WO2025167365A1 - Method for transmitting configuration information and related device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application provides a method for transmitting configuration information and a related device. The method comprises: a first access network device acquires configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises first service support information and second service support information of each of a plurality of cells of the first access network device, the first service support information is used for indicating whether the cell uses a connected mode cell DRX/DTX pattern, and the second service support information is used for indicating whether a multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses a cell DRX/DTX pattern; and the first access network device transmits the configuration information to a second access network device.

Description

A method for transmitting configuration information and related equipment

This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on February 8, 2024, with application number 202410178278.1 and invention name “A method for transmitting configuration information and related equipment”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application.

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 Art

Currently, discussions on cellular communication technology focus on terminal power consumption (due to battery size limitations and the sensitive impact on user experience). However, with the recent development of green communications and operators' self-interest, network energy conservation has also begun to be discussed. Rel-18/19 established a project focused on network energy saving.

In the current mechanism design, only connected terminals can be configured with cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) and/or cell discontinuous reception (DRX) patterns. These configurations are similar to the UE's DRX mechanism, with periodic activation. Specifically, Cell DTX means that the base station only transmits during the active period. This means that when the terminal is not active, it does not request to receive downlink dynamic scheduling or semi-persistent downlink data transmission. Cell DRX means that the base station only receives during the active period. This means that when the terminal is not active, it does not send uplink SRs, various channel feedback reports, or semi-persistent uplink data. DRX can save power as long as the UE is configured. However, for the Cell DTX/DRX solution, although the configuration is specific to the UE, because the cell or base station serves multiple terminals, a large number of UEs must be configured with a similar DRX/DTX pattern to achieve energy savings for the network. In one approach, 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. However, 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:

A first access network device obtains configuration information, including first service support information and second service support information for each of multiple cells of the first access network device. The first service support information indicates whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information indicates 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.

In this application, access network devices can communicate whether each of their own cells uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and whether the multicast broadcast services supported by the cell use 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, the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell reselection.

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

In a possible implementation, 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. The configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information for each of multiple cells of the first access network device. The first service support information indicates whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information indicates whether a multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode.

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

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

In a possible implementation, 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.

An acquiring unit is configured to acquire configuration information, the configuration information including first service support information and second service support information for each of a plurality of cells of a first access network device. The first service support information indicates whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information indicates whether a 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, the configuration information is used by the second access network device to instruct the terminal to perform cell reselection.

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

In a possible implementation, 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 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 further includes a processing unit.

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

In one possible implementation,

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

In a possible implementation, 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 is caused to execute 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 this 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 structural diagram of a first access network device;

FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a second access network device;

FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of the first access network device or the second access network device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following describes the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate 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," and the like in the specification and claims of this application and in the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a particular order or precedence. It should be understood that the terms used in this manner are 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," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, e.g., a process, method, system, product, or apparatus comprising a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or that are inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

The method for transmitting configuration information in the present application can be applied to the long term evolution (LTE) system, the fifth generation mobile networks (5G) new radio (NR) system, the sixth generation mobile communication technology (6G) system 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. 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, the 5G core network (5th generation core, 5GC)) via the radio access network (RAN) and can exchange voice and/or data with the RAN. Terminal equipment 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 station (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.

Access network equipment can be any device with wireless transceiver capabilities and can be responsible for air interface-related functions, such as radio link maintenance, radio resource management, and some mobility management functions. Furthermore, access network equipment can be configured with a baseband unit (BBU) that performs baseband signal processing. For example, the access network equipment can be the radio access network (RAN) currently providing services to terminal devices. Currently, some common examples of access network equipment are: Node B (NB), evolved Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB) in 5G new radio (NR) system, nodes in 6G system (for example, xNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP), radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved Node B) or home node (HNB)), etc. Furthermore, in network architectures such as cloud radio access networks (CloudRAN) or open radio access networks (ORAN), access network equipment can include centralized units (CUs) (also known as control units) and/or distributed units (DUs). RAN equipment, including CUs and DUs, separates the protocol layers of the gNB in the NR system, centrally controlling some protocol layer functions within the CU and distributing some or all of the remaining protocol layer functions within the DU, which is then centrally controlled by the CU. The network interface between two access network devices is called the Xn interface. The Xn interface supports the exchange of global base station information, serving cell information, and neighboring cell information between the two access network devices, enabling functions such as load balancing, cell energy saving, and energy-saving cell activation.

Please refer to Figure 2. The following is a detailed introduction to the process of the method for transmitting configuration information in this application. The first access network device in this 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 obtains configuration information, where the configuration information includes first service support information and second service support information of each of multiple cells of the first access network device.

A first access network device obtains its configuration information, which includes first service support information and second service support information for each of the first access network device's multiple cells. The first service support information indicates whether the cell uses the connected cell DRX/DTX mode. The connected cell DRX/DTX mode refers to a terminal that performs unicast services in a connected state. The network can configure a cell discontinuous transmission and/or discontinuous reception mechanism for the terminal. Each mechanism corresponds to information such as the discontinuous transmission and reception cycle and activation period. Based on this configuration information, the terminal can determine the time period (activation period) during which the network receives and transmits signaling and data within a cycle. For the connected cell DRX mechanism, the network base station only enables reception during the activation period. This means that during the inactive period, the terminal cannot send uplink SRs, various channel feedback reports, or semi-static uplink data. For the cell DTX mechanism, the base station only enables transmission during the active period. This means that during the inactive period, the terminal is not required to receive downlink dynamic scheduling or semi-static downlink data transmission. The second service support information indicates whether the multicast broadcast services supported by the cell use the cell DRX/DTX mode.

Please refer to Figure 3. In the configuration information, it can be separately indicated for each of the above-mentioned cells 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.

Referring to Figure 5 , the above configuration information may indicate, for each multicast broadcast service supported by each cell, whether it uses the cell DRX/DTX mode. Of course, referring to Figure 6 , in some special cases, the multicast broadcast services supported by a cell (e.g., cell 1) may all use the cell DRX/DTX mode, or none of them may use the cell DRX/DTX mode. In this case, it is not necessary to indicate, for each multicast broadcast service supported by the cell, whether it uses the cell DRX/DTX mode. Instead, the cell may be directly instructed to use/not use the cell DRX/DTX mode. Referring to Figure 7 , if all cells of the first access network device use/not use the cell DRX/DTX mode, the first access network device may also be directly instructed to use/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 based on 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 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, a first access network device and a second access network device may exchange configuration information through an Xn interface establishment and modification process. First, the first access network device sends an Xn interface establishment request message (XN SETUP REQUEST message) to a second access network device (possibly more than one), requesting establishment of an Xn interface. 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 by sending an XN SETUP RESPONSE message to the first access network device. This message carries the configuration information of the second access network device while completing the interface establishment.

After the Xn interface is established, if the configuration of the first access network device changes, it can send an NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE message to the second access network device (which may be more than one) to notify the second access network device of the configuration change. The message can include the updated configuration information. Upon receiving this message, the second access network device can reply with an NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE message to the first access network device to confirm that the configuration information was successfully updated.

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

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 hardware.

An acquisition unit 801 is configured to acquire configuration information, the configuration information including first service support information and second service support information for each of multiple cells of a first access network device. The first service support information indicates whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information indicates whether a multicast broadcast service supported by the cell uses the cell DRX/DTX mode.

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

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

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

In a possible implementation, 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.

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, 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, 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.

FIG10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device provided herein, which is used to implement the methods performed by an access network device or terminal device in each of the aforementioned embodiments. Device 1000 may include one or more central processing units (CPUs) 1001 and a memory 1005 , which may store one or more applications or data.

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

Those skilled in the art will 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 this 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 merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, 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 separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or 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, 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. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute 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)

A method for transmitting configuration information, characterized by comprising: A first access network device obtains configuration information, the configuration information including first service support information and second service support information for each of a plurality of cells of the first access network device, the first service support information being used to indicate whether the cell uses a connected cell DRX/DTX mode, and the second service support information being used to indicate whether a 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. 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. 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. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, in the configuration information, the multicast broadcast service is identified by TMGI or G-RNTI. The method according to claim 4 is characterized in that the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices. 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 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 method according to claim 6, further comprising: The second access network device instructs the terminal to perform cell reselection according to the configuration information. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: The second access network device instructs the terminal to perform cell switching according to the configuration information. 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. The method according to claim 9 is characterized in that the first access network device and the second access network device are adjacent access network devices. An access network device comprises 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 access network device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10. 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.