Communication method and apparatus, and computer device and storage medium

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method and apparatus, and a computer device, a storage medium and a computer program product. The method comprises: during the access to a 4G network, a target terminal, as a common NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, accessing a source cell, wherein the common NR terminal is an NR terminal that does not support a RedCap capability; after network handover is performed after a handover mechanism is triggered, the target terminal accessing a target cell; and when the target terminal is in an idle state, if the target cell supports the RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal, as a RedCap terminal, accessing the target cell again. By using the method, the service stability of a RedCap terminal can be improved, and the resource utilization rate of a network and the RedCap terminal can be increased.

Description

Communication method and device, computer device, and storage medium

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 2024104274381, filed on April 10, 2024, and entitled "Communication method and device, computer device, and storage medium", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a communication method, device, computer device and storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0003] In a 5G (5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology) communication system, intelligent terminals are widely used, and wireless communication demand is rapidly increasing. However, compared with previous generations of communication technology, the high flexibility and complexity of 5G technology also increases the cost, so for cost-sensitive industries such as industrial applications and wearable devices, lightweight 5G, i.e., RedCap, is introduced. However, when operators deploy RedCap, it is expected that RedCap network full-network contiguous coverage cannot be achieved for a long period of time.

[0004] This will inevitably result in the coexistence of 5G networks that do not support RedCap, 5G networks that support RedCap, and 4G networks, and the coverage areas are adjacent. In this way, since the 4G base station cannot identify RedCap, it will treat the RedCap terminal as a normal NR terminal, and the target cell does not support RedCap. When the RedCap terminal randomly accesses the target cell, the target cell will consider the RedCap terminal to be an unsupported terminal type, thus causing the terminal to fail to switch from 4G to 5G when the RedCap terminal switches, the service is interrupted, and in this scenario, the 4G base station cannot identify the reason for the terminal switching failure, thus causing the terminal to ping-pong in the network, resulting in waste of network and terminal resources.

[0005] SUMMARY

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, device, computer device, storage medium and computer program product, which can improve the terminal switching success rate and improve the utilization rate of network and terminal resources.

[0007] A communication method applied to a target terminal, the target terminal supporting RedCap capability, the method comprising:

[0008] In the process of accessing the 4G network, the target terminal accesses a source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, and the normal NR terminal is an NR terminal without RedCap capability;

[0009] After network switching triggered by the switching mechanism, the target terminal accesses a target cell;

[0010] When the target terminal is in an idle state, if the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0011] In one of the embodiments, the target terminal accesses a source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, including:

[0012] Initiating random access to the source cell and reporting terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information includes capability information of the normal NR terminal supporting the preset bandwidth, and does not include RedCap capability information.

[0013] In one of the embodiments, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal, including:

[0014] Re-initiating random access to the target cell and reporting terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information includes RedCap capability information.

[0015] In one of the embodiments, the method further includes:

[0016] When the target terminal is in an idle state, periodically reading system information SIB1 information broadcast by the target cell, and determining whether the target cell supports RedCap capability and whether the target cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information.

[0017] In one of the embodiments, the method further includes:

[0018] When the target cell does not support RedCap capability, the target terminal continues to access the target cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth.

[0019] In one of the embodiments, the method further includes:

[0020] When the target cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal initiates a reselection process, and determines whether the target terminal accesses a reselection cell as a RedCap terminal according to SIB1 information of the reselection cell in the reselection process.

[0021] In one of the embodiments, the determining whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal in the reselection process according to the SIB1 information of the reselection cell comprises:

[0022] ordering surrounding cells according to signal strength from high to low to obtain a neighbor cell list, and selecting a cell from the start of the neighbor cell list as a reselection cell in sequence;

[0023] initiating random access to the reselection cell, periodically acquiring SIB1 information of the reselection cell, and determining whether the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and whether the reselection cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information of the reselection cell;

[0024] when the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal re-accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0025] In one of the embodiments, the determining whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal in the reselection process according to the SIB1 information of the reselection cell further comprises:

[0026] when the reselection cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal takes the next cell in the neighbor cell list as a new reselection cell, and jumps to the step of initiating random access to the reselection cell and periodically acquiring SIB1 information of the reselection cell;

[0027] when there is no next cell in the neighbor cell list, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal, and does not report measurement information of each cell in the neighbor cell list within a preset time period.

[0028] In one of the embodiments, the determining whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal in the reselection process according to the SIB1 information of the reselection cell further comprises:

[0029] when the reselection cell does not support RedCap capability, initiating random access to the reselection cell and reporting terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information does not contain RedCap capability information.

[0030] A communication device applied to a target terminal, wherein the target terminal supports RedCap capability, and the device comprises:

[0031] The first access module is configured to, in the process of accessing the 4G network, access a source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, and the normal NR terminal is an NR terminal without RedCap capability;

[0032] The switching module is configured to, after triggering the switching mechanism and performing network switching, access a target cell by the target terminal;

[0033] The second access module is configured to, when the target terminal is in an idle state, access the target cell as a RedCap terminal when the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access.

[0034] In one of the embodiments, the first access module is further configured to:

[0035] initiate random access to the source cell and report terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information includes capability information of the normal NR terminal supporting the preset bandwidth, and does not include RedCap capability information.

[0036] In one of the embodiments, the second access module is further configured to:

[0037] re-initiate random access to the target cell and report terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information includes RedCap capability information.

[0038] In one of the embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

[0039] The determining module is configured to, when the target terminal is in an idle state, periodically read system information SIB1 information broadcast by the target cell, and determine whether the target cell supports RedCap capability and whether the target cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information.

[0040] In one of the embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

[0041] The third access module is configured to, when the target cell does not support RedCap capability, continue to access the target cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth.

[0042] In one of the embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

[0043] The reselection module is configured to, when the target cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, initiate a reselection process by the target terminal, and determine whether the target terminal accesses a reselection cell as a RedCap terminal according to SIB1 information of the reselection cell in the reselection process.

[0044] In one of the embodiments, the reselection module is further configured to:

[0045] ordering the surrounding cells according to the signal strength from high to low based on the measurement results to obtain a neighbor cell list, and sequentially selecting a cell from the start of the neighbor cell list as a reselection cell;

[0046] initiating random access to the reselection cell, periodically acquiring SIB1 information of the reselection cell, and determining whether the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and whether the reselection cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information of the reselection cell;

[0047] when the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal re-accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0048] In one of the embodiments, the reselection module is further configured to:

[0049] when the reselection cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal takes the next cell in the neighbor cell list as a new reselection cell, and jumps to the step of initiating random access to the reselection cell and periodically acquiring SIB1 information of the reselection cell;

[0050] when there is no next cell in the neighbor cell list, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal, and no longer reports the measurement information of each cell in the neighbor cell list within a preset time period.

[0051] In one of the embodiments, the reselection module is further configured to:

[0052] when the reselection cell does not support RedCap capability, initiating random access to the reselection cell and reporting terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information does not include RedCap capability information.

[0053] A computer device, comprising a memory and a processor, the memory stores a computer program, and the processor implements the following steps when executing the computer program:

[0054] in the process of accessing the 4G network, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, and the normal NR terminal is an NR terminal not supporting RedCap capability;

[0055] after triggering the handover mechanism and performing network switching, the target terminal accesses the target cell;

[0056] When the target terminal is in an idle state, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal when the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access.

[0057] A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, the computer program being executed by a processor to implement the following steps:

[0058] In the process of accessing the 4G network, the target terminal accesses a source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, and the normal NR terminal is an NR terminal not supporting RedCap capability;

[0059] After network switching triggered by the switching mechanism, the target terminal accesses a target cell;

[0060] When the target terminal is in an idle state, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal when the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access.

[0061] A computer program product comprising a computer program, characterized in that the computer program is executed by a processor to implement the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the method can be:

[0062] In the process of accessing the 4G network, the target terminal accesses a source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, and the normal NR terminal is an NR terminal not supporting RedCap capability;

[0063] After network switching triggered by the switching mechanism, the target terminal accesses a target cell;

[0064] When the target terminal is in an idle state, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal when the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access.

[0065] The communication method, device, system, computer device, storage medium and computer program product provided in the above embodiment can be used in the process of accessing the 4G network. The target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth. The normal NR terminal is an NR terminal without RedCap capability. After the target terminal triggers the handover mechanism and performs network switching to access the target cell, the terminal service is executed. When the target terminal is in an idle state, if the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal. The communication method, device, system, computer device, storage medium and computer program product provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure can be used in the process of accessing the 4G network. Since the RedCap terminal can be essentially regarded as a trimmed version of the NR terminal supporting a 20M bandwidth, the RedCap terminal can normally perform the service of the RedCap terminal when accessing as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth. In addition, when the RedCap terminal triggers the handover, it is generally located at the edge of the cell, and the service performance is poor. After moving to a new cell, the terminal service performance can be improved, the user experience is guaranteed, and the RedCap terminal accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal only when it is determined that the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access. Therefore, the terminal handover failure and service interruption of the RedCap terminal during the handover from the 4G network to the 5G network can be avoided, the service stability is improved, and the utilization rate of network and terminal resources can be improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0066] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment;

[0067] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment;

[0068] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment;

[0069] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a communication method according to another embodiment;

[0070] FIG. 5 is a structural block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment;

[0071] FIG. 6 is an internal structure diagram of a computer device according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0072] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application clearer, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and should not be used to limit the present application.

[0073] The technical solutions of the present application and how the technical solutions of the present application solve the above technical problems will be described in detail below with specific examples. The following specific examples can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes can not be described again in some examples. The embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0074] In the 5G communication system, intelligent terminals are widely used, and the demand for wireless communication is growing rapidly. However, compared with the previous generation of communication technology, the high flexibility and complexity of 5G technology also brings an increase in cost, so for cost-sensitive industries such as industrial applications and wearable devices, lightweight 5G, i.e. RedCap, is introduced.

[0075] RedCap is a device type in 5G NR technology, representing "Reduced Capability", i.e. reduced function or capability, RedCap terminals are less expensive and have lower complexity and cost than complete NR terminals, but can still provide higher performance and functionality than traditional 4G terminals. However, when operators deploy RedCap, it is expected that for a long period of time, RedCap network full-network contiguous coverage cannot be achieved, which will lead to the coexistence of 5G networks that do not support RedCap, 5G networks that support RedCap, and 4G networks, and the coverage areas are adjacent.

[0076] In this case, there are several mobility cases: a dual-mode RedCap terminal (4G+RedCap) moves from 4G to 5G, and since the 4G network does not know whether the target network supports RedCap, there is a case where the terminal cannot access after moving to a 5G network that does not support RedCap. RedCap terminal moves from one 5G network to another 5G network, and if the base station devices of the two networks are devices from different manufacturers and there is no Xn interface, the source network cannot obtain the properties of the target network, and there is also a case where the terminal cannot access after moving to a 5G network that does not support RedCap.

[0077] RedCap network deployment cannot achieve full-network continuous coverage. After the RedCap terminal triggers the handover mechanism, the source base station and the target base station perform information interaction, the source base station issues a handover decision and an RRC reconfiguration message, the terminal moves to the target cell through the RRC reconfiguration message and sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to complete the handover. In this process, the source base station and the target base station will complete the interaction of the context, including terminal capability information, etc. The RRC reconfiguration message will carry the target cell access related information, but does not contain SIB1, and the terminal will not reacquire the target cell SIB1, and cannot confirm whether the target cell supports RedCap. The 4G base station cannot identify RedCap, and will treat the RedCap terminal as a normal NR (New Radio) terminal, while the target cell does not support RedCap and cannot identify the RedCap capability delivered by the 4G base station, and thus considers that the RedCap terminal is a terminal type that is not supported, which will cause the terminal to fail to switch from 4G to 5G, the service is interrupted, and the 4G base station cannot identify the reason for the terminal handover failure, thereby causing the terminal to ping-pong in the network, resulting in waste of network and terminal resources.

[0078] To solve the above problems, the embodiment of the disclosure provides a communication method. When a RedCap terminal accesses a 4G network, it does not report its RedCap capability, but only reports that it is a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth. After triggering the handover mechanism, the RedCap terminal is switched to the target cell as a normal NR terminal. After the RedCap terminal completes the service transmission and enters the idle state, it periodically reads the cell SIB1 to determine whether the current cell supports RedCap. If the current cell supports RedCap and allows access, the RedCap terminal accesses the current cell as a RedCap terminal again, thereby avoiding the problem of terminal handover failure and service interruption when the RedCap terminal switches from 4G to 5G, improving the stability of the service, and improving the utilization rate of network and terminal resources.

[0079] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a communication method is provided, applied to a target terminal supporting RedCap capability, including the following steps:

[0080] In step 102, in the process of accessing the 4G network, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth. The normal NR terminal is an NR terminal not supporting RedCap capability.

[0081] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the process of accessing the 4G network, the target terminal does not report its RedCap capability, and only reports that it is a normal NR terminal supporting the preset bandwidth, that is, accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal. Since the RedCap terminal can be equivalent to a 20M bandwidth trimmed version of the NR terminal, the preset bandwidth can be set to 20M, or the preset bandwidth can be set to a value less than 20M.

[0082] In an exemplary embodiment, in step 102, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting the preset bandwidth, which can include the following steps: initiating random access to the source cell and reporting terminal capability information, the terminal capability information containing normal NR capability information of the preset bandwidth and not containing RedCap capability information.

[0083] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the target terminal can initiate random access to the source cell, and when reporting its terminal capability information after accessing, does not carry RedCap capability information in the terminal capability information, but only carries normal NR capability information of the preset bandwidth, so as to realize that the target terminal does not report its RedCap capability, but only reports that it is a normal NR terminal supporting the preset bandwidth.

[0084] In step 104, after triggering the handover mechanism and performing network switching, the target terminal accesses the target cell.

[0085] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the target terminal moves to the cell edge, the service performance is often poor, so after triggering the handover mechanism, the target terminal is switched to the target cell as a normal NR terminal. Even if the target cell is a 5G cell that does not support RedCap, since the RedCap terminal does not report its RedCap capability when accessing the 4G network, the 5G cell can allow it to access normally, which can ensure that the RedCap terminal can access the accessible 5G cell normally, ensure service stability, and improve user experience.

[0086] In step 106, when the target terminal is in an idle state, if the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0087] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the terminal service ends, that is, the target terminal enters an idle state, it can be identified whether the target cell supports RedCap capability and whether it allows the target terminal to access, and when the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0088] In an example embodiment, in step 106, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal, which can be achieved by the following steps: re-initiating random access to the target cell and reporting terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information includes RedCap capability information.

[0089] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the target terminal determines that the target cell supports RedCap and allows it to access, it can initiate random access to the target cell and carry RedCap capability information in the terminal capability information when reporting its own terminal capability information after accessing, so as to report its own RedCap capability.

[0090] The above communication method, in the process of accessing the 4G network, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, the normal NR terminal is an NR terminal not supporting RedCap capability, the target terminal accesses the target cell after triggering the handover mechanism and performing network switching and performing terminal service execution processing, etc. When the target terminal is in an idle state, if the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal. Based on the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, since the RedCap terminal can be essentially regarded as a trimmed version of the NR terminal supporting a 20M bandwidth, the RedCap terminal can normally perform the service of the RedCap terminal when accessing as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth. At the same time, the RedCap terminal generally moves to the cell edge when triggering the handover, and the service performance is poor, and the terminal service performance can be improved after moving to a new cell, thereby guaranteeing the user experience. In addition, the RedCap terminal accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal only when it is determined that the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, which can avoid the problem of terminal handover failure and service interruption when the RedCap terminal switches from 4G to 5G, thereby improving the service stability and improving the utilization rate of network and terminal resources.

[0091] In an example embodiment, the above method can further include:

[0092] When the target terminal is in an idle state, it periodically reads the system information SIB1 information broadcast by the target cell, and determines whether the target cell supports RedCap capability and whether the target cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information.

[0093] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, when in an idle state, the target terminal can periodically read the SIB1 (system information block type 1) information broadcast by the target cell, and check whether the parameters cellBarredRedCap1Rx (used to indicate whether the RedCap terminal using 1Rx antenna is allowed to access the cell), cellBarredRedCap2Rx (used to indicate whether the RedCap terminal using 2Rx antenna is allowed to access the cell), halfDuplexRedCapAllowed (used to indicate whether the RedCap terminal in half duplex is allowed to access the cell), and intraFreqReselectionRedCap (used to indicate whether the cell reselection operation between cells of the same frequency is allowed) appear in the SIB1 message. If all the above parameters do not appear, it is determined that the target cell does not support RedCap capability; if one or more of the above parameters appear, it is determined that the target cell supports RedCap capability.

[0094] In the case of determining that the target cell supports RedCap, it can be determined whether the target cell allows the current target terminal to access according to the parameter states of cellBarredRedCap1Rx, cellBarredRedCap2Rx, halfDuplexRedCapAllowed, etc. For example, the target terminal has 1Rx antenna, and when cellBarredRedCap1Rx is 0, it is determined that the target cell allows the target terminal to access, and when cellBarredRedCap1Rx is 1, it is determined that the target cell does not allow the target terminal to access. Or, the target terminal has 2Rx antenna, and when cellBarredRedCap2Rx is 0, it is determined that the target cell allows the target terminal to access, and when cellBarredRedCap2Rx is 1, it is determined that the target cell does not allow the target terminal to access. Or, the target terminal is a half-duplex RedCap terminal, and when halfDuplexRedCapAllowed is 0, it is determined that the target cell allows the target terminal to access, and when halfDuplexRedCapAllowed is 1, it is determined that the target cell does not allow the target terminal to access. When the target cell does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal cannot camp on the target cell or initiate random access as a RedCap terminal.

[0095] By adopting the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, after the RedCap terminal switches to the target cell as a normal NR terminal, it is identified whether the target cell supports RedCap capability and whether the target terminal is allowed to access in the idle state, and when the target cell supports RedCap capability and the target terminal is allowed to access, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal, so that the stability of terminal service can be ensured.

[0096] In an exemplary embodiment, the method can further include:

[0097] When the target cell does not support RedCap capability, the target terminal continues to maintain access to the target cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth.

[0098] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the target cell does not support RedCap capability, the target terminal will continue to camp on the target cell as a normal NR terminal, for example, continue to camp on the target cell as a 20M normal NR terminal.

[0099] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure can ensure that the terminal service does not interrupt and improve the stability of the terminal service when the target cell does not support RedCap capability and the target terminal continues to camp on the target cell as a normal NR terminal.

[0100] In an exemplary embodiment, the method can further include:

[0101] When the target cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal initiates a reselection process, and determines whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal according to the SIB1 information of the reselection cell in the reselection process.

[0102] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, if the target cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, it can be explained that the 5G base station supports RedCap capability, so that the target terminal can initiate a reselection process and reselect to a surrounding cell. In the reselection process, the currently selected cell is taken as a reselection cell, and the target terminal can periodically acquire the SIB1 information broadcast by the reselection cell in the idle state, and determine whether the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and whether the reselection cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information, and further determine whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal. The process of determining whether the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and whether the reselection cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information can refer to the related description of the foregoing embodiments, which will not be described herein again.

[0103] In an exemplary embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, in the reselection process, whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal is determined according to SIB1 information of the reselection cell, including:

[0104] In step 202, the surrounding cells are sorted in descending order of signal strength according to the measurement results to obtain a neighbor list, and a cell is selected as a reselection cell from the start of the neighbor list in sequence.

[0105] In step 204, random access is initiated to the reselection cell, and SIB1 information of the reselection cell is periodically acquired, and whether the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and whether the reselection cell allows the target terminal to access are determined based on the SIB1 information of the reselection cell.

[0106] In step 206, when the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal re-accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0107] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, if the target cell does not allow the current RedCap terminal to access, that is, does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal initiates a reselection process to a surrounding cell. The target terminal can sort the surrounding cells in descending order of signal strength according to the measurement results to obtain a neighbor list, and select a cell as a reselection cell from the start of the neighbor list in sequence from front to back, and periodically acquire SIB1 information broadcast by the reselection cell when the target terminal is in an idle state.

[0108] The target terminal checks the parameters in the SIB1 message of the reselection cell to determine whether the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and whether the target terminal is allowed to access. In the case where it is determined that the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal initiates random access to the reselection cell, and reports its RedCap capability after access, so as to access the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0109] In an exemplary embodiment, referring to FIG. 3, in the reselection process, whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal is determined according to SIB1 information of the reselection cell, which can further include:

[0110] In step 302, when the reselection cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal selects the next cell in the neighbor list as a new reselection cell, and jumps to the step of initiating random access to the reselection cell and periodically acquiring SIB1 information of the reselection cell.

[0111] Step 304, when there is no next cell in the neighbor cell list, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal, and does not report the measurement information of each cell in the neighbor cell list within a preset time length.

[0112] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, if the reselection cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal will sequentially take the cell after the reselection cell and adjacent to the reselection cell in the neighbor cell list as a new reselection cell, repeatedly initiate random access to the reselection cell, and periodically acquire SIB1 information of the reselection cell to determine whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal based on the SIB1 information.

[0113] When the reselection cell is the last cell in the neighbor cell list, and the reselection cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal will access the source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, and will no longer report the measurement information of each cell in the neighbor cell list within a preset time length, so as to avoid the target terminal constantly initiating movement to the surrounding neighbor cells and improve the resource utilization of the target terminal and the network. The preset time length is a preset time window, and the specific value can be set by a person skilled in the art according to the needs.

[0114] In an exemplary embodiment, determining whether the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal according to the SIB1 information of the reselection cell during the reselection process can further include:

[0115] When the reselection cell does not support RedCap capability, the random access to the reselection cell is initiated and the terminal capability information is reported, and the terminal capability information does not include RedCap capability information.

[0116] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where it is determined that the reselection cell does not support RedCap capability, if the target terminal has accessed the reselection cell, the target terminal will camp on the reselection cell as a normal NR terminal; if the target terminal has not accessed the reselection cell, the target terminal will continue to perform random access, and after accessing, when reporting the terminal capability information of the target terminal, only the normal NR capability of the target terminal supporting a preset bandwidth is reported, and the RedCap capability of the target terminal is not reported.

[0117] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case where it is determined that the reselection cell does not support RedCap capability, the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a normal NR terminal, which can ensure the stability of the target terminal service, improve the service performance, and provide better experience for users.

[0118] In order for those skilled in the art to better understand the embodiments of the present disclosure, the embodiments of the present disclosure are described below through specific examples. Referring to FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 1, taking a RedCap terminal as an example, the communication process of the RedCap terminal is as follows:

[0119] (1) RedCap terminal accesses 4G cell, does not report its own RedCap capability, and only reports that it is a 20M ordinary NR terminal;

[0120] (2) RedCap terminal triggers handover mechanism, receives RRC (Radio Resource Control) reconfiguration message (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) issued by the source cell, moves to the target cell, sends RRC reconfiguration completion message, completes cell handover, and continues terminal service after switching to the target cell;

[0121] (3) RedCap terminal periodically reads SIB1 information of the target cell when the terminal service ends and enters the idle state;

[0122] (4) Check whether there are parameters such as cellBarredRedCap1Rx, cellBarredRedCap2Rx, halfDuplexRedCapAllowed, intraFreqReselectionRedCap, etc. in the SIB1 information, and check the parameter state.

[0123] (5) If none of the parameters appears, the RedCap terminal judges that the cell does not support RedCap, and the RedCap terminal continues to reside in the target cell as an ordinary NR terminal; if one or more parameters appear, the RedCap terminal judges that the target cell supports RedCap, and then judges whether the cell allows the current RedCap terminal type to access according to the parameter state, if it allows access, the RedCap terminal accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal; if it does not allow access, the RedCap terminal reselects to the surrounding cell.

[0124] (6) RedCap terminal initiates reselection process, sorts the surrounding cell list according to signal strength from high to low according to the measurement result, and selects the cell as the reselection cell in order, and periodically acquires the SIB1 information of the reselection cell in the idle state;

[0125] (7) Check the SIB1 information of the reselection cell to judge whether the reselection cell supports RedCap and whether it allows the current RedCap terminal to access;

[0126] (8) If the reselection cell supports RedCap and allows access, the RedCap terminal reinitiates random access and reports RedCap capability; if the reselection cell supports RedCap but does not allow the current RedCap terminal type to access, the RedCap terminal continues to select the next neighbor cell as the reselection cell according to the neighbor cell list; if the reselection cell does not support RedCap, the terminal does not stop the access process, does not identify itself as RedCap in the random access process, accesses as a normal NR terminal, and reports itself as a normal NR terminal supporting 20M in the subsequent process;

[0127] (9) If all surrounding cells support RedCap but do not allow the current RedCap terminal type to access, there is no accessible RedCap cell or normal NR cell, the RedCap terminal accesses 4G and does not report the neighbor cell measurement information in the neighbor cell list in a time window, avoiding the RedCap terminal constantly initiating movement to the surrounding neighbor cells.

[0128] The embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a RedCap mobility optimization mechanism. A RedCap terminal does not report its RedCap capability when accessing a 4G cell, but only reports that it is a normal NR terminal. After switching to a 5G cell as a normal NR terminal, the RedCap terminal periodically reads SIB1 in the idle state. If the current cell supports RedCap and allows the current RedCap terminal type to access, the terminal accesses the cell as a RedCap terminal. After switching to a 5G cell as a normal NR terminal, the RedCap terminal periodically reads SIB1 in the idle state. If the current cell does not support RedCap, the terminal stays in the cell as a normal NR terminal. After switching to a 5G cell as a normal NR terminal, the RedCap terminal periodically reads SIB1 in the idle state. If the current cell supports RedCap and does not allow the current RedCap terminal type to access, the terminal initiates a reselection process and reselects to a surrounding cell. The RedCap terminal measures surrounding neighbor cells and sorts the surrounding neighbor cell list according to signal strength, and selects the cell in order until it successfully accesses a certain neighbor cell. If all cells in the neighbor cell list cannot be accessed, the terminal accesses a 4G cell and does not report the measurement information of the neighbor cell in the neighbor cell list within a time window. During the movement to a neighbor cell, the RedCap terminal does not stop the access process when it judges from the parameters in SIB1 that the current cell does not support RedCap, and continues to access the cell. During the movement to a non-RedCap neighbor cell, the RedCap terminal does not identify itself as a RedCap terminal in the subsequent random access process according to SIB1, follows the eMBB random access process, and continues to access as an eMBB terminal. After accessing a non-RedCap cell as an eMBB terminal, the RedCap terminal reports its capability as eMBB and does not report its RedCap capability. First, the terminal can ensure the continuity of services when switching without knowing whether the target cell supports RedCap, avoiding service interruption and reducing user experience due to terminal service interruption, and avoiding waste of terminal network resources due to network ping-pong. Second, the RedCap terminal can normally access available cells, and can normally access 5G when there is no available RedCap network but there is a 5G network, without reducing user experience.

[0129] It should be understood that although the steps in the flowcharts of FIGS. 1-4 are shown in a sequential order, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the steps are not necessarily performed in the order shown. Unless explicitly stated, the steps can be performed in any order. Furthermore, at least some of the steps in FIGS. 1-4 can include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages, which can be performed at different times or in different orders than those depicted. Unless explicitly stated, the steps can be performed in any order.

[0130] In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a communication apparatus 500 is provided, applied to a target terminal supporting RedCap capability, the apparatus comprising: a first access module 502, a switching module 504 and a second access module 506, wherein,

[0131] The first access module 502 is configured to, in the process of accessing a 4G network, access a source cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, the normal NR terminal being an NR terminal not supporting RedCap capability;

[0132] The switching module 504 is configured to, after triggering a switching mechanism, perform network switching, and access a target cell by the target terminal;

[0133] The second access module 506 is configured to, when the target terminal is in an idle state, and when the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, re-access the target cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0134] Based on the communication apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, since the RedCap terminal can be essentially regarded as a trimmed version of an NR terminal supporting a 20M bandwidth, the RedCap terminal can normally perform services as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth when accessing, the service performance of the RedCap terminal can be improved when the RedCap terminal moves to a new cell after triggering switching, the user experience is guaranteed, and the RedCap terminal accesses a target cell as a RedCap terminal only when it is determined that the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, which can avoid the problem of terminal switching failure and service interruption when the RedCap terminal switches from 4G to 5G, improve service stability, and improve the utilization rate of network and terminal resources.

[0135] In an exemplary embodiment, the first access module 502 is further configured to:

[0136] initiating random access to a source cell and reporting terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information includes capability information of a normal NR terminal with a preset bandwidth and does not include RedCap capability information.

[0137] In an exemplary embodiment, the second access module 506 is further configured to:

[0138] reinitiating random access to the target cell and reporting terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information includes RedCap capability information.

[0139] In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

[0140] a determination module configured to, when the target terminal is in an idle state, periodically read system information SIB1 information broadcast by the target cell, and determine whether the target cell supports RedCap capability and whether the target cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information.

[0141] In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

[0142] a third access module configured to, when the target cell does not support RedCap capability, the target terminal continues to access the target cell as a normal NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth.

[0143] In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

[0144] a reselection module configured to, when the target cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal initiates a reselection procedure, and determines whether the target terminal accesses a reselection cell as a RedCap terminal according to SIB1 information of the reselection cell in the reselection procedure.

[0145] In an exemplary embodiment, the reselection module is further configured to:

[0146] ordering surrounding cells according to signal strength from high to low to obtain a neighbor cell list, and sequentially selecting a cell from the start of the neighbor cell list as a reselection cell;

[0147] initiating random access to the reselection cell, periodically acquiring SIB1 information of the reselection cell, and determining whether the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and whether the reselection cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information of the reselection cell;

[0148] When the reselection cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal accesses the reselection cell as a RedCap terminal.

[0149] In an exemplary embodiment, the reselection module is further configured to:

[0150] When the reselection cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal takes the next cell in the neighbor cell list as a new reselection cell, and jumps to the step of initiating random access to the reselection cell and periodically acquiring SIB1 information of the reselection cell;

[0151] When there is no next cell in the neighbor cell list, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal, and no longer reports the measurement information of each cell in the neighbor cell list within a preset time length.

[0152] In an exemplary embodiment, the reselection module is further configured to:

[0153] When the reselection cell does not support RedCap capability, initiate random access to the reselection cell and report terminal capability information, wherein the terminal capability information does not contain RedCap capability information.

[0154] The specific limitations of the communication device can be referred to the limitations of the communication method in the above, which will not be repeated here. Each module in the above communication device can be realized by software, hardware and their combination in whole or in part. Each module in the above can be embedded in or independent of the processor in the computer device in hardware form, or stored in the memory in the computer device in software form, so as to be called and executed by the processor to perform the operations corresponding to each module.

[0155] In an embodiment, a computer device is provided, which can be a terminal, and an internal structure diagram of the computer device can be as shown in FIG. 6. The computer device includes a processor, a memory, a communication interface, a display screen and an input device connected through a system bus. The processor of the computer device is configured to provide computing and control capabilities. The memory of the computer device includes a non-volatile storage medium and an internal memory. The non-volatile storage medium stores an operating system and a computer program. The internal memory provides an environment for running the operating system and the computer program in the non-volatile storage medium. The communication interface of the computer device is configured to perform wired or wireless communication with an external terminal. The wireless communication can be achieved through WIFI, mobile cellular network, NFC (Near Field Communication) or other technologies. The computer program is executed by the processor to implement a communication method. The display screen of the computer device can be a liquid crystal display screen or an electronic ink display screen. The input device of the computer device can be a touch layer overlaid on the display screen, or a key, trackball or touchpad arranged on the shell of the computer device, or an external keyboard, touchpad or mouse, etc.

[0156] Those skilled in the art can understand that the structure shown in FIG. 6 is only a block diagram of part of the structure related to the scheme of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the computer device to which the scheme of the present application is applied. A specific computer device can include more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have a different arrangement of components.

[0157] In an embodiment, a computer device is also provided, which includes a memory and a processor. The memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to implement the steps in each of the above method embodiments.

[0158] In an embodiment, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program. The computer program is executed by a processor to implement the steps in each of the above method embodiments.

[0159] In an embodiment, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program. The computer program is executed by a processor to implement the steps in each of the above method embodiments.

[0160] It should be noted that the user information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data for analysis, stored data, displayed data, etc.) involved in the present application are all information and data authorized by the user or authorized by all parties.

[0161] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program. The computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed, the processes of the above-mentioned embodiments of the methods can be included. Any reference to memory, database or other medium used in the embodiments provided in the present application can include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical storage, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive memory (ReRAM), magnetoresistive memory (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory, MRAM), ferroelectric memory (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory, FRAM), phase change memory (Phase Change Memory, PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory can include random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) or external cache memory, etc. As an illustration but not limitation, the RAM can be in various forms, such as static random access memory (Static Random Access Memory, SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (Dynamic Random Access Memory, DRAM), etc. The database involved in the embodiments provided in the present application can include at least one of a relational database and a non-relational database. The non-relational database can include a distributed database based on a block chain, etc., without being limited thereto. The processor involved in the embodiments provided in the present application can be a general-purpose processor, a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic device, a data processing logic device based on quantum computing, etc., without being limited thereto.

[0162] Any combination of the technical features of the above embodiments can be made. In order to make the description simple, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described, however, as long as the combination of the technical features does not exist contradictory, it should be considered as the scope of the present application.

[0163] The above embodiments only express several implementation manners of the present application, and the description is more specific and detailed, but it should not be understood as a limitation on the scope of the patent of the present application. It should be noted that for ordinary skilled in the art, without departing from the concept of the present application, a number of modifications and improvements can be made, which are within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, applied to a target terminal, wherein the target terminal supports RedCap capability, the method comprising: During access to the 4G network, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a common NR terminal supporting preset bandwidth, and the common NR terminal is an NR terminal that does not support RedCap capability; After the network switching is performed after the switching mechanism is triggered, the target terminal accesses the target cell; When the target terminal is in an idle state, when the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal re-accesses the target cell as a RedCap terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The target terminal accesses the source cell as a common NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth, including: Initiate random access to the source cell and report terminal capability information, where the terminal capability information includes common NR capability information of the preset bandwidth and does not include RedCap capability information.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The target terminal re-accessing the target cell as a RedCap terminal includes: Re-initiate random access to the target cell and report terminal capability information, where the terminal capability information includes RedCap capability information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: When the target terminal is in an idle state, it periodically reads the system information SIB1 broadcast by the target cell, and determines whether the target cell supports RedCap capability and whether the target cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: When the target cell does not support RedCap capability, the target terminal continues to access the target cell as a common NR terminal supporting preset bandwidth.

6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: When the target cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal initiates a reselection process and determines whether the target terminal accesses the reselected cell as a RedCap terminal according to the SIB1 information of the reselected cell during the reselection process.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The determining, during the reselection process, whether the target terminal accesses the reselected cell as a RedCap terminal according to the SIB1 information of the reselected cell includes: Sort the surrounding cells according to the signal strength from high to low according to the measurement results to obtain a neighbor cell list, and select cells from the starting position of the neighbor cell list in order as reselected cells; Initiate random access to the reselected cell, periodically obtain SIB1 information of the reselected cell, and determine whether the reselected cell supports RedCap capability and whether the reselected cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information of the reselected cell; When the reselected cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, the target terminal re-accesses the reselected cell as a RedCap terminal.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The step of determining, during the reselection process, whether the target terminal accesses the reselected cell as a RedCap terminal according to the SIB1 information of the reselected cell further includes: When the reselected cell supports RedCap capability but does not allow the target terminal to access, the target terminal uses the next cell in the neighbor cell list as a new reselected cell, jumps to the step of initiating random access to the reselected cell, and periodically obtains SIB1 information of the reselected cell; When the next cell does not exist in the neighboring cell list, the target terminal accesses the source cell as a normal NR terminal and no longer reports the measurement information of each cell in the neighboring cell list within a preset time.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The step of determining, during the reselection process, whether the target terminal accesses the reselected cell as a RedCap terminal according to the SIB1 information of the reselected cell further includes: When the reselected cell does not support the RedCap capability, random access is initiated to the reselected cell and terminal capability information is reported, wherein the terminal capability information does not include the RedCap capability information.

10. The method according to claim 4, wherein: When the target terminal is in an idle state, periodically reading the system information SIB1 information broadcast by the target cell, and determining whether the target cell supports RedCap capability and whether the target cell allows the target terminal to access based on the SIB1 information, including: Check the parameters and parameter status in the SIB1 information; When at least one parameter exists, determining that the target cell supports RedCap capability; According to the parameter status, it is determined whether the target cell allows the target terminal to access.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The parameters include parameters for indicating whether the cell allows RedCap terminals using 1Rx antennas to access, parameters for indicating whether the cell allows RedCap terminals using 2Rx antennas to access, parameters for indicating whether the cell allows half-duplex RedCap terminal access, and parameters for indicating whether cell reselection is allowed between cells with the same frequency.

12. A communication device, applied to a target terminal, wherein the target terminal supports RedCap capability, the device comprising: A first access module is configured to enable the target terminal to access a source cell as a common NR terminal supporting a preset bandwidth during access to a 4G network, where the common NR terminal is an NR terminal that does not support RedCap capability; A handover module, configured to enable the target terminal to access a target cell after performing network handover after a handover mechanism is triggered; The second access module is configured to, when the target terminal is in an idle state and the target cell supports RedCap capability and allows the target terminal to access, enable the target terminal to re-access the target cell as a RedCap terminal.

13. A computer device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, wherein: When the processor executes the computer program, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 are implemented.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 are implemented.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 are implemented.

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