Cell reselection method and apparatus, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides a cell reselection method and apparatus, a computer-readable storage medium, and a computer program product. The method comprises: a network device sends configuration information to a UE, and correspondingly, the UE receives the configuration information, the configuration information being used for configuring a first parameter configuration; the UE performs cell reselection by using the first parameter configuration or a second parameter configuration on the basis of a reference indicator, wherein the reference indicator includes a device type and / or a service requirement, the second parameter configuration is associated with the same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, and the non-terrestrial network cell camping probability corresponding to the second parameter configuration is higher than that corresponding to the first parameter configuration. The solution of the present application enables the UE to have a higher probability of camping on a cell that is more suitable for its own device type and / or service requirement, thereby improving communication quality of the UE.

Description

Cell reselection method and apparatus, computer readable storage medium, computer program product

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202411136807.8, filed on August 16, 2024, entitled "Cell reselection method and apparatus, computer readable storage medium, computer program product", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a cell reselection method and apparatus, computer readable storage medium, computer program product. BACKGROUND

[0003] The Fifth-Generation mobile communications (5G) New Radio (NR) considers supporting not only ground devices (e.g., mobile phones, watches) but also Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) terminals (also known as User Equipment, UE) (also known as UAV devices, UAV UE). In order to support UAV UEs in the 5G system, the problem of the flight height of the UAV UE needs to be solved.

[0004] For a ground base station, since the antenna of the base station is tilted downward (as shown in FIG. 1), when the flight height of the UAV UE is higher than the height of the antenna of the base station, the UAV UE is most likely to be covered by the side lobe (such as the upper side lobe shown in the figure) of the antenna beam. In this case, it is even possible that the strongest signal detected by the UAV UE comes from a far base station, rather than a base station that is closer in geographical position.

[0005] Therefore, based on the prior art, the UAV UE may detect more downlink interference and may also generate more uplink interference. This will not only seriously affect the communication quality of the UAV UE, but also cause interference to the communication of the ground devices near the UAV UE. SUMMARY

[0006] The technical problem solved by the present application is how to improve the communication quality of the UE.

[0007] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiment of the present application provides a cell reselection method, comprising: receiving configuration information, the configuration information being used for configuring a first parameter configuration; performing cell reselection according to a reference index using the first parameter configuration or a second parameter configuration, the reference index comprising a device type and / or a service requirement, the second parameter configuration being associated with the same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, and a non-terrestrial network cell residence probability corresponding to the second parameter configuration being higher than a non-terrestrial network cell residence probability corresponding to the first parameter configuration.

[0008] Optionally, for any one of the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration, the parameter configuration is selected from at least one of the following: a quality offset Qoffset of a neighboring cell during cell reselection and a cell reselection priority.

[0009] Optionally, the configuration information is further used for configuring the second parameter configuration.

[0010] Optionally, the first parameter configuration comprises a first Qoffset, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second Qoffset, wherein the first Qoffset>the second Qoffset.

[0011] Optionally, the configuration information comprises the first Qoffset and the second Qoffset; or the receiving configuration information comprises: receiving first information, the first information comprising the first Qoffset; and receiving second information, the second information comprising a first offset value, the second Qoffset being determined based on the first Qoffset and the first offset value.

[0012] Optionally, the first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, the frequency point comprises a first frequency point and a second frequency point, a cell on the first frequency point comprises a non-terrestrial network cell, and cells on the second frequency point are all terrestrial network cells, and the parameter configuration in the configuration information satisfies at least one of the following conditions: a second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is higher than a second cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point; or a first cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is lower than a first cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point.

[0013] Optionally, the frequency point further comprises a third frequency point, a number of non-terrestrial network cells on the third frequency point is greater than a number of non-terrestrial network cells on the first frequency point, and a second cell reselection priority associated with the third frequency point is higher than a second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point.

[0014] Optionally, the second parameter configuration is obtained by adjusting the first parameter configuration.

[0015] Optionally, the first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, and the second cell reselection priority is adjusted to a highest value based on the first cell reselection priority.

[0016] Optionally, the first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, and the frequency points comprise a first frequency point and a second frequency point, and the cells on the first frequency point comprise non-terrestrial network cells, and the cells on the second frequency point are all terrestrial network cells, and the second cell reselection priority of the first frequency point is adjusted to a value higher than the first cell reselection priority of the second frequency point based on the first cell reselection priority of the first frequency point.

[0017] Optionally, the performing cell reselection according to the reference index using the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration comprises: in response to the device type being a drone device, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; and in response to the device type being a ground device, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

[0018] Optionally, the performing cell reselection according to the reference index using the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration comprises: in response to the device type being a drone device and the service requirement being low in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; and in response to the device type being a drone device and the service requirement being high in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

[0019] Optionally, the performing cell reselection according to the reference index using the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration comprises: in response to the service requirement being low in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; and in response to the service requirement being high in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

[0020] To solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present application further provides a cell reselection method, comprising: sending configuration information, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring a first parameter configuration.

[0021] Optionally, the configuration information is further used for configuring a second parameter configuration, the second parameter configuration is associated with a same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, and a non-terrestrial network cell corresponding to the second parameter configuration has a higher camping probability than a non-terrestrial network cell corresponding to the first parameter configuration.

[0022] Optionally, for any one of the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration, the parameter configuration is selected from at least one of the following: a quality offset Qoffset of a neighboring cell during cell reselection and a cell reselection priority.

[0023] Optionally, the first parameter configuration comprises a first quality offset Qoffset, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second Qoffset, wherein the first Qoffset > the second Qoffset.

[0024] Optionally, the configuration information comprises the first Qoffset and the second Qoffset; or the sending of the configuration information comprises: sending first information, the first information comprising the first Qoffset; and sending second information, the second information comprising a first offset value, the second Qoffset being determined based on the first Qoffset and the first offset value.

[0025] Optionally, the first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, the frequency point comprises a first frequency point and a second frequency point, the cell on the first frequency point comprises a non-terrestrial network cell, and the cells on the second frequency point are all terrestrial network cells; and the parameter configuration in the configuration information satisfies at least one of the following conditions: the second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is higher than the second cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point; or the first cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is lower than the first cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point.

[0026] To solve the above technical problem, the embodiment of the present application further provides a cell reselection device, comprising: a receiving module configured to receive configuration information, the configuration information being used to configure a first parameter configuration; and a processing module configured to perform cell reselection using the first parameter configuration or a second parameter configuration according to a reference index, the reference index comprising a device type and / or a service requirement, the second parameter configuration being associated with a same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, and a non-terrestrial network cell corresponding to the second parameter configuration having a higher cell camping probability than a non-terrestrial network cell corresponding to the first parameter configuration.

[0027] To solve the above technical problem, the embodiment of the present application further provides a cell reselection device, comprising: a sending module configured to send configuration information, the configuration information being used to configure a first parameter configuration.

[0028] To solve the above technical problem, the embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, which is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transitory storage medium, and has stored thereon a computer program, the computer program being run by a computer to execute the steps of the above method.

[0029] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiment of the present application further provides a cell reselection device, comprising a memory and a processor, the memory stores a computer program which can run on the processor, and the processor executes the steps of the above method when running the computer program.

[0030] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, comprising computer programs / instructions, which realize the steps of the above method when executed by a computer.

[0031] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, comprising a network device and a UE for executing the above method.

[0032] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiment of the present application further provides a chip (or a cell reselection device), which stores a computer program, and realizes the steps of the above method when the computer program is executed by the chip.

[0033] The embodiment of the present application further provides a system chip, which comprises at least one processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit and the at least one processor are interconnected through a circuit, and the at least one processor is used to execute instructions to execute the above method.

[0034] Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0035] Compared with the prior art in which any UE adopts the same set of cell reselection logic and is preferentially camped to a terrestrial network cell, the present application allows the parameter configuration of one frequency point to vary for UEs of different device types and / or service requirements, so that the UE can select a more suitable parameter configuration for cell reselection according to its own type and / or service requirement, ensuring that the UE has a greater probability of camping to a cell that is more suitable for its own device type and / or service requirement. Thus, the communication quality of the UE can be improved.

[0036] Taking a UAV UE and a ground device as an example, the present application can enhance a non-terrestrial network (NTN) that supports a UAV UE, by providing different parameter configurations for the UAV UE and the ground device, to ensure that the UAV UE has a greater probability of camping to a non-terrestrial network cell. Thus, the communication quality of the UAV UE can be improved, and the interference caused to ground communication can be reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a base station antenna beam provided by the present application;

[0038] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first NTN network architecture provided by the present application;

[0039] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a second NTN network architecture provided by the present application;

[0040] Fig. 4 is a signaling interaction diagram of a cell reselection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Fig. 5 is a signaling interaction diagram of a cell reselection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a cell reselection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a cell reselection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a cell reselection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The method provided by the embodiments of the present application involves a network device and a UE, and the network device and the UE can perform uplink and downlink signal transmission.

[0046] The network device in the embodiments of the present application includes a base station and a base station controller of a network, and can also include a UE. Specifically, the roles of the network device and the UE can be opposite, for example, a UAV UE can be configured to be a mobile network device, and for a UE (such as a mobile phone) that accesses a radio access network through the UAV UE, the UAV UE is a network device; but for a base station, the UAV UE is a UE, that is, the base station and the UAV UE communicate with each other through a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, the base station and the UAV UE can also communicate with each other through an interface protocol between network devices, at this time, relative to the base station, the UAV UE is also a network device. Therefore, the network device and the UE can be collectively referred to as a communication apparatus, the base station can be referred to as a communication apparatus with a network device function, and the mobile phone, the UAV UE, etc. can be referred to as a communication apparatus with a UE function.

[0047] The UAV UE in the embodiments of the present application specifically refers to a drone with a UE role. The UAV UE uses a special SIM card and uses an aerial subscription flag to identify itself as a UAV UE when registering. Alternatively, the UE can provide a CAA level UAV ID to indicate that it is a UAV UE.

[0048] The ground device in the embodiments of the present application refers to a traditional UE, which can also be called a non-UAV device, i.e., a UE on the ground that uses a wireless access network for communication, such as a mobile phone, a smart watch, a printer, etc.

[0049] In some embodiments, the device type of the UE can be an inherent attribute of the UE, for example, the device type of the UE is set as a UAV UE or a ground device when the UE is manufactured. In some embodiments, the UE can determine its type in real time according to the currently associated SIM card or the identity used when registering. For example, if the UE currently inserts a SIM card dedicated to a UAV UE, it can be determined that the device type of the UE is a UAV UE. In some embodiments, the device type of the UE can be dynamically determined according to the current height of the UE, for example, the current height of the UE can be monitored based on the altimeter or barometer sensor of the UE, and if the monitoring indicates that the current height of the UE is higher than a preset threshold (for example, 20 meters), it can be determined that the UE is currently a UAV UE, otherwise (i.e., the current height of the UE is lower than 20 meters) it can be determined that the UE is a ground device. The specific value of the preset threshold can be adjusted according to the actual situation, for example, by experimentally counting the degree of uplink and downlink interference of the UE to the terrestrial network cell at different heights to determine a more appropriate preset threshold. The preset threshold can also be related to the geographical environment.

[0050] The base station (BS) in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a base station device, which is a device deployed in a radio access network (RAN) to provide wireless communication functions. For example, the devices providing base station functions in the 2G network include base transceiver stations (BTS), the devices providing base station functions in the 3G network include NodeB, the devices providing base station functions in the 4G network include evolved NodeB (eNB), in the wireless local area network (WLAN), the device providing base station functions is an access point (AP), the device providing base station functions in the 5G NR is gNB, and the device providing base station functions in the continued evolution of NodeB (ng-eNB), wherein the gNB and the UE communicate with each other using NR technology, the ng-eNB and the UE communicate with each other using evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) technology, and the gNB and the ng-eNB can be connected to the 5G core network. The base station in the embodiments of the present application also includes devices providing base station functions in future new communication systems, etc.

[0051] The base station controller in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a base station controller device, which is a device for managing a base station, such as a base station controller (BSC) in a 2G network, a radio network controller (RNC) in a 3G network, and a device for managing a base station in a future new communication system.

[0052] The UE in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a terminal device, which can refer to various forms of access terminals, user units, user stations, mobile stations, mobile stations (MS), remote stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, wireless communication devices, user agents or user equipment. The terminal device can also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

[0053] The technical solutions of the present application can be applied to a fourth generation (4G) system, which can also be referred to as a long term evolution (LTE) system, or can be applied to a 5G system, which can also be referred to as an NR system, or can be applied to a 6th generation (6G) system, or a 7th generation (7G) system, or other future communication systems, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

[0054] The technical solutions of the present application are also applicable to different network architectures, including but not limited to relay network architecture, dual link architecture, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) architecture, Device-to-Device (D2D) architecture, etc.

[0055] The non-terrestrial network cell in the embodiments of the present application refers to a cell provided by an NTN base station. The NTN is an important supplement to the terrestrial network (TN). The NTN can be directly connected with a UE by a satellite, a gateway station is erected on the ground as a gateway, and finally connected to a 5G core network. The satellite can be directly connected with the UE by transmitting a 5G signal as a base station, or can be a transparent forwarding node for transmitting a signal transmitted by a ground station to the UE. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are two common NTN network architectures. In FIG. 2, the NTN base station (identified as a base station in the figure) is located on a satellite, and core network related network elements (such as an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a user plane function (UPF)) are located on the ground. The link between the UE and the satellite is called a service link, and the link between the satellite and the ground gateway is called a feeder link. In FIG. 3, the NTN base station (identified as a base station in the figure) and the core network related network elements (such as the AMF and the UPF) are located on the ground. The link between the UE and the satellite is still called a service link, and the link between the satellite and the ground gateway is still called a feeder link. The embodiments of the present application do not make any limitation on the NTN network structure, that is, the embodiments of the present application can be used in any existing NTN network architecture, or even a future NTN network architecture.

[0056] The terrestrial network cell in the embodiments of the present application refers to a cell provided by a TN base station. The TN base station is deployed on the ground, and the communication between the UE and the TN base station does not need to be relayed or transmitted by a satellite. The ground base station in the embodiments of the present application specifically refers to a TN base station, and the NTN base station deployed on the ground does not belong to the ground base station because the transponder thereof is located on a satellite.

[0057] There can be multiple cells on a single frequency point. In some embodiments, the terrestrial network cells and the non-terrestrial network cells are respectively deployed on different frequency points, for example, the cells on frequency point 1 are all terrestrial network cells, and the cells on frequency point 2 are all non-terrestrial network cells. In some embodiments, the terrestrial network cells and the non-terrestrial network cells can be deployed on the same frequency point, that is, there are both terrestrial network cells and non-terrestrial network cells on the same frequency point.

[0058] The cell reselection priority in the embodiments of the present application is divided according to frequency points, that is, the cells on the same frequency point have the same cell reselection priority, and the cell reselection priorities of the cells on different frequency points can be the same or different, so the cell reselection priority can be understood as the frequency point priority. The cell reselection priorities of different NR frequency points or inter-systems can come from the system message (such as System Information Block (SIB)) or dedicated signaling (such as Radio Resource Control (RRC) Release (RRCRelease) message) of the current serving cell, or from the inter-system during inter-system reselection. For example, the system message or dedicated signaling can carry a cell reselection priority parameter (cellreselectionpriority), the value range of the parameter is 0-7, and the larger the parameter value is, the higher the priority is. The UE can determine the cell reselection priority of the corresponding frequency point according to the specific value of the parameter. If the reselection priority is not configured in the SIB, no cell reselection measurement is performed. If the cell reselection priority is configured in the dedicated signaling, the UE ignores all priorities from the SIB. For example, the dedicated signaling RRCRelase message can carry the cell reselection priority (CellReselectionPriorities), and before the dedicated priority validity time timer T320 expires, the UE in the RRC_IDLE state should use the cell reselection priority configured in the dedicated signaling.

[0059] The cell reselection process in the embodiments of the present application can refer to the 5G cell reselection mechanism, and specifically includes three stages of starting neighbor cell measurement, reselection evaluation and performing cell reselection.

[0060] 1. Starting neighbor cell measurement stage

[0061] For intra-frequency neighbor cells (neighbor cells on the same frequency as the serving cell), if the signal quality of the serving cell meets Srxlev≤intra-frequency measurement Srxlev threshold (SIntraSearchP) or Squal≤intra-frequency measurement Squal threshold (SIntraSearchQ), the UE needs to measure the intra-frequency neighbor cells, otherwise, if Srxlev>SIntraSearchP and Squal>SIntraSearchQ, the UE does not perform intra-frequency cell measurement. Wherein, Srxlev is the received power value of the cell (Cell selection RX level value), unit dB; SIntraSearchP is the reference signal received power (Reference Signal Received Power, RSRP) threshold value for starting intra-frequency measurement; Squal is the quality value of the cell (Cell selection quality value), unit dB; SIntraSearchQ is the reference signal receiving quality (Reference Signal Receiving Quality, RSRQ) threshold value for starting intra-frequency measurement.

[0062] For inter-frequency neighbor cells (neighbor cells not on the same frequency as the serving cell) or inter-system frequency neighbor cells, and if the cell reselection priority is configured, the following rules are used:

[0063] 1) For high priority inter-frequency frequency points, the UE always starts measurement thereon;

[0064] 2) For the same priority or low priority inter-frequency, and low priority inter-system frequency: if the signal quality of the serving cell meets Srxlev≤inter-frequency and inter-radio access technology (RAT) measurement Srxlev threshold (SnonIntraSearchP) or Squal≤inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurement Squal threshold (SnonIntraSearchQ), the UE starts measurement on the frequency point; otherwise, if Srxlev>SnonIntraSearchP and Squal>SnonIntraSearchQ, the UE does not start measurement on the frequency point. Wherein, SnonIntraSearchP is the RSRP signal level threshold for starting inter-frequency measurement; SnonIntraSearchQ is the RSRQ signal quality threshold for starting inter-frequency measurement.

[0065] SIntraSearchP, SIntraSearchQ, SnonIntraSearchP and SnonIntraSearchQ can be configured by the network device.

[0066] 2. Re-selection evaluation phase

[0067] When the UE starts the neighbor cell measurement, the UE can start to evaluate whether to re-select to the neighbor cell. The criteria for the UE to perform the re-selection evaluation is also related to the re-selection priority of the cell. The criteria for the re-selection evaluation includes:

[0068] For inter-frequency cell re-selection, when the re-selection priority of the neighbor cell is higher than the re-selection priority of the current serving cell, if the SIB message contains the serving cell Squal threshold (denoted as "ThreshServing, LowQ" or threshServingLowQ), the UE re-selects to the high priority inter-frequency or inter-system when the UE stays in the current serving cell for more than 1 second (s) and the signal quality of the neighbor cell satisfies Squal > high priority frequency Squal threshold (ThreshX, HighQ) in the time interval T; otherwise, i.e. the SIB message does not contain threshServingLowQ, the UE re-selects to the highest priority inter-frequency or inter-system frequency when the UE stays in the current serving cell for more than 1 second and the signal quality of the neighbor cell satisfies Srxlev > high priority frequency Srxlev threshold (ThreshX, HighP). The time duration T can be the pre-configured measurement time TreselectionRAT.

[0069] For intra-frequency and same priority inter-frequency cell re-selection, when the re-selection priority of the neighbor cell is equal to the re-selection priority of the serving cell, the intra-frequency / same priority inter-frequency cell re-selection needs to be performed according to the cell re-selection criteria (R-criteria). The ranking criteria Rs of the serving cell and the ranking criteria Rn of the neighbor cell are defined as follows:

[0070] Rs = Qmeas,s + Qhyst - Qoffsettemp

[0071] Rn = Qmeas,s - Qoffset - Qoffsettemp

[0072] Qmeas,s is the measured RSRP of the cell at cell reselection; Qhyst is the hysteresis of the serving cell at cell reselection; Qoffset is the quality offset of the neighboring cell (i.e. the neighbor cell) at cell reselection: for intra-frequency cells, it is Qoffsets,n if configured, otherwise it is 0; for inter-frequency cells, it is Qoffsets,n + Qoffsetfrequency if configured, otherwise it is Qoffsetfrequency, n is the cell ID; Qoffsettemp is a temporary additional offset.

[0073] The UE calculates the R value (may also be referred to as the cell signal quality level) of each cell according to the RSRP measurement value of the serving cell and the candidate neighbor cell (satisfying the cell selection criterion, i.e. S criterion) and determines the highest ranked cell or the best cell according to the R value ordering rule. When the UE stays in the serving cell for more than 1s and the highest ranked cell or the best cell meets the cell reselection criterion (i.e. better than the serving cell in the time interval T), the UE will reselect to a new cell.

[0074] If the rangeToBestCell parameter is not configured, the UE should reselect to the highest ranked cell; if the rangeToBestCell parameter is configured, the UE should select the cell with the most beams above the threshold from the highest rangeToBestCell cells ranked according to the R criterion. If there are multiple such cells (with the same number of beams above the threshold), reselect to the highest ranked cell. The threshold is absThreshSS-BlockConsolidation. If the rangeToBestCell parameter is configured but the absThreshSS-BlockConsolidation parameter is not configured, the UE considers that each cell on this frequency has one beam above the threshold.

[0075] For low priority inter-frequency cell reselection (meaning that the UE does not find a cell in the high priority cell and the equal priority neighbor cell that meets the above condition), the reselection priority of the neighbor cell is lower than that of the serving cell. If ThreshServingLowQ is included in the SIB message and the UE stays in the serving cell for more than 1 s, the UE reselects to a low priority inter-frequency or inter-RAT cell when the low priority neighbor cell meets Squal < low priority frequency Squal threshold (ThreshX, LowQ) and the serving cell meets Squal < ThreshServingLowQ within the time interval T; if ThreshServingLowQ is not included in the SIB message and the UE stays in the serving cell for more than 1 s, the UE reselects to a low priority inter-frequency or inter-RAT cell when the low priority neighbor cell meets Srxlev > low priority frequency Srxlev threshold (ThreshX, LowP) and the serving cell meets Srxlev < serving cell Srxlev threshold (ThreshServing, LowP) within the time interval T.

[0076] wherein the high priority frequency Squal threshold (ThreshX, HighQ), the high priority frequency Srxlev threshold (ThreshX, HighP), the low priority frequency Squal threshold (ThreshX, LowQ), ThreshServingLowQ, the serving cell Srxlev threshold (ThreshServing, LowP) and the low priority frequency Srxlev threshold (ThreshX, LowP) can be configured by the network equipment.

[0077] 3. Perform cell reselection phase

[0078] After the UE performs cell measurement and determines a target neighbor cell that meets the condition, the UE performs cell reselection to attempt to camp on the target neighbor cell. Before the UE determines to camp on the target neighbor cell, the UE needs to read the system information of the target neighbor cell and determine whether the target cell can be camped normally (e.g., whether the target cell is barred / reserved, etc.). If the target cell meets the camping condition, the UE camps on the target cell and completes the cell reselection procedure.

[0079] At present, compared with non-terrestrial network cells, considering the transmission delay, the terrestrial network cells usually have a higher cell reselection priority or are assigned a more preferential cell specific offset value, so any UE will prefer to camp on or reselect to the terrestrial network cell. However, for the UAV UE, if it camps on the terrestrial network cell, the situation as described in the background art will occur, that is, the reachable height of the UAV UE is much higher than that of the ground device, so the signal of the UAV UE can propagate a long distance without being blocked, thereby causing the uplink and downlink interference of the terrestrial network cell in a larger range far exceeding that of the ground device. Therefore, from the perspective of interference management, the UAV UE is more suitable for camping on the non-terrestrial network cell, because the base station of the non-terrestrial network cell (i.e., the NTN base station) is located on the satellite or the repeater is located on the satellite, and the height of the satellite is much higher than that of the UAV UE, so it is not easy to be interfered.

[0080] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a cell reselection method, which allows multiple sets (for example, two sets) of parameter configurations to exist for the same frequency point, and different parameter configurations are suitable for making the UE camp on or reselect to different types of cells (such as terrestrial network cells or non-terrestrial network cells) with a higher probability. The network device sends configuration information to the UE, at least one set of parameter configurations (such as the first parameter configuration) is configured in the configuration information, the UE determines multiple sets of parameter configurations (such as the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration) according to the configuration information, and selects a suitable parameter configuration according to a reference index (such as the type of the UE itself and / or the service demand of the service currently being performed) to perform cell reselection.

[0081] Thus, in the NTN scenario supporting the UAV UE, the UAV UE can camp on or reselect to the non-terrestrial network cell with a higher probability by selecting a suitable parameter configuration.

[0082] The parameter configuration (i.e., the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration) of the frequency point in the embodiment of the present application can include at least one of Qoffset and cell reselection priority.

[0083] The first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration in the embodiments of the present application are associated with the same frequency point, and the non-terrestrial network cell residence probability corresponding to the second parameter configuration is higher than the non-terrestrial network cell residence probability corresponding to the first parameter configuration. In some embodiments, the non-terrestrial network cell residence probability refers to the probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell, that is, when the UE performs cell reselection, the probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell based on the second parameter configuration is higher than the probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell based on the first parameter configuration. In other words, the first parameter configuration is suitable for enabling the UE to have a higher probability of reselecting to a terrestrial network cell, and the second parameter configuration is suitable for enabling the UE to have a higher probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell. In some embodiments, the non-terrestrial network cell residence probability can refer to the probability of reselecting and camping on a non-terrestrial network cell, that is, when the UE performs cell reselection, the probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell and successfully camping on it based on the second parameter configuration is higher than the probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell and successfully camping on it based on the first parameter configuration. In other words, the first parameter configuration is suitable for enabling the UE to have a higher probability of reselecting to a terrestrial network cell, and the selected terrestrial network cell is more likely to meet the camping condition; the second parameter configuration is suitable for enabling the UE to have a higher probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell, and the selected non-terrestrial network cell is more likely to meet the camping condition. The configuration information can include parameter configurations of multiple frequency points, and each frequency point can correspond to two sets of contents of the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration.

[0084] In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and benefits of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0085] FIG. 4 is a signaling interaction diagram of a cell reselection method according to the first embodiment of the present application.

[0086] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to an enhanced NTN scenario supporting UAV UEs.

[0087] In specific implementations, in the cell reselection method provided by the following steps (referred to as S) 101 to S102, the actions performed by the UE can be performed by a chip with a cell reselection function in the UE, or can be performed by a baseband chip in the UE. The actions performed by the network device can be performed by a chip with a cell reselection function in the network device, or can be performed by a baseband chip in the network device.

[0088] Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, the cell reselection method described in the present embodiment can include the following steps:

[0089] S101, the network device sends configuration information to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the configuration information. The configuration information is used to configure the first parameter configuration.

[0090] More specifically, the second parameter configuration can be adjusted based on the first parameter configuration. That is, the configuration information sent by the network device in the first embodiment can follow the prior art, that is, only one set of parameter configuration is configured for each frequency point. The difference from the prior art is that, in the embodiment, although the configuration information only configures the first parameter configuration for each frequency point, the UE is allowed to adjust the first parameter configuration based on the device type and / or service demand of the UE itself to obtain the second parameter configuration for the same frequency point. Thus, the UE side obtains multiple sets of parameter configurations for the same frequency point, and the network device side only needs to configure one set of parameter configurations, which is beneficial to saving signaling overhead.

[0091] In some embodiments, the first parameter configuration can include a first Qoffset, and the second parameter configuration can include a second Qoffset, both corresponding to the same frequency point and the first Qoffset>the second Qoffset. When sorting based on the neighbor cell-based sorting criterion Rn, for the terrestrial network cell and the non-terrestrial network cell with the same or similar numerical values of Qmeas,s and Qoffsettemp, since the second Qoffset of the non-terrestrial network cell is smaller than the first Qoffset of the terrestrial network cell, the Rn of the non-terrestrial network cell is greater than the Rn of the terrestrial network cell. Thus, for the terrestrial network cell and the non-terrestrial network cell on the same frequency point, the non-terrestrial network cell is sorted higher than the terrestrial network cell, and the UE has a greater probability of camping to the non-terrestrial network cell.

[0092] In response to receiving the configuration information, assuming that the configuration information includes the first Qoffset of frequency point 1, the UE can further determine the second Qoffset of frequency point 1 based on the first Qoffset. For example, a first offset value can be defined by a protocol, predefined or preconfigured, and the UE takes the value obtained by subtracting the first offset value from the first Qoffset as the second Qoffset corresponding to the same frequency point.

[0093] In one specific implementation, the first parameter configuration can include a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration can include a second cell reselection priority, which can be adjusted to the highest value based on the first cell reselection priority. Next, several specific implementations of adjusting to the highest value are described in detail.

[0094] In some embodiments, the first parameter configuration can include a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration can include a second cell reselection priority, which can be adjusted to the highest value based on the first cell reselection priority. Specifically, the UAV UE can be specified by a protocol to set the cell reselection priority of the non-terrestrial network cell to the highest value in the value range of the cell reselection priority. Thus, when performing inter-frequency cell reselection, the non-terrestrial network cell has a greater probability of being camped or reselected by the UE as a neighbor cell with the highest cell reselection priority.

[0095] For example, assume that the configuration information includes a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (with a value of 2) and a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (with a value of 5), and the cells on frequency point 1 include non-terrestrial network cells, and the cells on frequency point 2 are all terrestrial network cells. In response to receiving the configuration information, the UAV UE can adjust the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 to a value of 7 as its own second cell reselection priority, and perform the corresponding cell reselection procedure with the second cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (i.e., a value of 7) and the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (i.e., a value of 5) when performing cell reselection.

[0096] In some embodiments, the first parameter configuration can include a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration can include a second cell reselection priority, and the second cell reselection priority can be adjusted to the highest value based on the first cell reselection priority. Specifically, the highest in this embodiment refers to a cell reselection priority that is higher than any other cell reselection priority (either the first cell reselection priority or the second cell reselection priority) of any frequency point that has been configured by the network.

[0097] For example, assume that the configuration information includes a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (with a value of 2), a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (with a value of 5), and a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 3 (with a value of 3), and the cells on frequency point 1 include non-terrestrial network cells, and the cells on frequency point 2 and frequency point 3 are all terrestrial network cells. In response to receiving the configuration information, the UAV UE can adjust the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 to a value of 6 as its own second cell reselection priority, and perform the corresponding cell reselection procedure with the second cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (i.e., a value of 6), the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (i.e., a value of 5), and the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 3 (i.e., a value of 3) when performing cell reselection.

[0098] In some embodiments, the first parameter configuration can include a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration can include a second cell reselection priority, and the frequency point can include a first frequency point and a second frequency point, and the cells on the first frequency point include non-terrestrial network cells, and the cells on the second frequency point are all terrestrial network cells. Further, the second cell reselection priority of the first frequency point can be adjusted to a value higher than the first cell reselection priority of the second frequency point based on the first cell reselection priority of the first frequency point. Specifically, it can be agreed by the protocol that the UAV UE sets the cell reselection priority of the non-terrestrial network cell to be higher than that of the terrestrial network cell.

[0099] For example, assume that the configuration information includes a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (with a value of 2) and a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (with a value of 5), the cells on frequency point 1 include non-terrestrial network cells, and the cells on frequency point 2 are all terrestrial network cells. In response to receiving the configuration information, the UAV UE can adjust the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 to a value of 6 as its own second cell reselection priority, and perform the corresponding cell reselection procedure with the second cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (i.e., the value of 6) and the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (i.e., the value of 5) when performing cell reselection.

[0100] In some embodiments, the first parameter configuration can include a first Qoffset and a first cell reselection priority of the first frequency point, and the second parameter configuration can include a second Qoffset and a second cell reselection priority of the first frequency point. In response to receiving the configuration information, the UE can determine the second Qoffset of the first frequency point according to the first Qoffset of the first frequency point, and determine the second cell reselection priority of the first frequency point as the highest cell reselection priority or no less than the first cell reselection priority of the frequency point of the other pure terrestrial network cell configured in the configuration information. In this way, the UE has a greater probability of preferentially selecting a non-terrestrial network cell for camping during the neighbor cell measurement phase and the reselection evaluation phase.

[0101] In some embodiments, the configuration information can include a SIB message.

[0102] Continuing to refer to FIG. 4, the cell reselection method described in the present embodiment can further include the steps of:

[0103] S102, the UE performs cell reselection according to the reference index using the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration. The reference index can include a device type and / or a service requirement.

[0104] Specifically, in response to receiving the configuration information, the UE can select the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration to perform cell reselection according to the reference index.

[0105] In some embodiments, any UE can determine the second parameter configuration according to the first parameter configuration after receiving the configuration information, and then select one of them to perform cell reselection according to the reference index. In this way, when the device type and / or the service requirement of the UE changes to cause the reference index to be met or not met, the UE can quickly determine the appropriate parameter configuration to perform cell reselection, which is beneficial to speed up the cell reselection speed and ensure that the UE always maintains a relatively optimal communication quality with the network.

[0106] In some embodiments, the UE can determine the second parameter configuration based on the first parameter configuration when it is needed to use the second parameter configuration, and then use the second parameter configuration for cell reselection. For example, for a legacy UE, the second parameter configuration is not needed to be determined after receiving the configuration information, and the legacy UE always uses the first parameter configuration for cell reselection in a subsequent cell reselection procedure. For example, for a UAV UE, the second parameter configuration can be determined after receiving the configuration information so as to be used for cell reselection. For example, for a ground device, the second parameter configuration can be considered to be used for cell reselection in a specific scenario (e.g., a current service has a low requirement on latency), and the ground device determines the second parameter configuration based on the first parameter configuration when the specific scenario is triggered. In this way, the UE side operation is more flexible, and the power consumption of the UE which does not need the second parameter configuration is reduced.

[0107] In one specific embodiment, the reference index can include a device type, and the UE can select the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration to perform cell reselection according to the device type of the UE.

[0108] Specifically, S102 can include the following steps: in response to the device type being a UAV UE, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; and in response to the device type being a ground device, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

[0109] For example, assuming that a UAV UE and a ground device both receive configuration information, the configuration information includes a first cell reselection priority of a frequency point 1 (with a value of 0) and a first cell reselection priority of a frequency point 2 (with a value of 3), and assuming that the cells on the frequency point 1 include non-terrestrial network cells and the cells on the frequency point 2 are all terrestrial network cells. The UAV UE can set the cell reselection priority of the frequency point 1 to be the highest, and use the second cell reselection priority of the frequency point 1 (with a value of 7) and the first cell reselection priority of the frequency point 2 (with a value of 3) to perform cell reselection. The ground device uses the first cell reselection priority of the frequency point 1 (with a value of 0) and the first cell reselection priority of the frequency point 2 (with a value of 3) to perform cell reselection.

[0110] In this way, the UE selects an access mode or an access node according to the device type of the UE, and different device types of UEs can select different parameter configurations for cell reselection for the same frequency point, so that the UE has a greater probability of camping on a cell which is more suitable for the device type of the UE. For example, the UAV UE has a greater probability of camping on a non-terrestrial network cell, and the ground device has a greater probability of camping on a terrestrial network cell. In this way, the communication quality of the UAV UE and the interference which can be caused to ground communication can be improved.

[0111] In one specific embodiment, the reference indicators can include device type and service requirement, and the UE can select the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration to perform cell reselection according to its own device type and service requirement of the service currently being conducted.

[0112] Specifically, S102 can include the steps of: in response to the device type being a UAV UE and the service requirement being low in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; and in response to the device type being a UAV UE and the service requirement being high in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

[0113] Further, the high or low of the latency requirement of the service requirement is related to the altitude of the satellite, and the specific boundary value of the high or low can be adjusted according to actual conditions in actual application. Taking the low-altitude platform closest to the ground as an example, if the latency requirement is lower than 3 milliseconds (ms) and is considered to be high in latency requirement, the UAV UE needs to perform cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

[0114] For example, assuming that the UAV UE and the ground device both receive configuration information including the first cell reselection priority (with a value of 0) and the first Qoffset of frequency point 1, and the first cell reselection priority (with a value of 3) and the first Qoffset of frequency point 2, and assuming that the cells on frequency point 1 include non-terrestrial network cells and the cells on frequency point 2 are all terrestrial network cells. Then, when the UE is a UAV UE and the current service is low in latency requirement, the cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 can be adjusted to a value higher than the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (for example, to 5), the second Qoffset is calculated based on the first Qoffset, and the cell reselection is performed using the second cell reselection priority (with a value of 5) and the second Qoffset of frequency point 1, and the first cell reselection priority (with a value of 3) and the first Qoffset of frequency point 2. If the UE is a UAV UE but the current service is high in latency requirement, the cell reselection is still performed using the first cell reselection priority (with a value of 0) and the first Qoffset of frequency point 1, and the first cell reselection priority (with a value of 3) and the first Qoffset of frequency point 2.

[0115] Further, for the ground device, the service requirement can not be considered, and the first parameter configuration is preferably selected to perform cell reselection.

[0116] Thus, the UE selects an access mode or an access node according to its device type and service requirement, and different device types and service requirements of the UE can select different parameter configurations for cell reselection on the same frequency point, so as to ensure that the UE has a greater probability of camping on a cell more suitable for its device type. For example, a UAV UE and a low latency requirement have a greater probability of camping on a non-terrestrial network cell. Thus, part of the UAV UE can be diverted to camp on a non-terrestrial network cell, and a UAV UE with a high latency requirement can camp on a terrestrial network cell, which can ensure the communication quality of the UAV UE and reduce the interference that the UAV UE can cause to ground communication.

[0117] In a variant, the ground device can also select the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration for cell reselection according to the service requirement. For example, when the service currently performed by the ground device has a low latency requirement, the ground device can select the second parameter configuration to preferentially camp on a non-terrestrial network cell as much as possible. This is beneficial to reduce the load of the terrestrial network cell.

[0118] In a specific embodiment, the reference index can include the service requirement, that is, any UE selects the first parameter configuration to preferentially camp on a terrestrial network cell when the current service has a high latency requirement (i.e., a high latency requirement), and selects the second parameter configuration to preferentially camp on a non-terrestrial network cell when the current service has a low latency requirement.

[0119] Specifically, S102 can include the steps of: in response to the service requirement having a low latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; and in response to the service requirement having a high latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

[0120] For example, assuming that the UAV UE and the ground device both receive configuration information including a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (with a value of 0) and a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (with a value of 3), and assuming that the cells on frequency point 1 include a non-terrestrial network cell and the cells on frequency point 2 are all terrestrial network cells. When the service (such as a perception service) currently performed by the ground device has a high latency requirement, the ground device can adjust the cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 to a value higher than the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (for example, to 5), and perform cell reselection using the second cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (with a value of 5) and the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (with a value of 3). If the service (such as a call service) currently performed by the UAV UE has a low latency requirement, the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (with a value of 0) and the first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (with a value of 3) are still used for cell reselection.

[0121] Thus, the UE selects an access mode or an access node according to service requirements, and different UEs with different service requirements can select different parameter configurations for cell reselection for the same frequency point, ensuring that the UE has a greater probability of camping on a cell that is more suitable for the current service requirement. For example, a UE that is not sensitive to latency has a greater probability of camping on a non-terrestrial network cell, and a UE that is sensitive to latency has a greater probability of camping on a terrestrial network cell. Thus, different UEs with different service requirements can be reasonably distributed, and the communication pressure of the terrestrial network and the non-terrestrial network can be alleviated.

[0122] FIG. 5 is a signaling interaction diagram of a cell reselection method according to a second embodiment of the present application.

[0123] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to an enhanced NTN scenario supporting UAV UEs.

[0124] The difference between the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is that in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the configuration information is used to configure the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration. That is, in the present embodiment, the network device configures multiple sets (for example, two sets) of parameter configurations for a single frequency point, so that the UE selects a suitable parameter configuration for cell reselection according to its device type and / or service requirement. By configuring multiple sets of parameter configurations for the same frequency point on the network device side, the UE side can directly obtain any set of parameter configurations required for use based on the configuration information, which is beneficial to reduce the implementation complexity of the UE side and reduce the power consumption of the UE.

[0125] In specific implementations, the actions performed by the UE in the cell reselection method provided by the following steps (referred to as S) 201 to S2202 can be performed by a chip with a cell reselection function in the UE, or by a baseband chip in the UE. The actions performed by the network device can be performed by a chip with a cell reselection function in the network device, or by a baseband chip in the network device.

[0126] Specifically, referring to FIG. 5, the cell reselection method described in the present embodiment can include the following steps:

[0127] S201, the network device sends configuration information to the UE. Correspondingly, the UE receives the configuration information. The configuration information is used to configure the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration.

[0128] More specifically, the first parameter configuration can include a first Qoffset and / or a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration can include a second Qoffset and / or a second cell reselection priority.

[0129] In some embodiments, each frequency point can correspond to a first parameter configuration and a second parameter configuration. For example, the configuration information includes 5 frequency points, and for each of the frequency points, a first parameter configuration and a second parameter configuration are configured to respectively correspond to a ground device and a UAV UE.

[0130] In some embodiments, for a frequency point including a non-terrestrial network cell, a first parameter configuration and a second parameter configuration can be configured; for a frequency point in which all cells are terrestrial network cells, a set of parameter configurations (i.e., a first parameter configuration) can be preferably configured. For example, the configuration information includes frequency point 1 and frequency point 2, in which the cells on frequency point 1 include a non-terrestrial network cell, and the cells on frequency point 2 are all terrestrial network cells, the configuration information can include a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (with a value of 0), a first Qoffset of frequency point 1, a second cell reselection priority of frequency point 1 (with a value of 6), a second Qoffset of frequency point 1, a first cell reselection priority of frequency point 2 (with a value of 3), and a first Qoffset of frequency point 2.

[0131] In one specific embodiment, the configuration information can include a first Qoffset and the second Qoffset of the same frequency point, and the first Qoffset > the second Qoffset. For example, another set of Qoffset parameter configurations for non-terrestrial network cells can be introduced in a SIB3 message (a SIB message for providing information of intra-frequency neighbor cells). Further, the first Qoffset and the second Qoffset can be associated under the same physCellId so as to be determined by the UE to correspond to the same neighbor cell.

[0132] In one specific embodiment, the configuration information can include a first Qoffset, a first cell reselection priority, and a second cell reselection priority of the same frequency point, and the UE calculates a second Qoffset of the frequency point according to the first Qoffset. For example, the SIB3 message can remain unchanged, and still use the prior art with only one set of parameter configurations, and another set of cell reselection priority parameter configurations (i.e., a second cell reselection priority) for non-terrestrial network cells can be introduced in a SIB4 message (a SIB message for providing information of inter-frequency neighbor cells). Further, the first cell reselection priority and the second cell reselection priority of the same frequency point can be associated under one dl-CarrierFreq. Similarly, another set of cell reselection priority parameter configurations (i.e., a second cell reselection priority) for non-terrestrial network cells can also be introduced in a SIB5 message (a SIB message for providing information of inter-system neighbor cells). Thus, without changing the signaling structure of SIB3, the signaling structure of SIB4 and / or SIB5 is preferably adjusted, and the UE adjusts the Qoffset according to its own device type and / or service demand. This is advantageous to reduce the implementation complexity on the network side.

[0133] In some embodiments, S102 can specifically include: the network device sends first information, and correspondingly, the UE receives the first information, the first information including the first Qoffset; the network device sends second information, and correspondingly, the UE receives the second information, the second information including a first offset value, the second Qoffset being determined based on the first Qoffset and the first offset value. The first information may, for example, be SIB3, and the second information may be dedicated signaling. The UE subtracts the first offset value from the first Qoffset to obtain the second Qoffset.

[0134] In one specific embodiment, the frequency points can include a first frequency point and a second frequency point, wherein the cells on the first frequency point include non-terrestrial network cells, and the cells on the second frequency point are all terrestrial network cells. The parameter configuration of the configuration information in S201 satisfies at least one of the following conditions: the second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is higher than the second cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point; the first cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is lower than the first cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point.

[0135] For example, the second cell reselection priority in the configuration information can be based on the parameter

[0136] The first cell reselection priority is based on the parameter cellreselectionpriority. Assuming that the received configuration information includes: the first frequency point (denoted as frequency point 1) cellreselectionpriority = 0, cellreselectionpriorityUAV = 5; the second frequency point (denoted as frequency point 2) cellreselectionpriority = 3, cellreselectionpriorityUAV = 2. In response to receiving the configuration information, the ground device determines to perform cell reselection according to the priority order of frequency point 2 > frequency point 1 based on cellreselectionpriority, and the UAV UE determines to perform cell reselection according to the priority order of frequency point 1 > frequency point 2 based on cellreselectionpriorityUAV.

[0137] Thus, different cell reselection priorities are set for UEs of different device types and / or service requirements. For example, for a UAV UE, the cell reselection priority of the first frequency point associated with non-terrestrial network cells is higher than the cell reselection priority of the second frequency point associated only with terrestrial network cells, and when performing inter-frequency neighbor cell reselection, the UAV UE has a greater probability of camping on a non-terrestrial network cell by additionally configuring the second cell reselection priority for the UAV UE.

[0138] In some embodiments, the frequency points can further include a third frequency point, the number of non-terrestrial network cells on the third frequency point is greater than the number of non-terrestrial network cells on the first frequency point, and the second cell reselection priority associated with the third frequency point can be higher than the second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point. For example, the configuration information can include the first cell reselection priority (with a value of 0) and the second cell reselection priority (with a value of 7) of the frequency point 1 (with 3 non-terrestrial network cells), the first cell reselection priority (with a value of 1) and the second cell reselection priority (with a value of 5) of the frequency point 2 (with 1 non-terrestrial network cell), and the first cell reselection priority (with a value of 6) and the second cell reselection priority (with a value of 2) of the frequency point 3 (with 0 non-terrestrial network cell). Accordingly, the UAV UE can perform cell reselection according to the priority order of frequency point 1 > frequency point 2 > frequency point 3.

[0139] In some embodiments, if the number of non-terrestrial network cells on the first frequency point and the third frequency point is the same, the second cell reselection priorities of the two frequency points can be equal.

[0140] Further, with reference to FIG. 5, the cell reselection method described in the present embodiment can further include the following steps:

[0141] S202, the UE performs cell reselection according to the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration using the reference index. The reference index can include the device type and / or the service demand.

[0142] The specific content of S202 can refer to the related description of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, which will not be repeated here.

[0143] From the above, according to the present embodiment, multiple sets (for example, two sets) of parameter configurations are allowed to exist for the same frequency point, different parameter configurations are suitable for causing the UE to camp on or reselect to different types of cells (such as terrestrial network cells or non-terrestrial network cells) with a higher probability, at least one set of parameter configurations (such as the first parameter configuration) is configured in the configuration information sent by the network device to the UE, the UE determines multiple sets of parameter configurations (such as the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration) according to the configuration information, and selects a suitable parameter configuration for cell reselection according to the reference index (such as the device type of itself and / or the service demand of the service currently being performed). Thus, in the NTN scenario supporting the UAV UE, the UAV UE can have a higher probability of camping on or reselecting to the non-terrestrial network cell by selecting a suitable parameter configuration.

[0144] FIG. 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a cell reselection device (denoted as cell reselection device 3) according to a third embodiment of the present application. Those skilled in the art understand that the cell reselection device 3 described in the present embodiment can be used to implement the method described in the above embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. The cell reselection device 3 can be the UE described above.

[0145] In particular, with reference to Figure 6, the cell reselection apparatus 3 can comprise: a receiving module 31 configured to receive configuration information, the configuration information being configured to configure a first parameter configuration; a processing module 32 configured to perform cell reselection using the first parameter configuration or a second parameter configuration according to a reference index, the reference index comprising a device type and / or a service requirement, the second parameter configuration being associated with a same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, a probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell based on the second parameter configuration being higher than a probability of reselecting to a non-terrestrial network cell based on the first parameter configuration.

[0146] In one non-limiting embodiment, for any of the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration, the parameter configuration is selected from at least one of: a quality offset of a neighbor cell when performing cell reselection, Qoffset, and a cell reselection priority.

[0147] In one non-limiting embodiment, the configuration information is further configured to configure the second parameter configuration.

[0148] In one non-limiting embodiment, the first parameter configuration comprises a first Qoffset, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second Qoffset, wherein the first Qoffset > the second Qoffset.

[0149] In one non-limiting embodiment, the configuration information comprises the first Qoffset and the second Qoffset.

[0150] In one non-limiting embodiment, the receiving module 31 comprises: a first receiving unit configured to receive first information, the first information comprising the first Qoffset; and a second receiving unit configured to receive second information, the second information comprising a first offset value, the second Qoffset being determined based on the first Qoffset and the first offset value.

[0151] In one non-limiting embodiment, the first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, the frequency point comprises a first frequency point and a second frequency point, cells on the first frequency point comprise non-terrestrial network cells, and cells on the second frequency point all comprise terrestrial network cells, the parameter configuration in the configuration information satisfying at least one of: the second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is higher than the second cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point; and the first cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is lower than the first cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point.

[0152] In a non-limiting embodiment, the frequency points further comprise a third frequency point, a number of non-terrestrial network cells on the third frequency point is greater than a number of non-terrestrial network cells on the first frequency point, and a second cell reselection priority associated with the third frequency point is higher than a second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point.

[0153] In a non-limiting embodiment, the second parameter configuration is adjusted based on the first parameter configuration.

[0154] In a non-limiting embodiment, the first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, and the second cell reselection priority is adjusted to a highest value based on the first cell reselection priority.

[0155] In a non-limiting embodiment, the first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, the frequency points comprise a first frequency point and a second frequency point, cells on the first frequency point comprise non-terrestrial network cells, and cells on the second frequency point are all terrestrial network cells, the second cell reselection priority of the first frequency point is adjusted to be higher than the first cell reselection priority of the second frequency point based on the first cell reselection priority of the first frequency point.

[0156] In a non-limiting embodiment, the processing module 32 comprises: a first processing unit configured to perform cell reselection using the second parameter configuration in response to the device type being a drone device; and a second processing unit configured to perform cell reselection using the first parameter configuration in response to the device type being a ground device.

[0157] In a non-limiting embodiment, the processing module 32 comprises: a third processing unit configured to perform cell reselection using the second parameter configuration in response to the device type being a drone device and the service requirement being low latency; and a fourth processing unit configured to perform cell reselection using the first parameter configuration in response to the device type being a drone device and the service requirement being high latency.

[0158] In a non-limiting embodiment, the processing module 32 comprises: a fifth processing unit configured to perform cell reselection using the second parameter configuration in response to the service requirement being low latency; and a sixth processing unit configured to perform cell reselection using the first parameter configuration in response to the service requirement being high latency.

[0159] For more details about the working principle and working mode of the cell reselection apparatus 3, please refer to the relevant description in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0160] In a particular implementation, the cell reselection apparatus 3 can correspond to a chip with a cell reselection function in the UE, or a chip with a data processing function, such as a System-On-a-Chip (SOC), a baseband chip, or the like; or a chip module including a chip with a cell reselection function in the UE; or a chip module with a cell reselection function, or the UE.

[0161] FIG. 7 is a structural diagram of a cell reselection apparatus (denoted as cell reselection apparatus 4) according to a fourth embodiment of the present application. It is understood by those skilled in the art that the cell reselection apparatus 4 described in the embodiment can be used to implement the method described in the embodiments of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. The cell reselection apparatus 4 can be the network device described above.

[0162] Specifically, referring to FIG. 7, the cell reselection apparatus 4 can include a sending module 41 configured to send configuration information, the configuration information being used to configure a first parameter configuration.

[0163] In one non-limiting embodiment, the configuration information is further used to configure a second parameter configuration, the second parameter configuration being associated with a same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, and the non-terrestrial network cell camping probability corresponding to the second parameter configuration being higher than the non-terrestrial network cell camping probability corresponding to the first parameter configuration.

[0164] In one non-limiting embodiment, for any one of the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration, the parameter configuration is selected from at least one of the following: a quality offset Qoffset of a neighboring cell when performing cell reselection, and a cell reselection priority.

[0165] In one non-limiting embodiment, the first parameter configuration includes a first quality offset Qoffset, and the second parameter configuration includes a second Qoffset, where the first Qoffset > the second Qoffset.

[0166] In one non-limiting embodiment, the configuration information includes the first Qoffset and the second Qoffset.

[0167] In one non-limiting embodiment, the sending module 41 includes a first sending unit configured to send first information, the first information including the first Qoffset, and a second sending unit configured to send second information, the second information including a first offset value, the second Qoffset being determined based on the first Qoffset and the first offset value.

[0168] In a non-limiting embodiment, the first parameter configuration includes a first cell reselection priority, the second parameter configuration includes a second cell reselection priority, the frequency points include a first frequency point and a second frequency point, the cells on the first frequency point include non-terrestrial network cells, the cells on the second frequency point are all terrestrial network cells, and the parameter configurations in the configuration information satisfy at least one of the following conditions: the second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is higher than the second cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point; or the first cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is lower than the first cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point.

[0169] For more details about the working principle and working mode of the cell reselection apparatus 4, refer to the relevant description in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0170] In a specific implementation, the cell reselection apparatus 4 described above can correspond to a chip with a cell reselection function in a network device, or a chip with a data processing function, such as a System-On-a-Chip (SOC), a baseband chip, etc.; or a chip module including a chip with a cell reselection function in a network device; or a chip module with a cell reselection function, or a network device.

[0171] In a specific implementation, each module / unit contained in each apparatus / product described in the above embodiments can be a software module / unit, or a hardware module / unit, or part of a software module / unit and part of a hardware module / unit.

[0172] For example, for each device, product applied to or integrated into a chip, each module / unit contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as a circuit, or at least part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program running on a processor integrated in the chip, and the remaining (if any) part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as a circuit; for each device, product applied to or integrated into a chip module, each module / unit contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as a circuit, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (for example, a chip, a circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program running on a processor integrated in the chip module, and the remaining (if any) part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as a circuit; for each device, product applied to or integrated into a terminal, each module / unit contained therein can be implemented in the form of hardware such as a circuit, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (for example, a chip, a circuit module, etc.) or different components of the terminal, or at least part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of a software program running on a processor integrated in the terminal, and the remaining (if any) part of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as a circuit.

[0173] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, which is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transitory storage medium, and has a computer program stored thereon, and the computer program is run by a processor to make the steps of the cell reselection method provided by the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 be executed.

[0174] In the embodiment of the present application, the storage medium can include a non-volatile memory or a non-transitory memory, and can also include an optical disc, a mechanical hard disk, a solid state disk, etc.

[0175] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes computer programs / instructions, and the computer programs / instructions are executed by a processor to implement the steps of the cell reselection method described in the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

[0176] FIG. 8 is a structural schematic diagram of another cell reselection device provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0177] In particular, referring to FIG. 8, the cell reselection apparatus can include a processor 61, the processor 61 and a memory 62 are coupled, the memory 62 can be located in the apparatus or outside the apparatus. Optionally, a transceiver 63 is further included. The memory 62, the processor 61 and the transceiver 63 can be connected through a communication bus. The memory 62 stores a computer program which can run on the processor 61, and the processor 61 executes the steps of the cell reselection method provided by the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 when running the computer program. The transceiver 63 can perform the sending and / or receiving actions in the above under the control of the processor 61. The cell reselection apparatus can be the network device or the UE.

[0178] In the embodiments of the present application, the memory 62 includes a non-volatile memory or a non-transitory memory, and can also include an optical disk, a mechanical hard disk, a solid-state disk, etc.

[0179] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor 61 can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor.

[0180] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps of the various methods of the above embodiments can be completed by programs instructing relevant hardware, and the programs can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, which can include ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks, etc.

[0181] The embodiments herein are described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, apparatuses (devices) and computer program products according to the embodiments herein. It is understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and / or blocks in the flowcharts 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 the flowcharts and / or block diagrams one or more flows and / or one or more blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams.

[0182] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the function specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams one or more flows and / or one or more blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams.

[0183] These computer program instructions can 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 executed on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams one or more flows and / or one or more blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams.

[0184] It is also necessary to note that in the embodiments herein, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone. Wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" and the like expressions mean any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, wherein a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0185] In the embodiments of the present application, the terms "comprising", "containing" or any other similar words are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, so that the process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or further includes the elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without more limitations, the element defined by the phrase "comprising a" does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0186] The present application can be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The present application can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communication network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

[0187] The various embodiments in the present application are described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the difference from other embodiments. In particular, for the device embodiments, since they are basically similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the part of the method embodiments.

[0188] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software and a combination of electronic hardware and computer software. Whether the functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0189] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described devices, apparatuses and units can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0190] Although the present application is disclosed as above, the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can make various modifications and changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application, and therefore the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A cell reselection method, characterized by, Comprising: receiving configuration information, the configuration information being used for configuring a first parameter configuration; performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration or a second parameter configuration according to a reference index, the reference index comprising a device type and / or a service requirement, the second parameter configuration being associated with a same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, a non-terrestrial network cell camping probability corresponding to the second parameter configuration being higher than a non-terrestrial network cell camping probability corresponding to the first parameter configuration.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, For any one of the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration, the parameter configuration is selected from at least one of the following: a quality offset Qoffset of a neighboring cell when performing cell reselection, and a cell reselection priority.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The configuration information is further used for configuring the second parameter configuration.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first parameter configuration comprises a first Qoffset, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second Qoffset, wherein the first Qoffset>the second Qoffset.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The configuration information comprises the first Qoffset and the second Qoffset. Or The receiving configuration information comprises: receiving first information, the first information comprising the first Qoffset; receiving second information, the second information comprising a first offset value, the second Qoffset being determined based on the first Qoffset and the first offset value.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, the frequency point comprises a first frequency point and a second frequency point, cells on the first frequency point comprise non-terrestrial network cells, and cells on the second frequency point all are terrestrial network cells, the parameter configuration in the configuration information satisfying at least one of the following conditions: The second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is higher than the second cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point. The first cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is lower than the first cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The frequency point further comprises a third frequency point, a number of non-terrestrial network cells on the third frequency point is greater than a number of non-terrestrial network cells on the first frequency point, and the second cell reselection priority associated with the third frequency point is higher than the second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point.

8. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The second parameter configuration is obtained based on adjustment of the first parameter configuration.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, the second cell reselection priority being obtained based on adjustment of the first cell reselection priority to a highest value.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, the frequency point comprises a first frequency point and a second frequency point, cells on the first frequency point comprise non-terrestrial network cells, and cells on the second frequency point all are terrestrial network cells, the second cell reselection priority of the first frequency point being obtained based on adjustment of the first cell reselection priority of the first frequency point to be higher than the first cell reselection priority of the second frequency point.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The performing cell reselection according to the reference index using the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration comprises: in response to the device type being a UAV device, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; in response to the device type being a ground device, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The performing cell reselection according to the reference index using the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration comprises: in response to the device type being a UAV device and the service requirement being low in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; in response to the device type being a UAV device and the service requirement being high in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The performing cell reselection according to the reference index using the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration comprises: in response to the service requirement being low in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the second parameter configuration; in response to the service requirement being high in latency requirement, performing cell reselection using the first parameter configuration.

14. A cell reselection method, characterized by, comprises: sending configuration information, the configuration information being used for configuring a first parameter configuration.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The configuration information is also used for configuring a second parameter configuration, the second parameter configuration being associated with a same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, and a non-terrestrial network cell camping probability corresponding to the second parameter configuration being higher than a non-terrestrial network cell camping probability corresponding to the first parameter configuration.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, For any one of the first parameter configuration and the second parameter configuration, the parameter configuration is selected from at least one of the following: a quality offset Qoffset of a neighboring cell when performing cell reselection and a cell reselection priority.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The first parameter configuration comprises a first quality offset Qoffset, and the second parameter configuration comprises a second Qoffset, wherein the first Qoffset>the second Qoffset.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The configuration information comprises the first Qoffset and the second Qoffset. Or The sending of the configuration information comprises: sending first information, the first information comprising the first Qoffset; sending second information, the second information comprising a first offset value, and the second Qoffset being determined based on the first Qoffset and the first offset value.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that, The first parameter configuration comprises a first cell reselection priority, the second parameter configuration comprises a second cell reselection priority, the frequency point comprises a first frequency point and a second frequency point, a cell on the first frequency point comprises a non-terrestrial network cell, and cells on the second frequency point all are terrestrial network cells, and the parameter configuration in the configuration information satisfies at least one of the following conditions: a second cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is higher than a second cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point; a first cell reselection priority associated with the first frequency point is lower than a first cell reselection priority associated with the second frequency point.

20. A cell reselection apparatus, comprising: comprises: a receiving module, configured to receive configuration information, the configuration information being used for configuring a first parameter configuration; The processing module is configured to perform cell reselection according to a reference index using the first parameter configuration or the second parameter configuration, the reference index comprising a device type and / or a service requirement, the second parameter configuration being associated with the same frequency point as the first parameter configuration, and a non-terrestrial network cell residence probability corresponding to the second parameter configuration being higher than a non-terrestrial network cell residence probability corresponding to the first parameter configuration.

21. A cell reselection apparatus, comprising: The method comprises: The sending module is configured to send configuration information, the configuration information being used to configure the first parameter configuration.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, which is a non-volatile storage medium or a non-transitory storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, characterized by The computer program, when executed by a computer, performs the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.

23. A cell reselection apparatus comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having stored thereon a computer program executable by the processor, the computer program comprising the steps of: The processor, when executing the computer program, performs the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.

24. A computer program product comprising computer programs / instructions, characterized in that, The computer program / instructions, when executed by a computer, implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 19.

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