WO2018192527A1 - Time synchronization method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a time synchronization method and device. The method comprises: a base station determining a transmission period of a time synchronization signal for at least one terminal device according to time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device; the base station transmitting the transmission period of the time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device; and the base station transmitting the time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device according to the transmission period of the time synchronization signal. The present solution enables striking a balance between ensuring the time synchronization requirement and ensuring resource efficiency.

Description

Time synchronization method and device

The present application claims the priority of the Chinese Patent Application, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety in its entirety in its entirety in .

Technical field

The present application relates to the field of mobile communications, and in particular, to a time synchronization method and apparatus.

Background technique

With the development of industrial automation, industrial robots are increasingly used in production lines for intelligent manufacturing. In many smart manufacturing scenarios, multiple robots are required to work together to accomplish a certain task. For example, in an industrially controlled workshop scenario, multiple robots are required to move together at a certain time to assemble a certain part. These cooperative robots need to perform pre-defined actions at an absolute time point to cooperate with each other. To complete a complete assembly process.

For example, the robots 1, 2, and 3 cooperate to complete an assembly task. The robot 1 is responsible for supporting one side of the part, the robot 2 is responsible for supporting the other side of the part, and then the robot 3 is responsible for mounting the nut to the part. In this process, we assume that the robots 1 and 2 need to support the parts at the same time at 1 o'clock, and then lay down the parts at 1 o'clock and 10 s. The robot 3 needs to install the nut at 1:0 pm, assuming that the support process and the installation process take 4 s. In this process, robots 1 and 2 must support the parts at the same time to ensure the balance of the parts. Any one of the robots moves forward or backward, which will cause the parts to fail. Similarly, robots 1 and 2 also need to be 1 point, 10s, 10s, the whole part is put down; the robot 3 needs to install the nut at 1 o'clock and 5s in time. If the action is advanced, the part is not in place. If the hysteresis is actuated, the nut will be put down after it has not been installed.

If any robot's perception of time is different from other robots, it will lead to the wrong timing of the start of an action in the middle, which will lead to the failure of the assembly process and even damage the parts. Therefore, it is necessary for each cooperative robot to have the same understanding of time. This is what we call the absolute time synchronization between the cooperative robots, that is, the time synchronization requirement between the robots.

In the existing industrial scene, the indoor GPS signal is poor, and the synchronization between the robots generally depends on the interaction with the clock server to perform time information interaction with each other. All the robots are synchronized with a certain clock server to reach between the robots. Synchronize with each other. At present, considering the reliability problem, the synchronous information transmission between the robot and the clock server is wired, for example, an Ethernet cable is used for communication, but the wired deployment method has the following disadvantages: 1) The wired network construction and deployment are complicated. Later maintenance is also more difficult; 2) The mobility of industrial robots is greatly limited by the connection of cables, and the range of movement is small. With the development of low-latency and high-reliability technologies in wireless communication technologies, especially 5G cellular technology, the delay and reliability of wireless communication will meet the needs of industrial control scenarios such as intelligent manufacturing in the future, while wireless communication systems are not dependent on lines. Cable deployment, with greater freedom, can better support mobility while reducing equipment costs and maintenance costs. Therefore, it is important to use a wireless communication system to achieve synchronization between robots.

Summary of the invention

In order to implement time synchronization using a wireless communication system, the present application describes a time synchronization method and apparatus.

In a first aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a time synchronization method, where the method includes: determining, by a base station, a transmission period of a time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device according to time synchronization information of at least one terminal device; The base station notifies the at least one terminal device of a transmission period of the time synchronization signal; the base station transmits a time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device according to a transmission period of the time synchronization signal.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the time synchronization information includes at least one of: a delay jitter of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, a time synchronization accuracy of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, Time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the smaller the delay jitter, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or the higher the time synchronization precision, the transmission period of the time synchronization signal The shorter; and/or the weaker the time synchronization capability, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the base station determines, according to the time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device, a transmission period of the time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device, including: the base station according to the time synchronization information The first time synchronization information is used to determine a transmission period of the time synchronization signal, and the first time synchronization information is time synchronization information of a transmission period corresponding to the shortest time synchronization signal in the time synchronization information.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, at least one of the time synchronization information is that the base station is from one or more of the at least one terminal device, a core network, and another base station. At least one received.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a case where at least one of the time synchronization information is that the base station receives from the core network, the time synchronization information is an initial context setup request message or an evolution. Carrying by the radio access bearer setup request message; and/or in the case where at least one of the time synchronization information is received by the base station from the one or more terminal devices, the time synchronization information is The capability information of the one or more terminal devices is carried.

In a second aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a time synchronization method, where the method includes: the core network sends time synchronization information of the terminal device to the base station, where the time synchronization information includes at least one of the following: the at least one terminal device supports Delay jitter of the service, time synchronization accuracy of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, and time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, at least one of the time synchronization information is obtained by the core network by using a service QoS of an upper layer interface; and/or at least one of the time synchronization information is the The core network is received from at least one of the terminal device, another core network, and another base station.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending, by the core network, at least one of the time synchronization information to another core network and/or a base station.

In a third aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides another time synchronization device, which may be a base station or a chip in a base station. The apparatus can include a processing unit and a transceiver unit. When the device is a base station, the processing unit may be a processor, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver; the base station may further include a storage unit, the storage unit may be a memory; the storage unit is configured to store And the processing unit executes the instructions stored by the storage unit to cause the base station to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the first aspect. When the device is a chip in a base station, the processing unit may be a processor, the transceiver unit may be an input/output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc.; the processing unit executes an instruction stored by the storage unit to The method of any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the first aspect, wherein the storage unit may be a storage unit (eg, a register, a cache, etc.) in the chip, or may be a A memory unit (eg, a read only memory, a random access memory, etc.) located outside the chip within the base station.

In a fourth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides another time synchronization device, which may be a core network or a chip in a core network. The apparatus can include a processing unit and a transceiver unit. When the device is a core network, the processing unit may be a processor, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver; the core network may further include a storage unit, the storage unit may be a memory; In the storage instruction, the processing unit executes the instructions stored by the storage unit to cause the core network to perform the method in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect or the second aspect. When the device is a chip in a core network, the processing unit may be a processor, the transceiver unit may be an input/output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc.; the processing unit executes an instruction stored by the storage unit, The storage unit may be a storage unit (for example, a register, a cache, etc.) in the chip, or may be a method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect or the second aspect. A memory unit (eg, a read only memory, a random access memory, etc.) located outside the chip within the core network.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, where the communication system includes the base station in the third aspect and the core network in the fourth aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, configured to store a computer program, where the computer program is used to execute the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or the second An instruction of a method in any of the possible implementations.

In the solution provided by the present application, the base station can dynamically adjust the transmission period of the time synchronization signal according to the current time synchronization requirement of the terminal device connected thereto, thereby achieving a balance between ensuring time synchronization requirements and ensuring resource efficiency. .

DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic diagram of a communication flow of an IEEE 1588 protocol;

2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applied in an embodiment of the present application;

3 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a time synchronization method provided by the present application;

4 is a structural diagram of an embodiment of a base station provided by the present application;

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of another embodiment of a base station provided by the present application; FIG.

6 is a structural diagram of an embodiment of a core network provided by the present application;

FIG. 7 is a structural diagram of another embodiment of a core network provided by the present application.

detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a communication system 100 to which the embodiment of the present application is applied. Communication system 100 can include at least one base station 110, at least one core network 120, and a plurality of terminal devices 130 located within the coverage of base station 110. FIG. 2 exemplarily shows one base station, one core network, and two terminal devices. Alternatively, the communication system 100 may include multiple base stations, or may include multiple core networks, and each base station may have coverage within This embodiment does not limit the number of the terminal devices.

Optionally, the wireless communication system 100 may further include other network entities, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

The communication system used in the embodiments of the present application may be a Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, or a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access). , WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (Time Division) Duplex, TDD), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), 5G New Radio (NR) system, and other wireless communication systems using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology.

The base station involved in the embodiment of the present application can be used to provide a wireless communication function for the terminal device. The base station may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, and the like. The base station may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, or may be a base station (NodeB, NB) in WCDMA, or may be an evolved Node B (eNB) in LTE or e-NodeB), and may be the corresponding device gNB in the 5G network. For convenience of description, in all embodiments of the present application, the foregoing apparatus for providing a wireless communication function for a terminal device is collectively referred to as a base station.

The core network involved in the embodiment of the present application corresponds to different devices in different systems, for example, a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a Serving GateWay (S-GW) in a 4G system, in 3G. The corresponding service GPRS support node (SGSN), Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), etc. in the system.

The terminal device involved in the embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as a user equipment (User Equipment, UE), a mobile station (Mobile Station, MS), a mobile terminal device (Mobile Terminal), etc., and the terminal device may be connected via a wireless device. The Radio Access Network (RAN) communicates with one or more core networks. For example, the terminal device may be a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone), a computer with a mobile terminal device, etc., for example, the terminal device also It can be a portable, pocket, handheld, computer built-in or in-vehicle mobile device that exchanges language and/or data with the wireless access network. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit it.

The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation of the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

IEEE 1588 is a precision time synchronization protocol standard for network measurement and control systems. The basic principle of the IEEE 1588 protocol is to calculate the clock offset (Offset) by interacting with the time information of the Master Clock and the Slave Clock. In the IEEE 1588 protocol, the true transmission time is the time interval from the time when the sender records the timestamp to the time at which the receiver records the timestamp. This includes not only the transmission time in the network, but also the time when the sender is time stamped. The processing time until the signal actually enters the network, and the processing time at which the receiver receives the signal and times it. This results in the symmetry of the upper and lower transmission time of the time stamp at the transmitting end and the receiving end closer to the bottom layer, and the smaller the influence on the symmetry of the uplink and downlink transmission delays. Because the closer to the bottom layer, the more regular the processing time of the signal from the recording point of the time stamp to the transmitting end or the receiving end, the higher the level, the more uncertain the processing delay is. For cellular mobile communication systems, we tend to record the timestamps of the sender and receiver at the physical layer.

The time synchronization accuracy is related to the symmetry of the uplink and downlink transmission time, and is also related to the execution frequency of the synchronization process. The higher the frequency of execution, the higher the synchronization accuracy. This is because all clocks have clock drift (due to the instability of the crystal oscillator). If the clock drift rate or direction of the master clock and the controlled clock are different, the longer the time, the more error the clock drift will cause. Big. For example, the two clocks that have just been synchronized, after 1 hour of clock drift, the error may be 1 s. After 1 day of clock drift, the error may be 0.5 min. In order to reduce the error caused by the clock drift, the master clock needs to be continuously synchronized with the controlled clock. The higher the synchronization precision required, the higher the synchronization frequency needs to be. There may be multiple services that require time synchronization in a system, and the accuracy requirements for synchronization may be different. We need to ensure synchronization accuracy and improve the efficiency of air interface resource utilization of cellular mobile communication systems. Avoid generating too much signaling overhead.

The communication flow of the IEEE 1588 protocol is shown in Figure 1. The steps are as follows:

1) The master clock sends a SYNC message and records the sending time t0 of the message, and the message may not carry any information;

2) The controlled clock receives the SYNC message sent by the master clock, and records the receiving time t1;

3) The master clock sends a Follow_up message to the controlled clock, which carries t0;

4) The controlled clock receives the Follow_up message sent by the master clock, and obtains t0;

5) The controlled clock sends a Delay_Req message to the master clock and records the transmission time t2, which may not carry any information;

6) The master clock receives the Delay_Req message of the controlled clock, and records the receiving time t3;

7) The master clock sends a Delay_Resp message to the controlled clock, which carries the information of t3;

8) The controlled clock receives the Delay_Resp message of the master clock, obtains t3, calculates the offset of the clock according to t0, t1, t2, and t3, and adjusts the local clock accordingly.

In the cellular system, if the time synchronization of the IEEE 1588 protocol is adopted, the basic principle is that the controlled clock adjusts its own clock by interacting with the time information of the master clock, since in the cellular system, all terminal devices are connected to the base station. To communicate (even if D2D communication requires the terminal device to connect with the base station first, the base station allocates communication resources and configures some parameters), so in the time synchronization process of the cellular system, we use the base station as the master clock, and the terminal device As a controlled clock.

In the IEEE 1588 protocol, the master clock periodically transmits a SYNC message and the transmission period is fixed. If the SYNC message is sent in a fixed period on the air interface transmission of the cellular radio system, in the case where there is no service or terminal device requiring time synchronization in the system. Or, when the accuracy of the synchronization service at the current time is not high, and the terminal device can receive the SYNC message according to a long period, the air interface resource is wasted.

Therefore, the base station needs to be dynamically adapted to the time synchronization requirement of the air interface, and the air interface signaling overhead is saved under the premise of ensuring time synchronization accuracy.

Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment of a time synchronization method provided by the present application may be applied to a scenario in which a time synchronization signal is transmitted between a base station and a terminal device by using a wireless signal, and the method includes S210, S220, and S230.

S210: The base station determines, according to time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device, a transmission period of a time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device.

As an example, the at least one terminal device may be all terminal devices with time synchronization requirements connected to the base station, or the base station may also group terminal devices with time synchronization requirements connected to the base station. The transmission period of the different time synchronization signals is determined for each packet, and the time synchronization signal is transmitted according to the determined transmission period of the different time synchronization signals, which is not limited in this application.

As an example, the time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device refers to a time synchronization signal that the base station then transmits to the at least one terminal device.

As an example, the time synchronization signal is a signal used for time synchronization between the base station and the terminal device, and the time synchronization signal may not include any information, and is only used for timestamps of the transmitting end and the receiving end ( The record of the time stamp may also include the transmission time information (for example, the time corresponding to a certain symbol of the current signal), which is not limited in this application. As an example, time synchronization means that the absolute time between points is required to be the same or the deviation does not exceed a certain value. Time synchronization can also be called clock synchronization, that is, the time of multiple clocks at a certain time is completely consistent or time deviation. Not exceeding a certain value, it can be understood as clock synchronization. For example, the clock at the terminal device is completely coincident with the clock at the base station at a certain time or the time deviation does not exceed a certain value. As an example, the time synchronization signal is a signal or message used to record time stamps. For example, the base station records a timestamp of the time of sending the time synchronization signal, and includes the timestamp in the time synchronization signal, and the receiving end records the timestamp of the time of receiving the time synchronization signal. The timestamp refers to the time corresponding to a certain signal when a certain action occurs (for example, sending or receiving a certain symbol), and is used as an input of the time synchronization algorithm to calculate the time deviation.

As an example, when a new terminal device is connected to the base station, or when some or some of the terminal devices connected to the base station generate time synchronization requirements, or when connected to the base station The base station re-determines the transmission period of the time synchronization signal when the time synchronization information of one or some of the terminal devices in the time synchronization requirement changes.

As an example, the transmission period of the time synchronization signal may be represented by an integer multiple of a Transmission Time Interval (TTI), an integer multiple of a subframe, or an integer multiple of a time slot.

Optionally, the time synchronization information includes at least one of: a delay jitter of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, a time synchronization accuracy of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, and a time of the at least one terminal device Synchronization capability.

Here, the at least one terminal device can support the same service, and can also support different services, which is not limited in this application. For example, the at least one terminal device includes a first terminal device, a second terminal device, and a third terminal device, where the first terminal device and the second terminal device support a first service, and the third terminal device supports The second service, the time synchronization information includes at least one of: delay jitter and/or time synchronization accuracy of the first service, delay jitter of the second service, and/or time synchronization accuracy, time synchronization of the first terminal device The capability, the time synchronization capability of the second terminal device, and the time synchronization capability of the third terminal device.

As an example, the delay jitter of the service supported by the at least one terminal device refers to a variation of the end-to-end Latency of all terminal devices supporting the service, which may Is the range of variation of any one message from one or more transmitting sides to one or more receiving sides, for example, sending N messages from one node to another (N can be infinite), each message has A transmission delay, the deviation of the transmission delay of all messages does not exceed one value, this value is delay jitter; for example, L messages are sent from K nodes to another K nodes (K can be infinite, L can also Infinitely large, the deviation of the transmission delay of each message does not exceed one value. This value is the delay jitter.

As an example, the time synchronization accuracy of the service supported by the at least one terminal device refers to the maximum value of the deviation of the local time (or local clock) of all the terminal devices supporting the service, and the smaller the value, the higher the time synchronization accuracy.

As an example, the time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device refers to a minimum value of time deviation between the terminal device and the master clock located at the base station, and the smaller the value, the stronger the time synchronization capability. .

Optionally, the smaller the delay jitter, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or the higher the time synchronization precision, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or the The weaker the time synchronization capability, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal.

S220: The base station notifies the at least one terminal device of a sending period of the time synchronization signal.

Here, the base station may send the value of the transmission period of the time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device, or may send the index number of the transmission period of the time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device, which is This is not limited.

As an example, the base station may broadcast a transmission period of the time synchronization signal through a system message.

S230: The base station sends a time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device according to a sending period of the time synchronization signal.

As an example, when a terminal device having a time synchronization requirement loses connection with the base station, the base station stops transmitting the time synchronization signal. Similarly, as an example, when there is no terminal device having a time synchronization requirement in the terminal device connected to the base station, the base station does not need to determine the transmission period of the time synchronization signal and does not need to transmit the time synchronization signal.

Optionally, the steps between the foregoing base station and the terminal device are all using a wireless signal as a transmission mode.

In this embodiment, the base station dynamically adjusts the transmission period of the time synchronization signal according to the time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device. In this manner, on the one hand, the time synchronization signal transmission period can be The current time synchronization requirement of the at least one terminal device is met, and the transmission period of the time synchronization signal is prevented from being too long for a certain terminal device, so that the controlled clock in the terminal device is not synchronized with the master clock located at the base station. On the other hand, it is also avoided that the transmission period of the time synchronization signal is too short for all terminal devices that currently receive the time synchronization signal, resulting in unnecessary overhead and waste of system resources, that is, By applying the solution of the embodiment, it is possible to strike a balance between ensuring time synchronization requirements and ensuring resource efficiency.

Optionally, the SeNB determines, according to the first time synchronization information in the time synchronization information, a sending period of the time synchronization signal, where the first time synchronization information is the shortest corresponding to the time synchronization information. Time synchronization information of the transmission cycle of the time synchronization signal.

That is to say, the transmission period of the time synchronization signal should satisfy the time synchronization requirement of all services supported by the at least one terminal device (ie, satisfy the most strict time synchronization requirement among them). When the most stringent time synchronization requirements change (for example, the core network indicates a change in service demand or a terminal device loses connection with the base station), the base station should adjust the transmission period of the time synchronization signal.

As an example, in a case where the time synchronization information is delay jitter, the base station may determine a transmission period of the time synchronization signal according to a minimum delay jitter; in a case where the time synchronization information is time synchronization accuracy The base station may determine a transmission period of the time synchronization signal according to a highest time synchronization precision; in a case where the time synchronization information is a time synchronization capability, the base station may select a weakest time synchronization capability to determine The transmission period of the time synchronization signal.

Optionally, the embodiment further includes S240.

S240: The one or more terminal devices of the at least one terminal device send at least one of the time synchronization information to a core network.

Here, the one or more terminal devices may transmit at least one of the time synchronization information to the core network, for example, a time synchronization capability of the one or more terminal devices, or may The core network sends different types of time synchronization information related to different terminal devices, for example, the first terminal device sends the time synchronization capability of the first terminal device to the core network, and the second terminal device sends the time synchronization capability to the core network. The time synchronization capability of the second terminal device and the delay jitter of the service supported by the second terminal device are not limited in this application.

As an example, the time synchronization message is carried by UE Capability Information.

As an example, the sending, by the one or more terminal devices, the time synchronization information to the core network requires forwarding by the base station, for example, the base station receives capability information of the first terminal device from a first terminal device. And not extracting the time synchronization message of the first terminal device, but forwarding the time synchronization message of the first terminal device to the core network, and extracting the time synchronization message by the core network .

Optionally, the embodiment further includes S250.

S250: The base station receives at least one of the time synchronization information from the core network.

Here, similar to the above description, the base station may receive at least one of the time synchronization information from the core network, and may also receive different types of time synchronization information related to different terminal devices from the core network. This application does not limit this.

As an example, the time synchronization information is carried by an Initial Context Setup Request message or an Evolved Radio Access Bearer Setup Request message.

Optionally, the embodiment further includes S260.

S260: The one or more terminal devices of the at least one terminal device send at least one of the time synchronization information to the base station.

Here, similar to the above description, the terminal device may send at least one of the time synchronization information to the base station, and may also send different types of time synchronization information related to different terminal devices to the base station, This application does not limit this.

As an example, the time synchronization information is carried by capability information.

As an example, in general, the at least one terminal device should inform its core network of its time synchronization capability, and then the base station notifies the base station that the time synchronization capability of a certain terminal device is not notified in the core network. In the case that the base station or the partial time synchronization capability of a certain terminal device is not notified to the base station, the base station queries the terminal device for its time synchronization capability or an unknown partial time synchronization capability, and the terminal device The time synchronization capability or the partial time synchronization capability being queried is informed to the base station.

For example, taking the time synchronization information as the time synchronization capability of the terminal device as an example, if the at least one terminal device includes the first terminal device, the second terminal device, and the third terminal device, the first terminal device passes the base station. Transmitting, to the core network, capability information including its time synchronization capability, the core network acquiring the time synchronization capability of the first terminal device from the obtained capability report message and passing the core network and the An interface between the base stations is notified to the base station; the time synchronization capability of the second terminal device is stored in the core network, and therefore, the core network can pass the time synchronization capability of the second terminal device that is stored by the core network. The interface between the core network and the base station is notified to the base station; the core network does not acquire the time synchronization capability of the third terminal device from the third terminal device, and does not store the third The time synchronization capability of the terminal device, thus not notifying the base station of the time synchronization capability of the third terminal device, in which case the base Can query message to the third terminal device transmits time synchronization capability, the third terminal equipment to report its capability information comprising time synchronization capability to the base station.

As another example, the time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device is learned by the core network through the upper layer interface (for example, through the service QoS of the upper layer interface), and is notified to the base station, where the terminal device is not used. In the case where the time synchronization capability informs the base station or does not inform the base station of the partial time synchronization capability of a certain terminal device, the base station queries the core network for the time synchronization capability or the unknown portion of the terminal device. Time synchronization capability.

For example, the time synchronization information is a delay jitter and/or a time synchronization accuracy of a service supported by the terminal device, and the at least one terminal device includes a first terminal device, a second terminal device, and the first terminal device and The second terminal device supports the first service, and the core network obtains the delay jitter and/or the time synchronization precision of the first service by using the service QoS of the upper layer interface, and delays the first service. Jitter and/or time synchronization accuracy is sent to the base station. Optionally, the base station receives at least one of the time synchronization information from another base station.

Here, similar to the above description, the base station may receive at least one of the time synchronization information from the another base station, and may also receive different types of time related to different terminal devices from the another base station. Synchronization information is not limited in this application.

Optionally, the core network obtains at least one of the time synchronization information by using a service QoS of an upper layer interface.

Optionally, the core network receives at least one of the time synchronization information from another core network and/or another base station.

Here, similar to the above description, the core network may receive at least one of the time synchronization information from the another core network and/or the another base station, or may also be from the other core network and The other base station receives different types of time synchronization information related to different terminal devices, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, the core network sends at least one of the time synchronization information to another core network.

Here, similar to the above description, the core network may send at least one of the time synchronization information to the other core network, or may send a different connection to a different terminal device to the other core network. Type time synchronization information, which is not limited in this application.

Referring to FIG. 4, an embodiment of a base station provided by the present application includes a sending unit 310 and a processing unit 330.

The processing unit 330 is configured to: determine, according to time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device, a transmission period of a time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device.

Optionally, the time synchronization information includes at least one of: a delay jitter of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, a time synchronization accuracy of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, and a time of the at least one terminal device Synchronization capability.

Optionally, the smaller the delay jitter, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or the higher the time synchronization precision, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or the The weaker the time synchronization capability, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal.

The sending unit 310 is configured to: send a sending period of the time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device.

The sending unit 310 is further configured to: send a time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device according to a sending period of the time synchronization signal.

Optionally, the processing unit 330 is further configured to: determine, according to the first time synchronization information in the time synchronization information, a sending period of the time synchronization signal, where the first time synchronization information is the time synchronization information. Time synchronization information corresponding to the transmission period of the shortest time synchronization signal.

Optionally, the embodiment further includes a receiving unit 320.

The receiving unit 320 is configured to: receive at least one of the time synchronization information from at least one of the one or more terminal devices, the core network, and another base station of the at least one terminal device.

Optionally, in a case that at least one of the time synchronization information is that the base station receives from the core network, the time synchronization information is an initial context setup request message or an evolved radio access bearer setup request message. Carrying; and/or in the case where at least one of the time synchronization information is received by the base station from the one or more terminal devices, the time synchronization information is by the one or more terminals The capability information of the device is carried.

With regard to the detailed description of the technical details and advantageous effects in the present embodiment, reference should be made to the above method embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 5, another embodiment of a base station provided by the present application includes a transmitter 410 and a processor 430.

The processor 430 is configured to: determine, according to time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device, a transmission period of a time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device.

Optionally, the time synchronization information includes at least one of: a delay jitter of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, a time synchronization accuracy of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, and a time of the at least one terminal device Synchronization capability.

Optionally, the smaller the delay jitter, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or the higher the time synchronization precision, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or the The weaker the time synchronization capability, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal.

The transmitter 410 is configured to: send, according to the processor 430, a transmission period of the time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device.

The transmitter 410 is further configured to: send, according to a sending period of the time synchronization signal, a time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device under the control of the processor 430.

The processor 430 is further configured to: control the transmitter 410.

Optionally, the processor 430 is further configured to: determine, according to the first time synchronization information in the time synchronization information, a sending period of the time synchronization signal, where the first time synchronization information is the time synchronization information. Time synchronization information corresponding to the transmission period of the shortest time synchronization signal.

Optionally, the embodiment further includes a receiver 420.

The receiver 420 is configured to: receive the time synchronization from at least one of the one or more terminal devices, the core network, and another base station of the at least one terminal device under the control of the processor 430 At least one of the information.

In this case, the processor 430 is further configured to: control the receiver 420.

Optionally, in a case that at least one of the time synchronization information is that the base station receives from the core network, the time synchronization information is an initial context setup request message or an evolved radio access bearer setup request message. Carrying; and/or in the case where at least one of the time synchronization information is received by the base station from the one or more terminal devices, the time synchronization information is by the one or more terminals The capability information of the device is carried.

With regard to the detailed description of the technical details and advantageous effects in the present embodiment, reference should be made to the above method embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 6, an embodiment of a core network provided by the present application includes a sending unit 510.

The sending unit 510 is configured to: send time synchronization information of the terminal device to the base station, where the time synchronization information includes at least one of: delay jitter of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, supported by the at least one terminal device Time synchronization accuracy of the service, time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device.

Optionally, the embodiment further includes a receiving unit 520.

The receiving unit 520 is configured to: obtain at least one of the time synchronization information by using a service QoS of an upper layer interface; and/or receive the time from at least one of the terminal device, another core network, and another base station. At least one of the synchronization information.

Optionally, the sending unit 510 is further configured to: send at least one of the time synchronization information to another core network and/or a base station.

With regard to the detailed description of the technical details and advantageous effects in the present embodiment, reference should be made to the above method embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 7, another embodiment of the core network provided by the present application includes a transmitter 610 and a processor 630.

The transmitter 610 is configured to: send, by the processor 630, time synchronization information of the terminal device to the base station, where the time synchronization information includes at least one of: a delay of the service supported by the at least one terminal device The jitter, the time synchronization accuracy of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, and the time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device.

The processor 630 is configured to: control the transmitter 610.

Optionally, the embodiment further includes a receiver 620.

The receiver 620 is configured to: obtain, by the processor 630, at least one of the time synchronization information by using a service QoS of an upper layer interface, and/or from the terminal device, another core network, and another At least one of the base stations receives at least one of the time synchronization information.

In this case, the processor 630 is further configured to: control the receiver 620.

Optionally, the transmitter 610 is further configured to: send at least one of the time synchronization information to another core network and/or a base station.

With regard to the detailed description of the technical details and advantageous effects in the present embodiment, reference should be made to the above method embodiments.

A person skilled in the art may understand that all or part of the steps of implementing the above embodiments may be completed by hardware, or may be instructed by a program to execute related hardware, and the program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The storage medium mentioned may be a read only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk or the like.

The above description is only an example of the present application, and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application are included in the scope of the present application. .

Claims (20)

A time synchronization method, comprising: Determining, by the base station, a transmission period of a time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device according to time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device; The base station notifying the at least one terminal device of a sending period of the time synchronization signal; The base station sends a time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device according to a sending period of the time synchronization signal. The method of claim 1 wherein: The time synchronization information includes at least one of: a delay jitter of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, a time synchronization accuracy of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, and a time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The smaller the delay jitter, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or The higher the time synchronization accuracy, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or The weaker the time synchronization capability, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the base station determines a transmission period of the time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device according to the time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device, including: Determining, by the base station, a sending period of the time synchronization signal according to the first time synchronization information in the time synchronization information, where the first time synchronization information is a sending period of a shortest time synchronization signal in the time synchronization information Time synchronization information. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: At least one of the time synchronization information is that the base station receives from at least one of the one or more terminal devices, the core network, and another base station of the at least one terminal device. The method of claim 5 wherein: In a case where at least one of the time synchronization information is received by the base station from the core network, the time synchronization information is carried by an initial context setup request message or an evolved radio access bearer setup request message; and /or In a case where at least one of the time synchronization information is received by the base station from the one or more terminal devices, the time synchronization information is carried by capability information of the one or more terminal devices . A time synchronization method, comprising: The core network sends time synchronization information of the terminal device to the base station, where the time synchronization information includes at least one of: delay jitter of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, time synchronization accuracy of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, Time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device. The method of claim 7 wherein: At least one of the time synchronization information is obtained by the core network through a service QoS of an upper layer interface; and/or At least one of the time synchronization information is that the core network receives from at least one of the terminal device, another core network, and another base station. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the method further comprises: The core network transmits at least one of the time synchronization information to another core network and/or a base station. A base station, comprising: a processing unit, configured to determine, according to time synchronization information of the at least one terminal device, a sending period of a time synchronization signal for the at least one terminal device; a sending unit, configured to notify the at least one terminal device of a sending period of the time synchronization signal; The sending unit is further configured to: send a time synchronization signal to the at least one terminal device according to a sending period of the time synchronization signal. The device of claim 10 wherein: The time synchronization information includes at least one of: a delay jitter of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, a time synchronization accuracy of a service supported by the at least one terminal device, and a time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device. The device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein: The smaller the delay jitter, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or The higher the time synchronization accuracy, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal; and/or The weaker the time synchronization capability, the shorter the transmission period of the time synchronization signal. The device according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the processing unit is further configured to: Determining, according to the first time synchronization information in the time synchronization information, a transmission period of the time synchronization signal, where the first time synchronization information is time synchronization of a transmission period corresponding to a shortest time synchronization signal in the time synchronization information. information. The device according to any one of claims 10 to 13, further comprising: And a receiving unit, configured to receive at least one of the time synchronization information from at least one of the one or more terminal devices, the core network, and another base station of the at least one terminal device. The device of claim 14 wherein: In a case where at least one of the time synchronization information is received by the base station from the core network, the time synchronization information is carried by an initial context setup request message or an evolved radio access bearer setup request message; and /or In a case where at least one of the time synchronization information is received by the base station from the one or more terminal devices, the time synchronization information is carried by capability information of the one or more terminal devices . A core network, comprising: a sending unit, configured to send time synchronization information of the terminal device to the base station, where the time synchronization information includes at least one of: a delay jitter of the service supported by the at least one terminal device, and a time of the service supported by the at least one terminal device Synchronization accuracy, time synchronization capability of the at least one terminal device. The device of claim 16 further comprising: a receiving unit that obtains at least one of the time synchronization information by using a service QoS of an upper layer interface, and/or receives the time synchronization information from at least one of the terminal device, another core network, and another base station at least one. The device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the transmitting unit is further configured to: At least one of the time synchronization information is transmitted to another core network and/or base station. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises a base station according to any one of claims 10 to 15 and a core network according to any one of claims 16 to 18. A computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program is for executing instructions of the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

Images