Carrier switching method, network device, storage medium, and program product

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of wireless communications, and discloses a carrier switching method, a network device, a storage medium, and a program product. The method is applied to a first node, and comprises: sending carrier switching capability information to a second node; acquiring switching configuration information configured by the second node; and performing downlink carrier switching between a first frequency band and a second frequency band on the basis of the switching configuration information.

Description

Carrier switching methods, network equipment, storage media, and software products

[0001] Cross-referencing

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510137751.6, filed on February 7, 2025, entitled “Carrier Switching Method, Network Device, Storage Medium and Program Product”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a carrier switching method, network device, storage medium, and program product. Background Technology

[0004] Carrier aggregation typically employs a shared antenna scheme, meaning multiple frequency bands share the same transmit or receive master antenna. If the frequencies of the carrier aggregation bands are significantly different, then separate RF filters are used for each band, and the two RF signals are combined onto the same antenna using an antenna duplexer. Typically, at least one of the carrier aggregation bands using this architecture is a relatively high frequency, such as >1 GHz. This architecture introduces the problem of self-interference between the two frequency bands, such as harmonic interference and intermodulation interference. This interference, falling into the receiving frequency band, reduces the reference sensitivity of the received signal, thus affecting downlink reception performance. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a carrier switching method, network device, storage medium, and program product.

[0006] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a carrier switching method applied to a first node, comprising: sending carrier switching capability information to a second node; obtaining switching configuration information configured by the second node; and performing downlink carrier switching between a first frequency band and a second frequency band according to the switching configuration information.

[0007] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a carrier switching method applied to a second node, comprising: acquiring carrier switching capability information sent by a first node; determining switching configuration information based on the carrier switching capability information; and sending the switching configuration information to the first node, so that the first node performs downlink carrier switching between a first frequency band and a second frequency band according to the switching configuration information.

[0008] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a network device, including a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0009] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium on which a program or instructions are stored, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0010] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, the computer program product including a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program including program instructions, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0011] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and do not limit this application. Attached Figure Description

[0012] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application.

[0013] Figure 1 shows a flowchart of a carrier switching method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0014] Figure 2 shows an example diagram of the position of the second switching cycle provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0015] Figure 3 shows an example diagram of the location of the second switching cycle provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0016] Figure 4 shows one of the example diagrams of a first switching cycle determination method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0017] Figure 5 shows a second example of a first switching cycle determination method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0018] Figure 6 shows one of the example diagrams of a first switching cycle determination method provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0019] Figure 7 shows a second example of a first switching cycle determination method provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 8 shows one of the example diagrams of a first switching cycle determination method provided in yet another embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 9 shows a second example of a first switching cycle determination method provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 10 shows a flowchart illustrating a carrier switching method provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0023] Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of the network device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0024] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description relates to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings denote the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with this application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with some aspects of this application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0025] Lower operating frequencies lead to a significant increase in the size requirements of mobile terminal antennas, especially in low-frequency bands where the physical size of the antennas is often larger. Existing terminals need to support a wide frequency range from high to low frequencies, and a single antenna design cannot meet the needs of all bands. Therefore, multi-antenna solutions or tunable antenna technology have become key to solving this challenge.

[0026] Low-frequency bands occupy a crucial position in wireless networks due to their long-range coverage advantages. For operators, spectrum resources are extremely precious, and carrier aggregation, as a way to efficiently utilize multiple spectrum resources, is widely considered an effective strategy to improve network capacity and performance. However, applying carrier aggregation in low-frequency bands faces at least the following challenges:

[0027] 1) Antenna Design Complexity: 5G New Radio (5G NR) may support a wide bandwidth in a single frequency band, further increasing the difficulty of antenna design. Especially when an antenna needs to simultaneously support carrier aggregation of two low-frequency bands for simultaneous transmission and reception, if the frequency span between these two bands is large, antenna tuning technology becomes extremely complex, potentially leading to antenna performance degradation. Furthermore, self-interference between frequency bands can also negatively impact downlink performance.

[0028] 2) Frequency band overlap problem: If the downlink frequencies of two low-frequency bands overlap, a single antenna cannot effectively support carrier aggregation of these two bands simultaneously. This situation constitutes one of the main bottlenecks in implementing low-frequency band carrier aggregation in the current network.

[0029] If carrier aggregation is used to achieve simultaneous reception and transmission in low-frequency bands, such as <1GHz, the above-mentioned scheme of sharing the same main transmit / receive antenna will bring additional implementation difficulties in addition to the self-interference problem mentioned above. The main reason is that the physical size of antennas in low-frequency bands is relatively long. In addition, due to the low frequency, the fractional bandwidth of the antenna is relatively large. For example, for the 700MHz band, when the antenna's operating bandwidth is 100MHz, the fractional bandwidth is: FBW = 100 / 700 * 100% = 14.3%, which leads to difficulties in antenna implementation.

[0030] To address the problems existing in the aforementioned carrier aggregation scenarios, this application provides a carrier switching method to solve the self-interference problem between different frequency bands in carrier aggregation scenarios, thereby ensuring the stability of antenna performance and downlink performance in low-frequency carrier aggregation scenarios.

[0031] Figure 1 shows a flowchart of a carrier switching method provided in an embodiment of this application. The execution subject of this method can be a first node, which can be one of the following in the communication network: user equipment (UE), relay node (Relay) that performs relay function, and various transmitting devices such as a transmitting point. As shown in Figure 1, the method includes the following steps:

[0032] S110, send carrier switching capability information to the second node.

[0033] In some embodiments of this application, the second node can be one of the following in a communication network: a base station (gNB), a relay node that performs relay functions, and a receiving point, etc., and various other transmitting devices.

[0034] In some embodiments, the first node supports downlink inter-band discontinuous carrier aggregation and has the function of receiving carrier switching. The first node reports this function to the second node, wherein the carrier switching capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0035] 1) The first node supports the combination of inter-band discontinuous downlink carrier aggregation frequency bands.

[0036] 2) Frequency bands supported by the first node.

[0037] 3) The center frequency supported by the first node.

[0038] 4) The bandwidth supported by the first node.

[0039] 5) Sub-carrier spacing (SCS) supported by the first node.

[0040] 6) The number of transmit antenna ports and receive antenna ports supported by the first node.

[0041] 7) The power level supported by the first node, wherein the power level is used to indicate the maximum output power corresponding to the combination of discontinuous carrier aggregation bands.

[0042] 8) The first node supports the target carrier pair for carrier switching.

[0043] 9) The first node supports target band pairs for carrier switching, wherein the target band pairs include a first band and a second band.

[0044] 10) The first switching cycle supported by the first node.

[0045] 11) The number of transport layers supported by the first node.

[0046] The number of transmit antenna ports refers to the total number of transmit antenna ports, including but not limited to 1, 2, 3, or 4, as well as other antenna ports. The number of receive antenna ports refers to the total number of receive antenna ports, including but not limited to 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8, as well as other antenna ports. In practical applications or deployments, the first node can support 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or more transmit antenna ports, and also support 2, 4, 6, 8, or more receive antenna ports. The number of transmit antenna ports and receive antenna ports supported for each frequency band reported by the first node may differ.

[0047] The power class is used to indicate the maximum output power corresponding to the combination of non-continuous carrier aggregation bands in the inter-band, including power class 3, power class 2, power class 1.5 and other subsequently introduced power classes.

[0048] The target frequency band pair for carrier handover supported by the first node consists of two frequency bands before and after the downlink carrier handover in which the first node participates. These can be a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) band, a Supplementary Downlink (SDL) band, or a Time Division Duplex Carrier (TDD) band. That is, the first node's participation in downlink carrier handover can occur between an FDD and an SDL band, between an FDD and a TDD band, between two FDD bands, or between a TDD and an SDL band. The first node can report frequency band combinations that can support two or more frequency bands.

[0049] The first switching period is the switching time of the frequency band pair or carrier pair participating in the carrier switching. Typical switching periods are 35us, 140us or 210us.

[0050] In some implementations, the target carrier pair includes carriers in a first frequency band and carriers in a second frequency band. That is, the target carrier pair for carrier handover supported by the first node consists of carriers in the frequency band supported by the first node that participate in downlink carrier handover. Each frequency band can support two or more carriers. The carriers in the first and second frequency bands include at least one of the following: FDD carriers, SDL carriers, and TDD carriers. The two carriers participating in the handover are generally referred to as the pre-handover carrier and the post-handover carrier, and can be FDD carriers, SDL carriers, or TDD carriers, respectively. In other words, the first node's participation in downlink carrier handover can occur between FDD carriers and SDL carriers, between FDD carriers and TDD carriers, between two FDD carriers, or between TDD carriers and SDL carriers.

[0051] In some implementations, the above-described S110, which involves sending carrier switching capability information to the second node, includes at least one of the following:

[0052] 1) Send the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band used by the first node to the second node.

[0053] 2) Send the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band combination used by the first node to the second node.

[0054] 3) Send the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band in the various frequency band combinations used by the first node to the second node.

[0055] In other words, the first node can report the corresponding carrier switching capability information for each frequency band, for each combination of frequency bands, or for each frequency band in each combination of frequency bands.

[0056] S120, Obtain the switching configuration information configured for the second node.

[0057] In some embodiments of this application, the second node configures handover configuration information to the first node based on the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, and the first node obtains the handover configuration information configured by the second node.

[0058] In some implementations, the handover configuration information includes at least one of the following: primary cell (PCell) identity, secondary cell (SCell) identity, center frequency, bandwidth, physical cell identity (PCI), number of transmit antenna ports, number of receive antenna ports, maximum output power, number of transmission layers, second handover cycle, downlink receive handover option handover mode, location of the second handover cycle, measurement and event triggering conditions, and handover command.

[0059] Among them, the downlink Rx Switching Option refers to the dynamic downlink reception switching option configured by the second node of the inter-band non-continuous downlink carrier aggregation to the first node, including switching to single downlink (such as switchedDL) and switching to dual downlink (such as dualDL).

[0060] In some implementations, in response to the carrier of the first frequency band satisfying a first condition, the position of the second switching period is the boundary point position of the transmission time interval of the carrier of the first frequency band. The first condition includes a target time interval greater than or equal to the second switching period and downlink transmission of the carrier of the first frequency band within the target time interval; the target time interval is the interval between a first time point and a second time point, the second time point is the start time point of downlink data transmission of the carrier of the second frequency band, and the first time point is a preset time point prior to the second time point.

[0061] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG2, the frequency bands before and after the handover are band A and band B, respectively. Both band A and band B have only one downlink carrier, and TTI1, TTI2, and TTI3 are three consecutive transmission time intervals (TTI). The downlink reception handover option configured by the first node in the second node is to switch to single downlink (such as switchedDL), and to perform downlink carrier handover at the position of the second handover period, assuming that the second handover period is X microseconds (hereinafter referred to as Xus).

[0062] As shown in Figure 2(a), the second switching cycle is located on the carrier of band A. At time t11 within the duration of TTI2, the carrier of band B is scheduled or configured to begin downlink transmission, where t11 can be the start time of TTI2. At time t1 before t11 begins, t11-t1≥Xus, the carrier of band A is scheduled or configured for downlink transmission, so the downlink reception switching cycle is located at the right boundary of TTI1 on the carrier of band A. The first node performs and completes the downlink carrier switching within the switching cycle Xus, switching downlink transmission from the carrier of band A to the carrier of band B. At time t2 after t12 ends, where t12 can be the end time of TTI2, t2-t12≥Xus, the carrier of band A is scheduled or configured for downlink transmission, so the downlink reception switching cycle is located at the left boundary of TTI3 on ​​the carrier of band A. From the start of the duration of TTI3 to Xus after the start of the duration of TTI3, the first node performs and completes the downlink carrier switching, switching downlink transmission from the carrier of band B to the carrier of band A.

[0063] As shown in Figure 2(b), the second switching cycle is located on the carrier of band B. During the durations of TTI1 and TTI3, the carrier of band A is scheduled or configured for downlink transmission. At time t3 after t13 ends (where t13 can be the end time of TTI1), and t3-t13≥Xus, the carrier of band B is scheduled or configured for downlink transmission, so the downlink reception switching cycle is located at the left boundary of TTI2 on the carrier of band B. The first node performs and completes the downlink carrier switching within the switching cycle Xus, switching downlink transmission from the carrier of band A to the carrier of band B. At time t4 after t14 ends (where t14 can be the start time of TTI3), and t14-t2≥Xus, the carrier of band B is scheduled or configured for downlink transmission, so the downlink reception switching cycle is located at the right boundary of TTI2 on the carrier of band B. During the time from Xus before the end of TTI2 to the end of TTI2, the first node performs and completes the downlink carrier switching, switching downlink transmission from the carrier of band B to the carrier of band A.

[0064] In the example above, t11 and t12 can be any time point within the duration of TTI2 where the downlink data of the first node on the band B carrier can be configured for the second node, and t13 and t14 can be any time points within the durations of TTI1 and TTI3 where the downlink data of the first node on the band A carrier can be configured for the second node.

[0065] In other embodiments, in response to the carrier of the first frequency band satisfying a second condition, the position of the second switching period is any position within a target time period, the target time period being the time between the downlink transmission termination time of the carrier of the first frequency band and the downlink transmission start time of the carrier of the second frequency band; wherein, the second condition includes a target time interval greater than or equal to the second switching period and whether the carrier of the first frequency band has downlink transmission within the target time interval; the target time interval is the interval between a first time point and a second time point, the second time point being the start time point of downlink data transmission of the carrier of the second frequency band, and the first time point being a preset time point before the second time point.

[0066] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG3, both band A and band B have only one downlink carrier, and TTI1, TTI2, and TTI3 are three consecutive TTIs. The downlink reception handover option configured by the first node in the second node is to switch to single downlink (such as switchedDL), and the downlink carrier handover is performed at the position of the second handover period, assuming the second handover period is Xus.

[0067] As shown in Figure 3(a), the second switching cycle is located on the carrier of band A. At time t11 within the duration of TTI2, the carrier of band B is scheduled or configured to start downlink transmission, where t11 can be the start time of TTI2. At time t1 before t11 begins, t11-t1≥Xus, the carrier of band A is not scheduled or configured for downlink transmission, so the downlink reception switching cycle is located at any position within the time interval from t1 to t11 and is within the carrier of band A. The first node performs and completes the downlink carrier switching within the switching cycle Xus, and the downlink transmission switches from the carrier of band A to the carrier of band B starting at time t11. At time t2 after t12 ends, where t12 can be the end time of TTI2, t2-t12≥Xus, the carrier of band A is not scheduled or configured for downlink transmission, so the downlink reception switching cycle is located at any position within the time interval from t12 to t2 and is within the carrier of band A. The first node performs and completes the downlink carrier handover within the handover period Xus, and the downlink transmission switches from the carrier of band B to the carrier of band A starting at time t2.

[0068] As shown in Figure 3b, the second switching cycle position is located on the carrier of band B. During the durations of TTI1 and TTI3, the carrier of band A is scheduled or configured for downlink transmission. At time t3 after t13 ends, where t13 can be the end time of TTI1, and t3-t13≥Xus, the carrier of band B is not scheduled or configured for downlink transmission. Therefore, the downlink reception switching cycle position is located anywhere within the time interval from t13 to t3 and is within the carrier of band B. The first node performs and completes the downlink carrier switching within the switching cycle Xus, and the downlink transmission switches from the carrier of band A to the carrier of band B starting at time t13. At time t4 after t14 ends, where t14 can be the start time of TTI3, and t14-t2≥Xus, the carrier of band B is not scheduled or configured for downlink transmission. Therefore, the downlink reception switching cycle position is located anywhere within the time interval from t4 to t14 and is within the carrier of band B. During the period from the end of TTI2 to the end of TTI2, the first node performs and completes the downlink carrier handover within the handover period Xus. At the start of TTI3, the downlink transmission switches from the carrier of band B to the carrier of band A.

[0069] In the above exemplary embodiments, if band A or band B supports two or more downlink carriers, then the value of the downlink reception handover period position configured by the base station is the same for all downlink carriers on band A or band B, and its handover process is similar to that of one downlink carrier, which will not be described in detail here.

[0070] In other implementations, the position of the second switching cycle is the time point agreed upon by the first node and the second node.

[0071] In other embodiments, the second switching cycle is located on the carrier of the first frequency band; or, the second switching cycle is located on the carrier of the second frequency band.

[0072] In other words, the position of the second switching cycle cannot appear on both downlink carriers before and after the switching; it can only be located on a carrier in the first frequency band or a carrier in the second frequency band.

[0073] In some embodiments, the carrier handover capability information reported by the first node includes a first handover period, which is the maximum value among the handover periods of multiple target receiving antenna ports corresponding to carrier pairs or frequency band pairs. The target receiving antenna ports are the multiple receiving antenna ports corresponding to the target carrier pairs or target frequency band pairs participating in downlink carrier handover. In specific applications, the first handover period X is less than 500µs.

[0074] In some implementations, after sending the carrier switching capability information to the second node in S110 above, at least one of the following is also included:

[0075] 1) Send first capability information to the second node, wherein the first capability information is used to indicate that the first node will not perform downlink data transmission during the first switching period X.

[0076] 2) Send second capability information to the second node, the second capability information being used to indicate that within the handover time difference of the target carrier pair or target frequency band pair of the antenna ports participating in the handover, the first node is capable of performing downlink data transmission on the receiving antenna port corresponding to the carrier or frequency band before or after the handover.

[0077] 3) Send third capability information to the second node, wherein the third capability information is used to indicate that the receiving antenna port corresponding to the carrier or frequency band that did not participate in the downlink carrier handover in the carrier or frequency band before the handover has the capability to perform downlink data transmission.

[0078] 4) Send fourth capability information to the second node, the fourth capability information being used to indicate that, in the case that the carrier and the carrier of the third frequency band share the same receiving antenna port before the handover and the carrier of the third frequency band does not participate in the downlink carrier handover, the first node is capable of performing downlink data transmission on the carrier of the third frequency band.

[0079] In an exemplary embodiment, the frequency bands before and after the handover are band A and band B, respectively. Band A's carrier supports x transmit antenna ports and y receive antenna ports, where x ≤ y. Band B's carrier supports m transmit antenna ports and n receive antenna ports, where m ≤ n. Both x and m are greater than or equal to 0, and x and m are not simultaneously 0. As shown in Figure 4, assuming x > 0, m = 0, and n = y, during TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier handover switches from the carrier of band A to the carrier of band B. The carrier before the handover is the carrier of band A, and the carrier after the handover is the carrier of band B. Before the downlink carrier handover occurs, the first node only performs downlink data transmission on the carrier of band A. In band A carrier, the switching periods of x primary receiving antenna ports participating in the handover are denoted as t1, t2, ..., tx, and the switching periods of (yx) diversity receiving antenna ports participating in the handover are denoted as t1', t2', ..., t(yx)'. Then, the first handover period X for the handover of the downlink carrier from band A to band B is max(t1, t2, ..., tx, t1', t2', ..., t(yx)'). During the first handover period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover period of y receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in band A carrier, the handover time difference t = max(t1,t2,...,tx,t1',t2',...,t(yx)') - min(t1,t2,...,tx,t1',t2',...,t(yx)'). Within this time difference, the first node reports the second capability information, that is, the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0080] During TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier of band B to a carrier of band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier of band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier of band A. Before the downlink carrier switch occurs, the first node only performs downlink data transmission on the carrier of band B. Let the switching periods of x primary receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B be denoted as t11, t12, ..., t1x, (yx), and the switching periods of t11', t12', ..., t1(yx)' be denoted as t11', t12', ..., t1(yx)'. Then, the first switching period X'us of the downlink carrier switching from the carrier of band B to band A is max(t11, t12, ..., t1x, t11', t12', ..., t1(yx)'). During the first switching period X', the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover period of y receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in band B carrier, the handover time difference t = max(t11,t12,...,t1x,t11',t12',...,t1(yx)') - min(t11,t12,...,t1x,t11',t12',...,t1(yx)'). Within this time difference, the first node reports the second capability information, that is, the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in band B carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0081] In Figure 4 above, all receiving antenna ports in the carrier before and after the handover participate in the carrier handover, i.e., n = y. If n ≠ y, then some receiving antenna ports will not participate in the carrier handover, as shown in Figure 5. From TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier handover is from the carrier of band A to the carrier of band B. The carrier before the handover is the carrier of band A, and the carrier after the handover is the carrier of band B. The #x-th main receiving antenna port of band A does not participate in the carrier handover, or the #y-th diversity receiving antenna port does not participate in the carrier handover. The first handover period X of the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in the band A carrier is shown in Figure 4, and will not be elaborated here.

[0082] During the first handover period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, the first node reports third capability information, that is, during the first handover period, the first node still has the ability to perform downlink signal transmission at the #x-th main receiving antenna port or the #y-th diversity receiving antenna port of the Band A carrier until the end of the first handover period.

[0083] During TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band A, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band B. Similarly, during the first switching period X', the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, the first node reports third capability information, that is, during the first switching period, the first node still has the ability to transmit downlink signals on the receiving antenna ports in band B that are not involved in the switch until the end of the switching period.

[0084] For example, Band A's carrier supports 1 transmit antenna and 4 receive antennas, while Band B's carrier supports 0 transmit antennas and 4 receive antennas. In Figure 4, during TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier is switched from Band A's carrier to Band B's carrier. The carrier before the switch is Band A's carrier, and the carrier after the switch is Band B's carrier. The switching period for the primary receive antenna port participating in the switch in Band A is denoted as t1, and the switching periods for the three diversity receive antenna ports participating in the switch are denoted as t1', t2', and t3'. Therefore, the switching period X for the downlink carrier switching from Band A's carrier to Band B is max(t1, t1', t2', t3'). During the first switching period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover time difference t = max(t1,t1',t2',t3') - min(t1,t1',t2',t3'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna port participating in the handover in band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0085] During TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band A. The switching period for the main receiving antenna port participating in the switch in band B is denoted as t11, and the switching periods for the three diversity receiving antenna ports participating in the switch are denoted as t11', t12', and t13'. Therefore, the first switching period X' for the downlink carrier switching from band B to band A is max(t11, t11', t12', t13'). During the first switching period X', the first node does not transmit downlink data by default. Optionally, within the switching time difference t = max(t11, t11', t12', t13') - min(t11, t11', t12', t13'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B until the end of the switching period.

[0086] For example, Band A's carrier supports 1 transmit antenna and 4 receive antennas, while Band B's carrier supports 0 transmit antennas and 2 receive antennas. In Figure 5, from TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier switch is from the carrier of Band A to the carrier of Band B. The carrier before the switch is the carrier of Band A, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier of Band B. The switching period of one primary receive antenna port participating in the switch in Band A is denoted as t1, and the switching period of one diversity receive antenna port (#2) participating in the switch is denoted as t1'. Two diversity receive antenna ports (#3 and #4) in Band A do not participate in the carrier switch. Therefore, the first switching period X for the downlink carrier switching from the carrier of Band A to Band B is max(t1, t1'). During the first switching period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover time difference t = max(t1,t1') - min(t1,t1'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period. Alternatively, the first node reports the third capability information, meaning that during the handover period, the first node still has the capability to transmit downlink signals on the #3 and #4 diversity receiving antenna ports of the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0087] From TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band A. The switching period for one primary receiving antenna port participating in the switch in band B is denoted as t11, and the switching period for one diversity receiving antenna port participating in the switch is denoted as t11'. Therefore, the first switching period X' for the downlink carrier switching from band B to band A is max(t11, t11'). During the first switching period X', the first node does not transmit downlink data by default. Optionally, within the switching time difference t = max(t11, t11') - min(t11, t11'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B until the end of the switching period.

[0088] For example, Band A's carrier supports 2 transmit antennas and 4 receive antennas, while Band B's carrier supports 0 transmit antennas and 2 receive antennas. In Figure 5, from TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier switch is from the carrier of Band A to the carrier of Band B. The carrier before the switch is the carrier of Band A, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier of Band B. The switching period of one primary receive antenna port participating in the switch in Band A is denoted as t1, and the switching period of one diversity receive antenna port (#3) participating in the switch is denoted as t1'. One primary receive antenna port (#2) and one diversity receive antenna port (#4) in Band A do not participate in the carrier switch. Then, the first switching period X for the downlink carrier to switch from the carrier of Band A to Band B is max(t1, t1'). During the first switching period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover time difference t = max(t1,t1') - min(t1,t1'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period. Alternatively, the first node reports the third capability information, meaning that during the first handover period, the first node still has the capability to transmit downlink signals on the #2 and #4 diversity receiving antenna ports of the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0089] From TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band A. The switching period for one primary receiving antenna port participating in the switch in band B is denoted as t11, and the switching period for one diversity receiving antenna port participating in the switch is denoted as t11'. The first switching period X' for the downlink carrier switching from band B to band A is max(t11, t11'). During the first switching period X', the first node does not transmit downlink data by default. Optionally, within the switching time difference t = max(t11, t11') - min(t11, t11'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B until the end of the switching period.

[0090] In another exemplary embodiment, the frequency bands before and after the handover are band A and band B, respectively. The carrier of band A supports x transmit antenna ports and y receive antenna ports, where x ≤ y. The carrier of band B supports m transmit antenna ports and n receive antenna ports, where m ≤ n. Both x and m are greater than or equal to 0, and x and m are not simultaneously 0. For example, in Figure 6, assuming x > 0, m > 0, x = m, n = y, during TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier handover is performed from the carrier of band A to the carrier of band B. The carrier before the handover is the carrier of band A, and the carrier after the handover is the carrier of band B. Before the downlink carrier handover occurs, the first node only performs downlink data transmission on the carrier of band A. In band A carrier, the switching periods of x primary receiving antenna ports participating in the handover are denoted as t1, t2, ..., tx, and the switching periods of (yx) diversity receiving antenna ports participating in the handover are denoted as t1', t2', ..., t(yx)'. Then, the first handover period X for the handover of the downlink carrier from band A to band B is max(t1, t2, ..., tx, t1', t2', ..., t(yx)'). During the first handover period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover period of y receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in band A carrier, the handover time difference t = max(t1,t2,...,tx,t1',t2',...,t(yx)') - min(t1,t2,...,tx,t1',t2',...,t(yx)'). Within this time difference, the first node reports the second capability information, that is, the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0091] From TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier of band B to a carrier of band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier of band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier of band A. Before the downlink carrier switch occurs, the first node only performs downlink data transmission on the carrier of band B. The switching periods of x main receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B are denoted as t11, t12, ..., t1x, (yx), and the switching periods of t11', t12', ..., t1(yx)' are denoted as t11', t12', ..., t1(yx)'. Then, the first switching period X' of the switch from the carrier of band B to the carrier of band A is max(t11, t12, ..., t1x, t11', t12', ..., t1(yx)'). During the first switching period X', the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover period of y receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in band B carrier, the handover time difference t = max(t11,t12,...,t1x,t11',t12',...,t1(yx)') - min(t11,t12,...,t1x,t11',t12',...,t1(yx)'). Within this time difference, the first node reports the second capability information, and the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in band B carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0092] In Figure 6 above, all receiving antenna ports in the carrier before and after the handover participate in the carrier handover, i.e., n = y. If n ≠ y, then some receiving antenna ports do not participate in the carrier handover, as shown in Figure 7. From TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier handover changes from the carrier of band A to the carrier of band B. The carrier before the handover is the carrier of band A, and the carrier after the handover is the carrier of band B. The #x-th main receiving antenna port of band A does not participate in the carrier handover, or the #y-th diversity receiving antenna port does not participate in the carrier handover. The handover period X of the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in the band A carrier is shown in Figure 6, and will not be elaborated here.

[0093] During the first handover period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, the first node reports third capability information, that is, during the first handover period, the first node still has the ability to perform downlink signal transmission at the #x-th main receiving antenna port or the #y-th diversity receiving antenna port of the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0094] During TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band A, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band B. Similarly, during the first switching period X', the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, the first node reports third capability information, that is, during the first switching period, the first node still has the ability to transmit downlink signals on the receiving antenna ports in band B that are not involved in the switch until the end of the switching period.

[0095] For example, Band A's carrier supports 1 transmit antenna and 4 receive antennas, and Band B's carrier supports 1 transmit antenna and 4 receive antennas. In Figure 4, from TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier is switched from the carrier of Band A to the carrier of Band B. The carrier before the switch is the carrier of Band A, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier of Band B. The switching period of the main receive antenna port participating in the switch in Band A is denoted as t1, and the switching periods of the three diversity receive antenna ports participating in the switch are denoted as t1', t2', and t3'. Then, the first switching period X for the downlink carrier to switch from the carrier of Band A to Band B is max(t1, t1', t2', t3'). During the first switching period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover time difference t = max(t1,t1',t2',t3') - min(t1,t1',t2',t3'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna port participating in the handover in band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0096] During TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band A. The switching period for one primary receiving antenna port participating in the switch in band B is denoted as t11, and the switching periods for the three diversity receiving antenna ports participating in the switch are denoted as t11', t12', and t13'. Therefore, the first switching period X' for the downlink carrier switching from band B to band A is max(t11, t11', t12', t13'). Within the first switching period X', the first node does not transmit downlink data by default. Optionally, within the switching time difference t = max(t11, t11', t12', t13') - min(t11, t11', t12', t13'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B until the end of the switching period.

[0097] For example, Band A's carrier supports 1 transmit antenna and 4 receive antennas, while Band B's carrier supports 1 transmit antenna and 2 receive antennas. In Figure 5, from TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier switch is from the carrier of Band A to the carrier of Band B. The carrier before the switch is the carrier of Band A, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier of Band B. The switching period of one primary receive antenna port participating in the switch in Band A is denoted as t1, and the switching period of one diversity receive antenna port (#2) participating in the switch is denoted as t1'. Two diversity receive antenna ports (#3 and #4) in Band A do not participate in the carrier switch. Therefore, the first switching period X for the downlink carrier to switch from the carrier of Band A to Band B is max(t1, t1'). During the first switching period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover time difference t = max(t1,t1') - min(t1,t1'), the first node reports its capability, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period. Additionally, optionally, the first node reports a second capability information, meaning that during the first handover period, the first node still has the capability to transmit downlink signals on the #3 and #4 diversity receiving antenna ports of the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0098] During TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band A. The switching period for one primary receiving antenna port participating in the switch in band B is denoted as t11, and the switching period for one diversity receiving antenna port participating in the switch is denoted as t11'. The first switching period X' for the downlink carrier switching from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A is max(t11, t11'). During the first switching period X', the first node does not transmit downlink data by default. Optionally, during the switching time difference t = max(t11, t11') - min(t11, t11'), the first node reports third capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B until the end of the switching period.

[0099] For example, Band A's carrier supports 2 transmit antennas and 4 receive antennas, while Band B's carrier supports 1 transmit antenna and 2 receive antennas. In Figure 5, from TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier switch is from Band A's carrier to Band B's carrier. The carrier before the switch is Band A's carrier, and the carrier after the switch is Band B's carrier. The switching period of one primary receive antenna port participating in the switch in Band A's carrier is denoted as t1, and the switching period of one diversity receive antenna port (#3) participating in the switch is denoted as t1'. One primary receive antenna port (#2) and one diversity receive antenna port (#4) in Band A's carrier do not participate in the carrier switch. Therefore, the first switching period X for the downlink carrier switch from Band A's carrier to Band B is max(t1, t1'). During the first switching period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover time difference t = max(t1,t1') - min(t1,t1'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the handover in the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period. Alternatively, the first node reports the third capability information, meaning that during the first handover period, the first node still has the capability to transmit downlink signals on the #2 and #4 diversity receiving antenna ports of the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0100] From TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band A. The switching period of one primary receiving antenna port participating in the switch in band B is denoted as t11, and the switching period of one diversity receiving antenna port participating in the switch is denoted as t11'. The first switching period X' of the downlink carrier switching from band B to band A is max(t11, t11'). During the first switching period X', the first node does not transmit downlink data by default. Optionally, during the switching time difference t = max(t11, t11') - min(t11, t11'), the first node reports third capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B until the end of the switching period.

[0101] For example, Band A's carrier supports 2 transmit antennas and 4 receive antennas, while Band B's carrier supports 1 transmit antenna and 4 receive antennas. In Figure 5, from TTI1 to TTI2, the downlink carrier switch is from the carrier of Band A to the carrier of Band B. The carrier before the switch is the carrier of Band A, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier of Band B. The switching period of one primary receive antenna port participating in the switch in Band A is denoted as t1, and the switching periods of the two diversity receive antenna ports (#3 and #4) participating in the switch are denoted as t1' and t2'. One primary receive antenna port (#2) in Band A does not participate in the carrier switch. Therefore, the first switching period X for the downlink carrier to switch from the carrier of Band A to Band B is max(t1, t1', t2'). During the first switching period X, the first node does not perform downlink data transmission by default. Optionally, within the handover time difference t = max(t1,t1',t2') - min(t1,t1',t2'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna port participating in the handover in the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period. Alternatively, the first node reports the third capability information, meaning that during the first handover period, the first node still has the capability to transmit downlink signals on the #2 main receiving antenna port of the Band A carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0102] During TTI2 to TTI3, the downlink carrier is switched from a carrier in band B to a carrier in band A. The carrier before the switch is the carrier in band B, and the carrier after the switch is the carrier in band A. The switching period of one primary receiving antenna port participating in the switch in band B is denoted as t11, and the switching periods of the two diversity receiving antenna ports (#2 and #3) participating in the switch are denoted as t11' and t12'. Therefore, the first switching period X' of the downlink carrier switching from band B to band A is max(t11, t11', t12'). During the first switching period X', the first node does not transmit downlink data by default. Optionally, during the switching time difference t = max(t11, t11', t12') - min(t11, t11', t12'), the first node reports the second capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on the receiving antenna ports participating in the switch in band B until the end of the switching period. Alternatively, the first node can also report third capability information, that is, during the handover period, the first node still has the ability to transmit downlink signals at the #4 main receiving antenna port of the Band B carrier until the end of the handover period.

[0103] In yet another exemplary embodiment, there is a band C, which shares a receiving antenna with band A or band B, or band A and band B, and the downlink carrier of band C does not participate in the downlink carrier switching between the band A carrier and the band B carrier.

[0104] As shown in Figure 8, the frequency bands before and after the handover are band A and band B, respectively. Band A's carrier supports x transmit antenna ports and y receive antenna ports, where x ≤ y. Band B's carrier supports m transmit antenna ports and n receive antenna ports, where m ≤ n, x > 0, and m = 0. Based on the embodiment described in Figure 4 or Figure 5, band C carries a downlink carrier, and the downlink carrier of band C does not participate in the downlink carrier handover between band A and band B. During the handover period, optionally, the first node reports the fourth capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on band C.

[0105] As shown in Figure 9, the frequency bands before and after the handover are band A and band B, respectively. Band A's carrier supports x transmit antenna ports and y receive antenna ports, where x ≤ y. Band B's carrier supports m transmit antenna ports and n receive antenna ports, where m ≤ n, x > 0, and m > 0. Based on the embodiment described in Figure 6 or Figure 7, the downlink carrier of band C does not participate in the downlink carrier handover between band A and band B. During the handover period, optionally, the first node reports the fourth capability information, meaning that the first node can still transmit downlink data on band C.

[0106] In the exemplary embodiments described above, the main transmit / receive antenna port is one that can simultaneously support both transmission and reception, while the diversity receive antenna can only receive downlink data. In the frequency bands supported by 5G, 5G-A, and future 6G, some bands only support downlink and not uplink, meaning the main transmit / receive antenna port can also only receive downlink data. For ease of description, Figures 4, 5, and 8 do not differentiate between the main transmit / receive antenna ports for different frequency bands.

[0107] It should be noted that the above embodiments provide illustrations and explanations of the handover period on the band A carrier. However, when a downlink carrier handover occurs, the handover period can also occur on the band B carrier. When the handover period is on the band B carrier, the carrier handover method, the handover period, and the related first node reporting method are described in the same way as when the handover period is on the band A carrier, and will not be repeated here.

[0108] In some embodiments, in response to the carrier switching capability information not including the first switching period, or the carrier switching capability information including the first switching period and the first switching period satisfying a third condition, the second switching period is the switching period agreed upon by the first node and the second node;

[0109] The third condition includes at least one of the following:

[0110] 1) The first switching cycle is a set value.

[0111] 2) The first switching period is less than the minimum value of the switching periods agreed upon by the first node and the second node.

[0112] 3) The first switching period is greater than the maximum value of the switching periods agreed upon by the first node and the second node.

[0113] The above settings can be adjusted as needed. In specific applications, the setting can be set to 0us.

[0114] In an exemplary embodiment, when the first node does not report a first switching period, the second node configures a second switching period according to the switching period agreed upon by the first and second nodes. This occurs when the first node reports a first switching period of 0µs; or when the first switching period is less than the minimum value of the switching period agreed upon by the first and second nodes; or when the first switching period is greater than the maximum value of the switching period agreed upon by the first and second nodes. For example, if the switching periods agreed upon by the first and second nodes are {35µs, 140µs, 210µs}, and the first node reports a first switching period of 5µs, or the first node reports a first switching period of 300µs, the second node configures the second switching period according to the switching period agreed upon by the first and second nodes.

[0115] In other embodiments, in response to the carrier switching capability information including a first switching period, wherein the first switching period is a value between the minimum and maximum values ​​of the switching periods agreed upon by the first node and the second node, the second switching period is a target switching period, wherein the target switching period is a value greater than the first switching period among the switching periods agreed upon by the first node and the second node.

[0116] In an exemplary embodiment, the first handover period reported by the first node is a value between the minimum and maximum handover periods agreed upon by the first and second nodes. For example, the agreed handover periods are {35µs, 140µs, 210µs}, and the handover period reported by the first node is 150µs. Then, the second node will configure a second handover period according to a handover period larger than the first handover period reported by the first node. In the example above, a handover period larger than 150µs is 210µs, and the second node will configure or schedule the downlink carrier handover of the first node according to a handover period of 210µs.

[0117] Furthermore, the switching configuration information also includes node configuration information, which is used to indicate that the first node can simultaneously receive downlink carriers in all frequency bands during inter-band downlink discontinuous carrier aggregation.

[0118] In other words, for the three situations mentioned above in the first handover period, the second node does not enable the carrier handover capability information of the first node, and the second node configures the first node to be able to receive downlink carriers simultaneously in all frequency bands in inter-band discontinuous carrier aggregation.

[0119] In other embodiments, in response to the carrier switching capability information including a first switching period, the first switching period being one of the agreed switching periods of the first node and the second node, and the second switching period being the first switching period.

[0120] In other words, if the first handover period reported by the first node is the handover period agreed upon by the first node and the second node, then the second node will configure or schedule the downlink carrier handover of the first node according to the agreed handover period.

[0121] During the second handover cycle, the second node does not schedule or configure downlink data transmission of the first node by default. Before or after the handover, the second node only schedules or configures downlink data transmission of one frequency band carrier of the first node. The specific carrier switching process is described and illustrated in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here. Optionally, if the first node reports second capability information to the second node, informing the second node that within the time difference of the handover of all participating antenna ports, the first node still has the capability to perform downlink data transmission on the carrier before or after the handover, the second node can schedule or configure the first node to perform downlink data transmission on the carrier before the handover within the handover time difference until the end of the handover period; Optionally, if the carrier before the handover of the first node has receiving antenna ports that did not participate in the downlink carrier handover, and the first node informs the second node that it has the capability to perform downlink data transmission on these receiving antenna ports that did not participate in the carrier handover, the second node can schedule or configure the first node to perform downlink data transmission on the receiving antenna ports of the carrier before the handover that did not participate in the carrier handover until the end of the handover period; Optionally, if the carrier before the handover of the first node and the third frequency band share a receiving antenna port, and the carrier of the third frequency band does not participate in the downlink carrier handover, the second node can schedule or configure the first node to perform downlink data transmission on the carrier of the third frequency band until the end of the handover period.

[0122] In some implementations, the switching configuration information corresponds to each frequency band used by the first node; and / or, the switching configuration information corresponds to each combination of frequency bands used by the first node; and / or, the switching configuration information corresponds to each frequency band in each combination of frequency bands used by the first node.

[0123] In other words, the second node can send corresponding handover configuration information for each frequency band used by the first node; the second node can send corresponding handover configuration information for each combination of frequency bands used by the first node; and the second node can also send corresponding handover configuration information for each frequency band in each combination of frequency bands used by the first node. Therefore, the handover configuration information obtained by the first node corresponds to each frequency band used, or to each combination of frequency bands used, or to each frequency band in each combination of frequency bands used.

[0124] S130, according to the switching configuration information, perform downlink carrier switching between the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

[0125] In some embodiments of this application, the first node performs downlink carrier handover between the first frequency band and the second frequency band according to the handover configuration information configured by the second node.

[0126] In some embodiments, S103 described above, performing downlink carrier handover between the first frequency band and the second frequency band according to the handover configuration information configured by the second node, includes:

[0127] Step 1: Determine the position of the second switching cycle based on the switching configuration information configured in the second node.

[0128] Step 2: At the position of the second switching cycle, perform downlink carrier switching between the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

[0129] The second handover cycle is located on either the carrier of the first frequency band or the carrier of the second frequency band. Before and after the handover, the first node uses only one carrier of a frequency band for downlink data transmission. The location of the second handover cycle is used to configure the downlink transmission handover cycle. For multiple carriers in the same frequency band, the value of the downlink reception handover cycle location configured by the base station is the same.

[0130] It should be noted that the above embodiments pertain to carrier switching of two frequency bands in the downlink receive switching option for switching a single downlink (e.g., switchedDL). In actual applications or deployments, the transmission time interval (TTI) can be a subframe, a slot, or a specific symbol. The first node can also report frequency band combinations that support two or more frequency bands, and the second node can configure the first node to switch three and / or four frequency bands in the downlink receive switching option for switching dual downlink (e.g., DualDL). When the second node configures the first node to switch the downlink receive switching option for switching dual downlink (e.g., DualDL), the switching method for carrier pairs or band pairs in the option of switching a single downlink (e.g., switchedDL) applies to each carrier pair or band pair in dual downlink (e.g., DualDL).

[0131] Figure 10 shows a flowchart of a carrier switching method provided in another embodiment of this application. The execution subject of this method can be a second node, which can be one of the following in the communication network: a base station (gNB), a relay node that performs relay functions, and a receiving point, etc., as shown in Figure 10. The method includes the following steps:

[0132] S1010: Obtain carrier switching capability information sent by the first node.

[0133] S1020, Based on the carrier switching capability information, determine the switching configuration information.

[0134] S1030, the handover configuration information is sent to the first node so that the first node performs downlink carrier handover between the first frequency band and the second frequency band according to the handover configuration information.

[0135] In some implementations, obtaining the carrier switching capability information transmitted by the first node in S1010 above includes at least one of the following:

[0136] Obtain the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band sent by the first node.

[0137] Obtain the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band combination sent by the first node.

[0138] Obtain the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band in each frequency band combination sent by the first node.

[0139] In some implementations, sending the switching configuration information to the first node in S1030 above includes at least one of the following:

[0140] Based on the carrier switching capability information, the first node determines the frequency bands used by the first node and sends the switching configuration information for each frequency band.

[0141] Based on the carrier switching capability information, determine the various frequency band combinations used by the first node, and send the switching configuration information for each frequency band combination.

[0142] Based on the carrier switching capability information, determine the various frequency band combinations used by the first node, and send the switching configuration information for each frequency band in the various frequency band combinations.

[0143] In some implementations, after sending the switching configuration information to the first node in S1030 above, the method further includes:

[0144] Obtain the capability information sent by the first node, the capability information including first capability information, second capability information, third capability information and fourth capability information.

[0145] Based on the capability information sent by the first node, schedule or configure the downlink data transmission of the first node.

[0146] Wherein, the first capability information is used to indicate that the first node does not perform downlink data transmission during the first switching period included in the carrier switching capability information; the second capability information is used to indicate that within the switching time difference of the target carrier pair or target frequency band pair participating in the switching, the first node is capable of performing downlink data transmission on the receiving antenna port corresponding to the carrier or frequency band before or after the switching; the third capability information is used to indicate that the receiving antenna port corresponding to the carrier or frequency band that did not participate in the downlink carrier switching in the carrier or frequency band before the switching is capable of performing downlink data transmission; the fourth capability information is used to indicate that when the carrier and the carrier of the third frequency band share the receiving antenna port before the switching and the carrier of the third frequency band does not participate in the downlink carrier switching, the first node is capable of performing downlink data transmission on the carrier of the third frequency band.

[0147] Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of the network device provided in the embodiments of this application. Referring to the figure, at the hardware level, the network device 1100 includes a processor 1110, and optionally includes an internal bus 1120, a network interface 1130, and a memory 1140. The memory 1140 may include RAM 1141, such as high-speed random-access memory (RAM), and may also include non-volatile memory 1812, such as at least one disk storage device. Of course, the network device 1100 may also include other hardware required for other services.

[0148] The processor 1110, network interface 1130, and memory can be interconnected via an internal bus 1120. This internal bus 1120 can be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be categorized as an address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only a single bidirectional arrow is used in this diagram, but this does not imply that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0149] Memory 1140 stores programs. Specifically, the program may include program code, which includes computer operation instructions. Memory 1140 may include main memory 1141 and non-volatile memory 1142, and provides instructions and data to processor 1110.

[0150] Processor 1110 reads the corresponding computer program from non-volatile memory 1142 into memory and then runs it, forming a device for locating the target user at the logical level. Processor 1110 executes the program stored in memory and specifically performs the method disclosed in the embodiment shown in FIG1 or FIG10, and implements the functions and beneficial effects of the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0151] The methods disclosed in the embodiments shown in Figures 1 or 10 of this application can be applied to or implemented by the processor 1110. The processor 1110 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above methods can be completed by integrated logic circuits in the hardware of the processor 1110 or by instructions in software form. The processor 1110 can be a general-purpose processor, including a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), etc.; it can also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly manifested as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can reside in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method.

[0152] The computer device can also execute the methods described in the preceding method embodiments and achieve the functions and beneficial effects of the methods described in the preceding method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0153] Of course, in addition to software implementation, the network device 1100 of this application does not exclude other implementation methods, such as logic devices or a combination of hardware and software, etc. In other words, the execution subject of the following processing flow is not limited to each logic unit, but can also be hardware or logic devices.

[0154] This application also proposes a computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more programs. When executed by a network device including multiple applications, the one or more programs cause the network device to perform the methods disclosed in the embodiments shown in FIG1 or FIG10 and achieve the functions and beneficial effects of the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0155] The computer-readable storage medium includes read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks, etc.

[0156] Furthermore, this application also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program includes program instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implement the following process: the method disclosed in the embodiment shown in FIG1 or FIG10 and achieve the functions and beneficial effects of the methods described in the preceding method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0157] The embodiments of this application can be applied to various network device collaboration or interconnection scenarios, including: collaboration and interconnection between mobile phones and laptops / tablets; collaboration and interconnection between mobile terminals and smart TVs / monitors; collaboration and interconnection between mobile phones or tablets and in-vehicle entertainment systems; collaboration and interconnection between mobile terminals and smart conferencing systems, etc. This satisfies users' diverse needs in smart home, smart office, and smart travel scenarios.

[0158] In summary, the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this application and does not limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application.

[0159] The systems, devices, modules, or units described in the above embodiments can be implemented by computer chips or entities, or by products with certain functions. A typical implementation device is a computer. Specifically, a computer can be, for example, a personal computer, laptop computer, cellular phone, camera phone, smartphone, personal digital assistant, media player, navigation device, email device, game console, tablet computer, wearable device, or any combination of these devices.

[0160] Computer-readable media includes both permanent and non-permanent, removable and non-removable media that can store information by any method or technology. Information can be computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase-change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, CD-ROM, digital versatile optical disc (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transferable medium that can store information accessible to a computing device. As defined herein, computer-readable media does not include transient computer-readable media, such as modulated data signals and carrier waves.

[0161] It should also be noted that the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0162] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. Similar or identical parts between embodiments can be referred to interchangeably. Each embodiment focuses on describing the differences from other embodiments. In particular, the system embodiments are basically similar to the method embodiments, so the description is relatively simple; relevant parts can be referred to the descriptions in the method embodiments.

Claims

1. A carrier switching method, applied to a first node, comprising: Send carrier switching capability information to the second node; Obtain the switching configuration information configured for the second node; Based on the switching configuration information, a downlink carrier handover between the first frequency band and the second frequency band is performed.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The carrier switching capability information includes at least one of the following: The first node supports the combination of inter-band discontinuous downlink carrier aggregation frequency bands; The frequency bands supported by the first node; The center frequency supported by the first node; The bandwidth supported by the first node; The subcarrier spacing supported by the first node; The number of transmit antenna ports and the number of receive antenna ports supported by the first node; The power level supported by the first node, wherein the power level is used to indicate the maximum output power corresponding to the combination of discontinuous carrier aggregation frequency bands in the different bands; The first node supports target carrier pairs for carrier switching; The first node supports target frequency band pairs for carrier switching, and the target frequency band pairs include a first frequency band and a second frequency band; The first switching cycle supported by the first node; The number of transport layers supported by the first node.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The target carrier pair includes a carrier in a first frequency band and a carrier in a second frequency band; the carrier in the first frequency band and the carrier in the second frequency band include at least one of the following: frequency division duplex carrier, supplementary downlink carrier, and time division duplex carrier.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The first switching period is the maximum value among the switching periods of the carrier pairs or frequency band pairs corresponding to the multiple target receiving antenna ports, and the target receiving antenna ports are the multiple receiving antenna ports corresponding to the target carrier pairs or target frequency band pairs participating in downlink carrier switching.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein, After transmitting the carrier switching capability information to the second node, at least one of the following is also included: Send first capability information to the second node, wherein the first capability information is used to indicate that the first node will not perform downlink data transmission during the first handover period; Send second capability information to the second node. The second capability information is used to indicate that within the handover time difference of the target carrier pair or target frequency band pair of the antenna ports participating in the handover, the first node has the capability to perform downlink data transmission on the receiving antenna port corresponding to the carrier or frequency band before or after the handover. Send third capability information to the second node, the third capability information being used to indicate that the receiving antenna port corresponding to the carrier or frequency band that did not participate in the downlink carrier handover in the carrier or frequency band before the handover has the capability to perform downlink data transmission. The first node sends fourth capability information to the second node, the fourth capability information being used to indicate that, in the case that the carrier and the carrier of the third frequency band share the same receiving antenna port before the handover and the carrier of the third frequency band does not participate in the downlink carrier handover, the first node is capable of performing downlink data transmission on the carrier of the third frequency band.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The transmission of carrier switching capability information to the second node includes at least one of the following: Send carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band used by the first node to the second node; Send carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band combination used by the first node to the second node; The carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band in the various frequency band combinations used by the first node is sent to the second node.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The switching configuration information includes at least one of the following: Primary cell identifier, secondary cell identifier, center frequency, bandwidth, physical cell identifier, number of transmit antenna ports, number of receive antenna ports, maximum output power, number of transmission layers, second handover cycle, downlink receive handover options, location of the second handover cycle, measurement and event triggering conditions, and handover command.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, In response to the carrier of the first frequency band satisfying the first condition, the position of the second switching period is the boundary point position of the transmission time interval of the carrier of the first frequency band; The first condition includes a target time interval greater than or equal to the second switching period and downlink transmission of the carrier of the first frequency band within the target time interval; the target time interval is the interval between a first time point and a second time point, the second time point is the start time point of downlink data transmission of the carrier of the second frequency band, and the first time point is a preset time point before the second time point.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein, In response to the carrier of the first frequency band satisfying the second condition, the position of the second switching period is any position within the target time period, wherein the target time period is the time period between the downlink transmission termination time of the carrier of the first frequency band and the downlink transmission start time of the carrier of the second frequency band. The second condition includes a target time interval greater than or equal to the second switching period and whether the carrier of the first frequency band has downlink transmission within the target time interval; the target time interval is the interval between a first time point and a second time point, the second time point is the start time point of downlink data transmission of the carrier of the second frequency band, and the first time point is a preset time point before the second time point.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The position of the second switching cycle is the time point agreed upon by the first node and the second node.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The second switching cycle is located on the carrier of the first frequency band; or, The second switching cycle is located on the carrier of the second frequency band.

12. The method according to claim 7, wherein, In response to the carrier switching capability information not including the first switching period, or the carrier switching capability information including the first switching period and the first switching period satisfying the third condition, the second switching period is the switching period agreed upon by the first node and the second node; The third condition includes at least one of the following: The first switching cycle is a set value; The first switching period is less than the minimum value of the switching periods agreed upon by the first node and the second node; The first switching period is greater than the maximum value of the switching periods agreed upon by the first node and the second node.

13. The method according to claim 7, wherein, In response to the carrier switching capability information including a first switching period, wherein the first switching period is a value between the minimum and maximum values ​​of the switching periods agreed upon by the first node and the second node, and the second switching period is a target switching period, wherein the target switching period is a value greater than the first switching period among the switching periods agreed upon by the first node and the second node.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein, The switching configuration information also includes node configuration information, which is used to indicate that the first node can simultaneously receive downlink carriers in all frequency bands during inter-band downlink discontinuous carrier aggregation.

15. The method according to claim 7, wherein, In response to the carrier switching capability information including a first switching period, the first switching period being one of the agreed switching periods of the first node and the second node, and the second switching period being the first switching period.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The switching configuration information corresponds to the frequency bands used by the first node; and / or, The switching configuration information corresponds to the various frequency band combinations used by the first node; and / or, The switching configuration information corresponds to each frequency band in the various frequency band combinations used by the first node.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The step of performing downlink carrier handover between the first frequency band and the second frequency band according to the handover configuration information configured by the second node includes: Based on the switching configuration information configured in the second node, the position of the second switching cycle is determined; At the position of the second switching cycle, downlink carrier switching between the first frequency band and the second frequency band is performed.

18. A carrier switching method, applied to a second node, comprising: Obtain the carrier switching capability information sent by the first node; Based on the carrier switching capability information, determine the switching configuration information; The handover configuration information is sent to the first node so that the first node performs downlink carrier handover between the first frequency band and the second frequency band according to the handover configuration information.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, The acquisition of carrier switching capability information sent by the first node includes at least one of the following: Obtain the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band sent by the first node; Obtain the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band combination sent by the first node; Obtain the carrier switching capability information corresponding to each frequency band in each frequency band combination sent by the first node.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein, Sending the switching configuration information to the first node includes at least one of the following: Based on the carrier switching capability information, determine the frequency bands used by the first node, and send the switching configuration information for each frequency band; Based on the carrier switching capability information, determine the frequency band combinations used by the first node, and send the switching configuration information of each frequency band combination; Based on the carrier switching capability information, determine the various frequency band combinations used by the first node, and send the switching configuration information for each frequency band in the various frequency band combinations.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein, After sending the switching configuration information to the first node, the method further includes: Obtain the capability information sent by the first node, wherein the capability information includes first capability information, second capability information, third capability information and fourth capability information; Based on the capability information sent by the first node, schedule or configure the downlink data transmission of the first node; Wherein, the first capability information is used to indicate that the first node does not perform downlink data transmission during the first handover period included in the carrier handover capability information; the second capability information is used to indicate that within the handover time difference between the target carrier pair or target frequency band pair participating in the handover, the first node is capable of performing downlink data transmission on the receiving antenna port corresponding to the carrier or frequency band before or after the handover; the third capability information is used to indicate that the receiving antenna port corresponding to the carrier or frequency band that did not participate in the downlink carrier handover in the carrier or frequency band before the handover is capable of performing downlink data transmission; the fourth capability information is used to indicate that when the carrier and the carrier of the third frequency band share the receiving antenna port before the handover, and the carrier of the third frequency band does not participate in the downlink carrier handover, the first node is capable of performing downlink data transmission on the carrier of the third frequency band.

22. A network device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21.

23. A computer-readable storage medium on which a program or instructions are stored, wherein the program or instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program including program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 21.

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