Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which are used for realizing the interaction, between a plurality of base stations, of measurement data of a terminal device, thereby improving communication performance. The communication method comprises: a first network device receiving first indication information from a second network device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating components of first measurement data and / or the granularity of the first measurement data, the components of the first measurement data include at least one communication segment in a communication channel between a first terminal device and the first network device, and the first network device is a target network device in a handover process of the first terminal device; and on the basis of the first indication information, the first network device sending the first measurement data to the second network device, wherein the second network device is a source network device in the handover process of the first terminal device.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202411359445.9, filed on September 26, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the field of mobile communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] In a wireless communication scenario, due to the movement of terminal devices, the influence of wireless channels by environmental changes and other factors, the communication service guarantee between multiple base stations becomes the most direct response means. Specifically, among the many service base stations, a terminal device will perform handover and reselection according to certain rules to meet the terminal device communication service quality, base station load balancing and network energy saving and other needs. The foregoing operations are collectively referred to as terminal device mobility management. The purpose of terminal device mobility management is to enable both user experience and network system efficiency to be satisfied, and to make adaptive adjustments according to changing user behavior and wireless communication environment.

[0005] In order to improve the accuracy of terminal device mobility management, the source base station needs to obtain measurement data from the target base station for subsequent decision-making in the mobility management process. How to realize the interaction of the measurement data of the terminal device between multiple base stations is a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus to realize the interaction of the measurement data of the terminal device between multiple base stations, thereby improving the communication performance.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a first network device, or a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, a functional module or other) in the first network device, or a software module. The method can include: receiving, by the first network device, first indication information from a second network device, the first indication information being used to indicate a component part of first measurement data and / or a granularity of the first measurement data, the component part of the first measurement data including at least one communication segment in a communication channel between a first terminal device and the first network device, the first network device being a target network device in a handover process of the first terminal device; and sending, by the first network device, the first measurement data to the second network device based on the first indication information, the second network device being a source network device in the handover process of the first terminal device.

[0008] By adopting the communication method, the first network device can send the first measurement data to the second network device, and the granularity of the measurement data is the measurement data collected according to the component and / or the measurement data collected according to the granularity, the accuracy of the first measurement data is higher, and the first measurement data can be used for subsequent decision-making in the mobility management process, thereby improving the communication performance. In addition, the second network device can determine the first indication information based on the decision-making requirement in the subsequent mobility management process, so that the first measurement data can better serve the decision-making in the subsequent mobility management process, thereby improving the communication accuracy.

[0009] In a possible embodiment, the granularity of the first measurement data can include at least one of the following: QoS flow granularity, DRB granularity, network slice granularity, and terminal device granularity.

[0010] In this way, the granularity of the first measurement data can be any one or more of the QoS flow granularity, the DRB granularity, the network slice granularity, and the terminal device granularity, that is, the first network device can feed back the measurement data of the QoS flow granularity, the measurement data of the DRB granularity, the measurement data of the network slice granularity, or the measurement data of the terminal device granularity to the second network device. The first measurement data can reflect the communication efficiency under different granularities, can improve the accuracy of the subsequent decision-making in the mobility management process, and thereby improve the communication performance.

[0011] In a possible embodiment, the first network device includes a CU and a DU, or the first network device is a CU or a CP network element in the CU in a distributed network device, and the distributed network device further includes a DU. The at least one communication segment can include at least one of the following: a first uplink communication segment, which is a stage of processing uplink data by the first terminal device; a second uplink communication segment, which is a stage of transmitting uplink data between the first terminal device and the DU; a third uplink communication segment, which is a stage of processing uplink data by the DU; a fourth uplink communication segment, which is a stage of transmitting uplink data between the DU and the CU; a fifth uplink communication segment, which is a stage of processing uplink data by the CU; a first downlink communication segment, which is a stage of transmitting downlink data between the first terminal device and the DU; a second downlink communication segment, which is a stage of processing downlink data by the DU; a third downlink communication segment, which is a stage of transmitting downlink data between the DU and the CU; and a fourth downlink communication segment, which is a stage of processing downlink data by the CU.

[0012] In this way, the component of the first measurement data can be the measurement data of the at least one communication section, the first measurement data can reflect the communication efficiency in different communication sections, so that the second network device can clearly know the communication efficiency of different communication sections, and the accuracy of the decision in the subsequent mobility management process can be improved, thereby improving the communication performance.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the first network device is a CU or a CP network element in the CU in the distributed network device, and the distributed network device further includes a DU; when the at least one communication section includes a specified communication section, the first network device can further receive second measurement data from the DU, the second measurement data is measurement data corresponding to the specified communication section, and the second measurement data is included in the first measurement data; and the specified communication section includes at least one of the following: the second uplink communication section, the third uplink communication section, the first downlink communication section, and the second downlink communication section.

[0014] In this way, the first network device can obtain the second measurement data corresponding to part of the communication sections through the DU, thereby reducing the process that the first network device obtains the measurement data collected by the DU through the CU-UP and then feeds back the measurement data to the CU-CP, that is, reducing the signaling interaction between the DU and the CU-UP and the signaling interaction between the CU-UP and the CU-CP, avoiding the waste of signaling resources, and improving the communication efficiency.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the first network device can further send second indication information to the DU, and the second indication information is used to indicate the measurement data corresponding to at least one specified communication section, and / or the granularity of the measurement data corresponding to the specified communication section.

[0016] In this way, the first network device can specify the specified communication section corresponding to the second measurement data through the second indication information, and can also specify the granularity of the measurement data corresponding to any specified communication section through the second indication information, thereby reducing unnecessary signaling interaction and improving the accuracy of communication.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the first network device can further send capability information to the second network device; and the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability of collecting measurement data according to the component, and / or the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability of collecting measurement data according to the granularity.

[0018] In this way, the first network device and the second network device can also reach a consensus on the capability of the first network device to collect measurement data, thereby reducing unnecessary signaling overhead in the interaction process of the measurement data.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the capability information can include a candidate component, the candidate component including at least one candidate communication segment, and the at least one candidate communication segment including at least one communication segment; and / or, the capability information can include at least one candidate granularity, and the at least one candidate granularity including a granularity of the first measurement data.

[0020] In this way, the first network device and the second network device can also reach a consensus on the component and granularity levels of the capability of the first network device to collect the measurement data, further reducing unnecessary signaling overhead in the interaction of the measurement data.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the first network device can also receive a capability request from the second network device, the capability request being used to request the capability of the first network device to collect the measurement data.

[0022] In this way, the first network device can also receive the capability request from the second network device, thereby feeding back the capability of the first network device to collect the measurement data to the second network device.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the process in which the foregoing first network device sends the first measurement data to the second network device based on the first indication information can include: the first network device collects the first measurement data based on the first indication information; and the first network device sends the first measurement data to the second network device.

[0024] In this way, the first network device can collect the first measurement data based on the first indication information, thereby feeding back the collected first measurement data to the second network device, and improving the accuracy of data collection.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the first measurement data can be used to optimize an AI model, and the AI model can be used to perform a mobility decision of the first terminal device.

[0026] In this way, the AI model corresponding to the second network device can explicitly understand the performance of the first terminal device after performing base station switching through the first measurement data, which helps to enhance prediction, resource management, and node selection, and the like.

[0027] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a second network device, or a component (such as a processor, a chip, a chip system, a circuit, a functional module, or the like) in the second network device, or a software module. The method can include: sending, by the second network device, first indication information to a first network device, the first indication information being used to indicate a component part of first measurement data and / or a granularity of the first measurement data, the component part of the first measurement data including at least one communication segment in a communication channel between the first network device and a first terminal device, the first network device being a target network device in a handover process of the first terminal device; and receiving, by the second network device, the first measurement data from the first network device, the second network device being a source network device in the handover process of the first terminal device.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the granularity of the first measurement data can include at least one of the following: QoS flow granularity, DRB granularity, network slice granularity, and terminal device granularity.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the first network device includes a CU and a DU, or the first network device is a CU or a CP network element in the CU in a distributed network device, the distributed network device further including a DU; and the at least one communication segment can include at least one of the following: a first uplink communication segment, the first uplink communication segment being a stage in which the first terminal device processes uplink data; a second uplink communication segment, the second uplink communication segment being a stage in which the first terminal device transmits the uplink data to the DU; a third uplink communication segment, the third uplink communication segment being a stage in which the DU processes the uplink data; a fourth uplink communication segment, the fourth uplink communication segment being a stage in which the DU transmits the uplink data to the CU; a fifth uplink communication segment, the fifth uplink communication segment being a stage in which the CU processes the uplink data; a first downlink communication segment, the first downlink communication segment being a stage in which the first terminal device transmits downlink data to the DU; a second downlink communication segment, the second downlink communication segment being a stage in which the DU processes the downlink data; a third downlink communication segment, the third downlink communication segment being a stage in which the DU transmits the downlink data to the CU; and a fourth downlink communication segment, the fourth downlink communication segment being a stage in which the CU processes the downlink data.

[0030] In a possible implementation, the second network device can further receive capability information from the first network device; the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability to collect the measurement data according to the component part, and / or the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability to collect the measurement data according to the granularity.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the capability information can include a candidate component, the candidate component including at least one candidate communication segment, the at least one candidate communication segment including at least one communication segment; and / or, the capability information including at least one candidate granularity, the at least one candidate granularity including a granularity of the first measurement data.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the second network device can further send, to the first network device, a capability request, the capability request being used to request to obtain a capability of collecting measurement data by the first network device.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the first measurement data is used to optimize an AI model, the AI model being used to perform a mobility decision of the first terminal device.

[0034] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus. The apparatus can implement the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the second aspect. The apparatus has the function of the first network device or the second network device.

[0035] In an alternative implementation, the apparatus can include a module or unit or means corresponding to each of the method / operation / step / action described in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the second aspect, which can be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuit and software. In an alternative implementation, the apparatus includes a processing module (sometimes also referred to as a processing unit) and a communication module (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module, a communication unit, etc.). The communication module can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the communication module implements the sending function, it can be referred to as a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module). When the communication module implements the receiving function, it can be referred to as a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is referred to as the communication module, and the functional module can implement the sending function and the receiving function. Alternatively, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the communication module is a general term for these functional modules.

[0036] For example, when the apparatus is used to implement the method described in any of the first aspect to the second aspect, the apparatus can include a processing module and a communication module.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus, including a processor configured to execute a computer program (or computer executable instruction) stored in a memory, when the computer program (or computer executable instruction) is executed, causing the apparatus to perform the method described in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the processor and the memory are integrated together.

[0039] In another possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication apparatus.

[0040] The communication apparatus further includes a communication interface, which is configured to enable the communication apparatus to communicate with other devices, for example, to send or receive data and / or signals. For example, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module or other types of communication interfaces.

[0041] In a fifth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which is configured to store a computer program or instructions, which, when executed, cause the method in any possible implementation of any one of the first aspect to the second aspect and any possible implementation of the method to be implemented.

[0042] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method in any possible implementation of any one of the first aspect to the second aspect to be implemented.

[0043] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus, which is configured to perform the method in any possible implementation of any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0044] In an eighth aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes a logic circuit (or it is understood that the chip system includes a processor, which can include a logic circuit and the like), and can further include an input / output interface. The input / output interface can be configured to input a message or output a message. The input / output interface can be the same interface, i.e., the same interface can implement the sending function and the receiving function; or the input / output interface includes an input interface and an output interface, the input interface is configured to implement the receiving function, i.e., to receive a message; and the output interface is configured to implement the sending function, i.e., to send a message. The logic circuit can be configured to perform operations other than the transceiving function in the method in any possible implementation of any one of the first aspect to the second aspect; and the logic circuit can be further configured to transmit a message to the input / output interface or receive a message from the input / output interface from other communication apparatuses. The chip system can be configured to implement the method in any possible implementation of any one of the first aspect to the second aspect. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0045] Optionally, the chip system can further include a memory, which can be configured to store instructions, and the logic circuit can invoke the instructions stored in the memory to implement corresponding functions.

[0046] In a ninth aspect, a communication system is provided, which can include a first network device and a second network device. The first network device can be configured to implement the method of the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the second network device can be configured to implement the method of the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0047] The technical effects brought by the second aspect to the ninth aspect can be referred to the description of the beneficial effects of the corresponding solutions in the first aspect, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0048] FIG. 1 is an example diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG. 3a is an example diagram of an interaction according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG. 3b is another example diagram of an interaction according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG. 4 is an example diagram of a communication according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG. 5 is another example diagram of a communication according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG. 6 is a structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG. 7 is a structural diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] For the convenience of those skilled in the art, some terms involved in the present application are explained as follows.

[0057] 1、The network device can also be referred to as an access node (AN), a radio access network (RAN) node, an access network device, etc. The network device can be a base station (BS), an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system or long term evolution-advanced (LTE-A), which can be referred to as an eNB or e-NodeB simply, a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, etc., and can also be a network device in an open RAN (ORAN) system, etc.

[0058] Optionally, the network device can also be a module or unit that completes part of the functions of a base station, for example, the network device can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete part of the functions of the physical layer or all the functions of the physical layer. In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU can also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, the CU can also be referred to as an O-CU, the DU can also be referred to as an open (O)-DU, the CU-CP can also be referred to as an O-CU-CP, the CU-UP can also be referred to as an O-CU-UP, and the RU can also be referred to as an O-RU.

[0059] Optionally, the CU and the DU can be placed in different places; for example, the DU is placed in a high-traffic area, and the CU is placed in a central machine room. Of course, the CU and the DU can also be placed in the same machine room. In addition, the CU and the DU can also be different components under one rack.

[0060] Exemplarily, the network device can be a macro base station, or a micro base station (also referred to as a small station) or an indoor station, or a relay node or a donor node, etc. The network device can also be a radio network controller (RNC), a Node B (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (for example, a home evolved NodeB, or a home Node B, HNB), a base band unit (BBU) or a remote radio unit (RRU), or a wireless fidelity (Wifi) access point (AP), or a base band pool (BBU pool) and an RRU in a cloud radio access network (CRAN), etc.

[0061] Embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.

[0062] 2. The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, an extended reality (XR) device, a mixed reality (MR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, or a wireless terminal in a smart home, etc.

[0063] The terminal device can also be a device-to-device (D2D) terminal device, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication terminal device, a smart vehicle, a telematics box (TBOX), a machine-to-machine / machine-type communications (M2M / MTC) terminal device, or an internet of things (IoT) terminal device. For example, the terminal device can be a vehicle, a ship, or an aircraft, or a terminal-type road unit, or a communication module or chip built in a vehicle or a road unit. For example, the terminal device can be a vehicle-mounted module. The terminal device can also be a road side unit (RSU).

[0064] Embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

[0065] Based on the above description, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below. In the following embodiments, the operations performed by a certain device (or network element) can also be performed by a processor of the certain device (or network element), or a chip or chip system, or a functional module, etc. The present application only takes the certain device (or network element) as an example for description, but does not limit the present application.

[0066] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and device. Since the principles of the method and device for solving problems are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repeated parts will not be described again.

[0067] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " represents the meaning of or, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in the present application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B exist together, and B alone. In addition, in the description of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. In the description of the present application, "first", "second", etc. are only used for the purpose of distinguishing the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can it be understood as indicating or implying order.

[0068] In a wireless communication scenario, in order to improve the accuracy of mobility management of a terminal device, after the terminal device performs cell switching, a source base station can obtain measurement data from a target base station for subsequent decision-making in the mobility management process. For example, after the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the communication field, more and more research considers replacing or adding traditional communication modules with AI functions to realize more intelligent communication scheduling and decision-making; based on this, in the mobility management of the terminal device, in order to evaluate the performance of the AI model, optimize the AI model, or make online decisions through the AI model, the measurement data of the terminal device needs to be interacted between multiple base stations, so as to use the measurement data to guide the AI model to assist the subsequent decision-making of the base station and improve the communication performance. In the foregoing scenario embodiment, the base station is only an example of a network device, that is, the base station can be replaced by other network devices, which are not limited by the present application; for example, the source base station can be a source network device, and the target base station can be a target network device.

[0069] FIG. 1 is an example of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system includes base station #1 and base station #2; when the terminal device is at position 1, it can access base station #1, and base station #1 provides network services for the terminal device; when the terminal device moves from position 1 to position 2, the terminal device can switch from base station #1 to base station #2, and base station #2 provides network services for the terminal device. Based on this, base station #1 can be understood as a source base station in the switching process of the terminal device, and base station #2 can be understood as a target base station in the switching process of the terminal device.

[0070] Among them, base station #1 and / or base station #2 can adopt a split architecture; base station #1 can include CU-CP #1 (identified as gNB-CU #1 (CP) in the figure); base station #2 can include CU-CP #2 (identified as gNB-CU #2 (CP) in the figure), CU-UP #2 (identified as gNB-CU #2 (UP) in the figure) and DU (identified as gNB-DU in the figure).

[0071] As shown in FIG. 1, the base station (base station #1 or base station #2) can interact with the terminal device through the Uu interface; base station #1 and base station #2 can interact through the Xn interface. In base station #2, gNB-CU #2 (CP) and gNB-CU #2 (UP) can interact through the E1 interface, gNB-CU #2 (CP) and gNB-DU can interact through the F1-C interface, and gNB-CU #2 (UP) and gNB-DU can interact through the F1-U interface.

[0072] To realize the interaction of the measurement data of the terminal device among multiple base stations, and to improve the communication performance, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method is introduced below in combination with the flow shown in FIG. 2. The communication method can be implemented by a first network device and a second network device. According to the needs, the network device involved in the embodiment of the present application can be replaced by a base station, a chip or a sending unit in the base station, or other components, or other communication devices, sending units, or other execution subjects, for example: the first network device can be the base station #2 in FIG. 1, and the second network device can be the base station #1 in FIG. 1.

[0073] As shown in FIG. 2, the communication method can include the following S201, S202 and S203:

[0074] S201: The first network device receives first indication information from the second network device; correspondingly, the second network device receives the first indication information from the first network device. Wherein, the first network device is a target network device in the handover process of the first terminal device, and the second network device is a source network device in the handover process of the first terminal device.

[0075] Optionally, the first indication information is used to indicate the refinement category of the first measurement data. For example, the first indication information can be used to indicate the component of the first measurement data and / or the granularity of the first measurement data, and the component of the first measurement data includes at least one communication segment in the communication channel between the first terminal device and the first network device. In some examples, the first indication information can also be used to indicate other refinement categories in the existing protocol, which is not limited in the present application.

[0076] In the embodiment of the present application, the measurement data includes but is not limited to the delay data, the packet loss data and the throughput data. Taking the measurement data as the delay data as an example, the refinement category of the measurement data is discussed below. It should be understood that when the measurement data includes other data in addition to the delay data, it can be analogized, and the present application does not expand specifically.

[0077] In some examples, the refinement of the measurement data is divided based on different communication stages of the uplink / downlink data communication; at this time, the first measurement data can correspond to at least one communication segment (i.e. component).

[0078] As shown in FIG. 3a, the distributed network device includes a CU and a DU; the CU can include a CU-CP and a CU-UP. The first network device in the present application can be the aforementioned distributed network device, or the first network device can be the aforementioned CU or CU-UP. The uplink communication process between the terminal device and the distributed network device includes multiple uplink stages (or intervals), each uplink stage corresponds to a different identifier; wherein the multiple uplink stages can include at least one of the following (not limited to the order):

[0079] a stage of processing the uplink data by the terminal device, which is identified as D1.a;

[0080] a stage of transmitting the uplink data by the terminal device to the DU through a Uu interface, which is identified as D2.1;

[0081] a stage of processing the uplink data by the DU, which is identified as D2.2;

[0082] a stage of transmitting the uplink data by the DU to the CU-UP through an F1-U interface, which is identified as D2.3;

[0083] a stage of processing the uplink data by the CU-UP, which is identified as D2.4.

[0084] Based on the different processing stages in the foregoing uplink communication process, the uplink latency data can include uplink latency data corresponding to D1.a, uplink latency data corresponding to D2.1, uplink latency data corresponding to D2.2, uplink latency data corresponding to D2.3, and uplink latency data corresponding to D2.4.

[0085] Optionally, the terminal device, the DU, and the CU-UP respectively measure and count uplink latency data of different stages. For example, as shown in Table 1, the terminal device can count uplink latency data corresponding to D1.a; the DU can count uplink latency data corresponding to D2.1 and uplink latency data corresponding to D2.2; and the CU-UP can count uplink latency data corresponding to D2.3 and uplink latency data corresponding to D2.4.

[0086] Table 1

[0087] As shown in FIG. 3b, the distributed network device includes a CU and a DU; the CU can include a CU-CP and a CU-UP. The first network device in the present application can be the foregoing distributed network device, or the first network device can be the foregoing CU or CU-UP. A downlink communication process between the terminal device and the distributed network device includes a plurality of downlink stages (or intervals), each of which corresponds to a different identifier; wherein the plurality of downlink stages can include at least one of the following (without limitation to the order):

[0088] a stage of transmitting downlink data between the terminal device and the DU, which is identified as D1.b;

[0089] a stage of processing the downlink data by the DU, which is identified as D2;

[0090] a stage of transmitting the downlink data between the DU and the CU, which is identified as D3;

[0091] a stage of processing the downlink data by the CU, which is identified as D4.

[0092] Based on the different processing stages in the foregoing downlink communication process, the downlink latency data can include downlink latency data corresponding to D1.b, downlink latency data corresponding to D2, downlink latency data corresponding to D3, and downlink latency data corresponding to D4.

[0093] Optionally, the DU and the CU-UP measure and count the downlink latency data of different stages respectively. For example, as shown in Table 2, the DU can count the downlink latency data corresponding to D1.b and the downlink latency data corresponding to D2; and the CU-UP can count the downlink latency data corresponding to D3 and the downlink latency data corresponding to D4.

[0094] Table 2

[0095] Based on this, the foregoing at least one communication segment includes at least one of the following:

[0096] A first uplink communication segment, which is a stage of processing uplink data by the first terminal device (refer to the foregoing D1.a);

[0097] A second uplink communication segment, which is a stage of transmitting uplink data between the first terminal device and the DU (refer to the foregoing D2.1);

[0098] A third uplink communication segment, which is a stage of processing uplink data by the DU (refer to the foregoing D2.2);

[0099] A fourth uplink communication segment, which is a stage of transmitting uplink data between the DU and the CU (refer to the foregoing D2.3);

[0100] A fifth uplink communication segment, which is a stage of processing uplink data by the CU (refer to the foregoing D2.4);

[0101] A first downlink communication segment, which is a stage of transmitting downlink data between the first terminal device and the DU (refer to the foregoing D1.b);

[0102] A second downlink communication segment, which is a stage of processing downlink data by the DU (refer to the foregoing D2);

[0103] A third downlink communication segment, which is a stage of transmitting downlink data between the DU and the CU (refer to the foregoing D3);

[0104] A fourth downlink communication segment, which is a stage of processing downlink data by the CU (refer to the foregoing D4).

[0105] In some examples, the first measurement data corresponds to at least one granularity. For example, the first measurement data corresponds to a quality of service (QoS) flow granularity, a data radio bearer (DRB) granularity, a network slice granularity, or a terminal device granularity.

[0106] In some examples, the granularity of the first measurement data includes at least one of the following: the QoS flow granularity, the DRB granularity, the network slice granularity, or the terminal device granularity.

[0107] It should be noted that the first indication information can indicate the first measurement data in a manner similar to a conventional manner, and the present application is not limited in this regard.

[0108] In some examples, the first indication information includes first sub-information and second sub-information, the first sub-information and the second sub-information are respectively used to indicate a component of the first measurement data and a granularity of the first measurement data, and the first sub-information and the second sub-information can both be set to be empty, i.e., the component of the first measurement data is not limited or the granularity of the first measurement data is not limited.

[0109] Optionally, when the measurement data is delay data, the second sub-information can be set to be one or more communication segments, or can be set to be a sum of delay data corresponding to a plurality of communication segments.

[0110] In some examples, the first sub-information is used to indicate the granularity of the first measurement data, and the second sub-information is used to indicate the component of the first measurement data. Table 3 provides an example of the first sub-information and the second sub-information in the first indication information according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0111] Table 3

[0112] When the measurement data is delay data and the second sub-information is {D1.b+D2, D3+D4}, the measurement data requested by the first indication information includes a sum of delay data of a D1.b communication segment and delay data of a D2 communication segment, and the measurement data requested by the first indication information further includes a sum of delay data of a D3 communication segment and delay data of a D4 communication segment.

[0113] In some examples, the first sub-information is used to indicate a component of the first measurement data, and the second sub-information is used to indicate a granularity of the first measurement data.

[0114] S202: The first network device sends the first measurement data to the second network device based on the first indication information; correspondingly, the second network device receives the first measurement data from the first network device.

[0115] Optionally, the first measurement data can be used to optimize an AI model, and the AI model is used to perform a mobility decision of the first terminal device. In this way, the AI model corresponding to the second network device can explicitly understand the performance of the first terminal device after performing base station switching through the first measurement data, which helps to enhance prediction, resource management, and node selection, etc.

[0116] By using the communication method shown in S201 and S202, the first network device can send the first measurement data to the second network device, and the granularity of the measurement data is the measurement data collected according to the component or the measurement data collected according to the granularity. The accuracy of the first measurement data is higher, which can be used for subsequent decision-making in the mobility management process, thereby improving the communication performance.

[0117] In a possible design, before performing S201, the first network device and the second network device can also negotiate the capability of the first network device to collect measurement data. As shown in FIG. 2, the communication method can further include SA1 and SA2.

[0118] SA1: The second network device sends a capability request to the first network device; correspondingly, the first network device receives the capability request from the second network device. The capability request is used to request to obtain the capability of the first network device to collect measurement data.

[0119] It should be understood that SA1 is an optional step, which can be omitted in some examples.

[0120] SA2: The first network device sends capability information to the second network device; correspondingly, the second network device receives the capability information from the first network device. The capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability to collect measurement data according to the component, and / or the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability to collect measurement data according to the granularity.

[0121] In some examples, the foregoing capability information is used to indicate that the first network device does not have the capability to collect measurement data according to the component; correspondingly, the capability information can also include the reason (for example, the measurement data collected according to the component fails) for not supporting the measurement data collected according to the component.

[0122] In some examples, the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device does not have the capability of collecting the measurement data according to the granularity; and the capability information can further include a reason (e.g., failure of collecting the measurement data according to the granularity) for not supporting the collection of the measurement data according to the granularity.

[0123] Optionally, the capability information includes a candidate component, and the candidate component includes at least one candidate communication segment, and the at least one candidate communication segment includes at least one communication segment; and / or, the capability information includes at least one candidate granularity, and the at least one candidate granularity includes the granularity of the first measurement data. For example, the candidate component includes the first uplink communication segment, which indicates that the first network device has the capability of collecting the measurement data of the first uplink communication segment; and the candidate granularity includes the QoS flow granularity and the DRB granularity, which indicates that the first network device has the capability of collecting the measurement data of the QoS flow granularity and the capability of collecting the measurement data of the DRB granularity.

[0124] It should be understood that the component of the first measurement data indicated by the first indication information in S201 is included in the at least one candidate component, and the granularity of the first measurement data indicated by the first indication information in S201 is included in the at least one candidate granularity.

[0125] Optionally, the aforementioned capability request and the aforementioned capability information can be exchanged through an Xn interface.

[0126] In a possible embodiment, the process in which the first network device sends the first measurement data to the second network device based on the first indication information in S202 can include S202-1 and S202-2.

[0127] S202-1: The first network device collects the first measurement data based on the first indication information.

[0128] In some examples, the method for the first network device to collect the first measurement data can refer to a conventional scheme, and examples of some collection methods will be provided below, but do not constitute a limitation on the present application.

[0129] As shown in FIG. 4, the first network device adopts a split architecture, and the first network device includes a CU and a DU; the CU can include a CU-CP and a CU-UP. The terminal device, the DU, and the CU-UP measure and count the measurement data at different stages respectively; and the CU-CP can interact with the terminal device and the CU-UP respectively, so as to obtain the first measurement data.

[0130] Taking the first measurement data as the time delay data as an example, in combination with the aforementioned Table 1 and Table 2, the aforementioned communication method can further include process one, process two, process three, and / or process four.

[0131] Process one: the CU-CP obtains the latency data A through the terminal device; wherein, the latency data A includes uplink latency data corresponding to the D1.a communication segment; and the latency data A is included in the first measurement data.

[0132] For example, the terminal device can measure and count the latency data A; and the CU-CP receives the latency data A from the terminal device.

[0133] Optionally, before the CU-CP receives the latency data A from the terminal device, the CU-CP can also send a first data request to the terminal device, wherein the first data request is used to request to obtain the aforementioned latency data A. Wherein, the first data request and the first data response can be RRC messages.

[0134] Process two: the CU-CP obtains the latency data B through the CU UP; wherein, the latency data B includes uplink latency data corresponding to the D2.1 and D2.2 communication segments respectively, and downlink latency data corresponding to the D1.b and D2 communication segments respectively; and the latency data B is included in the first measurement data.

[0135] For example, the DU can measure and count the latency data B; the DU can feed back the aforementioned latency data B to the CU-UP through the auxiliary information of the F1-U interface; and the CU-CP receives the aforementioned latency data B from the CU-UP.

[0136] Process three: the CU-CP obtains the latency data C through the CU UP; wherein, the latency data C includes uplink latency data corresponding to the D2.3 and D2.4 communication segments respectively, and downlink latency data corresponding to the D3 and D4 communication segments respectively; and the latency data C is included in the first measurement data.

[0137] For example, the CU-UP can measure and count the latency data C; and the CU-CP receives the aforementioned latency data C from the CU-UP.

[0138] In some examples, process two and process three can be combined to perform; that is, the CU-CP receives the latency data B and the latency data C from the CU-UP.

[0139] Optionally, before the CU-CP receives the latency data B and the latency data C from the CU-UP, the CU-CP can send a second data request to the CU-UP, wherein the second data request is used to request to obtain the aforementioned latency data B and / or the latency data C.

[0140] Process four: the CU-CP obtains the latency data B through the DU; wherein, the latency data B includes uplink latency data corresponding to the D2.1, D2.2 communication segments (i.e., the second uplink communication segment and the third uplink communication segment) respectively, and downlink latency data corresponding to the D1.b, D2 communication segments (i.e., the first downlink communication segment and the second downlink communication segment) respectively; the latency data B is contained in the first measurement data.

[0141] For example, when the first network device is a CU or a CU-UP; the first network device can obtain part of the first measurement data through the DU. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, before performing S202, the communication method can further include SB1 and SB2.

[0142] SB1: The first network device can send second indication information to the DU, the second indication information being used to indicate that measurement data corresponding to at least one specified communication segment is obtained, and / or the granularity of the measurement data corresponding to the specified communication segment. Wherein, the specified communication segment includes at least one of the following: the second uplink communication segment, the third uplink communication segment, the first downlink communication segment and the second downlink communication segment.

[0143] In some examples, the second indication information can include first sub-information and second sub-information, the first sub-information and the second sub-information being respectively used to indicate the granularity of the measurement data corresponding to the specified communication segment and any specified communication segment.

[0144] Wherein, the granularity of the measurement data corresponding to different specified communication segments can be different, which is not limited in the present application. For example, referring to Table 4, the first sub-information included in the second indication information is used to indicate that the specified communication segment includes {D1.b, D2, D3, D4} and {D2.1}, the second sub-information corresponding to the specified communication segment {D1.b, D2, D3, D4} is QoS flow granularity, and the second sub-information corresponding to the specified communication segment {D2.1} is QoS flow granularity and DRB granularity.

[0145] Table 4

[0146] It should be understood that SB1 is an optional step, which can be omitted in some examples.

[0147] SB2: When the at least one communication segment contains the specified communication segment, the DU can send the second measurement data (including the latency data B) to the first network device; correspondingly, the first network device can also receive the second measurement data from the DU. Wherein, the second measurement data is the measurement data corresponding to the specified communication segment, and the second measurement data is contained in the first measurement data.

[0148] The first network device can acquire the second measurement data corresponding to the part of the communication section through the DU by using the method (process four) shown by SB1 and SB2, the flow of the first network device acquiring the measurement data collected by the DU through the CU-UP and then feeding back the measurement data to the CU-CP is reduced (refer to process two), that is, the signaling interaction between the DU and the CU-UP is reduced, the signaling interaction between the CU-UP and the CU-CP is reduced, the waste of signaling resources is avoided, and the communication efficiency is improved.

[0149] It should be noted that the process of collecting the first measurement data in S202-1 (including processes one to four) can be based on the indication of the granularity of the first measurement data in the first indication information at the same time. It is referred to SB1 that the second indication information can be used to indicate the granularity of the measurement data corresponding to the specified communication section, which is not expanded here.

[0150] S202-2: The first network device sends the first measurement data to the second network device; correspondingly, the second network device receives the first measurement data from the first network device.

[0151] In some examples, the method for the first network device to collect the first measurement data can refer to the conventional scheme, and examples of some collection methods will be provided below, but do not constitute a limitation on the present application.

[0152] As shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, when the first network device adopts the separation architecture, the CU-CP corresponding to the first network device obtains the measurement data corresponding to different communication sections respectively, and then obtains the first measurement data through weighted calculation;

[0153] For example, the CU-CP corresponding to the first network device can average / weighted average the foregoing delay data A, delay data B and delay data C, thereby obtaining the first measurement data (which can include QoS flow granularity measurement data, DRB granularity measurement data, network slice granularity measurement data, and terminal device granularity measurement data).

[0154] Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the method steps in the above method embodiments, and the functions or units or means can be realized by software or hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware.

[0155] For example, referring to FIG. 6, the device 600 can include a processing module 601 and a communication module 602.

[0156] Optionally, the communication module 602 can include a sending module and / or a receiving module. The sending module is configured to perform the sending operations in the above method embodiments. The receiving module is configured to perform the receiving operations in the above method embodiments. It should be noted that the communication apparatus 600 can include only the sending module but not the receiving module. Alternatively, the communication apparatus 600 can include only the receiving module but not the sending module. Whether the sending module and the receiving module are included in the communication apparatus 600 can depend on whether the above schemes include the sending action and the receiving action.

[0157] The processing module 601 is configured to perform data processing. The communication module 602 can implement corresponding communication functions.

[0158] Optionally, the communication apparatus 600 can further include a storage module, which can be configured to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 601 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage module, so that the communication apparatus 600 implements the above method embodiments.

[0159] It should be understood that all related contents of the steps in the above method embodiments can be cited in the function description of the corresponding functional modules, which will not be repeated here.

[0160] The processing module 601 in the above embodiments can be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuit. The communication module 602 can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit. The communication module 602 can also be referred to as a communication module or a communication interface.

[0161] For example, the communication apparatus 600 can be a first network device or a component configured in the first network device. When the communication apparatus 600 is used to implement the first network device shown in FIG. 2, the communication module 602 is configured to: receive first indication information from a second network device, the first indication information being used to indicate a component of first measurement data and / or a granularity of the first measurement data, the component of the first measurement data including at least one communication section in a communication channel between the first terminal device and the communication apparatus 600, and the communication apparatus 600 being a target network device in a handover process of the first terminal device; and the processing module 601 is configured to perform the following actions by using the communication module 602: sending the first measurement data to the second network device based on the first indication information, the second network device being a source network device in the handover process of the first terminal device.

[0162] In a possible embodiment, the granularity of the first measurement data can include at least one of the following: QoS flow granularity, DRB granularity, network slice granularity, and terminal device granularity.

[0163] In a possible embodiment, the communication apparatus 600 comprises a CU and a DU; or the communication apparatus 600 is a CU or a CP network element in the CU in a distributed network device, and the distributed network device further comprises a DU; the at least one communication section comprises at least one of the following: a first uplink communication section, the first uplink communication section being a stage of processing uplink data by the first terminal device; a second uplink communication section, the second uplink communication section being a stage of transmitting the uplink data between the first terminal device and the DU; a third uplink communication section, the third uplink communication section being a stage of processing the uplink data by the DU; a fourth uplink communication section, the fourth uplink communication section being a stage of transmitting the uplink data between the DU and the CU; a fifth uplink communication section, the fifth uplink communication section being a stage of processing the uplink data by the CU; a first downlink communication section, the first downlink communication section being a stage of transmitting downlink data between the first terminal device and the DU; a second downlink communication section, the second downlink communication section being a stage of processing the downlink data by the DU; a third downlink communication section, the third downlink communication section being a stage of transmitting the downlink data between the DU and the CU; and a fourth downlink communication section, the fourth downlink communication section being a stage of processing the downlink data by the CU.

[0164] In a possible embodiment, the communication apparatus 600 is a CU or a CP network element in the CU in a distributed network device, and the distributed network device further comprises a DU; when the at least one communication section comprises a specified communication section, the communication module 602 is further configured to: receive second measurement data from the DU, the second measurement data being measurement data corresponding to the specified communication section, and the second measurement data being included in the first measurement data; and wherein the specified communication section comprises at least one of the following: the second uplink communication section, the third uplink communication section, the first downlink communication section, and the second downlink communication section.

[0165] In a possible embodiment, the communication module 602 is further configured to: send, to the DU, second indication information, the second indication information being used to instruct to obtain measurement data corresponding to at least one specified communication section, and / or the granularity of the measurement data corresponding to the specified communication section.

[0166] In a possible embodiment, the communication module 602 is further configured to: send, to the second network device, capability information; and wherein the capability information is used to indicate that the communication apparatus 600 has the capability of collecting measurement data according to components, and / or the capability information is used to indicate that the communication apparatus 600 has the capability of collecting measurement data according to granularity.

[0167] In a possible embodiment, the capability information can comprise candidate components, and the candidate components comprise at least one candidate communication section, and the at least one candidate communication section comprises the at least one communication section; and / or the capability information can comprise at least one candidate granularity, and the at least one candidate granularity comprises the granularity of the first measurement data.

[0168] In a possible implementation, the communication module 602 is further configured to receive a capability request from the second network device, the capability request being used to request the capability of the communication apparatus 600 to collect the measurement data.

[0169] In a possible implementation, the processing module 601 is specifically configured to collect the first measurement data based on the first indication information, and the communication module 602 is specifically configured to send the first measurement data to the second network device.

[0170] In a possible implementation, the first measurement data can be used to optimize an AI model, and the AI model is used to perform a mobility decision of the first terminal device.

[0171] For example, the communication apparatus 600 can be the second network device or a component configured in the second network device. When the communication apparatus 600 is used to implement the second network device shown in FIG. 2, the communication module 602 is configured to send first indication information to the first network device, the first indication information being used to indicate a component of the first measurement data and / or a granularity of the first measurement data, the component of the first measurement data including at least one communication section in a communication channel between the first terminal device and the first network device, the first network device being a target network device in a handover process of the first terminal device; and the communication module 602 is further configured to receive the first measurement data from the first network device, the communication apparatus 600 being a source network device in the handover process of the first terminal device.

[0172] In a possible implementation, the granularity of the first measurement data can include at least one of the following: a QoS flow granularity, a DRB granularity, a network slice granularity, and a terminal device granularity.

[0173] In a possible implementation, the first network device includes a CU and a DU, or the first network device is a CU or a CP network element in the CU in a distributed network device, and the distributed network device further includes a DU; and the at least one communication section can include at least one of the following: a first uplink communication section, the first uplink communication section being a stage in which the first terminal device processes uplink data; a second uplink communication section, the second uplink communication section being a stage in which the first terminal device and the DU transmit uplink data; a third uplink communication section, the third uplink communication section being a stage in which the DU processes uplink data; a fourth uplink communication section, the fourth uplink communication section being a stage in which the DU and the CU transmit uplink data; a fifth uplink communication section, the fifth uplink communication section being a stage in which the CU processes uplink data; a first downlink communication section, the first downlink communication section being a stage in which the first terminal device and the DU transmit downlink data; a second downlink communication section, the second downlink communication section being a stage in which the DU processes downlink data; a third downlink communication section, the third downlink communication section being a stage in which the DU and the CU transmit downlink data; and a fourth downlink communication section, the fourth downlink communication section being a stage in which the CU processes downlink data.

[0174] In a possible implementation, the communication module 602 is further configured to receive capability information from the first network device, wherein the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability of collecting measurement data according to components, and / or the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability of collecting measurement data according to granularity.

[0175] In a possible implementation, the capability information can include candidate components, and the candidate components include at least one candidate communication section, and the at least one candidate communication section includes at least one communication section; and / or the capability information includes at least one candidate granularity, and the at least one candidate granularity includes granularity of the first measurement data.

[0176] In a possible implementation, the communication module 602 is further configured to send a capability request to the first network device, and the capability request is used to request the capability of collecting measurement data of the first network device.

[0177] In a possible implementation, the first measurement data is used to optimize an AI model, and the AI model is used to perform a mobility decision of the first terminal device.

[0178] Another structural schematic diagram of the communication apparatus is shown below. As shown in FIG. 7, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication apparatus 700, which includes:

[0179] at least one processor 701, and a communication interface 703 connected with the at least one processor 701; the at least one processor 701 executes instructions stored in the memory 702, so that the apparatus performs the method steps in the above method embodiments through the communication interface 703.

[0180] The memory 702 can be located outside the apparatus 700. Alternatively, the memory 702 can also be located inside the apparatus 700. Optionally, the apparatus 700 includes the memory 702, the memory 702 is connected with the at least one processor 701, and the memory 702 stores instructions executable by the at least one processor 701. As shown in FIG. 7, the memory 702 is optional for the apparatus 700, which is indicated by a dashed line.

[0181] The processor 701 and the memory 702 can be coupled through an interface circuit or integrated together, which is not limited here.

[0182] The specific connection medium between the processor 701, the memory 702 and the communication interface 703 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In FIG. 7, the processor 701, the memory 702 and the communication interface 703 are connected through a bus 704, which is represented by a thick line in FIG. 7, and the connection mode between other components is only illustrative and is not limited. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus and the like. For convenience of representation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 7, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0183] Taking the first network device as an example, when the communication apparatus 700 is the first network device, the first network device can include a processor, a memory and a transceiver. The memory can store computer program code, and the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver.

[0184] The processor is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the first network device, executing software programs and processing data of the software programs and the like. The memory is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The transmitter is used for sending signals to other communication apparatuses or devices, and the receiver is used for receiving signals from other communication apparatuses or devices.

[0185] When the communication apparatus 700 is a chip in the first network device, the chip can include a processor, a memory and a transceiver. The transceiver can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. The processor can be an integrated processing module on the chip or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit. The transmission operation of the first network device in the method embodiments can be understood as the output of the chip, and the reception operation of the first network device in the method embodiments can be understood as the input of the chip.

[0186] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit and the like. When implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is implemented by reading software code stored in the memory.

[0187] The processor can be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or the like. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, or the processor can be any conventional processor, etc.

[0188] It should be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM) and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0189] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated in the processor.

[0190] It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0191] Based on the same technical concept, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium, including a program or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method in the above method embodiments to be performed.

[0192] Based on the same technical concept, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the method in the above method embodiments to be performed.

[0193] Based on the same technical concept, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system, which can include a first network device and a second network device. For example, the communication system can be used to implement the method flow in FIG. 2. Optionally, the communication system can further include other communication devices.

[0194] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present application can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, etc.) containing computer usable program code.

[0195] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, and the combination 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 general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus produce the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0196] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce a product including instruction means, which implements the functions specified in one or more flows in the flowcharts and / or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

[0197] These computer program instructions can also be loaded into a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0198] In each of the embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0199] It can be understood that various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only distinguished for convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of each process does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of each process should be determined according to its function and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving first indication information from a second network device, the first indication information being used for indicating a component of first measurement data and / or a granularity of the first measurement data, the component of the first measurement data comprising at least one communication section in a communication channel between a first terminal device and a first network device, the first network device being a target network device in a handover procedure of the first terminal device; sending the first measurement data to the second network device based on the first indication information, the second network device being a source network device in the handover procedure of the first terminal device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The granularity of the first measurement data comprises at least one of the following: quality of service (QoS) flow granularity, data radio bearer (DRB) granularity, network slice granularity, and terminal device granularity.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The first network device comprises a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), or the first network device is a CU or a control plane (CP) network element in the CU in a distributed network device, the distributed network device further comprising a DU. The at least one communication section comprises at least one of the following: a first uplink communication section, the first uplink communication section being a stage in which the first terminal device processes uplink data; a second uplink communication section, the second uplink communication section being a stage in which the first terminal device and the DU transmit uplink data; a third uplink communication section, the third uplink communication section being a stage in which the DU processes uplink data; a fourth uplink communication section, the fourth uplink communication section being a stage in which the DU and the CU transmit uplink data; a fifth uplink communication section, the fifth uplink communication section being a stage in which the CU processes uplink data; a first downlink communication section, the first downlink communication section being a stage in which the first terminal device and the DU transmit downlink data; a second downlink communication section, the second downlink communication section being a stage in which the DU processes downlink data; a third downlink communication section, the third downlink communication section being a stage in which the DU and the CU transmit downlink data; a fourth downlink communication section, the fourth downlink communication section being a stage in which the CU processes downlink data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first network device is a CU or a control plane (CP) network element in the CU in a distributed network device, the distributed network device further comprising a DU; the method further comprises: when the at least one communication section comprises a specified communication section, receiving second measurement data from the DU, the second measurement data being measurement data corresponding to the specified communication section, the second measurement data being included in the first measurement data; wherein the specified communication section comprises at least one of the following: the second uplink communication section, the third uplink communication section, the first downlink communication section, and the second downlink communication section.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The method further comprises: sending second indication information to the DU, the second indication information being used for indicating that measurement data corresponding to at least one specified communication section is to be acquired, and / or a granularity of the measurement data corresponding to the specified communication section.

6. The method of any one of claims 1-5, wherein, The method further comprises: sending capability information to the second network device; The capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability of collecting measurement data according to a component, and / or the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability of collecting measurement data according to a granularity.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the capability information comprises a candidate component, the candidate component comprising at least one candidate communication segment, the at least one candidate communication segment comprising the at least one communication segment. The capability information comprises at least one candidate granularity, the at least one candidate granularity comprising a granularity of the first measurement data. The method further comprises:

8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein, receiving a capability request from the second network device, the capability request being used to request the capability of collecting measurement data by the first network device. The method further comprises:

9. The method of any one of claims 1-8, wherein, collecting the first measurement data based on the first indication information; sending the first measurement data to the second network device.

10. The method of any one of claims 1-9, wherein the first measurement data is used to optimize an artificial intelligence (AI) model, the AI model being used to perform a mobility decision of the first terminal device. The method comprises: sending first indication information to a first network device, the first indication information being used to indicate a component of first measurement data and / or a granularity of the first measurement data, the component of the first measurement data comprising at least one communication segment in a communication channel between the first terminal device and the first network device, the first network device being a target network device in a handover procedure of the first terminal device; 11. A communication method, comprising: receiving the first measurement data from the first network device, the second network device being a source network device in the handover procedure of the first terminal device. The granularity of the first measurement data comprises at least one of a quality of service (QoS) flow granularity, a data radio bearer (DRB) granularity, a network slice granularity, and a terminal device granularity. The first network device comprises a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), or the first network device is a CU or a control plane (CP) network element in the CU in a distributed network device, the distributed network device further comprising a DU.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The at least one communication segment comprises at least one of:

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein, a first uplink communication segment, the first uplink communication segment being a stage in which the first terminal device processes uplink data; a second uplink communication segment, the second uplink communication segment being a stage in which the first terminal device transmits uplink data to the DU; a third uplink communication segment, the third uplink communication segment being a stage in which the DU processes uplink data; a fourth uplink communication segment, the fourth uplink communication segment being a stage in which the DU transmits uplink data to the CU; a fifth uplink communication segment, the fifth uplink communication segment being a stage in which the CU processes uplink data; a first downlink communication segment, the first downlink communication segment being a stage in which the first terminal device transmits downlink data to the DU; ​ ​ a second downlink communication segment, the second downlink communication segment being a stage in which the DU processes downlink data; a third downlink communication segment, the third downlink communication segment being a stage in which the DU and the CU transmit downlink data; a fourth downlink communication segment, the fourth downlink communication segment being a stage in which the CU processes downlink data.

14. The method of any one of claims 11-13, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving capability information from the first network device; wherein the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability of collecting measurement data according to a component, and / or the capability information is used to indicate that the first network device has the capability of collecting measurement data according to a granularity.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the capability information comprises a candidate component, the candidate component comprising at least one candidate communication segment, the at least one candidate communication segment comprising the at least one communication segment; and / or the capability information comprises at least one candidate granularity, the at least one candidate granularity comprising a granularity of the first measurement data.

16. The method of claim 14 or 15, wherein, The method further comprises: sending a capability request to the first network device, the capability request being used to request to obtain the capability of collecting measurement data of the first network device.

17. The method of any one of claims 11-16, wherein the first measurement data is used to optimize an artificial intelligence (AI) model, the AI model being used to perform a mobility decision of the first terminal device.

18. A communications device, characterized by comprising a unit or module for performing the method of any one of claims 1-10, or comprising a unit or module for performing the method of any one of claims 11-17.

19. A communications device, characterized by comprising a processor configured to execute computer programs or instructions to implement the method of any one of claims 1-10, or to implement the method of any one of claims 11-17.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium has stored therein computer programs or instructions, which, when executed by a communication device, implement the method of any one of claims 1-10, or implement the method of any one of claims 11-17.

21. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-10, or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 11-17.

22. A communication system, characterized by comprising a first network device and a second network device; wherein the first network device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-10, and the second network device is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 11-17.

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