Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus. The communication method comprises: transmitting first information to an access network device, wherein the first information is used for indicating whether a first cell transmits an MBS, the first cell is a neighbor cell of the access network device, and the MBS is the same as an MBS transmitted by the access network device; and correspondingly, the access network device determining, on the basis of the first information, whether the first cell is a cell transmitting the MBS. According to the technical solution, the accuracy of the access network device determining the cell for transmitting the MBS can be improved.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on April 3, 2024, with application number 202410409154.X and application name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] With the continuous development of communication technology, multicast and broadcast service (MBS) for multiple terminal devices has developed rapidly.

[0004] For MBS, the access network device will obtain the MBS neighbor cell list, which indicates at least one cell that can provide MBS. Afterwards, the access network device determines the target cell for transmitting MBS from the at least one cell and indicates the determined target cell to the terminal device, so that the terminal device knows the target cell that is transmitting MBS.

[0005] However, the above process may have the following problem: the target cell for transmitting the MBS determined by the access network device is inaccurate, which further causes the terminal device to be unable to accurately know the target cell for transmitting the MBS. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device to improve the accuracy of an access network device in determining a target cell for transmitting an MBS.

[0007] In a first aspect, this application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device, or by a component configured in the terminal device (such as a chip, chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the terminal device functions, which is not limited in this application. In this application, the terminal device is used as an example for description.

[0008] Exemplarily, the communication method includes: sending first information to the access network device, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits MBS, the first cell is a neighboring cell of the access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device.

[0009] The access network device that receives the first information sent by the terminal device is also referred to as the first access network device. The cell in which the terminal device is located when the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device is also referred to as the second cell. The MBS is transmitted in the second cell, and the terminal device receives the MBS sent by the first access network device in the second cell.

[0010] That is, in this communication method, the terminal device indicates to the first access network device through the first information whether the first cell transmits the same MBS as the MBS currently being transmitted by the first access network device. In the embodiment of the present application, the same MBS refers to having the same session identifier of the MBS, such as the same temporary mobile group identity (TMGI).

[0011] Exemplarily, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits MBS, and can also be interpreted as any one of the following: the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell is transmitting MBS, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell has transmitted MBS, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell is a cell that transmits MBS, and the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell is used to transmit MBS.

[0012] In this communication method, the first information is determined by the situation in which the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell. Specifically, when the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, it will determine that the first cell transmits / exists the MBS, and at this time the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS. When the terminal device does not receive the point-to-multipoint (PTM) configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, the terminal device will not receive the MBS, and the terminal device will also determine that the first cell does not transmit / exists the MBS, and at this time the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not / does not transmit the MBS. Therefore, in this embodiment, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS, which can also be interpreted as: the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell.

[0013] Exemplarily, the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, which may also be replaced by any one of the following: the terminal device successfully receives the data packet of the above-mentioned MBS in the first cell, the terminal device parses the data packet of the above-mentioned MBS in the first cell, and the terminal device discovers the PTM configuration information of the above-mentioned MBS in the first cell.

[0014] Exemplarily, if the terminal device receives an MBS in the first cell, and the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS, it can be replaced with: the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS.

[0015] Exemplarily, if the terminal device does not receive PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the MBS, which can be replaced with: the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

[0016] It can be seen that in this technical solution, since the terminal device also indicates to the first access network device the first information of whether the first cell is transmitting the MBS after establishing the RRC connection with the first access network device, the first access network device can accurately determine whether the first cell is transmitting the same MBS based on the first information, thereby improving the accuracy of the first access network device in determining the cell that is transmitting the same MBS.

[0017] Exemplarily, in one implementation, the first information includes 1 bit, which has two values, 0 or 1. When it takes one value, it indicates that the first cell transmits MBS, and when it takes the other value, it indicates that the first cell does not transmit MBS.

[0018] Optionally, if the terminal device determines that the first cell transmits the MBS, the first information includes PTM configuration information of the MBS. That is, in this implementation, the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell transmits the same MBS by reporting the PTM configuration information of the MBS transmitted by the first cell.

[0019] Optionally, the first information includes a session identifier of the MBS. Exemplarily, the session identifier of the MBS is a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) of the MBS.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: sending second information to the access network device, where the second information indicates the MBS data packet received in the first cell.

[0021] Based on this implementation method, the first access network device can determine the reception status of the MBS data packets received by the terminal device. For example, the first access network device determines the packet reception status of the terminal device based on the second information, and further adjusts the parameters when transmitting the MBS according to the packet reception status, so that the terminal device can better receive the MBS.

[0022] For example, the second information includes the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) sequence number (SN) or PDCP COUNT value of the MBS data packet received by the terminal device in the first cell, including the PDCP SN number or PDCP COUNT value of the last MBS data packet received by the terminal device in the first cell. The first access network device determines the packet loss situation of the terminal device based on the PDCP SN number or PDCP COUNT value of the received MBS data packet.

[0023] Optionally, the second information indicating the MBS data packet received in the first cell may be replaced by: the second information indicating the MBS data packet not received in the first cell.

[0024] The MBS data packet not received by the terminal device in the first cell can also be interpreted as: the MBS data packet not successfully received by the terminal device in the first cell, and the MBS data packet not successfully parsed by the terminal device in the first cell. For example, the second information includes the PDCP SN or PDCP COUNT value of the MBS data packet not received by the terminal device in the first cell. The access network device determines the packet loss status of the terminal device based on the PDCP SN number or PDCP COUNT value of the unreceived MBS data packet.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation, if the terminal device receives MBS in a deactivated state in the first cell, the method further includes: sending third information to the access network device, the third information being used to indicate data packet synchronization between the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation method, at least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure (ConnEstFail, CEF) report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection establishment with the first cell fails.

[0027] In combination with the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, at least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a recorded minimization of drive-tests (MDT) report, where the recorded MDT report includes MDT data recorded in the first cell.

[0028] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by an access network device, or by a component configured in the access network device (such as a chip, chip system, etc.), or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the access network device, which is not limited in this application. In this application, the access network device is used as an example for description.

[0029] Exemplarily, the communication method includes: receiving first information sent by a terminal device, the first information being used to indicate whether a first cell transmits a multicast broadcast service MBS, the first cell being a neighboring cell of an access network device, and the MBS being the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device; based on the first information, determining whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS.

[0030] In this technical solution, since the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device to indicate whether the first cell transmits MBS, the access network device can accurately determine whether the first cell is a cell that transmits MBS based on the first information, thereby improving the accuracy of the access network device in determining the cell that is transmitting MBS.

[0031] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits MBS; based on the first information, determining whether the first cell is a cell that transmits MBS includes: based on the first information, determining that the first cell is a cell that transmits MBS.

[0032] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving second information sent by the terminal device, where the second information indicates a data packet of the MBS received in the first cell.

[0033] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving third information sent by the terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate data packet synchronization between the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device.

[0034] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, at least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure CEF report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection establishment with the first cell fails.

[0035] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive tests (MDT) report, and the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

[0036] In combination with the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit MBS; based on the first information, determining whether the first cell is a cell that transmits MBS includes: based on the first information, determining that the first cell is a cell that does not transmit MBS.

[0037] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising modules or units for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect. It should be understood that each module or unit can implement the corresponding function by executing a computer program.

[0038] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising modules or units for implementing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect. It should be understood that each module or unit can implement the corresponding function by executing a computer program.

[0039] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the communication method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The communication device may be a chip or a chip system used in a terminal device.

[0040] The apparatus may further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and when the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the method described in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof may be implemented. The apparatus may further include a communication interface for communicating between the apparatus and other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface.

[0041] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the communication method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The communication device may be a chip or chip system used in a network device.

[0042] The apparatus may further include a memory for storing instructions and data. The memory is coupled to the processor, and when the processor executes the instructions stored in the memory, the method described in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof may be implemented. The apparatus may further include a communication interface for communicating between the apparatus and other devices. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface.

[0043] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a program code for execution by a communication device, the program code including instructions for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0044] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a program code for execution by a communication device, wherein the program code includes instructions for implementing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0045] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, enables the communication device to implement the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0046] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, enables the communication device to implement the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0047] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, which includes a communication device for implementing the method in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect and / or a communication device for implementing the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0048] Among them, the effects that can be obtained from the second to eleventh aspects can be referred to the description in the first aspect and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] FIG1 is a structural diagram of an MBS transmission network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a RAN architecture provided;

[0051] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of determining a cell for transmitting an MBS;

[0052] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of providing a method for determining a cell for transmitting an MBS;

[0053] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG6 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG7 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG8 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG9 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG10 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] FIG11 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG12 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG13 is a structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0062] To facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that the words "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the words "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0063] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0064] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more" refers to 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 represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "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 and (or) c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0065] With the development of communication technology, multicast and broadcast service (MBS) for multiple terminal devices has been rapidly developed. For example, the multicast and broadcast service includes a live broadcast service, a batch software update service, and the like.

[0066] Exemplarily, FIG1 is a structural diagram of an MBS transmission network architecture provided in this application, which is a (5th generation, 5G) network architecture.

[0067] As shown in Figure 1, the network elements in the 5G network architecture include terminal equipment 101, access network (AN) equipment 102, core network (CN) equipment 103 and server 104.

[0068] Among them, the terminal device 101 in the embodiment of the present application includes various devices with wireless communication functions, which can be used to connect people, objects, machines, etc. The terminal device 101 can be widely used in various scenarios, such as: cellular communication, device to device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X), peer to peer (P2P), machine to machine (M2M), machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, autonomous delivery, etc. The terminal device can be a terminal in any of the above scenarios, such as an MTC terminal, an IoT terminal, etc. The terminal device may be a user equipment (UE) of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) standard, a terminal, a fixed device, a mobile station device or a mobile device, a subscriber unit, a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless data card, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computer, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wireless modem, a handheld device (handset), a laptop computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a smart book, a vehicle, a satellite, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a target tracking device, an aircraft (such as a drone, a helicopter, a multi-copter, a quadcopter, or an airplane), a ship, a remote control device, a smart home device, an industrial device, or a device built into the above-mentioned device (such as a communication module, a modem or a chip in the above-mentioned device), or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. For the sake of convenience of description, the terminal device will be described below by taking the terminal or UE as an example.

[0069] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal device, i.e., the terminal device, can be the terminal device, or a device capable of supporting the terminal device to implement the function, such as a chip system or chip, which can be installed in the terminal device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0070] The access network device 102 is mainly used to control the terminal device 101 to access the mobile communication network via wireless. The access network device 102 is part of the mobile communication system and implements a wireless access technology. The access network device can be a base station. A base station may broadly cover various names as follows, or replace the following names, such as: NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), next generation NodeB (gNB), relay station, access point, transmitting and receiving point (TRP), transmitting point (TP), master station, secondary station, multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access point (AP), transmission node, transceiver node, baseband unit (BBU), remote radio unit (RRU), active antenna unit (AAU), remote radio head (RRH), central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), radio unit (RU), positioning node, etc. A base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, or a combination thereof. A base station may also refer to a communication module, modem or chip used to be set in the aforementioned device or apparatus. A base station may also be a mobile switching center and a device that performs base station functions in D2D, V2X, and M2M communications, a network-side device in a 6G network, a device that performs base station functions in future communication systems, etc. A base station may support networks with the same or different access technologies. Optionally, a RAN node may also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or an on-board device, etc. For example, the access network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology may be a road side unit (RSU). The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device. In some deployments, the network device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a device including a CU, or a DU, or a device including a CU and a DU, or a control plane CU node (central unit-control plane (CU-CP)) and a user plane CU node (central unit-user plane (CU-UP)) and a DU node.For example, the network equipment may include a gNB-CU-CP, a gNB-CU-UP, and a gNB-DU.

[0071] In some deployments, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminals in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functionality. For example, a RAN node can be a CU, DU, CU-CP, CU-UP, or RU. The CU and DU can be separate or included in the same network element, such as the BBU. The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio unit, such as an RRU, AAU, or RRH.

[0072] The RAN node may support one or more types of fronthaul interfaces, with different fronthaul interfaces corresponding to DUs and RUs with different functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is a common public radio interface (CPRI), the DU is configured to implement one or more baseband functions, and the RU is configured to implement one or more radio frequency functions. If the fronthaul interface between the DU and the RU is another type of interface, relative to the CPRI, some of the downlink and / or uplink baseband functions, such as precoding, digital beamforming (BF), or one or more of inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) for downlink, are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation; and for uplink, one or more of digital beamforming (BF), or fast Fourier transform (FFT) / cyclic prefix (CP) removal, are moved from the DU to the RU for implementation. In one possible implementation, the interface may be an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI). In the eCPRI architecture, the division between the DU and RU is different, corresponding to different types (category, Cat) of eCPRI, such as eCPRI Cat A, B, C, D, E, and F.

[0073] In one possible design, the processing unit for implementing baseband functions in the BBU is called a baseband high layer (BBH) unit, and the processing unit for implementing baseband functions in the RRU / AAU / RRH is called a baseband low layer (BBL) unit.

[0074] 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 an open radio access network (open-RAN, O-RAN or ORAN) system, as shown in Figure 2, CU may also be referred to as O-CU (open CU), DU may also be referred to as O-DU (open DU), CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP (open centralized unit control plane), CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and RU may also be referred to as O-RU (open radio frequency unit). Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0075] The terminal device 101 and the access network device 102 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water; and can also be deployed in the air on aircraft, balloons, and artificial satellites. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios of the terminal device 101 and the access network device 102.

[0076] The terminal device 101 and the access network device 102 can communicate through the authorized spectrum, the unlicensed spectrum, or both the authorized spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum; can communicate through the spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), the spectrum above 6 GHz, or both the spectrum below 6 GHz and the spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0077] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station function. The control subsystem that includes the base station function here can be a control center in the application scenarios of the above-mentioned terminals such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal function.

[0078] The core network equipment 103 mainly includes the user plane function (UPF) of the data plane and the control plane function. Among them, the user plane function is mainly responsible for packet forwarding, quality of service (QoS) control, billing information statistics and connection to external networks, etc., which includes the relevant functions of the serving gateway (SGW) and public data network gateway (PDN-GW) of the long term evolution technology (LTE). The control plane function is mainly responsible for business process interaction, sending data packet forwarding strategies and QoS control strategies to the user plane. Exemplarily, the network elements in the control plane function mainly include: access and mobility function (AMF), session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF), application function (AF), network exposure function (NEF), etc. Among them, the AMF network element is connected to the access network device 102 through the NG interface, and can manage the terminal device's access to the core network, such as: terminal device access control, terminal device mobility management, terminal device attachment and detachment, triggering the LMF network element to locate the terminal device, and forwarding positioning-related messages between the terminal device and the LMF network element, as well as forwarding positioning-related messages between the access network device and the LMF network element. The LMF network element can locate the terminal device based on the positioning request of the AMF network element. It should be understood that the function of the LMF network element mentioned here can also be called the function of LMF. It can also be said that the LMF network element is used to implement the function of LMF. The SMF network element is mainly responsible for managing the creation and deletion of user protocol data unit (PDU) sessions, maintaining the PDU session context and user plane forwarding pipeline information. PCF is mainly responsible for executing policy control, which is similar to the policy and charging rules function (PCRF) network element in long term evolution technology (LTE). It includes generating and managing users, sessions, quality of service (QoS) flow processing policies, quality of service, and charging rules, and issuing the corresponding rules to the UPF network element through SMF.The AF network element is primarily responsible for providing various business services. It can interact with the core network through the NEF network element and can interact with the policy management framework for policy management. The NEF is used to provide the framework, authentication, and interfaces related to network capability exposure, and to transfer information between the 5G system network function and other network functions.

[0079] The server 104 is a device that communicates with the terminal device 101 and can send service data that needs to be transmitted to the terminal device 101, such as service data including multicast services, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0080] For the system architecture shown in Figure 1, the server 104 can first send the MBS data to the core network device 103, then the core network device 103 sends the MBS data to the access network device 102, and finally the access network device 102 sends the MBS data to at least one terminal device 101.

[0081] For example, when sending from a core network device to an access network device, MBS data can be transmitted through an MBS session (also called an MBS session), and each MBS session can include at least one MBS QoS flow. When sending from an access network device to a terminal device, MBS data can be transmitted through an MBS radio bearer. Generally, there are two transmission modes for an MBS radio bearer: one is point to multi-point (PTM) transmission mode, and the other is point to point (PTP) transmission mode. In other words, for an access network device, PTP and PTM transmission modes are supported for sending MBS data to a terminal device. In addition, for an access network device, it also supports dynamic conversion between PTM and PTP controlled by the access network device. For a detailed description of the PTM transmission mode and the PTP transmission mode, please refer to the description in the relevant technology and will not be repeated here.

[0082] In some scenarios, MBS is a broadcast service; in others, it is a multicast service. Multicast services are designed for services with high QoS requirements and require group management. They can provide the same QoS levels as unicast services. Specifically, for multicast services, the core network must manage the entry and exit of terminal devices. Transmission between core network and access network devices relies on PDU sessions. For detailed descriptions of broadcast and multicast, please refer to the relevant technical descriptions and will not be repeated here.

[0083] In addition, it is noted that the methods provided in the embodiments of the present invention are applicable to, but not limited to, the following fields: multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), single cell point to multipoint (SC-PTM), multicast broadcast service, multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN), dual-channel intelligent unicast (DC-IU), broadcast, multicast, multicast broadcast, groupcast, V2X, public safety, mission critical, transparent IPv4 / IPv6 multicast delivery, internet protocol television (IPTV), software delivery over wireless, group communications, Internet of Things (IoT), TV video, TV, linear TV, live broadcast, radio services, device to device, etc. device, D2D), unmanned driving, automated driving (ADS), driver assistance (ADAS), intelligent driving, connected driving, intelligent network driving, car sharing, etc.

[0084] Currently, for MBS, terminal devices can receive it in an idle state or an inactive state. For example, a terminal device can receive a broadcast MBS in an idle state (also called an idle state), or a terminal device can receive a multicast MBS in an inactive state (also called an inactive state).

[0085] Regardless of whether broadcast MBS data or multicast MBS data is sent to the terminal device, the access network device will indicate the target cell for transmitting the MBS to the terminal device receiving the MBS; accordingly, the terminal device learns the target cell for transmitting the MBS based on the indication of the access network device.

[0086] Specifically, on the access network device side, the current method for determining the target cell is as follows: first, an MBS neighbor list is obtained. The MBS neighbor list indicates at least one cell that can provide MBS. Then, the base station determines the target cell for MBS transmission from this at least one cell and indicates the target cell for MBS transmission to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device determines the target cell for MBS transmission based on the indication information.

[0087] For example, as shown in FIG3 , the MBS neighbor list determined by the access network device indicates cells including cell 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, and cell 6. That is, cells 1, cell 2, cell 3, cell 4, cell 5, and cell 6 can provide MBS. Subsequently, the access network device determines that cells 1, cell 2, cell 4, and cell 5 transmit MBS, and determines that cells 3 and cell 6 do not transmit MBS.

[0088] The access network device determines that cells 1, 2, 4, and 5 transmit MBSs, while cells 3 and 6 do not. This can also be understood as: the access network device determines that cells 1, 2, 4, and 5 are cells for transmitting MBSs, while cells 3 and 6 are cells not for transmitting MBSs. Alternatively, it can be understood as: the access network device determines that cells 1, 2, 4, and 5 are cells that transmit MBSs, while cells 3 and 6 are cells that do not transmit MBSs.

[0089] Cells 1, 2, and 3 are covered by the local access network device, while cells 4, 5, and 6 are covered by other access network devices. For ease of description, in this example, the local access network device is also referred to as the local station, and other access network devices are also referred to as neighboring stations.

[0090] For example, the MBS neighbor list uses PCI and absolute frequency to indicate cells that can provide MBS. One method for an access network device to determine the MBS neighbor list is as follows: the core network sends the MBS service area to the access network device, and the access network device obtains the MBS neighbor list based on the MBS service area. The implementation of how the access network device obtains the MBS neighbor list based on the MBS service area can be found in the description of related technologies and will not be further elaborated here.

[0091] Exemplarily, in one implementation, the way in which the access network device indicates the determined target cell to the terminal device includes: the access network device sends an MBS neighbor list and information 11 (for example, information 11 is also called Mtch-neighbourCell information) to the terminal device, wherein information 11 includes N bits, and the N bits correspond one-to-one to the N cells indicated by the MBS neighbor list, and each bit indicates whether the corresponding cell is transmitting MBS; accordingly, the terminal device determines the target cell for transmitting MBS based on the MBS neighbor list and information 1.

[0092] Taking Figure 3 as an example, information 11 may include 6 bits, and the 6 bits correspond one-to-one to 6 cells. For example, if information 11 is 110110, when a bit is 1, it indicates that the cell corresponding to the bit has MBS data transmitted, and when a bit is 0, it indicates that the cell corresponding to the bit has not transmitted MBS.

[0093] Optionally, in one scenario, the access network device has a CU-DU separated architecture. In this scenario, the access network device determines the MBS neighbor list, which is replaced by the CU determining the MBS neighbor list. The access network device determines the target cell for MBS transmission, which is replaced by the DU determining the target cell for MBS transmission. In this scenario, the CU can send the MBS neighbor list to the DU, so that the DU determines the target cell for MBS data transmission based on the MBS neighbor list and at least one cell.

[0094] However, when the above-mentioned access network equipment determines the target cell for transmitting MBS, it can accurately judge whether each cell of the local station transmits MBS, but it cannot accurately judge whether the cell of the neighboring station transmits MBS, resulting in inaccurate target cell for transmitting MBS determined by the access network equipment, and further resulting in the terminal device being unable to accurately determine the cell for transmitting MBS.

[0095] For example, using Figure 3 as an example, the local station determines that neighboring cell 4 and cell 5 are transmitting MBSs. However, cells 4 and 5 may not actually be transmitting MBSs due to resource allocation by the neighboring station. A terminal device, based on the access network device's instructions, assumes that cell 4 or cell 5 is transmitting MBSs. In this case, if the terminal device moves to cell 4 or cell 5, it will find that it cannot receive MBS data. For another example, the local station determines that neighboring cell 6 is not transmitting MBSs, but in fact, cell 6 is transmitting MBSs. In this case, based on the network device's instructions, the terminal device will assume that cell 6 is not transmitting MBSs and will not attempt to receive MBS data from cell 6.

[0096] In addition, if the access network device determines the MBS neighbor cell list but sets the information 11 to be empty, the terminal device may not be able to accurately determine which cells are cells transmitting MBS.

[0097] In summary, there is currently a problem that the access network equipment cannot accurately determine the target cell for transmitting the MBS.

[0098] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, in which a terminal device indicates to an access network device that establishes an RRC connection whether other cells are transmitting the same MBS as the MBS transmitted by the access device that establishes the RRC connection, so that the access network device knows whether the cell of the neighboring station is transmitting the MBS, thereby improving the accuracy of determining the cell of the transmitted MBS.

[0099] The communication method provided by this application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0100] Before introducing the communication method provided by this application, to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of this application are briefly explained. It should be understood that the basic concepts introduced below are simply explained using the basic concepts specified in the current protocol as examples, but do not limit the application of the embodiments of this application to existing communication systems. Therefore, the standard names that appear when describing existing communication systems as examples are functional descriptions and the specific names are not limiting.

[0101] 1. RRC connected state and non-connected state

[0102] The RRC connected state can be called the RRC_connected state. When a terminal device is in the RRC connected state, an RRC connection exists between the terminal device and the access network device, and a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling connection exists between the terminal device and the core network device (such as the mobility management network element). In the RRC connected state, both the access network device and the core network device store the terminal device's context.

[0103] The non-connected state refers to not being in a connected state, and the non-connected state includes an idle state and / or an inactive state.

[0104] The inactive state can be called the RRC_inactive state, or the deactivated state. When the terminal device is in the inactive state, there is no RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device. The access network device stores the context of the terminal device, and the core network device can store the context of the terminal device. The access network device does not know the specific cell in which the terminal device resides within the coverage area of ​​the access network device or whether it is within the management scope of the access network device. The core network device knows which access network device can be used to find the terminal device.

[0105] The idle state can be called the RRC_idle state. When the terminal device is in the idle state, there is no RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device, the access network device does not save the terminal device context, and there is no NAS signaling connection between the terminal device and the core network device (such as the mobility management network element).

[0106] Regarding the connected state, the non-connected state, the inactive state and the idle state, reference may be made to the provisions of the third generation partnership project (3GPP) standard, which will not be described in detail here.

[0107] 2. Cell Reselection

[0108] Cell reselection is a process initiated by a terminal device in an idle or inactive state. Specifically, when a terminal device successfully camps on a cell and does not perform any data services, it will be in an idle or inactive state.

[0109] A terminal device in idle or inactive state measures the signal quality of its current serving cell and neighboring cells. If the signal quality of the current serving cell is poor, but the signal quality of a neighboring cell is good, the terminal device will proactively select a cell with a higher priority or better signal quality as its serving cell. This is called cell reselection. The overall cell reselection process includes initiating neighboring cell measurements, reselection evaluation and decision-making, and cell reselection execution.

[0110] Start neighboring cell measurement: The terminal device determines whether to start neighboring cell measurement based on the measurement start conditions. If it is determined to start neighboring cell measurement, the terminal device measures the signal quality of the current serving cell and the neighboring cell.

[0111] Reselection evaluation judgment: The terminal equipment determines whether the signal quality of the neighboring cell continues to meet the cell reselection criteria during the Treselection period. The cell reselection criteria include the R / S criterion. If it is determined that the signal quality of the neighboring cell continues to meet the cell reselection criteria during the Treselection period, cell reselection is performed. If it does not meet the criteria, the terminal equipment remains in the current serving cell.

[0112] Cell reselection execution: The terminal device performs cell reselection and starts receiving system messages from the new cell. If there is no access restriction, the terminal device initiates RRC connection establishment (RRC Setup) in the RRC_idle state, and initiates RRC resumption (RRC Resume) in the inactive state to request to establish an RRC connection with the new cell.

[0113] 3. Connection Establishment Failure (ConnEstFail, CEF) Report

[0114] If an idle terminal device experiences an RRC connection establishment failure or an inactive terminal device experiences an RRC recovery failure, the terminal device records the CEF report to record the failure information. For example, the CEF report includes the cell identifier and measurement results of the cell where the RRC connection establishment failure or RRC recovery failure occurred, the neighboring cell measurement results when the failure occurred, the number of consecutive RRC connection establishment failures in the same cell or the number of consecutive RRC recovery failures in the same cell, and the time from the failure to the reporting.

[0115] Minimization of Drive-Tests (MDT) The fundamental concept of MDT technology is to partially replace traditional drive testing with measurement reporting by end-user devices. This allows for the automated collection of end-user measurement data to detect and optimize wireless network issues and faults. MDT can be used for coverage optimization (detecting coverage holes, weak coverage, excessive coverage, and uplink coverage) and QoS verification / observation (evaluating user QoS experience, such as through throughput).

[0116] There are two main MDT modes: logged MDT and immediate MDT.

[0117] Logged MDT is an MDT measurement performed by a terminal device in an idle (RRC_idle) state or an inactive (RRC_inactive) state (for example, the terminal device performs MDT measurements on the cell it is currently residing in and some neighboring cells). Specifically, the network side provides a logged MDT measurement configuration to the terminal device in the RRC connected state to instruct the terminal device to perform logged MDT measurements in the idle and inactive states. The configuration parameters include: trigger recording conditions (time trigger, period trigger), recording duration and recording area, etc. The recording area can be a public land mobile network (PLMN) list, a tracking area (TA) list, a cell global identity (CGI) list, a frequency list, and the terminal device collects and records MDT data within the configured area. When the recording duration times out or the terminal device receives a new logged MDT measurement configuration, the terminal device stops collecting data. Logged MDT collects measurement data on the terminal device side, such as measurement results of coverage-related service / neighboring cells, cell identification information, location information, time information, tracking information, etc.

[0118] The terminal device indicates the existence of the recorded MDT to the network side in the RRC message, the network side requests the terminal device to report the recorded MDT, and the terminal device reports the recorded MDT to the network side in response to the request.

[0119] Immediate MDT is an MDT measurement performed by a terminal device in an RRC connected state. The terminal device measurement configuration of Fast MDT adds location information to the existing RRC measurement configuration process, and can also add record area range information to instruct the terminal device to perform Fast MDT collection in a specific area. Immediate MDT can collect measurement data on the terminal device side and the access network device side. The measurement data on the terminal device side includes, for example, measurement results of coverage-related service / neighboring areas, location information, power headroom measurements, and measurement results on the access network device side include, for example, physical resource block (PRB) utilization, throughput, packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) data volume, packet loss rate, packet drop rate, number of active terminal devices, packet delay, etc.

[0120] The communication method provided by this application is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0121] Figure 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method 500 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 only describes the method from the perspective of the interaction between a network device and a terminal device, and should not constitute any limitation to the embodiment of the present application. The network device in Figure 5 can be replaced by a component configured in the network device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the network device; the terminal device in Figure 5 can be replaced by a component configured in the terminal device (such as a chip, a chip system, a processor, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the terminal device.

[0122] The method shown in Figure 5 includes steps S510 to S520. The following describes each step in the method 500 in detail.

[0123] S510, the terminal device sends first information to the access network device, where the first information indicates whether a first cell transmits an MBS, the first cell is a neighboring cell of the access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device.

[0124] In the embodiment of the present application, the access network device that receives the first information is also referred to as the first access network device.

[0125] In an embodiment of the present application, the cell in which the terminal device is located when the terminal device sends the first information to the access network device is also referred to as the second cell. The second cell is a cell included in (or covered by) the first access network device that receives the first information. In this embodiment, an MBS is transmitted in the second cell, and the terminal device receives the MBS sent by the first access network device in the second cell.

[0126] As an example, before the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the first access network device. For example, the terminal device establishing an RRC connection with the first access network device may also be: the terminal device establishing a connection with the second cell.

[0127] It should be noted that this embodiment does not limit how to trigger the terminal device to establish an RRC connection with the first access network device.

[0128] For example, before the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the first access network device, the terminal device receives MBS in a certain cell in a deactivated state, but the signal quality when receiving the MBS does not meet the preset conditions (for example, the signal quality is low or does not meet the threshold). The terminal device initiates RRC connection establishment to the access network device to which the certain cell belongs, but the RRC connection establishment fails. The terminal device initiates RRC Setup to the first access network device to establish an RRC connection with the first access network device to continue receiving MBS from the first access network device.

[0129] For another example, before establishing an RRC connection with the first access network device, the terminal device that receives MBS in a deactivated state reselects a cell and finds that the MBS to be received does not exist in the cell. The terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the access network device to which the cell belongs, but the RRC connection establishment fails. The terminal device initiates RRC Setup to the first access network device to establish an RRC connection with the first access network device to continue receiving MBS from the first access network device.

[0130] In this embodiment, after the RRC connection between the terminal device and the first access network device is established, the terminal device will send first information to the first access network device. The first information indicates whether the first cell transmits MBS. The first cell is a neighboring cell of the first access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the first access network device.

[0131] Here, the MBS being the same as the MBS transmitted by the first access network device means that the session identifiers of the MBS and the MBS transmitted by the first access network device are the same, and the session identifier includes, for example, a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI).

[0132] The MBS being identical to the MBS transmitted by the first access network device can also be interpreted as: the MBS being identical to the MBS received by the terminal device in the second cell. Therefore, the terminal device indicating, through the first information, whether the first cell is transmitting an MBS can also be interpreted as: the terminal device indicating to the first access network device, through the first information, whether the first cell is transmitting an MBS identical to the MBS transmitted by the first access network device, or the terminal device indicating to the first access network device, through the first information, whether the first cell is transmitting an MBS identical to the MBS currently being transmitted by the first access network device.

[0133] In the embodiment of the present application, the first cell is a neighboring cell of the first access network device.

[0134] In the embodiment of the present application, the first information is determined by the situation in which the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell. When the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, there may be the following two situations:

[0135] Case 1: The terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell.

[0136] Case 2: No PTM configuration information of the MBS is sent in the first cell.

[0137] In this embodiment, when the terminal device receives an MBS in the first cell, it determines that the first cell transmits / exists the MBS. In this case, the first information indicates that the first cell transmits the MBS. When the terminal device does not receive PTM configuration information for the MBS in the first cell, the terminal device determines that the first cell does not transmit / exists the MBS.

[0138] Specifically, based on the above two situations, in this embodiment, when the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device to indicate whether the first cell transmits MBS, it includes: if the terminal device receives MBS in the first cell, the first information sent by the terminal device to the first access network device indicates that the first cell transmits MBS; and if the terminal device does not receive the PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, the first information sent by the terminal device to the first access network device indicates that the first cell does not transmit MBS.

[0139] As an example, the first information indicating that the first cell transmits MBS can also be interpreted as any one of the following: the first information indicates that the first cell is transmitting MBS, the first information indicates that the first cell is used to transmit MBS, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell has transmitted MBS, and the first information indicates that the terminal device has received MBS in the first cell. The reception of MBS here can be interpreted as successful reception of MBS, successful parsing of MBS, etc.

[0140] As an example, the first information indicating that the first cell is not transmitting MBS can also be interpreted as any one of the following: the first information indicating that the first cell is not transmitting MBS, the first information indicating that the first cell is not used to transmit MBS, and the first information indicating that the terminal device has not received any MBS data packet in the first cell.

[0141] In addition, if the terminal device receives the MBS, the first information in this embodiment can also be interpreted as: the first information is used to indicate whether the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell. In this case, if the terminal device does not receive the MBS, it can be considered that the terminal device has not received any MBS data packet.

[0142] Several implementation methods are given below for the first access network device of the terminal device to indicate whether the first cell transmits an MBS.

[0143] In a first implementation, the first information includes a bit corresponding to the first cell, and the terminal device uses this bit to indicate whether the first cell transmits an MBS. Specifically, this bit can have two values: 0 or 1. One value indicates that the first cell transmits an MBS, and the other value indicates that the first cell does not transmit an MBS.

[0144] Exemplarily, the one bit corresponding to the first cell is carried in a CEF report recorded by the terminal device when the terminal device fails to establish an RRC connection with the first cell, that is, the CEF report corresponds to the first cell. Then, after the terminal device sends the CEF report to the first access network device, the first access network device determines whether the first cell transmits the MBS based on the one bit in the CEF report.

[0145] Exemplarily, the 1 bit may be carried in the MDT record, where the MDT record includes MDT data recorded by the terminal device in the first cell.

[0146] It should be noted that, in the first implementation manner, the state of the terminal device when in the first cell can be an idle state or an inactive state.

[0147] In a second implementation, the implementation is for the terminal device to be in a deactivated state when in the first cell. The second implementation is as follows: the first information includes event type information corresponding to the first cell, and the terminal device indicates to the first access network device whether the first cell transmits MBS through the event type information corresponding to the first cell. Wherein, when the event type information is set to True, it indicates that the terminal device is because the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) when receiving the MBS is lower than the first threshold or the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) is lower than the second threshold. On the contrary, when the event type information is set to False, it indicates that there is no MBS transmitted in the first cell.

[0148] When the event type information corresponding to the first cell is set to True, although the RSRP of the terminal device when receiving the MBS in the first cell is lower than the first threshold or the RSRQ is lower than the second threshold, it can also be considered that the terminal device has received the MBS.

[0149] Exemplarily, the event type information corresponding to the first cell is carried in a CEF report recorded by the terminal device when the terminal device fails to establish an RRC connection with the first cell, that is, the CEF report corresponds to the first cell. Then, after the terminal device sends the CEF report to the first access network device, the first access network device determines whether the first cell has transmitted an MBS based on the event type information in the CEF report.

[0150] Exemplarily, the event type information corresponding to the first cell may be carried in the MDT record, where the MDT record includes MDT data recorded by the terminal device in the first cell.

[0151] Optionally, in this embodiment, if the terminal device receives an MBS in the first cell, then when the terminal device instructs the first access network device to transmit the MBS in the first cell, the first information includes PTM configuration information for the MBS, where the PTM configuration information for the MBS is used to indicate that the MBS is being transmitted. In this way, the first access network device can learn, based on the PTM configuration information sent by the terminal device, that the MBS exists / has been transmitted / is being transmitted in the first cell.

[0152] Optionally, when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device via the first information whether the first cell transmits the same MBS, the first information may include the session identifier of the MBS. Exemplarily, the session identifier of the MBS is a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI) of the MBS.

[0153] Optionally, the terminal device may further indicate to the first access network device whether other cells except the first cell transmit MBS, that is, the terminal device simultaneously indicates to the first access network device whether each of the multiple cells transmits MBS.

[0154] In one implementation, the terminal device sends multiple CEF reports to the first access network device. The multiple CEF reports are CEF reports recorded when the terminal device fails to establish an RRC connection with multiple cells. That is, the multiple CEF reports correspond one-to-one to the multiple cells. In this case, the terminal device can carry 1 bit of information in each of the M CEF reports. The 1 bit of information carried in each CEF report indicates whether the cell corresponding to the CEF report transmits the same MBS.

[0155] In another implementation, when the terminal device determines to indicate to the first access network device whether multiple cells transmit the same MBS, it can indicate through bit map information, wherein the bit map information includes multiple bits, the multiple bits correspond to multiple cells, the multiple cells include the first cell, and each bit indicates whether the corresponding cell transmits MBS.

[0156] Exemplarily, the bitmap information reported by the terminal device to the first access network device is 110, where different bits correspond to different cells. For example, if the first bit corresponds to cell 41, the second bit corresponds to cell 42, and the third bit corresponds to cell 43, then 110 means: cells 41 and 42 transmit MBS, but cell 43 does not transmit MBS. Alternatively, 110 also means: cells 41 and 42 are used to transmit MBS, but cell 43 is not used to transmit MBS. Alternatively, 110 also means: the terminal device receives MBS in cells 41 and 42, but not in cell 43.

[0157] S520: The access network device determines whether the first cell is a cell for transmitting the MBS based on the first information.

[0158] Determining whether the first cell is a cell that transmits an MBS based on the first information may also be interpreted as any one of the following: determining whether the first cell is transmitting an MBS based on the first information; determining whether the first cell is used to transmit an MBS based on the first information.

[0159] Exemplarily, the first access network device determines whether the first cell is a cell for transmitting MBS based on the first information, including: when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell transmits MBS, the first access network device determines that the first cell is a cell for transmitting MBS; when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell does not transmit MBS, the first access network device determines that the first cell is not a cell for transmitting MBS.

[0160] Optionally, when the first access network device is a CU-DU separation architecture, at this time, the first access network device determines whether the first cell is a cell for transmitting MBS based on the first information, which specifically means: the DU in the first access network device determines whether the first cell is a cell for transmitting MBS based on the first information.

[0161] In this embodiment, since the terminal device indicates to the first access network device through the first information whether the first cell is transmitting MBS, the first access network device can accurately determine whether the first cell is transmitting MBS based on the first information, thereby improving the accuracy of the first access network device in determining the cell that is transmitting MBS.

[0162] For example, when the terminal device indicates to the first access network device that the first cell is not transmitting MBS, for the first access network device, if it was previously determined that the first cell was transmitting MBS, then after receiving the indication from the terminal device, the first cell is set as a cell that is not transmitting MBS.

[0163] For example, when the terminal device instructs the first access network device that the first cell transmits MBS, for the first access network device, if the previously set first cell is a cell that does not transmit MBS, then after receiving the instruction from the terminal device, the first cell is set to a cell that is transmitting MBS.

[0164] Optionally, in this embodiment, in S510 in method 500, the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device, and the first information indicates whether the first cell transmits MBS. It can also be replaced by: when the terminal device receives the MBS in the first cell, the first information is sent to the first cell, and the first information indicates that the first cell transmits MBS; accordingly, S530 is replaced by: the first access device determines the MBS transmitted by the first cell based on the first information.

[0165] Optionally, in this embodiment, in S510 in method 500, the terminal device sends the first information to the first access network device, and the first information indicates whether the first cell transmits the MBS. It can also be replaced by: when the terminal device does not receive the PTM configuration information of the MBS in the first cell, the first information is sent to the first cell, and the first information indicates that the first cell does not transmit the MBS; accordingly, step S530 is replaced by: the first access device determines that the first cell does not transmit the MBS based on the first information.

[0166] 6 is a flow chart of a communication method 600 provided by the present application. In this embodiment, it is taken as an example that a terminal device receives an MBS in an inactive state in cell 1, and the terminal device indicates to the first access network device through a CEF report that there is an MBS in cell 1.

[0167] In this example, cell 1 is included in at least one cell included in access network device 1 .

[0168] Access network device 1 is the access network device to which cell 1 belongs. The access network device 1 to which cell 1 belongs can be understood as follows: the cells covered by access network device 1 include cell 1. In this embodiment, cell 1 can be considered as the first cell in the embodiment of FIG. 5 .

[0169] As shown in FIG6 , method 600 includes:

[0170] S610, when the terminal device finds that the RSRP when receiving the MBS is less than the first threshold, the terminal device requests to establish an RRC connection with the access network device 1, but the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails.

[0171] Optionally, the terminal device finds that the RSRP when receiving MBS is less than the first threshold, which can also be replaced by: the terminal device finds that the RSRQ when receiving MBS is less than the second threshold, or meets a preset condition, for example, the preset condition can be associated with RSRQ or RSRQ.

[0172] Exemplarily, the terminal device initiates a connection recovery message to the access network device 1 , and the connection recovery (RRC Resume) message is used to request to restore the RRC connection with the access network device 1 .

[0173] When the inactive terminal device requests to restore the RRC connection with the access network device 1 through a connection recovery message, it can also be considered that the inactive terminal device requests to establish an RRC connection with the access network device 1.

[0174] The detailed process of how to restore the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 based on the RRC Resume message can be referred to the description in the relevant technology and will not be repeated here.

[0175] The RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails to be established. In another explanation, that is, the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails to be established.

[0176] In this embodiment, after the terminal device fails to establish an RRC connection with the access network device, it will start recording the CEF report corresponding to cell 1.

[0177] S620, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with access network device 2 to which cell 2 belongs.

[0178] Cell 2 can be considered as the second cell described in the embodiment of FIG. 5 , and access network device 2 can be considered as the first access network device described in the embodiment of FIG. 5 .

[0179] In this embodiment, access network device 2 includes at least one cell, cell 2 is included in at least one cell included in access network device 2, and cell 2 is included in at least one cell included in access network device 2. It can also be interpreted as: the access network device to which cell 2 belongs is access network device 2.

[0180] Optionally, cell 2 is the cell selected by the terminal device after cell reselection.

[0181] In this embodiment, after the terminal device fails to establish an RRC connection with the access network device 1, when it determines to receive the MBS from the cell 2, the terminal device initiates a connection recovery message to the access network device 2 to which the cell 2 belongs.

[0182] The terminal device initiates a connection recovery message to the access network device 2, that is, the terminal device requests to restore the RRC connection with the access network device 2. When the inactive terminal device requests to restore the RRC connection with the access network device 2 through the connection recovery message, it can be considered that the inactive terminal device requests to establish an RRC connection with the access network device 2.

[0183] S630, after the terminal device successfully establishes an RRC connection with access network device 2, it reports a CEF report to access network device 2.

[0184] In this embodiment, the terminal device includes information 1 in the CEF report recorded in S610, and the information 1 indicates that the cell 1 transmits the MBS.

[0185] For example, information 1 is 1 bit. Alternatively, information 1 is the PTM configuration information of the MBS in S610. Optionally, the CEF report includes the session identifier of the MBS.

[0186] S640: Access network device 2 confirms, based on the CEF report, that cell 1 is the cell that is transmitting the MBS.

[0187] As can be seen, in the embodiment provided in FIG6 , the terminal device indicates to access network device 2 via a CEF report that an MBS has been received in cell 1. This allows access network device 2, upon reestablishing an RRC connection with the terminal device, to refer to the CEF report to learn that cell 1 is transmitting the MBS. Furthermore, if cell 1 is not included in the neighboring cells previously determined by the access network device to be transmitting the MBS, the access network device can add cell 1. In this way, terminal devices receiving the MBS in cell 1 can learn that cell 1 is transmitting the MBS, thereby further improving the accuracy with which these terminal devices can determine which cells are transmitting the MBS.

[0188] Optionally, this embodiment can be applied to the open RAN architecture shown in Figure 2. Specifically, when applied to this architecture, when the terminal device in S530 reports the CEF report to the access network device 2, it specifically refers to reporting the CEF report to the O-CU-CP of the access network device 2. Furthermore, the O-CU-CP can send the CEF report to the near-real-time radio access network intelligent controller (Near-Real Time RIC).

[0189] 7 is a flow diagram of a communication method 700 provided by the present application. In this embodiment, it is taken as an example that the terminal device is located in cell 1 and does not receive the MBS in an inactive state, and the terminal device indicates that the MBS is not received in cell 1 through a CEF report.

[0190] Exemplarily, after the terminal device moves to cell 1 , it finds that there is no PTM configuration information of the MBS that it wants to receive, and cell 1 is included in at least one cell included in access network device 1 .

[0191] For example, the MBS is not established in cell 1 due to resource limitations and other reasons.

[0192] For a detailed description of cell 1 and access network device 1, please refer to the introduction in S601 and will not be repeated here.

[0193] As shown in FIG. 7 , method 700 includes:

[0194] S710, the terminal device requests to establish an RRC connection with access network device 1, but the RRC connection between the terminal device and access network device 1 fails.

[0195] For a detailed description of how the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the access network device 1, please refer to the description in S610 and will not be repeated here.

[0196] S720, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with access network device 2 to which cell 2 belongs.

[0197] S730, after the terminal device successfully establishes an RRC connection with access network device 2, it reports a CEF report to access network device 2.

[0198] Among them, the CEF report is the corresponding report when the RRC connection establishment between the terminal device and the access network device 1 fails.

[0199] In this embodiment, the CEF report includes information 2, and information 2 indicates that cell 1 does not transmit an MBS.

[0200] S740 : Access network device 2 confirms, based on the CEF report, that cell 1 is a cell that does not transmit an MBS.

[0201] As can be seen, in the embodiment provided in FIG. 7 , the terminal device indicates to access network device 2 via a CEF report that cell 1 is not transmitting an MBS. This allows access network device 2, when the terminal device reestablishes an RRC connection, to learn, by reference to the CEF report, that cell 1 is not transmitting an MBS. Furthermore, if the access network device previously determined that the neighboring cell transmitting the MBS includes cell 1, then upon receiving information 2, access network device 2 may set cell 1 as a cell that is not transmitting an MBS.

[0202] Fig. 8 is a flow chart of a communication method 800 provided by the present application. The communication method takes the terminal device recording MDT as an example.

[0203] As shown in FIG8 , method 800 includes:

[0204] S810 , access network device 1 configures and records MDT for a terminal device located in cell 1 .

[0205] The detailed concept of recording MDT can be found in the description of related technologies and will not be repeated here.

[0206] S820, when the terminal device is in an idle state, record information 3 in the MDT record.

[0207] Information 3 is used to indicate whether cell 1 transmits an MBS.

[0208] S830, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with access network device 2 to which cell 2 belongs.

[0209] S840: After the RRC connection between the terminal device and the access network device is successfully established, the terminal device sends the recorded MDT to the access network device 2.

[0210] S850 , the access network device 2 confirms whether the cell 1 transmits the MBS based on the recorded MDT.

[0211] It can be seen that in the embodiment provided in Figure 8, the terminal device indicates to the access network device 2 whether MBS is transmitted in cell 1 by recording MDT, so that the access network device 2 when the terminal device re-establishes the RRC connection can refer to the recorded MDT to confirm whether cell 1 is transmitting MBS.

[0212] The above describes an embodiment of how to enable the access network device to determine the cell that is transmitting the MBS, in conjunction with Figures 5 to 8. Next, in conjunction with Figures 9 and 10, other embodiments provided by the present application are described.

[0213] Typically, during the process of a terminal device receiving MBS data packets, if the terminal device does not receive certain MBS data packets, the access network device will not be able to accurately determine the reception status of the terminal device when receiving MBS, because the terminal device in the RRC idle state and the RRC deactivated state will not provide HARQ feedback to the access network device.

[0214] In addition, if a terminal device in an idle or inactive state fails to establish an RRC connection with the current cell for some reason, it will initiate an RRC connection with another cell. After the terminal device initiates an RRC connection in this other cell, if the terminal device successfully establishes an RRC connection with the access network device of the other cell and continues to receive the same MBS, the process of the terminal device failing to establish an RRC connection with the current cell and establishing an RRC connection with the other cell takes a certain amount of time. During this period, the terminal device will lose some data packets, and the newly connected cell is unaware of the packet loss situation of the terminal device.

[0215] To this end, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method for solving the problem that a terminal device in an idle or inactive state may have packet loss, but the access network device to which the terminal device is newly connected is unaware of the packet loss.

[0216] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by the present application. As shown in FIG9 , method 900 includes:

[0217] S910, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the access network device.

[0218] S920, the terminal device sends second information to the access network device, where the second information indicates an MBS data packet received by the terminal device in a first cell, where the first cell is a neighboring cell of the access network device.

[0219] Exemplarily, the second information includes the PDCP SN or PDCP Count number of the MBS received by the terminal device when receiving the MBS in the first cell, including the PDCP SN / Count value of the last MBS data packet received by the terminal device in the first cell; accordingly, the first access network device determines the packet loss situation when the terminal device receives the MBS based on the PDCP SN number or PDCP COUNT value of the MBS data packet received by the terminal device.

[0220] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the PDCP SN or PDCP Count of the MBS received by the terminal device when receiving the MBS in the first cell can also be interpreted as any one of the following: the PDCP SN or PDCP Count of the MBS successfully received by the terminal device when receiving the MBS in the first cell, and the PDCP SN or PDCP Count of the MBS successfully parsed by the terminal device when successfully receiving the MBS in the first cell.

[0221] Optionally, the second information indicating the MBS data packet received by the terminal device in the first cell can also be replaced by: the second information indicating the MBS data packet not received by the terminal device in the first cell; for example, the second information includes the PDCP SN or PDCP Count number of the MBS not received by the terminal device in the first cell; accordingly, the first access network device determines the packet loss situation of the terminal device based on the number of the MBS data packet not received by the terminal device, thereby improving the accuracy of statistics during subsequent Qos calculations.

[0222] In this embodiment, the cell in which the terminal device is located when the terminal device sends the second information to the access network device is referred to as the second cell. Optionally, when the terminal device continues to receive the multicast MBS in the second cell, in addition to sending the second information to the access network device, the terminal device may also send third information to the access network device. The third information is used to indicate data packet synchronization between the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device, that is, data packet synchronization between the MBS services in the second cell and the first cell. Therefore, the third information may also be referred to as PDCP SYNC information.

[0223] For ease of understanding, the following description will be made with reference to FIG10 , taking the example of a terminal device carrying the second information in a CEF report. As shown in FIG10 , the method 1000 includes:

[0224] S1001 , a terminal device receives a multicast MBS in a deactivated state in cell 1 , where cell 1 is included in at least one cell included in access network device 1 .

[0225] S1002, the terminal device determines that it needs to establish an RRC connection with access network device 1, but fails to establish the RRC connection with access network device 1.

[0226] For example, the terminal device finds that the RSRP when receiving the multicast MBS is less than the first threshold, or the terminal device finds that the RSRQ when receiving the multicast MBS is less than the second threshold, and the terminal device requests to establish an RRC connection with access network device 1.

[0227] In this embodiment, when the terminal device fails to establish an RRC connection with the access network device 1, the terminal device will record a CEF report.

[0228] S1003, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with access network device 2 to which cell 2 belongs.

[0229] For example, when the terminal device receives the multicast MBS in a deactivated state in step S910, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with the access network device 2 through RRC Resume.

[0230] S1004, after the terminal device successfully restores the RRC connection with access network device 2, it reports a CEF report to access network device 2.

[0231] In this embodiment, when the terminal device records the CEF report, it will record the second information and the third information in the CEF report. The second information is, for example, the PDCP SN / PDCP Count number received by the terminal device in cell 1; the third information indicates data packet synchronization, which can be sent to the terminal device when the network side configures MBS for the terminal device.

[0232] When the terminal device reports these two pieces of information at the same time, it means that for the terminal device, the MBS transmitted by access network device 1 and access network device 2 are synchronized, and the terminal device can record the PDCP number when the connection recovery with access network device 1 fails, so that the access network device can also know where the data packet is disconnected when the terminal device receives the MBS in cell 1.

[0233] For ease of understanding, the following description is made by taking the example of a terminal device carrying the second information in a recorded MDT as shown in FIG11. As shown in FIG11, method 1100 includes:

[0234] S1101 , a terminal device receives an MBS in an idle state or a deactivated state in cell 1 , where cell 1 is included in at least one cell included in access network device 1 .

[0235] For example, the terminal device receives the multicast MBS in a deactivated state in cell 1.

[0236] For example, the terminal device receives the broadcast MBS in the idle state in cell 1.

[0237] S1102 , the terminal device records second information in the MDT record, where the second information indicates the MBS data packet received by the terminal device in cell 1 .

[0238] For example, the second information includes the PDCP SN / PDCP Count number received by the terminal device in cell 1.

[0239] This step may also be replaced by the terminal device recording the PDCP SN / PDCP Count number that the terminal device has not received in cell 1 in the MDT record.

[0240] S1103, the terminal device establishes an RRC connection with access network device 2 to which cell 2 belongs.

[0241] S1104, after the terminal device successfully restores the RRC connection with the access network device 2, it sends the recorded MDT to the access network device.

[0242] It can be seen that in the embodiment of Figure 11, the terminal device also records the situation when the terminal device receives MBS data packets in the recorded MDT. In this way, after the recorded MDT is sent to the access network device 2, the access network device 2 can learn the quality of the terminal device receiving MBS based on the recorded MDT, and further enable the access network device to adjust the corresponding transmission parameters based on the MDT. The transmission parameters include, for example, the adjustment and coding scheme (MCS) used when sending MBS data.

[0243] The communication method according to the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with Figures 4 to 11 . The communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 12 and 13 .

[0244] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Specifically, as shown in FIG12 , the device 1200 includes: a receiving module 1201 , a sending module 1202 , and a processing module 1203 .

[0245] In the first embodiment, the apparatus 1200 may be applied to a terminal device.

[0246] Specifically, a sending module 1202 is configured to send first information to an access network device, where the first information is configured to indicate whether a first cell transmits a multicast broadcast service MBS. The first cell is a neighboring cell of the access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device.

[0247] In a possible implementation, if an MBS is received in a first cell, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the multicast broadcast service MBS, including: the first information is used to instruct the first cell to transmit the MBS.

[0248] In a possible implementation manner, the first information is PTM configuration information of the MBS.

[0249] In a possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is further configured to send the MBS session identifier to the access network device.

[0250] In a possible implementation, the sending module 1202 is further configured to send second information to the access network device, where the second information indicates the MBS data packet received in the first cell.

[0251] In one possible implementation, if the MBS is received in a deactivated state in the first cell, the sending module 1202 is further used to send third information to the access network device, where the third information is used to indicate data packet synchronization between the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device.

[0252] In a possible implementation manner, at least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure CEF report, where the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection establishment with the first cell fails.

[0253] In a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive tests (MDT) report, and the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

[0254] In a possible implementation, if the PTM configuration information of the MBS is not received in the first cell, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the multicast broadcast service MBS, including: the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

[0255] In the second embodiment, the communication apparatus can be applied to access network equipment.

[0256] Specifically, the receiving module 1201 is used to receive the first information sent by the terminal device, where the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the multicast broadcast service MBS, the first cell is a neighboring cell of the access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device; the processing module 1203 is used to determine whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS based on the first information.

[0257] In a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell transmits the MBS; the processing module 1203 is further used to: determine, based on the first information, that the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS.

[0258] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further configured to receive second information sent by the terminal device, where the second information indicates a data packet of the MBS received in the first cell.

[0259] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 1201 is further configured to receive third information sent by the terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate synchronization of data packets of the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device.

[0260] In a possible implementation manner, at least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure CEF report, where the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection establishment with the first cell fails.

[0261] In a possible implementation, at least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive tests (MDT) report, and the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

[0262] In a possible implementation, the first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS; and determining whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS based on the first information includes: determining, based on the first information, that the first cell is a cell that does not transmit the MBS.

[0263] Figure 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device shown in Figure 13 can be used to execute the method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0264] As shown in Figure 13, the apparatus 1300 of this embodiment includes a memory 1301 and a processor 1302. In one implementation, the apparatus 1300 further includes a communication interface 1303 and a bus 1304. The memory 1301, the processor 1302, and the communication interface 1303 are communicatively connected to each other via the bus 1304.

[0265] The memory 1301 may be a read-only memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a random access memory (RAM). The memory 1301 may store programs. When the programs stored in the memory 1301 are executed by the processor 1302, the processor 1002 is configured to execute the steps of the methods shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 11 .

[0266] The processor 1302 can be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits to execute relevant programs to implement the methods shown in Figures 7 to 11 of the embodiments of the present application.

[0267] The processor 1302 may also be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the method of Figures 7 to 11 of the embodiment of the present application may be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor 1302 or software instructions.

[0268] The processor 1302 may also be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The processor 1302 may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or a conventional processor.

[0269] The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory 1301, and the processor 1302 reads the information in the memory 1301 and, in combination with its hardware, completes the functions required to be performed by the units included in the device of the present application. For example, the various steps / functions of the embodiments shown in Figures 7 to 11 can be executed.

[0270] The communication interface 1303 may use, but is not limited to, a transceiver or other transceiver device to implement communication between the apparatus 1300 and other devices or a communication network.

[0271] The bus 1304 may include a path for transmitting information between various components of the device 1300 (eg, the memory 1301 , the processor 1302 , and the communication interface 1303 ).

[0272] It should be understood that the apparatus 1300 shown in the embodiment of the present application may be an electronic device, or a chip configured in an electronic device. The apparatus 1300 may be deployed in a terminal device, or may be deployed in a network device.

[0273] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer program are loaded or executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be an available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium can be a solid-state drive.

[0274] It should be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein simply describes a relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A alone, A and B together, or B alone. A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, the character " / " as used herein generally indicates an "or" relationship between the associated objects, but it may also indicate an "and / or" relationship. For specific understanding, please refer to the context.

[0275] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural.

[0276] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute a limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0277] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0278] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0279] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0280] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0281] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0282] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: First information is sent to an access network device, where the first information is used to indicate whether a first cell transmits a multicast broadcast service MBS, the first cell is a neighboring cell of the access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that If the MBS is received in the first cell, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the multicast broadcast service MBS, including: The first information is used to instruct the first cell to transmit the MBS.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first information includes PTM configuration information of the MBS.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first information includes the session identifier of the MBS.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Second information is sent to the access network device, where the second information indicates the data packet of the MBS received in the first cell.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that If the MBS is received in the first cell in a deactivated state, the method further includes: Sending third information to the access network device, where the third information is used to indicate synchronization of data packets of the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that At least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure CEF report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection establishment with the first cell fails.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that At least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive tests (MDT) report, where the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that If the PTM configuration information of the MBS is not received in the first cell, the first information is used to indicate whether the first cell transmits the multicast broadcast service MBS, including: The first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving first information sent by a terminal device, where the first information is used to indicate whether a first cell transmits a multicast broadcast service MBS, where the first cell is a neighboring cell of an access network device, and the MBS is the same as the MBS transmitted by the access network device; Based on the first information, it is determined whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first information is used to instruct the first cell to transmit the MBS; The determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS includes: Based on the first information, the first cell is determined to be a cell for transmitting the MBS.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive second information sent by the terminal device, where the second information indicates the data packet of the MBS received in the first cell.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive third information sent by the terminal device, where the third information is used to indicate data packet synchronization between the MBS transmitted in the first cell and the MBS sent by the access network device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that At least one of the first information, the second information and / or the third information is carried in a connection establishment failure CEF report, and the CEF report is a CEF report when the RRC connection establishment with the first cell fails.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that At least one of the first information, the second information, and / or the third information is carried in a logged minimization of drive tests (MDT) report, where the logged MDT report includes MDT data logged in the first cell.

16. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first information is used to indicate that the first cell does not transmit the MBS; The determining, based on the first information, whether the first cell is a cell that transmits the MBS includes: Based on the first information, it is determined that the first cell is a cell that does not transmit the MBS.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: include: processor, The processor is configured to cause the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 by executing a computer program and / or a logic circuit.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: include: processor, The processor is configured to cause the communication device to implement the method according to any one of claims 10 to 16 by executing a computer program and / or a logic circuit.

19. A communication system, characterized in that: Comprising a communication device as claimed in claim 17 or claim 18.

20. A computer-readable medium, characterized in that The computer-readable medium stores a program code for computer execution, the program code including instructions for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

21. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer program code, and when the computer program code is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

22. A chip, characterized in that: The system comprises at least one processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected via a line, and the at least one processor is configured to run a computer program or instruction to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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