Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which are used for implementing the mobility management for NTNs. The method comprises: receiving first information, wherein the first information comprises at least one first configuration and / or a plurality of second configurations for NTN underlying handover; and on the basis of the first information, determining a target configuration for NTN underlying handover. Each terminal device in a group of terminal devices in a first area corresponds to any first configuration among the at least one first configuration, and at least one terminal device in the group of terminal devices in the first area corresponds to at least one second configuration among the plurality of second configurations; the group of terminal devices comprises one or more terminal devices; the first area is related to the mobile coverage of an NTN device; and the first terminal device is included in a first group of terminal devices. In this way, by configuring NTN underlying handover for a group of terminal devices, the mobility management for NTNs can be implemented.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411011328.3, filed on July 25, 2024, entitled "A Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0004] Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), including satellite networks, high-altitude platforms, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), offer significant advantages such as global coverage, long-distance transmission, flexible networking, convenient deployment, and independence from geographical limitations. They have been widely applied in various fields, including maritime communication, positioning and navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, and Earth observation. The integration of terrestrial 5G mobile communication networks and satellite networks, leveraging their respective strengths, forms a seamless global communication network encompassing sea, land, air, space, and ground, meeting the diverse and ubiquitous service needs of users.

[0005] As a crucial component of NTN, next-generation satellite networks are generally characterized by ultra-dense and heterogeneous structures. Firstly, the scale of satellite networks has grown from 66 satellites in the Iridium constellation to 720 in the Oneweb constellation, and ultimately extended to the Starlink ultra-dense low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation of over 12,000 satellites. Secondly, satellite networks exhibit heterogeneous characteristics, evolving from traditional single-layer communication networks to multi-layered communication networks. The functions of communication satellite networks are also becoming more complex and diversified, gradually incorporating and supporting functions such as navigation enhancement, Earth observation, and on-orbit processing of multi-dimensional information.

[0006] In LEO satellite communication systems, the movement of satellite nodes can cause frequent handovers or reselections of terminal devices within a specific frequency band (i.e., geographical area). Therefore, mobility management for NTN systems such as LEO satellite communication systems is a significant concern. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This application provides a communication method and apparatus for implementing mobility management of NTN networks.

[0008] Firstly, this application provides a communication method applicable to a communication device, which can be a terminal device (e.g., a first terminal device) or a component within the terminal device (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, component, module, or functional module). The method may include: receiving first information, the first information including at least one first configuration and / or multiple second configurations for NTN underlying handover; and determining a target configuration for NTN underlying handover based on the first information. Specifically, each terminal device in a group of terminal devices in a first region corresponds to any one of the at least one first configuration; at least one terminal device in the group of terminal devices in the first region corresponds to at least one of the multiple second configurations; the group of terminal devices includes one or more terminal devices; the first region is related to the coverage area of ​​NTN network device movement; and the first terminal device is included in the first group of terminal devices.

[0009] Based on the above communication method, efficient mobility management of the NTN network can be achieved and signaling overhead can be reduced by configuring the NTN underlying handover of a group of terminal devices.

[0010] In one possible design, any one of the plurality of second configurations may include at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration, a first NTN configuration, or a second NTN configuration; wherein the incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration includes at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a reference signal resource configuration or an incremental configuration of a radio resource configuration; the first NTN configuration includes at least one of the following: ephemeris information, timing advance TA, or effective time; the second NTN configuration includes a measurement timing configuration SMTC4 or a measurement gap associated with SMTC4. This allows for the configuration of candidate configurations suitable for underlying handover in NTN networks.

[0011] In one possible design, the plurality of second configurations correspond to a plurality of handover types, including underlying handover triggered by the movement of NTN network devices and / or underlying handover triggered by the movement of terminal devices. This allows for different candidate configurations to be configured for different handover types, enabling subsequent terminal devices to accurately perform underlying handovers based on configurations matching the handover scenario.

[0012] In one possible design, second information is received, which is used to activate at least one of the plurality of second configurations. This allows the terminal device to activate at least one corresponding second configuration so that the terminal device can determine the target configuration for underlying handover in the NTN network.

[0013] In one possible design, when the at least one second configuration is located within the first region and its validity period has expired, the at least one second configuration is released. Releasing expired at least one second configuration by the first terminal device can reduce cache resource consumption.

[0014] In one possible design, any one of the at least one first configurations may include at least one of the following: reference signal resource configuration, radio resource configuration, measurement configuration, or random access configuration; wherein, the reference signal resource configuration includes at least one of the following: resource identifier, reference signal or synchronization signal block corresponding to the candidate cell, and resource set information; the radio resource configuration includes at least one of the following: signaling bearer information, data bearer information, or partial bandwidth BWP configuration; the measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: measurement timing configuration SMTC, measurement interval, measurement reporting method, or measurement reporting resource configuration; the random access configuration includes at least one of the following: random access timing, and random access preamble. This allows for the configuration of a reference configuration suitable for underlying handover in NTN networks.

[0015] In one possible design, any of the at least one first configuration may include information for indicating the first region, or the first information may include the information for indicating the first region. This allows for flexible indication of the effective region associated with the first configuration, matching the characteristics of gradual handover in satellite networks.

[0016] In one possible design, the information used to indicate the first area may include one or more of the following: reference location and distance threshold, Tracking Area Identifier (TAC), cell identifier, or wavelet identifier. This allows for flexible indication of the effective area associated with the first configuration, and further reduces signaling overhead by reusing existing area indication methods.

[0017] In one possible design, the first configuration may correspond to at least one group identifier, which is an identifier for a group of terminal devices, where each terminal device in the group has the same group identifier. This allows terminal devices with the same group identifier to be configured with the same first configuration, thus saving configuration overhead.

[0018] In one possible design, the first information can be received via multicast or multi-cast. This allows for the simultaneous configuration of a group of terminal devices, saving signaling overhead.

[0019] In one possible design, when the device is outside the first area, a third message is sent requesting an update to the first configuration; and / or, when the device is outside the first area, a fourth message is sent in response to a handover between network devices, requesting an update to the second configuration. This ensures that when the terminal device moves out of the effective area, the first and / or second configurations of the underlying handover in the NTN network are updated promptly to accurately perform the underlying handover.

[0020] In one possible design, when the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) corresponds to a geographical location, the first configuration includes at least one of the following: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a set of mobility management-related distance thresholds. Thus, in scenarios where PCI is bound to a geographical location, at least one of the following—security key information, mobility management-related reference location, or a set of mobility management-related distance thresholds—can be configured for a group of terminal devices, thereby reducing signaling overhead and improving the effectiveness of mobility management.

[0021] In one possible design, when the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) corresponds to a satellite, the second configuration includes at least one of the following: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a set of mobility management-related distance thresholds. Thus, in scenarios where the PCI is bound to a satellite, different security key information, mobility management-related reference locations, or mobility management-related distance threshold sets can be configured for different satellites to ensure security.

[0022] In one possible design, when located within the first area, in response to a handover between network devices, a fifth message is sent. This fifth message requests an update to at least one of the following in the second configuration: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a mobility management-related distance threshold set. This allows for timely updates to at least one of the following—security key information, mobility management-related reference location, or mobility management-related distance threshold set—as network devices change, ensuring accurate underlying handover execution by the terminal device.

[0023] In one possible design, the at least one first configuration may be multiple first configurations, each corresponding one-to-one with a multiple PCI; and / or, each of the multiple first configurations may correspond one-to-one with multiple time periods. This allows for flexible configuration of the first configurations to adapt to scenarios where PCI is bound to satellites.

[0024] In one possible design, a sixth piece of information is received, which is used to activate one of the plurality of first configurations. This allows the terminal device to determine the currently matching first configuration in order to accurately perform the underlying handover.

[0025] In one possible design, a first handover instruction is received, which is comprised of N handover instructions. Any one of the N handover instructions instructs a subset of the terminal devices in the group to perform a low-level handover, where N is a positive integer. This allows different terminal devices to perform low-level handovers based on corresponding handover instructions, reducing handover storms among multiple terminal devices and improving the handover success rate.

[0026] Secondly, this application provides a communication method that can be applied to a communication device, which can be a network device or a component within the network device (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, component, module, or functional module). The method may include: determining first information and sending the first information to a group of terminal devices. The first information includes at least one first configuration and / or multiple second configurations for NTN (Network Telecommunications Network) underlying handover. Each terminal device in the group of terminal devices in a first area corresponds to any one of the at least one first configuration, and at least one terminal device in the group of terminal devices in the first area corresponds to at least one of the multiple second configurations. The group of terminal devices includes one or more terminal devices. The first area is related to the coverage area of ​​the NTN network device's movement.

[0027] Based on the above communication method, efficient mobility management of the NTN network can be achieved and signaling overhead can be reduced by configuring the NTN underlying handover of a group of terminal devices.

[0028] In one possible design, any one of the plurality of second configurations includes at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration, a first NTN configuration, or a second NTN configuration; wherein the incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration includes at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a reference signal resource configuration or an incremental configuration of a radio resource configuration; the first NTN configuration includes at least one of the following: ephemeris information, timing advance TA, or effective time; the second NTN configuration includes a measurement timing configuration SMTC4 or a measurement gap associated with SMTC4. This allows for the configuration of candidate configurations suitable for underlying handover in NTN networks.

[0029] In one possible design, the plurality of second configurations correspond to a plurality of handover types, including underlying handover triggered by the movement of NTN network devices and / or underlying handover triggered by the movement of terminal devices. This allows for different candidate configurations to be configured for different handover types, enabling subsequent terminal devices to accurately perform underlying handovers based on configurations matching the handover scenario.

[0030] In one possible design, a second message is sent to activate at least one of the plurality of second configurations. This activates at least one corresponding second configuration for the terminal device, enabling the terminal device to determine the target configuration for underlying handover in the NTN network.

[0031] In one possible design, any one of the at least one first configuration includes at least one of the following: reference signal resource configuration, radio resource configuration, measurement configuration, or random access configuration; wherein, the reference signal resource configuration includes at least one of the following: resource identifier, reference signal or synchronization signal block corresponding to the candidate cell, and resource set information; the radio resource configuration includes at least one of the following: signaling bearer information, data bearer information, or partial bandwidth BWP configuration; the measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: measurement timing configuration SMTC, measurement interval, measurement reporting method, or measurement reporting resource configuration; the random access configuration includes at least one of the following: random access timing and random access preamble. This allows for the configuration of a reference configuration suitable for underlying handover in NTN networks.

[0032] In one possible design, any one of the at least one first configuration includes information for indicating the first region, or the first information includes the information for indicating the first region. This allows for flexible indication of the effective region associated with the first configuration, matching the characteristics of gradual handover in satellite networks.

[0033] In one possible design, the information used to indicate the first area includes one or more of the following: reference location and distance threshold, Tracking Area Identifier (TAC), cell identifier, or wavelet identifier. This allows for flexible indication of the effective area associated with the first configuration, and further reduces signaling overhead by reusing existing area indication methods.

[0034] In one possible design, the first configuration corresponds to at least one group identifier, which is an identifier for a group of terminal devices, and each terminal device in the group has the same group identifier. This allows terminal devices with the same group identifier to be configured with the same first configuration, thus saving configuration overhead.

[0035] In one possible design, the first information can be sent to the group of terminal devices via multicast or broadcast. This allows for simultaneous configuration of a group of terminal devices, saving signaling overhead.

[0036] In one possible design, when the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) corresponds to a geographical location, the first configuration includes at least one of the following: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a set of mobility management-related distance thresholds. Thus, in scenarios where PCI is bound to a geographical location, at least one of the following—security key information, mobility management-related reference location, or a set of mobility management-related distance thresholds—can be configured for a group of terminal devices, thereby reducing signaling overhead and improving the effectiveness of mobility management.

[0037] In one possible design, when the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) corresponds to a satellite, the second configuration includes at least one of the following: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a set of mobility management-related distance thresholds. Thus, in scenarios where the PCI is bound to a satellite, different security key information, mobility management-related reference locations, or mobility management-related distance threshold sets can be configured for different satellites to ensure security.

[0038] In one possible design, the at least one first configuration may be multiple first configurations, each corresponding one-to-one with a multiple PCI; and / or, each of the multiple first configurations may correspond one-to-one with multiple time periods. This allows for flexible configuration of the first configurations to adapt to scenarios where PCI is bound to satellites.

[0039] In one possible design, a sixth message is sent, which is used to activate one of the plurality of first configurations. This allows the terminal device to determine the currently matching first configuration in order to accurately perform the underlying handover.

[0040] In one possible design, at least one first configuration and a first group of identifiers are sent, the at least one first configuration and the first group of identifiers being used to determine the plurality of second configurations; the first group of identifiers are identifiers of the group of terminal devices, and each terminal device in the group of terminal device identifiers has the same group identifier; the plurality of second configurations are received. This allows for accurate acquisition of the plurality of second configurations.

[0041] In one possible design, a seventh message is sent, which indicates the first set of identifiers. This allows the target network device to identify a group of terminal devices performing the underlying handover, thereby enabling the group of terminal devices to access the target network device.

[0042] In one possible design, N handover instructions are sent, where each handover instruction is used to instruct a subset of the terminal devices in the group to perform a low-level handover, and N is a positive integer. This allows different terminal devices to perform low-level handovers based on their corresponding handover instructions, reducing handover storms among multiple terminal devices and improving the handover success rate.

[0043] Thirdly, this application also provides a communication device, which may be a terminal device (e.g., a first terminal device) or a component within a terminal device (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, component, module, or functional module, etc.). This communication device has the functionality to implement the methods described in the first aspect or various possible design examples of the first aspect. The functionality can be implemented in hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the described functionality.

[0044] In one possible design, the communication device may include a processing unit, and optionally a transceiver unit, which may perform the functions of the methods described in the first aspect or various possible design examples of the first aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0045] In one possible design, the communication device includes one or more processors, and optionally also includes a memory and / or a transceiver. The transceiver is used to send and receive data, messages, or information, and to communicate with other devices in the system. The processor is configured to support the communication device in performing the corresponding functions in the first aspect or various possible design examples of the first aspect described above. The memory is coupled to the processor and stores the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device.

[0046] Fourthly, this application also provides a communication device, which may be a network device or a component within a network device (e.g., a processor, chip, chip system, circuit, component, module, or functional module). This communication device has the functionality to implement the methods described in the second aspect or various possible design examples of the second aspect. The functionality can be implemented in hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the described functionality.

[0047] In one possible design, the communication device may include a processing unit, and optionally a transceiver unit, which may perform the functions of the methods described in the second aspect or various possible design examples of the second aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0048] In one possible design, the communication device includes one or more processors, and optionally also includes memory and / or a transceiver. The transceiver is used to send and receive data, messages, or information, and to communicate with other devices in the system. The processor is configured to support the communication device in performing the corresponding functions in the second aspect or various possible design examples of the second aspect described above. The memory is coupled to the processor and stores the necessary program instructions and data for the communication device.

[0049] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication system that may include a group of terminal devices and network devices. Any one of the terminal devices can be used to implement the methods described in the first aspect or various possible design examples of the first aspect. The network device can be used to implement the methods described in the second aspect or various possible design examples of the second aspect.

[0050] Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the methods described in the first aspect and any possible design of the embodiments of this application, or in the second aspect and any possible design. Exemplarily, the computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer. For example, but not limited to, a computer-readable medium can include a non-transient computer-readable medium, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and accessible by a computer.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, to be performed.

[0052] Eighthly, this application also provides a chip or chip system including one or more processors, the processors being coupled to at least one memory for reading and executing program instructions stored in the memory to enable the chip or chip system to implement the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0053] For the various aspects of the third to eighth aspects mentioned above, and the technical effects that each aspect may achieve, please refer to the above description of the technical effects that can be achieved for the first aspect or the various possible solutions in the first aspect, or the second aspect or the various possible solutions in the second aspect, which will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0054] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an NTN system provided in this application;

[0055] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a PCI-geographic location binding scenario provided in this application;

[0056] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a PCI and satellite binding scenario provided in this application;

[0057] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in this application;

[0058] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a first configuration and a second configuration provided in this application;

[0059] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a communication method provided in this application;

[0060] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in this application;

[0061] Figure 8 is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in this application. Detailed Implementation

[0062] This application provides a communication method and apparatus for implementing mobility management of an NTN network. The method and apparatus described in this application are based on the same technical concept. Since the principles by which the method and apparatus solve the problem are similar, their implementations can be mutually referenced, and repeated details will not be elaborated further.

[0063] In the description of this application, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used only for the purpose of distinguishing descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

[0064] In the description of this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer 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, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0065] In the description of this application, "and / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. " / " means "or", for example, a / b means a or b.

[0066] In the description of this application, "when..." can also be understood as "if...", "under the circumstances", etc.

[0067] To more clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the communication methods and devices provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0068] The technical solutions in this application embodiment can be applied to NTN systems such as satellite communication systems, high altitude platform station (HAPS) communication systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Examples include integrated communication and navigation (ICAN) systems, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), and ultra-dense low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication systems. Satellite communication systems can be integrated with traditional mobile communication systems. For example, the mobile communication system can be a fourth-generation (4G) communication system (e.g., long term evolution (LTE) system), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth-generation (5G) communication system (e.g., new radio (NR) system), and future communication networks.

[0069] For example, Figure 1 illustrates a possible architecture diagram of an NTN system applicable to embodiments of this application. This NTN system is a satellite communication system, which may include terminal equipment and network equipment. The network equipment may include one or more satellites and ground station equipment, which may also be referred to as core network equipment. The satellites may be low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites, geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites, or non-geostationary Earth orbit (NGEO) satellites, etc.

[0070] As an example, the satellite communication system in Figure 1 may include satellites 101, 102, and 103. Satellites can communicate with each other via inter-satellite links (ISLs) (also known as interplanetary links or cross links) to achieve information transmission and interaction. For example, satellites 101 and 102 can communicate via ISL 1, and satellites 101 and 103 can communicate via ISL 2. Multiple satellites can be interconnected through ISLs to form a space communication network with satellites as exchange nodes. Each satellite can provide communication, navigation, and positioning services to terminal devices through multiple beams. In this scenario, the satellites can be LEO satellites, and satellite 103 can connect to ground station equipment. The satellites use multiple beams to cover the service area, and different beams can communicate through one or more of time-division, frequency-division, and space-division multiplexing. The satellites can wirelessly communicate with terminal devices through broadcast communication signals and navigation signals, and can also wirelessly communicate with ground station equipment. The satellite mentioned in the embodiments of this application may be a satellite base station, or may include an orbital receiver or repeater for relaying information, or network-side equipment mounted on a satellite.

[0071] Satellite communication systems include transparent and non-transparent satellite architectures. Transparent transmission, also known as bend-tube relay transmission, means that the signal only undergoes frequency conversion and amplification on the satellite; the satellite is transparent to the signal, as if it doesn't exist. Non-transparent transmission, also known as regenerative (on-board access / processing) transmission, means that the satellite has some or all of the base station functions. Furthermore, satellites can also function as network-controlled repeaters (NCRs), integrated access and backhaul (IABs), or gNBs with wireless access backhauling (WABs). For example, satellites 101 and 102 in Figure 1 belong to a non-transparent satellite architecture, while satellite 103 belongs to a transparent satellite architecture. Additionally, satellites can operate in staring (earth-fixed or quasi-earth fixed) mode or non-staring (earth-moving) mode.

[0072] In this application, the terminal device can also be referred to as user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminal devices can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal device.

[0073] Examples of ground station equipment include: equipment in the core network (CN) of existing mobile communication architectures (such as the 3GPP access architecture of 5G networks) or equipment in the core network of future mobile communication architectures. The core network, as the bearer network, provides the interface to the data network, offering user equipment (UE) communication connections, authentication, management, policy control, and data service delivery. The CN can further include: access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), authentication server function (AUSF), policy control function (PCF), user plane function (UPF), and other network elements. The AMF element manages UE access and mobility, primarily responsible for UE authentication, UE mobility management, and UE paging functions.

[0074] Network devices may also include, but are not limited to, access network devices. Access network devices can be base stations, evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs), access points (APs), transmission reception points (TRPs), satellite base stations, base stations in future mobile communication systems, or access nodes in WiFi systems. Access network devices can be macro base stations, micro base stations, indoor stations, relay nodes, donor nodes, or wireless controllers in cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenarios. Optionally, access network devices can also be servers, wearable devices, vehicles, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, the access network device in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology can be a roadside unit (RSU). All or part of the functions of the access network devices in this application can also be implemented through software functions running on hardware, or through virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). The access network devices in this application can also be logical nodes, logical modules, or software capable of implementing all or part of the access network device functions.

[0075] In another possible scenario, multiple access network devices collaborate to assist terminal devices in achieving wireless access, with each access network device performing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, the access network devices can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and DU can be configured separately or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0076] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called an open CU (O-CU), DU can also be called an open DU (O-DU), CU-CP can also be called an open CU-CP (O-CU-CP), CU-UP can also be called an open CU-UP (O-CU-UP), and RU can also be called an open RU (O-RU). Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.

[0077] It should be understood that the communication system described in the embodiments of this application is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0078] The relevant terms used in the embodiments of this application will be explained below. It should be noted that these explanations are for the purpose of making the embodiments of this application easier to understand, and should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0079] 1) Beam

[0080] This refers to the main lobe of the directional array pattern. Optionally, network devices (such as base stations) can adjust the antenna weights so that the beam of the network device (such as a satellite) can point in different directions, resulting in different coverage areas. In this application, the beam coverage area refers to the coverage area of ​​the beam on the ground. For example, the beam coverage area can include at least one location point. As the satellite moves and the weights are adjusted, the beam coverage area will also change.

[0081] 2) Wave position

[0082] The service area of ​​a satellite network is divided into multiple smaller geographical regions based on geographic location or beam coverage direction. Each geographical region can be called a beam position. Beam positions can be represented by different shapes (such as hexagons, pentagons, ellipses, polygons, etc.).

[0083] 3) Bottom layer switching

[0084] Lower-level handover can also be understood as Layer 1 (L1) / Layer 2 (L2) triggered mobility (LTM) handover. Layer 1 can refer to the physical layer, and Layer 2 can refer to any one or more layers from the Media Access Control (MAC) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer. It can be understood that Layer 1 / Layer 2 handover can also be understood as a handover between Layer 1 and / or Layer 2; when it is an "AND" relationship, the handover process is mainly completed by Layer 1 and Layer 2; when it is an "OR" relationship, the handover process is mainly completed by Layer 1 or Layer 2. Since Layer 1 and Layer 2 are located at a lower level in the protocol stack than the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer (Layer 3), Layer 1 / Layer 2 handover can also be called lower-level handover, or lower-layer handover, or even lower-layer handover.

[0085] The underlying layer switching can also be understood as the switching of non-RRC layers.

[0086] 4) Scenarios where Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) is bound to Geographic Location

[0087] The PCI-geographic location binding scenario, also known as the PCI list-geographic location binding scenario, involves a PCI list containing at least one PCI. In this scenario, the geographic location is served by a fixed set of PCIs. For example, taking the UE in Figure 2 as an example, its geographic location is served by PCI6. At time T1, satellite 1 uses PCI6 to serve the UE; when a satellite handover occurs, the new satellite 2 still uses PCI6 to serve UEs in that area.

[0088] 5) PCI and satellite bonding scenario

[0089] The PCI-satellite binding scenario, also known as the PCI list-satellite binding scenario, involves a PCI list containing at least one PCI. In this scenario, a satellite carries a fixed set of PCIs, and UEs in the same geographical area are served by different PCI sets at different times. For example, taking the UE in Figure 3 as an example, at time T1, its geographical location is served by PCI-L of satellite 2; at time T2, the UE's serving satellite switches to satellite 1, which uses PCI-1 to serve the UE; at time T3, after another satellite switch, the new satellite 0 uses the new PCI-2 to serve UEs in that area.

[0090] The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below.

[0091] In the following embodiments, the communication method provided in this application is described in detail using terminal devices and network devices as examples. It should be understood that the operations performed by the terminal device can also be implemented by a processor, chip, chip system, or functional module, component, or module in the terminal device. The operations performed by the network device can also be implemented by a processor, chip, chip system, or functional module, component, or module in the network device, and this application does not limit this.

[0092] Based on the above description, an embodiment of this application provides a communication method, as shown in Figure 4. The process of this method may include:

[0093] Step 401: The network device determines first information, which includes at least one first configuration and / or multiple second configurations for NTN underlying handover. Each terminal device in a group of terminal devices in the first area corresponds to any one of the at least one first configuration, and at least one terminal device in a group of terminal devices in the first area corresponds to at least one of the multiple second configurations. The group of terminal devices includes one or more terminal devices. The first area is related to the coverage area of ​​the NTN network device movement.

[0094] The network equipment can be satellite or ground station equipment, and the satellite can be a regenerating satellite or a transparent satellite; this application does not limit this. Here, "network equipment" refers to the source network equipment before the underlying handover.

[0095] Each terminal device in a group of terminal devices in the first region corresponds to at least one of the first configurations. This can be understood as any one of the first configurations being shared by the group of terminal devices (i.e., used together). In other words, all terminal devices in a group of terminal devices can use the same first configuration.

[0096] At least one terminal device in a group of terminal devices in the first region corresponds to at least one of a plurality of second configurations, which may include the following situations: one terminal device corresponds to one second configuration, or one terminal device corresponds to some or all of the plurality of second configurations, or multiple terminal devices correspond to one second configuration, or multiple terminal devices correspond to some or all of the plurality of second configurations.

[0097] Here, the first configuration can be understood as a reference configuration; for example, the first configuration could be an LTM reference configuration. The second configuration can be understood as a candidate configuration; for example, the second configuration could be an LTM candidate configuration.

[0098] In some implementations, any one of the first configurations may include at least one of the following: a reference signal resource configuration, a radio resource configuration, a measurement configuration, or a random access configuration. For example, taking an LTM reference configuration as an example, the first configuration may include at least one of the contents shown in FIG5. As shown in FIG5, the reference signal resource configuration may be an LTM channel state information (CSI) resource configuration, and the random access configuration may be a random access channel (RACH) configuration.

[0099] The reference signal resource configuration may include at least one of the following: resource identifier, reference signal or synchronization signal block corresponding to the candidate cell, resource set information, etc. The radio resource configuration may include at least one of the following: signaling bearer information, data bearer information, or bandwidth part (BWP) configuration, etc. The measurement configuration may include at least one of the following: measurement timing configuration (such as SSB-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC)), measurement gap, measurement reporting method, or measurement reporting resource configuration, etc. The random access configuration may include at least one of the following: random access timing, random access preamble, etc.

[0100] Optionally, at least one of the first configurations may also include information for indicating the first region.

[0101] Alternatively, the first information may include information for indicating the first region.

[0102] For example, the information used to indicate the first area may include one or more of the following: reference location and distance threshold (or other descriptions such as distance threshold), tracking area identifier (such as tracking area code (TAC)), cell identifier (cell ID) or wave position identifier.

[0103] The first region is the effective region associated with at least one first configuration. That is, when a group of terminal devices are located in the first region, at least one first configuration is effective for the group of terminal devices.

[0104] In one alternative implementation, any first configuration may correspond to at least one group identifier, which is an identifier for a group of terminal devices, and each terminal device in the group has the same group identifier.

[0105] This can also be understood as any first configuration being usable by at least one group of terminal devices corresponding to at least one group identifier.

[0106] Optionally, the group identifier can be a group (G) radio network temporary identity (RNTI) (which can be denoted as G-RNTI).

[0107] Group identifiers can be associated with geographic locations.

[0108] In some embodiments, any one of the plurality of second configurations may include at least one of the following: an incremental configuration (delta config) of a portion of the first configuration, a first NTN configuration, or a second NTN configuration, etc. The incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration may include at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a reference signal resource configuration or an incremental configuration of a radio resource configuration. For example, the second configuration may be as shown in Figure 5. The incremental configuration of the reference signal resource configuration and / or the incremental configuration of the radio resource configuration can be understood as a differential configuration relative to the reference signal resource configuration or the radio resource configuration, that is, adding some different configurations based on the reference signal resource configuration and / or the radio resource configuration.

[0109] The first NTN configuration may include at least one of the following: ephemeris information, timing advance (TA), or effective time (or effective service time, etc.).

[0110] The second NTN configuration can be understood as a configuration used for NTN measurements. The second NTN configuration may include SMTC4 or measurement gaps associated with SMTC4. Among them, SMTC4 is a newly defined measurement configuration for the NTN scenario, which includes a PCI list relative to the existing SMTC (such as SMTC1), a time offset, and a period scaling factor. The time offset is used to adjust the time offset of at least one PCI relative to SMTC1 to compensate for measurement timing differences caused by different satellite-to-UE propagation delays. The period scaling factor is used to adjust the measurement period of at least one PCI associated with SMCT to match the period differences of different types of reference signals (such as SSB or CSI-RS) from different satellites.

[0111] In one alternative implementation, multiple second configurations may correspond to multiple handover types, which may include underlying handover triggered by the movement of NTN network devices and / or underlying handover triggered by the movement of terminal devices.

[0112] The first and second configurations listed above can be applied to regeneration scenarios, pass-through scenarios, or other NTN scenarios.

[0113] In some possible regeneration scenarios, the first or second configuration may also contain other information.

[0114] For example, in one possible scenario where a PCI corresponds to a geographic location (i.e., a PCI list is bound to a geographic location, and the PCI list contains at least one PCI), the first configuration may include one or more of the following, in addition to the content described above: security key information, mobility management-related reference locations, or a set of mobility management-related distance thresholds.

[0115] The security key information may be identification information such as shortMAC-I, where shortMAC-I may be a subset of MAC layer identification information, used to identify and authenticate terminal devices during RRC establishment or reconstruction.

[0116] The reference locations or distance thresholds related to mobility management can be collectively referred to as the mobility list. It is mainly used to assist in the mobility management of terminal devices. The reference location can be any location in the cell where the terminal device is located, and the distance threshold set can be preset.

[0117] In this PCI-geographic location binding scenario, if there is multiple coverage, there can be multiple first configurations, that is, the same geographic location corresponds to multiple first configurations.

[0118] In other possible regeneration scenarios, when PCI corresponds to a satellite (i.e., the PCI list is bound to a satellite, and the PCI list contains at least one PCI), the second configuration may further include at least one of the following: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a mobility management-related distance threshold set. The security key information, mobility management-related reference location, or mobility management-related distance threshold set can be found in the foregoing description and will not be elaborated further here.

[0119] In this PCI-satellite binding scenario, at least one first configuration can be multiple first configurations, with each of the multiple first configurations corresponding one-to-one with a multiple PCI; and / or, the multiple first configurations correspond one-to-one with multiple time periods. Each time period can be a single time or a list of time periods.

[0120] For example, when there are multiple first configurations including first configuration 1, first configuration 2, ..., first configuration M, where M is an integer greater than 1, the correspondence between multiple first configurations and PCI and time periods can be as follows:

[0121] Configuration 1 corresponds to PCI 1 and time period 1;

[0122] Configuration 2 corresponds to PCI 2 and time period 2;

[0123] ...

[0124] The first configuration M corresponds to PCI M and the time period M.

[0125] Alternatively, in the scenario where the PCI list is bound to a satellite, at least one first configuration can be multiple first configurations, with each of the multiple first configurations corresponding one-to-one to a multiple PCI list; and / or, the multiple first configurations correspond one-to-one to multiple time periods. Each time period can be a single time or a list of time periods, and each PCI list contains one or more PCIs.

[0126] For example, when there are multiple first configurations including first configuration 1, first configuration 2, ..., first configuration M, where M is an integer greater than 1, the correspondence between multiple first configurations and the PCI list and time period can be as follows:

[0127] The first configuration 1 corresponds to PCI list 1 and time period 1;

[0128] The first configuration 2 corresponds to PCI list 2 and time period 2;

[0129] ...

[0130] The first configuration M corresponds to the PCI list M and the time period M.

[0131] In some embodiments, the network device (i.e., the source network device) may cluster the terminal devices based on factors such as the location, signal quality, and movement speed of the terminal devices. In this application, the network device determines this group of terminal devices. The network device assigns a first set of identifiers and a valid time period to this group of terminal devices. The first set of identifiers is the identifier of the group of terminal devices, and each terminal device in the group of identifiers has the same group identifier.

[0132] Furthermore, the network device (i.e., the source network device) can send at least one first configuration and a first set of identifiers to the target network device, wherein the at least one first configuration and the first set of identifiers are used to determine multiple second configurations; after receiving at least one first configuration and the first set of identifiers, the target network device can generate multiple second configurations for the group of terminal devices based on at least one first configuration, and send the multiple second configurations to the network device (i.e., the source network device).

[0133] Step 402: The network device sends first information to a group of terminal devices. Correspondingly, the group of terminal devices receives the first information. As shown in Figure 4, this application uses a first terminal device as an example for explanation. The first terminal device is included in this group of terminal devices.

[0134] It should be understood that all terminal devices other than the first terminal device can refer to the first terminal device.

[0135] It is understandable that this example illustrates the use of a network device sending first information to a group of terminal devices. Optionally, the network device may send at least one first configuration and multiple second configurations to the group of terminal devices respectively. In other words, at least one first configuration and multiple second configurations may be carried in different messages and sent independently.

[0136] In one alternative implementation, when a network device sends first information to a group of terminal devices, it can do so via multicast or groupcast.

[0137] Step 403: The first terminal device determines the target configuration for NTN underlying handover based on the first information.

[0138] Understandably, each terminal device in a group of terminal devices determines the target configuration for NTN underlying handover based on the first information.

[0139] In some embodiments, the network device may send second information to activate at least one of a plurality of second configurations. Accordingly, the first terminal device may receive the second information and obtain a corresponding second configuration of the first terminal device.

[0140] It should be understood that network devices can send different information to different terminal devices to activate different second configurations, so that each terminal device can obtain its own activated second configuration.

[0141] In some embodiments, when there are multiple first configurations (e.g., in a PCI and satellite bonding scenario), the network device can send a sixth message to activate one of the multiple first configurations. Accordingly, a group of terminal devices can activate that one first configuration based on the sixth message.

[0142] Optionally, the second and / or sixth information may be a media access control element (MAC CE), or carried in a MAC CE, or may be other information or messages, or may be carried in other information or messages, and this application does not limit this.

[0143] In one optional implementation, when the first terminal device determines the target configuration for NTN underlying handover based on the first information, it can combine a first configuration configured by the network device or an active first configuration, and an active second configuration to determine the target configuration. For example, the target configuration may include the union of parameters contained in the first configuration and the second configuration.

[0144] In one optional implementation, the network device can send N handover instructions, where each handover instruction is used to instruct a subset of terminal devices in a group to perform a low-level handover, and N is a positive integer. Accordingly, each terminal device in the group, upon receiving its corresponding handover instruction, performs a low-level handover based on its target configuration.

[0145] When N is 1, it can be understood that the network device triggers a group of terminal devices to perform underlying handover simultaneously through a handover instruction.

[0146] When N is greater than 1 and less than the number of terminal devices included in a group of terminal devices, it can be understood that one handover indication can correspond to at least one terminal device, and each terminal device performs the underlying handover based on its own handover indication.

[0147] When N equals the number of terminal devices included in a group of terminal devices, it can be understood that each terminal device in the group of terminal devices corresponds to a handover instruction, and there is a one-to-one correspondence between the terminal device and the handover instruction. In this way, each terminal device performs the underlying handover based on the corresponding handover instruction.

[0148] Optionally, when N is greater than 1, the network device can send the N handover instructions in multiple batches to reduce the handover storm of a group of terminal devices.

[0149] Switching indicators can also be described as switching commands, etc.

[0150] Optionally, the switching indication can be in MAC CE or in other messages, or carried in MAC CE or other messages.

[0151] Optionally, before a group of terminal devices performs a lower-level handover, the network device (i.e., the source network device) can send a seventh piece of information to the target network device. This seventh piece of information indicates the first set of identifiers. This allows the target network device to identify the group of terminal devices performing the lower-level handover, thereby enabling the group of terminal devices to access the target network device.

[0152] In some embodiments, as terminal devices or NTN network devices move, a group of terminal devices may update the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0153] In one example, when the first terminal device is located outside the first area, the first terminal device sends a third message to request an update to the first configuration; and / or, when the first terminal device is located outside the first area, the first terminal device sends a fourth message in response to a handover between network devices to request an update to the second configuration.

[0154] For example, handover between network devices may include handover between satellites.

[0155] Optionally, if the distance between the location of the first terminal device and the reference location is greater than a distance threshold, it can be understood that the first terminal device is located outside the first area.

[0156] Accordingly, after receiving the third information, the network device can send at least one updated first configuration, as well as an updated first region and an updated group identifier, to a group of terminal devices. The updated first region and the updated group identifier correspond to the updated at least one first configuration.

[0157] In other examples, when the first terminal device is located within the first area and the validity period of at least one second configuration has expired, the first terminal device releases at least one second configuration. That is, when the first terminal device is within the first area, if the validity period of at least one currently active second configuration has expired, then that at least one second configuration must be released.

[0158] Optionally, when the distance between the location of the first terminal device and the reference location is less than or equal to a distance threshold, it can be understood that the first terminal device is located within the first area.

[0159] Optionally, when the first terminal device locally stores at least one other second configuration within its validity period, or stores at least one second configuration within the next validity period, the first terminal device may activate the at least one second configuration.

[0160] When the first terminal device does not store at least one other second configuration within its validity period locally, or does not store at least one second configuration within the next validity period, the first terminal device may send an eighth message to the network device, the eighth message being used to request an update of the second configuration.

[0161] In one alternative implementation, after receiving the fourth or eighth information, the network device may send multiple updated second configurations to a group of terminal devices.

[0162] Optionally, when a network device obtains multiple updated second configurations, it can obtain them from the target network device. For details, please refer to the description of obtaining multiple second configurations described above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0163] In one possible embodiment, in a PCI-satellite bonded scenario, when the first device is located within a first area, in response to a handover between network devices, a fifth message is sent. The fifth message is used to request an update of at least one of the following in the second configuration: security key information, mobility management-related reference location, or mobility management-related distance threshold set.

[0164] Based on the above communication method, mobility management of the NTN network can be achieved by configuring the NTN underlying handover of a group of terminal devices.

[0165] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides an example of a communication method, which is illustrated by a group of terminal devices switching from network device 1 (i.e., the source network device) to network device 2 (i.e., the target network device). Referring to Figure 6, the process of this example may include:

[0166] Step 601: Network device 1 sends at least one first configuration and a first set of identifiers to network device 2.

[0167] The first configuration and the first set of identifiers can be found in the relevant descriptions in the embodiment shown in Figure 4, and will not be described in detail here.

[0168] Step 602: Network device 2 generates multiple second configurations based on at least one first configuration corresponding to a group of terminal devices with a first set of identifiers.

[0169] The various second configurations can be found in the relevant descriptions in the embodiment shown in Figure 4, which will not be described in detail here.

[0170] Step 603: Network device 2 sends multiple second configurations to network device 1.

[0171] Step 604: Network device 1 sends first information to a group of terminal devices, the first information including at least one first configuration and / or multiple second configurations for NTN underlying handover.

[0172] For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the embodiments shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0173] Step 605: Network device 1 sends second information to a group of terminal devices, the second information being used to activate at least one of a plurality of second configurations.

[0174] Optionally, the network device can send multiple second messages to activate different second configurations for different terminal devices.

[0175] For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the embodiments shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0176] Step 606: When multiple first configurations exist, network device 1 sends a sixth message to a group of terminal devices. The sixth message is used to activate one of the multiple first configurations.

[0177] For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the embodiments shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0178] Step 606 is an optional step.

[0179] It should be noted that the order of steps 605 and 606 is not limited.

[0180] Step 607: Each terminal device in a group of terminal devices determines the target configuration for NTN underlying handover based on the first information, the second information, and the sixth information.

[0181] For details, please refer to the relevant description of the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0182] Step 608: Network device 1 sends N handover instructions.

[0183] For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the embodiments shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0184] Step 609: Network device 1 sends the seventh information to network device 2. The seventh information is used to indicate the first set of identifiers.

[0185] Step 610: Each terminal device in a group of terminal devices performs a low-level handover based on the corresponding handover instruction and target configuration.

[0186] For details, please refer to the relevant description of the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0187] Step 611: When one of the terminal devices in a group is located outside the first area, a third message is sent to request an update to the first configuration.

[0188] For details, please refer to the relevant description of the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0189] Step 612: When one of the terminal devices in a group is located outside the first area, in response to the handover between network devices, a fourth message is sent, which is used to request an update of the second configuration.

[0190] For details, please refer to the relevant description of the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0191] Step 613: If in a PCI and satellite binding scenario, when one of the terminal devices in a group of terminal devices is located in the first area, in response to the handover between network devices, send the fifth information. The fifth information is used to request an update of at least one of the following in the second configuration: security key information, mobility management-related reference location, or mobility management-related distance threshold set.

[0192] For details, please refer to the relevant description of the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in Figure 4 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0193] It should be noted that steps 611-613 are optional. The order of steps 611-613 is not limited.

[0194] Optionally, steps 611 and 612 can exist simultaneously or independently.

[0195] Based on the above example, mobility management of the NTN network can be achieved by configuring the NTN underlying handover of a group of terminal devices.

[0196] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides a communication device. Referring to FIG7, the communication device 700 may include a transceiver unit 701 and a processing unit 702. The transceiver unit 701 is used for communication by the communication device 700, such as receiving or sending information (signals or data). The processing unit 702 is used for controlling and managing the operation of the communication device 700. The processing unit 702 can also control the steps performed by the transceiver unit 701.

[0197] For example, the communication device 700 may specifically be a terminal device (such as a first terminal device) in the above embodiments, a processor, chip, or chip system of the terminal device, or a component, module, or functional module, etc. Alternatively, the communication device 700 may specifically be a network device in the above embodiments, a processor, chip, or chip system of the network device, or a component, module, or functional module, etc.

[0198] In one embodiment, when the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device) in the above embodiments, the transceiver unit 701 can be used to receive first information, the first information including at least one first configuration and / or multiple second configurations for NTN underlying handover, each terminal device in a group of terminal devices in a first region corresponds to any one of the at least one first configuration, and at least one terminal device in the group of terminal devices in the first region corresponds to at least one of the multiple second configurations; the group of terminal devices includes one or more terminal devices; the first region is related to the coverage area of ​​NTN network device movement; the first terminal device is included in the first group of terminal devices; the processing unit 702 can be used to determine the target configuration for NTN underlying handover based on the first information.

[0199] For example, any one of the plurality of second configurations includes at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration, a first NTN configuration, or a second NTN configuration; wherein, the incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration includes at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a reference signal resource configuration or an incremental configuration of a radio resource configuration; the first NTN configuration includes at least one of the following: ephemeris information, timing advance TA, or effective time; the second NTN configuration includes a measurement timing configuration SMTC4 or a measurement gap associated with SMTC4.

[0200] Optionally, the plurality of second configurations correspond to a plurality of handover types, the handover types including underlying handover triggered by the movement of NTN network devices and / or underlying handover triggered by the movement of terminal devices.

[0201] In one possible approach, the transceiver unit 701 can also be used to receive second information, which is used to activate at least one of the plurality of second configurations.

[0202] Optionally, the processing unit 702 can also be used to release the at least one second configuration when it is located in the first region and the validity period corresponding to the at least one second configuration has expired.

[0203] For example, any one of the at least one first configuration includes at least one of the following: reference signal resource configuration, radio resource configuration, measurement configuration, or random access configuration; wherein, the reference signal resource configuration includes at least one of the following: resource identifier, reference signal or synchronization signal block corresponding to the candidate cell, and resource set information; the radio resource configuration includes at least one of the following: signaling bearer information, data bearer information, or partial bandwidth BWP configuration; the measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: measurement timing configuration SMTC, measurement interval, measurement reporting method, or measurement reporting resource configuration; the random access configuration includes at least one of the following: random access timing, and random access preamble.

[0204] In one alternative implementation, any one of the at least one first configuration includes information for indicating the first region, or the first information includes the information for indicating the first region.

[0205] For example, the information used to indicate the first area includes one or more of the following: reference location and distance threshold, tracking area identifier (TAC), cell identifier, or wave position identifier.

[0206] Optionally, the first configuration corresponds to at least one group identifier, which is an identifier for a group of terminal devices, and each terminal device in the group has the same group identifier.

[0207] In some embodiments, when receiving the first information, the transceiver unit 701 may be used to receive the first information via multicast or multicast.

[0208] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 701 may also be used to: send third information when located outside the first area, the third information being used to request an update to the first configuration; and / or, when located outside the first area, send fourth information in response to a handover between network devices, the fourth information being used to request an update to the second configuration.

[0209] In one example, when the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) corresponds to a geographical location, the first configuration includes one or more of the following: security key information, mobility management-related reference locations, or a set of mobility management-related distance thresholds.

[0210] In another example, when the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) corresponds to a satellite, the second configuration includes at least one of the following: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a mobility management-related distance threshold set.

[0211] Optionally, the transceiver unit 701 may also be used to: when located in the first area, in response to a handover between network devices, send fifth information, the fifth information being used to request an update of at least one of the following in the second configuration: security key information, mobility management-related reference location, or mobility management-related distance threshold set.

[0212] In one possible approach, the at least one first configuration is a plurality of first configurations, the plurality of first configurations corresponding one-to-one with a plurality of PCIs; and / or, the plurality of first configurations corresponding one-to-one with a plurality of time periods.

[0213] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 701 may also be used to receive sixth information, which is used to activate one of the plurality of first configurations.

[0214] In one optional implementation, the transceiver unit 701 may also be used to receive a first handover instruction, which is included in N handover instructions. Any one of the N handover instructions is used to instruct some of the terminal devices in the group of terminal devices to perform a low-level handover, where N is a positive integer.

[0215] In another embodiment, when the communication device 700 is used to implement the functions of the network device in the above embodiments, the processing unit 702 can be used to determine first information, the first information including at least one first configuration and / or multiple second configurations for NTN (Network Telecommunication Network) underlying handover, each terminal device in a group of terminal devices in a first area corresponds to any one of the at least one first configuration, and at least one terminal device in the group of terminal devices in the first area corresponds to at least one of the multiple second configurations; the group of terminal devices includes one or more terminal devices; the first area is related to the coverage area of ​​the NTN network device movement; the transceiver unit 701 can be used to send the first information to the group of terminal devices.

[0216] For example, any one of the plurality of second configurations includes at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration, a first NTN configuration, or a second NTN configuration; wherein, the incremental configuration of a portion of the first configuration includes at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of a reference signal resource configuration or an incremental configuration of a radio resource configuration; the first NTN configuration includes at least one of the following: ephemeris information, timing advance TA, or effective time; the second NTN configuration includes a measurement timing configuration SMTC4 or a measurement gap associated with SMTC4.

[0217] Optionally, the plurality of second configurations correspond to a plurality of handover types, the handover types including underlying handover triggered by the movement of NTN network devices and / or underlying handover triggered by the movement of terminal devices.

[0218] In one possible approach, the transceiver unit 701 can also be used to send second information, which is used to activate at least one of the plurality of second configurations.

[0219] For example, any one of the at least one first configuration includes at least one of the following: reference signal resource configuration, radio resource configuration, measurement configuration, or random access configuration; wherein, the reference signal resource configuration includes at least one of the following: resource identifier, reference signal or synchronization signal block corresponding to the candidate cell, and resource set information; the radio resource configuration includes at least one of the following: signaling bearer information, data bearer information, or partial bandwidth BWP configuration; the measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: measurement timing configuration SMTC, measurement interval, measurement reporting method, or measurement reporting resource configuration; the random access configuration includes at least one of the following: random access timing, and random access preamble.

[0220] Optionally, any one of the at least one first configuration includes information for indicating the first region, or the first information includes the information for indicating the first region.

[0221] For example, the information used to indicate the first area includes one or more of the following: reference location and distance threshold, tracking area identifier (TAC), cell identifier, or wave position identifier.

[0222] In some embodiments, the first configuration corresponds to at least one group identifier, which is an identifier for a group of terminal devices, and each terminal device in the group of terminal devices has the same group identifier.

[0223] In one optional implementation, when the transceiver unit 701 sends the first information to the group of terminal devices, it can be used to send the first information to the group of terminal devices via multicast or multicast.

[0224] In one example, when the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) corresponds to a geographical location, the first configuration includes at least one of the following: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a mobility management-related distance threshold set.

[0225] In another example, when the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) corresponds to a satellite, the second configuration includes at least one of the following: security key information, a mobility management-related reference location, or a mobility management-related distance threshold set.

[0226] Optionally, the at least one first configuration may be a plurality of first configurations, the plurality of first configurations corresponding one-to-one with a plurality of PCIs; and / or, the plurality of first configurations corresponding one-to-one with a plurality of time periods.

[0227] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 701 can also be used to send a sixth message, which is used to activate one of the plurality of first configurations.

[0228] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit 701 may also be used to send the at least one first configuration and the first group identifier, the at least one first configuration and the first group identifier being used to determine the plurality of second configurations; the first group identifier being the identifier of the group of terminal devices, wherein each terminal device in the group of terminal device identifiers has the same group identifier; and to receive the plurality of second configurations.

[0229] Optionally, the transceiver unit 701 can also be used to send a seventh message, which is used to indicate the first set of identifiers.

[0230] In one optional implementation, the transceiver unit 701 can also be used to send N handover instructions, any one of which is used to instruct some of the terminal devices in the group of terminal devices to perform a low-level handover, where N is a positive integer.

[0231] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. The functional units in the embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0232] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0233] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides a communication device. Referring to FIG8, the communication device 800 may include one or more processors 802. Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include one or more transceivers 801. Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include at least one memory 803. The memory 803 may be disposed inside the communication device 800 or outside the communication device 800. The processor 802 may control the transceiver 801 to receive and send information, messages, or data.

[0234] Specifically, the processor 802 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor 802 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0235] The transceiver 801, processor 802, and memory 803 are interconnected. Optionally, the transceiver 801, processor 802, and memory 803 are interconnected via bus 804; bus 804 can be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in Figure 8, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0236] In one optional embodiment, the memory 803 is used to store programs, etc. Specifically, the program may include program code, which includes computer operation instructions. The memory 803 may include RAM, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more disk storage devices. The processor 802 executes the application program stored in the memory 803 to implement the above-mentioned functions, thereby realizing the functions of the communication device 800.

[0237] For example, the communication device 800 can specifically implement the functions of the terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device) or network device in the above embodiments.

[0238] In one embodiment, when the communication device 800 implements the functions of the terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device) in the aforementioned method embodiments, the transceiver 801 can implement the transmit / receive operations performed by the terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device) in the aforementioned method embodiments; the processor 802 can implement other operations performed by the terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device) in the aforementioned method embodiments besides the transmit / receive operations. Specific details can be found in the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0239] In another embodiment, when the communication device 800 implements the functions of the terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device) in the aforementioned method embodiments, the processor 802 can implement the operations performed by the terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device) in the aforementioned method embodiments. Specific details can be found in the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0240] In yet another embodiment, when the communication device 800 implements the functions of the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments, the transceiver 801 can perform the send / receive operations executed by the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments; the processor 802 can perform other operations besides the send / receive operations executed by the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments. Specific details can be found in the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0241] In yet another embodiment, when the communication device 800 implements the functions of the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments, the processor 802 can implement the operations performed by the network device in the aforementioned method embodiments. For detailed descriptions of these related aspects, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments; they will not be elaborated upon here.

[0242] Based on the above embodiments, this application provides a communication system that may include a set of terminal devices and network devices as described in the above embodiments.

[0243] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are executed by a computer, the computer can implement the communication methods provided in the above-described method embodiments.

[0244] This application also provides a computer program product for storing computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a computer, the computer can implement the communication method provided in the above method embodiments.

[0245] This application also provides a chip or chip system, including logic circuitry, which is used to execute the communication method provided in the above-described method embodiments.

[0246] This application also provides a chip or chip system, including one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are coupled to at least one memory, for calling a program in the memory to enable the chip or chip system to implement the communication method provided in the above method embodiments.

[0247] This application also provides a chip or chip system coupled to at least one memory, which is used to implement the communication method provided in the above method embodiments.

[0248] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0249] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to this application. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart illustrations and / or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

[0250] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0251] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0252] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The chip applied to a first terminal device or the first terminal device, comprising: receiving first information, the first information comprising at least one first configuration and / or a plurality of second configurations for non-terrestrial network (NTN) underlying handover, each terminal device in a group of terminal devices in a first area corresponding to any one of the at least one first configuration, at least one terminal device in the group of terminal devices in the first area corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second configurations; the group of terminal devices comprising one or more terminal devices; the first area being related to a coverage range in which an NTN network device moves; the first terminal device being included in the first group of terminal devices; determining a target configuration for NTN underlying handover according to the first information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, Any one of the plurality of second configurations comprises at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of part of the first configuration, a first NTN configuration, or a second NTN configuration; The incremental configuration of part of the first configuration comprises at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of reference signal resource configuration or an incremental configuration of wireless resource configuration; The first NTN configuration comprises at least one of the following: ephemeris information, timing advance (TA), or validity time; The second NTN configuration comprises a measurement timing configuration (SMTC4) or a measurement gap associated with SMTC4.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The plurality of second configurations correspond to a plurality of handover types, the handover types comprising NTN network device movement triggered underlying handover and / or terminal device movement triggered underlying handover.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving second information for activating at least one of the plurality of second configurations.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The method further comprises: releasing the at least one second configuration when located within the first area and the validity period corresponding to the at least one second configuration expires.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, Any one of the at least one first configuration comprises at least one of the following: reference signal resource configuration, wireless resource configuration, measurement configuration, or random access configuration; The reference signal resource configuration comprises at least one of the following: resource identifier, reference signal or synchronization signal block corresponding to candidate cell, resource set information; The wireless resource configuration comprises at least one of the following: signaling bearer information, data bearer information, or partial bandwidth (BWP) configuration; The measurement configuration comprises at least one of the following: measurement timing configuration (SMTC), measurement gap, measurement reporting mode, or resource configuration for measurement reporting; The random access configuration comprises at least one of the following: random access occasion, random access preamble.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein Any one of the at least one first configuration comprises information for indicating the first area, or the first information comprises the information for indicating the first area.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The information for indicating the first area comprises one or more of the following: reference location and distance threshold, tracking area identifier (TAC), cell identifier, or wave position identifier.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein, Receiving the first information comprises: receiving the first information in a multicast or groupcast manner.

10. The method of any one of claims 1-9, wherein, The method further comprises: transmit third information when located outside the first area, the third information being used for requesting updating the first configuration; and / or transmit fourth information when located outside the first area, the fourth information being used for requesting updating the second configuration, in response to an inter-network device handover.

11. The method of any one of claims 1-10, wherein, The first configuration comprises one or more of the following when a physical cell identity (PCI) corresponds to a geographical location: security key information, a mobility management related reference location, or a set of mobility management related distance thresholds.

12. The method of any one of claims 1-10, wherein, The second configuration comprises at least one of the following when a physical cell identity (PCI) corresponds to a satellite: security key information, a mobility management related reference location, or a set of mobility management related distance thresholds.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The method further comprises: transmit fifth information when located inside the first area, the fifth information being used for requesting updating at least one of the following in the second configuration: security key information, a mobility management related reference location, or a set of mobility management related distance thresholds, in response to an inter-network device handover.

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein, The at least one first configuration is a plurality of first configurations, the plurality of first configurations corresponding to a plurality of PCIs one-to-one; and / or, the plurality of first configurations corresponding to a plurality of time periods one-to-one.

15. A method of communication, comprising: comprises: determine first information, the first information comprising at least one first configuration and / or a plurality of second configurations for non-terrestrial network (NTN) underlying handover, each of a group of terminal devices in a first area corresponding to any one of the at least one first configuration, at least one terminal device of the group of terminal devices in the first area corresponding to at least one of the plurality of second configurations; the group of terminal devices comprising one or more terminal devices; the first area being related to a coverage range of NTN network device movement; transmit the first information to the group of terminal devices.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, Any one of the plurality of second configurations comprises at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of part of the first configuration, a first NTN configuration, or a second NTN configuration; The incremental configuration of part of the first configuration comprises at least one of the following: an incremental configuration of reference signal resource configuration, or an incremental configuration of wireless resource configuration; The first NTN configuration comprises at least one of the following: ephemeris information, timing advance (TA), or validity time; The second NTN configuration comprises a measurement timing configuration (SMTC4) or a measurement gap associated with the SMTC4.

17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein, The plurality of second configurations correspond to a plurality of handover types, the handover types comprising NTN network device movement triggered underlying handover and / or terminal device movement triggered underlying handover.

18. The method of any one of claims 15-17, wherein, The method further comprises: transmit second information, the second information being used for activating at least one of the plurality of second configurations.

19. The method of any one of claims 15-18, wherein, Any one of the at least one first configuration comprises at least one of the following: reference signal resource configuration, wireless resource configuration, measurement configuration, or random access configuration; The reference signal resource configuration comprises at least one of the following: resource identity, reference signal or synchronization signal block corresponding to a candidate cell, resource set information; The wireless resource configuration comprises at least one of signaling bearer information, data bearer information, or partial bandwidth (BWP) configuration. The measurement configuration comprises at least one of measurement timing configuration (SMTC), measurement gap, measurement reporting manner, or resource configuration for measurement reporting. The random access configuration comprises at least one of random access occasion, random access preamble.

20. The method of any one of claims 15-19, wherein, Any of the at least one first configuration comprises information for indicating the first area, or the first information comprises the information for indicating the first area.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The information for indicating the first area comprises one or more of reference location and distance threshold, tracking area identifier (TAC), cell identifier, or beam identifier.

22. The method of any one of claims 15-21, wherein, The first information is transmitted to the group of terminal devices comprises: The first information is transmitted to the group of terminal devices by multicast or groupcast.

23. The method of any one of claims 15-22, wherein, When a physical cell identifier (PCI) corresponds to a geographical location, the first configuration comprises at least one of security key information, reference location related to mobility management, or a set of distance thresholds related to mobility management.

24. The method of any one of claims 15-22, wherein, When a physical cell identifier (PCI) corresponds to a satellite, the second configuration comprises at least one of security key information, reference location related to mobility management, or a set of distance thresholds related to mobility management.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein, The at least one first configuration is a plurality of first configurations, the plurality of first configurations correspond to a plurality of PCIs one-to-one; and / or the plurality of first configurations correspond to a plurality of time periods one-to-one.

26. The method of any one of claims 15-25, wherein, The method further comprises: The at least one first configuration and a first set of identifiers are transmitted, the at least one first configuration and the first set of identifiers are used to determine the plurality of second configurations; the first set of identifiers are identifiers of the group of terminal devices, and the group identifier of each terminal device in the group of terminal devices is the same; The plurality of second configurations are received.

27. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises units or modules for performing the method of any of claims 1-14, or units or modules for performing the method of any of claims 15-26.

28. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises a processor configured to execute computer program or instructions to implement the method of any of claims 1-14, or to implement the method of any of claims 15-26.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method of any of claims 1-14 is implemented, or the method of any of claims 15-26 is implemented.

30. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product contains computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed by a computer, the method of any of claims 1-14 is implemented, or the method of any of claims 15-26 is implemented.

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