CN111918272B - Terminal fall-back control method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a terminal fall-back control method and device. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a preset message aiming at terminal UE, and judging and knowing that the UE is an EPS fallback user; sending preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system where the UE is located, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface (NR) adjacent region of the base station to the UE. The embodiment of the invention solves the problem of the prior art that the UE is rapidly returned to the NR system.

Description

Terminal fall-back control method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for controlling a terminal fall back.

Background

In a New air interface technology system (5th Generation New Radio, 5G NR) of the fifth Generation mobile communication technology, the 5G NR supports Packet switched domain (PS) voice service, i.e., vonr (voice over NR). At present, if a terminal residing in a 5G network wants to initiate a voice service, it needs to fall back (Fallback) to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in a network side switching or redirection manner, and LTE provides the voice service for the terminal through volte (voice over LTE), which is called an Evolved Packet System (EPS) Fallback. The EPS Fallback mode can be used as a voice service transition scheme at the initial stage of 5G deployment to avoid that a network side cannot provide voice services due to the immaturity of the VoNR scheme industry.

In a scenario where voice traffic is dropped from NR to LTE through EPS Fallback, in order to provide better user experience, an EPS Fallback user needs to be able to return to the NR system quickly after the voice traffic on the LTE side is finished. Currently, there are two main categories of fast return to NR systems: autonomous fast return by the UE and base station assisted fast return.

Specifically, the former relies on historical NR carrier information stored at the UE side for NR cell selection. The method has no requirement on the network side, the UE completely and autonomously returns quickly, the deployment is easy, the UE can be put into commercial use more quickly, and the method is suitable for the initial stage of network establishment; however, the accuracy and timeliness of the historical NR carrier information stored on the UE side are poor, and when the stored NR carrier information is changed, the time for the UE to return to the NR cell will be prolonged. In the latter, network side equipment (mainly a base station) provides latest and accurate NR carrier information for UE (user equipment), the UE is assisted to perform cell selection, the timeliness and the accuracy of the NR carrier information are high, and the time delay of the UE returning to an NR cell is short; however, the current 3GPP protocol does not support accurate identification of the EPS Fallback user for a while, which may cause the UE to frequently perform 4/5G interoperation, thereby affecting the user experience.

Therefore, in the prior art, the way in which the UE returns to the NR system quickly has certain disadvantages.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a terminal fallback control method and device, which are used for solving the problem of the prior art that the UE is rapidly returned to an NR system.

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal fallback control method, which is applied to a mobility management entity MME, and the method includes:

receiving a preset message aiming at terminal UE, and judging and knowing that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

sending preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system where the UE is located, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface (NR) adjacent region of the base station to the UE.

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal fallback control method, which is applied to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system, and the method includes:

receiving preset indication information which is sent by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and used for indicating that a terminal UE is an EPS fallback user;

and releasing the UE, and sending the carrier information of the new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal fallback control device, which is applied to a mobility management entity MME, and the terminal fallback control device includes:

the message receiving module is used for receiving a preset message aiming at the terminal UE and judging and knowing that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

and the indication sending module is used for sending preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system where the UE is located, so that the base station releases the UE and sends carrier information of a new air interface (NR) adjacent region of the base station to the UE.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal fall-back control device, which is applied to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system,

the terminal drop-back control device includes:

the indication receiving module is used for receiving preset indication information which is sent by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and used for indicating that the terminal UE is an Evolved Packet System (EPS) fallback user;

and the execution module is used for releasing the UE and sending the carrier information of the new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an electronic device, which includes a memory, a processor, a bus, and a computer program that is stored in the memory and is executable on the processor, where the processor implements the steps in the above-mentioned terminal fall-back control method when executing the program.

In still another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above-mentioned terminal fallback control method.

In the method and apparatus for controlling terminal fallback provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when receiving a preset message for a terminal UE and determining that the UE is an EPS fallback user, an MME sends a preset indication message to a base station of an LTE system where the UE is located, and informs the base station that the UE is the EPS fallback user, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE, so that the UE quickly returns to the NR system; the UE user is accurately identified through the MME, the base station is controlled to release the UE, and the UE is prevented from being frequently subjected to ping-pong switching between LTE and 5G NR so as to influence user experience; and the base station releases the UE and simultaneously sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, thereby ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the NR carrier information and shortening the time for the UE to return to the NR system.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings according to the drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a terminal fall-back control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a second schematic flowchart of a terminal fall-back control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a first exemplary scenario in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a third schematic flowchart of a terminal fall-back control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a second exemplary scenario in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a fourth schematic flowchart of a terminal fall-back control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a third exemplary scenario in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal drop control device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal drop control device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following detailed description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. In the following description, specific details such as specific configurations and components are provided only to help the full understanding of the embodiments of the present invention. Thus, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrase "in an embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

In various embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the sequence numbers of the following processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

In the embodiments provided herein, it should be understood that "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

Fig. 1 shows a flowchart of a terminal fall-back control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, a method for controlling a terminal fall-back provided in an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a mobility management entity MME, and the method specifically includes the following steps:

step 101, receiving a preset message for a terminal UE, and judging and knowing that the UE is an EPS fallback user.

The Mobility Management Entity (MME) is a key control node of a User Equipment (UE) access network of an LTE system, and is responsible for positioning, relaying, and paging processes of the UE. In the EPS Fallback process, the UE accesses the LTE system through the MME, the LTE system provides the voice service for the UE through the VoLTE, and the UE needs to be able to quickly return to the NR system after the voice service is finished. If the MME receives a preset message aiming at the terminal UE, the preset message is used for indicating that the UE needs to return to the NR system, and at the moment, the MME judges whether the UE is an EPS fallback user or not according to the preset message.

Optionally, the preset message may be a redirection message from an Access and mobility Management Function (AMF); or direct indication from the LTE system indicates that the UE is an EPS fallback user.

If the MME determines that the UE is an EPS fallback user according to the preset message,step 102 is executed.

Step 102, sending preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system where the UE is located, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

After determining that the UE is the EPS fallback user, the MME determines a base station of an LTE system where the UE is located currently, sends preset indication information to the base station, informs the base station that the UE is the EPS fallback user, and indicates the base station to release the UE.

The base station side can maintain an NR neighbor cell list, carrier information of an NR cell is contained in the neighbor cell list, the carrier information comprises frequency point information, a coverage relation with an LTE service cell and the like, and when the MME indicates the base station to release UE, the base station sends the carrier information of the NR neighbor cell to the UE, so that the UE returns to an NR system through cell selection.

In the embodiment of the invention, when receiving a preset message for a terminal UE and judging that the UE is an EPS fallback user, an MME sends a preset indication message to a base station of an LTE system where the UE is located, informs the base station that the UE is the EPS fallback user, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE, so that the UE quickly returns to the NR system; the UE user is accurately identified through the MME, the base station is controlled to release the UE, and the UE is prevented from being frequently subjected to ping-pong switching between LTE and 5G NR so as to influence user experience; and the base station releases the UE and simultaneously sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, thereby ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the NR carrier information and shortening the time for the UE to return to the NR system. The embodiment of the invention solves the problem of the prior art that the UE is rapidly returned to the NR system.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention,step 101 includes:

the first condition is as follows: receiving a redirection message from an access mobility management function (AMF), and if the redirection message carries a preset indication cell for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user, judging that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

and/or

Case two: and if a preset notification message which is from the LTE system and indicates that the UE is an EPS fallback user is received, judging that the UE is an EPS fallback user of an evolved packet system.

Referring to fig. 2, as an embodiment of a first case, a method for controlling a terminal fallback provided in the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a mobility management entity MME, and the method specifically includes the following steps:

step 201, receiving a redirection message from an access mobility management function (AMF), and if the redirection message carries a preset indication cell for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user, determining that the UE is an EPS fallback user.

The MME is a key control node of a UE access network of the LTE system and is responsible for positioning, relaying and paging processes of the UE. In the EPS Fallback process, the UE accesses the LTE system through the MME, the LTE system provides the voice service for the UE through the VoLTE, and the UE needs to be able to quickly return to the NR system after the voice service is finished.

The method includes the steps that an MME receives a redirection message of an AMF, if the redirection message carries a preset indication cell for indicating that UE is an EPS Fallback user, the UE is judged to be the EPS Fallback user, for example, when a terminal initiates a voice or video call in an NR cell, and the NR system judges that the UE completes the voice or video call to an LTE system through an EPS Fallback, the MME receives a redirection (Relocation Request) message from the AMF, and the redirection message carries a preset indication cell for indicating that the UE is the EPS Fallback user, and the UE is judged to be the EPS Fallback user.

Optionally, the preset indication information element includes, but is not limited to, UE context, RAN cause, and the like;

step 202, when sending a handover request message to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system where the UE is located, the handover request message carries a preset identifier for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

After the MME determines that the UE is the EPS fallback user, when the MME sends a switching Request message of S1AP Handover Request to an eNodeB (LTE base station), the MME indicates that the UE is the EPS fallback user by adding a preset identifier in a preset indication cell (such as Cause IE) of the switching Request message; the preset identifier may be a cause value identifier or an IE method to identify the UE as an EPS Fallback user.

The new value added or newly added IE name for Cause IE may include, but is not limited to, IMS Voice EPS Fallback triggered.

The method comprises the steps that an MME sends a switching request message to a base station, so that the base station releases UE and sends carrier information of an NR neighbor cell of the base station to the UE, the base station side can maintain an NR neighbor cell list, the neighbor cell list has carrier information of the NR cell, the carrier information comprises frequency point information, coverage relation with an LTE service cell and the like, and when the MME indicates the base station to release the UE, the base station sends the carrier information of the NR neighbor cell to the UE, so that the UE returns to an NR system through cell selection.

As a first example, as shown in fig. 3, a specific embodiment applying the above method (case one) mainly includes the following processes:

(1) when a terminal initiates a voice or video call in an NR cell and the NR system judges that the terminal needs to fall back to an LTE system in a PS switching mode to complete the voice or video call, the MME receives a preset indication cell in a redirection message from the AMF to know that the UE is an EPS Fallback user.

(2) When the MME sends the preset indication information of the S1AP Handover Request to the eNodeB (LTE base station), the UE is identified as an EPS Fallback user by adding a Cause value identifier or adding an IE in a preset indication cell (such as Cause IE) in the preset indication information.

The new value added or newly added IE name for Cause IE may include, but is not limited to, IMS Voice EPS Fallback triggered.

(3) And the eNodeB receives the S1AP Handover Request message, and when the UE is identified as the EPS Fallback user through the indication of the MME, the identification information needs to be stored.

The eNodeB releases the UE according to the preset indication information, and carries correct Carrier information of the NR neighbor cell in a redirection indicator (Redirected Carrier Info) in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Release message sent to the UE.

(4) And the UE returns to the NR system according to the carrier information of the NR adjacent area.

Referring to fig. 4, as an embodiment of the second case, the method for controlling a terminal fall back provided in the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a mobility management entity MME, and the method specifically includes the following steps:

step 401, receiving a preset notification message from the LTE system indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user, and determining that the UE is an EPS fallback user.

The MME is a key control node of a UE access network of the LTE system and is responsible for positioning, relaying and paging processes of the UE. In the EPS Fallback process, the UE accesses the LTE system through the MME, the LTE system provides the voice service for the UE through the VoLTE, and the UE needs to be able to quickly return to the NR system after the voice service is finished.

The method includes the steps that when an MME receives a preset notification message of an LTE system and indicates that UE is an EPS Fallback user, the UE is judged to be the EPS Fallback user, for example, when a terminal initiates an Attach (Attach) access process in the LTE system, a message Type (Request Type) corresponding to a PDN connection establishment message is Handover (Handover), and the LTE system notifies the MME that the UE is an EPS Fallback user through the Handover process.

Optionally, when the MME receives the preset notification message,

and the preset notification message is sent to the MME by the LTE system when the LTE system detects that the UE initiates an attachment process and the message type of the packet switched data network (PDN) connection establishment message of the UE is switching.

When the preset message is that the UE initiates an attachment process in the LTE system, and the message type of a Packet Switched Data Network (PDN) connection establishment message of the UE is handover, the LTE system sends the message to the MME.

Step 402, when sending a handover request message to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system where the UE is located, the handover request message carries a preset identifier for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

After the MME determines that the UE is an EPS Fallback user, when the MME sends an Initial Context Setup Request (Initial Context Setup Request) message to an eNodeB (LTE base station), the UE is identified as an EPS Fallback user by adding a cause value identifier or adding an IE.

The new IE name includes, but is not limited to, an IP multimedia subsystem voice service Fallback Indicator (IMS voice EPS Fallback Indicator).

The method comprises the steps that an MME sends a switching request message to a base station, so that the base station releases UE and sends carrier information of an NR neighbor cell of the base station to the UE, the base station side can maintain an NR neighbor cell list, the neighbor cell list has carrier information of the NR cell, the carrier information comprises frequency point information, coverage relation with an LTE service cell and the like, and the MME indicates the base station to send the carrier information of the NR neighbor cell to the UE when the base station releases the UE, so that the UE can return to an NR system quickly.

As a second example, as shown in fig. 5, applying a specific embodiment of the above method (case two) mainly includes the following processes:

(1) when a terminal initiates a voice or video call in an NR cell, an MME receives a preset notification message of an LTE system, and the preset notification message indicates that the UE is an EPS Fallback user, it determines that the UE is an evolved packet system EPS Fallback user, for example, when the terminal initiates an Attach (Attach) access procedure in the LTE system, where a message Type (Request Type) corresponding to a PDN connection establishment message is Handover (Handover), the LTE system notifies the MME that the UE is an EPS Fallback user through the Handover procedure.

(2) When an MME sends an Initial Context Setup Request (Initial Context Setup Request) message to an eNodeB (LTE base station), a method of adding a reason value identifier or adding a specific event (IE) in the message identifies that the UE is an EPS Fallback user.

The new IE name includes, but is not limited to, an IP multimedia subsystem voice service Fallback Indicator (IMS voice EPS Fallback Indicator).

(3) When the eNodeB receives the Initial Context Setup Request message and identifies that the UE is an EPS Fallback user through the indication of the MME, the eNodeB needs to store the identification information.

The eNodeB releases the UE according to the preset indication information, and carries correct carrier information of the NR neighbor cell in a redirection indication in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Release message sent to the UE.

(4) And the UE returns to the NR system according to the carrier information of the NR adjacent area.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, after the step of determining that the UE is an EPS fallback user, the method further includes:

and sending the carrier capability information of the UE to a base station of the LTE system.

When the MME sends preset indication information of S1AP Handover Request to an eNodeB (LTE base station), the base station carrying the LTE system in the preset indication information sends carrier capacity information of the UE, so that the base station can judge whether an NR neighboring cell is matched with the carrier capacity of the UE, and the NR neighboring cell can be selected for the UE; alternatively, the carrier capability information of the UE may be radio frequency capability of the UE.

Optionally, in the above embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

and if receiving switching indication information which is sent by the base station and used for indicating the UE to be switched from the base station to an adjacent base station of the LTE system, sending the preset indication information to the adjacent base station.

If the UE performs cell handover in the LTE system and switches to another neighboring base station (referred to as a target base station) after the MME sends preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station where the UE is located (referred to as a source base station), the MME sends the preset indication information to the neighboring base station in order to complete a quick return NR system procedure.

In the embodiment of the invention, when receiving a preset message for a terminal UE and judging that the UE is an EPS fallback user, an MME sends a preset indication message to a base station of an LTE system where the UE is located, informs the base station that the UE is the EPS fallback user, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE, so that the UE quickly returns to the NR system; the UE user is accurately identified through the MME, the base station is controlled to release the UE, and the UE is prevented from being frequently subjected to ping-pong switching between LTE and 5G NR so as to influence user experience; and the base station releases the UE and simultaneously sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, thereby ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the NR carrier information and shortening the time for the UE to return to the NR system.

The terminal fallback control method applied to the MME side according to the embodiment of the present invention is described above, and the terminal fallback control method applied to the base station according to the embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in fig. 6, the method for controlling fallback of a terminal provided in the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system, and the method includes:

step 601, receiving preset indication information sent by a mobility management entity MME and used for indicating that a terminal UE is an evolved packet system EPS fallback user.

The MME is a key control node of a UE access network of the LTE system and is responsible for positioning, relaying and paging processes of the UE. In the EPS Fallback process, the UE accesses the LTE system through the MME, the LTE system provides the voice service for the UE through the VoLTE, and the UE needs to be able to quickly return to the NR system after the voice service is finished.

And if the base station receives preset indication information sent by the MME, the MME informs the base station that the UE is an EPS fallback user through the preset indication information, and instructs the base station to release the UE.

Step 602, releasing the UE, and issuing carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

And the base station executes the instruction of the MME to release the UE and sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, so that the UE can quickly return to the NR system. Specifically, the base station side maintains an NR neighbor cell list, where the NR neighbor cell list includes carrier information of an NR cell, where the carrier information includes frequency point information and a coverage relationship with an LTE serving cell.

In the embodiment of the invention, after receiving the preset indication information which is sent by the MME and used for indicating that the terminal UE is an EPS fallback user, the base station releases the UE and issues the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE, so that the UE quickly returns to the NR system; the UE user is accurately identified through the MME, the base station is controlled to release the UE, and the UE is prevented from being frequently subjected to ping-pong switching between LTE and 5G NR so as to influence user experience; and the base station releases the UE and simultaneously sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, thereby ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the NR carrier information and shortening the time for the UE to return to the NR system. The embodiment of the invention solves the problem of the prior art that the UE is rapidly returned to the NR system.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention,step 602 includes:

the first step is to judge whether the UE is switched to the adjacent base station of the LTE system:

secondly, if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a first preset interface, the preset indication information is sent to the adjacent base station, so that the adjacent base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the adjacent base station to the UE;

step three, if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a second preset interface, switching indication information for indicating that the UE is switched to the adjacent base station from the base station is sent to the MME, so that the MME sends the preset indication information to the adjacent base station;

and step four, if the UE is not switched to the adjacent base station, releasing the UE and sending the carrier information of the new air interface NR adjacent area of the base station to the UE.

After receiving the preset indication information sent by the MME, the base station executes a first step of judging whether the UE is subjected to cell switching in the LTE system or not and switching to other adjacent base stations.

If the cell switching occurs, executing the second step or the third step; if the switching does not occur, the fourth step is executed.

And secondly, if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a first preset interface, wherein the first preset interface can be an X2 interface, the base station forwards preset indication information to the adjacent base station, so that the adjacent base station continues to execute a release process and a carrier information issuing process, releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the adjacent base station to the UE.

In a third step, if the UE is switched to the neighboring base station through a second preset interface, where the second preset interface may be an S1 interface, the base station sends, to an MME, switching indication information for indicating that the UE is switched from the base station to the neighboring base station, so that the MME sends, to the neighboring base station, the preset indication information, and the neighboring base station continues to execute a release procedure and issue a carrier information procedure.

And step four, if the switching does not occur, the base station executes a releasing process and a carrier information issuing process.

As a third example, referring to fig. 7, the terminal fall back control method including the above second and third steps mainly includes the processes of:

(1) when a terminal initiates a voice or video call in an NR cell and an NR system judges that the terminal needs to fall back to an LTE system in a PS switching mode to complete the voice or video call, an MME receives a preset message aiming at terminal UE and knows that the UE is an EPS Fallback user.

(2) And sending preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system in which the UE is located.

(3) A base station receives preset indication information sent by an MME and judges whether the UE is subjected to cell switching;

(4) and (2) executing the second step, if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through the X2 interface, the base station sends the preset indication information to the adjacent base station, the EPS Fallback attribute of the UE is informed to the adjacent base station through the X2AP switching request message, so that the adjacent base station executes the step (5), releases the UE and sends carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring area of the base station to the UE, and (6) the UE returns to the NR system according to the carrier information of the NR neighboring area and returns to the NR system.

The UE may be identified as an EPS Fallback user by adding a Cause value identifier in the Cause IE of the X2AP handover request message or by adding an IE.

(7) And (3) executing the third step, if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through the S1 interface, the base station sends switching indication information for indicating that the UE is switched from the base station to the adjacent base station to the MME, so that the MME executes the step (8), sends the preset indication information to the adjacent base station, so that the adjacent base station executes the step (5), releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE, and (6) the UE returns to the NR system according to the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell and returns to the NR system.

Specifically, the MME needs to inform the neighboring base station of the EPS Fallback attribute of the UE through an S1AP Handover Request message. And the adjacent base station carries out EPS Fallback user identity identification by analyzing the newly added reason value identification or the newly added IE in the Cause IE in the message.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the step of issuing, to the UE, carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station includes:

receiving carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station;

and sending the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell meeting the preset neighboring cell requirement in the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell to the UE.

And the base station receives the carrier information of the NR adjacent cell, screens the NR adjacent cell meeting the requirement of a preset adjacent cell from the NR adjacent cell as a target adjacent cell, and transmits the carrier information of the target adjacent cell to the UE.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the preset neighboring cell requires that there is an overlapping coverage area in the NR neighboring cell and the cell where the base station is located, and the overlapping coverage area includes two cases: firstly, the coverage areas are completely the same, and secondly, the coverage areas are partially overlapped.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the step of receiving carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station includes:

receiving carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station carried by the MME in a switching request;

and/or

And receiving the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell of the base station reported by the UE in the attachment process.

The carrier information of the NR neighboring cell may be carried by the MME in the handover request; or reported by the UE in the attach procedure.

In the embodiment of the invention, after receiving the preset indication information which is sent by the MME and used for indicating that the terminal UE is an EPS fallback user, the base station releases the UE and issues the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE, so that the UE quickly returns to the NR system; the UE user is accurately identified through the MME, the base station is controlled to release the UE, and the UE is prevented from being frequently subjected to ping-pong switching between LTE and 5G NR so as to influence user experience; and the base station releases the UE and simultaneously sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, thereby ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the NR carrier information and shortening the time for the UE to return to the NR system. The embodiment of the invention solves the problem of the prior art that the UE is rapidly returned to the NR system.

The terminal fall-back control method according to the embodiment of the present invention is described above, and a terminal fall-back control apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 8, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal fallback control device, which is applied to a mobility management entity MME, where the terminal fallback control device includes:

themessage receiving module 801 is configured to receive a preset message for a terminal UE, and determine that the UE is an EPS fallback user.

The MME is a key control node of a User Equipment (UE) access network of the LTE system, and is responsible for positioning, relaying, and paging processes of the UE in an idle mode. In the EPS Fallback process, the UE accesses the LTE system through the MME, the LTE system provides the voice service for the UE through the VoLTE, and the UE needs to be able to quickly return to the NR system after the voice service is finished. If the MME receives a preset message aiming at the terminal UE, the preset message is used for indicating that the UE needs to return to the NR system, and at the moment, the MME judges whether the UE is an EPS fallback user or not according to the preset message.

Optionally, the preset message may be a redirection message from the AMF; or direct indication from the LTE system indicates that the UE is an EPS fallback user.

Anindication sending module 802, configured to send preset indication information used for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system where the UE is located, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

After determining that the UE is the EPS fallback user, the MME determines a base station of an LTE system where the UE is located currently, sends preset indication information to the base station, informs the base station that the UE is the EPS fallback user, and indicates the base station to release the UE.

The base station side can maintain an NR neighbor cell list, carrier information of an NR cell is contained in the neighbor cell list, the carrier information comprises frequency point information, a coverage relation with an LTE service cell and the like, and when the MME indicates the base station to release the UE, the base station sends the carrier information of the NR neighbor cell to the UE, so that the UE can quickly return to an NR system.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, themessage receiving module 801 includes:

the first receiving submodule is used for receiving a redirection message from an access mobility management function (AMF), and if the redirection message carries a preset indication cell for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user, the UE is judged to be an EPS fallback user of an evolved packet system;

and/or

And the second receiving submodule is used for receiving a preset notification message which is from the LTE system and indicates that the UE is an EPS fallback user, and judging that the UE is the EPS fallback user of the evolved packet system.

Optionally, in the above embodiment of the present invention, when the MME receives the preset notification message,

and the preset notification message is sent to the MME by the LTE system when the LTE system detects that the UE initiates an attachment process and the message type of the packet switched data network (PDN) connection establishment message of the UE is switching.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, theindication sending module 802 is configured to:

and when a switching request message is sent to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system where the UE is located, a preset identifier for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user is carried in the switching request message.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the terminal drop-back control device further includes:

and the carrier sending module is used for sending the carrier capability information of the UE to a base station of the LTE system.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the terminal drop-back control device further includes:

and the switching control module is used for sending the preset indication information to the adjacent base station if receiving switching indication information which is sent by the base station and used for indicating the UE to be switched from the base station to the adjacent base station of the LTE system.

In the above embodiment of the present invention, when receiving a preset message for a terminal UE and determining that the UE is an EPS fallback user, amessage receiving module 801 instructs a sendingmodule 802 to send preset instruction information to a base station of an LTE system where the UE is located, so as to inform the base station that the UE is the EPS fallback user, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of an NR neighboring area of the base station to the UE, so that the UE quickly returns to the NR system; the UE user is accurately identified through the MME, the base station is controlled to release the UE, and the UE is prevented from being frequently subjected to ping-pong switching between LTE and 5G NR so as to influence user experience; and the base station releases the UE and simultaneously sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, thereby ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the NR carrier information and shortening the time for the UE to return to the NR system.

Referring to fig. 9, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal fallback control device, which is applied to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system, where the terminal fallback control device includes:

anindication receiving module 901, configured to receive preset indication information sent by a mobility management entity MME and used to indicate that a terminal UE is an EPS fallback user.

The MME is a key control node of a UE access network of the LTE system, and is responsible for positioning, relaying, and paging processes of the UE in the idle mode. In the EPS Fallback process, the UE accesses the LTE system through the MME, the LTE system provides the voice service for the UE through the VoLTE, and the UE needs to be able to quickly return to the NR system after the voice service is finished.

And if the base station receives preset indication information sent by the MME, the MME informs the base station that the UE is an EPS fallback user through the preset indication information, and instructs the base station to release the UE.

An executingmodule 902, configured to release the UE, and send carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

And the base station executes the instruction of the MME to release the UE and sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, so that the UE can quickly return to the NR system. Specifically, the base station side maintains an NR neighbor cell list, where the NR neighbor cell list includes carrier information of an NR cell, where the carrier information includes frequency point information and a coverage relationship with an LTE serving cell.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the executingmodule 902 is configured to:

judging whether the UE is switched to a neighboring base station of the LTE system:

if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a first preset interface, the preset indication information is sent to the adjacent base station, so that the adjacent base station releases the UE and transmits carrier information of a new air interface NR adjacent region of the adjacent base station to the UE;

if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a second preset interface, sending switching indication information for indicating that the UE is switched to the adjacent base station from the base station to the MME to enable the MME to send the preset indication information to the adjacent base station;

and if the UE is not switched to the adjacent base station, releasing the UE and transmitting the carrier information of the new air interface NR adjacent region of the base station to the UE.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the executingmodule 902 includes:

a carrier receiving submodule, configured to receive carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station;

and the carrier issuing sub-module is used for issuing the carrier information of the NR neighboring cells meeting the preset neighboring cell requirements in the carrier information of the NR neighboring cells to the UE.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the carrier receiving sub-module is configured to:

receiving carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station carried by the MME in a switching request;

and/or

And receiving the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell of the base station reported by the UE in the attachment process.

Optionally, in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the preset neighboring cell requirement is that an overlapping coverage area exists between the NR neighboring cell and a cell where the base station is located.

In the above embodiment of the present invention, after theindication receiving module 901 receives the preset indication information sent by the MME and used for indicating that the terminal UE is an EPS fallback user, the executingmodule 902 releases the UE and issues the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE, so that the UE quickly returns to the NR system; the UE user is accurately identified through the MME, the base station is controlled to release the UE, and the UE is prevented from being frequently subjected to ping-pong switching between LTE and 5G NR so as to influence user experience; and the base station releases the UE and simultaneously sends the carrier information of the NR neighboring area to the UE, thereby ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of the NR carrier information and shortening the time for the UE to return to the NR system.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an electronic device, which includes a memory, a processor, a bus, and a computer program that is stored in the memory and is executable on the processor, where the processor implements the steps in the above-mentioned terminal fall-back control method when executing the program.

For example, as follows, when the electronic device is a server, fig. 10 illustrates a physical structure diagram of the server.

As shown in fig. 10, the server may include: a processor (processor)1010, a communication Interface (Communications Interface)1020, a memory (memory)1030, and acommunication bus 1040, wherein theprocessor 1010, thecommunication Interface 1020, and thememory 1030 communicate with each other via thecommunication bus 1040.Processor 1010 may call logic instructions inmemory 1030 to perform the following method:

receiving a preset message aiming at terminal UE, and judging and knowing that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

sending preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system where the UE is located, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface (NR) adjacent region of the base station to the UE.

Or

Receiving preset indication information which is sent by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and used for indicating that a terminal UE is an EPS fallback user;

and releasing the UE, and sending the carrier information of the new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE.

Furthermore, the logic instructions in thememory 1030 can be implemented in software functional units and stored in a computer readable storage medium when the logic instructions are sold or used as independent products. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

In still another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above-mentioned terminal fallback control method.

The above-described embodiments of the apparatus are merely illustrative, and the units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the present embodiment. One of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without inventive effort.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that each embodiment can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware. With this understanding in mind, the above-described technical solutions may be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc., and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the embodiments or some parts of the embodiments.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (22)

1. A terminal fall-back control method is applied to a Mobility Management Entity (MME), and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

receiving a preset message aiming at terminal UE, and judging and knowing that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

sending preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system where the UE is located, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface (NR) adjacent region of the base station to the UE;

the step of receiving a preset message for a terminal UE and determining that the UE is an EPS fallback user includes:

receiving a redirection message from an access mobility management function (AMF), and if the redirection message carries a preset indication cell for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user, judging that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

and/or

And if a preset notification message which is from the LTE system and indicates that the UE is an EPS fallback user is received, judging that the UE is an EPS fallback user of an evolved packet system.

2. The terminal fallback control method according to claim 1, wherein when the MME receives the preset notification message,

and the preset notification message is sent to the MME by the LTE system when the LTE system detects that the UE initiates an attachment process and the message type of the packet switched data network (PDN) connection establishment message of the UE is switching.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of sending preset indication information for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system in which the UE is located includes:

and when a switching request message is sent to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system where the UE is located, a preset identifier for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user is carried in the switching request message.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the step of determining that the UE is an EPS fallback user, the method further comprises:

and sending the carrier capability information of the UE to a base station of the LTE system.

5. The terminal fall back control method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

and if receiving switching indication information which is sent by the base station and used for indicating the UE to be switched from the base station to an adjacent base station of the LTE system, sending the preset indication information to the adjacent base station.

6. A terminal fall-back control method is applied to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

receiving preset indication information which is sent by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and used for indicating that a terminal UE is an EPS fallback user;

releasing the UE and transmitting the carrier information of the new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE;

the preset indication information is determined based on a preset indication cell carried by the MME according to a received redirection message from an access mobility management function (AMF) and used for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

and/or

The MME is determined according to the fact that a preset notification message which is sent by an LTE system and indicates that the UE is an EPS fallback user is received.

7. The terminal fall-back control method according to claim 6, wherein the step of releasing the UE and issuing, to the UE, carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station includes:

judging whether the UE is switched to a neighboring base station of the LTE system:

if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a first preset interface, the preset indication information is sent to the adjacent base station, so that the adjacent base station releases the UE and transmits carrier information of a new air interface NR adjacent region of the adjacent base station to the UE;

if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a second preset interface, sending switching indication information for indicating that the UE is switched to the adjacent base station from the base station to the MME to enable the MME to send the preset indication information to the adjacent base station;

and if the UE is not switched to the adjacent base station, releasing the UE and transmitting the carrier information of the new air interface NR adjacent region of the base station to the UE.

8. The terminal fall-back control method according to claim 6, wherein the step of issuing, to the UE, carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station includes:

receiving carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station;

and sending the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell meeting the preset neighboring cell requirement in the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell to the UE.

9. The terminal fall-back control method according to claim 8, wherein the step of receiving carrier information of the NR neighbor cell of the base station includes:

receiving carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station carried by the MME in a switching request;

and/or

And receiving the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell of the base station reported by the UE in the attachment process.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the preset neighbor cell requirement is that there is an overlapping coverage area between the NR neighbor cell and a cell in which the base station is located.

11. A terminal fall-back control device is applied to a Mobility Management Entity (MME), and is characterized by comprising:

the message receiving module is used for receiving a preset message aiming at the terminal UE and judging and knowing that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

an indication sending module, configured to send preset indication information used for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user to a base station of a long term evolution LTE system in which the UE is located, so that the base station releases the UE and issues carrier information of a new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE;

wherein the message receiving module comprises:

the first receiving submodule is used for receiving a redirection message from an access mobility management function (AMF), and if the redirection message carries a preset indication cell for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user, the UE is judged to be an EPS fallback user of an evolved packet system;

and/or

And the second receiving submodule is used for receiving a preset notification message which is from the LTE system and indicates that the UE is an EPS fallback user, and judging that the UE is the EPS fallback user of the evolved packet system.

12. The terminal fall back control device according to claim 11, wherein when the MME receives the preset notification message,

and the preset notification message is sent to the MME by the LTE system when the LTE system detects that the UE initiates an attachment process and the message type of the packet switched data network (PDN) connection establishment message of the UE is switching.

13. The terminal drop-back control device according to claim 11, wherein the indication sending module is configured to:

and when a switching request message is sent to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system where the UE is located, a preset identifier for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user is carried in the switching request message.

14. The terminal drop-back control device according to claim 11, further comprising:

and the carrier sending module is used for sending the carrier capability information of the UE to a base station of the LTE system.

15. The terminal drop-back control device according to claim 11, further comprising:

and the switching control module is used for sending the preset indication information to the adjacent base station if receiving switching indication information which is sent by the base station and used for indicating the UE to be switched from the base station to the adjacent base station of the LTE system.

16. A terminal fall-back control device is applied to a base station of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, and is characterized by comprising:

the indication receiving module is used for receiving preset indication information which is sent by a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and used for indicating that the terminal UE is an Evolved Packet System (EPS) fallback user;

the execution module is used for releasing the UE and sending the carrier information of the new air interface NR neighboring cell of the base station to the UE;

the preset indication information is determined based on a preset indication cell carried by the MME according to a received redirection message from an access mobility management function (AMF) and used for indicating that the UE is an EPS fallback user;

and/or

The MME is determined according to the fact that a preset notification message which is sent by an LTE system and indicates that the UE is an EPS fallback user is received.

17. The terminal drop-back control device according to claim 16, wherein the execution module is configured to:

judging whether the UE is switched to a neighboring base station of the LTE system:

if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a first preset interface, the preset indication information is sent to the adjacent base station, so that the adjacent base station releases the UE and transmits carrier information of a new air interface NR adjacent region of the adjacent base station to the UE;

if the UE is switched to the adjacent base station through a second preset interface, sending switching indication information for indicating that the UE is switched to the adjacent base station from the base station to the MME to enable the MME to send the preset indication information to the adjacent base station;

and if the UE is not switched to the adjacent base station, releasing the UE and transmitting the carrier information of the new air interface NR adjacent region of the base station to the UE.

18. The terminal drop-back control device according to claim 16, wherein the executing module comprises:

a carrier receiving submodule, configured to receive carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station;

and the carrier issuing sub-module is used for issuing the carrier information of the NR neighboring cells meeting the preset neighboring cell requirements in the carrier information of the NR neighboring cells to the UE.

19. The terminal fall-back control device of claim 18, wherein the carrier receiving submodule is configured to:

receiving carrier information of an NR neighboring cell of the base station carried by the MME in a switching request;

and/or

And receiving the carrier information of the NR neighboring cell of the base station reported by the UE in the attachment process.

20. The terminal drop-back control device of claim 19, wherein the preset neighbor cell requirement is that there is an overlapping coverage area between the NR neighbor cell and a cell where the base station is located.

21. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor, a bus and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that the processor implements the steps in the terminal fall-back control method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 when executing the program.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, characterized in that: the program when executed by a processor implements the steps in a terminal fall back control method according to any of claims 1 to 10.

Images