Communication method and apparatus
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/CN2026/078839
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2025-02-28
- Filing Date
- 2026-02-12
- Publication Date
- 2026-09-03
Smart Images
Figure CN2026078839_03092026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Communication methods and devices
[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510239380.2, filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on February 28, 2025, entitled "Communication Method and Apparatus", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field
[0002] This application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly to communication methods and apparatus. Background Technology
[0003] The network can send downlink control information (DCI) during the paging occasion (PO), which is used to schedule paging messages. The paging DCI can include scheduling information for the paging messages. Terminals in the radio resource control (RRC) idle state (RRC_IDLE) or RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE) receive the paging DCI in their corresponding PO and receive paging messages according to the scheduling of the paging DCI. If the paging message includes the terminal's identifier, the terminal initiates an RRC connection establishment procedure or an RRC connection restoration procedure.
[0004] However, in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), the distance between the terminal and the satellite is relatively far. Even if the terminal can receive the paging sent by the network, it may not be able to respond to the paging normally due to link loss and other reasons, which will lead to service failure. Summary of the Invention
[0005] This application provides a communication method and apparatus that can reduce link loss during the paging response process.
[0006] Firstly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a first terminal, or by a component of the first terminal, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the first terminal, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first terminal. The method includes: receiving first information, the first information indicating whether a paging associated with the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, and / or indicating whether a paging associated with the first terminal is a service among at least one services; and determining whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0007] Based on this scheme, the network indicates to the first terminal via first information whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated terminal (i.e., at least one of the aforementioned terminals), and / or whether the associated service is a designated service (i.e., at least one of the aforementioned services), enabling the first terminal to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information. For example, if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated terminal, and / or if the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated service, the first terminal executes a paging prompt. When the first terminal executes a paging prompt, the user (or user of the first terminal) can improve the communication conditions of the first terminal based on the paging prompt, such as moving the first terminal to an open area, thereby reducing link loss and enabling the first terminal to respond to paging normally, thus ensuring normal service transmission.
[0008] In one possible design, determining whether to execute a paging prompt based on first information includes: if the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or if it indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service, then determining to execute a paging prompt.
[0009] Based on this possible design, the first terminal only executes the paging prompt after receiving a paging triggered by a designated terminal / service, thereby reducing unnecessary paging prompts and improving user experience. Furthermore, it avoids the first terminal executing unnecessary paging prompts and responses, thus saving terminal power consumption.
[0010] In one possible design, if it is determined that a paging prompt will be executed based on the first information, the method further includes: determining paging prompt information; the paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0011] Secondly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a first terminal, or by a component of the first terminal, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the first terminal, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first terminal. The method includes: receiving first information, wherein the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service; and determining whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information.
[0012] Based on this scheme, the network uses first information to indicate to the first terminal the specific terminal (i.e., the second terminal) and / or the specific service (i.e., the first service) associated with the paging of the first terminal, enabling the first terminal to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information. For example, if the second terminal is a designated terminal, and / or the first service is a designated service, the first terminal executes the paging prompt. When the first terminal executes the paging prompt, the user (or user of the first terminal) can improve the communication conditions of the first terminal based on the paging prompt, such as moving the first terminal to an open area, thereby reducing link loss and enabling the first terminal to respond to the paging normally, thus ensuring normal service transmission.
[0013] In one possible design, the first information includes information from the second terminal and / or information from the first service.
[0014] In one possible design, determining whether to execute a paging prompt based on first information includes: determining to execute a paging prompt if the second terminal is one of at least one terminals, and / or if the first service is one of at least one services. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0015] Based on this possible design, the first terminal only executes the paging prompt after receiving a paging triggered by a designated terminal / service, thereby reducing unnecessary paging prompts and improving user experience. Furthermore, it avoids the first terminal executing unnecessary paging prompts and responses, thus saving terminal power consumption.
[0016] In one possible design, if it is determined that a paging prompt will be executed based on the first information, the method further includes: determining paging prompt information. The paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one of at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one of at least one services; or, the paging prompt information includes information about a second terminal and / or information about a first service. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and the at least one service includes the first service.
[0017] Based on this possible design, if the paging prompt information includes information about the second terminal and / or the first service, it can enable users to know the specific terminal and / or specific service associated with this paging, providing users with more detailed paging prompts and further improving the user experience.
[0018] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in one possible design, receiving the first information includes: receiving a paging message, the paging message including the first information; wherein the paging message further includes second information, the second information indicating the identifier of the first terminal, and the first information being associated with the second information. For example, when the paging message indicates / includes the identifier of the first terminal, it can be considered or understood that: the paging message is used to page the first terminal, or in other words, to implement paging of the first terminal, or in other words, to implement paging of the first terminal by the network.
[0019] Based on this possible design, a paging message can carry the identifiers of multiple terminals simultaneously, paging multiple terminals. However, the paging sources (such as terminals / services) of different paged terminals may be different. Therefore, designing the association between the first information and the second information can enable the first terminal to correctly obtain the terminal / service associated with the paging of the first terminal, thereby correctly executing the paging prompt and avoiding unnecessary paging prompts.
[0020] In conjunction with the first or second aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: sending third information, the third information including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0021] Thirdly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a radio access network (RAN) node, or by components of the RAN node, such as the RAN node's processor, chip, or chip system, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the RAN node's functions. The method includes: receiving fourth information, which triggers the RAN node to page a first terminal; and sending first information based on the fourth information, which indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive. The technical effects brought about by this third aspect are similar to those brought about by the first aspect described above, and will not be repeated here.
[0022] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving fifth information; and determining first information based on the fifth information. The fifth information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service; or, the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service.
[0023] In one possible design, the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal. If at least one terminal includes the second terminal, the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal; and / or, the fifth information indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service. If at least one service includes the first service, the first information indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0024] Fourthly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a RAN node, or by a component of the RAN node, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the RAN node, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the RAN node. The method includes: receiving fourth information, which triggers the RAN node to page a first terminal; sending first information according to the fourth information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service. The technical effects of this fourth aspect are similar to those of the second aspect described above, and will not be repeated here.
[0025] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving fifth information, the fifth information indicating that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicating that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; and determining the first information based on the fifth information.
[0026] In one possible design, the first information includes information from the second terminal and / or information from the first service.
[0027] In conjunction with the third or fourth aspect, in one possible design, sending the first information includes: sending a paging message, the paging message including the first information; wherein the paging message further includes second information, the second information indicating the identifier of the first terminal, and the first information being associated with the second information.
[0028] In conjunction with the third or fourth aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: receiving third information, the third information including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0029] Fifthly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a core network device, or by a component of the core network device, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the core network device, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the core network device. The method includes: sending fourth information, which triggers a radio access network (RAN) node to page a first terminal; sending fifth information, which indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0030] Based on this scheme, when the core network equipment triggers the RAN node to page the first terminal, it also indicates to the RAN node whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated terminal, and / or whether the associated service is a designated service. This allows the RAN node to also provide this indication to the first terminal when paging it, enabling the first terminal to determine whether to execute the paging prompt based on the indication. If the first terminal executes the paging prompt, the user (or user of the first terminal) can improve the communication conditions of the first terminal based on the paging prompt, such as moving the first terminal to an open area, thereby reducing link loss and enabling the first terminal to respond to the paging normally, thus ensuring normal service transmission.
[0031] In one possible design, the method further includes: acquiring third information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service; and determining fifth information based on the third information.
[0032] Sixthly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a core network device, or by a component of the core network device, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the core network device, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the core network device. The method includes: sending fourth information, which triggers a radio access network (RAN) node to page a first terminal; and sending fifth information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service.
[0033] Based on this scheme, when the core network equipment triggers the RAN node to page the first terminal, it also indicates to the RAN node the specific terminal and / or specific service associated with the paging of the first terminal. This allows the RAN node to provide corresponding instructions to the first terminal when paging it, enabling the first terminal to determine whether to execute the paging prompt based on the instructions. If the first terminal executes the paging prompt, the user (or user of the first terminal) can improve the communication conditions of the first terminal based on the paging prompt, such as moving the first terminal to an open area, thereby reducing link loss and enabling the first terminal to respond to the paging normally, thus ensuring normal service transmission.
[0034] In a seventh aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a first terminal, or by a component of the first terminal, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the first terminal, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first terminal. The method includes: sending first information, the first information including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein a paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and a paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive; and receiving a paging message, the paging message including an identifier of the first terminal, wherein the paging of the first terminal is associated with at least one terminal and / or with at least one service.
[0035] Based on this scheme, the paging received by the first terminal can be initiated or triggered by a terminal / service that the first terminal is interested in. This allows the first terminal to execute paging prompts based on the paging message. When the first terminal executes paging prompts, the user (or user) of the first terminal can improve the communication conditions of the first terminal based on the paging prompts, such as moving the first terminal to an open area, thereby reducing link loss and enabling the first terminal to respond to paging normally, thus ensuring normal service transmission. Furthermore, even if the paged terminal executes paging prompts without making a judgment, unnecessary paging prompts will not occur, thus minimizing interference to the user and improving the user experience. Moreover, the avoidance of unnecessary paging prompts by the paged terminal can reduce terminal power consumption.
[0036] In one possible design, the method further includes: performing a paging prompt based on the paging message.
[0037] In one possible design, the method further includes: the paging message also includes third information. The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services; or, the third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service, wherein at least one terminal includes a second terminal, and at least one service includes the first service.
[0038] Based on this possible design, the network also sends third information to the first terminal, enabling the first terminal to provide more refined paging prompts based on the third information, thereby further improving the user experience.
[0039] Eighthly, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a core network device, or by a component of the core network device, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the core network device, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the core network device. The method includes: acquiring first information, the first information including information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, wherein a paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and a paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive; and determining, based on the first information, whether to send second information, the second information being used to trigger a paging of the first terminal by a radio access network (RAN) node.
[0040] Based on this scheme, before triggering a paging process for the first terminal by the RAN node, the core network can determine the nature of the paging process based on information about the designated terminal and / or designated service corresponding to that first terminal. If it is determined that the paging of the first terminal was initiated or triggered by the designated terminal and / or designated service, the subsequent paging process is executed, i.e., the second information is sent. In other words, in this scheme, the paging received by the first terminal is filtered by the network and is initiated or triggered by a terminal / service that the first terminal is interested in. Even if the first terminal executes the paging prompt without making a determination, unnecessary paging prompts will not occur, thus minimizing interference to the user and improving the user experience. Furthermore, if the first terminal executes the paging prompt, the user (or user of the first terminal) can improve the communication conditions of the first terminal based on the paging prompt, such as moving the first terminal to an open area, thereby reducing link loss and enabling the first terminal to respond to the paging normally, thus ensuring normal service transmission. In addition, the paged terminal will not receive unnecessary paging prompts, which can reduce terminal power consumption.
[0041] In one possible design, determining whether to send second information based on first information includes: determining to send second information if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0042] In one possible design, if the method determines to send the second information based on the first information, it further includes sending the second information.
[0043] In one possible design, if it is determined that a second message will be sent, the method further includes sending a third message. The third message indicates that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the paging associated service of the first terminal is a service among at least one services; or, the third message indicates that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the paging associated service of the first terminal is a first service, wherein at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and at least one service includes the first service.
[0044] Ninthly, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a RAN node, or by a component of the RAN node, such as a processor, chip, or chip system of the RAN node, or by a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the RAN node. The method includes: receiving second information, the second information being used to trigger the RAN node to page a first terminal; and determining whether to page the first terminal based on the first information, wherein the first information includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, the paging associated with at least one terminal being a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service being a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0045] Based on this scheme, before paging the first terminal, the RAN node can determine whether the paging is initiated or triggered by a designated terminal and / or service. If it is determined that the paging is initiated or triggered by a designated terminal and / or service, the subsequent paging process, i.e., sending a paging message, is executed. In other words, in this scheme, the paging received by the first terminal is network-filtered, originating from or triggered by a terminal / service that the first terminal is interested in. Even if the first terminal executes the paging prompt without making a determination, unnecessary paging prompts will not occur, thus minimizing interference to the user and improving the user experience. Furthermore, if the first terminal executes the paging prompt, the user (or user of the first terminal) can improve the communication conditions of the first terminal based on the paging prompt, such as moving the first terminal to an open area, thereby reducing link loss and enabling the first terminal to respond to the paging normally, thus ensuring normal service transmission. In addition, the paged terminal will not receive unnecessary paging prompts, which can reduce terminal power consumption.
[0046] In one possible design, the method further includes: receiving third information, the third information indicating that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicating that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; determining whether to paging the first terminal based on the first information, including: determining whether to paging the first terminal based on the first information and the third information.
[0047] In one possible design, determining whether to page a first terminal based on first information and third information includes: determining to page a first terminal if at least one terminal includes a second terminal, and / or if at least one service includes a first service.
[0048] In one possible design, if the first terminal to be paged is determined, the method further includes: sending a paging message, the paging message including an identifier of the first terminal.
[0049] In a tenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing various methods. The communication apparatus includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the implementation of the methods, wherein the modules, units, or means can be implemented in hardware, software, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions.
[0050] In some possible designs, the communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module can be used to implement the processing functions in any of the above aspects and any possible implementations thereof. The transceiver module may include a receiving module and a transmitting module, respectively used to implement the receiving function and the transmitting function in any of the above aspects and any possible implementations thereof.
[0051] In some possible designs, the transceiver module can consist of transceiver circuits, transceivers, transceivers, or communication interfaces.
[0052] In one possible implementation of the communication device for realizing the function of the first terminal:
[0053] The transceiver module is configured to receive first information, which indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of at least one terminals, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of at least one services; the processing module is configured to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0054] A processing module is configured to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on first information, comprising: a processing module configured to determine to execute a paging prompt when the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0055] If the paging prompt is determined based on the first information, the processing module is further configured to determine paging prompt information. The paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0056] In another possible implementation of the communication device for realizing the function of the first terminal:
[0057] The transceiver module is used to receive first information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; the processing module is used to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information.
[0058] Optionally, the first information includes information about the second terminal and / or information about the first service.
[0059] A processing module, configured to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on first information, includes: a processing module configured to determine to execute a paging prompt when the second terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or the first service is a service among at least one service. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0060] If, based on the first information, it is determined that a paging prompt will be executed, the processing module is further configured to determine paging prompt information. The paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one of at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one of at least one services; or, the paging prompt information includes information about the second terminal and / or information about the first service. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and the at least one service includes the first service.
[0061] Optionally, a transceiver module is used to receive first information, including: a transceiver module for receiving a paging message, the paging message including the first information. The paging message further includes second information, the second information indicating the identifier of the first terminal, and the first information being associated with the second information.
[0062] Optionally, the transceiver module is also used to send third information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0063] In another possible implementation of the communication device for realizing the function of the first terminal:
[0064] The transceiver module is used to send first information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service. The paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive. The transceiver module is also used to receive a paging message, which includes an identifier of the first terminal. The paging of the first terminal is associated with at least one terminal and / or with at least one service.
[0065] Optionally, a processing module is used to execute paging prompts based on the paging message.
[0066] Optionally, the paging message may further include third information. The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services; or, the third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service, wherein at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and at least one service includes the first service.
[0067] In one possible implementation of this communication device for realizing the functions of a RAN node:
[0068] The transceiver module 1 is used to receive fourth information, which is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal. The transceiver module 1 is also used to send first information based on the fourth information. The first information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services. The paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0069] Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to receive fifth information; the processing module is configured to determine first information based on the fifth information. The fifth information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service; or, the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service.
[0070] Optionally, if the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and at least one terminal includes the second terminal, the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal; and / or, if the fifth information indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service, and at least one service includes the first service, the first information indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0071] In another possible implementation of this communication device to realize the functions of a RAN node:
[0072] The transceiver module is used to receive fourth information, which is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal; the transceiver module is also used to send first information according to the fourth information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0073] Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to receive fifth information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; the processing module is configured to determine the first information based on the fifth information.
[0074] Optionally, a transceiver module is used to send first information, including: a transceiver module used to send a paging message, the paging message including the first information; wherein, the paging message also includes second information, the second information indicating the identifier of the first terminal, and the first information being associated with the second information.
[0075] Optionally, the transceiver module is also used to receive third information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0076] In another possible implementation of this communication device for realizing the functions of a RAN node:
[0077] The transceiver module is used to receive second information, which is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal; the processing module is used to determine whether to page the first terminal based on the first information, wherein the first information includes information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, and the paging associated with at least one terminal is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0078] The transceiver module is also used to receive third information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; the processing module is used to determine whether to paging the first terminal based on the first information, including: the processing module is used to determine whether to paging the first terminal based on the first information and the third information.
[0079] A processing module is used to determine whether to page a first terminal based on first information and third information, including: a processing module is used to determine to page a first terminal when at least one terminal includes a second terminal and / or at least one service includes a first service.
[0080] When the first terminal to be paged is identified, the transceiver module is also used to send a paging message, which includes the identifier of the first terminal.
[0081] In one possible implementation of this communication device for performing the functions of core network equipment:
[0082] The transceiver module is used to send fourth information, which triggers a paging of the first terminal by a radio access network (RAN) node. The transceiver module is also used to send fifth information, which indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of at least one terminals, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of at least one services. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0083] Optionally, the processing module is used to acquire third information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service; the processing module is also used to determine fifth information based on the third information.
[0084] In another possible implementation of this communication device to perform the functions of core network equipment:
[0085] The transceiver module is used to send fourth information, which triggers the radio access network (RAN) node to page the first terminal; the transceiver module is also used to send fifth information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0086] In another possible implementation of this communication device for realizing the functions of core network equipment:
[0087] The processing module is configured to acquire first information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive; the processing module is further configured to determine, based on the first information, whether to send second information, which is used to trigger the radio access network (RAN) node to page the first terminal.
[0088] The processing module is configured to determine whether to send second information based on first information, including: the processing module is configured to determine to send second information if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0089] If it is determined that a second message will be sent, the transceiver module is used to send the second message.
[0090] The transceiver module is also used to send third information. The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services; or, the third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service, wherein at least one terminal includes a second terminal, and at least one service includes the first service.
[0091] Eleventhly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory being used to store computer instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method described in any of the preceding aspects and any possible design thereof.
[0092] In a twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface being used to communicate with a module outside the communication device; the processor being used to execute computer programs or instructions to cause the communication device to perform the methods described in any of the above aspects and any possible designs thereof.
[0093] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; said processor being configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in a memory to cause the communication device to perform the methods described in any of the preceding aspects and any possible designs thereof. The memory may be coupled to the processor, or may be independent of the processor.
[0094] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication device (e.g., a chip or chip system) is provided, the communication device including a processor for implementing the functions involved in any of the above aspects and any possible designs thereof.
[0095] In some possible designs, the communication device includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data.
[0096] In some possible designs, when the device is a chip system, it can be composed of chips or may contain chips and other discrete components.
[0097] The communication device described in aspects ten through fourteen may be a first terminal in aspect one, second, or seventh, or a device contained in the first terminal, such as a chip or chip system; or the communication device may be a RAN node in aspect three, fourth, or ninth, or a device contained in the RAN node, such as a chip or chip system; or the communication device may be a core network device in aspect five, sixth, or eighth, or a device contained in the core network device, such as a chip or chip system.
[0098] In a fifteenth aspect, a communication device is provided. This communication device may be a first terminal, or a module or unit (e.g., a chip, chip system, or circuit) within the first terminal that performs the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first, second, or seventh aspects, or a module or unit that can be used in conjunction with the first terminal; or, the communication device may be a RAN node, or a module or unit (e.g., a chip, chip system, or circuit) within the RAN node that performs the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the third, fourth, or ninth aspects, or a module or unit that can be used in conjunction with the RAN node; or, the communication device may be a core network device, or a module or unit (e.g., a chip, chip system, or circuit) within the core network device that performs the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the fifth, sixth, or eighth aspects, or a module or unit that can be used in conjunction with the core network device.
[0099] It is understandable that when the communication device provided in any one of aspects ten to fifteen is a chip, the transmitting action / function of the communication device can be understood as outputting information, and the receiving action / function of the communication device can be understood as inputting information.
[0100] In a sixteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed on a communication device, enable the communication device to perform the methods described in any of the foregoing aspects and any possible design thereof.
[0101] In a seventeenth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided that, when run on a communication device, enables the communication device to perform the methods described in any of the foregoing aspects and any possible design thereof.
[0102] Eighteenthly, a communication system is provided, comprising a first terminal, a RAN node, and core network equipment. The first terminal is used to implement the method described in any of the first, second, or seventh aspects and any possible design thereof; the RAN node is used to implement the method described in any of the third, fourth, or ninth aspects and any possible design thereof; and the core network equipment is used to implement the method described in any of the fifth, sixth, or eighth aspects and any possible design thereof.
[0103] The technical effects of any of the design methods in aspects 10 to 18 can be found in the technical effects of different design methods in aspects 1 to 9, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description
[0104] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a transparent transmission architecture provided in this application;
[0105] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a regenerative architecture provided in this application;
[0106] Figure 3 is a coverage diagram of a quasi-stationary ground cell provided in this application;
[0107] Figure 4 is a coverage diagram of a ground-based mobile cell provided in this application;
[0108] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a paging timing and paging cycle provided in this application;
[0109] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided in this application;
[0110] Figures 7-10 are schematic diagrams of the satellite communication architecture provided in this application;
[0111] Figures 11-13 are schematic flowcharts of the communication method provided in this application;
[0112] Figures 14-17 are schematic diagrams of the communication device provided in this application. Detailed Implementation
[0113] In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, " / " indicates that the objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this application is merely a description of the relationship between the related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. A and B can be singular or plural.
[0114] In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "multiple" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of a single item or a plurality of items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.
[0115] Furthermore, to facilitate a clear description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used in the embodiments of this application to distinguish identical or similar items with substantially the same function and effect. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the terms "first" and "second" are not necessarily different.
[0116] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner to facilitate understanding.
[0117] It is understood that the term "embodiment" used throughout the specification means that a specific feature, structure, or characteristic related to an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this application. Therefore, various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It is understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the sequence number of each process does not imply the order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.
[0118] It is understood that in this application, "...when" and "if" both refer to the corresponding processing that will be carried out under certain objective circumstances, and are not limited to a specific time, nor do they require a judgment action to be performed during implementation, nor do they imply any other limitations.
[0119] It is understood that some optional features in the embodiments of this application can be implemented independently in certain scenarios without relying on other features, such as the current solution on which they are based, to solve the corresponding technical problems and achieve the corresponding effects. Alternatively, they can be combined with other features as needed in certain scenarios. Correspondingly, the apparatus given in the embodiments of this application can also implement these features or functions, which will not be elaborated here.
[0120] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other. In the various embodiments of this application, and in the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment, unless otherwise specified or logically conflicting, the terminology and / or descriptions between different embodiments and between the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment are consistent and can be mutually referenced. The technical features in different embodiments and the various implementation methods / methods / implementations within each embodiment can be combined according to their inherent logical relationships to form new embodiments, implementation methods, methods, or implementation approaches. The embodiments described below do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application.
[0121] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, a brief introduction to the relevant technologies of this application is given below.
[0122] 1. Non-terrestrial networks (NTN):
[0123] NTN is a general term for networks involving flying objects. Compared to terrestrial communications, NTN communications have significant advantages such as global coverage, long-distance transmission, flexible networking, convenient deployment, and no geographical limitations. It has been widely used in various fields including maritime communications, positioning and navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting, and Earth observation. NTN networks can be integrated with terrestrial networks, leveraging their respective strengths to form a seamless global communication network encompassing sea, land, air, space, and ground, meeting the diverse and ubiquitous service needs of users.
[0124] Currently, NTN mainly includes satellite communication systems (also known as satellite communication networks), high altitude platform station (HAPS) systems, and air-to-ground networks.
[0125] HAPS relies on airborne platforms, mainly including airplanes, balloons, and airships, and uses high-altitude platforms as mobile communication base stations to provide mobile communication services using the same frequency bands as terrestrial mobile networks.
[0126] Satellite communication networks rely on onboard platforms and mainly include low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication systems, medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite communication systems, and geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite communication systems.
[0127] For example, a GEO satellite communication system is also known as a geostationary orbit satellite system. GEO satellites orbit at an altitude of 35,786 km, and their speed is the same as the Earth's rotation speed, meaning that GEO satellites can remain stationary relative to the ground. Generally, GEO satellite communication systems can provide large-scale cell coverage.
[0128] For example, MEO satellites orbit at altitudes between 2000 and 35786 km, enabling global coverage with a relatively small number of satellites. LEO satellites orbit at altitudes between 300 and 2000 km, lower than MEO satellites, offering advantages such as lower transmission latency, lower transmission loss, and relatively lower launch costs.
[0129] It should be noted that the orbital altitude, coverage area, etc. of the GEO satellites, MEO satellites, and LEO satellites mentioned above are all exemplary descriptions. With the development of communication technology, the orbital altitude, coverage area, etc. of various satellites can be implemented in other ways, and this application does not make any specific limitations on this.
[0130] In one implementation, based on the relationship between the satellite and the base station, the satellite communication system can be divided into two architectures: transparent payload architecture and regenerative payload architecture.
[0131] In a transparent transmission architecture, the satellite is responsible for signal forwarding but does not have data processing capabilities. As shown in Figure 1, in this architecture, the base station is located on the ground, and the satellite communicates with the base station through a gateway deployed on the ground. The signal between the terminal and the base station is transmitted via the satellite, while the data processing function remains at the base station. The link between the satellite and the terminal is called the service link, and the link between the satellite and the base station is called the feeder link. Terminals in NTN can also be called NTN terminals.
[0132] In a regenerative architecture, satellites possess all or some of the functions of base stations, meaning they can perform data processing. As shown in Figure 2, in this architecture, base stations or some base station functions (such as distributed units (DUs)) are deployed on satellites. The link between the satellite / base station and the terminal is also called a service link.
[0133] In one implementation, based on the movement of NTN cells within their ground coverage area, NTN cells can be classified into three categories: earth-fixed, quasi-earth-fixed, and earth-moving.
[0134] Earth-fixed cells have a fixed coverage area on the ground, meaning they provide continuous, fixed-point coverage. The NTN cells provided by the GEO satellite are examples of earth-fixed cells.
[0135] A quasi-earth-fixed cell provides coverage to a specific area on the ground for a period of time, which is then changed to another area for a period of time, thus providing fixed-point coverage. LEO and MEO satellites provide NTN coverage for quasi-earth-fixed cells. For example, as shown in Figure 3, during time periods t1-t2, NTN cell 1 provided by satellite 1 covers ground area 1, and during time periods t3-t4, NTN cell 1 provided by satellite 1 covers ground area 2.
[0136] The coverage area of an earth-moving cell slides across the ground. As shown in Figure 4, over a period of time (e.g., between time t1 and time t3), the coverage area of the NTN cell provided by the satellite moves along with the satellite.
[0137] For example, it can be assumed that satellites providing ground-stationary and quasi-stationary cells operate in staring mode, while satellites providing ground-mobile cells operate in non-staring mode.
[0138] 2. Paging:
[0139] In 5G mobile communication systems, the network can notify terminals in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle (RRC_IDLE) or RRC inactive (RRC_INACTIVE) states to receive paging messages via paging. Alternatively, the network can send short messages via paging to terminals in the RRC idle, RRC inactive, or RRC connected states to indicate system information (SI) updates or earthquake and tsunami warning system / commercial mobile alert service (ETWS / CMAS).
[0140] For example, paging can be divided into CN paging triggered by the core network (CN) and RAN paging triggered by the radio access network (RAN). The network may initiate CN paging for terminals in the RRC idle state, and may initiate CN paging or RAN paging for terminals in the RRC inactive state.
[0141] As an implementation, the basic paging process includes: the network sending downlink control information (DCI) during the paging occasion (PO) to schedule paging messages and / or indicate changes in system information. The terminal monitors its associated PO and determines whether the network has paged the terminal based on the monitored paging DCI. If the network has paged the terminal, the terminal receives paging messages or receives updated system information and / or ETWS / CMAS according to the scheduling of the paging DCI.
[0142] As shown in Figure 5, a Point of Interest (PO) can be understood as a time window within a paging cycle. The network assigns a specific PO to each terminal. A terminal can calculate its associated PO location based on its own identification information and paging-related parameters. It is important to note that different terminals may be associated with the same PO; that is, multiple terminals may be monitoring the same PO.
[0143] Specifically, in the paging process, the network selects a certain paging range and sends a paging DCI within the PO. For example, the paging range is the area where the network performs the paging, and this area is determined by the network. For instance, for a terminal in the RRC idle state, the network may use the registration area to which the terminal belongs as the paging range; for a terminal in the RRC inactive state, the network may use the RAN-based notification area to which the terminal belongs as the paging range.
[0144] The paging DCI may include paging message scheduling information and / or short messages, etc. For example, some fields included in the paging DCI are shown in Table 1:
[0145] Table 1
[0146] For the terminal, after receiving the paging DCI:
[0147] As one possible implementation, if the paging DCI contains scheduling information for the paging message, the terminal receives and decodes the paging message on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) according to the scheduling information. The paging message includes identification information for one or more terminals and / or access type information for the paged terminal. If the paging message does not include the terminal's own identification information, the terminal ignores the paging message; if the paging message includes the terminal's own identification information, the terminal initiates an RRC setup or RRC resume procedure.
[0148] For example, when a terminal in the RRC idle state monitors the CN paging, receives and decodes the paging message, it determines whether the paging message includes its own 5G-S Temporary Mobile Subscription Identifier (TMSI) (i.e., 5G-S-TMSI). If it includes its own 5G-S-TMSI, it initiates the RRC connection establishment process.
[0149] In the RRC inactive state, the terminal monitors CN paging and RAN paging. After receiving and decoding the paging message, it determines whether the paging message includes its own 5G-S-TMSI or inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI). If it includes its own 5G-S-TMSI, the terminal first enters the RRC idle state and then initiates the RRC connection establishment process; if it includes its own I-RNTI, the terminal initiates the RRC connection recovery process.
[0150] As another possible implementation, if the paging DCI contains a short message, the terminal receives updated system information and / or ETWS / CMAS according to the instructions in the short message.
[0151] As another possible implementation, if the paging DCI includes paging message scheduling information and short messages, the terminal receives the paging message according to the scheduling information and receives updated system information and / or ETWS / CMAS according to the instructions of the short message.
[0152] In NTN scenarios, taking satellite communication as an example, the long communication distance between the terminal and the satellite results in significant path loss. Furthermore, other potential loss factors exist, such as human figures, pockets, and vegetation obstructing the signal. Therefore, the overall quality of the satellite communication signal (including downlink signals from the satellite to the terminal and uplink signals from the terminal to the satellite) can be significantly attenuated, leading to uncertainty in signal quality.
[0153] However, due to the strong transmission power or capability of satellites, the downlink signals transmitted by satellites can usually be received normally by the terminal. Alternatively, the downlink signals transmitted by satellites can be enhanced and received normally by the terminal. Therefore, it can be assumed that the terminal can receive the paging sent by the satellite normally.
[0154] Upon receiving a paging request, the terminal needs to initiate an RRC connection establishment or recovery process to establish a connection with the network in order to respond to the paging and perform service data transmission. However, due to the terminal's weak transmit power or capability, the uplink signal sent by the terminal during the connection establishment process may not be successfully received by the satellite, causing the terminal to fail to establish a connection with the network and thus fail to respond to the paging, ultimately resulting in the inability to perform services normally.
[0155] Paging alerts are one solution to this problem. The basic idea is that after receiving a paging message, the terminal issues an alert, for example, to the user (such as the terminal's user), so that the user is aware of the incoming service, thereby improving the terminal's communication conditions and reducing uplink signal loss. For example, the user can take the terminal out of their pocket / backpack or move it to an open area. This allows the uplink signal sent by the terminal to be received normally by the satellite, thus successfully establishing a connection with the network and transmitting services.
[0156] However, the network can page the terminal in various scenarios. For example, it can page the terminal when a user's voice / SMS / data service arrives, or when a "heartbeat packet" required by a process or terminal application arrives. Among these, the "heartbeat packet" is not an actual user service, but only required by the process or application, and such "heartbeat packet" paging may occur frequently.
[0157] If the terminal sends a paging notification every time it receives a page, it could cause significant disruption to the user, forcing them to frequently remove the terminal or move it to an open area, thus degrading the user experience. Furthermore, unnecessary paging notifications could lead to higher power consumption for the terminal.
[0158] Based on this, this application provides a communication method in which the network, when paging a terminal, can indicate to the terminal the terminal and / or service associated with the current paging. Based on the network's instruction, the terminal executes a paging prompt if the terminal associated with the current paging is a terminal of interest or specified by the paging terminal, and / or if the service associated with the current paging is a service of interest or specified by the paging terminal. In other words, the paging terminal only executes the paging prompt after receiving a paging triggered by a specific terminal / service, thereby reducing unnecessary paging prompts and improving user experience. Furthermore, it avoids the first terminal from executing unnecessary paging prompts and paging responses, reducing terminal power consumption.
[0159] Alternatively, this application provides a communication method whereby, after the network determines that a terminal is to be paged, it judges the terminal / service that triggered the paging. If the terminal / service triggering the paging is a terminal / service that the paged terminal cares about or has specified, then a paging message is sent to perform the paging. Therefore, all paging messages received by the paged terminal are triggered by terminals / services that it cares about. Even if the paged terminal executes the paging prompt without making a judgment, unnecessary paging prompts will not occur, thus minimizing interference to the user and improving the user experience. In addition, the paged terminal will not perform unnecessary paging prompts, which can reduce terminal power consumption.
[0160] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can be used in various communication systems, including third-generation partnership project (3GPP) communication systems, such as fourth-generation (4G) systems like Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G systems like New Radio (NR), hybrid LTE and 5G networks, NTN, or other future communication systems. The communication system can also be a non-3GPP communication system; there is no limitation on this.
[0161] The communication systems described above are merely illustrative examples, and are not limited to those described herein. The communication systems provided in this application do not impose any limitations on the solutions described herein. This will be explained uniformly here and will not be repeated below.
[0162] Figure 6 illustrates a possible, non-limiting system diagram. As shown in Figure 6, the communication system 60 includes a RAN 600 and a core network 700. The RAN 600 includes at least one RAN node (610a and 610b in Figure 6, collectively referred to as 610) and at least one terminal (620a-620j in Figure 6, collectively referred to as 620). The RAN 600 may also include other RAN nodes, such as wireless relay equipment and / or wireless backhaul equipment (not shown in Figure 6). The terminal 620 is wirelessly connected to the RAN node 610. The RAN node 610 is connected to the core network 700 wirelessly or via a wired connection. The core network equipment in the core network 700 and the RAN node 610 in the RAN 600 can be different physical devices, or they can be the same physical device integrating core network logical functions and wireless access network logical functions.
[0163] RAN 600 can be a 3GPP-related cellular system, such as 4G, 5G mobile communication systems, or future-oriented evolution systems. RAN 600 can also be an open access network (O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system. RAN 600 can also be a communication system that integrates two or more of the above systems.
[0164] RAN node 610, sometimes also referred to as RAN equipment, RAN entity, or access node, constitutes part of the communication system and is used to help terminals achieve wireless access. Multiple RAN nodes 610 in communication system 60 can be of the same type or different types. In some scenarios, the roles of RAN node 610 and terminal 620 are relative. For example, network element 620i in Figure 6 can be a helicopter or drone, which can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminal 620j accessing RAN 600 through network element 620i, network element 620i is a base station; but for base station 610a, network element 620i is a terminal. RAN node 610 and terminal 620 are sometimes both referred to as communication devices. For example, network elements 610a and 610b in Figure 6 can be understood as communication devices with base station functions, and network elements 620a-620j can be understood as communication devices with terminal functions.
[0165] In one possible scenario, a RAN node can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an access point (AP), a transmission and receiving point (TRP), a next-generation NodeB (gNB), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system. A RAN node can be a macro base station (as shown in Figure 6, 610a), a micro base station or indoor station (as shown in Figure 6, 610b), a relay node or donor node, or a radio controller in a CRAN scenario. Optionally, a RAN node can also be a server, wearable device, vehicle, or in-vehicle equipment. For example, in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology, the RAN node can be a roadside unit (RSU).
[0166] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist the terminal in achieving wireless access, with each RAN node performing a portion of the base station's functions. For example, RAN nodes can be central units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), CU-control plane (CPs), CU-user plane (UPs), or radio units (RUs), etc. CUs and DUs can be separate entities or included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). RUs can be included in radio frequency equipment or radio frequency units, such as remote radio units (RRUs), active antenna units (AAUs), or remote radio heads (RRHs).
[0167] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art will understand their meaning. For example, in an ORAN system, CU can also be called O-CU (open CU), DU can also be called O-DU, CU-CP can also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP can also be called O-CU-UP, and RU can also be called O-RU. For ease of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU, and RU as examples. Any of the units among CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application can be implemented through software modules, hardware modules, or a combination of software and hardware modules.
[0168] Optionally, the RAN node in this embodiment can be deployed on a non-terrestrial platform, such as a low-altitude platform (e.g., a drone), a high-altitude platform (e.g., an aircraft), or a satellite. Therefore, the RAN node in this embodiment can also be referred to as a non-terrestrial network device.
[0169] For example, assuming the RAN node is deployed on a satellite, or in other words, the RAN node is a satellite, the communication system may also include an NTN gateway (or gateway station). Typically, the NTN gateway is deployed on the ground. The NTN gateway can communicate with the satellite, and the link between the satellite and the NTN gateway can be called a feeder link.
[0170] As shown in Figure 7, when the satellite acts as a wireless relay node, or in other words, when the satellite has relay forwarding capabilities (transparent transmission architecture), the NTN gateway has the functions of a base station or some of the functions of a base station. In this case, the NTN gateway can function as a base station. Alternatively, the NTN gateway can be deployed separately from the base station; that is, in addition to the NTN gateway, the communication system also includes a satellite base station deployed on the ground. Figure 5 illustrates this using the example of deploying the NTN gateway and base station separately.
[0171] As shown in Figure 8, when a satellite can perform some or all of the functions of a base station (regenerative architecture), and has data processing capabilities, it can be used as a base station. In this case, the NTN gateway and the satellite can transmit user plane data of the terminal through the satellite radio interface (SRI).
[0172] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 9, if a satellite can perform some or all of the functions of a base station, there are inter-satellite links (ISL) between different satellites, allowing them to communicate. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 10, a satellite can have the DU processing function of a base station, or in other words, the satellite can act as a DU. In this scenario, the CU processing function of the base station can be deployed on the ground, and the CU and DU communicate via the F1 interface through an NTN gateway.
[0173] In the architectures shown in Figures 7 to 10, NG refers to the interface between the base station and the core network. Uu refers to the interface between the base station and the terminal. Xn refers to the interface between base stations. It is understood that as the communication system evolves, the names of the interfaces between the base station and the core network, between the base station and the terminal equipment, and between base stations may also change, and this application does not specifically limit them.
[0174] A terminal can also be called a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart cities, etc. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, vessels, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the device form of the terminal.
[0175] Core network equipment can be used to handle terminal authentication, authorization, registration, mobility management, and connection management. For example, core network equipment can be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element in 5G or future systems. Alternatively, core network equipment can be used to handle tunnel maintenance, Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, user plane function (UPF) selection, policy enforcement and Quality of Service (QoS) control, charging data collection, and roaming. For example, core equipment can be a session management function (SMF) network element in 5G or next-generation systems. Furthermore, core network equipment can also be used as other network elements within the core network responsible for various functions, without limitation.
[0176] It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiments of this application is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.
[0177] The following description, using the communication system shown in Figure 6 as an example, illustrates the communication method provided in this application. It should be noted that the message names, parameter names, or information names between the terminal, RAN node, and core network equipment in the following embodiments are merely examples; other names may exist in other embodiments, and the method provided in this application does not specifically limit these.
[0178] It is understood that in the embodiments of this application, the terminal, RAN node, and core network equipment may execute some or all of the steps in the embodiments of this application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of this application may also execute other operations or variations thereof. Furthermore, the various steps may be executed in different orders as presented in the embodiments of this application, and it is not necessarily necessary to execute all the operations in the embodiments of this application.
[0179] As an example, the following embodiments use the aforementioned flight platform as a satellite, specifically satellite communication in NTN, for illustration. Of course, this method can also be applied to other scenarios in NTN, such as HAPS or air-to-ground networks, and is not specifically limited thereto.
[0180] Furthermore, this application can also be applied to other possible communication scenarios or systems, such as long-distance communication scenarios involving a long distance between the terminal and the base station, or a relatively high speed of movement, or other scenarios with paging unreachability problems, or scenarios using paging prompt mechanisms. The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application can improve the effect of paging prompts.
[0181] Figure 11 shows a flowchart of a communication method provided in this application. In this method, the terminal can determine whether to perform a paging prompt based on network instructions. Referring to Figure 11, the method includes the following steps S1101-S1103.
[0182] S1101, The core network equipment sends the fourth information to the RAN node. Correspondingly, the RAN node receives the fourth information from the core network equipment.
[0183] The fourth piece of information is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal, or to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal. That is, the first terminal can be understood as the paged terminal.
[0184] As one possible implementation, the core network device can send fourth information to the RAN node upon the arrival of a service from the first terminal (e.g., receiving a service from the first terminal). For example, the service from the first terminal can be understood as a service that the first terminal needs to receive / execute / participate in; this service can be, for example, voice / data / video, etc., without limitation.
[0185] As one possible implementation, if the first terminal is in the RRC idle state, the fourth information can be paging information, or the fourth information can indicate paging for the first terminal.
[0186] As another possible implementation, if the first terminal is in an RRC inactive state, the fourth information may include the data and / or signaling of the first terminal's service. For example, the core network device may send this fourth information when the first terminal's service arrives.
[0187] S1102, the RAN node sends the first information. Correspondingly, the first terminal receives the first information from the RAN node.
[0188] As one possible implementation, it can be assumed that the RAN node sends the first information based on the fourth information, that is, the RAN node sends the first information based on the triggering of the fourth information.
[0189] The first information indicates the terminal and / or service associated with the paging of the first terminal.
[0190] As one possible implementation, "paging of the first terminal" can be understood as: (network) paging of the first terminal, or paging used to paging the first terminal.
[0191] Furthermore, in this application, "paging of the first terminal" can be understood as a single paging of the first terminal, or a single paging of the first terminal, rather than all paging of the first terminal. Of course, the method provided in this application can be used for any paging of the first terminal to improve the effectiveness of paging prompts.
[0192] As one possible implementation, "the paging associated terminal" can be understood as the paging source or the terminal that initiates the paging, etc. That is, the paging associated terminal of the first terminal can be understood as the terminal that triggers (the network) to paging the first terminal. For example, taking the first terminal as terminal 1, if terminal 2 triggers (the network) to paging terminal 1 when it needs to communicate with terminal 1, then the paging associated terminal of terminal 1 is terminal 2.
[0193] Furthermore, "terminal" can be replaced with "user". For example, a user can be identified by a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, etc.
[0194] As one possible implementation, "paging-associated services" can be understood as services that trigger paging, services corresponding to paging, etc. That is, the paging-associated services of the first terminal can be understood as services that trigger (network) paging of the first terminal, or services corresponding to paging of the first terminal.
[0195] Furthermore, "paging-related service" can be replaced with "paging cause," or in other words, "service" can be replaced with "cause," meaning the first piece of information can indicate the reason for paging the first terminal. For example, the paging cause can be reflected through service information or other information, without restriction.
[0196] In one possible implementation, the first information can be implemented in the following four ways:
[0197] Method 1: The first information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or, the first information indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0198] As one possible implementation, the paging associated with the aforementioned "at least one terminal" is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive. That is, the paging that the first terminal expects to receive is a paging associated with the at least one terminal, where a terminal-associated paging can be understood as a paging triggered by the terminal or a paging initiated by the terminal. In other words, the paging that the first terminal expects to receive can also be understood as a paging (from the network) to the first terminal triggered / initiated by the at least one terminal, or in other words, a paging that the first terminal expects to receive originates from the at least one terminal.
[0199] For example, the at least one terminal can be understood as the paging source (or paging initiator) that the first terminal expects, or the at least one terminal is the source of the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, or the at least one terminal is the source of the paging that the first terminal (the user) expects to be alerted to.
[0200] For example, there may be multiple terminals that trigger network paging of the first terminal. However, the paging triggered by these multiple terminals (i.e., the paging associated with the terminals) is not necessarily the paging that the first terminal expects to receive. For instance, taking the first terminal as terminal 1, the terminals that trigger network paging of the first terminal may be terminal 2, terminal 3, or terminal 4. If the paging associated with terminal 2 and terminal 3 (i.e., the network paging of terminal 1 triggered by terminal 2 and terminal 3) is the paging that terminal 1 expects to receive, and the paging associated with terminal 4 (i.e., the network paging of terminal 1 triggered by terminal 4) is not the paging that terminal 1 expects to receive, then the above-mentioned at least one terminal includes terminal 2 and terminal 3, but does not include terminal 4.
[0201] The paging associated with "at least one service" mentioned above is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive. Here, the paging associated with a service can be understood as a paging triggered by that service. In other words, the paging that the first terminal expects to receive can also be understood as a paging of the first terminal by the (network) triggered by the at least one service.
[0202] For example, the at least one service is a service that the first terminal expects to trigger a paging, or the at least one service is a service corresponding to a paging that the first terminal (the user) expects to be reminded of, or the at least one service is a service that the first terminal expects to receive / execute / participate in, or the at least one service is a service corresponding to a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0203] For example, there may be multiple services that trigger network paging of the first terminal, but the paging of the first terminal triggered by these multiple services is not necessarily the paging that the first terminal expects to receive. For instance, the service that triggers network paging of the first terminal may be service 1, service 2, or service 3. If the paging associated with service 1 and service 2 (i.e., the network paging of the first terminal triggered by service 1 and service 2) is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with service 3 (i.e., the network paging of the first terminal triggered by service 3) is not the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, then the above-mentioned at least one service includes service 1 and service 2, but does not include service 3.
[0204] As one possible implementation, the aforementioned at least one terminal can also be collectively referred to as a designated terminal or a specific terminal, and the aforementioned at least one service can also be collectively referred to as a designated service or a specific service. Whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals can also be understood as: whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated terminal (or whether it belongs to a designated terminal); whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services can also be understood as: whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated service (or whether it belongs to a designated service).
[0205] One possible implementation is to identify the paging that the first terminal expects to receive by pre-setting a designated terminal or a designated service. For example, the first terminal can obtain information about a designated terminal or a designated service and report this information to the RAN node or core network equipment. The RAN node or core network equipment can then determine whether the paging to the first terminal is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive based on the information about the designated terminal or the designated service. The paging that the first terminal expects to receive can be referred to the aforementioned relevant descriptions, and will not be repeated here.
[0206] For example, the designated terminal can be a high-priority terminal, a special terminal (such as a terminal used by the government, like a fire / emergency terminal), or a family terminal (such as a family number). Specifically, a special terminal can be used as the default designated terminal. The designated service can be voice, SMS, video call, video, instant messaging, application services, high-priority services, emergency services, low-latency services, or other designated services.
[0207] In one possible implementation, whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service, can be indicated independently or jointly.
[0208] As one possible implementation, when the two are indicated independently, the first information may include a first sub-information and / or a second sub-information. The first sub-information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and the second sub-information indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0209] For example, the first sub-information indicating whether the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal can be implemented using 1 bit. For instance, when this bit is set to "1", it indicates that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal; when this bit is set to "0", it indicates that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is not a terminal among at least one terminal. Similarly, the implementation of the second sub-information indicating whether the paging associated service of the first terminal is a service among at least one services is similar and will not be described in detail.
[0210] As another possible implementation, when both are indicated jointly, the first information can indicate "yes" or "no". "Yes" can mean that at least one of the following two conditions is met: the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services. That is, if either the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is specified, the first information indicates "yes". Conversely, if neither condition is met, the first information indicates "no".
[0211] Alternatively, "Yes" can indicate that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and the paging associated service of the first terminal is a service among at least one service. That is, if both the paging associated terminal and the paging associated service of the first terminal are specified, the first information indicates "Yes". Correspondingly, if either of them is not satisfied, the first information indicates "No".
[0212] In Method 1 above, the example given is explicitly indicating whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated terminal, and / or indicating whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated service. Alternatively, the indication can be made by the presence or absence of a certain piece of information (such as an indication message or a Flag). For example, if the information appears (or the RAN node sends the information), it indicates "yes"; if the information does not appear (or the RAN node does not send the information), it indicates "no". The meanings of "yes" and "no" can be found in the explanations of the two in the above-mentioned joint indication scenario, and will not be repeated here.
[0213] In other words, the first message can indicate only one state: either the first message indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated terminal, and / or it indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated service. In this case, if the first terminal receives the first message, it determines to execute the paging prompt; or, if the first terminal does not receive the first message, it determines not to execute the paging prompt.
[0214] Based on this method 1, the first information indicates the terminal and / or service associated with the paging of the first terminal to the first terminal in the form of "yes or no", which can save signaling overhead. In addition, the first terminal does not need to determine whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a designated terminal, and / or whether the associated service is a designated service, which can reduce the implementation complexity of the first terminal and reduce the power consumption of the first terminal.
[0215] Method 2: The first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0216] For example, the second terminal can be understood as the terminal that triggers (the network) to page the first terminal. The first service can be understood as the service that triggers (the network) to page the first terminal. For example, triggering (the network) to page the first terminal can also be understood as: triggering (the network) to page the first terminal.
[0217] For example, the first information may include information about the second terminal and / or information about the first service. The information about the first service may include identification information of the first service, type information of the first service, etc., and is not limited thereto.
[0218] For example, the information of the second terminal may include the identification information of the second terminal, such as the SIM card number corresponding to the second terminal, and the (identity) identifier of the second terminal within the network or operator, such as 5G-S-TMSI, International Mobile Subscriber Identification Number (IMSI), etc. It is understood that in this embodiment of the application, 5G-S-TMSI may be replaced with other TMSI-related identifiers in future mobile communication systems, without limitation.
[0219] Alternatively, the information for the second terminal can be its number, index, or code. For example, if the aforementioned at least one terminal includes terminal A, terminal B, and terminal C, these three terminals can be numbered 1, 2, and 3 respectively. If the second terminal is terminal B, then the first information can include the index or number 2 of terminal B.
[0220] Based on this method 2, the first information indicates the specific terminal and / or specific service associated with the paging of the first terminal, enabling the first terminal to obtain more detailed information and thus execute more accurate paging prompts, allowing the user to know the specific terminal and / or specific service associated with this paging, and further improving the user experience.
[0221] Method 3: The first information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0222] Method 4: The first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service in at least one service.
[0223] The implementation of methods 3 and 4 can be referred to the relevant explanations in methods 1 and 2 above, and will not be repeated here.
[0224] As one possible implementation, the first information can be carried in the paging DCI or paging message. That is, step S1102 can also be understood as the RAN node sending a paging DCI or paging message, which includes the first information. If the first information is carried in the paging DCI, the RAN node can still send a paging message after step S1102; if the first information is carried in the paging message, the RAN node can still send a paging DCI before step S1102 to schedule the paging message.
[0225] As one possible implementation, the RAN node can also send a second message indicating the identifier of the first terminal (such as 5G-S-TMSI or I-RNTI), signifying that the network is paging the first terminal. The first message is associated with this second message.
[0226] For example, the first information and the second information can be carried in different messages, such as the first information being carried in the paging DCI and the second information being carried in the paging message; or, the first information and the second information can be carried in the same message, such as both the first information and the second information being carried in the paging message.
[0227] For example, when the paging message indicates / includes the identifier of the first terminal, it can be considered that the paging message is used to page the first terminal, or to implement paging of the first terminal, or to implement paging of the first terminal by the network. Of course, the paging message may also include the identifiers of other terminals for paging other terminals. For example, the paging message may include the identifier of the first terminal and the identifiers of at least one other terminal. This application does not specifically limit this.
[0228] Understandably, a paging message can carry the identifiers of multiple terminals simultaneously, paging multiple terminals. However, the paging sources (such as terminals / services) of different paging terminals may be different. Therefore, designing the association between the first information and the second information enables the first terminal to correctly obtain the terminal / service associated with its paging, thereby correctly executing the paging prompt and avoiding unnecessary paging prompts.
[0229] S1103, The first terminal determines whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information.
[0230] As one possible implementation, paging alerts can also be called paging warnings, pre-paging, paging pre-prompts / pre-notifications, etc., and these descriptions can be used interchangeably without limitation. Paging alerts can be any information that prompts or reminds the first terminal or its user. For example, paging alerts can be vibration alerts, SMS alerts, message alerts, pop-up alerts, voice alerts, flashing breathing light alerts, application notification messages, etc., with no limitation on the form. Please refer to the relevant explanations in step S1104 below; they will not be repeated here.
[0231] As one possible implementation, given that the first information can be implemented in the four ways described above, correspondingly, step S1103 also has the following four possible scenarios:
[0232] Case 1: The first information is obtained through method 1 described above.
[0233] In this scenario, as one possible implementation, the first terminal determines whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information by: determining to execute a paging prompt if at least one of the following two conditions is met. These two conditions are: the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal; and the first information indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is at least one. That is, if either the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is specified, the first terminal determines to execute a paging prompt. Conversely, if neither condition is met, the first terminal determines not to execute a paging prompt. That is, if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is not a terminal among at least one terminal, and the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is not a service among at least one service, the first terminal determines not to execute a paging prompt.
[0234] As another possible implementation, the first terminal determines whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information, including: if the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, and indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is at least one service, then the first terminal determines to execute a paging prompt. That is, if both the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal and the service associated with the paging of the first terminal are specified, the first terminal determines to execute a paging prompt. Conversely, if neither of them is specified, the first terminal determines not to execute a paging prompt. That is, if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is not a terminal among at least one terminals, or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is not a service among at least one services, then the first terminal determines not to execute a paging prompt.
[0235] Scenario 2: The first information is obtained through method 2 described above.
[0236] In this case, the first terminal determines whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information, including: if the second terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or if the first service is a service among at least one service, then it is determined to execute a paging prompt.
[0237] As one possible implementation, the second terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, which can also be understood as: the second terminal is a designated terminal, or the designated terminal includes the second terminal, or the at least one terminal includes the second terminal. The first service is a service among at least one services, which can also be understood as: the first service is a designated service, or the designated service includes the first service, or the at least one service includes the first service.
[0238] As one possible implementation, the first terminal may have information about at least one terminal (i.e., a designated terminal) and / or information about at least one service (i.e., a designated service), thereby enabling it to determine whether the second terminal is one of the at least one terminals, and whether the first service is one of the at least one services. The implementation of the designated terminal and / or designated service information possessed by the first terminal will be described in subsequent embodiments and will not be repeated here.
[0239] Scenario 3: The first information is obtained through method 3 described above.
[0240] In this case, the first terminal determines whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information, including: the first information indicating that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal (or a designated terminal), and / or, if the first service is a service among at least one service, then it is determined to execute a paging prompt.
[0241] Case 4: The first information is obtained through method 4 described above.
[0242] In this case, the first terminal determines whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information, including: the second terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or, if the first information indicates that the paging associated service of the first terminal is a service among at least one service (or a specified service), then the first terminal determines to execute a paging prompt.
[0243] The implementation of cases 3 and 4 can be referred to the relevant explanations in cases 1 and 2 above, and will not be repeated here.
[0244] In one possible implementation, when the first terminal determines to perform a paging prompt based on the first information, the method further includes the following steps S1104-S1105.
[0245] S1104, The first terminal confirms the paging prompt information.
[0246] As one possible implementation, paging notification information can be used to indicate the arrival of a paging, such as notifying the user of the first terminal that a paging has arrived. Exemplarily, this can be a simple notification or a specific notification. For example, if the first terminal determines, based on the first information, that the paging originates from a specified terminal and / or a specified service, the paging notification information can be used to provide a simple notification, such as indicating that the paging originates from a specified terminal and / or a specified service, or indicating that the paging is associated with a specified terminal and / or a specified service; if the first terminal determines, based on the first information, that the paging is associated with a terminal (such as a second terminal) and / or a service (such as a first service), the paging notification information can be used to provide a specific notification, such as including information about the second terminal and / or the first service.
[0247] For example, if the first information has the above four implementation methods, then the paging prompt information also has the following four possible situations:
[0248] Case a: The first information is obtained through method 1 described above.
[0249] As one possible implementation, the first information is implemented in the above method 1. When the first terminal determines to execute the paging prompt, the first terminal can know through the first information that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal belongs to a designated terminal, and / or that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal belongs to a designated service. However, if there are multiple designated terminals or multiple designated services, the first terminal cannot obtain which specific designated terminal or which specific designated service is associated through the first information.
[0250] Therefore, in case a, the paging prompt information is used for simple prompts. For example, the paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal (or belongs to a designated terminal), and / or indicates that the service associated with the first terminal is a service among at least one service (or belongs to a designated service).
[0251] For example, the paging prompt information indicating that the paging of the first terminal is associated with at least one of the terminals can also be understood as: the paging prompt information indicates that the paging of the first terminal is associated with a terminal among at least one of the terminals. Similarly, the paging prompt information indicating that the service associated with the first terminal is a service among at least one of the services can also be understood as: the paging prompt information indicates that the paging of the first terminal is associated with a service among at least one of the services.
[0252] In case b, the first information is obtained through method 2 described above.
[0253] As one possible implementation, the first information is implemented through method 2 described above. When the first terminal determines to execute a paging prompt, it can learn, through the first information, which designated terminal its paging is associated with, and / or which designated service its paging is associated with. Therefore, in this scenario b, the paging prompt information can be used for simple prompts or for specific prompts.
[0254] For example, the paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the first terminal is a service among at least one service. Please refer to the relevant description in case a above, which will not be repeated here.
[0255] For example, the paging information may include information about the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal (i.e., the second terminal), and / or information about the service associated with the paging of the first terminal (i.e., the first service). The second terminal and the first service are detailed in the foregoing descriptions and will not be repeated here.
[0256] Case c: The first information is obtained through method 3 described above.
[0257] As one possible implementation, the first information is implemented through method 3 described above. When the first terminal determines to execute a paging prompt, it can learn through the first information that the terminal associated with its paging belongs to a designated terminal. However, if multiple designated terminals exist, the first terminal cannot obtain which specific designated terminal it is associated with through the first information. Furthermore, the first terminal can learn through the first information which designated service its paging is associated with.
[0258] Therefore, in scenario c, a simple prompt can be given for the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal, and a simple or specific prompt can be given for the service associated with the paging of the first terminal. Refer to the relevant explanations in scenarios a or b above; they will not be repeated here.
[0259] In case d, the first information is obtained through method 4 described above.
[0260] As one possible implementation, the first information is implemented through method 4 described above. When the first terminal determines to execute a paging prompt, it can learn which designated terminal its paging is associated with through the first information. Furthermore, the first terminal can learn through the first information that the service associated with its paging belongs to a designated service. However, if multiple designated services exist, the first terminal cannot obtain which specific designated service it is associated with through the first information.
[0261] Therefore, in scenario d, the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal can be given a simple or detailed prompt, and the service associated with the paging of the first terminal can be given a simple prompt. Refer to the relevant explanations in scenarios a or b above; they will not be repeated here.
[0262] In one possible implementation, after the first terminal determines the paging prompt information, it can execute the paging prompt through the paging prompt information, or notify the user of the first terminal that a paging has arrived through the paging prompt information.
[0263] For example, the first terminal can provide paging prompts through at least one of the following methods: message, SMS, pop-up window, sound, voice, ringing, vibration, flashing breathing light, application notification message, etc. For instance, the first terminal can display paging prompt information via message or pop-up window; or, the first terminal can broadcast paging prompt information via sound or voice; or, the first terminal can provide paging prompts via a combination of ringing and pop-up window. Specifically, when the service type associated with the paging of the first terminal is a voice or video call, the first terminal can provide paging prompts via ringing.
[0264] As one possible implementation, if a designated terminal exists, and the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal belongs to the designated terminal, then when the first terminal executes the paging prompt, the content of the paging prompt may include other content in addition to the information of the designated terminal, such as service information (e.g., service type), that is, the designated terminal initiates a paging related to the service.
[0265] In one possible implementation, steps S1103-S1104 can also be replaced by: the first terminal performing a paging prompt. That is, the first terminal performs a paging prompt after receiving the first information.
[0266] As one possible implementation, the first terminal performs a paging prompt if at least one of the following two conditions is met: 1) the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal; 2) the first information indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is at least one.
[0267] Alternatively, if the first information indicates that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one of the terminals, and indicates that the paging associated service of the first terminal is at least one, the first terminal performs a paging prompt.
[0268] Alternatively, if the second terminal indicated by the first information is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or if the first service is a service among at least one service, a paging prompt is performed.
[0269] Alternatively, if the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or if the first information indicates that the first service is a service among at least one service, then a paging prompt is performed.
[0270] Alternatively, if the second terminal indicated by the first information is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or if the paging associated service of the first terminal indicated by the first information is a service among at least one service, a paging prompt shall be performed.
[0271] For the aforementioned situations, please refer to the relevant explanations in step S1103 above, which will not be repeated here. Furthermore, it is understood that in this application, "...under certain circumstances" refers to a situation where corresponding processing will be performed under certain objective conditions, not a time limit, nor does it require a judgment action during implementation, nor does it imply any other limitations.
[0272] As another possible implementation, the first terminal may execute a paging prompt after receiving the first information.
[0273] S1105, The first terminal establishes a connection with the network.
[0274] For example, the first terminal may initiate an RRC connection establishment or RRC connection recovery process to establish a connection with the network. After the connection is successfully established, the first terminal may perform service transmissions in response to the paging. Alternatively, the first terminal may establish a connection with the network through other means or processes; this application does not specifically limit the method by which the first terminal establishes a connection with the network. Furthermore, the establishment of a connection between the first terminal and the network can also be understood or replaced as: the first terminal performing services, the first terminal transmitting data with the network, etc.
[0275] As one possible implementation, the first terminal can establish a connection with the network after a paging prompt. For example, it can initiate the RRC connection establishment / restore process after a certain interval following the paging prompt. During this interval, the user of the first terminal may take the first terminal out of their pocket / backpack or move it to an open area, thus improving the communication conditions of the first terminal. When the first terminal initiates the RRC connection establishment / restore process after this interval, the link loss can be reduced, thereby increasing the likelihood of the first terminal successfully establishing a connection with the network and enabling normal service transmission.
[0276] As another possible implementation, the first terminal can also establish a connection with the network while receiving a paging prompt. For example, it can initiate an RRC connection establishment / recovery process during a paging prompt to attempt to establish a connection with the network. During this process, the user of the first terminal may take the first terminal out of their pocket / backpack or move it to an open area, thus improving the communication conditions of the first terminal and enabling the RRC connection establishment / recovery process initiated by the first terminal to succeed. Based on this possible implementation, the first terminal can attempt to establish a connection with the network as quickly as possible, thereby reducing the latency of the first terminal performing services.
[0277] Based on the above scheme, when paging a terminal, the network can indicate the terminal and / or service associated with the paging to the terminal. The terminal (i.e., the paging terminal) executes a paging prompt based on the network's instruction, provided that the terminal associated with the paging is a terminal of interest or specified by the paging terminal, and / or that the service associated with the paging is a service of interest or specified by the paging terminal. In other words, the paging terminal only executes a paging prompt after receiving a paging triggered by a specific terminal / service, thereby reducing unnecessary paging prompts and improving user experience. Furthermore, unnecessary paging prompts can be avoided, and for unnecessary paging, the terminal can also refrain from paging response operations, thereby reducing terminal power consumption.
[0278] The overall process of the communication method provided in this application has been described above. The relevant implementations of the method will be explained in detail below.
[0279] In one possible implementation, the RAN node and / or core network equipment can obtain information about at least one terminal (i.e., a designated terminal) and / or at least one service (i.e., a designated service) corresponding to the first terminal. For example, the RAN node or core network equipment can obtain the aforementioned information about at least one terminal and / or at least one service from the first terminal or other equipment.
[0280] As one possible implementation, the first terminal may send third information to the RAN node or core network equipment. This third information includes information about the at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, or the third information may include parameters (which may be referred to as filtering parameters) for determining the at least one terminal and / or at least one service. Accordingly, the RAN node or core network equipment receives the third information and obtains the information about the at least one terminal and / or at least one service.
[0281] For example, the filtering parameter may indicate at least one feature / attribute satisfied by a terminal, such as the access technology used by the terminal, the UE group to which the terminal belongs, or the terminal type of the terminal. And / or, the filtering parameter may indicate at least one feature satisfied by a service, such as the service type, service latency, priority, or urgency of the service.
[0282] For example, the first terminal can send the third information to the core network via a non-access stratum (NAS) message. Alternatively, the first terminal can send the third information to the RAN node via an RRC message. Furthermore, after receiving the third information, the RAN node can send the third information to the core network equipment, and the core network equipment receives the third information from the RAN node.
[0283] As another possible implementation, the first terminal or its user can provide information about a specified terminal and / or a specified service to the operator, relevant network elements, or relevant management functional units. In this scenario, core network equipment or RAN nodes can obtain information about the specified terminal and / or the specified service from the relevant network elements or relevant management functional units.
[0284] For example, the user of the first terminal can communicate with the operator about the information of the designated terminal and / or the designated service, or apply for the paging function of the designated terminal and / or the designated service. The operator can store the information of the designated terminal and / or the designated service in the relevant network element or the relevant management function unit. For example, the information of the designated terminal and / or the designated service can be stored in the subscription information of the first terminal, or stored in the unified data management (UDM) network element.
[0285] Alternatively, the first terminal or its user may provide information about a specified terminal and / or a specified service to the operator, relevant network element, or relevant management function unit through a given method. For example, the user of the first terminal may provide information about a specified terminal and / or a specified service through an application (APP) (such as an operator's APP). Subsequently, this information about the specified terminal and / or the specified service may be stored in the relevant network element or relevant management function unit.
[0286] In one possible implementation, the first terminal can obtain information about a designated terminal and / or a designated service. The first terminal can obtain this information through user settings. For example, the user can set the designated terminal and / or service through the first terminal's user interface, or input the information about the designated terminal and / or service.
[0287] For example, the first terminal may provide the above-mentioned user interface when the first terminal or the user uses satellite communication, so that the user can set up a specified terminal and / or a specified service; or, the first terminal may ask or prompt the user whether to set up a specified terminal and / or a specified service, and if the user needs to set up a specified terminal and / or a specified service, then provide the above-mentioned user interface.
[0288] As one possible implementation, the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device can maintain information about at least one terminal and / or at least one service in the form of a list. For example, the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device can establish a terminal list (or terminal register) and maintain it in the form of a terminal register / list. This terminal register / list may include the terminal's identification information, index, or number, and the terminals in this terminal register / list are the designated terminals corresponding to the first terminal. The implementation of the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device maintaining information about at least one service in the form of a list is similar and will not be described in detail.
[0289] Understandably, RAN nodes or core network equipment can maintain terminal lists and / or service lists at the terminal level. This is because different terminals may correspond to different specific terminals / services.
[0290] As another possible implementation, the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device may store / maintain information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service. This application does not specifically limit the form in which the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device maintains information of a designated terminal / designated service.
[0291] In one possible implementation, in step S1101 above, the core network device may further send fifth information to the RAN node. Correspondingly, the RAN node receives the fifth information from the core network device. The fifth information indicates the terminal and / or service associated with the paging of the first terminal. Exemplarily, the fifth information can also be implemented in the following four ways:
[0292] Method A: The fifth information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0293] As one possible implementation, the core network equipment can acquire third information, namely, information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, and determine the terminal and / or associated service of the paging of the first terminal, thereby making a judgment to determine the fifth information. That is, the core network equipment can determine the fifth information based on the third information.
[0294] For example, taking at least one terminal including terminal 2, terminal 3 and terminal 4 as an example, if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is terminal 2, then the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal; if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is terminal 5, then the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is not a terminal among at least one terminal.
[0295] The specific implementation of the fifth information in method A can be found in the relevant description of method 1 in step S1102 above, and will not be repeated here.
[0296] Method B: The fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0297] As one possible implementation, in method B, the core network equipment may not need to obtain third information, because the determination of the terminal and / or service associated with the paging of the first terminal does not depend on third information. Of course, the core network equipment may also obtain third information, without restriction.
[0298] The specific implementation of the fifth information in method B can be found in the relevant description of method 2 in step S1102 above, and will not be repeated here.
[0299] Method C, the fifth information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0300] As one possible implementation, in method C, the core network device can obtain information about at least one terminal to determine whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one terminals. Furthermore, the core network device may or may not obtain information about at least one service; please refer to the relevant explanations in methods A or B above, which will not be repeated here.
[0301] Method D, the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service in at least one service.
[0302] As one possible implementation, in method D, the core network device can obtain information about at least one service to determine whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one services. Furthermore, whether the core network device can obtain or not obtain information about at least one terminal can be referred to the relevant explanations in methods A or B above, and will not be repeated here.
[0303] As one possible implementation, the fourth and fifth messages sent by the core network equipment can be carried in the same message or in different messages, without restriction.
[0304] In one possible implementation, in step S1102 above, the first information sent by the RAN node can be determined based on the fifth information. The first information and the fifth information may be the same, or they may be different. For example, if the fifth information has the above four implementation methods, the way the RAN node determines the first information may also have the following four possibilities:
[0305] In scenario A, the fifth piece of information is achieved through the method described above, A.
[0306] In this scenario, the first and fifth pieces of information are identical; that is, the first information is implemented through method 1 described above. It can be assumed that the RAN node receives the fifth information generated by the core network and forwards it to the first terminal. Furthermore, in this scenario, the RAN node may or may not acquire the third information, without restriction.
[0307] Situation B, the fifth piece of information, is achieved through the method described above, B.
[0308] In this scenario, as one possible implementation, the first and fifth pieces of information function identically; that is, the first information is implemented using method 2 described above. In this case, the RAN node may or may not acquire the third information, without restriction.
[0309] For example, although both the first information and the fifth information indicate that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicate that the paging associated service of the first terminal is the first service, the contents of the first information and the fifth information may be different.
[0310] For example, the fifth message can indicate that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is the second terminal through the terminal identifier 1 of the second terminal, while the first message can indicate that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is the second terminal through the terminal identifier 2 of the second terminal. After receiving the fifth message, the RAN node can convert the terminal identifier 1 of the second terminal into the terminal identifier 2, thereby sending the first message. Here, the terminal identifier 1 of the second terminal can be an identifier that identifies the second terminal between the RAN node and the core network equipment, and the terminal identifier 2 of the second terminal can be an identifier that identifies the second terminal between the RAN node and the first terminal.
[0311] As another possible implementation, the first information and the fifth information are different. For example, the first information can be implemented by the above-mentioned method 1, method 3 or method 4.
[0312] For example, the RAN node can obtain third information, namely, information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, to determine whether the second terminal belongs to the at least one terminal, and / or whether the first service belongs to the at least one service, thereby implementing the first information through the above-described method 1. For example, if the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and the RAN node determines that the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, then the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among the at least one terminal; and / or, if the fifth information indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service, and the RAN node determines that the at least one service includes the first service, then the first information indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among the at least one service.
[0313] Alternatively, the RAN node can obtain information about at least one terminal and determine whether the second terminal belongs to the at least one terminal, thereby realizing the first information through the above method 3.
[0314] Alternatively, the RAN node can obtain information about at least one service and determine whether the first service belongs to that at least one service, thereby realizing the first information through the above method 4.
[0315] Situation C, the fifth piece of information is achieved through the above method C.
[0316] In this case, for the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal, the first information may indicate whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal. For the service associated with the paging of the first terminal, the first information may indicate whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service, or indicate whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services. Refer to the relevant explanation in Method B above; it will not be repeated here.
[0317] Situation D, the fifth piece of information is achieved through the above method D.
[0318] In this case, for the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal, the first information may indicate whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, or indicate that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal. For the service associated with the paging of the first terminal, the first information may indicate whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service. Refer to the relevant explanation in Method B above; it will not be repeated here.
[0319] In the above method, the terminal makes a judgment based on the network's instructions to determine whether to execute a paging prompt. Furthermore, this application also provides another communication method in which the network side makes the judgment. For example, the network side determines whether the terminal associated with a terminal's paging is a designated terminal, and / or whether the associated service is a designated service. If it is determined that the terminal associated with the terminal's paging is a designated terminal and / or the associated service is a designated service, the network pagees the terminal.
[0320] The communication method is described below. Figure 12 shows a flowchart of the communication method. Referring to Figure 12, the communication method includes the following steps S1201-S1202.
[0321] S1201, Core network equipment obtains first information.
[0322] The first information includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service. Alternatively, the first information may include parameters (which may be called filtering parameters) used to determine the at least one terminal and / or at least one service. The paging associated with the at least one terminal is the paging the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with the at least one service is the paging the first terminal expects to receive. Refer to the relevant description in Method 1 of step S1102 above; it will not be repeated here. The implementation of the first information can be referred to the relevant description of the third information in the method shown in Figure 11 above; it will not be repeated here.
[0323] As one possible implementation, the core network device can obtain information about at least one terminal and / or at least one service from the first terminal. For example, the first terminal can send first information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or at least one service, or the first information can include parameters (which may be called filtering parameters) for determining the at least one terminal and / or at least one service. The core network device receives the first information, thereby obtaining information about at least one terminal and / or at least one service. Refer to the relevant description of the third information in the method shown in Figure 11 above; it will not be repeated here.
[0324] For example, before the first terminal sends the first information, the first terminal may obtain information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service. The method of obtaining the information can be referred to the relevant description in the method shown in Figure 11 above, and will not be repeated here.
[0325] As another possible implementation, the core network equipment can obtain information about at least one terminal and / or at least one service from relevant network elements or relevant management function units. Refer to the relevant description of the method shown in Figure 11 for how the core network equipment obtains the information about at least one terminal and / or at least one service; it will not be repeated here.
[0326] S1202. The core network equipment determines whether to send the second information based on the first information.
[0327] As one possible implementation, the core network equipment can determine whether to send second information based on the first information when a service arrives at the first terminal. For example, for an RRC idle terminal, the arrival of a service from the first terminal can also be understood as the arrival of a paging request from the first terminal.
[0328] The second information is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal, or to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal. That is, the first terminal can be understood as the paged terminal. For example, the second information can be paging information, or the second information can indicate paging for the first terminal; or, the second information can include the data and / or signaling of the first terminal's services, as described in the relevant explanation of the fourth information in step S1101 above, which will not be repeated here.
[0329] As one possible implementation, when a service arrives at the first terminal, the core network equipment can determine the terminal that initiated the service (i.e., the source of the paging / service) and also determine which service it is. In other words, the core network equipment can determine the terminal and / or service associated with the paging of the first terminal.
[0330] As one possible implementation, if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal (denoted as the second terminal) is a terminal among at least one of the aforementioned terminals (or a designated terminal), and / or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal (denoted as the first service) is a service among at least one of the aforementioned services (or a designated service), then it is determined that the second information will be sent; if the second terminal is not a terminal among at least one of the aforementioned terminals, and / or the first service is not a service among at least one of the aforementioned services, then it is determined that the second information will not be sent.
[0331] For example, the core network device may determine to send the second information only if the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a designated terminal; or, it may determine to send the second information only if the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a designated service; or, it may determine to send the second information if the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a designated terminal and the paging associated service of the first terminal is a designated service.
[0332] In one possible implementation, when the core network device determines to send the second information, the communication method further includes the following steps S1203-S1206.
[0333] S1203. The core network device sends the second information to the RAN node. Correspondingly, the RAN node receives the second information from the core network device.
[0334] As one possible implementation, the core network equipment can also send third information to the RAN node. Correspondingly, the RAN node receives the third information from the core network equipment.
[0335] The third information indicates the terminal and / or service associated with the paging of the first terminal. For example, the third information may be implemented in the following four ways:
[0336] Method 1: The third information indicates that the paging associated terminal of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the paging associated service of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0337] Method 2: The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0338] For example, the third information may include information from the second terminal and / or information from the first service. Wherein, the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and the at least one service includes the first service.
[0339] Method 3: The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is at least one of the terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0340] Method 4: The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0341] As one possible implementation, the second and third information sent by the core network equipment can be carried in the same message or in different messages, without restriction.
[0342] S1204, the RAN node sends a paging message. Correspondingly, the first terminal receives the paging message.
[0343] The paging message includes the identifier of the first terminal. That is, the paging message can be considered as being used to page the first terminal, or to page the first terminal. The paging of the first terminal is associated with at least one of the aforementioned terminals and / or with at least one of the aforementioned services, as described in the foregoing explanations, which will not be repeated here. Of course, the paging message may also include the identifiers of other terminals for paging other terminals, without limitation.
[0344] As one possible implementation, the RAN node can send a paging message based on the triggering of the second information. Furthermore, before sending the paging message, the RAN node can send a paging DCI, which may include scheduling information for the paging message. The RAN node can then send the paging message on the time-frequency resources scheduled by this scheduling information. The first terminal can receive the paging DCI and receive the paging message on the time-frequency resources scheduled by the scheduling information in the paging DCI.
[0345] As one possible implementation, the RAN node can also send a fourth piece of information. For example, the fourth piece of information is the same as the third piece of information; that is, the fourth piece of information sent by the RAN node can be the third piece of information received from the core network device, i.e., the RAN node forwards the third piece of information generated by the core network device. Alternatively, the fourth piece of information sent by the RAN node can be determined based on the third piece of information sent by the core network device. That is, after receiving the third piece of information from the core network device in step S1203, the RAN node can determine the fourth piece of information sent in step S1204 based on the received third piece of information. Refer to the explanation in Figure 11 above regarding the RAN node determining the first piece of information based on the fifth piece of information; further details will not be repeated here.
[0346] As one possible implementation, the third information can be carried in the paging message or paging DCI, or it can be carried in other paging-related messages without restriction.
[0347] S1205, The first terminal executes a paging prompt.
[0348] As one possible implementation, the first terminal can execute a paging prompt based on the paging message. For example, after receiving a paging message, the first terminal determines that the paging message carries the identifier of the first terminal, thereby confirming that the network has paged the first terminal, and can then execute a paging prompt.
[0349] As one possible implementation, the first terminal can determine the paging prompt information and provide a paging prompt based on the paging prompt information. Refer to the relevant explanation in step S1104 above; it will not be repeated here.
[0350] For example, when a specific prompt is made on the first terminal, such as when the paging prompt information includes information about the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal (i.e., the second terminal) and / or information about the service associated with the paging of the first terminal (i.e., the first service), the paging prompt information may be determined based on third information. In this case, the third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0351] S1206. The first terminal establishes a connection with the network. Refer to the relevant explanation in step S1105 above; it will not be repeated here.
[0352] Based on the above scheme, before paging a terminal, the network can determine whether the paging is initiated or triggered by a designated terminal and / or a designated service. If it is determined that the paging is initiated or triggered by a designated terminal and / or a designated service, the subsequent paging process will be executed. In other words, in this scheme, the paging received by the terminal is filtered by the network and is initiated or triggered by a terminal / service that the terminal is interested in. Even if the paged terminal executes the paging prompt without making a determination, unnecessary paging prompts will not occur, thus minimizing interference to the user and improving the user experience. Furthermore, the absence of unnecessary paging prompts by the paged terminal reduces terminal power consumption.
[0353] The method shown in Figure 12 is illustrated using the example of a core network device determining whether to trigger a RAN node to page the first terminal. Furthermore, this application also provides a communication method in which the RAN node can determine whether to initiate a page for the first terminal. As shown in Figure 13, this method may include the following steps:
[0354] S1301, The core network device sends the second information to the RAN node. Correspondingly, the RAN node receives the second information from the core network device.
[0355] The second information is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal, or to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal. For example, the core network device can send the second information when the first terminal's service arrives. Refer to the relevant description in step S1201 above; it will not be repeated here. It is understood that the difference between step S1301 and step S1201 is that in step S1301, the core network device does not need to make a judgment; once the first terminal's service arrives, it can send the second information to the RAN node.
[0356] As one possible implementation, the core network equipment also sends third information to the RAN node. Correspondingly, the RAN node receives the third information from the core network equipment. This third information indicates that the paging associated with the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the paging associated with the first terminal is the first service; for example, the third information includes information about the second terminal and / or information about the first service.
[0357] S1302, the RAN node determines whether to page the first terminal based on the first information.
[0358] As one possible implementation, the RAN node can determine whether to page the first terminal based on the triggering of the second information and the first information. Furthermore, determining whether to page the first terminal can also be understood as: determining whether the paging message includes the identifier of the first terminal, or determining whether to send a paging message including the identifier of the first terminal.
[0359] The first information includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service. Alternatively, the first information may include parameters (which may be called filtering parameters) used to determine the at least one terminal and / or at least one service. The paging associated with the at least one terminal is the paging the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with the at least one service is the paging the first terminal expects to receive. Refer to the relevant description in Method 1 of step S1102 above; it will not be repeated here. The implementation of the first information can be referred to the relevant description of the third information in the method shown in Figure 11 above; it will not be repeated here.
[0360] As one possible implementation, the RAN node can obtain the first information and then determine whether to page the first terminal based on the first information. The method by which the RAN node obtains the first information can be referenced from the method used by the core network equipment to obtain the first information in step S1201 above, and will not be repeated here.
[0361] As one possible implementation, the RAN node can determine whether to page the first terminal based on the first information and the third information. For example, if at least one terminal includes a second terminal, and / or at least one service includes a first service, the RAN node can determine to page the first terminal. Here, the second terminal and / or the first service are the terminals and / or services associated with the paging of the first terminal indicated by the third information.
[0362] In one possible implementation, when the RAN node determines that it is paging the first terminal, the communication method may further include the following steps S1303-S1305.
[0363] S1303, the RAN node sends a paging message. Correspondingly, the first terminal receives the paging message.
[0364] The paging message includes the identifier of the first terminal. That is, the paging message can be considered as being used to page the first terminal, or to page the first terminal. The paging of the first terminal is associated with at least one of the aforementioned terminals and / or with at least one of the aforementioned services, as described in the foregoing explanations, which will not be repeated here. Of course, the paging message may also include the identifiers of other terminals for paging other terminals, without limitation.
[0365] As one possible implementation, the RAN node can send a paging DCI before sending the paging message. The paging DCI may include the scheduling information for the paging message. Refer to the relevant explanation in step S1204 above; it will not be repeated here.
[0366] As one possible implementation, the RAN node can also send third information, the implementation of which can be referred to the relevant description in step S1203 above, and will not be repeated here.
[0367] As one possible implementation, the third information can be carried in the paging message or paging DCI, or it can be carried in other paging-related messages without restriction.
[0368] S1304, The first terminal executes a paging prompt.
[0369] S1305, The first terminal establishes a connection with the network.
[0370] The implementation of steps S1304-S1305 can be referred to the relevant descriptions of steps S1205-S1206 above, and will not be repeated here.
[0371] Based on the above scheme, before paging a terminal, the RAN node can determine whether the paging is initiated or triggered by a designated terminal and / or service. If it is determined that the paging is initiated or triggered by a designated terminal and / or service, the subsequent paging process will be executed. In other words, in this scheme, the paging received by the terminal is filtered by the RAN node and is initiated or triggered by a terminal / service that the terminal is interested in. Even if the paged terminal executes the paging prompt without making a determination, unnecessary paging prompts will not occur, thus minimizing interference to the user and improving the user experience. Furthermore, the absence of unnecessary paging prompts by the paged terminal reduces terminal power consumption.
[0372] It is understood that this application uses terminals, RAN nodes, and core network equipment as examples to illustrate the execution of the interaction, but this application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction. For example, the method executed by the RAN node in this application can also be executed by a module applied to the RAN node (e.g., a chip, chip system, or processor), or by a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the RAN node's functions; the method executed by the terminal in this application can also be executed by a module applied to the terminal (e.g., a chip, chip system, or processor), or by a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the terminal's functions; the method executed by the core network equipment in this application can also be executed by a module applied to the core network equipment (e.g., a chip, chip system, or processor), or by a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the core network equipment's functions.
[0373] The method provided in this application has been described above. In addition, this application also provides a communication device for implementing the functions described in the above method embodiments.
[0374] It is understood that, in order to achieve the aforementioned functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.
[0375] This application embodiment can divide the communication device into functional modules according to the above method embodiment. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional module. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.
[0376] Figure 14 shows a schematic diagram of a communication device 140. The communication device 140 includes a processing module 1401 and a transceiver module 1402. The communication device 140 can be used to implement the functions of a first terminal, a RAN node, or a core network device.
[0377] In some embodiments, the communication device 140 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG14) for storing program instructions and data.
[0378] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1402, also referred to as a transceiver unit, is used to implement sending and / or receiving functions. The transceiver module 1402 may consist of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver unit, or a communication interface.
[0379] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1402 may include a receiving module and a sending module, respectively configured to perform the receiving and sending steps performed by the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device in the above method embodiments, and / or other processes to support the technology described herein; the processing module 1401 may be configured to perform the processing steps performed by the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device in the above method embodiments, and / or other processes to support the technology described herein.
[0380] In one possible implementation, when the communication device 140 is used to implement the functions of the first terminal:
[0381] The transceiver module 1402 is configured to receive first information, which indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service; the processing module 1401 is configured to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0382] The processing module 1401 is configured to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information, including: the processing module 1401 is configured to determine to execute a paging prompt when the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0383] If, based on the first information, it is determined that a paging prompt will be executed, the processing module 1401 is further configured to determine paging prompt information. The paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service.
[0384] In another possible implementation of the communication device 140 for realizing the function of the first terminal:
[0385] The transceiver module 1402 is used to receive first information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; the processing module 1401 is used to determine whether to execute the paging prompt based on the first information.
[0386] The processing module 1401 is configured to determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on first information, including: the processing module 1401 is configured to determine to execute a paging prompt when the second terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or the first service is a service among at least one service. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0387] If, based on the first information, it is determined that a paging prompt will be executed, the processing module 1401 is further configured to determine paging prompt information. The paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one of at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one of at least one services; or, the paging prompt information includes information about the second terminal and / or information about the first service. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and the at least one service includes the first service.
[0388] Optionally, the transceiver module 1402 is used to receive the first information, including: the transceiver module 1402 is used to receive a paging message, the paging message including the first information. The paging message also includes second information, the second information indicating the identifier of the first terminal, and the first information is associated with the second information.
[0389] Optionally, the transceiver module 1402 is also used to send third information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0390] In another possible implementation of the communication device 140 for realizing the function of the first terminal:
[0391] The transceiver module 1402 is configured to send first information, the first information including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive; the transceiver module 1402 is also configured to receive a paging message, the paging message including the identifier of the first terminal, wherein the paging of the first terminal is associated with at least one terminal and / or associated with at least one service.
[0392] Optionally, the processing module 1401 is used to execute paging prompts based on the paging message.
[0393] In one possible implementation of the communication device 140 for realizing the functions of a RAN node:
[0394] The transceiver module 1402 is used to receive fourth information, which is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal; the transceiver module 1402 is also used to send first information according to the fourth information. The first information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service. The paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0395] Optionally, the transceiver module 1402 is further configured to receive fifth information; the processing module 1401 is configured to determine first information based on the fifth information. The fifth information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service; or, the fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service.
[0396] In another possible implementation of the communication device 140 for realizing the functions of a RAN node:
[0397] The transceiver module 1402 is used to receive fourth information, which is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal; the transceiver module 1402 is also used to send first information according to the fourth information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0398] Optionally, the transceiver module 1402 is further configured to receive fifth information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; the processing module 1401 is configured to determine the first information based on the fifth information.
[0399] Optionally, the transceiver module 1402 is used to send first information, including: the transceiver module 1402 is used to send a paging message, the paging message including the first information; wherein, the paging message also includes second information, the second information indicating the identifier of the first terminal, and the first information is associated with the second information.
[0400] Optionally, the transceiver module 1402 is also configured to receive third information, which includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0401] In another possible implementation of the communication device 140 for realizing the functions of a RAN node:
[0402] The transceiver module 1402 is used to receive second information, which is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal; the processing module 1401 is used to determine whether to page the first terminal based on the first information, wherein the first information includes information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, and the paging associated with at least one terminal is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0403] The transceiver module 1402 is further configured to receive third information, the third information indicating that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicating that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; the processing module 1401 is configured to determine whether to paging the first terminal based on the first information, including: the processing module 1401 is configured to determine whether to paging the first terminal based on the first information and the third information.
[0404] The processing module 1401 is used to determine whether to page the first terminal based on the first information and the third information, including: the processing module 1401 is used to determine to page the first terminal when at least one terminal includes a second terminal and / or at least one service includes a first service.
[0405] When the first terminal to be paged is identified, the transceiver module 1402 is also used to send a paging message, which includes the identifier of the first terminal.
[0406] In one possible implementation, when the communication device 140 is used to implement the functions of a core network device:
[0407] The transceiver module 1402 is used to send fourth information, which triggers a paging of the first terminal by a radio access network (RAN) node. The transceiver module 1402 is also used to send fifth information, which indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of at least one terminals, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of at least one services. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive.
[0408] Optionally, the processing module 1401 is used to acquire third information, which includes information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service; the processing module 1401 is also used to determine fifth information based on the third information.
[0409] In another possible implementation of the communication device 140 for realizing the functions of core network equipment:
[0410] The transceiver module 1402 is used to send fourth information, which triggers the radio access network (RAN) node to page the first terminal; the transceiver module 1402 is also used to send fifth information, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service.
[0411] In another possible implementation, when the communication device 140 is used to implement the functions of a core network device:
[0412] The processing module 1401 is configured to acquire first information, the first information including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein the paging associated with at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive; the processing module 1401 is further configured to determine whether to send second information based on the first information, the second information being used to trigger the radio access network (RAN) node to page the first terminal.
[0413] The processing module 1401 is configured to determine whether to send second information based on the first information, including: the processing module 1401 is configured to determine to send second information if the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is at least one of the terminals, and / or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is at least one of the services.
[0414] Transceiver module 1402 is used to send the second information;
[0415] The transceiver module 1402 is also used to send third information. The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one services; or, the third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service, wherein at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and at least one service includes the first service.
[0416] All relevant content of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be referenced from the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and will not be repeated here.
[0417] In this application, the communication device 140 can be presented in an integrated manner by dividing it into various functional modules. Here, "module" can refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, integrated logic circuits, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.
[0418] In some embodiments, when the communication device 140 in FIG14 is a chip or chip system, the function / implementation process of the transceiver module 1402 can be implemented through the input / output interface (or communication interface) of the chip or chip system, and the function / implementation process of the processing module 1401 can be implemented through the processor (or processing circuit) of the chip or chip system.
[0419] Since the communication device 140 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects it can achieve can be referred to the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.
[0420] As a possible product form, the first terminal or RAN node described in the embodiments of this application can be implemented using one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware components, any other suitable circuits, or any combination of circuits capable of performing the various functions described throughout this application.
[0421] As another possible product form, the first terminal or RAN node described in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a general bus architecture.
[0422] For ease of explanation, please refer to Figure 15, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device 1500 provided in the embodiment of this application. The communication device 1500 can be a first terminal, or a chip or chip system therein; or, the communication device 1500 can be a RAN node, or a chip or module therein.
[0423] As shown in Figure 15, the communication device 1500 includes a baseband subsystem and a radio frequency (RF) subsystem. Optionally, it may also include a power supply subsystem and peripherals. The baseband subsystem is responsible for application layer processing, external interfaces, and Layer 3 / Layer 2 / Layer 1 communication protocol processing. The RF subsystem may include an RF front-end and antenna, used to convert spatial electromagnetic waves into electrical signals, and perform necessary amplification and filtering functions to achieve excellent coverage; it can connect to the baseband to perform frequency conversion and nonlinear distortion correction of analog signals. The power supply subsystem provides power management functions for the baseband and RF subsystems.
[0424] Furthermore, referring to Figure 16, which is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application, the communication device can be a first terminal, or a chip or chip system therein; or, the communication device can be a RAN node, or a chip or module therein.
[0425] As shown in Figure 16, the communication device includes a high-layer protocol processor, a physical layer protocol processor, and a baseband hardware processor. The high-layer protocol processor implements high-layer protocol processing (such as Layer 2 / Layer 3), supports encoding and decoding functions, and supports standard air interface encryption / decryption, integrity protection algorithms, etc. The physical layer protocol processor implements physical layer processing, completing downlink network search, time-frequency monitoring, measurement, channel estimation, demodulation, and decoding, as well as uplink encoding, modulation, and time-frequency offset adjustment. The baseband hardware processor completes the secure boot and secure startup of the baseband system and performs protocol layer processing (such as Layer 1 / Layer 2 / Layer 3).
[0426] For example, the functions implemented by the first terminal or RAN node described above can be mainly implemented by the aforementioned higher-layer protocol processor and physical layer protocol processor. The higher-layer protocol processor and physical layer protocol processor may include relevant hardware and / or software modules for implementing the functions of the first terminal or RAN node.
[0427] As another possible product form, the first terminal, RAN node, or core network equipment in this application may adopt the composition structure shown in FIG17, or include the components shown in FIG17. FIG17 is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device 1700 provided in this application. The communication device 1700 may be a first terminal or a chip or system-on-a-chip in the first terminal; or, it may be a RAN node or a chip or system-on-a-chip in the RAN node; or, it may be core network equipment or a chip or system-on-a-chip in the core network equipment.
[0428] As shown in Figure 17, the communication device 1700 includes at least one processor 1701 and at least one communication interface (Figure 17 is merely an example illustrating the inclusion of a communication interface 1704 and a processor 1701). Optionally, the communication device 1700 may also include a communication bus 1702 and a memory 1703.
[0429] Processor 1701 can be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a PLD, or any combination thereof. Processor 1701 can also be other devices with processing capabilities, such as circuits, devices, or software modules, without limitation.
[0430] Communication bus 1702 is used to connect different components in communication device 1700, enabling communication between them. Communication bus 1702 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. This bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in Figure 17, but this does not indicate that there is only one bus or one type of bus.
[0431] Communication interface 1704 is used for communicating with other devices or communication networks. Exemplarily, communication interface 1704 can be a module, circuit, transceiver, or any device capable of communication. Optionally, the communication interface 1704 can also be an input / output interface located within processor 1701, used to implement signal input and signal output for the processor.
[0432] The memory 1703 may be a device with storage function, used to store instructions and / or data. The instructions may be computer programs.
[0433] For example, the memory 1703 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device capable of storing static information and / or instructions; it may also be a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device capable of storing information and / or instructions; it may also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital universal optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, etc., without limitation.
[0434] It should be noted that the memory 1703 can exist independently of the processor 1701, or it can be integrated with the processor 1701. The memory 1703 can be located inside or outside the communication device 1700, without limitation. The processor 1701 can be used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1703 to implement the methods provided in the following embodiments of this application.
[0435] Optionally, the processor 1701 and / or memory 1703 may include an artificial intelligence (AI) module, which is used to implement AI-related functions. The AI module can be implemented through software, hardware, or a combination of both. For example, the AI module may include a radio network intelligent controller (RIC) module. For example, the AI module can be a near real-time RIC or a non-real-time RIC.
[0436] As an optional implementation, the communication device 1700 may also include an output device 1705 and an input device 1706. The output device 1705 communicates with the processor 1701 and can display information in various ways. For example, the output device 1705 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector, etc. The input device 1706 communicates with the processor 1701 and can receive user input in various ways. For example, the input device 1706 may be a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen device, or sensing device, etc.
[0437] In some embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the communication device 140 shown in FIG14 can take the form of the communication device 1700 shown in FIG17 in terms of hardware implementation.
[0438] As an example, the function / implementation process of the processing module 1401 in Figure 14 can be implemented by the processor 1701 in the communication device 1700 shown in Figure 17 calling computer execution instructions stored in the memory 1703. The function / implementation process of the transceiver module 1402 in Figure 14 can be implemented by the communication interface 1704 in the communication device 1700 shown in Figure 17.
[0439] It should be noted that the structure shown in Figure 17 does not constitute a specific limitation on the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device. For example, in other embodiments of this application, the first terminal, RAN node, or core network device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine some components, or split some components, or have different component arrangements. The components shown in the figure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware.
[0440] In some embodiments, this application also provides a communication device, which includes a processor for implementing the methods in any of the above method embodiments.
[0441] As one possible implementation, the communication device also includes a memory. This memory stores necessary computer programs and data. The computer program may include instructions, which a processor can invoke to instruct the communication device to execute the methods described in any of the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the memory may not be present in the communication device.
[0442] As another possible implementation, the communication device also includes an interface circuit, which is a code / data read / write interface circuit, used to receive computer execution instructions (which are stored in memory and may be read directly from memory or may be transmitted through other devices) and transmit them to the processor.
[0443] As another possible implementation, the communication device also includes a communication interface for communicating with modules outside the communication device.
[0444] It is understood that the communication device can be a chip or a chip system. When the communication device is a chip system, it can be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices. This application does not specifically limit this.
[0445] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the above-described method embodiments.
[0446] This application also provides a computer program product that, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.
[0447] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.
[0448] It is understood that the systems, apparatuses, and methods described in this application can also be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.
[0449] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.
[0450] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.
[0451] In the above embodiments, implementation can be achieved, in whole or in part, through software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software programs, implementation can be, in whole or in part, in the form of a computer program product. This computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible to a computer or a data storage device containing one or more servers, data centers, etc., that can be integrated with the medium. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid-state drive (SSD)). In this embodiment, the computer may include the aforementioned apparatus.
[0452] Although this application has been described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, those skilled in the art, by reviewing the accompanying drawings, disclosure, and appended claims, will understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments in carrying out the claimed application. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions listed in the claims. While different dependent claims may recite certain measures, this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.
[0453] Although this application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments, it is obvious that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the scope of this application. Accordingly, this specification and drawings are merely illustrative descriptions of the application as defined by the appended claims, and are considered to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of this application. Clearly, those skilled in the art can make various alterations and modifications to this application without departing from its scope. Thus, if such modifications and modifications fall within the scope of the claims and their equivalents, this application is also intended to include such modifications and modifications.
Claims
A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a first terminal, and the method includes: Receive first information, the first information indicating whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicating whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service; Determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information; Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information includes: If the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one services, then it is determined to perform a paging prompt. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, If, based on the first information, it is determined that a paging prompt will be executed, the method further includes: determining paging prompt information; The paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one services. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a first terminal, and the method includes: Receive first information, the first information indicating that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicating that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; Determine whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first information includes information about the second terminal and / or information about the first service. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, Determining whether to execute a paging prompt based on the first information includes: If the second terminal is a terminal among at least one terminals, and / or if the first service is a service among at least one services, then it is determined that a paging prompt will be executed; Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive. The method according to any one of claims 4-6, characterized in that, If, based on the first information, it is determined that a paging prompt will be executed, the method further includes: determining paging prompt information; The paging prompt information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service; or... The paging prompt information includes information about the second terminal and / or information about the first service; Wherein, the paging associated with the at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, the paging associated with the at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and the at least one service includes the first service. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, Receiving the first information includes: receiving a paging message, wherein the paging message includes the first information; The paging message further includes second information, which indicates the identifier of the first terminal, and the first information is associated with the second information. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send a third message, the third message including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein the paging associated with the at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with the at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a radio access network (RAN) node, and the method includes: Receive fourth information, the fourth information being used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal; The first information is sent according to the fourth information, wherein the first information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service. Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive the fifth message; The first information is determined based on the fifth information; The fifth information indicates whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicates whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service. or, The fifth piece of information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The fifth information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal. If the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one terminals. And / or, The fifth information indicates that the paging associated service of the first terminal is the first service. If the at least one service includes the first service, the first information indicates whether the paging associated service of the first terminal is a service among at least one services. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a radio access network (RAN) node, and the method includes: Receive fourth information, which is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal; First information is sent according to the fourth information, wherein the first information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive fifth information, the fifth information indicating that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicating that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service; The first information is determined based on the fifth information. The method according to claim 13 or 14 is characterized in that, The first information includes information about the second terminal and / or information about the first service. The method according to any one of claims 10-15, characterized in that, Sending the first information includes: sending a paging message, wherein the paging message includes the first information; The paging message further includes second information, which indicates the identifier of the first terminal, and the first information is associated with the second information. The method according to any one of claims 10-16, characterized in that, The method further includes: Receive third information, the third information including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein the paging associated with the at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with the at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to core network equipment, and the method includes: Send a fourth message, which is used to trigger the Radio Access Network (RAN) node to page the first terminal; Send a fifth message, the fifth message indicating whether the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a terminal among at least one terminal, and / or indicating whether the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a service among at least one service; Wherein, the paging associated with at least one terminal is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with at least one service is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The method further includes: Obtain third information, which includes information about the at least one terminal and / or information about the at least one service; The fifth information is determined based on the third information. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to core network equipment, and the method includes: Send a fourth message, which is used to trigger the Radio Access Network (RAN) node to page the first terminal; Send a fifth message, which indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a first terminal, and the method includes: Send first information, the first information including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein the paging associated with the at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with the at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive. Receive a paging message, the paging message including the identifier of the first terminal, the paging of the first terminal being associated with a terminal among the at least one terminal, and / or associated with a service among the at least one service. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that, The method further includes: performing a paging prompt based on the paging message. The method according to claim 21 or 22 is characterized in that, The paging message also includes third information; Wherein, the third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one services; or, The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service, wherein the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and the at least one service includes the first service. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to core network equipment, and the method includes: Obtain first information, the first information including information of at least one terminal and / or information of at least one service, wherein the paging associated with the at least one terminal is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with the at least one service is a paging that the first terminal expects to receive. Based on the first information, it is determined whether to send the second information, which is used to trigger the Radio Access Network (RAN) node to page the first terminal. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that, Based on the first information, determining whether to send the second information includes: If the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one terminals, and / or the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one services, then the second information is determined to be sent. The method according to claim 24 or 25 is characterized in that, If the method further includes sending the second information when the method determines to send the second information based on the first information. The method according to any one of claims 24-25, characterized in that, If it is determined that a second message will be sent, the method further includes: sending a third message; Wherein, the third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one terminals, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is one of the at least one services; or, The third information indicates that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is the second terminal, and / or indicates that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is the first service, wherein the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and the at least one service includes the first service. A communication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a radio access network (RAN) node, and the method includes: Receive second information, which is used to trigger the RAN node to page the first terminal; Based on the first information, it is determined whether to page the first terminal. The first information includes information about at least one terminal and / or information about at least one service. The paging associated with the at least one terminal is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive, and the paging associated with the at least one service is the paging that the first terminal expects to receive. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that, The method further includes: receiving third information, the third information indicating that the terminal associated with the paging of the first terminal is a second terminal, and / or indicating that the service associated with the paging of the first terminal is a first service; Determining whether to page the first terminal based on the first information includes: Based on the first information and the third information, determine whether to page the first terminal. The method according to claim 29, characterized in that, Determining whether to page the first terminal based on the first information and the third information includes: If the at least one terminal includes the second terminal, and / or the at least one service includes the first service, then paging the first terminal is determined. The method according to any one of claims 28-30, characterized in that, If it is determined that the first terminal is being paged, the method further includes: Send a paging message, the paging message including the identifier of the first terminal. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-31. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs that, when executed on a computer, cause the method described in any one of claims 1-31 to be performed. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes computer instructions; when some or all of the computer instructions are run on a computer, the method described in any one of claims 1-31 is performed.