that the access network device has been switched, and the fourth message includes reconfiguration information corresponding to the terminal device, where the reconfiguration information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform a reconfiguration operation; The first management unit sends the reconfiguration information to the first radio frequency unit according to the fourth message; The first radio frequency unit sends the reconfiguration information to the terminal device.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The fourth message further includes identification information or address information of the second access network device; The method further comprises: The first management unit establishes a user plane channel and / or a control plane channel with the second access network device according to the identification information or address information of the second access network device.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein The reconfiguration operation includes at least one of the following: Packet Data Convergence Protocol PDCP reconfiguration, PDCP reestablishment, Radio Link Control RLC reconfiguration, RLC reestablishment, Service Data Adaptation Protocol SDAP reconfiguration, Media Access Control MAC reconfiguration or MAC reset.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein: The second access network device is connected to the first management unit and the second management unit respectively, and the second management unit is connected to the second radio frequency unit; The method further comprises: The second access network device sends first indication information and second indication information to the first management unit, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to stop providing resource management services, and the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching; The first management unit sends the second indication information and third indication information to the first radio frequency unit according to the first indication information, where the third indication information is used to instruct to stop providing communication services for the terminal device; The second access network device sends fourth indication information to the second management unit, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the provision of resource management services for the terminal device; The second management unit sends fifth indication information to the second radio frequency unit according to the fourth indication information, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to provide a communication service.

23. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein: The second access network device is connected to the first management unit and the second management unit respectively, and the second management unit is connected to the second radio frequency unit; The method further comprises: The first management unit sends sixth indication information to the second access network device, where the sixth indication information is used to instruct the first management unit to stop providing resource management services for the terminal device; The first management unit sends seventh indication information and eighth indication information to the first radio frequency unit, where the seventh indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to stop providing communication services, and the eighth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to perform beam switching; The second access network device sends ninth indication information to the second management unit according to the sixth indication information, where the ninth indication information is used to instruct the provision of resource management services for the terminal device; The second management unit sends tenth indication information to the second radio frequency unit according to the ninth indication information, where the tenth indication information is used to instruct to provide communication services for the terminal device.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, wherein: The method further comprises: The second access network device sends a fifth message to the second management unit, where the fifth message is used to request the communication resource configuration; The second management unit sends a sixth message to the second access network device based on the fifth message, where the sixth message is used to indicate approval of the request for communication resource configuration.

25. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 24, wherein: Each communication resource in the communication resource set includes at least one of the following: a time domain resource, a frequency domain resource, a code domain resource or a space domain resource.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or a module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, or a module or unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 18 to 25.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: include: Communication interface for receiving and sending data; Memory for storing computer program instructions and data; A processor, configured to execute and call computer program instructions and data in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, or the method according to any one of claims 18 to 25.

28. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, or the method according to any one of claims 18 to 25.

29. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises a computer program or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, or the method according to any one of claims 18 to 25.

30. A chip, characterized in that: The chip includes a processor, and the chip is used to execute program instructions in the memory to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, or the method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, or the method according to any one of claims 18 to 25.

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