Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application discloses a communication method and a communication apparatus. The communication method comprises: determining signal quality prediction results of M candidate cells, M being an integer greater than or equal to 1; and sending a measurement report, the measurement report comprising reporting information of the M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells comprising related information for indicating the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells. The accuracy of handover decision-making on the network side can be improved, and unnecessary resource waste is reduced.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on March 29, 2024, with application number 202410382715.1 and application name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] In a wireless communication system, during the movement of a terminal device, in order to provide the user with better network services, the terminal device can switch from the current serving cell to the target cell, i.e., implement cell switching. Specifically, the source base station configures a measurement event for the terminal, and the terminal device can measure the signal quality of multiple cells to obtain the signal quality measurement results of each cell. The terminal device can report a measurement report to the source base station, and the measurement report includes at least one candidate cell whose signal quality measurement results meet the measurement event. The source base station can make a switching decision with reference to the signal quality measurement results in the measurement report of the terminal device, but since the signal may fluctuate, for example, there may be a period of time when the instantaneous signal quality is better. Therefore, the existing source base station relies entirely on the signal quality measurement results for switching decisions, which may lead to inaccurate switching decisions and waste resources. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device, which can indicate relevant information of the signal quality prediction results of M candidate cells to a network device, thereby improving the accuracy of switching decisions made on the network side and reducing unnecessary resource waste.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method comprising:

[0006] Determine signal quality prediction results for M candidate cells, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0007] Sending a measurement report, where the measurement report includes reporting information of the M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

[0008] Based on the description of the first aspect, when reporting a measurement report, the terminal device may indicate relevant information about the signal quality prediction results of M candidate cells to the network device, so that the network side can consider relevant information about the signal quality prediction results of each candidate cell when making a handover decision. The handover decision includes but is not limited to: determining whether to perform a conditional handover, and if so, the candidate target cell selected. Because the handover decision takes into account the signal quality prediction results (i.e., predicts the signal quality within a period of time in the future), the accuracy of the handover decision can be improved, unnecessary resource allocation and message forwarding can be avoided, thereby reducing unnecessary resource waste.

[0009] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0010] If the first duration corresponding to the first candidate cell is longer than the second duration corresponding to the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reported information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reported information of the second candidate cell;

[0011] The first duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the second duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

[0012] By implementing this method, in the measurement report, the reported information of each candidate cell can be sorted based on the duration of time that the signal quality prediction result of each candidate cell is greater than the threshold, so that the network side can obtain the stability of the signal quality prediction result of each candidate cell being greater than the first threshold, which helps the network side make switching decisions.

[0013] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0014] If the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0015] By implementing this method, in the measurement report, the reported information of each candidate cell can be sorted based on the size of the signal quality prediction results of each candidate cell, so that the network side can obtain the size ranking of the signal quality prediction results of each candidate cell, which helps the network side make switching decisions.

[0016] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0017] If the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell meets the measurement event is greater than the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell meets the measurement event, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0018] By implementing this approach, in the measurement report, the reported information of each candidate cell can be sorted based on the length of time that each candidate cell will continue to meet the measurement event in the future, thereby allowing the network side to obtain the stability of each candidate cell in continuously meeting the measurement event, which helps the network side make switching decisions.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the M candidate cells are cells that meet at least one of the following: a signal quality measurement result meets a first measurement event; a signal quality prediction result meets a second measurement event, where the first measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality measurement result, and the second measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality prediction result.

[0020] By implementing this approach, the M candidate cells reported may be cells that meet the first measurement event and / or the second measurement event, thereby meeting requirements of various scenarios.

[0021] In a possible implementation manner, the reported information includes a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell and / or prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell, and the prediction information is determined by a signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell.

[0022] By implementing this approach, the reported information may include the signal quality measurement results and / or prediction information of the candidate cells, which may facilitate the network side to determine the signal quality measurement results and / or prediction information of the candidate cells and improve the accuracy of handover decisions.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the prediction information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event; and / or, the prediction information includes a time length, where the time length is the time length for which the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell is predicted to satisfy the measurement event; and / or, the prediction information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event within a time period, and the start time of the time period is determined by the time when the signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event;

[0024] The measurement event is the first measurement event or the second measurement event.

[0025] In this implementation, the prediction information can be presented in the form of first indication information, which not only indicates whether the candidate cell's signal quality prediction result meets the measurement event or not, but also reduces overhead. The prediction information can also include the length of time the candidate cell's signal quality prediction result meets the measurement time, thereby facilitating the network's determination of the candidate cell's future signal quality stability. The prediction information can also include whether the measurement event is continuously met within a time period, thereby facilitating the network's determination of the candidate cell's future signal quality stability within that time period.

[0026] In a possible implementation manner, whether the reported information includes the prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell is configured by a network device.

[0027] By implementing this method, the network can flexibly configure whether the terminal device reports the prediction information, realize flexible configuration of whether the prediction information is reported, and not report the prediction information when it is not necessary, saving signaling overhead.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the M candidate cells are cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction results satisfy the second measurement event, and the method further includes:

[0029] A measurement configuration is received, the measurement configuration including the first measurement event and the second measurement event.

[0030] By implementing this method, the network can configure the first measurement event and the second measurement event to instruct the terminal device to report the cells that meet the first measurement event and the second measurement event, thereby reducing the number of candidate cells that need to be reported and saving overhead.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0032] Third indication information is received, where the third indication information indicates a cell whose reported signal quality measurement result satisfies the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the second measurement event.

[0033] By implementing this method, when the network configures the first measurement event and the second measurement event, the network device can further indicate through indication information that the cells that meet the first measurement event and the second measurement event need to be reported, and the terminal device will report the cells that meet the first measurement event and the second measurement event; if the network device does not indicate the need to report the cells that meet the first measurement event and the second measurement event, it is not necessary to report the cells that meet the first measurement event and the second measurement event, so that it can be flexibly configured whether to report the candidate cells that meet the first measurement event and the second measurement event.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0035] receiving conditional switching information, the conditional switching information including first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells, respectively, the first execution conditions indicating a switching condition that a signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell needs to satisfy, where N is an integer less than or equal to M, and the N candidate cells are included in the M cells;

[0036] A target cell is determined from the N candidate cells, where a signal quality prediction result of the target cell satisfies a first execution condition corresponding to the target cell.

[0037] In this embodiment, during conditional switching, the network can send the switching conditions that the signal quality prediction results of each candidate cell need to meet, and the target cell selected is the cell whose signal quality prediction result meets the switching conditions, thereby selecting the target cell for switching at a suitable point, reducing the occurrence of unnecessary switching or premature switching.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the conditional switching information further includes second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells, respectively, where the second execution conditions indicate switching conditions that a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell needs to satisfy;

[0039] The target cell is a cell whose signal quality prediction result satisfies a corresponding first execution condition and whose signal quality measurement result satisfies a corresponding second execution condition.

[0040] In this embodiment, during conditional switching, the network can also send the switching conditions that the signal quality measurement results of each candidate cell need to meet to the terminal device. The target cell selected by the terminal device is not only a cell whose signal quality prediction result meets the corresponding switching conditions, but also a cell whose signal quality measurement result meets the corresponding switching conditions, thereby selecting a suitable target cell for switching, reducing the occurrence of unnecessary switching or premature switching.

[0041] In a possible implementation, determining the target cell from the N candidate cells includes:

[0042] Determine Y candidate target cells from the N candidate cells, where the Y candidate target cells are candidate cells whose signal quality measurement results meet the corresponding second execution condition, and Y is an integer less than or equal to N;

[0043] If the value of Y is greater than 1, a target cell is determined from the Y candidate target cells, where the target cell is a candidate target cell whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the corresponding first execution condition.

[0044] In this embodiment, when determining the target cell, the signal quality measurement results are first used for screening. If the number of candidate cells obtained by screening is greater than 1, further screening can be performed with reference to the signal quality prediction results. If the number of candidate cells obtained by screening is equal to 1, it can be directly used as the target cell without further screening in combination with the signal quality prediction results, thereby improving the efficiency of determining the target cell.

[0045] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method comprising:

[0046] A measurement report is received, where the measurement report includes reporting information of M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

[0047] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0048] If the first duration corresponding to the first candidate cell is longer than the second duration corresponding to the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reported information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reported information of the second candidate cell;

[0049] The first duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the second duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

[0050] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0051] If the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0052] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0053] If the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell meets the measurement event is greater than the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell meets the measurement event, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0054] In one possible implementation, the M candidate cells are cells that meet at least one of the following: a signal quality measurement result meets a first measurement event; a signal quality prediction result meets a second measurement event, where the first measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality measurement result, and the second measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality prediction result.

[0055] In a possible implementation manner, the reported information includes a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell and / or prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell, and the prediction information is determined by a signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell.

[0056] In a possible implementation manner, whether the reported information includes the prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell is configured by a network device.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the prediction information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event; and / or, the prediction information includes a time length, where the time length is the time length for which the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell is predicted to satisfy the measurement event; and / or, the prediction information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event within a time period, and the start time of the time period is determined by the time when the signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event;

[0058] The measurement event is the first measurement event or the second measurement event.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the M candidate cells are cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction results satisfy the second measurement event, and the method further includes:

[0060] A measurement configuration is sent, where the measurement configuration includes the first measurement event and the second measurement event.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0062] Third indication information is sent, where the third indication information indicates a cell whose reported signal quality measurement result satisfies the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the second measurement event.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0064] Send conditional switching information, where the conditional switching information includes first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells, respectively, where the first execution conditions indicate switching conditions that need to be satisfied by the signal quality prediction results of the corresponding candidate cells, where N is an integer less than or equal to M, and the N candidate cells are included in the M cells.

[0065] In a possible implementation, the conditional switching information further includes second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells respectively, where the second execution conditions indicate switching conditions that signal quality measurement results of the corresponding candidate cells need to meet.

[0066] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including:

[0067] receiving conditional switching information, where the conditional switching information includes first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells, respectively, where the first execution conditions indicate switching conditions that a signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell needs to satisfy;

[0068] A target cell is determined from the N candidate cells, where a signal quality prediction result of the target cell satisfies a first execution condition corresponding to the target cell.

[0069] In a possible implementation, the conditional switching information further includes second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells, respectively, where the second execution conditions indicate switching conditions that a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell needs to satisfy;

[0070] The target cell is a cell whose signal quality prediction result satisfies a corresponding first execution condition and whose signal quality measurement result satisfies a corresponding second execution condition.

[0071] In a possible implementation, determining the target cell from the N candidate cells includes:

[0072] Determine Y candidate target cells from the N candidate cells, where the Y candidate target cells are candidate cells whose signal quality measurement results meet the corresponding second execution condition, and Y is an integer less than or equal to N;

[0073] If the value of Y is greater than 1, a target cell is determined from the Y candidate target cells, where the target cell is a candidate target cell whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the corresponding first execution condition.

[0074] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including:

[0075] Conditional switching information is sent, where the conditional switching information includes first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells respectively, where the first execution conditions indicate switching conditions that need to be satisfied by signal quality prediction results of the corresponding candidate cells.

[0076] In a possible implementation, the conditional switching information further includes second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells respectively, where the second execution conditions indicate switching conditions that signal quality measurement results of the corresponding candidate cells need to meet.

[0077] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including:

[0078] a determining unit, configured to determine signal quality prediction results of M candidate cells, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0079] The sending unit is configured to send a measurement report, where the measurement report includes reporting information of the M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

[0080] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including:

[0081] The receiving unit is configured to receive a measurement report, where the measurement report includes reporting information of M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

[0082] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a processor and a memory, the processor and the memory are connected to each other, the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program to execute the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or to execute the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect, or to execute the method as described in the third aspect or any optional embodiment of the third aspect, or to execute the method as described in the fourth aspect or any optional embodiment of the fourth aspect.

[0083] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, comprising a processor and an interface, wherein the processor and the interface are coupled; the interface is used to receive and / or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions to execute the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or to execute the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect, or to execute the method as described in the third aspect or any optional embodiment of the third aspect, or to execute the method as described in the fourth aspect or any optional embodiment of the fourth aspect.

[0084] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a module device, which includes a communication module, a power module, a storage module and a chip module, wherein: the power module is used to provide power to the module device; the storage module is used to store data and / or instructions; the communication module communicates with an external device; the chip module is used to call the data and / or instructions stored in the storage module, and execute the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or, execute the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect, or, execute the method as described in the third aspect or any optional embodiment of the third aspect, or, execute the method as described in the fourth aspect or any optional embodiment of the fourth aspect.

[0085] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the computer executes the program instructions, it implements the method as described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or implements the method as described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect, or implements the method as described in the third aspect or any optional embodiment of the third aspect, or implements the method as described in the fourth aspect or any optional embodiment of the fourth aspect.

[0086] In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or computer code, which, when running on a computer, is used to implement the method described in the first aspect or any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or to implement the method described in the second aspect or any optional embodiment of the second aspect, or to implement the method described in the third aspect or any optional embodiment of the third aspect, or to implement the method described in the fourth aspect or any optional embodiment of the fourth aspect.

[0087] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes a terminal device and a network device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0088] FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG2 is a flow chart of a conditional switching provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG4 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a module device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0096] In the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, the character " / " indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B. "And / or" describes the relationship between the associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exists simultaneously, or B exists alone.

[0097] It should be pointed out that the words "first", "second", etc. involved in the embodiments of this application are only used for distinguishing description purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order.

[0098] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. In addition, "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, which may include any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of A, B, or C can represent: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B and C. Among them, each of A, B, and C can be an element itself, or a set containing one or more elements.

[0099] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary," "in some embodiments," and "in another embodiment" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" in this application should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner.

[0100] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "of," "corresponding," and "relevant" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they convey are the same. In the embodiments of this application, the terms "communication" and "transmission" may sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be noted that, when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they convey are the same. For example, "transmission" may include "sending" and / or "receiving," and may be either a noun or a verb.

[0101] In the embodiments of this application, "equal to" can be used in conjunction with "greater than" and is applicable to the technical solution adopted when "greater than" is used, and can also be used in conjunction with "less than" and is applicable to the technical solution adopted when "less than" is used. It should be noted that when "equal to" is used in conjunction with "greater than", it cannot be used in conjunction with "less than"; and when "equal to" is used in conjunction with "less than", it cannot be used in conjunction with "greater than".

[0102] The present application can be applied to the protocol framework of various wireless communication systems, and the wireless communication systems may include but are not limited to long term evolution (LTE) systems, new radio access technology (NR) systems, future evolved communication systems, etc., and future evolved communication systems such as future networks or sixth generation communication systems.

[0103] The technical solution of the present invention is also applicable to different network architectures, including but not limited to terrestrial communication network architecture, non-terrestrial communication network architecture, relay network architecture, dual-link architecture, Vehicle-to-Everything (vehicle-to-anything communication) architecture and other architectures.

[0104] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a structural diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that the communication system shown in Figure 1 is only an example and does not constitute a limitation on the embodiment of the present application. The communication system may include but is not limited to one or more network devices, one or more terminal devices, such as two network devices and one terminal device as shown in Figure 1, wherein the network device in Figure 1 is a base station as an example, and the terminal device is a mobile phone as an example, and the terminal device can establish a wireless link with the network device for communication. The communication system shown in Figure 1 includes but is not limited to network devices and terminal devices, and may also include other communication devices. The number and form of the devices shown in Figure 1 are used for example and do not constitute a limitation on the embodiment of the present application.

[0105] The interface between a terminal device and a network device is an air interface. A terminal device can connect to one or more network devices. A network device can link and manage multiple terminal devices. Network devices have interfaces between them, such as X2 (4G systems) or Xn (5G systems).

[0106] In a network architecture, a terminal can access a network device through a relay device.

[0107] In the embodiments of the present application, a terminal device is a device with wireless transceiver functions, which can be referred to as a terminal, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, vehicle-mounted terminal, industrial control terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, wireless communication device, UE agent or UE device, etc. The terminal device can be fixed or mobile. It should be noted that the terminal device can support at least one wireless communication technology, such as long term evolution (LTE), new radio (NR), etc. For example, the terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an all-in-one computer, an in-vehicle terminal, a virtual reality (VR) terminal, an augmented reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a wearable device, a terminal in a future mobile communication network, or a terminal in a future evolved public mobile land network (PLMN), etc. In some embodiments of the present application, the terminal may also be a device with transceiver functions, such as a chip system, wherein the chip system may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices.

[0108] In the embodiment of the present application, a network device is a device that provides wireless communication functions for a terminal device, and may also be referred to as an access network device, a radio access network (RAN) device, etc. The network device may support at least one wireless communication technology, such as LTE, NR, etc. For example, the network device includes, but is not limited to: a next-generation base station (gNB) in a fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G), a base station in a sixth-generation mobile communication system (6G), an evolved node B (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved node B, or home node B, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), a transmitting and receiving point (TRP), a transmitting point (TP), a mobile switching center, etc. The network device may also be a wireless controller, a centralized unit (CU), and / or a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the network device may be a relay station, an access point, an on-board device, a terminal device, a wearable device, a network device in future mobile communications, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN. In some embodiments, the network device may also be a device that provides wireless communication functions for a terminal device, such as a chip system. For example, the chip system may include a chip and may also include other discrete devices.

[0109] Before introducing the communication method of the embodiment of the present application, the conditional handover (CHO) process involved in the embodiment of the present application is first introduced. In order to improve the success rate of terminal equipment switching between different cells, a conditional handover process is proposed. The conditional handover can allow the source network device to send a conditional handover command containing wireless parameter configurations of multiple candidate cells and execution conditions for triggering cell switching to the terminal device in advance before the wireless environment between the terminal device and the source network device deteriorates further. After the terminal device determines the target cell that meets the execution conditions, it can independently decide to initiate the handover, thereby improving the success rate of the handover. The following is an example of the flow chart of the conditional handover with reference to Figure 2:

[0110] 201. The source network device sends a measurement configuration to the terminal device.

[0111] The source network device may send a measurement configuration to the terminal device, and the measurement configuration may include at least one of the following: a measurement event, a measurement period, a measurement object list, etc. The measurement event is used to limit the conditions that the signal quality measurement result must meet. For example, the measurement configuration includes measurement event A3 and / or measurement event A5. Among them, measurement event A3 means that the signal quality measurement result of the neighboring cell is higher than the signal quality measurement result of the serving cell by an offset value; measurement event A5 means that the signal quality measurement result of the serving cell is less than a certain threshold, and the signal quality measurement result of the neighboring cell is higher than another threshold.

[0112] 202. The terminal device sends a measurement report to the source network device.

[0113] The terminal device can measure the signal quality of the neighboring cells and the signal quality of the serving cell in the configured measurement object list and obtain the signal quality measurement results.

[0114] Exemplarily, the measurement report may be a measurement event-triggered measurement report, where a measurement event-triggered measurement report may be understood as a measurement report triggered by a signal quality measurement result satisfying a measurement event in a measurement configuration. The neighboring cell satisfying the measurement event in the measurement configuration is referred to as a candidate cell. The measurement report may include signal quality measurement results for multiple candidate cells.

[0115] Exemplarily, the measurement report may be a measurement report reported periodically.

[0116] 203. The source network device determines to adopt conditional switching.

[0117] The source network device determines whether to adopt conditional handover based on the signal quality measurement results of multiple candidate cells in the measurement report. For example, if there is a candidate cell with relatively good signal quality, for example, the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell is much higher than the threshold value, and the candidate cell meets the execution conditions of cell handover, then unconditional handover (also known as normal handover) can be performed, that is, the candidate cell is used as the target cell. For example, if the signal quality of the candidate cell is not much higher than the threshold value and the execution conditions of cell handover are not met, it can be determined to adopt conditional handover.

[0118] When the source network device determines to use conditional handover, it may further select at least one candidate cell for performing conditional handover from the multiple reported candidate cells based on the signal quality measurement results of each candidate cell in the measurement report. For example, the source network device selects two candidate cells as candidate cells for performing conditional handover. The two candidate cells are candidate cell 1 and candidate cell 2, where candidate cell 1 is, for example, the cell of candidate network device 1, and candidate cell 2 is, for example, the cell of candidate network device 2.

[0119] 204 , the source network device sends a switching request 1 to the candidate network device 1 .

[0120] The source network device sends a handover request 1 to the candidate network device 1 , where the handover request 1 is used to request that the terminal device be handed over to the candidate cell 1 of the candidate network device 1 .

[0121] 205 , the source network device sends a switching request 2 to the candidate network device 2 .

[0122] The source network device sends a handover request 2 to the candidate network device 2 , where the handover request 2 is used to request handover of the terminal device to the candidate cell 2 of the candidate network device 2 .

[0123] 206 , candidate network device 1 sends a handover request confirmation message 1 to the source network device.

[0124] The candidate network device 1 sends a handover request confirmation message 1 to the source network device. The handover request confirmation message 1 is used to indicate that the candidate network device 1 agrees to handover the terminal device to the candidate cell 1. The handover request confirmation message 1 may also include resource configuration information for the terminal device to perform random access in the candidate cell 1.

[0125] 207 , the candidate network device 2 sends a switching request confirmation message 2 to the source network device.

[0126] The candidate network device 2 sends a handover request confirmation message 2 to the source network device. The handover request confirmation message 2 is used to indicate that the candidate network device 2 agrees to handover the terminal device to the candidate cell 2. The handover request confirmation message 2 may also include resource configuration information for random access of the terminal device in the candidate cell 2.

[0127] It is understandable that the execution order of the above steps 205 to 207 is not limited.

[0128] 208. The source network device sends a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to the terminal device.

[0129] The RRC reconfiguration message includes information about candidate cells for conditional handover and corresponding execution conditions, which are conditions for the terminal to trigger cell handover in the corresponding candidate cells. For example, the RRC reconfiguration message may include the execution conditions corresponding to candidate cell 1 and the execution conditions corresponding to candidate cell 2.

[0130] 209. The terminal device sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the source network device.

[0131] 210. The terminal device evaluates whether the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets the corresponding execution condition.

[0132] The terminal device continues to measure the signal quality of the candidate cells for conditional handover and obtains signal quality measurement results. The terminal device determines whether the signal quality measurement results of the candidate cells meet the corresponding execution conditions. If at least one candidate cell meets the corresponding execution conditions, the terminal device selects a candidate cell as the target cell, for example, selecting candidate cell 1 as the target cell.

[0133] The execution condition may include at least one of the following events:

[0134] Event 1: The signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell is higher than the signal quality measurement result of the serving cell by an enhancement offset value;

[0135] Event 2: The signal quality measurement result of the serving cell is lower than threshold 1 and the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell is higher than threshold 2;

[0136] Event 3: The signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell is higher than threshold 3;

[0137] Event 4: The distance between the terminal device and the reference location point of the serving cell is greater than the distance threshold Thresh1, and the distance between the terminal device and the reference location point of the candidate cell is less than the distance threshold Thresh2;

[0138] Event 5: The time measured by the terminal is greater than the time threshold Thresh1 and less than the time threshold Thresh2.

[0139] 211. The terminal device switches from the source cell to the target cell.

[0140] The terminal performs a handover to the target cell. Specifically, the terminal device leaves the source cell and performs synchronization with the target cell, i.e., performs random access in the target cell. Synchronization between the terminal device and the target cell can be used to ensure communication synchronization after the terminal device successfully switches to the target cell.

[0141] 212. The terminal device sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to candidate network device 1.

[0142] In the above conditional handover process, the source network device makes handover decisions based on the signal quality measurement results in the terminal device's measurement report. For example, in step 203, the source network device determines whether to adopt conditional handover based on the signal quality measurement results in the measurement report, and the source network device selects the candidate cell for conditional handover based on the signal quality measurement results in the measurement report. However, the signal quality measurement results only include the past signal quality measurement results of the candidate cell and do not consider the future signal quality of the candidate cell, which may cause the source network device's handover decision to be inaccurate. For example, due to signal fluctuations, there may be moments when the instantaneous signal quality is better, which may cause the source network device to make an incorrect handover decision. For example, the candidate cell selected for conditional handover may only have better signal quality for a short period of time. Selecting this candidate cell will only waste the allocated random access resources and the forwarding resources used to forward messages between network devices. To solve this technical problem, in the communication method proposed in this application, the terminal device can report the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cell, so that the source network device can consider the future signal quality of the candidate cell when making a handover decision, thereby improving the accuracy of the source network device's handover decision.

[0143] In the conditional switching of Figure 2, in step 210, when the terminal device determines the target cell, it also evaluates whether the signal quality measurement results of the candidate cells meet the corresponding execution conditions. If the future signal quality of the candidate cells is not considered, the target cell selected by the terminal device may not be accurate, which may lead to unnecessary switching or premature switching. For example, after the terminal device switches to the target cell, the signal quality of the target cell becomes relatively poor, and the terminal device may switch to other cells again, resulting in unnecessary switching. In order to solve this technical problem, in the communication method proposed in the present application, when the terminal device evaluates the signal quality of each candidate cell for conditional switching during conditional switching, it is necessary to consider the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cell, thereby improving the accuracy of the determined target cell, that is, selecting a suitable target cell as much as possible to perform conditional switching, and reducing unnecessary switching and premature switching.

[0144] The following explains some of the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0145] 1. Signal quality prediction results

[0146] The signal quality prediction result of a candidate cell refers to the future signal quality of the candidate cell predicted based on the known signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell. The signal quality prediction of the candidate cell can be performed through an (Artificial Intelligence, AI) model to obtain the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell. For example, the terminal device obtains the signal quality measurement result in the t2-t1 time period, wherein the signal quality measurement result includes the signal quality measurement results of multiple moments in the t2-t1 time period, and the AI ​​model is used for reasoning to obtain the signal quality prediction result of the cell in the future t3-t2 time period, wherein the signal quality prediction result may include the signal quality prediction results of multiple moments in the t3-t2 time period, or the duration that the signal quality prediction result is higher than a certain threshold. Optionally, the terminal device trains the AI ​​model or performs inference on the signal quality prediction result based on the historical signal quality measurement results of the cell. The above-mentioned signal quality measurement result may be a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ).

[0147] 2. Measuring events

[0148] Under certain conditions (e.g., measurement event triggering or periodic triggering), the terminal device reports a measurement report to the network device. The measurement report includes the signal quality measurement result. For example, the event triggering may include but is not limited to the following measurement events A1A6 and B1B2, which are described below:

[0149] Measurement event A1: Serving becomes better than an absolute threshold;

[0150] Measurement event A2: Serving becomes worse than an absolute threshold;

[0151] Measurement event A3: Neighbor cell becomes amount of offset better than PCell. The PCell is based on carrier aggregation, e.g., in non-carrier aggregation, the PCell is the serving cell.

[0152] Measurement event A4: Neighbor cell is better than an absolute threshold (Neighbor becomes better than absolute threshold);

[0153] Measurement event A5: PCell becomes worse than absolute threshold 1 AND Neighbor becomes better than another absolute threshold 2;

[0154] Measurement event A6: Neighbor cell becomes amount of offset better than SCell, where the SCell is based on carrier aggregation. For example, this measurement event does not exist in non-carrier aggregation.

[0155] Measurement event B1: Inter RAT neighboring cells of different standards are better than a threshold (Inter RAT neighbor becomes better than threshold);

[0156] Measurement event B2: the serving cell is lower than a threshold, and the neighbor cell of a different standard is higher than another threshold (Serving becomes worse than threshold1 and inter RAT neighbor becomes better than threshold2).

[0157] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, "candidate cell" can be replaced by "candidate beam", "candidate target cell" can be replaced by "candidate target beam", and "target cell" can be replaced by "target beam".

[0158] It should be noted that the various technical solutions (or embodiments) of this application can be implemented independently or in combination based on certain internal connections. This application is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the various terms and definitions between the various embodiments can be referenced to each other. In each embodiment of this application, different implementations can also be implemented in combination or independently.

[0159] Please refer to FIG3 , which is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the communication method of this embodiment includes the following steps 301 and 302, and optionally, may further include step 303. Steps 301 to 303 are described below:

[0160] 301. The terminal device determines signal quality prediction results of M candidate cells, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0161] The M candidate cells may be cells that the terminal device determines need to be reported. Exemplarily, the M candidate cells may be cells that meet the measurement events configured by the network device (the network device may refer to the source network device), or the M candidate cells may also be cells that meet the periodic reporting conditions. In some embodiments, the number of cells that meet the measurement events or the periodic reporting conditions determined by the terminal device may be greater than M. For example, the number of cells that meet the measurement events or the periodic reporting conditions is Y, the value of Y is greater than M, and the terminal device reports M cells out of the Y cells. The terminal device may predict the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells through the AI ​​model.

[0162] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned M candidate cells are cells that meet the measurement event, which may mean that the signal quality measurement results of the M candidate cells meet the measurement event, or, it may mean that the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells meet the measurement event, or, it may mean that the signal quality measurement results of the M candidate cells meet the measurement event and the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells meet the measurement event.

[0163] Exemplarily, the measurement events satisfied by the signal quality prediction result may continue to use the measurement events satisfied by the signal quality measurement result, and the names of the measurement events remain unchanged, for example, measurement events A1-A6 and B1-B2 in the aforementioned terminology explanations may continue to be used. Optionally, the threshold value in the measurement event satisfied by the signal quality prediction result may be different from the threshold value in the measurement event satisfied by the signal quality measurement result. For example, for measurement event A3, the offset value in measurement event A3 satisfied by the signal quality prediction result is offset1, and the offset value in measurement event A3 satisfied by the signal quality measurement result is offset2. Offset1 is different from offset2. The network device may configure the measurement event.

[0164] Exemplarily, the measurement event satisfied by the signal quality prediction result may be a newly defined measurement event, and the name of the measurement event satisfied by the signal quality prediction result may be different from the name of the measurement event satisfied by the signal quality measurement result. For example, measurement event C1, measurement event C2, etc. may be defined for the signal quality prediction result, and the content of the newly defined measurement event is not limited. The content of the measurement event of the signal quality measurement result may continue to be used, or it may be a newly defined content, such as a newly defined condition that the signal quality prediction result needs to meet. The measurement event satisfied by the signal quality measurement result is referred to as a first measurement event, and the measurement event that the signal quality prediction result needs to meet is referred to as a second measurement event. The first measurement event is used to define the conditions that the signal quality measurement result needs to meet, and the second measurement event is used to define the conditions that the signal quality prediction result needs to meet. In the embodiment of the present application, the M candidate cells may be cells whose signal quality measurement results meet the first measurement event, or the M candidate cells may be cells whose signal quality prediction results meet the second measurement event, or the M candidate cells may be cells whose signal quality measurement results meet the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction results meet the second measurement event. In some embodiments, the first measurement event can be not only a measurement event that the signal quality measurement result needs to meet, but also a measurement event that the signal quality prediction result needs to meet. For example, after determining that the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets the first measurement event, in order to facilitate determining the length of time that the candidate cell continues to meet the first measurement event in the future, it can be determined whether the signal quality prediction result continues to meet the first measurement event and / or the length of time that continues to meet the first measurement event.

[0165] The first measurement event and / or the second measurement event described above are all configured by the network device. Exemplarily, if the network device configures the second measurement event, the terminal device reports a candidate cell whose signal quality prediction result meets the second measurement event. Exemplarily, if the network device configures the first measurement event, the terminal device reports a candidate cell whose signal quality measurement result meets the first measurement event. Exemplarily, if the network device configures the first measurement event and the second measurement event, the terminal device may report a candidate cell whose signal quality measurement result meets the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result meets the second measurement event. In some implementations, the network device configures the first measurement event and the second measurement event, and the network device is required to further send third indication information before the terminal device reports a candidate cell whose signal quality measurement result meets the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result meets the second measurement event. The third indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device reports a candidate cell whose signal quality measurement result meets the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result meets the second measurement event. The third indication information may be sent via one of the following messages: an RRC message, a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), a downlink control information (DCI), etc.

[0166] 302. The terminal device sends a measurement report to the network device. The measurement report includes reporting information of M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells. Accordingly, the network device receives the measurement report.

[0167] The reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information for indicating the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells. For example, the sorting order of the reporting information of the M candidate cells may indicate the sorting information of the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells. This type of indication of the signal quality prediction results may be understood as an implicit indication. For another example, the relevant information may be the prediction information of the M candidate cells, and the prediction information may be used to indirectly determine whether the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells meet the measurement event and / or the duration of the measurement event. The measurement event may include a first measurement event or a second measurement event. For another example, the relevant information may also directly indicate the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells. For example, the prediction information in the reporting information of the candidate cell includes the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell. Exemplarily, the reporting information of the candidate cell may also include the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell. Whether the reporting information includes the prediction information may be configured by the network device. In the embodiment of the present application, the reporting information of the candidate cell may include the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell and / or the prediction information of the candidate cell.

[0168] It can be understood that in the beam measurement reporting scenario, the terminal device can determine the signal quality prediction results of M candidate beams and send a measurement report, which includes reporting information of the M candidate beams, and the reporting information of the M candidate beams includes relevant information for indicating the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate beams.

[0169] 303. The network device determines N candidate cells for conditional handover according to the measurement report.

[0170] The network device may determine relevant information for indicating the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells based on the reporting information of the M candidate cells in the measurement report. For example, the signal quality prediction result sorting information of the M candidate cells may be determined based on the sorting order of the reporting information of the M candidate cells. For another example, it may be determined whether the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells meet the measurement event and the duration of the measurement event based on the prediction information of the M candidate cells. The network device makes a switching decision based on the relevant information of the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells. The switching decision may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: determining whether to configure conditional switching, determining the candidate cells for conditional switching, determining whether to configure normal switching, and determining the candidate cells for configuring normal switching. For example, the network device may give priority to candidate cells whose signal quality prediction results meet the measurement event for conditional switching.

[0171] The following describes, by way of example, a rule for sorting the reported information of the M candidate cells in the measurement report, to indicate sorting information of the signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

[0172] Sorting rule 1: In the measurement report, the reporting information of the M candidate cells is sorted according to the duration length corresponding to each candidate cell. The duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell is greater than the first threshold.

[0173] The first threshold may be a threshold of a reference signal received power (RSRP), or the first threshold may be a threshold of a reference signal received quality (RSRQ). The first threshold may be a threshold value configured by a network device, or a threshold value specified by a protocol. The first threshold value may be the same as or different from the threshold value in the measurement event, and this application does not limit this. The terminal device determines the duration length that the signal quality prediction result of each candidate cell in the M candidate cells is greater than the first threshold value.

[0174] Exemplarily, the reported information of the M candidate cells is sorted in descending order according to the duration length corresponding to each candidate cell. For example, the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell. If the duration length corresponding to the first candidate cell is greater than the duration length corresponding to the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reported information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reported information of the second candidate cell.

[0175] Exemplarily, the reported information of the M candidate cells is sorted in ascending order according to the duration length corresponding to each candidate cell. For example, the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell. If the duration length corresponding to the first candidate cell is shorter than the duration length corresponding to the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reported information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reported information of the second candidate cell.

[0176] In some implementations, the M candidate cells may be cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy a first measurement event and / or cells whose signal quality prediction results satisfy a second measurement event. The first measurement event may be the same as or different from the second measurement event, and this application is not limited thereto. Optionally, the duration length corresponding to the candidate cell may also be reported. For example, the reporting information of the candidate cell may include the duration length corresponding to the candidate cell.

[0177] In some implementations, the reporting information of multiple candidate cells among M candidate cells whose duration is greater than or equal to the time length threshold may be sorted according to the above-mentioned sorting rule 1, and the reporting information of candidate cells whose duration is less than the time length threshold may not be sorted according to the above-mentioned sorting rule 1.

[0178] The network device may determine the order of duration lengths corresponding to the candidate cells according to the order of the reported information of the candidate cells, thereby preferentially selecting candidate cells with longer duration lengths for conditional switching.

[0179] Sorting rule 2: In the measurement report, the reported information of the M candidate cells is sorted according to the size of the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells.

[0180] The signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell may be the predicted RSRP or RSRQ of the candidate cell.

[0181] Exemplarily, the reported information of the M candidate cells may be sorted in descending order according to the signal quality prediction results of each candidate cell. For example, the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell. If the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the reported information of the first candidate cell is positioned before the reported information of the second candidate cell.

[0182] Exemplarily, the reported information of the M candidate cells may be sorted in ascending order according to the signal quality prediction results of each candidate cell. For example, if the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell, and if the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is less than the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the reported information of the first candidate cell is positioned before the reported information of the second candidate cell.

[0183] In some implementations, the M candidate cells may be cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy a first measurement event and / or cells whose signal quality prediction results satisfy a second measurement event. The first measurement event may be the same as or different from the second measurement event, and this application is not limited thereto. Optionally, the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells may also be reported. For example, the reporting information of the candidate cells may include the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells.

[0184] The network device may determine the order of signal quality prediction results of each candidate cell according to the order of the reported information of the candidate cells, thereby preferentially selecting a candidate cell with a larger signal quality prediction result for conditional switching.

[0185] Sorting rule 3: In the measurement report, the reporting information of the M candidate cells is sorted according to the length of time that the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells meet the measurement event.

[0186] In this sorting rule 3, the measurement event that the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell satisfies may be the first measurement event that the signal quality measurement result configured by the network must satisfy. For example, if the signal quality measurement results of the M candidate cells satisfy the first measurement event configured by the network, the length of time that the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells continue to satisfy the first measurement event in the future may be further determined. Optionally, the measurement event that the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell satisfies may also be the second measurement event that the signal quality prediction result configured by the network must satisfy.

[0187] In some embodiments, the network may configure measurement events that require reporting information to be sorted according to the length of time that the signal quality prediction results meet the measurement event. For example, the network may configure candidate cells whose signal quality measurement results or signal quality prediction results meet measurement event A3 to be sorted according to the length of time that the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells will meet measurement event A3 in the future. The terminal device may sort the reporting information of all candidate cells whose signal quality measurement results or signal quality prediction results meet measurement event A3 according to the length of time that the signal quality prediction results meet measurement event A3.

[0188] Exemplarily, the reporting information of the M candidate cells may be sorted in descending order based on the length of time that the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells satisfy the measurement event. For example, the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell. If the length of time that the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell satisfies the measurement event is longer than the length of time that the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell satisfies the measurement event, then in the measurement report, the reporting information of the first candidate cell is positioned before the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0189] Exemplarily, the reporting information of the M candidate cells may be sorted in ascending order according to the length of time that the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells satisfy the measurement event. For example, the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell. If the length of time that the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell satisfies the measurement event is shorter than the length of time that the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell satisfies the measurement event, then in the measurement report, the reporting information of the first candidate cell is positioned before the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0190] In some implementations, the M candidate cells may be cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy a first measurement event, and / or cells whose signal quality prediction results satisfy a second measurement event. The first measurement event may be the same as or different from the second measurement event, and this application is not limited thereto. Optionally, the length of time that the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell satisfies the measurement event may also be reported. For example, the reporting information of the candidate cell includes the length of time that the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell satisfies the measurement event.

[0191] The network device can determine the order of the time length of the signal quality prediction results of each candidate cell that meets the measurement event based on the sorting order of the reported information of the candidate cells, thereby giving priority to selecting the candidate cell whose signal quality prediction results meet the measurement event for a longer time length for conditional switching.

[0192] It is understandable that when reporting the reporting information of the candidate beams, the terminal device may also sort and report the reporting information of each candidate beam according to the above-mentioned sorting rule 1, sorting rule 2 or sorting rule 3.

[0193] In some embodiments, the network may configure the terminal device through signaling which sorting rule to use for reporting information of candidate cells or candidate beams.

[0194] In some embodiments, a protocol may be used to specify a sorting rule for the reporting information of candidate cells or candidate beams reported by the terminal device.

[0195] The following describes by way of example that the reporting information of the candidate cell in the measurement report may include prediction information indicating a signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell. The prediction information may be determined by the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell.

[0196] It is understood that the content of this embodiment can be implemented separately or in combination with the content of the embodiment of the above-mentioned sorting rules. For example, the content of this embodiment is implemented in combination with the content of the embodiment of the above-mentioned sorting rules, the reported information of the candidate cell includes prediction information, and the order of the reported information of the M candidate cells in the measurement report satisfies one of the above-mentioned sorting rules.

[0197] In this embodiment, the M candidate cells in the measurement report may be cells whose signal quality measurement results meet the first measurement event. The network can configure whether the terminal device reports prediction information. In some implementations, the network device can configure prediction information to be reported when the signal quality measurement results meet a specific measurement event. For example, the network device can configure prediction information for a candidate cell to be reported when the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets measurement event A3.

[0198] The following examples illustrate the forms in which prediction information exists. The following various forms can be implemented individually or in combination. The combined implementation can be understood as the prediction information including the content of the prediction information in at least two forms:

[0199] In mode 1, the prediction information of the candidate cell includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell meets the measurement event or does not meet the measurement event.

[0200] As an example, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell meets the first measurement event or does not meet the first measurement event. Specifically, if the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets the first measurement event, the first indication information may further indicate whether future signal quality prediction results of the candidate cell continue to meet the first measurement event.

[0201] As another example, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the second measurement event or does not satisfy the second measurement event. Specifically, if the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell satisfies the first measurement event, if the network configures the second measurement event for the signal quality prediction result, the first indication information may be used to indicate whether the future signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell satisfies the second measurement event.

[0202] In mode 2, the prediction information of the candidate cell includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell meets the measurement event or does not meet the measurement event within the time period. The start time of the time period is determined by the time when the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets the measurement event.

[0203] The length of the time period may be configured by the network, and the start time of the time period may also be configured by the network, or the start time of the time period may be the moment when the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets the first measurement event, or the moment determined by the moment when the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets the first measurement event plus an offset.

[0204] As an example, the second indication information may be used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the first measurement event or does not satisfy the first measurement event within a time period. Specifically, if the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell satisfies the first measurement event, the second indication information may further indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell continues to satisfy the first measurement event within a future time period.

[0205] As another example, the second indication information may be used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the second measurement event or does not satisfy the second measurement event within the time period. Specifically, if the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell satisfies the first measurement event, if the network configures a second measurement event for the signal quality prediction result, the second indication information may be used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell satisfies the second measurement event within the future time period.

[0206] Mode 3: The prediction information of the candidate cell includes a time length, which is a time length for which the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell satisfies the measurement event.

[0207] As an example, the time length included in the prediction information of the candidate cell may be a time length during which the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell is predicted to meet the first measurement event. Specifically, if the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets the first measurement event, the time length in the prediction information of the candidate cell may further indicate the length of time during which future signal quality prediction results of the candidate cell can continue to meet the first measurement event.

[0208] As another example, the time length included in the prediction information of the candidate cell may be a time length during which the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell is predicted to meet the second measurement event. Specifically, if the signal quality measurement result of the candidate cell meets the first measurement event, and the network configures a second measurement event for the signal quality prediction result, the time length during which the future signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell meets the second measurement event may be further indicated to the network.

[0209] Please refer to FIG4 , which is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. In the embodiment of FIG4 , it is mainly described that a terminal device can select a target cell based on the signal quality prediction results of the candidate cells. As shown in FIG4 , the communication method of this embodiment includes the following steps 401 and 402. Steps 401 and 402 are described below:

[0210] 401. A network device sends conditional switching information to a terminal device. The conditional switching information includes first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells. The first execution conditions indicate the switching conditions that the signal quality prediction results of the corresponding candidate cells must meet. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the conditional switching information.

[0211] 402. The terminal device determines a target cell from the N candidate cells. The signal quality prediction result of the target cell satisfies the first execution condition corresponding to the target cell.

[0212] In some embodiments, the N candidate cells may be cells among the M candidate cells reported by the terminal device through a measurement report, N is an integer less than or equal to M, and the N candidate cells are included in the M cells. The network device may configure corresponding first execution conditions for the N candidate cells respectively. The first execution condition indicates the switching condition that the future signal quality prediction results of the candidate cell and / or the serving cell need to meet. The terminal device determines that the signal quality prediction result of the candidate cell meets the corresponding first execution condition, then uses the candidate cell that meets the first execution condition as the target cell, and performs conditional switching. Exemplarily, the first execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells may be different, or there are at least two candidate cells among the N candidate cells that have the same first execution conditions. For example, N=3, and the first execution conditions corresponding to candidate cell 1 and candidate cell 2 of the three candidate cells are the same, and the first execution condition corresponding to candidate cell 3 is different. For another example, N=3, the first execution conditions corresponding to the three candidate cells may all be the same, that is, the first execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells are all the same.

[0213] The first execution condition may include one or more of the following measurement events: condEventA3, condEventA5, and condEventA4. The measurement event condEventA3 indicates that the signal quality prediction result of the neighboring cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the serving cell by an offset value. The configuration parameters corresponding to the measurement event condEventA3 include: a3-Offset, Hysteresis, and TimeToTrigger. Among them, a3-Offset refers to the offset value by which the signal quality prediction result of the neighboring cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the serving cell. Hysteresis is a hysteresis parameter used for measurement event judgment, and TimeToTrigger indicates the duration of time that the signal quality condition condEventA3 is met.

[0214] condEventA4 indicates that the signal quality prediction result of the neighboring cell is greater than a threshold. The configuration parameters corresponding to the measurement event condEventA4 include: a4-Threshold, Hysteresis, and TimeToTrigger. a4-Threshold represents the threshold value of the measurement event condEventA4, Hysteresis is the hysteresis parameter used to determine the measurement event condEventA4, and TimeToTrigger represents the duration of the measurement event condEventA4.

[0215] condEventA5 indicates that the signal quality prediction result of the serving cell is lower than threshold 1, while the signal quality prediction result of the neighboring cell is higher than threshold 2. The configuration parameters corresponding to the measurement event condEventA5 include: a5-Threshold1, a5-Threshold2, Hysteresis, and TimeToTrigger. Among them, a5-Threshold1 indicates threshold 1 corresponding to the measurement event condEventA5, a5-Threshold2 indicates threshold 2 corresponding to the measurement event condEventA5, Hysteresis is used as the hysteresis parameter for determining the measurement event condEventA5, and TimeToTrigger indicates the duration for satisfying the signal quality condition condEventA5.

[0216] It is understandable that the above description of the first execution condition is only an example, and the first execution condition may also include other measurement events, which is not limited in this application.

[0217] In some embodiments, the conditional switching information sent by the network device to the terminal device may also include second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells respectively, and the second execution conditions indicate the switching conditions that the signal quality measurement results of the candidate cells and / or the serving cells need to meet. For example, the second execution condition may be one or more of measurement event A3, measurement event A4, or measurement event A5. The measurement events included in the first execution condition and the second execution condition may be the same or different, and this application is not limited thereto. Exemplarily, the second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells may be different, or there may be at least two candidate cells among the N candidate cells whose corresponding second execution conditions are the same. For example, N=3, and the second execution conditions corresponding to candidate cell 1 and candidate cell 2 of the three candidate cells are the same, and the second execution conditions corresponding to candidate cell 3 are different. For another example, N=3, and the second execution conditions corresponding to the three candidate cells may all be the same, that is, the second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells are all the same.

[0218] In one possible implementation, when the network device configures the first execution condition and the second execution condition for the terminal device, the terminal device can select a cell whose signal quality prediction result meets the first execution condition and whose signal quality measurement result meets the second execution condition.

[0219] In another possible implementation, when the network device configures the first execution condition and the second execution condition for the terminal device, the terminal device can first determine Y candidate target cells whose signal quality measurement results meet the corresponding second execution condition from the N candidate cells, where Y is a natural number less than or equal to N, and the Y candidate target cells are included in the N candidate cells. If the value of Y is equal to 1, then the candidate target cell is used as the target cell. If the value of Y is greater than 1, that is, there are multiple candidate target cells, then the target cell whose signal quality prediction result meets the corresponding first execution condition can be determined from the Y candidate target cells. If there are multiple candidate target cells whose signal quality prediction results meet the corresponding first execution condition, the terminal device can select one candidate target cell as the target cell for conditional switching through an algorithm or random selection, and perform conditional switching.

[0220] For example, if the first execution condition and the second execution condition include the same measurement event, the network may configure only the TimeToTrigger parameter when configuring the first execution condition, i.e., the other parameters still reuse the parameters in the second execution condition. Typically, the value of TimeToTrigger in the first execution condition is greater than the value of TimeToTrigger in the second execution condition.

[0221] In the embodiment of the present application, the target cell for conditional switching can be determined based on the signal quality prediction result, so that the terminal device can be switched to a suitable target cell, thereby improving switching efficiency and reducing unnecessary switching.

[0222] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a terminal device. Exemplarily, the communication device can be a terminal device, or a device in a terminal device, for example, a chip or chip module in the terminal device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the terminal device. The communication device 100 shown in Figure 5 may include a determining unit 110 and a sending unit 120, wherein:

[0223] A determining unit 110 is configured to determine signal quality prediction results of M candidate cells, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0224] The sending unit 120 is configured to send a measurement report, where the measurement report includes reporting information of the M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

[0225] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0226] If the first duration corresponding to the first candidate cell is longer than the second duration corresponding to the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reported information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reported information of the second candidate cell;

[0227] The first duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the second duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

[0228] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0229] If the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0230] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0231] If the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell meets the measurement event is greater than the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell meets the measurement event, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0232] In one possible implementation, the M candidate cells are cells that meet at least one of the following: a signal quality measurement result meets a first measurement event; a signal quality prediction result meets a second measurement event, where the first measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality measurement result, and the second measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality prediction result.

[0233] In a possible implementation manner, the reported information includes a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell and / or prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell, and the prediction information is determined by a signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell.

[0234] In a possible implementation, the prediction information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event; and / or, the prediction information includes a time length, where the time length is the time length for which the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell is predicted to satisfy the measurement event; and / or, the prediction information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event within a time period, and the start time of the time period is determined by the time when the signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event;

[0235] The measurement event is the first measurement event or the second measurement event.

[0236] In a possible implementation manner, whether the reported information includes the prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell is configured by a network device.

[0237] In a possible implementation, the M candidate cells are cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction results satisfy the second measurement event, and the apparatus further includes:

[0238] The receiving unit is configured to receive a measurement configuration, where the measurement configuration includes the first measurement event and the second measurement event.

[0239] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit is further configured to receive third indication information, where the third indication information indicates a cell whose reported signal quality measurement result satisfies the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the second measurement event.

[0240] In a possible implementation, the receiving unit is further configured to receive conditional switching information, where the conditional switching information includes first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells, respectively, where the first execution conditions indicate a switching condition that a signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell needs to satisfy, where N is an integer less than or equal to M, and the N candidate cells are included in the M cells;

[0241] The determining unit is further configured to determine a target cell from the N candidate cells, where a signal quality prediction result of the target cell satisfies a first execution condition corresponding to the target cell.

[0242] In a possible implementation, the conditional switching information further includes second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells, respectively, where the second execution conditions indicate switching conditions that a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell needs to satisfy;

[0243] The target cell is a cell whose signal quality prediction result satisfies a corresponding first execution condition and whose signal quality measurement result satisfies a corresponding second execution condition.

[0244] In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit is specifically configured to:

[0245] Determine Y candidate target cells from the N candidate cells, where the Y candidate target cells are candidate cells whose signal quality measurement results meet the corresponding second execution condition, and Y is a natural number less than or equal to N;

[0246] If the value of Y is greater than 1, a target cell is determined from the Y candidate target cells, where the target cell is a candidate target cell whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the corresponding first execution condition.

[0247] The specific description of the embodiment of FIG5 can refer to the description of the embodiments of FIG3 and FIG4 , which will not be repeated here.

[0248] Please refer to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device is applied to a network device. For example, the communication device can be a network device or a device in a network device, for example, a chip or chip module in the network device, or a device that can be used in conjunction with the network device. The communication device 200 shown in Figure 6 may include a receiving unit 210, wherein:

[0249] The receiving unit 210 is configured to receive a measurement report, where the measurement report includes reporting information of M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

[0250] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0251] If the first duration corresponding to the first candidate cell is longer than the second duration corresponding to the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reported information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reported information of the second candidate cell;

[0252] The first duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the second duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

[0253] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0254] If the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0255] In a possible implementation, M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell;

[0256] If the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell meets the measurement event is greater than the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell meets the measurement event, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

[0257] In one possible implementation, the M candidate cells are cells that meet at least one of the following: a signal quality measurement result meets a first measurement event; a signal quality prediction result meets a second measurement event, where the first measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality measurement result, and the second measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality prediction result.

[0258] In a possible implementation manner, the reported information includes a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell and / or prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell, and the prediction information is determined by a signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell.

[0259] In a possible implementation, the prediction information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event; and / or, the prediction information includes a time length, where the time length is the time length for which the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell is predicted to satisfy the measurement event; and / or, the prediction information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event within a time period, and the start time of the time period is determined by the time when the signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event;

[0260] The measurement event is the first measurement event or the second measurement event.

[0261] In a possible implementation, the M candidate cells are cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction results satisfy the second measurement event, and the apparatus further includes:

[0262] The sending unit is configured to send a measurement configuration, where the measurement configuration includes the first measurement event and the second measurement event.

[0263] In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to send third indication information, where the third indication information indicates a cell whose reported signal quality measurement result satisfies the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the second measurement event.

[0264] In one possible implementation, the sending unit is also used to send conditional switching information, wherein the conditional switching information includes first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells respectively, and the first execution conditions indicate the switching conditions that need to be met by the signal quality prediction results of the corresponding candidate cells. N is an integer less than or equal to M, and the N candidate cells are included in the M cells.

[0265] In a possible implementation, the conditional switching information further includes second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells respectively, where the second execution conditions indicate switching conditions that signal quality measurement results of the corresponding candidate cells need to meet.

[0266] The specific description of the embodiment of FIG6 can refer to the description of the embodiments of FIG3 and FIG4 , which will not be repeated here.

[0267] Please refer to Figure 7, which is a structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is used to implement the functions of the terminal devices in Figures 3 and 4 above, or to implement the functions of the network devices in Figures 3 and 4 above. The communication device 300 can be a terminal device or a device for a terminal device. The device for a terminal device can be a chip system or chip in a terminal device. The communication device can also be a network device or a device for a network device. The device for a network device can be a chip system or chip in a network device. Among them, the chip system can be composed of chips, or it can include chips and other discrete devices.

[0268] The communication device 300 includes at least one processor 320 for implementing the data processing function of the terminal device in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The communication device 300 may also include a communication interface 310 for implementing the transceiver operation of the terminal device in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 320 may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication interface 310 may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface for communicating with other devices via a transmission medium. For example, the communication interface 310 is used for the communication device 300 to communicate with other devices. The processor 320 uses the communication interface 310 to send and receive data, and is used to implement the method described in Figures 3 and 4 of the above method embodiment.

[0269] The communication device 300 may also include at least one memory 330 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 330 is coupled to the processor 320. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between the devices, units, or modules. The processor 320 may operate in conjunction with the memory 330. The processor 320 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 330. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

[0270] When the communication device 300 is turned on, the processor 320 can read the software program in the memory 330, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 320 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit (not shown in Figure 7). The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device 300, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 320. The processor 320 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0271] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be provided independently of the processor 320 that performs baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be remotely located independent of the device.

[0272] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 310, processor 320, and memory 330 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 7, the memory 330, processor 320, and communication interface 310 are connected via a bus 340. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 7. The connection between other components is only for schematic illustration and is not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 7, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0273] When the communication device 300 is specifically used in a terminal device, for example, when the communication device 300 is specifically a chip or a chip system, the communication interface 310 may output or receive a baseband signal. When the communication device 300 is specifically a terminal device, the communication interface 310 may output or receive a radio frequency signal.

[0274] It should be noted that the communication device 300 can execute the relevant steps of the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiment. For details, please refer to the implementation methods provided in the above steps, which will not be repeated here.

[0275] For each device or product applied to or integrated in the device, each module contained therein can be implemented by hardware such as circuits, and different modules can be located in the same component (for example, a chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components within the terminal. Alternatively, at least some of the modules can be implemented by software programs, which run on a processor integrated within the terminal, and the remaining (if any) modules can be implemented by hardware such as circuits.

[0276] The memory may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of random access memory (RAM) are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAMbus RAM (DR RAM).

[0277] An embodiment of the present application provides a chip. The chip includes a processor and a memory. The processor may be one or more, and the memory may be one or more. The processor reads instructions and data stored in the memory to execute the methods illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, as well as the steps performed in related embodiments.

[0278] As shown in Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a module device provided in an embodiment of the present application, the module device 400 can execute the steps related to the terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiment, or the module device 400 can execute the steps related to the network device in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0279] The module device 400 includes a communication module 410, a power module 420, a storage module 430, and a chip module 440. The power module 420 is used to provide power to the module device; the storage module 430 is used to store data and / or instructions; the communication module 410 is used to communicate with external devices; and the chip module 440 is used to access the data and / or instructions stored in the storage module 430. In conjunction with the communication module 410, the method shown in Figures 3 and 4 above, as well as the steps performed in the related embodiments, can be executed.

[0280] In an embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is further provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the computer program includes program instructions, and when an electronic device executes the program instructions, the steps performed by the terminal device in the method shown in Figures 3 and 4 are implemented, or the steps performed by the network device in the method shown in Figures 3 and 4 are implemented.

[0281] The computer-readable storage medium may be an internal storage unit of the terminal device or network device described in any of the aforementioned embodiments, such as a hard disk or memory of the device. The computer-readable storage medium may also be an external storage device of the terminal device or network device, such as a plug-in hard disk, a smart media card (SMC), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash card, etc. equipped on the device. Furthermore, the computer-readable storage medium may include both an internal storage unit of the terminal device or network device and an external storage device. The computer-readable storage medium is used to store the computer program and other programs and data required by the terminal device or network device. The computer-readable storage medium may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains a collection of one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium may be a solid-state drive.

[0282] Regarding the various modules / units contained in the various devices and products described in the above embodiments, they can be software modules / units, hardware modules / units, or partly software modules / units and partly hardware modules / units. For example, for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip, the various modules / units contained therein can all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, or at least part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of software programs, which run on the processor integrated inside the chip, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip module, the various modules / units contained therein can all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units can be located in the same component of the chip module (such as a chip, circuit module, etc.) or in different components, or at least part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of software programs. It is implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the chip module, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated in the data acquisition node, the various modules / units contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (for example, chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components in the terminal, or, at least some modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program, which runs on the processor integrated inside the data acquisition node, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuits.

[0283] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center by wired or wireless means.

[0284] 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.

[0285] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods, devices, and systems can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic; for example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation; for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0286] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0287] In addition, the functional units in various embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into a single processing unit, each unit may be physically included 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 hardware plus software functional units.

[0288] The above-mentioned integrated unit implemented in the form of a software functional unit can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The above-mentioned software functional unit stored in a storage medium includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or gateway node, etc.) to perform some steps of the method described in various embodiments of the present invention.

[0289] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the processes in the above-described method embodiments can be implemented by instructing related hardware through a computer program. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, the program can include the processes in the above-described method embodiments. The storage medium can be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a read-only memory (ROM), or a random access memory (RAM).

[0290] The above disclosure is only a preferred embodiment of the present application, and certainly cannot be used to limit the scope of rights of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can understand that all or part of the processes of the above embodiment and equivalent changes made in accordance with the claims of this application are still within the scope covered by the application.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Determine signal quality prediction results for M candidate cells, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; Sending a measurement report, where the measurement report includes reporting information of the M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell; If the first duration corresponding to the first candidate cell is longer than the second duration corresponding to the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reported information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reported information of the second candidate cell; The first duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the second duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell; If the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell; If the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell meets the measurement event is greater than the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell meets the measurement event, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The M candidate cells are cells that meet at least one of the following: a signal quality measurement result meets a first measurement event; a signal quality prediction result meets a second measurement event, the first measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality measurement result, and the second measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality prediction result.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The reported information includes a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell and / or prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell, and the prediction information is determined by the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The prediction information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event; and / or the prediction information includes a time length, where the time length is a time length for which the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell is predicted to satisfy the measurement event; and / or the prediction information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event within a time period, where a start time of the time period is determined by a time when the signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event; The measurement event is the first measurement event or the second measurement event.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein: Whether the reported information includes the prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell is configured by the network device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein: The M candidate cells are cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction results satisfy the second measurement event, and the method further includes: A measurement configuration is received, the measurement configuration including the first measurement event and the second measurement event.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The method further comprises: Third indication information is received, where the third indication information indicates a cell whose reported signal quality measurement result satisfies the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the second measurement event.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein: The method further comprises: receiving conditional switching information, the conditional switching information including first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells, respectively, the first execution conditions indicating a switching condition that a signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell needs to satisfy, where N is an integer less than or equal to M, and the N candidate cells are included in the M cells; A target cell is determined from the N candidate cells, where a signal quality prediction result of the target cell satisfies a first execution condition corresponding to the target cell.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The conditional switching information further includes second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells respectively, where the second execution conditions indicate switching conditions that need to be satisfied by the signal quality measurement results of the corresponding candidate cells; The target cell is a cell whose signal quality prediction result satisfies a corresponding first execution condition and whose signal quality measurement result satisfies a corresponding second execution condition.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The determining a target cell from the N candidate cells includes: Determine Y candidate target cells from the N candidate cells, where the Y candidate target cells are candidate cells whose signal quality measurement results meet the corresponding second execution condition, and Y is a natural number less than or equal to N; If the value of Y is greater than 1, a target cell is determined from the Y candidate target cells, where the target cell is a candidate target cell whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the corresponding first execution condition.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: include: A measurement report is received, where the measurement report includes reporting information of M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell; If the first duration corresponding to the first candidate cell is longer than the second duration corresponding to the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reported information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reported information of the second candidate cell; The first duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold, and the second duration length is the duration length during which the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell is greater than or equal to the first threshold.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell; If the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell is greater than the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and the M candidate cells include a first candidate cell and a second candidate cell; If the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the first candidate cell meets the measurement event is greater than the time length that the signal quality prediction result of the second candidate cell meets the measurement event, then in the measurement report, the position of the reporting information of the first candidate cell is before the position of the reporting information of the second candidate cell.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein: The M candidate cells are cells that meet at least one of the following: a signal quality measurement result meets a first measurement event; a signal quality prediction result meets a second measurement event, the first measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality measurement result, and the second measurement event is used to limit the conditions met by the signal quality prediction result.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein: The reported information includes a signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell and / or prediction information of the corresponding candidate cell, and the prediction information is determined by the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The prediction information includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event; and / or the prediction information includes a time length, where the time length is a time length for which the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell is predicted to satisfy the measurement event; and / or the prediction information includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether the signal quality prediction result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event or does not satisfy the measurement event within a time period, where a start time of the time period is determined by a time when the signal quality measurement result of the corresponding candidate cell satisfies the measurement event; The measurement event is the first measurement event or the second measurement event.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein: The M candidate cells are cells whose signal quality measurement results satisfy the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction results satisfy the second measurement event, and the method further includes: A measurement configuration is sent, where the measurement configuration includes the first measurement event and the second measurement event.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The method further comprises: Third indication information is sent, where the third indication information indicates a cell whose reported signal quality measurement result satisfies the first measurement event and whose signal quality prediction result satisfies the second measurement event.

23. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 22, wherein: The method further comprises: Send conditional switching information, where the conditional switching information includes first execution conditions corresponding to N candidate cells, respectively, where the first execution conditions indicate switching conditions that need to be satisfied by the signal quality prediction results of the corresponding candidate cells, where N is an integer less than or equal to M, and the N candidate cells are included in the M cells.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The conditional switching information further includes second execution conditions corresponding to the N candidate cells respectively, where the second execution conditions indicate switching conditions that need to be satisfied by signal quality measurement results of the corresponding candidate cells.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: include: a determining unit, configured to determine signal quality prediction results of M candidate cells, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; The sending unit is configured to send a measurement report, where the measurement report includes reporting information of the M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: include: The receiving unit is configured to receive a measurement report, where the measurement report includes reporting information of M candidate cells, and the reporting information of the M candidate cells includes relevant information indicating signal quality prediction results of the M candidate cells.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor and a memory, and the processor and the memory are connected to each other, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the computer program includes program instructions. The processor calls the program instructions to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or executes the method according to any one of claims 14 to 24.

28. A chip, characterized in that: The chip includes a processor and an interface, and the processor and the interface are coupled; the interface is used to receive or output signals, and the processor is used to execute code instructions, execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or execute the method according to any one of claims 14 to 24.

29. A module device, characterized in that: The module device includes a communication module, a power module, a storage module and a chip module, wherein: The power supply module is used to provide electrical energy to the module device; The storage module is used to store data and / or instructions; The communication module is used to communicate with external devices; The chip module is used to call the data and / or instructions stored in the storage module, and in combination with the communication module, execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or execute the method according to any one of claims 14 to 24.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, which includes program instructions. When a computer executes the program instructions, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 14 to 24 is implemented.

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