CN118175596A - A method for transmitting configuration information and related equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application provides a method for transmitting configuration information and related devices, including: a first access network device obtains configuration information, the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in multiple cells of the first access network device. The first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether the multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode. The first access network device sends the configuration information to the second access network device.

Description

A method for transmitting configuration information and related equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a method for transmitting configuration information and related equipment.

Background technique

At present, the discussion on cellular communication technology focuses more on the power consumption of terminals (battery size is limited and user experience is sensitive). However, with the development of green communication concepts and operators' consideration of their own interests in recent years, network energy saving has also begun to be discussed. Rel-18/19 has established the network energy saving project, focusing on network energy saving.

In the current mechanism design, only for connected terminals, cell discontinuous receiving (DTX) and/or cell discontinuous transmission (DRX) pattern can be configured for the terminal, and the configuration is similar to the DRX mechanism of the UE, which is periodically active. Specifically, Cell DTX means that the base station only turns on the sending function during the activation period, that is, if it is not active, the terminal does not require to receive downlink dynamic scheduling, semi-static downlink data transmission, etc.; Cell DRX means that the base station only turns on the receiving function during the activation period, that is, if it is not active, the terminal cannot send uplink SR, various channel feedback reports, and semi-static uplink data, etc. As long as the UE is configured, the DRX of the UE can achieve power saving effect. However, for the Cell DTX/DRX solution, although the configuration is for the UE, because the cell or base station serves multiple terminals, a large number of UEs need to be configured with similar DRX/DTX patterns, which will have energy saving effect for the network. In one idea, the base station can instruct the terminal to reselect or switch to a cell that supports multicast broadcast services using the cell DRX/DTX mode.

However, in this approach, the base station needs to obtain the support status of each cell of the base station and neighboring base stations for the cell DRX/DTX mode in order to specifically instruct the terminal to reselect or switch, but currently the base station can only obtain the support status of each cell of the base station for the cell DRX/DTX mode.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a method for transmitting configuration information and related devices, which are used to transmit configuration information between base stations so that the base stations can specifically instruct terminals to reselect or switch.

The first aspect of the present application provides a method for transmitting configuration information:

The first access network device obtains configuration information, and the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in the multiple cells of the first access network device. The first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether the multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode. The first access network device sends the configuration information to the second access network device.

In the present application, the access network devices can communicate whether each of their own cells uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and whether the multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode, so that the access network devices can specifically instruct the terminal to reselect or switch, thereby facilitating energy saving.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell reselection.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell switching.

In a possible implementation manner, in the configuration information, the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI.

In a possible implementation manner, the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices.

The second aspect of the present application provides a method for transmitting configuration information:

The second access network device receives configuration information from the first access network device, where the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information for each of the multiple cells of the first access network device. The first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether a multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses a cell DRX/DTX mode.

In a possible implementation manner, the second access network device further instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection according to the configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, the second access network device further instructs the terminal to perform cell switching according to the configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, in the configuration information, the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI.

In a possible implementation manner, the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices.

A third aspect of the present application provides a first access network device, including an acquiring unit and a sending unit.

The acquisition unit is used to acquire configuration information, wherein the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in the multiple cells of the first access network device. The first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether the multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode.

A sending unit is used to send configuration information to the second access network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell reselection.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell switching.

In a possible implementation manner, in the configuration information, the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI.

In a possible implementation manner, the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices.

A fourth aspect of the present application provides a second access network device, including a receiving unit.

The receiving unit is used to receive configuration information from the first access network device, where the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in multiple cells of the first access network device.

The first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether the multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode.

In a possible implementation manner, the second access network device further includes a processing unit.

The processing unit is used to instruct the terminal to perform cell reselection according to the configuration information.

In one possible implementation,

The processing unit is used to instruct the terminal to perform cell switching according to the configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, in the configuration information, the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI.

In a possible implementation manner, the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a first access network device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory, and the memory is used to store instructions. When the instructions are executed by the processor, the first access network device executes the method in the aforementioned first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a second access network device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory, and the memory is used to store instructions. When the instructions are executed by the processor, the second access network device executes the method in the aforementioned second aspect.

A seventh aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium:

Instructions are stored thereon, and when a computer executes the instructions, the computer executes the methods in the aforementioned various aspects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of the present application;

FIG2 is a flow chart of a method for transmitting configuration information in the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of configuration information;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of configuration information;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of configuration information;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of configuration information;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of configuration information;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first access network device;

FIG9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a second access network device;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first access network device or the second access network device.

Detailed ways

The following describes the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only embodiments of a part of the present application, rather than all embodiments. It is known to those skilled in the art that with the development of technology and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

The method for transmitting configuration information in the present application can be applied to long term evolution (LTE) systems, fifth generation mobile networks (5G) new radio (NR) systems, sixth generation mobile information technology (6G) systems and subsequent evolution standards, and the present application does not limit this. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes at least two access network devices and may also include a terminal device. Among them, the terminal device may include a handheld device with a wireless connection function or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device can communicate with the core network (for example, a 5G core network (5th generation core, 5GC)) via a radio access network (RAN), and can exchange voice and/or data with the RAN. The terminal device can also be called terminal (Terminal), user equipment (user equipment, UE), wireless terminal equipment, mobile terminal (mobile terminal, MT) equipment, subscriber unit (subscriber unit), subscriber station (subscriber station), mobile station (mobile station, MS), mobile, remote station (remote station), access point (access point, AP), remote terminal equipment (remote terminal), access terminal equipment (access terminal), user terminal equipment (user terminal), user agent (user agent), or user equipment (user device), etc. In addition, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, an extended reality (XR) service terminal, a cloud gaming (CG) service terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

The access network device may be any device with wireless transceiver function, and may be used to be responsible for air interface related functions, such as wireless link maintenance function, wireless resource management function, and part of mobility management function. In addition, the access network device may also be configured with a baseband unit (BBU) with baseband signal processing function. Exemplarily, the access network device may be a radio access network (RAN) that currently provides services for terminal devices. At present, some common examples of access network devices are: Node B (NB), evolved Node B (eNB), next generation node B (gNB) in 5G new radio (NR) system, node in 6G system (e.g., xNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP), radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB or home node (HNB)), etc. In addition, in network structures such as cloud radio access network (CloudRAN) or open radio access network (ORAN), the access network equipment may be a device including a centralized unit (CU) (also called a control unit) and/or a distributed unit (DU). Among them, the RAN equipment including the CU and the DU splits the protocol layer of the gNB in the NR system, and the functions of some protocol layers are centrally controlled by the CU, and the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU, which is centrally controlled by the CU. The network interface between the two access network devices is called the Xn interface. The Xn interface supports the exchange of their respective base station global information, service cell information, and neighboring cell information between the two access network devices, and is used to realize functions such as load balancing, cell energy saving, and energy-saving cell activation.

Please refer to Figure 2, and the process of the method for transmitting configuration information in the present application is introduced in detail below. The first access network device in the present application is, for example, the access network device 1 shown in Figure 1, and the second access network device is, for example, the access network device 2 shown in Figure 1.

201. A first access network device acquires configuration information, where the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in multiple cells of the first access network device;

The first access network device obtains configuration information of the first access network device, and the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in multiple cells of the first access network device. Among them, the first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the connected cell DRX/DTX mode refers to the terminal that performs unicast services in the connected state. The network can configure the cell discontinuous transmission and/or discontinuous reception mechanism for the terminal, and each mechanism corresponds to the discontinuous transmission, reception cycle, activation period and other information. According to the relevant configuration information, the terminal can determine the time period (activation period) in which the network receives and sends signaling and data in a cycle. For the connected cell DRX mechanism, the network base station only turns on the receiving function during the activation period, that is, in the non-activation period, the terminal cannot send uplink SR, various channel feedback reports, and semi-static uplink data, etc. For the cell DTX mechanism, the base station only turns on the sending function during the activation period, that is, in the non-activation period, the terminal is not required to receive downlink dynamic scheduling, semi-static downlink data transmission, etc.; the second service support information is used to indicate whether the multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode.

Please refer to Figure 3. In the configuration information, it can be that for each of the above-mentioned cells, it is separately indicated whether it uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode; or, please refer to Figure 4, if all cells of the first access network device use the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, correspondingly, the configuration information can also directly indicate that the first access network device uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode; if all cells of the first access network device do not use the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, correspondingly, the configuration information can also directly indicate that the first access network device does not use the connected cell DRX/DTX mode.

Please refer to Figure 5. In the above configuration information, it may be possible to separately indicate whether each multicast broadcast service supported by each cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode. Of course, please refer to Figure 6. In some special cases, the multicast broadcast services supported by a cell (such as cell 1) may all use the cell DRX/DTX mode, or none of them use the cell DRX/DTX mode. In this case, it is not necessary to separately indicate whether each multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode, but directly indicate whether the cell uses/does not use the cell DRX/DTX mode. Please refer to Figure 7. If all cells of the first access network device use/do not use the cell DRX/DTX mode, the first access network device may also be directly instructed to use/do not use the cell DRX/DTX mode.

202. The first access network device sends configuration information to the second access network device.

The first access network device sends the configuration information of the first access network device to the second access network device. After receiving the configuration information, the second access network device can instruct the terminal device to perform cell reselection or cell switching in combination with the configuration information, so that the terminal device can reside in a cell that supports multicast broadcast services using the cell DRX/DTX mode with a high probability, thereby facilitating energy saving.

Of course, the second access network device may also send the configuration information of the second access network device to the first access network device, and the first access network device may also instruct the terminal device to perform cell reselection or cell switching according to the configuration information of the second access network device.

Exemplarily, the first access network device and the second access network device may mutually transmit configuration information through the establishment and modification process of the Xn interface. First, the first access network device sends an Xn interface establishment request message (XN SETUP REQUEST message) to the second access network device (possibly more than one), requesting to establish the Xn interface, and the message carries the configuration information of the first access network device. The second access network device responds to the Xn interface establishment request message and sends an XN SETUP RESPONSE message to the first access network device, carrying the configuration information of the second access network device while completing the interface establishment.

After the Xn interface is established, if the configuration information of the first access network device changes, the configuration change can be notified by sending a NG-RANNODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE message to the second access network device (possibly more than one), and the message can include the updated configuration information. After receiving the message, the second access network device can reply to the first access network device with a NG-RANNODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE message to confirm that the configuration information is successfully updated.

The above describes the method for transmitting configuration information in this application. The following describes the device in this application:

Please refer to Fig. 8, the first access network device 800 in the present application includes an acquisition unit 801 and a sending unit 802. The acquisition unit 801 and the sending unit 802 can be implemented by software or by hardware.

The acquisition unit 801 is used to acquire configuration information, where the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in multiple cells of the first access network device. The first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether a multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses a cell DRX/DTX mode.

The sending unit 802 is configured to send configuration information to the second access network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell reselection.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell switching.

In a possible implementation manner, in the configuration information, the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI.

In a possible implementation manner, the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices.

Please refer to Fig. 9, the second access network device 900 in the present application includes a receiving unit 901. The receiving unit 901 can be implemented by software or hardware.

The receiving unit 901 is configured to receive configuration information from a first access network device, where the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in a plurality of cells of the first access network device.

The first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether the multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode.

In a possible implementation manner, the second access network device 900 further includes a processing unit 902 .

The processing unit 902 is configured to instruct the terminal to perform cell reselection according to the configuration information.

In one possible implementation,

The processing unit 902 is configured to instruct the terminal to perform cell switching according to the configuration information.

In a possible implementation manner, in the configuration information, the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI.

In a possible implementation manner, the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device provided by the present application, which is used to implement the method performed by the access network device or the terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiments. The device 1000 may include one or more central processing units (CPU) 1001 and a memory 1005, in which one or more application programs or data are stored.

Among them, the memory 1005 can be a volatile storage or a persistent storage. The program stored in the memory 1005 can include one or more modules, and each module can include a series of instruction operations in the server. Furthermore, the central processor 1001 can be configured to communicate with the memory 1005 and execute a series of instruction operations in the memory 1005 on the device 1000. The device 1000 may also include one or more power supplies 1002, one or more wired or wireless network interfaces 1003, one or more input and output interfaces 1004, and/or, one or more operating systems.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, read-only memory), random access memory (RAM, random access memory), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code.

Claims (12)

1. A method for transmitting configuration information, comprising: A first access network device acquires configuration information, where the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each cell in multiple cells of the first access network device, where the first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether a multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses a cell DRX/DTX mode; The first access network device sends the configuration information to the second access network device. 2. The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell reselection. 3. The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell switching. 4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI in the configuration information. 5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices. 6. A method for transmitting configuration information, characterized by comprising: The second access network device receives configuration information from the first access network device, where the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information for each cell in a plurality of cells of the first access network device; The first service support information is used to indicate whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information is used to indicate whether a multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses a cell DRX/DTX mode. 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the method further comprises: The second access network device instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection according to the configuration information. 8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the method further comprises: The second access network device instructs the terminal to perform cell switching according to the configuration information. 9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that, in the configuration information, the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI. 10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices. 11. An access network device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory, and the memory is used to store instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the processor, the access network device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10. 12 . A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that instructions are stored thereon, and when a computer executes the instructions, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.