CN113810924A

CN113810924A - Cell measurement method and device

Info

Publication number: CN113810924A
Application number: CN202010535917.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘海义; 徐波; 赵辰; 师江伟; 王洲
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-12
Filing date: 2020-06-12
Publication date: 2021-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 2040-06-12
Also published as: CN113810924B; WO2021249001A1

Abstract

The application discloses a cell measurement method and a cell measurement device, which are applied to the technical field of wireless communication and are used for improving the cell access efficiency and the success rate of terminal equipment. A base station sends first measurement configuration information to terminal equipment; the first measurement configuration information comprises measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell; the first target cell and the second target cell are cells to be measured by the terminal equipment, and the cell frequency point of the first target cell is different from the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

Description

Cell measurement method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a cell measurement method and apparatus.

Background

In a communication system, in order to ensure service continuity and communication quality of a terminal device, the terminal device generally needs to perform cell measurement, so as to implement cell reselection (reselection) and cell handover (handover). The types of cell measurement include common-frequency measurement and different-frequency/different-system measurement.

When a terminal device initially accesses or performs inter-frequency/inter-system measurement in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state (RRC _ connected), in order to ensure the quality of a radio link between a UE and a current serving cell, the UE generally stops receiving signals and data of its serving cell and receives signals of other cells for inter-frequency measurement or inter-system measurement in a specified time period. After the time period ends, the UE starts receiving signals and data of the serving cell again. This period of time is called the measurement gap (measurement gap). And the terminal equipment receives the reference signal of the adjacent cell in the measurement gap, measures the reference signal of the adjacent cell, and sends a measurement report (measurement report) to the base station managing the service cell after the measurement is finished. And then the base station switches the terminal equipment to a cell with better signal quality according to the measurement report.

Currently, before performing cell measurement, a terminal device needs to perform measurement configuration by a base station managing a serving cell and send measurement configuration information to the terminal device. The terminal device may determine the position of each measurement gap according to the received measurement configuration information, so as to perform the neighbor cell measurement. The measurement gap is typically 6 milliseconds (ms) in length. Wherein, the measurement configuration information comprises: measurement of Gap Repetition Period (MGRP) (also called measurement gap period), Measurement of Gap Length (MGL) (simply referred to as measurement gap length), and measurement of gap offset (measurement gap offset).

In order to improve the cell measurement efficiency, the terminal device should be able to receive the reference signals of all the neighboring cells to be measured in the measurement gap. However, in the prior art, under the same frequency band (FR), the network device only determines measurement configuration information of a measurement gap for a terminal device, and time domain positions of reference signals sent by different neighboring cells may be different. Therefore, the measurement gap determined by the terminal device according to the measurement configuration information may not include the time domain positions of the reference signals of some neighboring cells to be measured, so that the terminal device cannot receive the reference signals of the neighboring cells to be measured, and further cannot complete the measurement of all the cells to be measured.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a cell measurement method and a cell measurement device, which are used for improving the success rate and efficiency of cell measurement of terminal equipment.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a cell measurement method, in which a base station sends first measurement configuration information to a terminal device; the first measurement configuration information comprises measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell; the first target cell and the second target cell are cells to be measured by the terminal equipment, and the cell frequency point of the first target cell is different from the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

The method may be executed by a base station, or may be executed by a communication device such as a network device or an access network device, or may be executed by a communication device or a communication apparatus capable of supporting the communication device to implement the functions required by the method, such as a chip. By the method, under the same frequency band, if the target cells to be measured comprise a first target cell and a second target cell, and the frequency points of the first target cell and the second target cell are different, at this time, the base station can configure measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell for the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment can measure the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell and the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell according to the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell, and can measure the first target cell and the second target cell with different cell frequency points in the configured measurement gap, thereby completing measurement of all the cells to be measured, and improving the cell measurement efficiency and the cell measurement success rate.

In a possible implementation manner, a base station receives first measurement information from the terminal device; the first measurement information includes: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device; the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell is determined according to SS/PBCH block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell is determined according to the first timing offset information and the SMTC information of the first target cell.

By the method, the base station can determine the first timing deviation information of the serving cell of the terminal device and the first target cell according to the first measurement information sent by the terminal device, so that the SMTC information of the adjacent cell (the first target cell) of the terminal device relative to the serving cell can be determined according to the first timing deviation information and the SMTC information of the first target cell, the measurement gap of the first target cell is configured according to the timing of the serving cell of the terminal device, and the success rate of the terminal device in measuring the first target cell is improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the measurement gap configuration information includes: measuring gap offset;

the measurement gap offset of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC offset included in the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell.

By the method, the base station can determine the offset of the first target cell relative to the serving cell according to the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell, thereby determining the measurement gap offset in the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell, so that the terminal device can measure the synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH block, SSB) of the first target cell at a corresponding position according to the measurement gap offset.

In a possible implementation manner, the measurement gap configuration information further includes: measuring a gap period; the SMTC information of the first target cell includes: a SMTC period of the first target cell; the SMTC information of the second target cell includes: an SMTC period of the second target cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the first target cell; and/or the measurement gap period of the first target cell is larger than the SMTC period of the second target cell.

By the method, the base station can configure the measurement gap period for the first target cell and the second target cell, and in order to solve the problem that the complexity of the terminal equipment is increased due to the fact that the target cells with different frequency points need to be measured in the same frequency band, the measurement gap period of each target cell can be larger than the measurement gap period set for the target cell with one frequency point measured in the same frequency band. For example, the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the first target cell; and/or the measurement gap period of the first target cell is larger than the SMTC period of the second target cell. Furthermore, the measurement gap period of the first target cell can be set to be the sum of the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell, at the moment, the target cells of different frequency points measured by the terminal equipment have the same required calculation capability as the target cells of the same frequency points measured by the terminal equipment, so that the target cells of different frequency points are measured simultaneously on the premise of not increasing the power consumption of the terminal equipment, the efficiency of inter-frequency cell measurement is improved, the problem that the terminal equipment possibly cannot complete inter-frequency cell measurement is avoided, the complexity of scheduling for the terminal equipment to realize inter-frequency cell measurement by the base station is reduced, and the performance of cell measurement is integrally improved.

In a possible implementation manner, the base station sends second measurement configuration information to the terminal device; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of a third target cell; the cell frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the cell frequency point of the first target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell.

By the method, if the cell frequency points of the target cells are the same, in order to reduce the complexity of configuring the measurement gap configuration information for the terminal equipment by the base station, the same measurement gap configuration information can be configured for the target cells with the same cell frequency points, so that the terminal equipment can measure the SSBs sent by all the target cells with the same frequency points under the measurement gap configuration information, and the cell measurement efficiency is improved.

In a possible implementation manner, the base station receives the capability reported by the terminal device; the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure measurement gap configuration information under the measurement of the first frequency point; the base station sends third measurement configuration information to the terminal equipment; the third measurement configuration information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure a measurement gap when measuring a fourth target cell; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; and the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell and the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

By the method, the base station can determine whether the terminal equipment can realize cell measurement without the measurement gap according to the reporting capacity of the terminal, thereby avoiding configuring measurement gap configuration information for the terminal equipment supporting the measurement gap, reducing the complexity of the base station for scheduling the terminal equipment and reducing the resource overhead.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a cell measurement method, in which a terminal device receives first measurement configuration information from a base station, where the first measurement configuration information includes measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell; the terminal device measures the reference signal of the first target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell; and measuring the reference signal of the second target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell.

The method may be performed by a terminal device, or may be performed by a communication device or a cell measurement apparatus, such as a chip, capable of supporting the communication device to implement the functions required by the method. By the method, under the same frequency band, if the target cells to be measured comprise the first target cell and the second target cell, and the frequency points of the first target cell and the second target cell are different, at this time, the terminal device can measure gap configuration information of the first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell according to the measurement gap of the first target cell, and can measure the first target cell and the second target cell with different cell frequency points in the configured measurement gap, so as to complete measurement of all the cells to be measured, thereby improving cell measurement efficiency and cell measurement success rate.

Before the terminal device receives the first measurement configuration information from the base station, a possible implementation manner further includes: the terminal equipment sends first measurement information to the base station; the first measurement information includes: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device; the first timing deviation information is used for determining the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell of the terminal equipment; the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell is determined according to SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell of the terminal device.

By the method, the terminal equipment can send the determined first timing deviation information of the first target cell relative to the service cell to the base station, so that the base station can configure the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell for the terminal equipment according to the first measurement information sent by the terminal equipment to the base station, the timing of the first target cell relative to the service cell measured by the terminal equipment is adapted, and the measurement success rate of the first target cell measured by the terminal equipment is improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the measurement gap configuration information includes: measuring gap offset; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell includes: an SMTC offset of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the measurement gap offset of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC offset included in the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the terminal equipment measures the reference signal of the first target cell in a measurement gap time window corresponding to the measurement gap offset of the first target cell; and the time domain position of the reference signal of the first target cell corresponds to a time window corresponding to the SMTC information of the first target cell.

By the method, the base station determines the time delay of the first target cell relative to the serving cell according to the SMTC offset of the first target cell relative to the serving cell reported by the terminal device, so that the SMTC offset of the first target cell relative to the serving cell configures the measurement gap offset of the first target cell, the terminal device determines the measurement gap time window of the first target cell according to the measurement gap offset of the first target cell, and in the measurement time window, the terminal device can receive the SSB sent by the first target cell, thereby improving the success rate of the terminal device in measuring the first target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the measurement gap configuration information further includes: measuring a gap period; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell includes: the SMTC period of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the first target cell; and/or the measurement gap period of the first target cell is larger than the SMTC period of the second target cell; and the terminal equipment measures the reference signal of the first target cell when the measurement gap period of the first target cell arrives.

By the method, the terminal equipment can realize the measurement of the different-frequency cells of the first target cell and the second target cell on the premise of not increasing the measurement complexity remarkably.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device receives second measurement configuration information; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell; the cell frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the cell frequency point of the first target cell; and the terminal equipment measures the reference signal of the third target cell according to the second measurement configuration information.

By the method, the terminal equipment can measure different target cells with the same frequency point by adopting the same measurement gap configuration information, so that the measurement complexity is reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device reports the capability to the base station; the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure measurement gap configuration information under the measurement of the first frequency point; the terminal equipment receives third measurement configuration information sent by the base station; the third measurement configuration information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure a measurement gap when measuring a fourth target cell; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; and the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell and the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

By the method, when the terminal equipment supports the cell measurement capability of the pilot frequency without the measurement gap, the measurement capability can be reported to the base station, so that the base station avoids configuring the corresponding measurement gap for the terminal equipment, and when the terminal equipment is determined to measure the fourth target cell according to the third measurement configuration information in a base station scheduling mode, the cell measurement of the pilot frequency can be performed in a mode without the measurement gap, and the terminal equipment is prevented from influencing the transmission of service data of the terminal equipment when the terminal equipment measures the cell.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a cell measurement apparatus, for example, the cell measurement apparatus is the base station as described above. The base station is configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner. In particular, the base station may comprise means for performing the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation, for example comprising a processing means and a transceiver means.

Illustratively, the transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, and the sending module and the receiving module may be different functional modules, or may also be the same functional module, but may implement different functions (the sending module is used to implement the function of sending signals, and the receiving module is used to implement the function of receiving signals). Illustratively, the base station is a communication device, or a chip or other component provided in a communication device. Illustratively, the communication device is a network device, an access network device, or the like. For example, the transceiver module may be implemented by a transceiver, and the processing module may be implemented by a processor. Alternatively, the sending module may be implemented by a sender, the receiving module may be implemented by a receiver, and the sender and the receiver may be different functional modules, or may also be the same functional module, but may implement different functions (the sender is used to implement the function of sending signals, and the receiver is used to implement the function of receiving signals). If the base station is a communication device, the transceiver is implemented, for example, by an antenna, feeder, codec, etc. in the communication device. Alternatively, if the base station is a chip disposed in the communication device, the transceiver (or the transmitter and the receiver) is, for example, a communication interface (or an interface circuit) in the chip, and the communication interface is connected to a radio frequency transceiving component in the communication device to realize transceiving of information through the radio frequency transceiving component.

With regard to the technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned partially alternative embodiments, reference may be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the first aspect or the corresponding embodiments.

A fourth aspect provides a cell measurement apparatus, for example, the cell measurement apparatus is the terminal device as described above. The terminal device is configured to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner. In particular, the terminal device may comprise means for performing the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation, for example comprising a processing means and a transceiver means. Illustratively, the transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, and the sending module and the receiving module may be different functional modules, or may also be the same functional module, but may implement different functions (the sending module is used to implement the function of sending signals, and the receiving module is used to implement the function of receiving signals). Illustratively, the terminal device is a communication device, or a chip or other component provided in the communication device. For example, the transceiver module may be implemented by a transceiver, and the processing module may be implemented by a processor. Alternatively, the sending module may be implemented by a sender, the receiving module may be implemented by a receiver, and the sender and the receiver may be different functional modules, or may also be the same functional module, but may implement different functions (the sender is used to implement the function of sending signals, and the receiver is used to implement the function of receiving signals). If the terminal device is a communication device, the transceiver is implemented, for example, by an antenna, a feeder, a codec, etc. in the communication device. Alternatively, if the terminal device is a chip disposed in the communication device, the transceiver (or the transmitter and the receiver) is, for example, a communication interface (or an interface circuit) in the chip, and the communication interface is connected to a radio frequency transceiving component in the communication device to realize transceiving of information through the radio frequency transceiving component.

With regard to the technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned partially alternative embodiments, reference may be made to the introduction of the technical effects of the second aspect or the corresponding embodiments.

In a fifth aspect, a cell measurement apparatus is provided, for example, a base station as described above. The cell measurement apparatus includes a processor and a communication interface (or interface circuit) that may be used to communicate with other apparatuses or devices. Optionally, a memory may also be included for storing the computer instructions. The processor and the memory are coupled to each other for implementing the method described in the first aspect or the various possible embodiments above. Alternatively, the base station may not include the memory, and the memory may be located outside the base station. The processor, the memory and the communication interface are coupled to each other for implementing the method described in the first aspect or the various possible embodiments. The processor, for example, when executing the computer instructions stored by the memory, causes the base station to perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible embodiments described above. Illustratively, the base station is a communication device, or a chip or other component provided in a communication device. Wherein, if the base station is a communication device, the communication interface is implemented, for example, by a transceiver (or a transmitter and a receiver) in the communication device, for example, the transceiver is implemented by an antenna, a feeder, a codec, and the like in the communication device. Or, if the base station is a chip disposed in the communication device, the communication interface is, for example, an input/output interface, such as an input/output pin, of the chip, and the communication interface is connected to a radio frequency transceiving component in the communication device to realize transceiving of information through the radio frequency transceiving component.

A sixth aspect provides a cell measurement apparatus, for example, a terminal device as described above. The cell measurement apparatus includes a processor and a communication interface (or interface circuit) that may be used to communicate with other apparatuses or devices. Optionally, a memory may also be included for storing the computer instructions. The processor and the memory are coupled to each other for implementing the method described in the second aspect or the various possible embodiments above. Alternatively, the terminal device may not include the memory, and the memory may be located outside the terminal device. The processor, the memory and the communication interface are coupled to each other for implementing the method described in the second aspect or the various possible embodiments described above. The processor, for example, when executing the computer instructions stored by the memory, causes the terminal device to perform the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible embodiments described above. Illustratively, the communication device is a terminal device, or an in-vehicle device or the like. For example, the terminal device may be an in-vehicle device, or may be a chip or other component provided in the in-vehicle device. Wherein, if the terminal device is a communication device, the communication interface is implemented by, for example, a transceiver (or a transmitter and a receiver) in the communication device, for example, the transceiver is implemented by an antenna, a feeder, a codec, and the like in the terminal device. Or, if the terminal device is a chip disposed in the communication device, the communication interface is, for example, an input/output interface, such as an input/output pin, of the chip, and the communication interface is connected to a radio frequency transceiving component in the communication device to realize transceiving of information through the radio frequency transceiving component.

In a seventh aspect, a chip is provided, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, and the processor is coupled with the communication interface, and is configured to implement the method provided in the first aspect or any optional implementation manner.

Optionally, the chip may further include a memory, for example, the processor may read and execute a software program stored in the memory to implement the method provided in the first aspect or any one of the optional embodiments. Alternatively, the memory may not be included in the chip, but may be located outside the chip, and the processor may read and execute a software program stored in the external memory, so as to implement the method provided in the first aspect or any optional implementation manner.

In an eighth aspect, a chip is provided, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, and the processor is coupled with the communication interface, and is configured to implement the method provided in the second aspect or any one of the optional embodiments.

Optionally, the chip may further include a memory, for example, the processor may read and execute a software program stored in the memory to implement the method provided in the second aspect or any one of the optional embodiments. Alternatively, the memory may not be included in the chip, but may be located outside the chip, and the processor may read and execute a software program stored in the external memory to implement the method provided in the second aspect or any one of the alternative embodiments.

A ninth aspect provides a communication system comprising the cell measurement apparatus of the third aspect, the cell measurement apparatus of the fifth aspect, or the cell measurement apparatus of the seventh aspect, and the cell measurement apparatus of the fourth aspect, the cell measurement apparatus of the sixth aspect, or the cell measurement apparatus of the eighth aspect.

A tenth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible embodiments described above.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible embodiments described above.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations described above.

In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible embodiments described above.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2A is a schematic time-domain position diagram of a reference signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of a measurement gap measurement according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram of the measurement gap location provided by the embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for determining systematic frame and frame timing offset according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2E is a schematic time domain position diagram of reference signals of an SMTC and a pilot frequency cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2F is a schematic time domain position diagram of a measurement gap and a reference signal of a pilot cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2G is a schematic time domain position diagram of reference signals of an SMTC and a pilot frequency cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2H is a schematic time domain position diagram of a measurement gap and a reference signal of a pilot cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a cell measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating a cell measurement method provided in fig. 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating a cell measurement method provided in fig. 3 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell measurement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell measurement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell measurement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

Fig. 1 shows a possible communication system architecture to which the cell measurement method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied. Referring to fig. 1, the communication system includes: network device 101 (e.g., network device 101a, network device 101b, network device 101c in fig. 1), and terminal device 102.

The network device 101 is responsible for providing radio access related services for the terminal device 102, and implements radio physical layer functions, resource scheduling and radio resource management, Quality of Service (QoS) management, radio access control, and mobility management (e.g., cell reselection and handover) functions. The network device 101 and the terminal device 102 are connected through a Uu interface, so that communication between the terminal device 102 and the network device 101 is realized. The terminal device 102 is a device in a cell access network managed by the network device 101. Of course, the number of terminal devices 102 in fig. 1 is only an example, and in practical applications, the network device 101 may provide services for a plurality of terminal devices 102.

Each network device 101 is responsible for managing at least one cell. As shown in fig. 1, network device 101a is responsible for managing cell a, network device 101B is responsible for managing cell B, and network device 101C is responsible for managing cell C and cell D. In the communication system, each cell provides access service for terminal equipment by using corresponding carrier frequency points.

It should be noted that the frequency points used by different cells may be the same or different. In addition, the communication technology used by each cell is not limited in the present application, and the communication technologies used by different cells may be the same or different. The network device 101 in fig. 1 may be, for example, an access network device, such as a base station. The access network device corresponds to different devices in different systems, for example, may correspond to an eNB in a 4G system, correspond to an access network device in 5G, for example, a gNB in a 5G system, or correspond to an access network device in a communication system of subsequent evolution. For example, cell a, cell B, cell C, and cell D may each be LTE cells using 4G communication technology; or cell a, cell B, cell C and cell D may all be NR cells using a 5G communication technology; or part of the cells A, B, C and D are LTE cells and part of the cells are NR cells.

Fig. 1 includes an architecture in which a network device 101a is a primary network device, and a network device 101b is a secondary network device. The terminal device can communicate with both network devices. For example, fig. 1 is an EN-DC architecture, where the network device 101a is an LTE network device and the network device 101b is an NR network device; alternatively, fig. 1 is an NE-DC architecture, and then the network device 101a is an NR network device, and the network device 101b is an LTE network device, and so on.

The terminal device 102 includes a device for providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, and specifically includes a device for providing voice connectivity to a user, or includes a device for providing data connectivity to a user, or includes a device for providing voice and data connectivity to a user. For example, may include a handheld device having wireless connection capability, or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device may communicate with a core network via a Radio Access Network (RAN), exchange voice or data with the RAN, or interact with the RAN. The terminal device may include a User Equipment (UE), a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a device-to-device communication (D2D) terminal device, a vehicle-to-all (V2X) terminal device, a machine-to-machine/machine-type communication (M2M/MTC) terminal device, an internet of things (internet of things) terminal device, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber station (subscriber station), a mobile station (mobile station), a remote station (remote station), an access point (access point, AP), a remote terminal (remote), an access terminal (access terminal), a user terminal (user terminal), a user agent (user), or a user equipment (user), etc. For example, mobile telephones (or so-called "cellular" telephones), computers with mobile terminal equipment, portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included mobile devices, and the like may be included. For example, Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and the like. Also included are constrained devices, such as devices that consume less power, or devices that have limited storage capabilities, or devices that have limited computing capabilities, etc. Examples of information sensing devices include bar codes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), sensors, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), laser scanners, and the like.

By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable equipment can also be called wearable smart device or intelligent wearable equipment etc. is the general term of using wearable technique to carry out intelligent design, develop the equipment that can dress to daily wearing, like glasses, gloves, wrist-watch, dress and shoes etc.. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also realizes powerful functions through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable smart device includes full functionality, large size, and can implement full or partial functionality without relying on a smart phone, such as: smart watches or smart glasses and the like, and only focus on a certain type of application functions, and need to be used in cooperation with other devices such as smart phones, such as various smart bracelets, smart helmets, smart jewelry and the like for monitoring physical signs.

The various terminal devices described above, if located on a vehicle (e.g., placed in or installed in the vehicle), may be considered to be vehicle-mounted terminal devices, which are also referred to as on-board units (OBUs), for example.

In this embodiment, the terminal device may further include a relay (relay). Or, it is understood that any device capable of data communication with a base station may be considered a terminal device.

The network device 101, for example, includes AN Access Network (AN) device, such as a base station (e.g., AN access point), which may refer to a device in the access network that communicates with a wireless terminal device through one or more cells over AN air interface, or a network device in vehicle-to-all (V2X) technology, for example, is a Road Side Unit (RSU). The base station may be configured to interconvert received air frames and IP packets as a router between the terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an IP network. The RSU may be a fixed infrastructure entity supporting the V2X application and may exchange messages with other entities supporting the V2X application. The network device may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network device may include an evolved Node B (NodeB) or eNB or e-NodeB in an LTE system or an LTE-a (long term evolution-advanced), or may also include a next generation Node B (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) NR system (also referred to as an NR system) or may also include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) in a Cloud access network (Cloud RAN) system, which is not limited in the embodiments. The network device may also include a core network device including, for example, an access and mobility management function (AMF) or a User Plane Function (UPF), etc. Since the embodiments of the present application mainly relate to access network devices, hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, all the network devices refer to access network devices.

In the embodiment of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device may be a network device, or may be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, for example, a system on chip, and the apparatus may be installed in the network device. In the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, a device for implementing a function of a network device is taken as an example of a network device, and the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is described.

In addition, The architecture shown in fig. 1 may be applied to various communication scenarios, for example, a fifth Generation (5G) communication system, a future sixth Generation communication system and other communication systems that evolve, a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) communication system, a vehicle to anything (V2X), a Long Term Evolution-vehicle networking (LTE-V), a vehicle to vehicle (V2V), a vehicle networking, a Machine Type communication (Machine Type Communications, MTC), an internet of things (MTC), an IoT, a Long Term Evolution-Machine to Machine (LTE-Machine to Machine, LTE-M), a Machine to Machine (M2M), and other communication scenarios.

The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application may be used interchangeably. "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or multiple.

And, unless stated to the contrary, the embodiments of the present application refer to the ordinal numbers "first", "second", etc., for distinguishing a plurality of objects, and do not limit the sequence, timing, priority, or importance of the plurality of objects.

Hereinafter, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

1) Multi-radio access technology dual connectivity (MR-DC)

In the LTE system, a terminal device supports simultaneous access to two network devices, and this access manner is called Dual Connectivity (DC), where one network device is a primary network device and the other network device is a secondary network device. In the development and evolution process of a wireless communication system, an operator may deploy a 5G NR system and an LTE system at the same time, and a terminal device also supports a network device that accesses LTE and a network device that accesses NR at the same time, because LTE is also called evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA), this access mode is called EN-DC. In the EN-DC mode, the network device of the LTE is the primary network device, and the network device of the NR is the secondary network device. Certainly, with the evolution of the system, in the future, a new air interface and an evolved universal terrestrial radio access dual connectivity (NE-DC) may also be supported, that is, the network device of the NR is a primary network device, and the network device of the LTE is a secondary network device. Since terminal devices of both EN-DC and NE-DC will have access to network devices of two different radio access technologies, these DC modes may also be referred to collectively as MR-DC.

2) Neighbor cell measurements

In a wireless communication system, in order to ensure service continuity, a terminal obtains continuous services of a wireless network by switching or reselecting cells with different coverage areas. When the terminal device moves to the edge of the cell, the network device can send down measurement control tasks of the same frequency, different frequency or different systems and the like, so that the terminal device can switch the adjacent cells to the same frequency, different frequency or different systems.

The cell handover or reselection scenario includes multiple scenarios, for example, scenario 1, where after the terminal accesses the current serving cell, the location of the terminal moves, for example, when the terminal is farther from the current serving cell, the terminal may need to perform cell handover or cell reselection. In scenario 2, when the service quality of the cell currently providing the service for the terminal is poor (for example, the signal strength is low), the terminal may perform cell handover or cell reselection to access a neighboring cell with a better signal. Here, the current serving cell is a cell currently providing a service for the terminal, and the neighboring cell may be understood as a cell other than the serving cell, for which the terminal can search for signals in the serving cell.

For example, the terminal has no RRC link with the current serving cell in the RRC _ IDLE state and the RRC _ INACTIVE state. When the signal quality of the service cell where the terminal resides is lower than a certain threshold, neighbor cell measurement can be performed to measure the signal quality of the neighbor cell, and if the signal quality meets the condition, the terminal is switched to the neighbor cell and resides in the neighbor cell. When the terminal is in the RRC _ IDLE state and the RRC _ INACTIVE state, the process of switching from the serving cell to other cells is a cell reselection process.

For another example, when the terminal is in the RRC _ CONNECTED state, an RRC connection exists between the terminal and the current serving cell. The current serving cell can configure the terminal to perform neighbor cell measurement through RRC signaling. And the terminal reports the measurement result of the adjacent cell to the serving cell, and the serving cell switches the terminal to the cell with better signal quality according to the measurement result. When the terminal is in the RRC _ CONNECTED state, the process of switching from the serving cell to the neighboring cell is a cell switching (Handover) process. Therefore, the terminal residing in the current serving cell can measure the related information (e.g. signal quality) of the neighboring cell so as to be the basis of cell handover or cell re-establishment. It is understood that the above-mentioned cell reselection or cell handover process is performed based on the measurement result of the neighboring cell.

3) And the measurement configuration information is sent to the terminal equipment by the base station and is used for enabling the terminal equipment to carry out cell measurement according to the measurement configuration information. Generally, the base station may transmit the measurement configuration information through RRC signaling. The measurement configuration information may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following measurement parameters: measurement object, neighbor cell list to be measured, or measurement gap configuration parameters (measurement gap period, measurement gap length, starting position of measurement gap).

In this embodiment of the present application, after the base station sends the measurement configuration information to the terminal device once, the base station may further instruct the base station to adjust the value of the at least one measurement parameter by sending the measurement configuration information again. In this way, the base station can flexibly reconfigure the measurement parameters.

The base station instructs the base station to adjust the value of any measurement parameter through the measurement configuration information, which may include but is not limited to the following forms:

the measurement configuration information includes the value of the adjusted measurement parameter.

The measurement configuration information includes an adjustment value of the measurement parameter, and the adjustment value may be a difference between an adjusted value and a value before adjustment of the measurement parameter.

The measurement configuration information includes an adjustment indication of the measurement parameter. The terminal device may determine the value of the adjusted measurement parameter according to the adjustment instruction of the measurement parameter and in a manner agreed with the base station.

4) And the measurement report is obtained after the terminal equipment performs cell measurement and is reported to the base station.

In the case that the terminal device receives the reference signal of at least one neighboring cell to be measured in the measurement gap, the measurement report may include a measurement result of the terminal device on the at least one neighboring cell to be measured (the measurement result of the at least one neighboring cell to be measured is an actual measurement value), or include measurement results of all neighboring cells to be measured (where the measurement result of the neighboring cell to be measured where the terminal device does not receive the reference signal is null or zero).

Under the condition that the terminal device does not receive the reference signal of the neighboring cell to be measured in the measurement gap, the terminal device may not report the measurement report, or the reported measurement report is empty, or the measurement result of each neighboring cell to be measured in the reported measurement report is empty or zero.

For example, the measurement result of each neighboring cell to be measured may be a signal quality parameter of the neighboring cell to be measured. Optionally, the signal quality parameter may comprise one or more of the following parameters: reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ).

5) Reference signal

The terminal device may perform cell search, cell measurement, and the like through a reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal) issued by the network device. In NR, the reference signals measured by the terminal device may include: a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH block, SSB), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), etc.

For example, The fourth generation (The 4)^thGeneration, 4G) communication technology, Cell Reference Signals (CRS), which are reference signals of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cell, are uniformly distributed on each subframe.

Fifth generation (The 5)^thGeneration, 5G) communication technology, wherein, in the time domain, SSBs are concentrated in 5ms, and one SSB occupies 4 OFDM symbols, and is composed of 1 PSS, 1 SSS, and 2 PBCH symbols, and arranged in the order of PSS-PBCH-SSS-PBCH. Among them, PSS is mainly used for coarse synchronization, SSS for fine synchronization and SSB-based measurements, PBCH for broadcasting system information at the cell level.

As shown in fig. 2A, SSBs are transmitted periodically, and multiple SSBs may be transmitted in a period, and multiple SSBs may be concentrated in a certain time window in the period to form an SSB burst. The SSB period may be 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, 80ms, or 160ms, and the SSB periods of different NR cells may also be different. For example, assuming an SSB period of 20ms, SSB bursts may be transmitted concentrated in the first or second 5 ms.

6) Synchronization signal measurement timing arrangement (SMTC)

To avoid the high power consumption caused by unnecessary searches by the terminal equipment, NR introduces the concept of SMTC. SMTC is a window that the network configures for the terminal device to make SSB measurements. The UE only needs to perform SSB measurements within the SMTC window and does not need to perform SSB measurements outside the window. The SMTC may configure the period and offset of the SMTC according to the period and offset of the SSB. The terminal measures NR SSB based on the SMTC window configured at the network side, and can respectively configure SMTC according to SSB of different frequency points. For the same-frequency measurement in the connected state, the network can configure at most two SMTC windows on one frequency point for the terminal device. For pilot frequency measurement in a connected state, the network may configure at most one SMTC window on each frequency point for the terminal device. The configuration parameters of an SMTC window include: SMTC timing: period and offset information of the SMTC window. The period of the SMTC may be 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 ms. SMTC duration: the length of the SMTC window, the granularity of the SMTC window length is also 1ms, and the length may be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ms.

7) Measuring gap

At present, a network device may configure a method for a terminal to measure a neighboring cell according to the capability of the terminal, a pilot frequency measurement control task, a inter-system measurement control task, and the like. The method can be mainly divided into 2 types, and the cell measurement method 1: based on the measurement of the gap (measurement gap). In the measurement gap, the terminal interrupts reception and transmission of data with the serving cell, and performs neighbor cell measurement. Cell measurement method 2: neighbor measurements based on gapless (No gap), i.e. measurements not based on measurement gap. The following examples are given.

As shown in fig. 2B, when only one terminal equipment (UE) has a single receiving channel, signals can be received only on one frequency point at the same time, that is, signals of only one cell can be received at the same time. When the UE receives data sent by its serving cell, if measurement operations such as inter-frequency measurement or inter-system measurement need to be performed on other cells, the receiver needs to leave the current frequency point and measure the frequency point to be measured for a period of time. In order to ensure the radio link quality between the UE and the current serving cell, the UE generally stops receiving signals and data of its serving cell and receives signals of other cells for inter-frequency measurement or inter-system measurement in a specified time period. After the time period ends, the UE starts receiving signals and data of the serving cell again. This period of time is called the measurement gap.

Taking the scenario 2 as an example, the user carries the terminal in the range of the cell1, the terminal resides in the cell1, and the terminal may perform the neighbor cell measurement based on the measurement gap, assuming that the signal strength of the cell1 is smaller than a preset value (may be a pre-stored value). Specifically, the terminal interrupts data transmission and reception with the cell1 in the measurement gap, detects the synchronization signal of the cell2, establishes synchronization with the cell2 by the synchronization signal of the cell2, and performs correlation measurement by the reference signal transmitted by the cell2, thereby completing measurement of the cell 2. And if the measurement result of the cell2 indicates that the signal intensity of the cell2 is greater than the preset value, the terminal is switched to the cell2 and resides in the cell 2.

Wherein the measurement gap may be pre-configured or configured by the base station. For example, when the terminal accesses the cell1, the cell1 allocates a measurement gap to the terminal, so that the terminal performs neighbor cell measurement in the measurement gap. Fig. 2C shows a schematic diagram of a measurement gap provided in an embodiment of the present application. Measuring gap includes: a measurement slot length (MGL), a measurement slot repetition period (MGRP), and a measurement offset (gapOffset) for configuring a start position of a measurement gap. The terminal may determine a System Frame Number (SFN) and a subframe (subframe) corresponding to the starting position of the measurement gap according to the 3 parameters. Specifically, the System Frame Number (SFN) and the subframe (subframe) corresponding to the start position of the measurement gap may satisfy the following condition:

SFN mod T ═ FLOOR (measurement gap Offset/10);

subframe ═ measurement gap Offset mod 10;

T＝MGRP/10；

wherein FLOOR (measurement gap Offset/10) is used to indicate that the value of measurement gap Offset/10 is rounded down. Measurement gap Offset mod 10 is used to indicate that measurement gap Offset takes the remainder of 10. Exemplarily, the MGL may be 6ms maximum. The value range of the measurement gap offset (measurement gapoffset) can be 0-39, or 0-79, etc. The terminal device may calculate the time domain position of the measurement gap according to the above configuration parameters of the measurement gap.

When the measurement gap is configured for measurement, the UE first detects the synchronization signal of the other cell in the configured measurement gap, synchronizes with the synchronization signal of the other cell, and then performs related measurement on the reference signal sent by the other cell, thereby completing the measurement on the other cell.

For the cell measurement method 2, the terminal does not need to interrupt data transmission and reception with the serving cell in the measurement gap, and can also perform neighbor cell measurement. Therefore, for the serving cell, the terminal does not need to be allocated with the measurement gap, and transmission resources are saved. When the terminal has a plurality of receiving paths, the terminal can support the combined receiving of a plurality of different frequency bands and has the capability of directly measuring the different frequency/different system without configuring the measurement gap. Therefore, data transmission in the original service area is not interrupted, and the service of the original service area of the terminal is not influenced. However, considering that the terminal devices in the LTE cell and the NR cell belonging to the same frequency band (FR), networks measuring different systems cannot interfere with each other, so that the terminal device still needs to measure an NR inter-frequency neighboring cell or an NR inter-system through a measurement gap in the LTE and NR of the same FR in the NSA/SA connected state. For example, when scenarios such as NR measurement by LTE, LTE pilot frequency measurement by EN-DC, NR pilot frequency measurement by SA, LTE pilot frequency measurement by SA, and the like need to configure measurement gaps to assist in measurement.

Currently, all frequency points under the same FR have their measurement gap configured uniformly. For terminals supporting FR1 and FR2 to independently configure measurement gap, one measurement gap is independently configured for all frequency bands of FR1 or all frequency bands of FR2, respectively. For a terminal that does not support independent configuration of measurement gap for frequency bands FR1 and FR2, a uniform measurement gap needs to be configured for the UE during measurement. The measurement gap configuration information includes period, offset, and length. Once configured by the RRC message, the measurement gap configuration information may periodically appear at a fixed offset position until configured again by the RRC message.

8) System frame and frame timing deviation (SFN and frame timing difference, SFTD)

Between NR system cells or between LTE and NR systems, when a TDD cell and FDD cell are combined, and an FDD cell and FDD cell are combined, time asynchronization occurs between cells, and timing and system frame numbers are not aligned.

In the NR system, time alignment may not be possible when the network is distributed between the base stations. For example, after configuring the EN-DC architecture for the LTE base station, the LTE primary base station may configure the terminal device with a measurement gap within which the terminal device measures the synchronization signal from the NR secondary base station. However, the time of the LTE primary base station and the time of the NR secondary base station may not be aligned, which may cause the time of the measurement gap configured by the LTE primary base station and the time of the NR secondary base station to be misaligned, which may cause the measurement gap configured by the LTE primary base station to not completely cover or cannot cover the synchronization signal from the NR secondary base station, which may cause the measurement result obtained by the terminal device to be inaccurate, or may cause the terminal device to not complete the measurement. For this purpose, a measurement of a system frame number and a frame timing difference SFTD is introduced, and specifically, the terminal may determine the SFTD according to the received signals of the serving cell and the inter-frequency neighbor cells and the time difference delay2-delay1 of the signals. Thereby obtaining the time difference between the cell of the NR secondary base station and the cell of the LTE primary base station. Therefore, the terminal can inform the determined SFTD to the network equipment through an air interface message. The network device may determine the SMTC and measurement gap configurations relative to the serving cell timing when measuring the SSB based on the SFTD between the current cell and the neighbor cell.

In the SA network architecture, there may be a problem that time alignment is not possible between the NR base station and the LTE base station, and between the NR base station and the inter-frequency NR base station. In order to solve the problem that the serving base station does not know the time difference between the base station of the neighboring cell and the serving base station (inter-pilot cell asynchronism), the system frame and frame timing deviation SFTD measurement can also be used for determining the system frame and timing deviation between cells.

For example, as shown in fig. 2D, when the terminal is in MR-DC, the terminal device determines the delay time delay2 of the received signal according to the received signal of the PCell (e.g., the received signal with the system frame number SFN ═ 0), and the terminal device determines the delay time delay1 of the received signal according to the received signal of the NR Cell (e.g., the received signal with the system frame number SFN ═ n), so as to determine the time difference delay2-delay1 of the signals between the neighboring Cell and the serving Cell, and thereby may determine SFTD. The SFTD may include, among other things, an SFN frame number difference and a frame boundary time difference. The terminal may notify the determined SFTD to the network device through an air interface message. The network device may convert the frame timing of the SSB of the neighboring cell into SSB configuration information relative to the timing of the serving cell according to the SFTD between the neighboring cell and the serving cell, so as to configure the SMTC configuration information and the measurement gap configuration information relative to the timing of the serving cell accordingly.

Considering that when the terminal measures the different frequency or different system NR adjacent area SSB, the SMTC needs to determine the transmission position of the NR SSB, and also needs to measure the gap to stop receiving and scheduling the service area data. Namely, the terminal needs to configure the SMTC based on the Measurement gap (Measurement gap) configured on the network side and the synchronization signal Measurement timing at the same time. One possible way is that the terminal integrates the SMTC configuration information and the measurement gap configuration information, and performs measurement by using the overlapping windows of the SMTC and the measurement gap to measure the inter-frequency or inter-system NR neighboring SSB.

Since the SSB of the NR is configured periodically, the period may be various, and the SSB may be in the first 5ms (first half frame) or the last 5ms (second half frame), so the location of the SSB is flexible, and for a timing asynchronous network, the SSB and SMTC of different frequency point cells are likely to be misaligned in the time domain. As shown in fig. 2E, the system frame and frame timing deviation of the serving cell of the UE corresponding to the cell at frequency point f1 is SFTD1, the SMTC determined according to SFTD1 is f1-SMTC, and SSB at frequency point f1 can be covered, where the SSB period is 20ms, and the corresponding f1-SMTC period is also 20 ms. The system frame and frame timing deviation of the serving cell of the UE corresponding to cell2 at frequency point f2 is SFTD2, the SMTC determined according to SFTD2 is f2-SMTC, and the SSB at frequency point f2 can be covered, the cycle of the SSB is 20ms, and the cycle of the corresponding f2-SMTC is also 20 ms.

For the same FR, all frequency points for NR measurement are uniformly configured with measurement gap. The parameters of the measurement gap may include a period, an offset, and a length, and once the parameters of the measurement gap are configured, the position where the measurement gap occurs is fixed for the period. At this time, the measurement gap cannot correspond to the SSB and SMTC locations of different frequency cells. For example, as shown in fig. 2F, the measurement gapoffset of the measurement gap configured for the terminal coincides with F1-SMTC, and the period of the measurement gap is 40 ms. At this time, the measurement gap can cover f1-SMTC, but cannot cover f2-SMTC, so that the terminal cannot measure the neighboring cell with the frequency point f2 in the measurement gap.

For another example, for a timing synchronization network, SSBs may be in the first 5ms (first half frame) or in the second 5ms (second half frame), and therefore SSBs and SMTCs of different frequency point cells are likely to be misaligned in the time domain. As shown in fig. 2G, the SSB configured in the cell at frequency point f1 is 5ms before, the period of the SSB is 20ms, the SMTC determined according to the SSB is f1-SMTC, the offset is 0ms, and the period of f1-SMTC is 20ms, which can cover the SSB at frequency point f 1. The SSB configured in the cell2 at the frequency point f2 is last 5ms, the period of the SSB is 20ms, the SMTC determined according to the SSB is f2-SMTC, the offset is 5ms, the period of f2-SMTC is also 20ms, and the SSB at the frequency point f2 can be covered. At this time, one measurement gap cannot be configured for measuring the SSBs with the frequency point f1 and the frequency point f 2. For example, as shown in fig. 2H, the measurement gapoffset of the measurement gap configured for the terminal coincides with f2-SMTC, and the period of the measurement gap is 40 ms. At this time, the measurement gap can cover f2-SMTC, but cannot cover f1-SMTC, so that the terminal cannot measure the neighboring cell with the frequency point f1 in the measurement gap.

In conclusion, in the NSA or SA system, because the measurement gap configured uniformly at each frequency point and the SSB and SMTC configured at each frequency point cell may be inconsistent in the time domain, when the SSB time domain positions of cells of different frequency points are not consistent, the SMTC time domain positions of the frequency points are different, while terminal measurements are made using overlapping windows of SMTC and measurement gap, this may result in a situation where the measurement gap and SMTC windows do not overlap, that is, the measurement gap configured by the network device may not contain the SSBs of the neighboring cell base station, so that the terminal device cannot receive the SSBs from the neighboring cell base station in the measurement gap, therefore, the terminal device can not measure the SSB of the adjacent cells of the NR pilot frequency/different system, which results in that the NSA system can not normally add the SCG cell and can not reside in the 5G cell, or the NR of the SA system cannot normally switch to the inter-frequency neighbor cell, and the switchable neighbor cell cannot be found to drop the call or cannot be switched to the best neighbor cell.

In order to improve the success rate and efficiency of cell measurement of a terminal device, the embodiment of the application provides a cell measurement method. The cell measurement method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to various scenarios in which inter-frequency/inter-system measurement needs to be performed by a measurement gap measurement manner in a communication system as shown in fig. 1, for example, an LTE measurement scenario in a 4G communication technology, and the following scenarios in a 5G communication technology that support a Dual Connectivity (DC) technology: an EN-DC (EUTRA-NR Dual Connectivity) scenario, a NE-DC (NR-EUTRA Dual Connectivity), a NR-DC, and a non-DC scenario, an SA scenario and an NSA scenario in 5G communication technologies. It is assumed that the terminal device 102 accesses a cell a (cell a is a serving cell) managed by the network device 101a, and a cell B, a cell C, and a cell D are neighbor cells determined by the network device 101a for the terminal device 102. For example, in an LTE measurement scenario and a non-DC scenario, the network device 101a sends measurement configuration information to the terminal device 102, where the measurement configuration information includes measurement gap configuration parameters and a neighbor cell list to be measured (including cell B, cell C, and cell D); the terminal device 102 determines the time domain position of the measurement gap according to the measurement configuration information, performs cell measurement in the measurement gap, and reports a measurement report to the network device 101a after the measurement is completed; the network device 101a switches the terminal device to the cell with better signal quality according to the signal quality parameters of each cell in the measurement report. For another example, in each scenario supporting the dual connectivity technology, the cell a is a primary cell (PCell) of the terminal apparatus 102, and the network apparatus 101a is a primary base station of the terminal apparatus 102. Network device 101a sends measurement configuration information to terminal device 102, where the measurement configuration information includes measurement gap configuration parameters and a to-be-measured neighbor cell list (including cell B, cell C, and cell D); the terminal device 102 determines the time domain position of the measurement gap according to the measurement configuration information, performs cell measurement in the measurement gap, and reports a measurement report to the network device 101a after the measurement is completed; the network device 101a configures a secondary cell (SCell) for the terminal device 102 according to the signal quality parameter of each cell in the measurement report, thereby implementing addition of a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) to the terminal device 102.

The cell measurement method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to the flowchart shown in fig. 3. It should be noted that the method flowchart shown in fig. 3 does not limit the cell measurement method provided in the present application, and the cell measurement method provided in the present application may include more or less steps than the method shown in fig. 3.

Step 301: the base station determines a first target cell and a second target cell to be measured by the terminal equipment.

And the cell frequency point of the first target cell is different from the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

Step 302: and the base station configures the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell and the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell for the terminal equipment.

The following illustrates a determination method of measurement gap configuration information of each target cell. The method comprises the following steps:

step 3021: a base station receives first measurement information from the terminal equipment;

wherein the first measurement information may include: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device. In a specific implementation procedure, the terminal device may determine a delay time delay1 of the reference signal at the system frame number SFN1 of the receiving serving cell according to the reference signal of the receiving serving cell. The terminal device may determine a delay time delay2 for the terminal device to receive the reference signal at the system frame number SFN2 of the first target cell according to the reception of the reference signal of the first target cell, and thus, the terminal device may determine the first timing offset information according to a time difference between delay2 and delay 1. Therefore, the terminal equipment can report the first timing deviation information and the system frame number to the base station.

Alternatively, the first measurement information may further include second timing deviation information of the serving cell of the terminal device and the second target cell. In a specific implementation procedure, the terminal device may determine a delay time delay1 of the reference signal of the receiving serving cell at a system frame number SFN1 according to the reference signal of the receiving serving cell. The terminal device may determine a delay time delay3 of the terminal device receiving the reference signal of the second target cell at the system frame number SFN3 according to receiving the reference signal of the second target cell, and thus, the terminal device may determine the second timing deviation information according to a time difference between delay3 and delay 1. Therefore, the terminal equipment can report the second timing deviation information and the system frame number to the base station.

The first timing offset information and the second timing offset information may be simultaneously transmitted to the base station, or may be separately transmitted to the base station in a time-sharing manner, which is not limited herein.

Step 3022: and the base station determines the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell according to the first timing deviation information and the SMTC information of the first target cell.

In step 3022, the base station may determine an SFTD of the first target cell relative to the serving cell according to the first timing offset information of the first target cell and the corresponding SFN, which are reported by the terminal measurement.

Wherein the time domain position of the reference signal of the first target cell corresponds to a time window corresponding to the SMTC information of the first target cell. For example, taking the reference signal as the SSB, the base station may determine the SMTC information of the first target cell according to the SSB configuration information of the first target cell. Therefore, the base station can determine the SMTC information of the first target cell based on the frame timing of the serving cell according to the SFTD of the first target cell relative to the serving cell and the SMTC information of the first target cell. The SMTC information of the first target cell is hereinafter denoted as SMTC (1).

Similarly, the base station may determine, according to the second timing offset information and the SMTC information of the second target cell, the SMTC information of the second target cell relative to the serving cell.

Specifically, the base station may determine the SFTD of the second target cell relative to the serving cell according to the second timing deviation information of the second target cell and the corresponding SFN, which are reported by the terminal through measurement. Thus, the base station may convert the SMTC information of the second target cell into the SMTC information of the second target cell with reference to the serving cell frame timing. The SMTC information of the second target cell is hereinafter denoted by SMTC (2).

Considering that the terminal device can measure different target cells with the same frequency point, and the configuration information of the reference signal under the same frequency point is the same, the base station can configure the same measurement gap information for different target cells with the same frequency point. For example, if the base station determines a third target cell to be measured by the terminal device; the cell frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the cell frequency point of the first target cell; at this time, the STMC information of the third target cell is also the same as the STMC information of the first target cell, and the SFTD of the third target cell with respect to the serving cell is also the same as the SFTD of the first target cell with respect to the serving cell. Thus, the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell may be the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell. Therefore, the base station may send second measurement configuration information to the terminal device; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell.

Step 3023: and the base station determines measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell according to the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the base station determines the measurement gap offset of the first target cell according to the offset of the SMTC of the first target cell relative to the serving cell.

For example, the base station may determine, according to SMTC (1), measurement gap offset1 of the measurement gap of the first target cell, so that the time domain position of the measurement gap coincides with the time domain position of the first target cell relative to the SMTC of the serving cell, and thus, the terminal device may measure the reference signal of the first target cell at the position corresponding to the measurement gap.

Similarly, the base station may determine measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell according to the SMTC information of the second target cell relative to the serving cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the base station determines the measurement gap offset of the second target cell according to the offset of the second target cell relative to the SMTC of the serving cell.

For example, the base station may determine, according to SMTC (2), measurement gap offset2 of the measurement gap of the second target cell, so that the time domain position of the measurement gap coincides with the time domain position of the second target cell relative to the SMTC of the serving cell, and thus, the terminal device may be enabled to measure the reference signal of the second target cell at the position corresponding to the measurement gap.

In summary, the base station may configure one measurement gap offset (n) for each frequency point according to the determined smtc (n) of the target cell of each frequency point, so that the position of the measurement gap of each frequency point is consistent with the smtc (n) of each frequency point, thereby enabling the terminal device to measure the reference signal of the target cell of each frequency point when the measurement gap is adopted.

There may be a variety of arrangements for measuring the period of gap. For example, different measurement gap periods may be determined for different target cells, or the same measurement gap period may be set. The following is an example of determining the measurement gap period of the first target cell, and there may be various ways to determine the measurement gap period of each target cell, as exemplified by way 1-way 2 below.

In a possible implementation manner, the measurement gap configuration information further includes: measuring a gap period; the SMTC information of the first target cell includes: a SMTC period of the first target cell; the SMTC information of the second target cell includes: a SMTC period of the second target cell.

And the base station determines the measurement gap period of the first target cell according to the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell.

Wherein, the mode 1: the measurement gap period of the first target cell is larger than the SMTC period of the first target cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the second target cell.

For example, as shown in fig. 4A, the SMTC period of the first target cell is 20ms, and the SMTC period of the second target cell is 20 ms; the measurement gap period of the first target cell may be set to 30ms and the measurement gap offset of the first target cell is offset 1. At this time, the terminal device may measure the reference signal of the first target cell when the measurement gap period of the first target cell arrives according to the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell. The measurement gap period of the second target cell may be set to 30ms and the measurement gap offset of the second target cell may be set to offset 2. At this time, the terminal device may measure the reference signal of the second target cell when the measurement gap period of the second target cell arrives according to the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell.

In order to reduce the complexity of configuration information, the measurement gap period of the first target cell may be the same as the measurement gap period of the second target cell, or the measurement gap periods of different target cells may be configured according to different target cells, which is not limited herein.

Mode 2: in order to improve the measurement efficiency, the base station may determine a maximum period according to the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell, so that the maximum period is used as the measurement gap period of the first target cell, and the base station may use the sum of the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell as the measurement gap period of the second target cell.

As shown in fig. 4B, the SMTC period of the first target cell is 40ms, and the SMTC period of the second target cell is 40 ms; the measurement gap period of the first target cell may be set to 80ms, and the measurement gap period of the second target cell may be set to 80 ms. The measurement gap offset of the first target cell (bin 1) may be set to 0 and the measurement gap offset of the second target cell (bin 2) may be set to 45 ms. Therefore, the measurement gap occupied by measurement on the same frequency band may be 1 measurement gap configured every 40ms, and the time occupied by the measurement gap is not changed. At this time, the terminal device may measure the reference signal of the first target cell when the measurement gap period of the first target cell arrives, and the terminal device may measure the reference signal of the second target cell when the measurement gap period of the second target cell arrives. In order to reduce the complexity of the configuration information, the measurement gap period of the first target cell may be the same as or different from the measurement gap period of the second target cell, and is not described herein again.

For another example, the first target Cell (frequency point is f1) is Cell1, the second target Cell (frequency point is f2) is Cell2, and according to the SFTD1 of the first target Cell relative to the serving Cell and the SFTD2 of the first target Cell relative to the serving Cell measured by the terminal, the measurement gap configuration information of the first target Cell and the measurement gap configuration information of the second target Cell can be determined by combining the configuration position of the SSB of the first target Cell (whether the SSB is located in the first half frame or the second half frame) and the configuration position of the SSB of the second target Cell (whether the SSB is located in the first half frame or the second half frame). For example, the measurement gap configuration period of the first target cell is 80ms, and the measurement gap offset of the first target cell is 5 ms. The measurement gap configuration period of the first target cell is 80ms, and the measurement gap offset of the second target cell is 52 ms. Thus, the measurement gap of the first target cell may cover the frequency bin of the SMTC1 of the first target cell, and the measurement gap of the second target cell may cover the SMTC1 of the second target cell. And the time taken to measure gap is still 40ms, which is the same as the SMTC period. Therefore, the terminal can measure the target cells on each frequency point respectively according to the measurement gap configured on each frequency point.

By increasing the measurement gap period corresponding to each frequency point, the positions of the measurement gaps in the time domain are not overlapped, and the occupied time for measuring the gap is basically unchanged relative to the mode of setting one measurement gap for the same frequency band in the same time period, so that the transmission efficiency of the terminal equipment is not influenced.

Further, considering that the terminal device may measure M target cells of n frequency points at the same time, the base station may determine the measurement gap period of each target cell according to n SMTC periods of n target cells determined by the n frequency points. For example, if there are n different frequency cells, the measurement gap period may be configured as n × SMTC periods, and the offset may be configured according to the SMTC configuration information of each frequency cell.

Step 303: and the base station sends first measurement configuration information to the terminal equipment.

Wherein the first measurement configuration information comprises: measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell.

For example, the first measurement configuration information may include measurement gap configuration parameters (a measurement gap period, a measurement gap length, and a measurement gap offset), and may further include information such as a list of neighboring cells to be measured, a reporting policy of a measurement report, and the like. For example, the first measurement configuration information may be measurement gap configuration (meas measurement gapConfig) signaling or measurement configuration (measConfig) signaling.

The length of the measurement gap configured for the terminal device by the base station through the first measurement configuration information may be, but is not limited to, a maximum measurement gap length of 6ms specified for LTE communication technology, NR R15, and R16. In the following description and examples of embodiments of the present application, L ═ 6ms is merely exemplified.

Step 304: and the terminal equipment measures the first target cell and the second target cell according to the first measurement configuration information.

Specifically, the terminal device measures the reference signal of the first target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell according to the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device measures the reference signal of the first target cell within a measurement gap time window corresponding to the measurement gap offset of the first target cell.

Further, in combination with the scenario of performing measurement on the third target cell, the terminal device may further receive second measurement configuration information; and the terminal equipment measures the reference signal of the third target cell according to the second measurement configuration information.

In another possible implementation manner, the terminal device measures the reference signal of the first target cell when the measurement gap period of the first target cell arrives. And the terminal equipment measures the reference signal of the second target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell according to the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell.

Further, considering that if the terminal can support No gap measurement capability at a certain frequency point, the terminal device may report the capability to the base station, and indicate that No gap measurement is required for the frequency point in the reporting capability. The base station can determine that the frequency point can be measured only by configuring the SMTC without configuring the measurement gap according to the reporting capability of the terminal, and the scheduling can be uninterrupted when the frequency point is measured, so that the terminal continues to receive and transmit data, thereby improving the transmission efficiency. The method specifically comprises the following steps:

step 401: and the terminal equipment reports the capability to the base station.

And the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure the measurement gap configuration information under the measurement first frequency point.

Correspondingly, the base station receives the reported capability of the terminal equipment.

Step 402: the base station determines a fourth target cell to be measured of the terminal equipment; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell; and the first frequency point is different from the frequency point of the second target cell.

Step 403: and the base station sends third measurement configuration information to the terminal equipment.

Wherein the third measurement configuration information is used to instruct the terminal device not to configure a measurement gap when measuring the fourth target cell. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives third measurement configuration information sent by the base station.

It should be further noted that, in this embodiment of the present application, the sending, by the base station, each measurement configuration information to the terminal device, and the sending, by the terminal device, a measurement report or a notification message to the base station may be implemented by RRC signaling, which is not limited in this application.

By the cell measurement method, the base station can measure all cells to be measured, so that cell measurement is completed, and performance loss caused by continuous measurement failure is avoided. Therefore, the method can improve the success rate and efficiency of the cell measurement of the terminal equipment.

The following describes an apparatus for implementing the above method in the embodiment of the present application with reference to the drawings. Therefore, the above contents can be used in the subsequent embodiments, and the repeated contents are not repeated.

Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a cell measurement apparatus 500 according to an embodiment of the present application.

The cell measurement apparatus 500 includes a processing module 510 and a transceiver module 520. Illustratively, the cell measurement apparatus 500 may be a network device, such as a base station, or may be a chip disposed in the network device or other combined devices, components, and the like having the functions of the network device. When the cell measurement apparatus 500 is a network device, the transceiver module 520 may be a transceiver, the transceiver may include an antenna and a radio frequency circuit, and the like, and the processing module 510 may be a processor, such as a baseband processor, and one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs) may be included in the baseband processor. When the cell measurement apparatus 500 is a component having the above-mentioned network device function, the transceiver module 520 may be a radio frequency unit, and the processing module 510 may be a processor, such as a baseband processor. When the cell measurement apparatus 500 is a chip system, the transceiver module 520 may be an input/output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip), and the processing module 510 may be a processor of the chip system and may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the processing module 510 in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component, and the transceiver module 520 may be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component.

For example, processing module 510 may be used to perform all operations in the embodiment shown in fig. 3 except transceiving operations by a base station, e.g., steps 301-303, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. Transceiver module 520 may be used to perform all transceiving operations by a base station in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 3, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein.

In addition, the transceiver module 520 may be a functional module that can perform both the transmitting operation and the receiving operation, for example, the transceiver module 520 may be used to perform all the transmitting operation and the receiving operation performed by the base station in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, for example, when the transmitting operation is performed, the transceiver module 520 may be considered as a transmitting module, and when the receiving operation is performed, the transceiver module 520 may be considered as a receiving module; alternatively, the transceiver module 520 may also be two functional modules, and the transceiver module 520 may be regarded as a general term for the two functional modules, where the two functional modules are a transmitting module and a receiving module respectively, the transmitting module is configured to complete a transmitting operation, for example, the transmitting module may be configured to perform all transmitting operations by the base station in any embodiment of the embodiments shown in fig. 3, and the receiving module is configured to complete a receiving operation, for example, the receiving module may be configured to perform all receiving operations by the base station in the embodiments shown in fig. 3.

The processing module 510 is configured to send first measurement configuration information to the terminal device through the transceiver module; the first measurement configuration information comprises measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell; the first target cell and the second target cell are cells to be measured by the terminal equipment, and the cell frequency point of the first target cell is different from the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module 520 is further configured to receive first measurement information from the terminal device; the first measurement information includes: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device; the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell is determined by configuring SMTC information according to the measurement timing of the synchronization signal of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell is determined according to the first timing offset information and the SMTC information of the first target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module 510 is further configured to send second measurement configuration information to the terminal device through the transceiver module 520; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of a third target cell; the cell frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the cell frequency point of the first target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module 510 is further configured to receive, through the transceiver module 520, the capability reported by the terminal device, and send, through the transceiver module 520, third measurement configuration information to the terminal device; the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure measurement gap configuration information under the measurement of the first frequency point; the third measurement configuration information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure a measurement gap when measuring a fourth target cell; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; and the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell and the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a cell measurement apparatus 600 according to an embodiment of the present application.

The cell measurement apparatus 600 includes a processing module 610 and a transceiver module 620. Illustratively, the cell measurement apparatus 600 may be a terminal device, or may be a chip applied in the terminal device, or other combined devices, components, and the like having the functions of the terminal device. When the cell measurement apparatus 600 is a vehicle-mounted device, the transceiver module 620 may be a transceiver, the transceiver may include an antenna and a radio frequency circuit, and the like, and the processing module 610 may be a processor, such as a baseband processor, and one or more CPUs may be included in the baseband processor. When the cell measuring apparatus 600 is a component having the functions of the terminal device, the transceiver module 620 may be a radio frequency unit, and the processing module 610 may be a processor, such as a baseband processor. When the cell measurement apparatus 600 is a chip system, the transceiver module 620 may be an input/output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip), and the processing module 610 may be a processor of the chip system and may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the processing module 610 in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component, and the transceiver module 620 may be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component.

For example, processing module 610 may be used to perform all operations performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, except for transceiving operations, e.g., step 304, and/or other processes for supporting the techniques described herein. Transceiver module 620 may be used to perform all transceiving operations performed by a terminal device in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, and/or other processes to support the techniques described herein.

In addition, the transceiver module 620 may be a functional module, which can perform both the transmitting operation and the receiving operation, for example, the transceiver module 620 may be used to perform all the transmitting operation and the receiving operation performed by the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, for example, when the transmitting operation is performed, the transceiver module 620 may be considered as a transmitting module, and when the receiving operation is performed, the transceiver module 620 may be considered as a receiving module; alternatively, the transceiver module 620 may also be two functional modules, and the transceiver module 620 may be regarded as a general term for the two functional modules, where the two functional modules are a transmitting module and a receiving module respectively, the transmitting module is configured to complete a transmitting operation, for example, the transmitting module may be configured to perform all transmitting operations by the terminal device in any embodiment of the embodiments shown in fig. 3, and the receiving module is configured to complete a receiving operation, for example, the receiving module may be configured to perform all receiving operations by the terminal device in the embodiments shown in fig. 3.

Wherein the processing module 610 is configured to receive first measurement configuration information from a base station through the transceiving module 620, where the first measurement configuration information includes measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell; measuring a reference signal of the first target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell; and measuring the reference signal of the second target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, before the processing module receives the first measurement configuration information from the base station through the transceiver module 620, the processing module is further configured to send the first measurement information to the base station through the transceiver module 620; the first measurement information includes: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device; the first timing deviation information is used for determining synchronous Signal Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) information of the first target cell relative to a serving cell of the terminal equipment; the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell is determined according to SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell of the terminal device.

In one possible implementation manner, the measurement gap configuration information includes: measuring gap offset; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell includes: an SMTC offset of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the measurement gap offset of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC offset included in the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the processing module 610 is configured to measure a reference signal of the first target cell in a measurement gap time window corresponding to a measurement gap offset of the first target cell; and the time domain position of the reference signal of the first target cell corresponds to a time window corresponding to the SMTC information of the first target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the measurement gap configuration information further includes: measuring a gap period; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell includes: the SMTC period of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell; the processing module 610 is configured to measure the reference signal of the first target cell when the measurement gap period of the first target cell arrives.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module 610 is configured to receive second measurement configuration information through the transceiver module 620; measuring a reference signal of the third target cell according to the second measurement configuration information; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell; and the frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the frequency point of the first target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module 610 is configured to report the capability to the base station through the transceiver module 620; the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure measurement gap configuration information under the measurement of the first frequency point; receiving, by the transceiver module 620, third measurement configuration information sent by the base station; the third measurement configuration information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure a measurement gap when measuring a fourth target cell; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; and the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell and the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

For other functions that can be realized by the cell measurement apparatus 600, reference may be made to the related description of the embodiment shown in fig. 3, which is not repeated herein.

The embodiment of the application also provides a cell measuring device, which can be a network device, a terminal device, a circuit, or a vehicle-mounted device. The cell measurement apparatus may be configured to perform the actions performed by the base station or the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

Based on the same concept as the cell measurement method, as shown in fig. 7, an embodiment of the present application further provides a cell measurement apparatus 700. The cell measurement apparatus 700 may be used to implement the method executed by the base station or the terminal device in the above method embodiment, which may be referred to the description in the above method embodiment, where the cell measurement apparatus 700 may be a network device, a terminal device, or a vehicle-mounted device, or may be located in the network device, the terminal device, or the vehicle-mounted device, and may be an originating device or a terminating device.

The cell measurement apparatus 700 includes one or more processors 701. The processor 701 may be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor, etc. For example, a baseband processor, or a central processor. The baseband processor may be configured to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor may be configured to control a cell measurement device (e.g., a network device, a terminal device, a vehicle-mounted device or a chip), execute a software program, and process data of the software program. The cell measurement apparatus 700 may include a transceiving unit to enable input (reception) and output (transmission) of signals. For example, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver, a radio frequency chip, or the like.

The cell measurement apparatus 700 includes one or more processors 701, and the one or more processors 701 may implement the method performed by the base station or the terminal device in the above illustrated embodiment.

Optionally, the processor 701 may also implement other functions besides the method in the above-described illustrated embodiment. Alternatively, in an implementation manner, the processor 701 may execute a computer program, so that the cell measurement apparatus 700 performs the method performed by the base station or the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment. The computer program may be stored in whole or in part in the processor 701, such as the computer program 703, or in whole or in part in the memory 702 coupled to the processor 701, such as the computer program 704, or the

computer programs

703 and 704 may together cause the cell measurement apparatus 700 to perform the method performed by the base station or the terminal device in the above-described method embodiments.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the cell measurement apparatus 700 may also include a circuit, which may implement the functions performed by the base station or the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments.

In yet another possible implementation, one or more memories 702 may be included in the cell measurement apparatus 700, on which a computer program 704 is stored, which computer program is executable on a processor, so that the cell measurement apparatus 700 performs the cell measurement method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the memory may also store data. Optionally, the processor may also have stored therein computer programs and/or data. For example, the one or more memories 702 may store the association or correspondence described in the above embodiments, or the related parameters or tables referred to in the above embodiments, and the like. The processor and the memory may be provided separately or may be integrated or coupled together.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the cell measurement apparatus 700 may further include a transceiver 705. Processor 701 may be referred to as a processing unit and controls a cell measurement apparatus (e.g., a base station or a terminal device). The transceiver 705 may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving circuit, a transceiver, or the like, and is used for transceiving data or control signaling.

For example, if the cell measurement apparatus 700 is a chip applied in a communication device or other combined devices, components, etc. having the functions of the communication device, the cell measurement apparatus 700 may include the transceiver 705.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the cell measurement apparatus 700 may further include a transceiver 705 and an antenna 706. Processor 701 may be referred to as a processing unit and controls a cell measurement apparatus (e.g., a base station or a terminal device). The transceiver 705 may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiving circuit, a transceiver, or the like, and is used for performing transceiving functions of the apparatus through the antenna 706.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be implemented by a computer program in the form of a hardware integrated logic circuit or software in a processor. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The method steps disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as being performed by a hardware decoding processor, or may be performed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a computer, implements the method in any of the method embodiments applied to the base station or the terminal device.

Embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which, when executed by a computer, implements the method described in any of the above method embodiments applied to a base station or a terminal device.

In the above embodiments, all or part may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs. The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part when the computer program is loaded and executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer program can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The embodiment of the application also provides a cell measuring device, which comprises a processor and an interface; a processor configured to perform the method of any of the above method embodiments applied to the base station or the terminal device.

It should be understood that the processing device may be a chip, and the processor may be implemented by hardware or software, and when implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated with the processor or located external to the processor, and may exist as stand-alone devices.

The embodiment of the application provides a communication system. The communication system may comprise the base station and the terminal device according to the embodiment shown in fig. 3 described above. The base station is, for example, cell measurement apparatus 500 in fig. 5, and the terminal device is, for example, cell measurement apparatus 600 in fig. 6.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer may implement the process related to the base station or the terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 3 provided in the foregoing method embodiment.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, where the computer program is used to store a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer may implement the process related to the base station or the terminal device in the embodiment provided in the foregoing method embodiment or shown in fig. 5.

It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a CPU, and may also be other general purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It will also be appreciated that the memory referred to in the embodiments of the application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, the memory (memory module) is integrated in the processor.

It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limiting: a computer-readable medium may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a universal serial bus flash disk (universal serial bus flash disk), a removable hard disk, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

The above description is only for the specific implementation of the present application, but the scope of the embodiments of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the embodiments of the present application, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered by the scope of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of cell measurement, comprising:

a base station sends first measurement configuration information to terminal equipment; the first measurement configuration information comprises measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell;

the first target cell and the second target cell are cells to be measured by the terminal equipment, and the cell frequency point of the first target cell is different from the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

the base station receives first measurement information from the terminal equipment; the first measurement information includes: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device;

the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell is determined by configuring SMTC information according to the measurement timing of the synchronization signal of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell is determined according to the first timing offset information and the SMTC information of the first target cell.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the measuring gap configuration information comprises: measuring gap offset;

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the measuring gap configuration information further comprises: measuring a gap period; the SMTC information of the first target cell includes: a SMTC period of the first target cell; the SMTC information of the second target cell includes: an SMTC period of the second target cell;

the measurement gap period of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the first target cell; and/or the measurement gap period of the first target cell is larger than the SMTC period of the second target cell.

5. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the method further comprises:

the base station sends second measurement configuration information to the terminal equipment; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of a third target cell; the cell frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the cell frequency point of the first target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell.

6. The method of any one of claims 1-5, further comprising:

the base station receives the reported capacity of the terminal equipment; the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure measurement gap configuration information under the measurement of the first frequency point;

the base station sends third measurement configuration information to the terminal equipment; the third measurement configuration information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure a measurement gap when measuring a fourth target cell; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; and the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell and the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

7. A method of cell measurement, comprising:

the terminal equipment receives first measurement configuration information from a base station, wherein the first measurement configuration information comprises measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell;

the terminal device measures the reference signal of the first target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell; and measuring the reference signal of the second target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein prior to the terminal device receiving the first measurement configuration information from the base station, further comprising:

the terminal equipment sends first measurement information to the base station; the first measurement information includes: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device;

the first timing deviation information is used for determining synchronous Signal Measurement Timing Configuration (SMTC) information of the first target cell relative to a serving cell of the terminal equipment; the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell is determined according to SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell of the terminal device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the measuring gap configuration information comprises: measuring gap offset; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell includes: an SMTC offset of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the measurement gap offset of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC offset included in the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell;

the measuring, by the terminal device, the reference signal of the first target cell includes:

the terminal equipment measures the reference signal of the first target cell in a measurement gap time window corresponding to the measurement gap offset of the first target cell; and the time domain position of the reference signal of the first target cell corresponds to a time window corresponding to the SMTC information of the first target cell.

10. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the measuring gap configuration information further comprises: measuring a gap period; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell includes: the SMTC period of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the first target cell, and the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the first target cell; and/or the measurement gap period of the first target cell is larger than the SMTC period of the second target cell;

and the terminal equipment measures the reference signal of the first target cell when the measurement gap period of the first target cell arrives.

11. The method of claim 8 or 9, wherein the method further comprises:

the terminal equipment receives second measurement configuration information; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell; the cell frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the cell frequency point of the first target cell;

and the terminal equipment measures the reference signal of the third target cell according to the second measurement configuration information.

12. The method of any one of claims 8-11, further comprising:

the terminal equipment reports the capacity to the base station; the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure measurement gap configuration information under the measurement of the first frequency point;

the terminal equipment receives third measurement configuration information sent by the base station; the third measurement configuration information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure a measurement gap when measuring a fourth target cell; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; and the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell and the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

13. An apparatus for cell measurement, the apparatus comprising: the device comprises a processing module and a transmitting-receiving module;

the processing module is used for sending first measurement configuration information to the terminal equipment through the transceiver module; the first measurement configuration information comprises measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell;

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to receive first measurement information from the terminal device; the first measurement information includes: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device; the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell is determined by configuring SMTC information according to the measurement timing of the synchronization signal of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell is determined according to the first timing offset information and the SMTC information of the first target cell.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the measurement gap configuration information comprises: measuring gap offset;

16. The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein the measurement gap configuration information further comprises: measuring a gap period; the SMTC information of the first target cell includes: a SMTC period of the first target cell; the SMTC information of the second target cell includes: an SMTC period of the second target cell;

17. The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein the processing module is further configured to send second measurement configuration information to the terminal device through the transceiving module; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of a third target cell; the cell frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the cell frequency point of the first target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell.

18. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the processing module is further configured to receive, through the transceiver module, the capability reported by the terminal device, and send, through the transceiver module, third measurement configuration information to the terminal device; the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure measurement gap configuration information under the measurement of the first frequency point; the third measurement configuration information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure a measurement gap when measuring a fourth target cell; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; and the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell and the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

19. An apparatus for cell measurement, the apparatus comprising: the device comprises a processing module and a transmitting-receiving module;

the processing module is configured to receive, by the transceiver module, first measurement configuration information from a base station, where the first measurement configuration information includes measurement gap configuration information of a first target cell and measurement gap configuration information of a second target cell; measuring a reference signal of the first target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell; and measuring the reference signal of the second target cell on a time window corresponding to the measurement gap configuration information of the second target cell.

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein said processing module, prior to receiving the first measurement configuration information from the base station via said transceiver module, is further configured to transmit the first measurement information to the base station via said transceiver module; the first measurement information includes: first timing deviation information of a serving cell and the first target cell of the terminal device;

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the measurement gap configuration information comprises: measuring gap offset; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell includes: an SMTC offset of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the measurement gap offset of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC offset included in the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell;

the processing module is configured to measure a reference signal of the first target cell within a measurement gap time window corresponding to a measurement gap offset of the first target cell; and the time domain position of the reference signal of the first target cell corresponds to a time window corresponding to the SMTC information of the first target cell.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 or 21, wherein the measurement gap configuration information further comprises: measuring a gap period; the SMTC information of the first target cell relative to the serving cell includes: the SMTC period of the first target cell relative to the serving cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is determined according to the SMTC period of the first target cell and the SMTC period of the second target cell; the measurement gap period of the first target cell is greater than the SMTC period of the first target cell; and/or the measurement gap period of the first target cell is larger than the SMTC period of the second target cell;

the processing module is configured to measure the reference signal of the first target cell when the measurement gap period of the first target cell arrives.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 or 21, wherein the processing module is configured to receive second measurement configuration information through the transceiver module; measuring a reference signal of the third target cell according to the second measurement configuration information; the second measurement configuration information is used for indicating measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell; the measurement gap configuration information of the third target cell is the same as the measurement gap configuration information of the first target cell; and the frequency point of the third target cell is the same as the frequency point of the first target cell.

24. The apparatus according to any of claims 19-23, wherein the processing module is configured to report the capability to the base station through the transceiver module; the capability is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure measurement gap configuration information under the measurement of the first frequency point; receiving, by the transceiver module, third measurement configuration information sent by the base station; the third measurement configuration information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment does not configure a measurement gap when measuring a fourth target cell; the cell frequency point of the fourth target cell is the first frequency point; and the first frequency point is different from the cell frequency point of the first target cell and the cell frequency point of the second target cell.

25. A cell measurement apparatus comprising a processor coupled to at least one memory, the processor configured to read a computer program stored in the at least one memory to perform the method of any of claims 1-6 or to perform the method of any of claims 7-12.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 12.

27. A chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor being configured to read instructions to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 6 or to perform the method of any of claims 7 to 12.

28. A communication system comprising a cell measurement arrangement according to any of claims 13 to 18 and a cell measurement arrangement according to any of claims 19 to 24.