Background
First, RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection release message and cell selection profile.
The RRC connection release message includes redirection information and cell reselection priority information. The redirection information is used to assign a specific frequency point to a UE (User Equipment), and after the UE releases the RRC connection, cell selection is preferentially performed on the frequency point. And the cell reselection priority information is used for indicating the priority of the frequency point which can be subjected to cell reselection after cell selection to the UE.
The Network sends a special signaling to the UE to release connection, the UE enters an RRC _ IDLE (RRC _ Idle mode) state from an RRC _ CONNECTED (RRC _ CONNECTED mode) state through cell selection (cell selection) and resides in a certain cell, the UE should try to reside in the last cell of the RRC _ CONNECTED state (implicit, when not redirected), or an E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, UMTS: Universal Mobile communication System) frequency point or a cell (explicit, through redirection information) in other RAT (Radio Access Technology ) frequency points indicated in the special signaling of state transition; when a UE is camped on a certain cell to trigger a cell reselection procedure, it should attempt to reselect to a suitable cell (capable cell). Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an implementation procedure of IDLE mode (RRC _ IDLE) cell selection and reselection, and when there is no suitable cell (capable cell) to select by the UE, the procedure shown by a bold dashed line in fig. 1 is roughly divided into three cases:
a) if the UE enters the connected state from the "normal camped" state (cached normal), then it returns to the idle state, and if there is no suitable cell (survivable cell) available for selection at the frequency point (explicit or implicit) indicated in the dedicated signaling, the UE should perform a cell selection procedure to select a suitable cell (survivable cell) to camp on through the stored cell information (stored information); if a suitable cell cannot be obtained from the stored cell information, entering a cell initial search process (initial cell selection).
b) If the UE enters the connected state from the "camped on any cell" state (camped on any cell), then it returns to the idle state, if the frequency point (explicit or implicit) indicated in the dedicated signaling has no acceptable cell (acceptable cell) to select, the UE should enter the "any cell selection" state (any cell selection), and continue to search all PLMNs (Public Land mobile network) for acceptable cells (acceptable cells) to camp on.
c) If a cell reselection is triggered in the "normal camping" state (camped normal cell) but a suitable cell (acceptable cell) cannot be selected, or if a cell reselection is triggered in the "camping on any cell" state (camped onany cell) but an acceptable cell (acceptable cell) cannot be selected, the UE enters the "any cell selection" state (any cell selection) and searches all PLMNs supported by the UE for an acceptable cell (acceptable cell) to camp on.
Second, the inter-frequency/inter-technology cell reselection profile based on priority.
Inter-frequency and inter-technology cell reselection are both performed based on priority determination. When a UE reselects and evaluates a certain inter-frequency/inter-technology, the UE needs to be distinguished and treated according to a relationship (higher than, equal to, or lower than) between a priority of the UE and a priority of a current UE camping frequency point, and specific details are shown in section 5.2.4.5 in 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) 36.304.
In addition, when the UE determines whether to start measurement on a different frequency/different technology, it also needs to treat the measurement according to the relationship between its priority and the current UE camping frequency point:
a) for the different frequency/different technology with higher priority than the resident frequency point of the current UE, the measurement is carried out according to the requirement of the protocol of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) 36.133;
b) for the pilot frequency/pilot frequency technology with the priority equal to or lower than the current UE resident frequency point, when the quality of the service cell is lower than a certain threshold (S)nonintrasearch) Then the corresponding measurement is started.
And thirdly, brief introduction of the indication means of the priority.
The same priority is not allowed between different inter-technologies. And the current protocol stipulates that the UE can only evaluate the cell reselection under the condition that the system information provides an E-UTRAN frequency point or an inter-technology frequency point and the frequency point has priority.
The frequency point priority information of cell reselection comes from the following two means:
a) common signaling (i.e., system information): the priority information of the frequency point where the current UE resides, the respective priority information of other frequency points of the E-UTRAN, and the respective priority information of each frequency point (segment) of other RAT are provided. This is referred to as common priority information.
b) And special signaling: optionally, the RRC connection release message carries a priority list of E-UTRAN inter-frequency/inter-technology frequency points and a corresponding validity period timer length. This is called dedicated priority information. While a dedicated priority validity time timer T320 is also carried in the dedicated signaling.
And fourthly, the relationship brief introduction of the public priority information and the special priority information.
Specified in the existing LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard, when the UE does not receive dedicated priority information indicated by a dedicated signaling, it uses a common priority provided in system information to perform measurement and cell reselection; after receiving the dedicated priority information, the UE will not consider any public priority information any more, until the validity timer of the dedicated priority information expires or (for other reasons) expires, the UE will discard the dedicated priority information, and resume the corresponding measurement and cell reselection based on the public priority information.
The defects of the prior art are as follows: in some scenarios, the dedicated cell reselection priority and the dedicated timer are valid, but the UE cannot reside in the cells with the dedicated cell reselection priority, for example, the cell that resides after the UE connection release is not a cell under a frequency point (explicit or implicit) indicated in the connection release message, nor a cell under a frequency point that provides the cell reselection priority in the connection release message, and the connection release message provides the cell reselection priority of other frequency points, which results in that the UE cannot perform any inter-frequency/inter-technology measurement and reselection process before the dedicated priority timer expires.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides a method and equipment for determining cell reselection priority, which are used for solving the problem that in the prior art, different-frequency/different-technology cell reselection cannot be performed due to the fact that no effective cell reselection priority information exists.
The embodiment of the invention provides a method for determining cell reselection priority, which comprises the following steps:
judging whether a dedicated cell reselection priority timer of the UE is overtime or not;
judging whether the UE resides at a frequency point which is not configured with the dedicated cell reselection priority;
before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer is overtime, when the UE resides at a frequency point which is not configured with the dedicated cell reselection priority, determining the cell reselection priority used by the UE;
the determining the cell reselection priority used by the user equipment comprises:
determining the frequency point used by the user equipment to reselect the priority of the frequency point by using a preset fixed special cell; or,
determining the cell reselection priority of the frequency point provided by the frequency point using the system information residing in the user equipment; or,
and deleting all cell reselection priorities and dedicated priority timers provided by the dedicated signaling, and determining the cell reselection priorities used by the user equipment at the resident frequency points as the public priorities in the public priority information.
Preferably, the preset fixed dedicated cell reselection priority range is larger than the user equipment cell reselection priority range explicitly allocated by all high-level signaling.
Preferably, the common priority information is common priority information provided by system information.
The embodiment of the invention also provides user equipment, which comprises:
the overtime judging module is used for judging whether a special cell reselection priority timer of the UE is overtime or not;
the priority judging module is used for judging whether the UE resides in a frequency point which is not configured with the dedicated cell reselection priority;
the priority determining module is used for determining the cell reselection priority used by the UE when the UE resides at a frequency point which is not configured with the special cell reselection priority before the special cell reselection priority timer is overtime;
the priority determination module includes: one or a combination of the first priority unit, the second priority unit, and the third priority unit:
the first priority unit is used for determining the frequency point residing in the first priority unit to use the preset fixed special cell reselection priority for the frequency point;
the second priority unit is used for determining the cell reselection priority of the frequency point provided by the frequency point where the UE resides by using the system information;
a third priority unit, configured to determine that a cell reselection priority used by the UE at a frequency point where the UE resides is common priority information in the system information;
the third priority unit further comprises:
a deletion subunit, configured to delete all cell reselection priorities and dedicated priority timers provided by the dedicated signaling when the common priority is used.
Preferably, the first priority unit is further configured to use a preset fixed dedicated cell reselection priority range that is larger than a user equipment cell reselection priority range explicitly allocated by all higher layer signaling.
Preferably, the third priority unit is further configured to obtain common priority information from system information.
The invention has the following beneficial effects:
in the implementation of the invention, firstly, whether a special cell reselection priority timer of the UE is overtime and whether the UE resides at a frequency point which is not configured with the special cell reselection priority is judged; when the UE resides to the frequency point without the special cell reselection priority before the special cell reselection priority timer is overtime, the cell reselection priority used by the UE is determined, the problem that the different-frequency/different-technology cell reselection cannot be performed due to the fact that no effective cell reselection priority information exists when the UE resides to the frequency point without the special cell reselection priority before the special cell reselection priority timer is overtime in the prior art is solved, the UE can perform the different-frequency or different-technology cell reselection under any condition is guaranteed, the user equipment is guaranteed to be successfully implemented in the subsequent residence and call establishment processes, and experience of the user are enhanced.
Detailed Description
The following describes embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.
The inventor notices in the process of the invention that in some scenarios, the dedicated cell reselection priority and the dedicated timer are valid, but the UE cannot reside in the cells with the dedicated cell reselection priority, for example, the cell that resides after the UE connection release is not a cell under a frequency point (explicit or implicit) indicated in the connection release message, nor a cell under a frequency point providing the cell reselection priority in the connection release message, and the connection release message provides the cell reselection priority of other frequency points, which results in that the UE cannot perform any inter-frequency/inter-technology measurement and reselection process before the dedicated priority timer expires.
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of available frequency point information after dedicated signaling provides frequency point priority, where P represents the priority under the frequency point, a typical scenario in which no inter-frequency/inter-technology measurement and reselection procedure can be performed is shown in fig. 2, where the UE receives a connection release message indicating dedicated priority information of f2 and f3 and a dedicated cell reselection priority timer, while the system information of the frequency bin f1 where the dedicated signaling indicates that the UE preferentially camps provides common priority information of three frequency bins f1, f2 and f3, but none of the cells in f1 can satisfy the condition of the suitable cell (viable cell), so the UE resides in the cell under f4, and the cell under f4 may be the suitable cell (viable cell) obtained by storing cell information (stored information) or initial cell selection (initial cell selection) or the acceptable cell (acceptable cell) obtained by "any cell selection" state (any cell selection state).
According to the existing protocol, after the UE receives the connection release message, because the frequency point f1 does not satisfy the camping condition, the UE camps on the frequency point f4, but the UE only has the dedicated priorities of the two frequency points f2 and f3, and the frequency point f4 where the UE currently camps does not have any cell reselection priority information.
In another typical scenario, such as before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer times out, if the UE triggers cell reselection but cannot select a suitable cell (selectable cell) in the "normal camped" state (camped normal cell), or triggers cell reselection but cannot select an acceptable cell (acceptable cell) in the "camped on any cell" state (camped on any cell), the UE enters the "any cell selection" state (any cell selection) and continues to search all PLMNs for an acceptable cell (acceptable cell) for camping. Under these conditions, the UE can not guarantee the reselection priority information of the dedicated cell having the currently camped frequency point after camping on the new cell.
As can be seen from the foregoing description, once the UE cannot determine the priority information of the currently camped frequency point, it cannot normally perform the measurement and reselection processes of any other inter-frequency/inter-technology, and further affects the subsequent camping and call establishment procedures, thereby deteriorating the user experience.
Based on this, the embodiment of the present invention proposes to determine the cell reselection priority used by the UE to solve the problem when the UE resides at a frequency point where the dedicated cell reselection priority is not configured before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer expires.
Fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of an implementation of a method for determining a cell reselection priority, where as shown in the figure, the method may include the following steps:
step 301, judging whether a dedicated cell reselection priority timer of the UE is overtime;
step 302, judging whether the UE resides in a frequency point which is not configured with the dedicated cell reselection priority;
and step 303, determining the cell reselection priority used by the UE when the UE resides at a frequency point where the dedicated cell reselection priority is not configured before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer expires.
In practice, the steps 301 and 302 do not necessarily have an execution timing relationship, and are all necessary conditions for executing the step 303, and only need to be satisfied.
An embodiment of determining the cell reselection priority used by the UE in step 303 will be described below. Considering the possible generation manner of the priority, the following describes an embodiment of determining the cell reselection priority used by the UE from the priority fixedly set in the frequency point, the priority obtained from the system information, and the priority in the common priority information, respectively. Obviously, as can be seen from the following description of the embodiments, as long as it can be ensured that the UE has cell reselection priority information of the camping frequency point on the camping frequency point, the embodiments that ensure that the UE can perform cell reselection to different frequencies or different technologies under any circumstances can implement the present invention.
Firstly, determining the frequency point where the UE resides to use the preset fixed special cell reselection priority for the frequency point.
In implementation, before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer is overtime, when the UE resides at a frequency point not configured with the dedicated cell reselection priority, the frequency point uses fixed cell reselection priority information to ensure that the UE can always have the dedicated priority information of the resident frequency point, so as to facilitate subsequent measurement and cell reselection processes.
Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of using fixed dedicated cell reselection priority information, where P in the diagram represents a priority at the frequency point, and as shown in the diagram, when the dedicated cell reselection priority and the timer are indicated in the connection release message as an example, the specific implementation may be as follows:
the frequency point where the UE preferentially resides indicated by the connection release message is f1, the system information of the cell provides the common priority information of several frequency points f1 and f2, and the dedicated priority information P of (at least one) frequency point (for example, f2 frequency point) is indicated by the connection release messagef2 *When no suitable cell (suiteable cell) can reside at the frequency point f1, the UE selects a certain cell residing at the frequency point f3, the system information of the cell provides the public priority information of a plurality of frequency points f2 and f3, and the available dedicated priority of the UE residing at the frequency point f3 is the priority P of f2f2 *Priority P of f3 (from dedicated signalling)f *(from a fixed value) to ensure that the UE camped on f3 is able to make inter-frequency or inter-technology cell reselection before the dedicated priority timer expires.
In a specific implementation, the fixed dedicated cell reselection priority information preset in the UE may be set to be greater than a cell reselection priority range of the UE to which all higher layer signaling is explicitly allocated.
For example: in the prior art, the reselection priority range of the UE cell explicitly allocated by all the high-level signaling is generally set to 8 levels, that is, 0 to 7 levels, and the preset fixed priority range is greater than the reselection priority range of the UE cell explicitly allocated by all the high-level signaling, that is, the range is greater than 0 to 7, and may be smaller than the lowest priority 0, or greater than the highest priority 7, or may be selected from 0 to 7. The purpose of adopting the mode is to enable the cell reselection process of the UE side to be more flexible. The reason why this method can be implemented is that after the range is set, only the UE needs to be able to identify the UE, and because the reselection process only involves the UE and does not involve the network side, it is possible to implement more flexible indication for the UE without improving the network.
And secondly, determining the cell reselection priority of the frequency point provided by the system information used by the UE at the resident frequency point.
In the implementation, before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer is overtime, when the UE resides in a frequency point which is not configured with the dedicated cell reselection priority, the frequency point borrows cell reselection priority information of the frequency point provided in the system information of the cell where the UE currently resides, so as to ensure that the UE can always have the dedicated priority information of the frequency point where the UE resides, and thus, the subsequent measurement and the cell reselection process can be conveniently carried out.
Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of cell reselection priority information provided by using system information, where P in the diagram represents a priority at the frequency point, and as shown in the figure, when a dedicated cell reselection priority and a timer are indicated in a connection release message as an example, specific implementations may be as follows:
the frequency point where the UE indicated by the connection release message preferentially resides is f1, the system information of the cell provides common priority information of a plurality of frequency points f1, f2 and f3, and the connection release message indicates dedicated priority information P of (at least one) frequency point (e.g. frequency point f 2)f2 *If the UE does not have a suitable cell (survivable cell) to reside at the frequency point f1, a cell residing at the frequency point f3 is selected, the system information of the cell provides the public priority information of a plurality of frequency points f2, f3, and f4, and the available dedicated priority of the UE residing at the frequency point f3 is the priority P of f2f2 *Priority P of f3 (from dedicated signalling)f3(system information from UE camped cell) to ensure that the UE camped at f3 is able to make inter-frequency or inter-technology cell reselection before the dedicated priority timer expires:
and thirdly, when the cell reselection priority used by the UE at the resident frequency point is determined, all the UE use the public priority in the public priority information.
In an implementation, the common priority information may be common priority information provided by the system information.
When the common priority is used in all, the method may further include:
all cell reselection priorities and dedicated priority timers provided by the dedicated signaling are deleted.
In implementation, before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer expires, when the UE resides at a frequency point where the dedicated cell reselection priority is not configured, all the dedicated cell reselection priorities and the timers are deleted, and all the common priority information provided by the system information is used, so as to ensure that the UE can always have priority information of the resident frequency point, so as to facilitate subsequent measurement and cell reselection processes, which is described in the following with examples.
Example (1):
fig. 6 is a schematic view of an embodiment (1) of reselection priority information of a common cell provided by all system information after cell reselection, where P in the drawing represents a priority under the frequency point, and as shown in the drawing, when it is assumed that at least one cell reselection priority is provided in a connection release message, the specific implementation may be as follows:
the frequency point where the UE indicated by the connection release message preferentially resides is f1, the system information of the cell provides common priority information of a plurality of frequency points f1, f2 and f3, and the connection release message indicates dedicated priority information P of (at least one) frequency point (e.g. frequency point f 3)f3 *If the UE does not have a suitable cell (survivable cell) to reside at the frequency point f1, and selects a cell residing at the frequency point f4, the system information of the cell provides the common priority information of the frequency points f3, f4, and f5, and then the priority information provided by all dedicated signaling is deleted (for example, P is a priority information provided by P)f3 *) And a special priority timer, wherein the available priority of the UE after residing at the frequency point f4 is Pf3、Pf4、Pf5(all from system information) to ensure that the UE camped on f4 is capable of inter-frequency or inter-technology cell reselection.
Example (2):
fig. 7 is a schematic view of an embodiment (2) of reselection priority information of a public cell provided by all system information after cell reselection, where P in the drawing represents a priority under the frequency point, and as shown in the drawing, before a dedicated cell reselection priority timer expires, when a UE cell reselects a frequency point without a dedicated cell reselection priority, as an example, the specific implementation may be as follows:
the UE normally resides in (cached normal) the cell under the frequency point f1, and meanwhile, the dedicated cell reselection priority timer is running, and the UE triggers the cell reselection to select a proper cell (suitable cell) under the frequency point which does not provide the frequency point priority by the dedicated signaling; or the UE resides in any cell (a "localized on any cell") at the frequency point f1, "while the dedicated cell reselection priority timer is running, the UE triggers the cell reselection to an acceptable cell (acceptable cell) at a frequency point where the dedicated signaling provides no frequency point priority; the UE should enter "any cell selection" (any cell selection), select an acceptable cell (acceptable cell) under frequency point f2 for camping, where the system information of the cell provides common priority information of several frequency points f2, f3, and f4, and then delete all priority information provided by dedicated signaling (if it may include P) stored by the UEf1 *、Pf3 *) And a special priority timer, wherein the available priority of the UE after residing at the frequency point f2 is Pf2、Pf3、Pf4(all from system information) to ensure that the UE camped on f2 is capable of inter-frequency or inter-technology cell reselection.
It can be seen from the above embodiments that, as long as the UE resides at the frequency point without configured dedicated cell reselection priority before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer times out, it can be ensured that the UE has cell reselection priority information of the resident frequency point at the resident frequency point, and it is ensured that the UE can perform cell reselection to different frequencies or different technologies under any circumstances.
Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a user equipment, and since the principle of solving the problem of these devices is similar to the method for determining the cell reselection priority, the implementation of these devices may refer to the implementation of the method, and repeated parts are not described in detail.
Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE, and in implementation, the UE may determine a cell reselection priority, as shown in the figure, the UE may include:
an overtime determining module 801, configured to determine whether a dedicated cell reselection priority timer of the UE is overtime;
a priority determining module 802, configured to determine whether the UE resides at a frequency point where no dedicated cell reselection priority is configured;
a priority determining module 803, configured to determine a cell reselection priority used by the UE when the UE resides at a frequency point where the dedicated cell reselection priority is not configured before the dedicated cell reselection priority timer expires.
In an implementation, the priority determining module may include: one or a combination of the first priority unit, the second priority unit, and the third priority unit:
a first priority unit, configured to determine a frequency point where the UE resides and use a preset fixed dedicated cell reselection priority for the frequency point;
the second priority unit is used for determining the cell reselection priority of the frequency point provided by the frequency point where the UE resides by using the system information;
and the third priority unit is used for determining that the cell reselection priority used by the UE on the frequency point where the UE resides is the common priority information in the system information.
In an implementation, the first priority unit may be further configured to use a preset fixed dedicated cell reselection priority range that is larger than a user equipment cell reselection priority range explicitly allocated by all higher layer signaling.
In an implementation, the third priority unit may be further configured to obtain the common priority information from the system information.
The third priority unit may further include:
a deletion subunit, configured to delete all cell reselection priorities and dedicated priority timers provided by the dedicated signaling when the common priority is used.
It can be seen from the foregoing embodiments that, in the embodiments of the present invention, a solution for determining a cell reselection priority is provided, so as to solve the problem that, in the prior art, when a UE resides at a frequency point where a dedicated cell reselection priority is not configured before a dedicated cell reselection priority timer expires, inter-frequency/inter-technology cell reselection cannot be performed due to absence of valid cell reselection priority information.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.
The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.