Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method and apparatus. A terminal receives first information from a network device, wherein the first information is used for instructing the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of a first cell and of a second cell within a set future period of time, the first cell is a serving cell where the terminal is currently located, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and at least one of the first cell and the second cell is an NTN cell; and the terminal sends second information to the network device, wherein the second information is used for indicating a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell, and the first predicted value and the second predicted value are used for determining a target cell for the terminal to access within the set future period of time. In embodiments of the present application, a terminal can predict and report the cell signal quality within a set future period of time, thereby improving the efficiency of subsequent cell handover by the terminal.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on March 30, 2024, with application number 202410385883.6 and application name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0004] In the satellite-ground fusion scenario of a non-terrestrial network (NTN) and a terrestrial network (TN), as the position of the network device moves, the beam coverage of the network device (e.g., a data beam in a non-staring mode) on the ground will also change. For example, the aforementioned beam coverage moves from a non-coexistence area of ​​NTN and TN to a coexistence area of ​​NTN and TN, where the coexistence area may be an area where there is interference between NTN and TN, and the non-coexistence area may be an area where there is no interference between NTN and TN, which may cause the service quality of the cell where the terminal is currently located (e.g., reference signal receiving power (RSRP)) to deteriorate, thereby causing the terminal to need to perform cell switching to ensure the communication quality of the terminal.

[0005] However, if the cell switching of the terminal is not timely, the communication quality of the terminal will also be affected. Therefore, in order to better ensure the communication quality of the terminal, how to improve the cell switching efficiency is an issue that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for improving cell switching efficiency.

[0007] In the first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a terminal, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, and the chip system or functional module can realize the function of the terminal, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the terminal. In the following introduction, the method is taken as an example of being executed by the terminal. The method includes: receiving first information from a network device, the first information is used to indicate that the terminal predicts the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second cell within a set time period in the future, respectively, the first cell may be the serving cell where the terminal is currently located, the second cell may be a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first cell and the second cell may include at least one NTN cell; sending second information to the network device, the second information is used to indicate a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell, and the first predicted value and the second predicted value are used to determine the target cell of the terminal within the set time period in the future.

[0008] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the first information for instructing the terminal to perform cell signal quality prediction, the terminal can respectively predict the cell signal quality of the service cell (i.e., the first cell) in which the terminal is currently located and the neighboring cell (i.e., the second cell) adjacent to the aforementioned service cell within a future set time period. In this way, after obtaining the first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell, the terminal can report the aforementioned first predicted value and the aforementioned second predicted value to the network device, so that the network device determines the target cell of the terminal within the future set time period based on the first predicted value and the second predicted value; in this way, not only is the early decision of cell switching achieved and the efficiency of subsequent cell switching improved, but also the prediction of the cell signal quality of the NTN cell is achieved.

[0009] In an optional implementation, the first predicted value may be determined by the terminal based on a first signal measurement value obtained by measuring a synchronization signal and PBCH block (SSB) of the first cell. In another optional implementation, the first predicted value may also be determined by the terminal based on the first signal measurement value and a change in first cell signal quality of the first cell within the future set time period.

[0010] In this way, no matter the first cell is a non-NTN cell or an NTN cell, the terminal can predict the cell signal quality of the first cell, that is, can obtain the first prediction value, thereby ensuring that subsequent network equipment can smoothly make cell switching decisions.

[0011] In an optional embodiment, the method may further include: receiving third information from the network device, the third information being used to determine the change in the signal quality of the first cell. In this embodiment, the third information may display and indicate the change in the signal quality of the first cell. For example, the third information may include or directly carry the change in the signal quality of the first cell. After receiving the third information, the terminal may directly obtain the change in the signal quality of the first cell from the third information, thereby saving the overhead required for the terminal to determine the change in the signal quality of the first cell. Of course, the third information may also implicitly indicate the change in the signal quality of the first cell in other ways, that is, the third information may include other information that is associated with the change in the signal quality of the first cell. After receiving the third information, the terminal may determine the change in the signal quality of the first cell based on the information in the third information that is associated with the change in the signal quality of the first cell.

[0012] In an optional implementation manner, the second predicted value may be determined by the terminal based on a second signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the second cell. In another optional implementation manner, the second predicted value may also be determined by the terminal based on the second signal measurement value and a change in the second cell signal quality of the second cell within the future set time period.

[0013] In this way, no matter the second cell is a non-NTN cell or an NTN cell, the terminal can predict the cell signal quality of the second cell, that is, can obtain a second prediction value, thereby ensuring that subsequent network equipment can smoothly make cell switching decisions.

[0014] In an optional embodiment, the method may further include: receiving fourth information from the network device, the fourth information being used to determine the change in the signal quality of the second cell. In this embodiment, the fourth information may display and indicate the change in the signal quality of the second cell. For example, the fourth information may include or directly carry the change in the signal quality of the second cell. After receiving the fourth information, the terminal may directly obtain the change in the signal quality of the second cell from the fourth information, thereby saving the overhead required for the terminal to determine the change in the signal quality of the second cell. Of course, the fourth information may also implicitly indicate the change in the signal quality of the second cell in other ways, that is, the fourth information may include other information that is associated with the change in the signal quality of the second cell. After receiving the fourth information, the terminal may determine the change in the signal quality of the second cell based on the information in the fourth information that is associated with the change in the signal quality of the second cell.

[0015] In an optional implementation manner, before receiving the first information of the network device, the method may further include:

[0016] Determine that the terminal is in a first coexistence area of ​​NTN and TN, where the first coexistence area may be a first area where the service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with the service area of ​​the TN, and the frequency interval between the service frequency band of the NTN and the service frequency band of the TN in the first area is less than or equal to a frequency interval threshold; or, determine that the terminal is in a second coexistence area of ​​the NTN and the TN, where the second coexistence area may be a second area where the service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with the service area of ​​the TN, and the service frequency band of the NTN overlaps with the service frequency band of the TN in the second area; or, determine that the terminal is in a third area, where the third area may be related to the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area, for example, the third area may be an area where the distance between the terminal and the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area is less than a distance threshold; for another example, the third area may be a data beam corresponding to the terminal position, which is the same as or adjacent to at least one of the data beams corresponding to the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area.

[0017] Under this embodiment, the network device sends the first information to the terminal only after determining that the terminal is in a specific location area (i.e., the area that triggers the terminal and / or the network device to execute the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the first coexistence area, the second coexistence area or the third area) based on the terminal position of the terminal. In this way, the signaling / resource overhead of the communication system caused by related operations such as predicting cell signal quality of the network device and / or the terminal can be reduced.

[0018] In an optional implementation, the second information may be sent to the network device when it is determined that at least one of the following conditions is met:

[0019] The first predicted value is less than a first quality threshold starting from a first moment, where the first moment is a moment within the future set time period;

[0020] The first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment, and a first time difference between the first moment and the current moment is less than a first duration threshold;

[0021] The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, and the overlapping duration of a first time period in which the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment and a second time period in which the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment is greater than the second duration threshold, and the second moment and the third moment are moments within the future set duration;

[0022] The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, the overlap duration is greater than the second duration threshold, and the second time difference between the second moment and the current moment is less than the third duration threshold and / or the third time difference between the third moment and the second moment is less than the fourth duration threshold;

[0023] The difference between the second predicted value and the first predicted value starting from a fourth moment is greater than a fourth quality threshold, and the fourth moment is a moment within the future set time period; or

[0024] The predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period during which the predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold is greater than a fifth duration threshold.

[0025] Under this implementation, the terminal can send the second signal to the network device only when it determines that the above-mentioned first prediction value and the above-mentioned second prediction value meet specific measurement reporting trigger conditions (i.e., any one of the above-mentioned 6 conditions), saving system overhead and resources.

[0026] In an optional implementation, before receiving the first information from the network device, the method may further include: sending fifth information to the network device, where the fifth information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a cell continuous switching capability.

[0027] Under this implementation mode, after determining that the terminal has the ability to continuously switch cells, the network device can make a decision on continuous cell switching for the terminal; in other words, the network device can determine the multiple cell switches that may occur in the terminal within the above-mentioned future set time period based on the second information reported by the terminal, and instruct the terminal to perform multiple cell switches continuously.

[0028] In an optional implementation, the first information may also be used to indicate a prediction duration for the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the cell signal quality of the second cell.

[0029] Under this implementation, the network device can not only instruct the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second cell within the predicted duration respectively, but also determine the cell switching status of the terminal within the predicted duration (i.e., a period of time in the future) after receiving the first predicted value and the second predicted value within the predicted duration, that is, it can make continuous or multiple cell switching decisions for the terminal within the aforementioned predicted duration.

[0030] In an optional embodiment, the method may also include: sending a restart request to the network device, the restart request is used to instruct the terminal to predict and report the cell signal quality within the validity period of continuous cell switching, and the validity period of continuous cell switching may be related to the prediction duration; receiving sixth information from the network device, the sixth information is used to instruct the terminal to restart the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality within the validity period of continuous cell switching.

[0031] Under this implementation mode, during the validity period of the above-mentioned continuous cell switching, the terminal can not only turn off the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality, but also restart the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality, that is, by flexibly turning on or off the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality, the terminal can improve the problem of high power consumption of the terminal due to always turning on the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality, and avoid the problem of invalidation of the prediction value due to movement of the terminal, which in turn leads to the failure of the cell switching decision.

[0032] In an optional embodiment, the target cell may be the second cell, and the method may further include: receiving seventh information from the network device, the seventh information being used to indicate that the terminal switches from the first cell to the second cell, or the seventh information being used to indicate that the terminal switches from the first cell to the second cell, and the switching time of switching to the second cell.

[0033] This approach ensures that after the network device determines that the target cell of the terminal within the above-mentioned future set time period is the second cell based on the first prediction value and the second prediction, the terminal can smoothly switch from the first cell to the second cell to ensure the communication quality of the terminal.

[0034] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: receiving eighth information from the network device, where the eighth information is used to indicate resources reserved by the second cell for the terminal, such as time-frequency resources, computing resources, storage resources, etc. In this way, after accessing the second cell, the terminal can quickly learn or determine the resources reserved by the second cell to meet the communication quality of the terminal, and continue to communicate with the network device using the resources reserved by the network device for the terminal in the second cell.

[0035] In another optional embodiment, the target cell may include at least one target cell, and the seventh information is specifically used to indicate the handover time for the terminal to sequentially switch from the first cell to each target cell, as well as the handover time for each target cell. In this way, the terminal can sequentially switch from the first cell to each of the at least one target cell, reducing the complexity of the interaction between the network device and the terminal.

[0036] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: receiving ninth information from the network device, where the ninth information is used to indicate at least one of the following cell handover triggering conditions:

[0037] The first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment, and the first time difference is less than a first duration threshold;

[0038] The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, the overlap duration is greater than the second duration threshold, the second time difference is less than the third duration threshold, and the third time difference is less than the fourth duration threshold; or

[0039] The predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period is greater than the fifth duration threshold.

[0040] Under this implementation, when the terminal subsequently determines that the triggering conditions for the aforementioned cell switching are met, it can perform cell switching or conditional handover (CHO) without receiving indication information for the terminal to perform cell switching, thereby improving the cell switching efficiency and ensuring the reliability or success probability of cell switching. That is, it avoids the problem that after the terminal reports the predicted value, the communication link between the network device and the terminal is interrupted, and the network device may not be able to promptly inform the terminal that a cell switch is required.

[0041] In the second aspect, another communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a network device, or by a chip system (or, chip) or other functional module, and the chip system or functional module can realize the function of the network device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, set in the network device. In the following introduction, the method is taken as an example of being executed by a network device. The method includes: sending first information to the terminal, the first information is used to indicate that the terminal predicts the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second cell within a future set time period, respectively, the first cell may be the serving cell where the terminal is currently located, the second cell may be a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first cell and the second cell may include at least one NTN cell; receiving second information from the terminal, the second information is used to indicate a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell, and the first predicted value and the second predicted value are used to determine the target cell of the terminal within the future set time period.

[0042] In an optional embodiment, the first prediction value may be determined by the terminal based on a first signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the first cell, or may be determined by the terminal based on the first signal measurement value and a change in the first cell signal quality of the first cell within the future set time period.

[0043] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: sending third information to the terminal, where the third information is used to determine a change in the signal quality of the first cell.

[0044] In an optional embodiment, the second prediction value may be determined by the terminal based on a second signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the second cell, or may be determined by the terminal based on the second signal measurement value and a change in the second cell signal quality of the second cell within the future set time period.

[0045] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: sending fourth information to the terminal, where the fourth information is used to determine a change in the signal quality of the second cell.

[0046] In an optional implementation manner, before sending the first information to the terminal, the method may further include:

[0047] Determine that the terminal is in a first coexistence area of ​​NTN and TN, where the first coexistence area may be a first area where the service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with the service area of ​​the TN, and the frequency interval between the service frequency band of the NTN and the service frequency band of the TN in the first area is less than or equal to a frequency interval threshold; or, determine that the terminal is in a second coexistence area of ​​the NTN and the TN, where the second coexistence area may be a second area where the service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with the service area of ​​the TN, and the service frequency band of the NTN overlaps with the service frequency band of the TN in the second area; or, determine that the terminal is in a third area, and the third area may be related to the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area.

[0048] In an optional implementation, before sending the first information to the terminal, the method may further include: receiving fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a cell continuous switching capability.

[0049] In an optional implementation, the first information may also be used to indicate a prediction duration for the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the cell signal quality of the second cell.

[0050] In an optional embodiment, the method may further include: receiving a restart request from the terminal, the restart request being used to instruct the terminal to predict and report the cell signal quality within the validity period of continuous cell switching, and the validity period of continuous cell switching may be related to the prediction duration; and sending sixth information to the terminal, the sixth information being used to instruct the terminal to restart the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality within the validity period of continuous cell switching.

[0051] In an optional embodiment, the target cell is the second cell, and the method may further include: sending seventh information to the terminal, the seventh information being used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, or the seventh information being used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, and the switching time to the second cell.

[0052] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: sending eighth information to the terminal, where the eighth information is used to indicate resources reserved by the second cell for the terminal.

[0053] In another optional implementation, the target cell may include at least one target cell, and the seventh information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to each target cell in sequence, and the switching time for switching to each target cell.

[0054] In an optional implementation, the method may further include: sending ninth information to the terminal, where the ninth information is used to indicate at least one of the following cell handover triggering conditions:

[0055] The first predicted value is less than a first quality threshold starting from a first moment, and a first time difference between the first moment and the current moment is less than a first duration threshold, and the first moment is a moment within the future set duration;

[0056] The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, and the overlapping duration of the first time period when the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment and the second time period when the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment is greater than the second duration threshold, the second moment and the third moment are moments within the future set duration, the second time difference between the second moment and the current moment is less than the third duration threshold, and the third time difference between the third moment and the second moment is less than the fourth duration threshold; or,

[0057] The difference between the predicted value of the second prediction value and the predicted value of the first prediction value starting from the fourth moment is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period in which the predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold is greater than the fifth duration threshold, and the fourth moment is a moment within the future set duration.

[0058] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the terminal described in the first aspect. The communication device may be a chip system (or chip) or other functional module, and the chip system or functional module may be capable of implementing the functions of the terminal. The chip system or functional module may be, for example, disposed in the terminal. In one optional implementation, the communication device includes a radio frequency device and a baseband device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module) and a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module). The transceiver unit may implement both transmitting and receiving functions. When the transceiver unit implements the transmitting function, it may be referred to as a transmitting unit (sometimes also referred to as a transmitting module), and when the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it may be referred to as a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be the same functional module, referred to as a transceiver unit, which may implement both transmitting and receiving functions; or the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may be different functional modules, with the transceiver unit being a collective term for these functional modules. For ease of description and understanding, the following description takes the communication device including a transceiver unit and a processing unit as an example.

[0059] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit is used to receive first information from a network device, the first information is used to instruct the processing unit to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second cell within a set time period in the future, respectively. The first cell may be the serving cell where the terminal is currently located, and the second cell may be a neighboring cell of the first cell. The first cell and the second cell may include at least one NTN cell; the transceiver unit is used to send second information to the network device, the second information is used to indicate a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell. The first predicted value and the second predicted value are used by the network device to determine the target cell of the terminal within the set time period in the future.

[0060] In an optional implementation manner, the first predicted value may be determined by the processing unit based on a first signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the first cell. In another optional implementation manner, the first predicted value may also be determined by the processing unit based on the first signal measurement value and a change in the first cell signal quality of the first cell within the future set time period.

[0061] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit may also be configured to receive third information from the network device, and the third information is used by the processing unit to determine the change in the first cell signal quality.

[0062] In an optional implementation manner, the second predicted value may be determined by the processing unit based on a second signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the second cell. In another optional implementation manner, the second predicted value may also be determined by the processing unit based on the second signal measurement value and a change in the second cell signal quality of the second cell within the future set time period.

[0063] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit is configured to receive fourth information from the network device, and the fourth information is used by the processing unit to determine the change in the signal quality of the second cell.

[0064] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit may, after determining that the terminal is in a first coexistence area of ​​NTN and TN, receive the first information of the network device through or control the transceiver unit. The first coexistence area may be a first area where the service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with the service area of ​​the TN, and the frequency interval between the service frequency band of the NTN and the service frequency band of the TN in the first area is less than or equal to the frequency interval threshold; or, the processing unit may, after determining that the terminal is in a second coexistence area of ​​the NTN and the TN, receive the first information of the network device through or control the transceiver unit. The second coexistence area may be a second area where the service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with the service area of ​​the TN, and the service frequency band of the NTN overlaps with the service frequency band of the TN in the second area; or, the processing unit may, after determining that the terminal is in a third area, receive the first information of the network device through or control the transceiver unit. The third area may be related to the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area.

[0065] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit may, when determining that the first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold from the first moment, further send the second information to the network device through or control the transceiver unit, where the first moment is a moment within the future set time length; or, when determining that the first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold from the first moment, and the first time difference between the first moment and the current moment is less than the first time length threshold, further send the second information to the network device through or control the transceiver unit; or, when determining that the first time period in which the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold from the third moment, and the second time period in which the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold from the third moment and the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold from the second moment overlaps for a duration greater than the second time length threshold, the processing unit may, when determining that the first time period in which the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold from the third moment, and the second time period in which the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold from the second moment a moment within a set time period in the future; or, the processing unit may, upon determining that the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, the overlapping time is greater than the second time threshold, and the second time difference between the second moment and the current moment is less than the third time threshold and / or the third time difference between the third moment and the second moment is less than the fourth time threshold, then send the second information to the network device through or control the transceiver unit; or, the processing unit may, upon determining that the predicted value difference between the second predicted value and the first predicted value starting from a fourth moment is greater than a fourth quality threshold, then send the second information to the network device through or control the transceiver unit, the fourth moment being a moment within the set time period in the future; or, the processing unit may, upon determining that the predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period in which the predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold is greater than the fifth time threshold, then send the second information to the network device through or control the transceiver unit.

[0066] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit may receive the first information of the network device through or control the transceiver unit after the transceiver unit sends the fifth information to the network device, and the fifth information is used to indicate whether the terminal has the ability to continuously switch cells.

[0067] In an optional implementation, the first information may also be used to indicate a prediction duration for the processing unit to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the cell signal quality of the second cell.

[0068] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit can also be used to send a restart request to the network device, and the restart request is used to instruct the terminal to predict and report the cell signal quality within the validity period of continuous cell switching, and the validity period of continuous cell switching can be related to the prediction duration; the transceiver unit can also be used to receive sixth information from the network device, and the sixth information is used to instruct the terminal to restart the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality within the validity period of continuous cell switching.

[0069] In an optional embodiment, the target cell may be the second cell, and the transceiver unit may also be used to receive seventh information of the network device, the seventh information being used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell; or the seventh information being used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, and the switching time to the second cell.

[0070] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit may be further configured to receive eighth information from the network device, where the eighth information is used to indicate resources reserved by the second cell for the terminal.

[0071] In another optional implementation, the target cell may include at least one target cell, and the seventh information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to each target cell in sequence, and the switching time for switching to each target cell.

[0072] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit can also be used to receive ninth information from the network device, and the ninth information is used to indicate at least one of the following cell switching triggering conditions: the first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment, and the first time difference is less than the first duration threshold; the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, the overlapping duration is greater than the second duration threshold, and the second time difference is less than the third duration threshold, and the third time difference is less than the fourth duration threshold; or, the predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period is greater than the fifth duration threshold.

[0073] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be the network device described in the second aspect above. The communication device may be a chip system (or chip) or other functional module, and the chip system or functional module can realize the function of the network device, and the chip system or functional module is, for example, provided in the network device. In an optional implementation, the communication device includes a baseband device and a radio frequency device. In another optional implementation, the communication device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module). For the implementation of the transceiver unit, reference may be made to the introduction of the third aspect, and for the sake of ease of description and understanding, the following description will also be given by taking the communication device including a transceiver unit and a processing unit as an example.

[0074] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit is used to send first information to the terminal, the first information is used to instruct the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second cell within a set time period in the future, the first cell may be the serving cell where the terminal is currently located, the second cell may be a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first cell and the second cell may include at least one NTN cell; the transceiver unit is used to receive second information from the terminal, the second information is used to indicate a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell, and the first predicted value and the second predicted value are used by the processing unit to determine the target cell of the terminal within the set time period in the future.

[0075] In an optional embodiment, the first prediction value may be determined by the terminal based on a first signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the first cell, or may be determined by the terminal based on the first signal measurement value and a change in the first cell signal quality of the first cell within the future set time period.

[0076] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit may be further configured to send third information to the terminal, where the third information is used by the processing unit to determine the change in the signal quality of the first cell.

[0077] In an optional embodiment, the second prediction value may be determined by the terminal based on a second signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the second cell, or may be determined by the terminal based on the second signal measurement value and a change in the second cell signal quality of the second cell within the future set time period.

[0078] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit may be further configured to send fourth information to the terminal, where the fourth information is used by the processing unit to determine the change in the signal quality of the second cell.

[0079] In an optional embodiment, the processing unit may, after determining that the terminal is in a first coexistence area of ​​NTN and TN, further send the first information to the terminal through or control the transceiver unit, where the first coexistence area may be a first area where the service area of ​​the NTN and the service area of ​​the TN overlap, and the frequency interval between the service frequency band of the NTN and the service frequency band of the TN in the first area is less than or equal to a frequency interval threshold; or, after determining that the terminal is in a second coexistence area of ​​the NTN and the TN, further send the first information to the terminal through or control the transceiver unit, where the second coexistence area may be a second area where the service area of ​​the NTN and the service area of ​​the TN overlap, and the service frequency band of the NTN and the service frequency band of the TN overlap in the second area; or, after determining that the terminal is in a third area, further send the first information to the terminal through or control the transceiver unit, where the third area may be related to the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area.

[0080] In an optional implementation, the processing unit may send the first information to the terminal through or control the transceiver unit after the transceiver unit receives the fifth information, where the fifth information is used to indicate whether the terminal has the cell continuous switching capability.

[0081] In an optional implementation, the first information may also be used to indicate a prediction duration for the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the cell signal quality of the second cell.

[0082] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit can also be used to receive a restart request from the terminal, and the restart request is used to instruct the terminal to predict and report the cell signal quality within the validity period of continuous cell switching, and the validity period of continuous cell switching can be related to the prediction duration; the transceiver unit can also be used to send sixth information to the terminal, and the sixth information is used to instruct the terminal to restart the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality within the validity period of continuous cell switching.

[0083] In an optional embodiment, the target cell is the second cell, and the transceiver unit can also be used to send seventh information to the terminal, the seventh information is used to indicate that the terminal switches from the first cell to the second cell, or the seventh information is used to indicate that the terminal switches from the first cell to the second cell, and the switching time of switching to the second cell.

[0084] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit may be further configured to send eighth information to the terminal, where the eighth information is used to indicate resources reserved by the second cell for the terminal.

[0085] In another optional implementation, the target cell may include at least one target cell, and the seventh information is specifically used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to each target cell in sequence, and the switching time for switching to each target cell.

[0086] In an optional embodiment, the transceiver unit can also be used to send ninth information to the terminal, and the ninth information is used to indicate at least one of the following cell switching triggering conditions: the first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment, and the first time difference between the first moment and the current moment is less than the first duration threshold, and the first moment is a moment within the future set duration; the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, and the first time period in which the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment and the second time period in which the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment overlaps for a greater length of time than the second duration threshold, the second moment and the third moment are moments within the future set duration, the second time difference between the second moment and the current moment is less than the third duration threshold, and the third time difference between the third moment and the second moment is less than the fourth duration threshold; or, the difference between the predicted value of the second predicted value and the first predicted value starting from the fourth moment is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period in which the predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold is greater than the fifth duration threshold, and the fourth moment is a moment within the future set duration.

[0087] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a terminal, or a chip or chip system in a terminal. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions through the communication interface, the communication device executes the method performed by the terminal in the first aspect.

[0088] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device may be a network device, or a chip or chip system in the network device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program. The processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer program or instructions through the communication interface, the communication device executes the method performed by the network device in the second aspect.

[0089] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which is used to store computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the methods in the above-mentioned first aspect or second aspect and various possible implementation methods in all aspects are implemented.

[0090] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which enables the methods in the above-mentioned first aspect or second aspect and various possible implementations in all aspects to be implemented when the computer program or instructions are executed on a computer.

[0091] In the ninth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is used to call and run instructions from the interface so that the chip system implements the methods in the above-mentioned first aspect or second aspect and various possible implementation methods in each aspect.

[0092] The technical effects that can be achieved in each of the above-mentioned aspects from the second to the ninth aspect and each possible implementation scheme in each of them can refer to the description of the effects that can be achieved by the corresponding possible design schemes in the above-mentioned first aspect, and the repetitions will not be discussed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0093] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a typical application scenario of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of another application scenario of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a satellite in a non-staring mode provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] FIG5 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0098] FIG6 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of changes in a predicted value within a set future time period provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0100] FIG8 is a schematic diagram showing changes in another predicted value within a set future time period provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0101] FIG9 is a schematic diagram showing changes in a predicted value within a set future time period provided by another embodiment of the present application;

[0102] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0103] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of another device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0104] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the NTN system. The NTN system is a communication system formed by networking non-terrestrial network devices. Since non-terrestrial network devices may include satellites, high altitude platform stations (HAPS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and other devices, the NTN system may include but is not limited to satellite communication systems, UAV communication systems, and HAPS systems. The non-terrestrial network devices involved in the embodiments of the present application are not limited to the above examples. It should be noted that the non-terrestrial network devices in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as aerial network devices.

[0105] In addition, in an embodiment of the present application, the NTN system can be integrated with the TN system. For example, in which the NTN system is a satellite communication system and the TN system is a mobile communication network system, the satellite communication system can be integrated with the mobile communication system to form a satellite-ground integrated network. The mobile communication system can be a fourth-generation mobile communication (4G) system, such as a long-term evolution (LTE) system, or a fifth-generation mobile communication (5G) system, such as a 5G new radio (NR) system, or a new communication system that will emerge in future communication developments.

[0106] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the following first introduces the system architecture involved in the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings:

[0107] Refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system 10 includes a radio access network (RAN) 100 and a core network (CN) 200. Optionally, the communication system 10 may also include the Internet 300. Among them, the RAN 100 may be a cellular system related to the third generation partnership project (3GPP), such as a 4G, 5G system, or a future-oriented evolution system. The RAN 100 may also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system. The RAN 100 may also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.

[0108] RAN 100 may include at least one network device (e.g., 110a, 110b, and 110c in FIG. 1 , collectively referred to as 110) and at least one terminal (e.g., 120a-120j in FIG. 1 , collectively referred to as 120). It may also include other devices, such as wireless relay devices and / or wireless backhaul devices (not shown in FIG. 1 ). Terminal 120 may be connected to network device 110 wirelessly. Network device 110 may be connected to CN 200 wirelessly or by wire. Terminals 120 and network devices 110 may be connected to each other by wire or by wireless. The core network elements in CN 200 and network device 110 in RAN 100 may be separate physical devices, or they may be the same physical device that integrates core network logical functions and radio access network logical functions. Alternatively, a single physical device may integrate some core network element functions and some network device 110 functions. It should be noted that the network architecture shown in FIG1 is merely a schematic diagram, and the number of terminals 120 and / or network devices 110 may be less or more, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0109] The devices or network elements involved in the above-mentioned communication system 10 are explained below to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

[0110] (1) The network device 110, which may also be sometimes referred to as a wireless access network device, an access network device, an access network entity or an access node, constitutes a part of the communication system 10 and is used to help the terminal 120 achieve wireless access. The multiple network devices 110 in the communication system 10 may be devices (or nodes) of the same type or devices (or nodes) of different types. In some scenarios, the roles of the network device 110 and the terminal 120 are relative. For example, the network element 120i in FIG1 may be a helicopter or a drone, which may be configured as a mobile base station. For the terminal 120j accessing the RAN 100 through the network device 120i, the terminal 120i is a network device (or base station); but for the network device 110a, the network element 120i is a terminal. The network device 110 and the terminal 120 are sometimes referred to as communication devices. For example, the network elements 110a and 110b in FIG1 may be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and the network elements 120a-120j may be understood as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0111] In one possible application scenario, the network device 110 may be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a next generation base station in a future communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. The network device 110 may be a macro base station (such as 110a in FIG1 ), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in FIG1 ), a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, the network device 110 may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle, or an onboard device. For example, the network device 110 in the vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the network device 110 in this application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). In addition, the network device 110 in the present application may also be a logical node, a logical module or software that can implement all or part of the network device functions.

[0112] In another possible application scenario, the network device 110 may be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station; or multiple network devices 110 collaborate to assist the terminal 120 in achieving wireless access, with different network devices 110 respectively performing some of the functions of the base station. For example, the network device 110 may be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The functions of the CU may be implemented by a single entity or by different entities. For example, the functions of the CU may be further divided, that is, the control plane and the user plane may be separated and implemented by different entities, namely, a control plane CU entity (i.e., a CU-control plane (CP) entity) and a user plane CU entity (i.e., a CU-user plane (UP) entity). The CU-CP entity and the CU-UP entity may be coupled with the DU to jointly perform the functions of the network device 110. The CU and DU may be separately configured or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, for example, in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0113] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the sake of convenience of description, the embodiments of this application are described by taking CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0114] The CU and DU can be configured according to the protocol layer functions of the wireless network they implement: for example, the CU is configured to implement the functions of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and the protocol layers above it (such as the radio resource control (RRC) layer and / or the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, etc.); the DU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP layer (such as the radio link control (RLC), the media access control (MAC) layer, and / or the physical (PHY) layer, etc.). For another example, the CU is configured to implement the functions of the protocol layers above the PDCP layer (such as the RRC layer and / or the SDAP layer), and the DU is configured to implement the functions of the PDCP layer and the protocol layers below it (such as the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and / or the PHY layer, etc.). For a detailed description of the above-mentioned protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of 3GPP or the technical specifications of other applicable communication protocols. The above division of the processing functions of the CU and DU according to the protocol layer is only an example, and can also be divided in other ways, which is not limited by this application. For example, in one design, the CU or DU can also be divided into parts with partial processing functions of the protocol layer. In one design, part of the RLC layer functions and the functions of the protocol layers above the RLC layer are set in the CU, and the remaining functions of the RLC layer and the functions of the protocol layers below the RLC layer are set in the DU.

[0115] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the network device 110 may be the network device 110 itself, or may be a device capable of supporting the network device 110 in implementing the functions, such as a chip system or a combination of devices or components capable of implementing the functions of the network device, and the device may be installed in the network device 110. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device 110.

[0116] (2) Terminal 120, sometimes also referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal equipment, access station, UE station, remote station, wireless communication equipment, or user device, is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities (i.e., terminal 120 can send signals to network device 110 and receive signals from network device 110). It can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (such as a mobile phone), a wearable device, an in-vehicle device, or a wireless device built into the above devices (such as a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.). The terminal 120 can be used to connect people, objects, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, for example, including but not limited to the following scenarios: perception scenarios, cellular communication, device-to-device communication (D2D), V2X, machine-to-machine (M2M) network / machine type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self-driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, indoor commercial scenarios (such as mobile phone screen projection, file sharing, and mobile phone to VR glasses video transmission) and other scenarios.

[0117] Among them, when the terminal 120 is applied to V2X, it can also be called a V2X device, for example, a smart car (or intelligent car), a digital car (digital car), an unmanned car (unmanned car or driverless car or pilotless car or automobile), an automatic car (self-driving car or autonomous car), a pure electric vehicle (pure EV or Battery EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a range extended EV (REEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (plug-in HEV, PHEV), a new energy vehicle (new energy vehicle), and an RSU.

[0118] Of course, the terminal 120 may also be a device in D2D communication, such as a smart meter, a smart water meter, or other smart instrument. Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal 120 may also be a terminal in an IoT system. The IoT is an important component of future information technology development. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network that interconnects humans and machines, and objects and things.

[0119] As described above, various terminals, if located on a vehicle (e.g., placed in a vehicle or installed in a vehicle), can be considered as a vehicle-mounted terminal, which is also referred to as an on-board unit (OBU). The terminal 120 of the present application can also be an on-board module, on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip or OBU etc. that is built into the vehicle as one or more components or units, and the vehicle can implement the method of the present application by means of the built-in on-board module, on-board module, on-board component, on-board chip or OBU etc.

[0120] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the functions of the terminal 120 may be the terminal 120 itself, or may be a device capable of supporting the terminal 120 in implementing the functions, such as a chip system or a combination of devices or components capable of implementing the terminal functions, and the device may be installed in the terminal 120. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal 120.

[0121] Based on the above explanation of the devices or network elements that may be involved in the communication system 10, the communication system 10 applicable to the embodiment of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. For example, refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a typical application scenario of the communication system applicable to the embodiment of the present application. The communication system includes two terminals, two base stations, a ground station, core network equipment and a data network. The core network equipment may have control plane functions and user plane functions. For example, the control plane functions may include: access and mobility management function (AMF) and session management function (SMF). The user plane functions may include: user plane function (UPF), which is responsible for managing the transmission of user plane data, traffic statistics and other functions. Among them, the base station can be deployed on a satellite, so it is also called a satellite base station or satellite-borne base station (satellite gNB, S-gNB). The air interface refers to the communication interface between the terminal and the base station. The Xn interface refers to the interface between base stations and is mainly used for signaling interaction such as switching. The NG interface refers to the interface between a base station and core network equipment, or between a ground station and the CN. It primarily exchanges CN non-access stratum (NAS) signaling and user service data. The NG interface can be either wired or wireless. In Figure 2, the satellite base station communicates with the ground station via the air interface, which in turn connects to the CN via the NG interface. The CN and the data network can communicate via the N6 interface. Terminals on the ground communicate with the satellite base station via the air interface, thereby accessing the communications network.

[0122] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of satellite. For example, the satellite can be a highly elliptical orbiting (HEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, and a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite.

[0123] Furthermore, it is worth noting that although the application scenarios in FIG2 only show a limited number of satellites, ground stations, and terminals, in the embodiments of the present application, there is no limitation on the number of the above-mentioned communication devices or network elements (such as satellites, ground stations, terminals, etc.), that is, in actual scenarios, a collaborative architecture of multiple satellites and / or multiple ground stations can be adopted according to communication needs. Among them, each satellite can provide communication services to one or more terminals, and each ground station can correspond to one or more satellites; similarly, each satellite can also correspond to one or more ground stations, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the satellite communication system shown in FIG2 does not constitute a limitation on the communication system to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied, so the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other communication systems.

[0124] Based on the contents shown in Figures 1 and 2 above and the other contents mentioned above, taking the embodiment of the present application applied to a satellite-ground fusion network system composed of an NTN system (such as a satellite communication system) and a TN system as an example, the satellite usually provides communication / network services to the terminal by separating the broadcast beam and the data beam. In order to ensure that the broadcast beam can achieve a larger range (or area) coverage, the coverage of a broadcast beam can include the coverage of multiple data beams. Referring to Figure 3, the coverage of the broadcast beam SSB1 includes the coverage of 7 data beams (such as data beam A to data beam G), wherein, among the aforementioned 7 data beams, there are 2 data beams of coexistence type and 5 data beams of non-coexistence type. Optionally, the coexistence type data beam can be understood as the interference between NTN and TN in the coverage area of ​​the data beam, for example, the NTN spectrum of the S band and the TN spectrum of the S band are adjacent. A non-coexistence type of data beam can be understood as there is no interference between NTN and TN in the coverage area of ​​the data beam; and, depending on whether the beam type of the data beam is a coexistence type (or non-coexistence type), the coverage area of ​​the broadcast beam can be divided into coexistence sub-areas and non-coexistence sub-areas. As shown in Figure 3, the coverage area of ​​the broadcast beam SSB1 is divided into 2 coexistence sub-areas and 5 non-coexistence sub-areas.

[0125] Furthermore, data beams typically operate in two modes: staring and non-staring. In staring mode, the data beam's coverage area does not move with the satellite's movement. This means the satellite must control the data beam's coverage area within a specific geographic area on the ground to ensure continuous service within that area. In non-staring mode, the data beam's orientation is fixed to the satellite, but its coverage area can change with satellite movement. For example, a data beam's coverage area might shift from a non-coexistence sub-area to a coexistence sub-area. Furthermore, in NTN and TN coexistence scenarios, data beams within a broadcast beam's coverage area can have different effective isotropic radiated powers (EIRPs), meaning different service capabilities. Therefore, as shown in Figure 4, when a data beam is in non-staring mode, its corresponding EIRP changes. This sudden change in EIRP can lead to changes in service quality, potentially requiring a cell handover for terminals to maintain communication quality.

[0126] However, if the cell switching of the terminal is not timely, it will also affect the communication quality of the terminal. Therefore, in order to better ensure the communication quality of the terminal, the present application provides a communication method, device and system for predicting the cell signal quality within a set time period in the future in an NTN system or a system where NTN and TN coexist, and making advance decisions on cell switching based on the predicted cell signal quality. For example, it is determined in advance that the terminal needs to perform cell switching within a set time period in the future, or at which moment the terminal will perform cell switching and to which cell within a set time period in the future, thereby improving the switching efficiency of the cell. Among them, the method, device and system are based on the same technical concept, and because the principles of solving the problems of the method, device and system are similar, the implementation of the method, device and system can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

[0127] For example, since the change in EIRP corresponding to the data beam is predictable, if there is an NTN cell (i.e., a cell in which NTN can provide service) in the service cell and neighboring cell where the terminal is currently located, the terminal can predict the cell signal quality corresponding to the service cell and neighboring cell where the terminal is currently located within the above-mentioned future set time period based on the EIRP change of the data beam within the above-mentioned future set time period, thereby realizing early decision-making on cell switching based on the predicted value of the cell signal quality of the service cell where the terminal is currently located and the predicted value of the cell signal quality of the neighboring cell, so as to improve the efficiency of subsequent cell switching.

[0128] In an embodiment of the present application, since the cell signal quality of the NTN cell in the serving cell (e.g., the first cell) and the neighboring cells (e.g., at least one second cell) of the serving cell where the terminal is currently located will change and is also predictable, and the terminal can respectively predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the at least one second cell within a set time period in the future, thereby realizing the prediction of the cell signal quality of various cells (i.e., NTN cells and non-NTN cells). In this way, after obtaining the first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second predicted value of the cell signal quality of at least one second cell, the terminal can report the aforementioned first predicted value and the aforementioned second predicted value to the network device, so that the network device determines the target cell of the terminal within the set time period in the future based on the first predicted value and the second predicted value.

[0129] Among them, the above-mentioned target cell can be the first cell, or it can be one of the at least one second cell. When the target cell is the first cell, in order to save signaling overhead, the network device may not need to send indication information to the terminal to instruct the terminal to continue to maintain a connection with the first cell, that is, let the terminal continue to be in the first cell (that is, the current serving cell) by default. When the target cell is any second cell, the network device can send relevant indication information to the terminal to indicate that the terminal needs to perform a cell handover; in other words, if the terminal does not receive the relevant indication information sent by the network device to indicate that the terminal needs to perform a cell handover, the terminal can always maintain a connection with the first cell, that is, the first cell can always serve as the serving cell of the terminal; in this way, the efficiency of cell handover can be improved.

[0130] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, means "singular noun or plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "plural" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0131] The ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects. For example, the first information and the second information can be the same information or different information, and such names do not indicate the difference in the sending end / receiving end, format, content, size, application scenario, priority or importance of the two information. In addition, the numbering of the steps in the various embodiments introduced in this application is sometimes only for distinguishing different steps and is not used to limit the order of the steps.

[0132] In the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if" and "if" all refer to the device making corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances. They do not limit the time, nor do they require the device (such as a terminal or a network device) to have a judgment action when implementing it, nor do they mean that there are other limitations. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, "used for indication" may include direct indication (or display indication) and indirect indication (or implicit indication). When describing a certain information used to indicate A, it may include the information directly indicating A or indirectly indicating A, but it does not mean that the information must carry A. Taking the first information used to indicate the first content as an example, the first information may include the first content, a part of the first content or an identifier or index of the first content, etc., and may also include an algorithm, calculation parameters, etc. for determining the first content. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the method of "indication".

[0133] Refer to Figure 5, which is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. In the following description, the method is applied to the application scenario shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3 as an example. The process of the method is described as follows. In the following method process, the terminal can be a terminal that directly communicates with a ground base station, or a terminal that directly communicates with a satellite, or a device or chip set in the terminal, and the network device can be a device such as a satellite, or a device or chip set in a satellite, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0134] S501: A network device sends first information to a terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives the first information sent by the network device. The first information is used to instruct the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of a first cell and a second cell, respectively, within a predetermined future time period. The first information may also be referred to as indication information of predicted cell signal quality, or a predicted indication of cell signal quality, or other names.

[0135] Specifically, the first information may be RRC Reconfiguration information. Furthermore, since the cell signal quality of an NTN cell generally changes and is predictable, the first cell and the second cell may include at least one NTN cell. For example, the second cell may include two NTN cells, that is, there are two NTN cells in the neighboring cells of the first cell.

[0136] S502: The terminal determines a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell, wherein the first predicted value and the second predicted value are used by the network device to determine a target cell for the terminal within a set time period in the future.

[0137] Exemplarily, if the cell signal quality represented by the first prediction value is better than the cell signal quality represented by the second prediction value, the network device can determine that the target cell is the first cell; conversely, if the cell signal quality represented by the second prediction value is better than the cell signal quality represented by the first prediction value, the network device can determine that the target cell is one of the multiple second cells adjacent to the first cell.

[0138] Optionally, the method for determining the first prediction value may be related to the type of the first cell. If the first cell is a non-NTN cell (e.g., a TN cell, that is, a cell where TN provides services but NTN does not provide services), the first prediction value may be determined by the terminal based on the first signal measurement value obtained by the SSB measurement of the first cell. For example, the first signal measurement value may be RSRP1, and the first prediction value may be determined by the terminal based on the RSRP1 obtained by the SSB measurement of the first cell.

[0139] If the first cell is an NTN cell, the first prediction value can also be determined by the terminal based on the first signal measurement value and the change in the first cell signal quality within a set time period in the future. Assuming that the first signal measurement value is still RSRP1, the first prediction value can be determined by the terminal based on RSRP1 and the change in the first cell signal quality within a set time period in the future.

[0140] Among them, for NTN cells, since the change in EIRP can better reflect the change in cell signal quality, the first cell signal quality change can be the EIRP change or EIRP bias change of the data beam within a future set time period.

[0141] Optionally, the EIRP bias corresponding to the data beam can be determined based on the EIRP corresponding to the data beam and a preset EIRP, or the EIRP bias corresponding to the data beam can be determined based on the EIRP density corresponding to the data beam and a preset EIRP density; it should be noted that the aforementioned EIRP bias corresponding to the data beam can also be understood as the EIRP bias corresponding to the beam type of the data beam, and the aforementioned EIRP corresponding to the data beam can also be understood as the EIRP corresponding to the beam type of the data beam, and this application does not limit this.

[0142] For example, using the aforementioned data beam A as an example, the EIRP offset corresponding to data beam A can be determined based on the EIRP corresponding to the beam type of data beam A and a preset EIRP. For example, assuming that the EIRP corresponding to the beam type of data beam A is 52 dBw and the preset EIRP is 35 dBw, then the EIRP offset corresponding to the beam type of data beam A can be 17 dB, or the EIRP offset of data beam A is said to be 17 dB. For another example, still using data beam A in FIG3 as an example, the EIRP offset corresponding to the beam type of data beam A can be determined based on the EIRP density corresponding to the beam type of data beam A and a preset EIRP density. For example, assuming that the EIRP density corresponding to the beam type of data beam A is 50dBw / Mhz and the preset EIRP density is 34dBw / Mhz, then the EIRP offset corresponding to the beam type of data beam A can be 16dB, or the EIRP offset of data beam A is 16dB.

[0143] It is understandable that the above-mentioned preset EIRP or preset EIRP density may be predefined, preconfigured, or configured by the protocol, and this application does not limit this. Assuming the preset EIRP as an example, in one possible implementation, the aforementioned preset EIRP may be a common value / specific value, which is universal, that is, it can be used for EIRP bias calculation of multiple data beams or all data beams; in another possible implementation, the aforementioned preset EIRP may also be related to the broadcast beam corresponding to the data beam; in another possible implementation, the aforementioned preset EIRP may also be related to the EIRP of a non-coexistence type data beam or the EIRP of a coexistence type data beam, that is, the aforementioned preset EIRP is related to the beam type of the data beam.

[0144] Similarly, the method for determining the second predicted value may also be related to the type of the second cell. If the second cell is a non-NTN cell (e.g., a TN cell), the second predicted value may be determined by the terminal based on the second signal measurement value obtained by the SSB measurement of the second cell. For example, the second signal measurement value may be RSRP2, and the second predicted value may be determined by the terminal based on the RSRP2 obtained by the SSB measurement of the second cell. If the second cell is an NTN cell, the second predicted value may also be determined by the terminal based on the second signal measurement value and the change in the second cell signal quality of the second cell within a set time period in the future. Assuming that the second signal measurement value is still RSRP2, the second predicted value may be determined by the terminal based on RSRP2 and the change in the second cell signal quality of the first cell within a set time period in the future.

[0145] S503: The terminal sends second information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the second information sent by the terminal. The second information is used to indicate the first predicted value and the second predicted value.

[0146] S504: The network device determines a target cell according to the first prediction value and the second prediction value.

[0147] Based on the communication method described in S501 to S504 above, after receiving the second information, if the network device determines that the target cell is the first cell, that is, the cell signal quality represented by the first prediction value is better than the cell signal quality represented by the second prediction value, then the terminal can still maintain a communication connection with the first cell, and the network device does not need to send the second information to the terminal to save signaling overhead. On the contrary, if the network device determines that the target cell is one of the multiple second cells adjacent to the first cell, that is, the cell signal quality represented by the second prediction value is better than the cell signal quality represented by the first prediction value, then the network device can instruct the terminal to perform a cell switch, that is, instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell to ensure the communication quality of the terminal; in this way, while ensuring the smooth progress of the cell switch, the efficiency of the cell switch is also improved and the signaling overhead is saved.

[0148] In an optional implementation, if it is necessary to reduce related operations such as prediction of cell signal quality by the network device and / or the terminal to reduce the signaling / resource overhead of the communication system, the network device may determine, based on the terminal location of the terminal, that the terminal is in a specific location area (i.e., the area that triggers the terminal and / or the network device to execute the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application), and then send the first information to the terminal. Whether the terminal is in the aforementioned specific location area may be determined by the network device, i.e., the network device determines whether the terminal is in the aforementioned specific location area based on the terminal location reported by the terminal; of course, whether the terminal is in the aforementioned specific location area may also be determined by the terminal.

[0149] Taking the example of a network device determining whether a terminal is in the aforementioned specific location area, in one optional implementation, the network device may further send first information to the terminal upon determining that the terminal is in a first coexistence area of ​​NTN and TN. The first coexistence area is a first area where the service area of ​​NTN overlaps with the service area of ​​TN, and the frequency interval between the service frequency band of NTN and the service frequency band of TN in the first area is less than or equal to the frequency interval threshold. Thus, due to the presence of an NTN cell in the first coexistence area, prediction of the cell signal quality of the NTN cell is also achieved. In another optional implementation, the network device may further send first information to the terminal upon determining that the terminal is in a second coexistence area of ​​NTN and TN. The second coexistence area is a second area where the service area of ​​NTN overlaps with the service area of ​​TN, and the service frequency band of NTN overlaps with the service frequency band of TN in the second area.

[0150] In order to improve the efficiency of cell switching while reducing the signaling / resource overhead of the communication system, the network device may also send the first information to the terminal when determining that the terminal is in an area related to the above-mentioned first coexistence area or the above-mentioned second coexistence area. Therefore, in another optional implementation method, before executing S501, the embodiment of the present application may further include: the network device determines that the terminal is in a third area, and the third area is related to the above-mentioned first coexistence area or the second coexistence area, that is, after the network device determines that the terminal is in the third area, it can send the first information to the terminal. Exemplarily, the aforementioned third area can be an area where the distance between the terminal and the first coexistence area (the reference point therein) or the second coexistence area (the reference point therein) is less than a distance threshold; for another example, the data beam corresponding to the aforementioned third area is the same as or adjacent to at least one of the data beams corresponding to the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area.

[0151] Referring to FIG. 6 , which is a flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, the following description is based on information exchange between a terminal and a network device for ease of understanding and description. The dashed lines represent optional steps, i.e., steps that can be selected to achieve further (or better) technical effects. The numbering of the steps in the process described below is, in some cases, only used to distinguish different steps and is not intended to strictly define the order of the steps.

[0152] S601: A terminal sends fifth information to a network device, where the fifth information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a cell continuous handover capability. Correspondingly, the network device receives the fifth information sent by the terminal.

[0153] S602. After the network device determines, based on the fifth information, that the terminal has the capability of continuous cell switching, it may send the first information to the terminal. The first information may not only instruct the terminal to predict the cell signal qualities of the first cell and the second cell within a set time period in the future, but may also instruct the terminal to predict the cell signal qualities of the first cell and the second cell for a predicted time period.

[0154] S603. The network device may also send third information to the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives the third information sent by the network device, and the third information is used by the terminal to determine the change in the signal quality of the first cell. Optionally, the third information sent by the network device to the terminal may display an indication of the change in the signal quality of the first cell. For example, the third information may include or directly carry the change in the signal quality of the first cell, for example, the change in EIRP or the change in EIRP bias of the data beam (e.g., beam 1) used to determine the change in the signal quality of the first cell within a set time period in the future; in this way, after receiving the third information from the network device, the terminal can directly obtain the change in the signal quality of the first cell from the third information, thereby saving the overhead required for the terminal to determine the change in the signal quality of the first cell.

[0155] In another optional implementation, the third information sent by the network device to the terminal may also implicitly indicate the change in the signal quality of the first cell in other ways, that is, the third information may include other information that is associated with the change in the signal quality of the first cell, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. For example, if the change in the signal quality of the first cell is the change in the EIRP of the beam 1 within a future set time period, the third information may include the EIRP of the beam 1 in different time periods within the future set time period, and the EIRP of the beam 1 at the current moment; if the change in the signal quality of the first cell is the change in the EIRP bias of the beam 1 within a future set time period, the third information may include the EIRP bias of the beam 1 in different time periods within the future set time period, and the EIRP bias of the beam 1 at the current moment; in this way, after receiving the third information from the network device, the terminal can determine the change in the signal quality of the first cell based on the information in the third information that is associated with the change in the signal quality of the first cell.

[0156] S604. The network device may also send fourth information to the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives the fourth information sent by the network device, and the fourth information is used to determine the change in the signal quality of the second cell. Optionally, the fourth information sent by the network device to the terminal may also display an indication of the change in the signal quality of the fourth cell. For example, the fourth information may include or directly carry the change in the signal quality of the second cell, for example, the change in the EIRP or the change in the EIRP bias of the data beam (e.g., beam 2) used to determine the change in the signal quality of the second cell within a set time period in the future; in this way, after receiving the fourth information from the network device, the terminal can directly obtain the change in the signal quality of the second cell from the fourth information, thereby saving the overhead required for the terminal to determine the change in the signal quality of the second cell.

[0157] In another optional implementation, the fourth information sent by the network device to the terminal may also implicitly indicate the above-mentioned change in the second cell signal quality in other ways, that is, the fourth information may include other information associated with the change in the second cell signal quality, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. For example, if the change in the second cell signal quality is the change in the EIRP of the above-mentioned beam 2 within the future set time period, then the fourth information may include the EIRP of the above-mentioned beam 2 in different time periods within the future set time period, and the EIRP of the above-mentioned beam 2 at the current moment; if the change in the second cell signal quality is the change in the EIRP bias of the above-mentioned beam 2 within the future set time period, then the fourth information may include the EIRP bias of the above-mentioned beam 2 in different time periods within the future set time period, and the EIRP bias of the above-mentioned beam 2 at the current moment; in this way, after receiving the fourth information from the network device, the terminal can determine the change in the second cell signal quality based on the information in the fourth information that is associated with the change in the second cell signal quality.

[0158] Similar to the description of the third information above, to save signaling overhead, the fourth information can indicate the change in the second cell's signal quality within a set future duration, i.e., how the change in the second cell's signal quality changes over time within the set future duration. In this way, the network device only needs to send the fourth information to the terminal once to enable the terminal to predict the second cell's signal quality within the set future duration.

[0159] S605. The terminal determines, based on the first information sent by the network device, a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell. More specifically, the terminal may predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second cell based on the first information sent by the network device in combination with the third information and the fourth information sent by the network device.

[0160] S606. The terminal sends the second information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the second information sent by the terminal. The second information is used to indicate the first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and the second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell. In this way, after receiving the second information, the network device can determine the target cell that the terminal can switch to or continue to stay in within the set future duration according to the first predicted value and the second predicted value indicated by the second information.

[0161] To save system overhead or resources, when executing S606, the terminal may send the second information to the network device only when it determines that the above first predicted value and the above second predicted value meet specific measurement reporting trigger conditions; optionally, the foregoing specific measurement reporting trigger conditions may be at least one of the following conditions:

[0162] Condition 1: The first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment. Wherein, the foregoing first moment is a moment within the above set future duration.

[0163] Exemplarily, referring to (a) in FIG. 7, assume that the above set future duration is: t0 to tn. If the first predicted value Pr.Va1 is less than the first quality threshold Th.Q1 starting from the first moment t1, it is recorded as: Pr.Va1 < Th.Q1 (t1 ≤ t ≤ tn). At this time, from the first predicted value and the first quality threshold, it can be determined that the cell signal quality of the first cell will deteriorate, that is, the terminal may need to perform cell switching subsequently to ensure the communication quality of the terminal. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of cell switching, the terminal may send the second information to the network device when condition 1 is met.

[0164] Condition 2: The first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment, and the first time difference between the first moment and the current moment is less than the first duration threshold.

[0165] Exemplarily, referring to (b) in FIG. 7, if the first predicted value Pr.Va1 is less than the first quality threshold Th.Q1 starting from the first moment t1, and the first time difference △t

[0166] between the first moment t1 and the current moment t0 is less than the first duration threshold Th.T1, it is recorded as: Pr.Va1 < Th.Q1 (t1 ≤ t ≤ tn) and △t 1-0 < Th.T1. At this time, from the first predicted value, the first quality threshold, and the first duration threshold, it can be determined that the cell signal quality of the first cell will deteriorate at a relatively close moment in the future (that is, t1), that is, the terminal needs to perform cell switching subsequently to ensure the communication quality of the terminal. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of cell switching, the terminal may send the second information to the network device when condition 2 is met.

[0166] The above conditions 1 and 2 are only based on the first prediction value and the set threshold (ie, the first quality threshold and the first duration threshold) to determine whether the terminal sends the second information to the network device.

[0167] Condition 3: The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting at the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting at the third moment, and the overlap between the first time period in which the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting at the third moment and the second time period in which the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting at the second moment is greater than the second time period threshold. The second and third moments are within the aforementioned future set time period, and there is no clear order between the second and third moments, which is not limited in this application.

[0168] For example, referring to (a) in FIG8 , assuming that the above-mentioned future set time duration is: t0 to tn, if the first predicted value Pr.Va1 is less than the second quality threshold Th.Q2 from the second time t2, the second predicted value Pr.Va2 is greater than the third quality threshold Th.Q3 from the third time t3, and the overlapping time duration Over.T1 of the first time period Ts.1 in which the second predicted value Pr.Va2 is greater than the third quality threshold Th.Q3 from the third time t3 and the second time period Ts.2 in which the first predicted value Pr.Va1 is less than the second quality threshold Th.Q2 from the second time t2 is greater than the second time duration threshold Th.T2, it is recorded as: Pr.Va1<Th.Q2(t2≤t≤tn)、Pr.Va2> Th.Q3 (t3≤t≤tn), and Over.T1>Th.T2. At this point, the terminal may need to switch from the first cell to the second cell to ensure the terminal's communication quality. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of cell switching, the terminal can send the second information to the network device when condition 3 is met.

[0169] Condition 4: the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, the overlapping duration in the above condition 3 is greater than the second duration threshold, and the second time difference between the second moment and the current moment is less than the third duration threshold and / or the third time difference between the third moment and the second moment is less than the fourth duration threshold.

[0170] For example, referring to (b) in FIG8 , if the first prediction value Pr.Va1 is less than the second quality threshold Th.Q2 starting from the second time t2, the second prediction value Pr.Va2 is greater than the third quality threshold Th.Q3 starting from the third time t3, the overlap time Over.T1 is greater than the second time threshold Th.T2, and the second time difference Δt between the second time t2 and the current time t0 is 2-0 is smaller than the third time threshold Th.T3 and / or the third time difference Δt between the third time t3 and the second time t23-0 Less than the fourth duration threshold Th.T4, denoted as: Pr.Va1 < Th.Q2 (t2 ≤ t ≤ tn), Pr.Va2 > Th.Q3 (t3 ≤ t ≤ tn), Over.T1 > Th.T2, and △t 2-0 < Th.T3 and / or △t 3-0 < Th.T4. At this time, from the situation of the first prediction value and the second prediction value in the future for a period of time, it can be known that the terminal can subsequently switch from the first cell to the second cell to ensure the communication quality of the terminal. Therefore, in order to improve the cell switching efficiency, when condition 4 is satisfied, the terminal can send the second information to the network device.

[0171] The above condition 3 and condition 4 are used to determine whether the terminal sends the second information to the network device according to the first prediction value, the second prediction value and the set thresholds (that is, the second quality threshold, the third quality threshold, the second duration threshold, the third duration threshold and the fourth duration threshold).

[0172] Condition 5: The predicted value difference between the second prediction value and the first prediction value from the fourth moment is greater than the fourth quality threshold. Wherein, the aforementioned fourth moment is a moment within the aforementioned future set duration.

[0173] Exemplarily, referring to (a) shown in FIG. 9, still assuming that the aforementioned future set duration is: t0~tn, if the predicted value difference △Pr.Va between the second prediction value Pr.Va2 and the first prediction value Pr.Va1 from the fourth moment t4 is greater than the fourth quality threshold Th.Q4, denoted as: △Pr.Va > Th.Q4 (t4 ≤ t ≤ tn). At this time, from the relationship between the predicted value difference between the aforementioned second prediction value and the first prediction value and the fourth quality threshold, it can be known that the cell signal quality of the second cell is better than that of the first cell, and the terminal may need to switch from the first cell to the second cell subsequently to ensure the communication quality of the terminal. Therefore, in order to improve the cell switching efficiency, when condition 5 is satisfied, the terminal can send the second information to the network device.

[0174] Condition 6: The predicted value difference in the above condition 5 is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period in which the predicted value difference in the above condition 5 is greater than the fourth quality threshold is greater than the fifth duration threshold.

[0175] For example, referring to (b) in FIG9 , if the predicted value difference △Pr.Va is greater than the fourth quality threshold Th.Q4, and the third time period Ts.3 during which the predicted value difference △Pr.Va is greater than the fourth quality threshold Th.Q4 is greater than the fifth duration threshold Th.T5, it is recorded as: △Pr.Va>Th.Q4 (t4≤t≤tn), and Ts.3>Th.T5. At this time, from the relationship between the aforementioned predicted value difference, the fourth quality threshold, and the fifth duration threshold, it can be seen that: in the future, the cell signal quality of the second cell is better than the cell signal quality of the first cell, and the terminal can subsequently switch from the first cell to the second cell to ensure the communication quality of the terminal. Therefore, in order to improve the switching efficiency of the cell, the terminal can send the second information to the network device when condition 6 is met.

[0176] The above conditions 5 and 6 are based on the predicted value difference between the first predicted value and the second predicted value, and the set thresholds (ie, the fourth quality threshold and the fifth duration threshold) to determine whether the terminal sends the second information to the network device.

[0177] Optionally, the above conditions 1 to 6 can be called prediction value reporting trigger conditions 1 to 6, or second information reporting trigger conditions 1 to 6; of course, there can be other names, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0178] S607. The network device determines a target cell based on the first predicted value and the second predicted value indicated by the second information. The target cell is a cell to which the terminal is to switch within a set time period in the future. It should be understood that the network device may also determine whether the terminal needs to perform cell switching within a set time period in the future based on the first predicted value and the second predicted value indicated by the second information.

[0179] Based on the above method, the network device can decide in advance whether the terminal needs to perform cell switching within a future set time period based on the second information reported by the terminal; optionally, since when any of the above conditions 1 to 6 is met, it can be determined that the cell signal quality of the first cell will begin to deteriorate, the network device can determine that the terminal needs to perform cell switching within a future set time period based on the second information, for example, the terminal switches from the first cell to the second cell. Of course, in order to ensure the reliability of cell switching, after receiving the second information sent by the terminal, the network device can determine whether the terminal needs to switch and the target cell to switch to based on the first predicted value and the second predicted value indicated by the second information. Furthermore, using this method, the network device can also make decisions on continuous cell switching for the terminal. In other words, the network device can subsequently determine multiple cell switches that may occur in the terminal within the above-mentioned future set time period (such as the predicted time period) based on the second information reported by the terminal, and instruct the terminal to perform multiple cell switches continuously.

[0180] S608. If the network device determines that the target cell of the terminal within the above-mentioned future set time period is the second cell based on the first prediction value and the second prediction, that is, when it determines that the terminal needs to switch from the first cell to the second cell, the network device sends the seventh information to the terminal. The seventh information is used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, or the seventh information is used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, and the switching time to switch to the second cell. Optionally, the seventh information can instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell by indicating the cell identifier of the second cell. Accordingly, the terminal receives the seventh information sent by the network device; in this way, after receiving the seventh information, the terminal can switch from the first cell to the second cell, or switch from the first cell to the second cell when the switching time indicated above is reached.

[0181] Among them, the above-mentioned switching time for switching to the second cell can be understood as the time when the terminal starts to switch from the first cell to the second cell, that is, the time when the terminal starts cell switching; of course, the above-mentioned switching time for switching to the second cell can also be understood as when the terminal has switched from the first cell to the second cell, that is, the time when the terminal completes the cell switching, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0182] Optionally, if the network device determines based on the first prediction value and the second prediction that the target cell of the terminal within the above-mentioned future set time period is still the first cell, that is, if it determines that the terminal does not need to perform cell switching, then the seventh information may not be sent to the terminal, or a message may be sent to the terminal separately to instruct the terminal to continue to remain in the first cell and continue to use the first cell as a service cell. This application does not limit this.

[0183] Optionally, if the network device determines, based on the first prediction value and the second prediction, that the target cells of the terminal within the above-mentioned future set time period include at least one target cell, in order to reduce the complexity of the interaction between the network device and the terminal, the network device can enable the terminal to switch from the first cell to each target cell in the above-mentioned at least one target cell in sequence. Therefore, in the above S608, the seventh information sent by the network device to the terminal can be specifically used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to each target cell in sequence, as well as the switching time to switch to each target cell.

[0184] Exemplarily, assuming that the above-mentioned future set duration is the next 5 minutes, if the network device determines, based on the first prediction value and the second prediction value, that the target cells to which the terminal is to switch within the next 5 minutes include 3 target cells, for example, target cells 1 to 3. Then, the seventh information sent by the network device to the terminal may instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to target cells 1 to 3 in sequence, as well as the switching time for switching to each target cell. For example, the seventh information may instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to target cell 1, target cell 2, and target cell 3 in sequence, wherein the switching time for switching to target cell 1 is the 1st minute of the aforementioned 5 minutes, the switching time for switching to target cell 2 is the 2.5th minute of the aforementioned 5 minutes, and the switching time for switching to target cell 3 is the 3.5th minute of the aforementioned 5 minutes.

[0185] S609: The network device sends eighth information to the terminal, and the terminal receives the eighth information sent by the network device. The eighth information is used to indicate the resources reserved for the terminal in the second cell, that is, the resources reserved for the terminal in the second cell to meet the communication quality (or communication service requirements) of the terminal before the terminal accesses the second cell. The aforementioned resources reserved for the terminal may include but are not limited to time-frequency resources, computing resources, or storage resources. In this way, when the terminal accesses the second cell, it can use the resources reserved for the terminal in the second cell by the network device to continue to communicate with the network device.

[0186] S610, the network device sends the ninth information to the terminal. Accordingly, the terminal receives the ninth information sent by the network device. The ninth information is used to indicate at least one triggering condition for cell switching; in this way, when the terminal subsequently determines that the triggering condition for the aforementioned cell switching is met, it does not need to receive the indication information for the terminal to perform cell switching, and can perform cell switching or conditional switching, thereby improving the efficiency of cell switching and ensuring the reliability or success probability of cell switching, that is, avoiding the problem that after the terminal reports the predicted value, the communication link between the network device corresponding to the first cell (that is, the network device in the previous text) and the terminal has been interrupted, and the network device may not be able to promptly inform the terminal that a cell switching is required; optionally, the triggering condition for the aforementioned cell switching may be at least one of the following conditions:

[0187] Condition A: The first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment, and the first time difference between the first moment and the current moment is less than the first duration threshold.

[0188] Condition B: the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, and the overlapping duration of the first time period in which the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment and the second time period in which the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment is greater than the second duration threshold, the second time difference between the second moment and the current moment is less than the third duration threshold, and the third time difference between the third moment and the second moment is less than the fourth duration threshold.

[0189] Condition C: the difference between the second prediction value and the first prediction value starting from the fourth moment is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period in which the difference in the prediction value is greater than the fourth quality threshold is greater than the fifth duration threshold.

[0190] S611. To save power consumption of the terminal, the terminal may disable the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality after each prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality to the network device. At this time, if the terminal needs to restart the prediction and reporting capability of the cell signal quality, the terminal sends a restart request to the network device. The restart request is used to instruct the terminal to predict and report the cell signal quality within the validity period of the continuous cell handover. Optionally, the validity period of the continuous cell handover is related to the above-mentioned prediction duration. For example, the validity period of the continuous cell handover can be a period within the prediction duration or the prediction duration.

[0191] S612: After receiving the restart request sent by the terminal, the network device sends sixth information to the terminal. The sixth information is used to instruct the terminal to restart the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality within the valid period of continuous cell handover, thereby instructing the terminal to restart the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality. In response, the terminal receives the sixth information sent by the network device and restarts the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality based on the sixth information.

[0192] It should be understood that in order to save system overhead, the terminal may also send a restart request to the network device only when it determines that the trigger conditions for predicting and reporting the restart cell signal quality are met. Exemplary, the trigger conditions for predicting and reporting the restart cell signal quality may be that the distance moved by the terminal exceeds a set distance threshold (or threshold), the cell signal quality of the serving cell where the terminal is located is higher or lower than a set signal quality threshold, or the cell signal quality of the serving cell where the terminal is located is higher or lower than the set signal quality threshold and maintains for a certain period of time.

[0193] Obviously, based on the above method, during the validity period of the above-mentioned continuous cell switching, the terminal can not only disable the prediction and reporting of cell signal quality, but also restart the prediction and reporting of cell signal quality. That is, by flexibly turning on or off the prediction and reporting of cell signal quality, the problem of high power consumption of the terminal due to the continuous activation of cell signal quality prediction and reporting is improved, and the problem of invalidation of the prediction value due to reasons such as movement of the terminal, which in turn leads to invalidation of cell switching decision, is avoided. In addition, the network equipment can not only make decisions on the most recent cell switching, but also make decisions on multiple cell switching within a set period of time in the future.

[0194] Of course, after the terminal switches from the first cell to the second cell, the network device corresponding to the second cell may also instruct the terminal whether to switch from the second cell to a third cell adjacent to the second cell, thereby reducing the load or overhead of the network device corresponding to the first cell (i.e., the network device mentioned above). Optionally, the network device corresponding to the second cell may also instruct the terminal on the switching time from the second cell to the third cell. This embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0195] To sum up, based on the communication method recorded in the above steps S601 to S611, the terminal can, under the instruction of the network device, predict and report the cell signal quality of the first cell where the terminal is currently located and the second cell adjacent to the first cell, respectively, thereby obtaining a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell; then, after receiving the second information indicating the aforementioned first predicted value and the aforementioned second predicted value reported by the terminal, the network device can determine in advance whether the terminal will perform a single cell switch or whether to perform continuous cell switches within a future set time period based on the second information, that is, improve the cell switching efficiency by making advance decisions on cell switching; optionally, the network device can also determine a target cell to be switched to or target cells to be switched to sequentially within a future set time period based on the second information.

[0196] Refer to Figure 10, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1000 can be the system architecture of the terminal described in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6, used to implement the method corresponding to the terminal in the above method embodiment. Alternatively, the communication device 1000 can be the system architecture of the network device described in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6, used to implement the method corresponding to the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0197] The communication device 1000 includes at least one processor 1001. Processor 1001 can be used for internal processing of the device to implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, processor 1001 includes instructions. Optionally, processor 1001 can store data. Optionally, different processors can be independent devices, located in different physical locations, or on different integrated circuits. Optionally, different processors can be integrated into one or more processors, for example, on one or more integrated circuits.

[0198] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may include one or more memories 1003 for storing instructions. The memories 1003 may also store data. The processor 1001 and the memories 1003 may be provided separately or integrated together. The communication device 1000 also includes a communication circuit 1002 and at least one communication interface 1004. Because the memories 1003, communication circuit 1002, and communication interface 1004 are all optional, they are represented by dashed lines in FIG10.

[0199] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may further include a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver may be used to send information to or receive information from other devices. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input / output interface, etc., and is used to implement the transceiver function of the communication device 1000 via an antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the transmitter may be used to generate a radio frequency signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver may be used to convert the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal.

[0200] The processor 1001 may include a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application.

[0201] The communication link 1002 may include a path to transmit information between the aforementioned components.

[0202] The communication interface 1004 may be a device such as a transceiver, used to communicate with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, RAN, wireless local area networks (WLAN), wired access networks, etc.

[0203] The memory 1003 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, an optical disc storage (including a compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 1003 may exist independently and be connected to the processor 1001 via the communication line 1002. Alternatively, the memory 1003 may also be integrated with the processor 1001.

[0204] The memory 1003 is used to store computer-executable instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 1001. The processor 1001 is used to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1003, thereby implementing the steps performed by the terminal or network device described in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6.

[0205] Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application code, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0206] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 1001 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG10 .

[0207] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 1000 may include multiple processors, such as the processor 1001 and the processor 1005 in FIG10 . Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0208] When the device shown in FIG10 is a chip, such as a chip for a network device or a terminal, the chip includes a processor 1001 (and may also include a processor 1005), a communication circuit 1002, and a communication interface 1004. Optionally, the chip may include a memory 1003. Specifically, the communication interface 1004 may be an input interface, a pin, or a circuit. The memory 1003 may be a register, a cache, or the like. The processor 1001 and the processor 1005 may be a general-purpose CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of a program according to any of the above-described embodiments of the communication method.

[0209] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the device according to the above-mentioned method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, in the case of dividing each functional module according to each function, refer to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram of a device. The device 1100 can be the terminal or network device involved in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, or a chip in the terminal or a chip in the network device. The device 1100 includes a processing unit 1102 and a transceiver unit 1101.

[0210] It should be understood that the device 1100 can be used to implement the steps performed by the terminal or network device in the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. The relevant processes can refer to the embodiments shown in Figures 5 or 6 above, where the steps performed by the terminal or the steps performed by the network device are described, and will not be repeated here.

[0211] Optionally, the functions / implementation processes of the processing unit 1102 in FIG11 may be implemented by the processor 1001 in FIG10 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1003. Alternatively, the functions / implementation processes of the processing unit 1102 in FIG11 may be implemented by the processor 1001 in FIG10 calling computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1003, and the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 1101 in FIG11 may be implemented by the communication interface 1004 in FIG10.

[0212] When the device 1100 is a chip or circuit, the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver unit 1101 can also be implemented through pins or circuits. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1101 can include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit, where the transmitting unit is used to implement the transmitting function and the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function; or, the transceiver unit 1101 can be an integral module capable of implementing the transmitting function and / or the receiving function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 1101 can be implemented by a transceiver.

[0213] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is run, implements the method performed by the terminal or network device in the aforementioned method embodiment. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the communication method described in each embodiment of the present application. The storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0214] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method executed by the terminal or network device in any of the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0215] An embodiment of the present application also provides a processing device, including a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method executed by the terminal or network device involved in any of the above method embodiments.

[0216] This application also provides a communication system that can be used to implement the method embodiment described above, or any possible implementation of the method embodiment, performed by a terminal or network device. Specifically, the system includes at least a terminal and a network device for performing the method embodiment described above. For example, the communication system can have the architecture shown in Figure 2 or Figure 3.

[0217] The present application also provides a chip or chip system, which is coupled to a transceiver and is used to implement the method performed by a terminal or network device in any possible implementation of the above method embodiment or the method embodiment. Herein, "coupling" refers to the direct or indirect combination of two components with each other, which can be fixed or movable, and which allows flowing liquid, electricity, electrical signals or other types of signals to communicate between the two components. The chip system may include the chip. Specifically, the chip or chip system can be used to execute the method performed by the terminal or network device involved in any of the above method embodiments.

[0218] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may 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 may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a digital video disc (DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0219] The various illustrative logic units and circuits described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or operated by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, and optionally, the general-purpose processor can also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. The processor can also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

[0220] The steps of the methods or algorithms described in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embedded in hardware, software units executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software unit can be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or other storage media in any form in the art. Exemplarily, the storage medium can be connected to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and can write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can also be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can be arranged in an ASIC, which can be arranged in a terminal. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium can also be arranged in different components in the terminal.

[0221] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0222] The contents of the various embodiments of this application can refer to each other. If there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0223] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal and / or network device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are merely examples. In the embodiments of the present application, other operations or variations of various operations may also be performed. In addition, the various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all of the operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be performed.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to terminals, including: receiving first information from a network device, where the first information is used to instruct the terminal to predict cell signal qualities of a first cell and a second cell within a set time period in the future, respectively, where the first cell is a serving cell where the terminal is currently located, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first cell and the second cell include at least one non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell; Sending second information to the network device, the second information is used to indicate a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell, the first predicted value and the second predicted value being used to determine the target cell of the terminal within the future set time period.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first prediction value is determined by the terminal based on the first signal measurement value obtained by measuring the synchronization broadcast block SSB of the first cell, or the first prediction value is determined based on the first signal measurement value and the change in the first cell signal quality of the first cell within the future set time period.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The method further comprises: Receive third information from the network device, where the third information is used to determine a change in the signal quality of the first cell.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The second prediction value is determined by the terminal based on the second signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the second cell, or the second prediction value is determined based on the second signal measurement value and the change in the second cell signal quality of the second cell within the future set time period.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The method further comprises: Receive fourth information from the network device, where the fourth information is used to determine a change in the signal quality of the second cell.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein Before receiving the first information of the network device, the method further includes: determining that the terminal is in a first coexistence area of ​​a non-terrestrial network NTN and a terrestrial network TN, where the first coexistence area is a first area where a service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with a service area of ​​the TN, and a frequency interval between a service frequency band of the NTN and a service frequency band of the TN in the first area is less than or equal to a frequency interval threshold; or determining that the terminal is in a second coexistence area of ​​the NTN and the TN, where the second coexistence area is a second area where a service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with a service area of ​​the TN, and within the second area, a service frequency band of the NTN overlaps with a service frequency band of the TN; or It is determined that the terminal is in a third area, where the third area is related to the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein Before sending the second information to the network device, determining that at least one of the following conditions is met: The first predicted value is less than a first quality threshold starting from a first moment, where the first moment is a moment within the future set time period; The first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment, and a first time difference between the first moment and the current moment is less than a first duration threshold; The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, and the overlapping duration of a first time period in which the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment and a second time period in which the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment is greater than the second duration threshold, and the second moment and the third moment are moments within the future set duration; The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, the overlap duration is greater than the second duration threshold, and the second time difference between the second moment and the current moment is less than the third duration threshold and / or the third time difference between the third moment and the second moment is less than the fourth duration threshold; The difference between the second predicted value and the first predicted value starting from a fourth moment is greater than a fourth quality threshold, and the fourth moment is a moment within the future set time period; or The predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period during which the predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold is greater than a fifth duration threshold.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein Before receiving the first information of the network device, the method further includes: Sending fifth information to the network device, where the fifth information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a cell continuous switching capability.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein The first information is further used to indicate a prediction duration for the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the cell signal quality of the second cell.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The method further comprises: Sending a restart request to the network device, where the restart request is used to instruct the terminal to predict and report the cell signal quality within a cell continuous handover validity period, where the cell continuous handover validity period is related to the predicted duration; Receive sixth information from the network device, where the sixth information is used to instruct the terminal to restart prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality within a validity period of the cell continuous handover.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein The target cell is the second cell, and the method further includes: Receive seventh information from the network device, where the seventh information is used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, or the seventh information is used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, and the switching time of switching to the second cell.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The method further comprises: Receive eighth information from the network device, where the eighth information is used to indicate resources reserved by the second cell for the terminal.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein: The target cell includes at least one target cell, and the seventh information is used to indicate the terminal to switch from the first cell to each target cell in sequence, and the switching time for switching to each target cell.

14. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 13, wherein: The method further comprises: Receive ninth information from the network device, where the ninth information is used to indicate at least one of the following cell handover triggering conditions: The first predicted value is less than the first quality threshold starting from the first moment, and the first time difference is less than a first duration threshold; The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, the overlap duration is greater than the second duration threshold, the second time difference is less than the third duration threshold, and the third time difference is less than the fourth duration threshold; or The predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period is greater than the fifth duration threshold.

15. A communication method, characterized in that: Applicable to network equipment, including: Sending first information to a terminal, where the first information is used to instruct the terminal to predict cell signal quality of a first cell and a second cell within a set time period in the future, respectively, where the first cell is a serving cell where the terminal is currently located, the second cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell, and the first cell and the second cell include at least one non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell; Receive second information of the terminal, where the second information is used to indicate a first predicted value of the cell signal quality of the first cell and a second predicted value of the cell signal quality of the second cell, and the first predicted value and the second predicted value are used to determine the target cell of the terminal within the future set time period.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The first prediction value is determined by the terminal based on the first signal measurement value obtained by measuring the synchronization broadcast block SSB of the first cell, or the first prediction value is determined based on the first signal measurement value and the change in the first cell signal quality of the first cell within the future set time period.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The method further comprises: Sending third information to the terminal, where the third information is used to determine a change in the signal quality of the first cell.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein: The second prediction value is determined by the terminal based on the second signal measurement value obtained by SSB measurement of the second cell, or the second prediction value is determined based on the second signal measurement value and the change in the second cell signal quality of the second cell within the future set time period.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The method further comprises: Sending fourth information to the terminal, where the fourth information is used to determine a change in the signal quality of the second cell.

20. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein Before sending the first information to the terminal, the method further includes: determining that the terminal is in a first coexistence area of ​​a non-terrestrial network NTN and a terrestrial network TN, where the first coexistence area is a first area where a service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with a service area of ​​the TN, and a frequency interval between a service frequency band of the NTN and a service frequency band of the TN in the first area is less than or equal to a frequency interval threshold; or determining that the terminal is in a second coexistence area of ​​the NTN and the TN, where the second coexistence area is a second area where a service area of ​​the NTN overlaps with a service area of ​​the TN, and within the second area, a service frequency band of the NTN overlaps with a service frequency band of the TN; or It is determined that the terminal is in a third area, where the third area is related to the first coexistence area or the second coexistence area.

21. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 20, wherein: Before sending the first information to the terminal, the method further includes: Fifth information is received, where the fifth information is used to indicate whether the terminal has a cell continuous switching capability.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein: The first information is further used to indicate a prediction duration for the terminal to predict the cell signal quality of the first cell and the cell signal quality of the second cell.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The method further comprises: receiving a restart request from the terminal, where the restart request is used to instruct the terminal to predict and report the cell signal quality within a cell continuous handover validity period, where the cell continuous handover validity period is related to the predicted duration; Sending sixth information to the terminal, where the sixth information is used to instruct the terminal to restart the prediction and reporting of the cell signal quality within the validity period of the continuous cell handover.

24. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 23, wherein: The target cell is the second cell, and the method further includes: Send seventh information to the terminal, where the seventh information is used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, or the seventh information is used to instruct the terminal to switch from the first cell to the second cell, and the switching time of switching to the second cell.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein: The method further comprises: Sending eighth information to the terminal, where the eighth information is used to indicate resources reserved by the second cell for the terminal.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein: The target cell includes at least one target cell, and the seventh information is used to indicate the terminal to switch from the first cell to each target cell in sequence, and the switching time for switching to each target cell.

27. The method of claim 24, 25 or 26, wherein: The method further comprises: Sending ninth information to the terminal, where the ninth information is used to indicate at least one of the following cell handover triggering conditions: The first predicted value is less than a first quality threshold starting from a first moment, and a first time difference between the first moment and the current moment is less than a first duration threshold, and the first moment is a moment within the future set duration; The first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment, the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment, and the overlapping duration of the first time period when the second predicted value is greater than the third quality threshold starting from the third moment and the second time period when the first predicted value is less than the second quality threshold starting from the second moment is greater than the second duration threshold, the second moment and the third moment are moments within the future set duration, the second time difference between the second moment and the current moment is less than the third duration threshold, and the third time difference between the third moment and the second moment is less than the fourth duration threshold; or, The difference between the predicted value of the second prediction value and the predicted value of the first prediction value starting from the fourth moment is greater than the fourth quality threshold, and the third time period in which the predicted value difference is greater than the fourth quality threshold is greater than the fifth duration threshold, and the fourth moment is a moment within the future set duration.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processing unit and a transceiver unit; The transceiver unit is used to send and receive information; The processing unit is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 27, through the transceiver unit.

29. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor and a memory, the memory stores a computer program, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, or the communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 15 to 27.

30. A communication system, characterized in that: Including terminals and network equipment; The terminal is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, and the network device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 27.

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