CN109246835B

CN109246835B - Communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN109246835B
Application number: CN201710314140.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 权威; 张戬; 柴丽
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-05-05
Filing date: 2017-05-05
Publication date: 2022-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-05
Also published as: WO2018201921A1; CN109246835A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and device, and relates to the field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: a distributed unit receives a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request message sent by terminal equipment; the distributed unit sends RRC connection establishment information to the terminal equipment; the distributed unit receives an RRC connection establishment completion message sent by the terminal equipment; the distributed unit sends a first message to a centralized unit, wherein the first message is used for informing the centralized unit of the completion of the establishment of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection of the terminal equipment; the distributed unit and the centralized unit are devices located in a radio access network, and the centralized unit communicates with the terminal device through the distributed unit.

Description

Communication method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.

Background

In a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) System, a Radio Access Network (RAN) side architecture is centralized. However, since the protocol stack between the Radio Network Controller (RNC) and the Node B (Node B) is divided from the Media Access Control (MAC) layer, and there is a non-ideal Backhaul between the RNC and the Node B, relatively complicated processing such as flow control is required between the RNC and the Node B, and it is difficult to ensure the scheduling performance.

Therefore, in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the RAN-side architecture becomes flat. One benefit of this is to improve the performance of the local cell scheduling, but due to the distributed architecture, it becomes difficult in terms of multi-cell joint processing, multi-cell coordination, centralized resource control, and the like.

Therefore, in the evolution of LTE Release 15 and 5G Radio over the air (New Radio, NR), a Split centralized unit/distributed unit (Split) architecture is proposed, and a communication mechanism based on the architecture needs to be further refined and improved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a communication method and device.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, including: a distributed unit receives a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request message sent by terminal equipment; the distributed unit sends RRC connection establishment information to the terminal equipment; the distributed unit receives an RRC connection establishment completion message sent by the terminal equipment; the distributed unit sends a first message to a centralized unit, wherein the first message is used for informing the centralized unit of the completion of the establishment of RRC connection of the terminal equipment; the distributed unit and the centralized unit are devices located in a radio access network, and the centralized unit communicates with the terminal device through the distributed unit. The parameters included in the first message are necessary parameters that are provided by the centralized unit for continuing to establish the service for the terminal device, and meanwhile, the configuration of the parameters also provides a basis and a foundation for the centralized unit to perform resource centralized control coordination.

In one possible implementation manner, the sending, by the distributed unit, the RRC connection setup message to the terminal device includes: the distributed unit sends the RRC connection establishment message to the terminal device through a signaling radio bearer SRB0, where the processing of the RRC connection establishment message at the distributed unit includes: processing of an RRC layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; or processes including an RRC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer.

Optionally, the first message includes at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device in the RRC connection establishment procedure of the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, MAC layer parameters, RLC layer parameters and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters.

In a possible implementation manner, after the distributed unit sends the first message to the centralized unit, the distributed unit receives a second message sent by the centralized unit, where the second message includes configuration parameters of one or more data radio bearers, DRBs, and configuration parameters of the SRBs 2 established by the distributed unit; wherein the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 at the distributed unit includes: processing of an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; the processing of the data transmitted by the DRB in the distributed unit comprises: RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

Optionally, the second message includes configuration parameters of SRB 1; wherein, the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB1 in the distributed unit includes: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

In a possible implementation manner, after the distributed unit receives the second message sent by the centralized unit, the distributed unit sends a third message to the terminal device, where the third message is used to notify the terminal device of enabling security protection of SRB1, SRB2 and DRB; and the distributed unit receives a configuration completion message sent by the terminal equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the distributed unit, the third message to the terminal device includes: and the distributed unit sends the third message to the terminal equipment through SRB1 or SRB 2.

Optionally, the third message is generated and sent by the distributed unit according to the second message.

In a possible implementation manner, after the distributed unit receives a configuration completion message sent by the terminal device, the distributed unit sends a fourth message to a centralized unit, where the fourth message is used to notify the centralized unit that the parameter configuration of the terminal device is completed.

Optionally, the fourth message includes at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, MAC layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, PDCP layer parameters.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, including: a centralized unit receives a first message sent by a distributed unit, wherein the first message is used for notifying the centralized unit of the completion of the establishment of Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection of terminal equipment; the centralized unit sends an initial message to the core network equipment, wherein the initial message is used for informing the core network of configuring parameters for the terminal equipment; and the centralized unit receives the context establishment message sent by the core network equipment. After the distributed unit completes configuration of the wireless parameters of the terminal device, the distributed unit notifies the centralized unit, so that the centralized unit can better grasp conditions such as load, interference and the like of each cell from a global perspective, and Radio Resource Management (RRM) control can be better performed.

In a possible implementation manner, after the centralized unit receives the context setup message sent by the core network device, the centralized unit sends a second message to the distributed unit, where the second message includes configuration parameters of one or more data radio bearers DRBs and configuration parameters of a signaling radio bearer SRB2 established by the distributed unit; wherein the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 at the centralized unit includes: processing of an RRC layer and a PDCP layer; the data transmitted by the DRB is processed by a PDCP layer in the centralized unit.

Optionally, the second message includes configuration parameters of SRB 1.

In a possible implementation manner, after the centralized unit sends the second message to the distributed unit, the centralized unit receives a fourth message sent by the distributed unit, where the fourth message is used to inform the centralized unit that the parameter configuration of the terminal device is completed.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, including: the terminal equipment sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request message to the distributed unit; the terminal equipment receives RRC connection establishment information sent by the distributed unit; the terminal equipment sends an RRC connection establishment completion message to the distributed unit; the terminal equipment receives a third message sent by the distributed unit, wherein the third message is used for informing the terminal equipment of starting the security protection of the signaling radio bearer SRB1, the SRB2 and the data radio bearer DRB; and the terminal equipment sends a configuration completion message to the distributed unit. The RRC connection establishment process is only carried out between the terminal equipment and the distributed units, so that the RRC connection establishment time delay is reduced.

In one possible implementation manner, the sending, by the terminal device, the RRC connection request message to the distributed unit includes: the terminal device sends the RRC connection request message to the distributed unit through an SRB0, wherein the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB0 at the terminal device comprises: processing of an RRC layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; or comprises the following steps: and processing of an RRC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer.

Optionally, the receiving, by the terminal device, the RRC connection setup message sent by the distributed unit includes: and the terminal equipment receives the RRC connection establishment message sent by the distributed unit through SRB 0.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending, by the terminal device, the RRC connection setup complete message to the distributed unit includes: the terminal device sends the RRC connection setup complete message to the distributed unit through SRB1, wherein the processing of the message transmitted by SRB1 at the terminal device includes: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving, by the terminal device, the third message sent by the distributed unit includes: the terminal device receives the third message sent by the distributed unit through the SRB1 or the SRB2, wherein the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 at the terminal device includes: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the third message is generated and sent by the distributed unit according to a second message, where the second message includes configuration parameters of one or more DRBs and configuration parameters of SRBs 2 established by the distributed unit; wherein, the processing of the data transmitted by the DRB at the terminal device includes: PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, including: the terminal equipment receives a switching command message sent by a distributed unit, wherein the switching command message comprises the following indication information: no reconstruction is performed; performing at least one of a signaling radio bearer SRB1 re-establishment, a SRB2 re-establishment, and at least one data radio bearer DRB re-establishment; the terminal equipment executes corresponding operation according to the switching command message; the terminal equipment sends a switching completion message to the distributed unit; wherein the distributed unit is a device located in a radio access network. The time delay of the switching execution is further reduced by reducing the processing time delay of the reconstruction, and meanwhile, the RLC layer packet loss caused by the reconstruction is reduced, unnecessary data packet retransmission after the switching is also reduced, and resources are saved.

Optionally, the handover command message includes at least one of the following parameter configuration information: parameters of SRB 1; parameters of SRB 2; at least one parameter of a DRB; the medium access controls parameters of the MAC layer.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, including: the distributed unit determines to execute the distributed intra-unit handover; the distributed unit sends a switching command message to the terminal equipment, wherein the switching command message comprises the following indication information: no reconstruction is performed; performing at least one of a signaling radio bearer SRB1 re-establishment, a SRB2 re-establishment, and at least one data radio bearer DRB re-establishment; the distributed unit receives a switching completion message sent by the terminal equipment; the distributed unit sends switching indication information to the centralized unit; the distributed unit and the centralized unit are devices located in a radio access network, and the centralized unit communicates with the terminal device through the distributed unit.

Optionally, the handover indication information includes at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters, and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters.

In a possible implementation manner, the handover command message includes at least one of the following parameter configuration information: parameters of SRB 1; parameters of SRB 2; at least one parameter of a DRB; the medium access controls parameters of the MAC layer.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a distributed unit that executes the method in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect. In particular, the distributed means comprises means for performing the first aspect or the method in any one of its possible implementations.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a centralized unit, configured to execute the method in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect. In particular, the centralized unit comprises means for performing the second aspect or the method in any one of its possible implementations.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, configured to execute the method of the third aspect. In particular, the terminal device includes means for performing the third aspect or the method in any implementation manner of the third aspect.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, configured to execute the method of the fourth aspect. In particular, the terminal device comprises means for performing the method of the fourth aspect or any implementation manner of the fourth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a distributed unit configured to perform the method of the fifth aspect. In particular, the distributed units comprise units for performing the method of the fifth aspect or any one of its implementations.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer storage medium having stored thereon a computer program (instructions) which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of the above aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a chip system comprising a processor for supporting distributed units, centralized units and terminal devices to implement the functions referred to in the above aspects, e.g. to generate or process data and/or information referred to in the above methods. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the distributed unit, the centralized unit, and the terminal device. The chip system may be formed by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

Compared with the prior art, the communication method and the communication device are described, on the basis of the architecture of the established protocol stack, when the RRC connection request is established, the message for establishing the RRC connection to configure parameters for the terminal equipment is sent to the centralized unit through the distributed unit, the time delay of the establishment of the RRC connection is reduced, the available resources of other distributed units are coordinated or controlled based on the resource allocation condition of the distributed unit, the throughput of the system is improved, and the user experience is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a split-architecture communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of protocol stack partitioning according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another protocol stack partition provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a structural diagram of a distributed unit according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a diagram of a centralized unit structure provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a structural diagram of another terminal device provided in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of another distributed unit provided in embodiments of the present application;

fig. 11 is a structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a structural diagram of another terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The terminal device according to the embodiments of the present invention may be a device providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device having a wireless connection function, or another processing device connected to a wireless modem. Wireless terminals, which may be mobile terminals such as mobile telephones (or "cellular" telephones) and computers having mobile terminals, such as portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices, may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (e.g., RAN). 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. A wireless Terminal may also be referred to as a system, a Subscriber Unit (Subscriber Unit), a Subscriber Station (Subscriber Station), a Mobile Station (Mobile), a Remote Station (Remote Station), an Access Point (Access Point), a Remote Terminal (Remote Terminal), an Access Terminal (Access Terminal), a User Terminal (User Terminal), a User Agent (User Agent), a Terminal Device (User Device), or a User Equipment (User Equipment).

A network device (e.g., access point) in accordance with embodiments of the present invention may refer to a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminals. The network device may be configured to interconvert received air frames and IP packets as a router between the wireless terminal and the rest of the access network, which may include an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The network device may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network device may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, a Base Station (NodeB) in WCDMA, or an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) in LTE, and the present application is not limited thereto.

The schematic diagram of the centralized unit/distributed unit separation architecture shown in fig. 1 includes Core Network (CN) devices, a centralized unit, a distributed unit, and a plurality of cells (cells) below the distributed unit. The distributed unit, the centralized unit and the terminal device are connected, and receive and send the data of the centralized unit to the terminal device, or receive and send the data from the terminal device to the centralized unit, and names of the centralized units of different systems may be different. The centralized unit is connected with the distributed units and the CN equipment, receives data of the distributed units and sends the data to the core network equipment, or receives data from the core network equipment and sends the data to the distributed units, and names of the distributed units in different systems may be different. The centralized unit has a function of centralized control. The centralized unit and the distributed unit are devices located in the radio access network. The CN device corresponds to different devices in different systems, for example, a Mobile Management Entity (MME) and/or a Serving Gateway (S-GW) in 4G, a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) in 3G, a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), and the like.

In the centralized unit/distributed unit split architecture shown in fig. 1, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of one protocol stack partitioning currently under consideration. As shown in fig. 2, the terminal device side includes an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, an MAC layer, and a PHY layer; the distributed unit side comprises an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; the centralized unit side includes an RRC layer and a PDCP layer.

The messages transmitted by the terminal device through the signaling Radio Bearer (SRB 0) are processed by the RRC layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer, the messages transmitted by the distributed unit through the SRB0 are processed by the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer, and the message transmitted by the centralized unit does not have the message transmitted by the SRB 0. The messages transmitted by the terminal equipment through the SRB1 are processed by the RRC layer, the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer, the messages transmitted by the distributed unit through the SRB1 are processed by the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and the messages transmitted by the centralized unit through the SRB1 are processed by the RRC layer and the PDCP layer. Messages transmitted by the terminal equipment through the SRB2 are processed by an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer, messages transmitted by the distributed unit through the SRB2 are processed by the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and messages transmitted by the centralized unit through the SRB2 are processed by the RRC layer and the PDCP layer. The terminal device processes the message transmitted by a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) through a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer, and a PHY layer, the distributed unit processes the Data transmitted by the DRB through the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer, and the centralized unit processes the Data transmitted by the DRB through the PDCP layer.

From the protocol stack division of fig. 2, the control functions of RRC are concentrated in a centralized unit. The division of the protocol stack has the disadvantages of over centralized control and larger time delay of the signaling establishment flow.

In view of the foregoing technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for partitioning a protocol stack, and a schematic diagram of the method is shown in fig. 3. Compared with the protocol stack of fig. 2, in the protocol stack of fig. 3, for the terminal device side, the processing of the protocol layers that are included and passed by the bearer is basically the same as that of fig. 2, but the protocol stacks of the distributed unit and the centralized unit are changed.

Specifically, in fig. 3, the terminal device side includes an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer, and a PHY layer; the distributed unit side comprises an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer (compared with the RRC layer and the PDCP layer are added in the figure 2); the centralized unit side includes an RRC layer and a PDCP layer.

Wherein, the messages transmitted by the terminal device through the SRB0 are processed by the RRC layer, the RLC layer (optional), the MAC layer and the PHY layer, the messages transmitted by the distributed unit through the SRB0 are processed by the RRC layer, the RLC layer (optional), the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and the message transmitted by the centralized unit through the SRB0 is absent. The messages transmitted by the terminal equipment through the SRB1 are processed by an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer, the messages transmitted by the distributed unit through the SRB1 are processed by the RRC layer, the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and the messages transmitted by the centralized unit through the SRB1 are not processed by the centralized unit. Messages transmitted by the terminal equipment through the SRB2 are processed by an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer, messages transmitted by the distributed unit through the SRB2 are processed by the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and messages transmitted by the centralized unit through the SRB2 are processed by the RRC layer and the PDCP layer. The data transmitted by the terminal equipment through the DRB is processed by a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer, the data transmitted by the distributed unit through the DRB is processed by the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and the data transmitted by the centralized unit through the DRB is processed by the PDCP layer.

Based on the protocol stack of fig. 3, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, as shown in fig. 4, the communication method under the split architecture may be applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1, and the distributed unit and the centralized unit are devices located in a radio access network. Wherein, the centralized unit (centralized unit or centralized unit) is an access network device having at least a higher layer protocol (e.g. Physical (PHY) layer, MAC layer) and communicating with the terminal device through the distributed unit, and controls the operation of one or more distributed units. The distributed unit (distributed unit) is an access network device that at least has a lower layer Protocol (such as a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer), and directly communicates with the terminal device. One distributed unit supports one or more cells. Optionally, the centralized unit and the distributed unit terminate the connection through an F1 interface. As a further alternative, the base station (gNB) may consist of one centralized unit and one or more distributed units. The communication method provided by the embodiment of the application comprises the following steps:

step 401: the terminal device sends an RRC connection request message to the distributed unit.

It is assumed that a distributed unit may contain one or more cells through which the terminal device camps on a cell. The distributed unit is transparent to the terminal device, i.e. the terminal device only sees the cell and not the distributed unit. The terminal device camps on a cell of the distributed unit before the terminal device sends the RRC connection request message.

The terminal device sends the RRC connection request message to the distributed unit via SRB 0.

Alternatively, the RRC connection request message may be replaced with an RRC connection resume request (RRC connection resume request) message or an RRC connection re-establishment request (RRC connection re-establishment request) message.

Step 402: the distributed unit sends an RRC connection setup message to the terminal device.

Optionally, the distributed element sends an RRC connection setup message to the terminal device via SRB 0.

After receiving the RRC connection setup message, the terminal device establishes SRB1 according to the configuration information in the connection setup message.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection request message is replaced with an RRC connection resume request (RRC connection resume request) message, the RRC connection setup message is replaced with an RRC connection resume (RRC connection resume) message. Optionally, after receiving the RRC connection resume message, the terminal device resumes SRB1 and/or SRB2 and/or DRB according to the configuration information in the connection resume message.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection request message is replaced with the RRC connection reestablishment request message, the RRC connection setup message may be replaced with the RRC connection reestablishment message. And after receiving the RRC connection reestablishment message, the terminal equipment restores the SRB1 and/or the SRB2 and/or the DRB according to the configuration information in the connection reestablishment message.

Step 403: the terminal device sends an RRC connection setup complete message to the distributed unit.

The terminal device sends the RRC connection setup complete message to the distributed unit via the established SRB 1.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection request message is replaced with an RRC connection restoration request message, the RRC connection setup complete message is replaced with an RRC connection restoration complete (RRC connection resume complete) message.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection request message is replaced with an RRC connection reestablishment request message, the RRC connection establishment complete message may be replaced with an RRC connection re-establishment complete (RRC connection re-establishment complete) message.

Step 404: the distributed unit sends a first message to the centralized unit, wherein the first message is used for informing the centralized unit of the completion of the RRC connection establishment of the terminal equipment.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection request message is replaced with the RRC connection recovery request message, the distributed unit sends a first message to the centralized unit, where the first message is used to notify the centralized unit that the RRC connection recovery of the terminal device is completed.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection request message is replaced with the RRC connection reestablishment request message, the distributed unit sends a first message to the centralized unit, where the first message is used to notify the centralized unit that the RRC connection reestablishment of the terminal device is completed.

Optionally, the first message is transmitted through an interface between the distributed unit and the centralized unit.

Optionally, the first message includes first identification information of the terminal device, where the identification information of the terminal device may be a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) allocated by the distributed unit for the terminal device, or a System Architecture Evolution Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identifier (S-TMSI) of the terminal device, or another Identifier, or a combination of two or more of the above identifiers.

Optionally, the first message includes Cell information where the terminal device establishes/recovers/reestablishes the RRC connection, such as a Cell Identifier, which may specifically be a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), a Cell Global Identifier (CGI), or another Identifier, or a combination of two or more of the above identifiers.

Optionally, the first message includes the centralized unit-distributed unit interface resource information allocated by the distributed unit for establishing/recovering/reestablishing the RRC connection for the terminal device, such as the centralized unit-distributed unit interface application protocol identifier, and/or the data channel identifier.

The first message is also used for informing the centralized unit, and the distributed unit allocates which cell radio network temporary identities (C-RNTIs) to the distributed unit, so that the centralized unit controls available C-RNTIs of other distributed units or controls available C-RNTIs of the centralized unit based on the C-RNTI allocation condition of the distributed unit. Meanwhile, the first message is also used for informing the centralized unit, and the distributed unit establishes the connection for which terminal device, so that the centralized unit can grasp the information of the terminal device under the distributed unit, and index the context of the terminal device based on the first identification information.

Further optionally, the first message includes layer 1parameters (L1parameters) configured by the distribution unit for the terminal device in the RRC connection establishment procedure of the terminal device, such as PHY layer parameters. Such as configuration parameters of dedicated physical resources, power related configuration parameters. The dedicated Physical resources include, but are not limited to, dedicated Uplink and downlink pilot resources, dedicated Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources, dedicated Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resources, and the like. The power-related configuration parameters include, but are not limited to, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) power control-related parameters, PUCCH power control-related parameters, Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) power control-related parameters, and the like, and specifically, the power control-related parameters of each Channel may include: power offset, power control flag, etc.

The configuration parameters of the dedicated physical resources are used for notifying the centralized unit, and the distributed units allocate which dedicated physical resources and which resources are not allocated, so that the centralized unit coordinates or controls the physical resources available to other distributed units based on the resource allocation conditions of the distributed units, thereby reducing the related interference among different distributed units and further improving the throughput of the whole system.

The configuration parameters related to power control, such as power offset, are used to notify the centralized unit of the power situation when the distributed units perform scheduling, so that the centralized unit controls the power situation used by other distributed units on the same or similar resources, so as to reduce the related interference between different distributed units, thereby improving the throughput of the whole system. The configuration parameters related to power control, such as the power control identifier, are used to notify the centralized unit, which RNTIs are allocated by the distributed unit, so that the centralized unit controls the RNTIs available to other distributed units based on the RNTI allocation condition of the distributed unit, or controls the RNTIs available to the centralized unit itself, and the like.

Further optionally, the first message includes that the distributed unit configures at least one layer 2parameter (L2parameters) for the terminal device in the RRC connection setup procedure of the terminal device, such as Media Access Control (MAC) layer, RLC layer, and PDCP layer parameters.

The parameters contained in the first message are necessary parameters provided by the centralized unit for continuing to establish the service for the terminal device, and meanwhile, the configuration of the parameters also provides a basis and a foundation for the centralized unit to perform resource centralized control coordination.

Step 405: the centralized unit sends an initial message to the CN device.

The initial message is used for informing the core network of configuring parameters for the terminal equipment. Further, the initial message may carry information of resources of the centralized unit and the CN interface allocated to the terminal device, such as an identifier of a centralized unit-CN interface application protocol and/or an identifier of a data channel.

Optionally, the initial message may be transmitted through an S1 interface in an LTE system or a G1 interface in an NR system, which is not limited in the present invention.

Optionally, the initial message carries second identity information of the terminal device, where the second identity information may be a C-RNTI allocated by the distributed unit for the terminal device, or an S-TMSI identifying the terminal device, or another identity, or a combination of multiple identities.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection Request message is replaced with an RRC connection resume Request (RRC connection resume Request) message, the initial message is replaced with a terminal device Context resume Request (UE Context resume Request) message. In this case, this step is optional.

When the RRC connection request message is replaced with an RRC connection re-establishment request (RRC connection re-establishment request) message, this step does not exist.

Optionally, step 406: the CN device sends a context setup message to the centralized unit.

The context establishing message carries Quality of Service (QoS) information and security information of a Service that needs to be established by the terminal device. The Qos information of the service may be Qos information of a Radio Access Bearer (RAB) corresponding to the established service, such as parameters of priority, guaranteed rate, maximum rate, and the like; alternatively, the Qos information of the service may also be Qos information of one or more IP flows that may be included in the established service, such as parameters of priority, guaranteed rate, maximum rate, and the like of each IP flow. Wherein the security information comprises a security key.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection request message is replaced with an RRC connection recovery request (RRC connection resume request) message, the Context setup message is replaced with a terminal device Context recovery Response (UE Context Response) message. In this case, this step is optional.

Optionally, step 407: the centralized unit sends a second message to the distributed unit.

The second message is configured to notify the distributed unit to establish configuration parameters of one or more DRBs and configuration parameters of SRBs 2 corresponding to the service, where the configuration parameters include configuration parameters related to quality of service (QoS) of each Radio Bearer (RB) on the air interface.

Optionally, the configuration information of the DRB and SRB2 includes RLC layer configuration parameters, such as RLC mode information and RLC timer information.

Optionally, the second message may further include configuration parameters of the SRB1, where the configuration parameters of the SRB1 include RLC layer configuration parameters, such as RLC mode information, RLC timer information, and the like, and may further include PDCP layer configuration parameters.

The second message is also used to notify the distributed unit of the security key of the SRB1, and the security key of the SRB1 may be the security key received by the centralized unit from the core network; or the security Key of the SRB1 may be the Key obtained by the centralized unit from the security Key received from the core network and the encryption algorithm used by the SRB1 _RRCenc And the Key obtained by the centralized unit from the security Key received from the core network and from the integrity algorithm used by the SRB1 _RRCint . Therein, Key _RRCenc Is a Key, Key, for encrypting RRC messages _RRCint Is a key used for integrity protection of RRC messages.

The second message is also used to inform the distributed units of security algorithms used by the end devices, such as integrity protection algorithms for SRB1, SRB2, encryption algorithms for SRB1, SRB2, and DRB, etc.

Optionally, the second message further includes MAC layer parameters used for configuring the terminal device, such as maximum Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) transmission times, Buffer Status Report (BSR) configuration parameters, Power Headroom Report (PHR) configuration parameters, and the like.

Optionally, the second message includes parameters such as SRB2 and DRB configured for the terminal device by the distributed unit, and also configures related parameters of an MAC layer and a PHY layer for the terminal device, so as to implement subsequent communication.

Optionally, the second message is further used to configure logical channel related parameters, such as priority, Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR), and the like, corresponding to the SRB1, the SRB2, and the DRB of the terminal device.

Optionally, the second message may include a message for configuring the above parameters of the distributed unit (except for the PDCP layer parameter of the SRB2 and the PDCP layer parameter of the DRB) and a message for configuring the above parameters of the terminal device.

The second message may be transmitted using an Application Protocol message of an interface between the centralized unit and the distributed unit (for example, assuming that the interface between the centralized unit and the distributed unit is an F1 interface, the second message may be transmitted using an F1Application Protocol (F1 AP) message).

Optionally, the second message includes a third message sent by the distributed unit to the terminal device.

Optionally, step 408: the distributed unit sends a third message to the terminal device.

After the distributed unit receives the second message, on one hand, according to the second message, configuring PDCP (only for SRB1) and RLC layer parameters carried by SRB2, DRB, SRB1, etc. related to the distributed unit side, and MAC layer and physical layer related parameters of the distributed unit side; on the other hand, according to the second message, a third message containing a security mode command message is sent to the terminal equipment, and the terminal equipment is informed of enabling the security protection of the SRB1, the SRB2 and the DRB.

Optionally, the security mode command message includes a security algorithm used by the terminal device, such as an integrity protection algorithm used by SRB1 and SRB2, an encryption algorithm used by SRB1, SRB2, and SRB 3.

Optionally, a third message carrying the security mode command message is sent using SRB1, said third message applying integrity protection but not applying encryption.

Further optionally, the third message includes an RRC Connection Reconfiguration (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) message.

Here, the RRC Connection Reconfiguration (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) message may be an independent message. The invention is not limited. When the RRC connection reconfiguration message is a separate message, integrity protection and ciphering are applied to the RRC connection reconfiguration message itself.

Optionally, the third message may be generated and sent by the distributed unit according to the second message, and at this time, the third message may be sent to the terminal device through the SRB 1; or the third message may be generated by a centralized unit and transparently transmitted by a distributed unit, in this case, the third message may be sent to the terminal device through SRB1 or SRB2, or the third message may be generated by a centralized unit and transparently transmitted by a distributed unit, and after the second message is decoded by the distributed unit, the third message is directly obtained from the second message, and then the third message is sent to the terminal device through SRB 1.

Optionally, when the RRC connection reconfiguration message is an independent message, the RRC connection reconfiguration message and the third message may be carried by different messages on interfaces between the distributed unit and the centralized unit and sent to the distributed unit.

The RRC connection reconfiguration message includes PDCP and RLC layer parameters of the terminal device using SRB1, SRB2, and DRB, and MAC layer and physical layer related parameters of the terminal device side. The RRC connection reconfiguration message applies integrity protection and ciphering.

Alternatively, when the RRC connection request message is replaced with an RRC connection resume request (RRC connection resume request) message, the Context setup message in step 406 is replaced with a terminal device Context resume Response (UE Context resume) message, and the third message in this step does not include the security mode command message.

When the RRC connection request message is replaced with an RRC connection re-establishment request (RRC connection re-establishment request) message, the third message in this step does not include the security mode command message.

Optionally, the third message and the RRC connection reconfiguration message may be the same RRC message or different RRC messages.

Optionally, in step 409: and the terminal equipment sends a configuration completion message to the distributed unit.

Optionally, the terminal device sends a completion message corresponding to the third message to the distributed unit.

Optionally, in step 410: the distributed unit sends a fourth message to the centralized unit.

Wherein the fourth message is used for informing the centralized unit that the parameter configuration of the terminal equipment is completed.

If the second message does not include the layer 1 configuration parameter of the terminal device, the fourth message includes the layer 1parameter configured for the terminal device by the distributed unit in the third message, such as a PHY layer parameter, a configuration parameter of a dedicated physical resource, and a configuration parameter related to power.

Further optionally, if the second message does not include the layer 2 configuration parameter of the terminal device, or the distributed unit modifies the layer 2 configuration parameter of the terminal device, the fourth message includes at least one layer 2parameter configured for the terminal device by the distributed unit in the third message, such as a MAC layer parameter, an RLC layer parameter, and a PDCP layer parameter.

The functions of the layer 1 and layer 2parameters are similar to the functions of the parameters carried in the RRC connection setup complete message, and are not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present application, compared with the overall architecture of UMTS, the architecture shown in fig. 3 changes the architecture design of pure centralized control, and reduces the time delay; compared with a flat architecture under an LTE system, the method and the device improve the technical problems of multi-cell joint processing, multi-cell cooperation and difficulty in centralized resource control. Meanwhile, compared with fig. 2, in fig. 3, partial functions of the centralized unit are shared by the distributed unit (for example, information processing via the RRC layer and the PDCP layer), so that delay is reduced, and user experience is improved.

The embodiment of the application can realize the following functions:

(1) the RRC connection establishment process is only carried out between the terminal equipment and the distributed units, so that the RRC connection establishment delay is reduced. The distributed unit is responsible for a part of RRC or RRM functions, for example, configuration work of physical layer resources of the terminal device, a part of layer 2Parameters of the radio bearer, and a part of layer 3(L3Parameters) Parameters may be completed in the distributed unit, where the layer 3Parameters may include measurement related Parameters, such as measurement objects, measurement quantities, measurement events, and the like, and may also include some timer lengths, and the like.

(2) The distributed unit is configured with SRB1 complete (RRC/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) protocol stack, so that the distributed unit can rapidly configure the radio parameters of the terminal device without being processed by a centralized unit, thereby reducing the time delay.

(3) The distributed unit informs the centralized unit after completing the configuration of the wireless parameters of the terminal equipment, so that the centralized unit can better grasp the conditions of load, interference and the like of each cell from the global perspective, and RRM control can be better performed.

(4) The SRB2 is mainly used to carry Non Access Stratum (NAS) messages, and the NAS messages perform ciphering and integrity protection of the PDCP layer in the centralized unit, and directly perform the RLC layer in the distributed unit without performing processing again in the RRC layer of the distributed unit, thereby simplifying protocol processing and reducing processing delay.

(5) The data of the DRB is also encrypted in the PDCP layer of the centralized unit and then sent to the RLC layer of the distributed unit for processing, and as the key of the DRB is not sent to the distributed unit, the data can not be monitored in the distributed unit. And the data security is improved.

Referring to fig. 5, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication method under a separated architecture, so as to shorten the time for handover interruption and improve the user experience, where the handover method may be applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1 and the protocol stack shown in fig. 3, and the method includes the following steps:

step 501: the distributed unit determines to perform a distributed intra-unit handover.

And after receiving the measurement report message, the distributed unit judges the target cell to be switched by the terminal equipment according to the measurement report message. If the target cell and the current serving cell of the terminal device are located in the same distributed unit, that is, the source cell and the target cell of the terminal device are both in one distributed unit, the distributed unit determines that the terminal device needs to perform intra-distributed-unit handover.

In this step, compared with the prior art, a handover request does not need to be initiated to the centralized unit, so that the time delay caused by interaction between the centralized unit and the distributed units can be reduced.

Step 502: and the distributed unit sends a switching command message to the terminal equipment.

The handover command message includes physical resource parameters of layer 1 (for example, PHY layer) of the target cell of the terminal device.

Optionally, the handover command message includes the following indication information:

no reconstruction is performed;

at least one of performing an SRB1 reconstruction, performing an SRB2 reconstruction, performing at least one DRB reconstruction.

For DRB reconstruction, for example, assuming that the terminal device establishes 3 DRBs, the terminal device may be instructed to perform only the reconstruction of DRB1, and other DRBs (DRB2 and DRB3) do not perform the reconstruction, or instructed to perform only the reconstruction of DRB1 and DRB2, and not perform the reconstruction of DRB 3.

The SRB0, SRB1, SRB2 and DRB protocol stack are shown in fig. 3, and the specific protocol layers included in the SRB protocol stack can be referred to the foregoing description, which is not described herein again.

As a further optimization, default parameters may be fixed by the protocol. For example, the above-mentioned reconstruction indication information may also be solidified by a protocol, that is, it is not required to carry specific reconstruction indication information, but only needs to carry one indication information, for example, indication information of 1bit, or boolean variable indication information, and when the indication information is 1 or Tr terminal equipment, the terminal equipment performs one of the following actions:

1) all SRBs 1, SRBs 2, DRBs did not perform reconstruction;

2) only SRB1 reconstruction is performed;

3) only SRB2 reconstruction is performed;

performing at least one DRB reconstruction, for example, assuming that the terminal device establishes 3 DRBs, the terminal device may be instructed to perform only the reconstruction of DRB1, the other DRBs (DRB2 and DRB3) do not perform the reconstruction, or the terminal device may be instructed to perform only the reconstruction of DRB1 and DRB2, and not perform the reconstruction of DRB 3; or

3) Performing SRB1, SRB2, at least two Radio Bearers (RBs) of the at least one DRB (including SRB1, SRB2, and DRB) reconstruction.

The indication information may also be notified to the terminal device in other forms, for example, when the handover command message includes a Next hop Chaining Count (NCC), the terminal device performs normal handover, and when the handover command message does not include the Next NCC, the terminal device performs the optimized handover.

Optionally, the handover command message includes at least one of the following parameter configuration information:

parameters of SRB1, such as RLC layer, PDCP layer parameters, and logical channel related parameters;

parameters of SRB2, such as RLC layer parameters, logical channel related parameters;

at least one DRB parameter, such as RLC layer parameter, logical channel related parameter;

layer 2parameters, such as at least one of MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer parameters.

It can be understood that, when one or some of the parameter configurations are not changed compared with the parameter configuration before the handover command is received, the handover command may not carry the parameter configuration information that is not changed.

Step 503: and the terminal equipment executes corresponding operation according to the switching command message.

Optionally, after receiving the handover command message, the terminal device may execute the following operations according to the handover command message:

if the switching command carries the instruction information of not executing reconstruction, the terminal equipment does not reconstruct the SRB1, the SRB2 and all DRBs, does not update the key, does not change the security algorithm, and continues to transmit (send and receive) data.

If the switching command carries the indication information for only executing the reconstruction of the SRB1, the terminal equipment does not reconstruct the SRB2 and all DRBs, does not update keys, does not change security algorithms, and continues to transmit (send and receive) data. But the terminal device reestablishing the SRB1 specifically includes reestablishing PDCP and RLC layers of the SRB 1. The detailed operations performed by the PDCP layer and the RLC layer during re-establishment are similar to those in the prior art, and are not described herein again.

If the switching command carries the indication information for only executing the reconstruction of the SRB2, the terminal equipment does not reconstruct the SRB1 and all DRBs, does not update keys, does not change security algorithms, and continues to transmit (send and receive) data. But the terminal device reestablishing the SRB2 specifically includes reestablishing PDCP and RLC layers of the SRB 2. The detailed operations performed by the PDCP layer and the RLC layer during re-establishment are similar to those of the prior art, and are not described herein.

If the switching command carries the indication information for only executing the reconstruction of certain or some DRBs, the terminal equipment does not reconstruct the SRBs 1 and the SRBs 2, does not update keys, does not change security algorithms, and continues to transmit (send and receive) data. But the terminal device re-establishes the certain or some DRBs, specifically including re-establishing PDCP layers and RLC layers of the certain or some DRBs. The detailed operations performed by the PDCP layer and the RLC layer during re-establishment are similar to those in the prior art, and are not described herein again.

Because the SRB2 and DRB of the terminal device do not need to perform reconstruction, in this step, compared with the prior art, the processing delay of reconstruction is reduced, the delay of handover execution is further reduced, and at the same time, the RLC layer packet loss caused by reconstruction is reduced, unnecessary retransmission of data packets after handover is also reduced, and resources are saved.

Optionally, in step 504: and the terminal equipment sends a switching completion message to the distributed unit.

Optionally, in step 505: the distributed unit sends handover indication information to the centralized unit.

And the switching indication information is used for indicating that the terminal equipment has been switched to the target cell.

Optionally, the handover indication information includes a layer 1parameter configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device, such as a configuration parameter of the dedicated physical resource and a configuration parameter related to power.

Further optionally, the handover indication message includes a distributed unit configured to configure at least one layer 2parameter, such as a MAC layer parameter, an RLC layer parameter, and a PDCP layer parameter, for the terminal device.

In the embodiment of the present application, compared with the overall architecture of UMTS, the architecture shown in fig. 3 changes the architecture design of pure centralized control, and reduces the time delay; compared with a flat architecture under an LTE system, the method and the device improve the technical problems of multi-cell joint processing, multi-cell cooperation and difficulty in centralized resource control. Meanwhile, the switching command message containing the parameters is sent to the terminal equipment through the distributed unit, so that the terminal equipment can execute partial reconstruction according to the switching command message, the reconstruction processing time delay is reduced, the processing during switching in the distributed unit is simplified, the data processing continuity is ensured, the switching interruption time is shortened, and the user experience is improved.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a distributed unit 600 provided in the embodiment of the present application, which includes:

a receiving unit 601, configured to receive a radio resource control RRC connection request message sent by the terminal device.

A sending unit 602, configured to send an RRC connection setup message to the terminal device.

The receiving unit 601 is further configured to receive an RRC connection setup complete message sent by the terminal device; and sending a first message to a centralized unit, the first message being used to notify the centralized unit of the completion of the RRC connection establishment of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 601 is further configured to send the RRC connection setup message to the terminal device through a signaling radio bearer SRB 0;

a processing unit 603, configured to process the RRC connection setup message; wherein the processing of the RRC connection setup message by the processing unit includes: processing of an RRC layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; or processes including an RRC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 603 is configured to configure, in an RRC connection setup procedure of the terminal device, at least one of the following parameters for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters; the first message contains the parameters.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 601 is further configured to receive a second message sent by the centralized unit, where the second message includes configuration parameters of one or more data radio bearers DRBs and configuration parameters of the SRBs 2 established by the distributed unit;

a processing unit 603, further configured to process the data transmitted by the SRB2 and the DRB; wherein, the processing unit 603 performs processing on the message transmitted by the SRB2, including: the processing of the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and the processing of the data transmitted by the DRB in the processing unit comprises: RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

In a possible implementation, the second message includes configuration parameters of SRB 1; wherein, the processing unit 603 performs processing on the message transmitted by the SRB1, including: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 602 is further configured to send a third message to the terminal device, where the third message is used to notify the terminal device of enabling security protection of SRB1, SRB2, and DRB;

the receiving unit 601 is further configured to receive a configuration completion message sent by the terminal device.

Optionally, the sending unit 602 is further configured to send the third message to the terminal device through SRB1 or SRB 2.

Optionally, the sending unit 602 is further configured to send the third message generated by the processing unit 603 according to the second message.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 602 is further configured to send a fourth message to the centralized unit, where the content of the fourth message may refer to the related content in the step 410, and is not described herein again.

In this embodiment, the processing unit 603 of the distributed unit is responsible for a part of RRC or RRM functions, for example, configuration operations of physical layer resources of the terminal device, a part of layer 2Parameters of the radio bearer, and a part of layer 3(L3Parameters) Parameters may be completed in the distributed unit, where the layer 3Parameters may include measurement related Parameters, such as a measurement object, a measurement quantity, a measurement event, and the like, and may also include some timer lengths and the like. Meanwhile, the processing unit is configured with SRB1 complete set of (RRC/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) protocol stack, so that the distributed unit can rapidly configure the radio parameters of the terminal device without being processed by a centralized unit, thereby reducing the time delay.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a centralized unit 700 provided by an embodiment of the present application, which includes:

a receiving unit 701, configured to receive a first message sent by the distributed unit, where the first message is used to notify the centralized unit of completion of establishment of a radio resource control RRC connection of the terminal device, and the distributed unit is an access network device that has at least a lower layer protocol and directly communicates with the terminal device.

A sending unit 702, configured to send an initial message to a core network device, where the initial message is used to notify the core network to configure parameters for a terminal device.

The receiving unit 701 is further configured to receive a context setup message sent by the core network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the centralized unit further includes a processing unit 703, configured to configure at least one of the following parameters for the terminal device in the RRC connection establishment procedure of the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters; the first message contains the parameters.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 702 is further configured to send a second message to the distributed unit, where the second message includes configuration parameters of one or more data radio bearers DRB and configuration parameters of a signaling radio bearer SRB2 that are established by the distributed unit;

a processing unit 703, configured to process data transmitted by the SRB2 and the DRB; wherein, the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 in the processing unit includes: processing of an RRC layer and a PDCP layer; the data transmitted by the DRB is processed by the PDCP layer in the processing unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 701 is further configured to receive a fourth message sent by the distributed unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 703 is further configured to configure at least one of the following parameters for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters and PDCP layer parameters; the fourth message contains the above parameters.

The content of the fourth message may refer to the related content in step 410, and the content of the second message may refer to the related content in step 407, which is not described herein again.

In this embodiment, the distributed unit is configured with SRB1 complete (RRC/PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) protocol stack, so that the distributed unit can rapidly configure the radio parameters of the terminal device without being processed by the processing unit of the centralized unit, thereby reducing the time delay. Meanwhile, the distributed unit informs the receiving unit after completing the configuration of the wireless parameters of the terminal equipment, so that the centralized unit can better master the conditions of load, interference and the like of each cell from the global perspective, and RRM control can be better performed.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a terminal device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application, where the terminal device includes:

a sending unit 801, configured to send a radio resource control RRC connection request message to the distributed unit.

A receiving unit 802, configured to receive the RRC connection setup message sent by the distributed unit.

The sending unit 801 is further configured to send an RRC connection setup complete message to the distributed unit; the receiving unit 802 is further configured to receive a third message sent by the distributed unit, where the third message is used to notify the terminal device to enable security protection of signaling radio bearers SRB1, SRB2 and data radio bearers DRB; the sending unit 801 is further configured to send a configuration completion message to the distributed unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 801 is configured to send the RRC connection request message to the distributed unit through the SRB 0;

a processing unit 803, configured to process a message transmitted by the SRB 0; wherein, the processing unit processes the message transmitted by the SRB0, including: processing of an RRC layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; or comprises the following steps: and processing of an RRC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 802 is configured to receive, through the SRB0, the RRC connection setup message sent by the distributed unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 801 is configured to send the RRC connection setup complete message to the distributed unit through SRB 1;

a processing unit 803, configured to process a message transmitted by the SRB 1; wherein, the processing unit processes the message transmitted by the SRB1, including: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 801 is configured to receive the third message sent by the distributed unit through SRB1 or SRB 2;

a processing unit 803, configured to process the message transmitted by the SRB 2; wherein, the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 in the processing unit includes: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 801 is further configured to send the third message generated by the processing unit according to a second message, where the second message includes the configuration parameters of the one or more DRBs and the configuration parameters of the SRB2 that are established by the distributed unit;

a processing unit 803, configured to process the message transmitted by the DRB and the SRB 2; wherein, the processing unit processes the data transmitted by the DRB, including: PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a terminal device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes:

a receiving unit 901, configured to receive a handover command message sent by a distributed unit, where the handover command message includes the following indication information: no reconstruction is performed; performing at least one of a signaling radio bearer SRB1 re-establishment, a SRB2 re-establishment, and at least one data radio bearer DRB re-establishment.

A processing unit 902, configured to execute a corresponding operation according to the handover command message.

The corresponding operations executed by the processing unit may refer to the related contents in step 503, which are not described herein again.

A sending unit 903, configured to send a handover complete message to the distributed unit.

In this embodiment, the receiving unit receives the switching command message containing the parameters sent by the distributed unit, so that the processing unit can perform partial reconstruction according to the switching command message, thereby reducing the processing delay of reconstruction, simplifying the processing during switching in the distributed unit, simultaneously ensuring the continuity of data processing, reducing the switching interruption time, and improving the user experience.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a distributed unit 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application, which includes:

a processing unit 1001 for determining to perform a distributed intra-cell handover;

a sending unit 1002, configured to send a handover command message to the terminal device, where the handover command message includes at least the following indication information: no reconstruction is performed; performing at least one of a signaling radio bearer SRB1 re-establishment, a SRB2 re-establishment, and at least one data radio bearer DRB re-establishment.

A receiving unit 1003, configured to receive a handover complete message sent by the terminal device.

The sending unit 1002 is further configured to send the handover indication information to the centralized unit.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1001 is configured to configure at least one of the following parameters for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters; the handover indication information includes the above parameters.

In the embodiment of the application, the sending unit sends the switching command message containing the parameters to the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment can execute partial reconstruction according to the switching command message, the reconstruction processing time delay is reduced, the processing during switching in the distributed units is simplified, meanwhile, the continuity of data processing is ensured, the switching interruption time is reduced, and the user experience is improved.

Fig. 11 is another schematic diagram of a communication device 1100 provided according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the apparatus 1100 may be a centralized unit or a distributed unit in the above embodiments, and includes: an input interface 1101, an output interface 1102, a processor 1103, and a memory 1104. The input interface 1101, output interface 1102, processor 1103 and memory 1104 may be connected by a bus system 1105. Optionally, the input interface and the output interface may be omitted.

The memory 1104 is used to store programs, instructions or code. The processor 1103 is configured to execute the program, the instruction, or the code in the memory 1104, so as to control the input interface 1101 to receive a signal, control the output interface 1102 to send a signal, and implement the steps and functions implemented by the centralized unit or the distributed unit in the embodiments corresponding to fig. 4 and fig. 5, which are not described herein again. For the above-mentioned specific implementation of the input interface 1101, the output interface 1102 and the processor 1103, reference may be made to the specific descriptions of the receiving

units

601, 701, 1003, the sending

units

602, 702, 1002 and the

processing units

603, 703, 1001 in the above-mentioned embodiments of fig. 6, 7, and 10, which are not repeated herein.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the processor 1103 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and may also be other general-purpose processors, 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 devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory 1104, which may include both read-only memory and random-access memory, provides instructions and data, respectively, to the processor 1103. A portion of memory 1104 may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, memory 1104 may also store device type information.

The bus system 1105 may include a power bus, a control bus, a status signal bus, and the like, in addition to a data bus. For clarity of illustration, however, the various buses are labeled as a bus system in the figures.

In implementation, the steps of the method shown in fig. 4 and/or fig. 5 may be performed by instructions in the form of hardware integrated logic circuits or software in the processor 1103. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software elements in a processor. The software elements may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. as is well known in the art. The storage medium is respectively located in the memory 1104, and the processor 1103 reads the information in the memory 1104 and completes the steps of the method of fig. 4 and/or 5 in combination with the hardware. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

It is to be noted that, in a specific embodiment, the processing units in fig. 6, fig. 7, and fig. 10 may be implemented by the processor 1103 similar to fig. 11, the sending unit may be implemented by a sender, and the receiving unit may be implemented by a receiver.

Fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a terminal device 1200 according to an example embodiment. The terminal device 1200 may be a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet device, etc.

Referring to fig. 12, terminal device 1200 may include one or more of the following components: receiver 1201, transmitter 1202, processing component 1203, memory 1204, power supply component 1206, multimedia component 1208, audio component 1210, input/output (I/O) interface 1212, sensor component 1214. And the above-mentioned components may be connected by a system bus.

The processing component 1203 generally controls overall operations of the terminal device 1200, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing component 1203 may include one or more processors 1220 to execute instructions to perform all or part of the steps of the method described above. Further, the processing component 1203 may include one or more modules that facilitate interaction between the processing component 1203 and other components. For example, the processing component 1203 may include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component 1208 and the processing component 1203.

The memory 1204 is configured to store various types of data to support operation at the terminal device 1200. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on terminal device 1200, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and so forth. The memory 1204 may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or non-volatile memory devices such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks.

Power supply components 1206 provide power to the various components of terminal device 1200. Power components 1206 may include a power management system, one or more power sources, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for terminal device 1200.

The multimedia component 1208 includes a screen providing an output interface between the terminal device 1200 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundary of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 1208 includes a front facing camera and/or a rear facing camera. When the terminal apparatus 1200 is in an operation mode, such as a photographing mode or a video mode, the front camera and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data. Each front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capability.

The audio component 1210 is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 1210 includes a Microphone (MIC) configured to receive an external audio signal when the terminal apparatus 1200 is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may further be stored in the memory 1204 or transmitted via the communication component 1216. In some embodiments, audio assembly 1210 further includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

The I/O interface 1212 provides an interface between the processing component 1203 and peripheral interface modules, which may be keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include, but are not limited to: a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

The sensor assembly 1214 includes one or more sensors for providing various aspects of state assessment for the terminal device 1200. For example, sensor assembly 1214 may detect an open/closed state of terminal device 1200, the relative positioning of components, such as a display and keypad of terminal device 1200, sensor assembly 1214 may also detect a change in position of terminal device 1200 or a component of terminal device 1200, the presence or absence of user contact with terminal device 1200, orientation or acceleration/deceleration of terminal device 1200, and a change in temperature of terminal device 1200. The sensor assembly 1214 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of a nearby object in the absence of any physical contact. The sensor assembly 1214 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly 1214 may also include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The receiver 1201 and the transmitter 1202 are configured to facilitate communication between the terminal apparatus 1200 and other apparatuses in a wired or wireless manner. The terminal device 1200 may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, or a combination thereof.

In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal device 1200 may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors or other electronic components for performing the above-described methods.

It is to be noted that, in a specific embodiment, the processing unit in fig. 8 or the processing unit in fig. 9 may be implemented by the processor 1220 in fig. 12, the transmitting unit in fig. 8 or the transmitting unit in fig. 9 may be implemented by the transmitter 1202 in fig. 12, and the receiving unit in fig. 8 or the receiving unit in fig. 9 may be implemented by the receiver 1201 in fig. 12.

In the above embodiments, all or part of the implementation may be realized 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 instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the invention to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (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 includes one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy Disk, hard Disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention 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 present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that the radio resource control, RRC, connection establishment procedure is only performed between the terminal device and the distributed unit; the distributed unit comprises at least an RRC layer, and the method comprises the following steps:

the distributed unit receives an RRC connection request message sent by the terminal equipment;

in response to the RRC connection request message, the distributed unit sending an RRC connection setup message to the terminal device, wherein the processing of the RRC connection setup message at the distributed unit includes: processing of the RRC layer;

the distributed unit receives an RRC connection establishment completion message sent by the terminal equipment;

the distributed unit sends a first message to a centralized unit, wherein the first message is used for informing the centralized unit of the completion of the establishment of RRC connection of the terminal equipment;

the distributed unit and the centralized unit are devices located in a radio access network, and the centralized unit communicates with the terminal device through the distributed unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the distributed unit sending an RRC connection setup message to the terminal device comprises:

the distributed unit sends the RRC connection establishment message to the terminal device through a signaling radio bearer SRB0, where the processing of the RRC connection establishment message at the distributed unit includes: processing of an RRC layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; or processes including RRC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first message includes at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device in the RRC connection establishment procedure of the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, MAC layer parameters, RLC layer parameters and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters.

4. A method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein after the distributed unit sends a first message to the centralized unit, the method further comprises:

the distributed unit receives a second message sent by the centralized unit, wherein the second message contains the configuration parameters of one or more Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and the configuration parameters of the SRBs 2 established by the distributed unit;

wherein the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 at the distributed unit includes: processing of an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; the processing of the data transmitted by the DRB in the distributed unit comprises: RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second message contains configuration parameters of an SRB 1; wherein the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB1 at the distributed unit includes: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein after the distributed unit receives the second message sent by the centralized unit, the method further comprises:

the distributed unit sends a third message to the terminal equipment, wherein the third message is used for informing the terminal equipment of enabling the security protection of the SRB1, the SRB2 and the DRB;

and the distributed unit receives a configuration completion message sent by the terminal equipment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein sending, by the distributed unit, a third message to the terminal device comprises: and the distributed unit sends the third message to the terminal equipment through SRB1 or SRB 2.

8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the third message is generated and sent by the distributed element from the second message.

9. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein after the distributed unit receives the configuration completion message sent by the terminal device, the method further comprises:

and the distributed unit sends a fourth message to a centralized unit, wherein the fourth message is used for informing the centralized unit of the completion of the parameter configuration of the terminal equipment.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the fourth message includes at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, MAC layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, PDCP layer parameters.

11. A method of communication, comprising:

a centralized unit receives a first message sent by a distributed unit, wherein the first message is used for informing the centralized unit of the completion of the establishment of Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection of terminal equipment; wherein, the first message includes at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device in the RRC connection establishment procedure of the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, MAC layer parameters, RLC layer parameters and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters;

the centralized unit sends an initial message to the core network equipment, wherein the initial message is used for informing the core network of configuring parameters for the terminal equipment;

the centralized unit receives a context establishment message sent by the core network equipment;

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein after the centralized unit receives the context setup message sent by the core network device, the method further comprises:

the centralized unit sends a second message to the distributed unit, where the second message includes configuration parameters of one or more Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and configuration parameters of a signaling radio bearer (SRB 2) established by the distributed unit;

wherein the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 at the centralized unit includes: processing of an RRC layer and a PDCP layer; the data transmitted by the DRB is processed by the PDCP layer in the centralized unit.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second message contains configuration parameters for SRB 1.

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein after the centralized unit sends a second message to the distributed unit, the method further comprises:

and the centralized unit receives a fourth message sent by the distributed unit, wherein the fourth message is used for informing the centralized unit of the completion of the parameter configuration of the terminal equipment.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the fourth message includes at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, MAC layer parameters, RLC layer parameters and PDCP layer parameters.

16. A distributed unit, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a radio resource control RRC connection request message sent by a terminal device;

a sending unit, configured to send an RRC connection setup message to the terminal device in response to the RRC connection request message, so that an RRC connection setup procedure is performed only between the terminal device and the distributed unit;

a processing unit, configured to process the RRC connection setup message; wherein, the processing of the RRC connection setup message in the processing unit includes: processing of an RRC layer;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive an RRC connection setup complete message sent by the terminal device; sending a first message to a centralized unit, wherein the first message is used for informing the centralized unit of the completion of the establishment of the RRC connection of the terminal equipment;

the distributed unit and the centralized unit are devices located in a radio access network, the distributed unit includes the RRC layer, and the centralized unit communicates with the terminal device through the distributed unit.

17. The distributed unit of claim 16,

the receiving unit is further configured to send the RRC connection setup message to the terminal device through a signaling radio bearer SRB 0;

wherein the processing of the RRC connection setup message at the processing unit includes: processing of an RRC layer, an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer; or processes including an RRC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer.

18. The distributed unit of claim 16 or 17,

a processing unit, configured to configure at least one of the following parameters for the terminal device in an RRC connection establishment procedure of the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters; the first message contains the parameters.

19. The distributed unit according to any of claims 16-18,

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second message sent by the centralized unit, where the second message includes configuration parameters of one or more data radio bearers DRBs and configuration parameters of the SRBs 2 established by the distributed unit;

the processing unit is further used for processing the data transmitted by the SRB2 and the DRB;

wherein, the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 in the processing unit includes: the processing of the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and the processing of the data transmitted by the DRB in the processing unit comprises: and processing of an RLC layer, an MAC layer and a PHY layer.

20. The distributed unit of claim 19, wherein the second message contains configuration parameters for SRB 1; wherein, the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB1 in the processing unit includes: RRC layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer and PHY layer.

21. Distributed unit according to claim 19 or 20,

the sending unit is further configured to send a third message to the terminal device, where the third message is used to notify the terminal device of enabling security protection of SRB1, SRB2, and DRB;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a configuration completion message sent by the terminal device.

22. The distributed unit of claim 21,

the sending unit is further configured to send the third message to the terminal device through SRB1 or SRB 2.

23. Distributed unit according to claim 21 or 22,

the sending unit is further configured to send the third message generated by the processing unit according to the second message.

24. Distributed unit according to claim 21 or 22,

the sending unit is further configured to send a fourth message to a centralized unit, where the fourth message is used to notify the centralized unit that the parameter configuration of the terminal device is completed.

25. The distributed unit according to claim 24, wherein the fourth message includes at least one of the following parameters configured by the processing unit for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters, PDCP layer parameters.

26. A centralized unit, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a first message sent by a distributed unit, where the first message is used to notify the centralized unit of completion of establishment of a radio resource control RRC connection of a terminal device, and the distributed unit is an access network device that has at least a lower layer protocol and directly communicates with the terminal device; the first message comprises at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device in the RRC connection establishment process of the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters and packet data convergence protocol PDCP layer parameters;

a sending unit, configured to send an initial message to a core network device, where the initial message is used to notify the core network of configuring parameters for a terminal device;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a context setup message sent by the core network device;

27. The centralized unit of claim 26,

the sending unit is further configured to send a second message to the distributed unit, where the second message includes configuration parameters of one or more data radio bearers DRBs and configuration parameters of a signaling radio bearer SRB2 that are established by the distributed unit;

the processing unit is used for processing the data transmitted by the SRB2 and the DRB;

wherein, the processing of the message transmitted by the SRB2 in the processing unit includes: processing of an RRC layer and a PDCP layer; the data transmitted by the DRB is processed by the PDCP layer in the processing unit.

28. The centralized unit of claim 27, wherein the second message comprises configuration parameters for SRB 1.

29. The centralized unit of claim 27 or 28,

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a fourth message sent by the distributed unit, where the fourth message is used to notify the centralized unit that the parameter configuration of the terminal device is completed.

30. The centralized unit of claim 29,

the fourth message contains at least one of the following parameters configured by the distributed unit for the terminal device: PHY layer parameters, RLC layer parameters, MAC layer parameters and PDCP layer parameters.

31. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-15.