Auxiliary information reporting and information sending method and device

• US 9,655,161 B2
• Filed: 10/30/2013
• Issued: 05/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Company Limited (China Information Communication Technology Group Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: China Academy of Telecom Technology (China Information Communication Technology Group Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Liu, Jiamin, Wu, Yumin, Fu, Zhe
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Brenda H
• Application Number:
  US14/434,752
• Publication Number:
  US 20150237671A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,294 Days
• Field of Search: 3703102, 370328, 370331, 370338
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0005 Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0007 for multicast or broadcast services, e.g. MBMS multicast or broadcast application services H04W4/06; resource management for broadcast services H04W72/30; connection management for selective distribution or broadcast H04W76/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/23 Manipulation of direct-mode connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/10 between terminal device and access point, i.e. wireless air interface

Abstract

The embodiments of this application relate to the field of wireless communications. Disclosed are an auxiliary information reporting and information sending method and device, so that a target base station can acquire the latest auxiliary information of a user equipment (UE) and then can provide the most reasonable configuration for the UE. In this application, the UE reports the auxiliary information to a source base station, and determines whether it is required to re-report the auxiliary information in a target cell; if determining that it is required to re-report the auxiliary information in the target cell, the user equipment reports the auxiliary information to the target base station after being switched to the target cell. It can be seen that, in this solution, the target base station can acquire the latest auxiliary information of the UE, so as to provide the most reasonable configuration for the UE.

Claims

1. A method for reporting auxiliary information, the method comprising:

reporting, by a user equipment, auxiliary information to a source base station;

determining, by the user equipment, whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in a destination cell; and

if it is determined that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell, then reporting, by the user equipment, the auxiliary information to a destination base station after the user equipment is switched to the destination cell;

wherein the user equipment determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell in one of the following six approaches;

in a first approach, the user equipment receives indication signaling transmitted by the source base station, wherein the indication signaling indicates whether the auxiliary information reported by the user equipment to the source base station before the source base station transmits a handover command is forwarded by the source base station to the destination base station, or indicates whether the user equipment needs to report again the lastly reported auxiliary information in the destination cell; and

the user equipment determines from the indication signaling whether the lastly reported auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

in a second approach, the user equipment starts an auxiliary information forward judgment timer according to configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer after the auxiliary information is reported to the source base station; and

judges whether the auxiliary information forward judgment timer expires when a handover command transmitted by the source base station is received, and if the timer expires, then the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

in a third approach, if the auxiliary information is auxiliary information reported by the user equipment after a handover measurement report is made to the source base station and before a handover command transmitted by the source base station is received, then the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell;

in a fourth approach, if the auxiliary information is auxiliary information reported by the user equipment after a handover measurement report has been made to the source base station for a preset period of time and before a handover command transmitted by the source base station is received, then the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell;

in a fifth approach, the user equipment judges whether the difference between a point of time when a handover command is received, and a point of time when the auxiliary information is reported to the source base station is less than a preset value of time, and if so, then the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell; and

in a sixth approach, the user equipment receives a point of time, transmitted by the source base station, when the source base station transmits a handover request to the destination base station; and

judges whether a point of time when the auxiliary information is transmitted to the source base station is later than the point of time when the source base station transmits the handover request to the destination base station, and if so, then the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the user equipment determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the second approach, starting the auxiliary information forward judgment timer according to the configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer comprises:

if a handover measurement report has been made to the source base station before the auxiliary information is reported to the source base station, then starting, by the user equipment, the auxiliary information forward judgment timer according to the configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the first approach, the user equipment receives one piece of indication signaling transmitted by the source base station, wherein the indication signaling indicates whether the respective pieces of auxiliary information reported by the user equipment to the source base station before the source base station transmits the handover command are forwarded by the source base station to the destination base station, or indicates whether the user equipment needs to report again the lastly reported respective pieces of auxiliary information in the destination cell;

or

the user equipment receives a plurality of pieces of indication signaling transmitted by the source base station, wherein each piece of indication signaling indicates respectively whether the piece of auxiliary information reported by the user equipment to the source base station before the source base station transmits the handover command is forwarded by the source base station to the destination base station, or indicates whether the user equipment needs to report again the lastly reported piece of auxiliary information in the destination cell.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the second approach, the configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment or defined by a protocol;

in the fourth approach, the length of time of the preset period of time is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment or defined by a protocol; and

in the fifth approach, the preset value of time is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment or defined by a protocol.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment in broadcast signaling or dedicated signaling;

the length of time of the preset period of time is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment in broadcast signaling or dedicated signaling; and

the preset value of time is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment in dedicated signaling or broadcast signaling.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the sixth approach, the point of time when the source base station transmits the handover request to the destination base station is transmitted by the source base station to the user equipment in dedicated signaling or new RRC signaling.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein before the user equipment reports the auxiliary information to the source base station, the method further comprises:

reporting, by the user equipment, auxiliary information related capability indication information to the source base station to notify the source base station of whether the user equipment has the capability to report the auxiliary information.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary information comprises auxiliary information of an eDDA or auxiliary information of an eMBMS or auxiliary information of IDC.

9. A method for transmitting information, the method comprising:

receiving, by a source base station, auxiliary information reported by a user equipment; and

transmitting, by the source base station, information to the user equipment for the user equipment to determine whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in a destination cell;

wherein transmitting, by the source base station, the information to the user equipment for the user equipment to determine whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell comprises;

transmitting, by the source base station, indication signaling to the user equipment, upon reception of a handover command transmitted by a destination base station, to indicate whether the respective pieces of auxiliary information reported by the user equipment to the source base station before the source base station transmits the handover command are forwarded by the source base station to the destination base station, or to indicate whether the user equipment needs to report again the lastly reported auxiliary information in the destination cell;

or

transmitting, by the source base station, configuration information of an auxiliary information forward judgment timer to the user equipment, so that the user equipment starts the auxiliary information forward judgment timer according to the configuration information after the auxiliary information is reported, and determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell dependent upon whether the auxiliary information forward judgment timer expires upon reception of a handover command;

or

transmitting, by the source base station, information about the length of time of a preset period of time to the user equipment, so that the user equipment determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell dependent upon whether the auxiliary information is reported after a handover measurement report has been made to the source base station for the preset period of time and before a handover command transmitted by the source base station is received;

or

transmitting, by the source base station, a preset value of time to the user equipment, so that the user equipment determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell dependent upon whether the difference between a point of time when a handover command is received, and a point of time when the auxiliary information is reported to the source base station is less than the preset value of time;

or

transmitting, by the source base station, to the user equipment a point of time when the source base station transmits a handover request to the destination base station, after the handover request is transmitted to the destination base station, so that the user equipment determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell dependent upon whether a point of time when the auxiliary information is transmitted to the source base station is later than the point of time when the source base station transmits the handover request to the destination base station.

10. A user equipment, comprising:

a reporting unit configured to report auxiliary information to a source base station;

a determining unit configured to determine whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in a destination cell; and

a again-reporting unit configured, if it is determined that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell, to report the auxiliary information to a destination base station after the user equipment is switched to the destination cell;

wherein the determining unit is configured to determine whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell in one of the following six approaches;

in a first approach, the determining unit receives indication signaling transmitted by the source base station, wherein the indication signaling indicates whether the auxiliary information reported by the user equipment to the source base station before the source base station transmits a handover command is forwarded by the source base station to the destination base station, or indicates whether the user equipment needs to report again the lastly reported auxiliary information in the destination cell; and

the determining unit determines from the indication signaling whether the lastly reported auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

in a second approach, the determining unit starts an auxiliary information forward judgment timer according to configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer after the auxiliary information is reported to the source base station; and

judges whether the auxiliary information forward judgment timer expires when a handover command transmitted by the source base station is received, and if the timer expires, then the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

in a third approach, if the auxiliary information is auxiliary information reported by the user equipment after a handover measurement report is made to the source base station and before a handover command transmitted by the source base station is received, then the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell;

in a fourth approach, if the auxiliary information is auxiliary information reported by the user equipment after a handover measurement report has been made to the source base station for a preset period of time and before a handover command transmitted by the source base station is received, then the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell;

in a fifth approach, the determining unit judges whether the difference between a point of time when a handover command is received, and a point of time when the auxiliary information is reported to the source base station is less than a preset value of time, and if so, then the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell; and

in a sixth approach, the determining unit receives a point of time, transmitted by the source base station, when the source base station transmits a handover request to the destination base station; and

judges whether a point of time when the auxiliary information is transmitted to the source base station is later than the point of time when the source base station transmits the handover request to the destination base station, and if so, then the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell;

otherwise, the determining unit determines that the auxiliary information does not need to be reported again in the destination cell.

11. The user equipment according to claim 10, wherein the determining unit is configured:

in the second approach, if a handover measurement report has been made to the source base station before the auxiliary information is reported to the source base station, to start the auxiliary information forward judgment timer according to the configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer.

12. The user equipment according to claim 10, wherein the determining unit is configured:

in the first approach, to receive one piece of indication signaling transmitted by the source base station, wherein the indication signaling indicates whether the respective pieces of auxiliary information reported by the user equipment to the source base station before the source base station transmits the handover command are forwarded by the source base station to the destination base station, or indicates whether the user equipment needs to report again the lastly reported respective pieces of auxiliary information in the destination cell;

or

to receive a plurality of pieces of indication signaling transmitted by the source base station, wherein each piece of indication signaling indicates respectively whether the piece of auxiliary information reported by the user equipment to the source base station before the source base station transmits the handover command is forwarded by the source base station to the destination base station, or indicates whether the user equipment needs to report again the lastly reported piece of auxiliary information in the destination cell.

13. The user equipment according to claim 10, wherein in the second approach, the configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment or defined by a protocol;

in the fourth approach, the length of time of the preset period of time is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment or defined by a protocol; and

in the fifth approach, the preset value of time is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment or defined by a protocol.

14. The user equipment according to claim 13, wherein the configuration information of the auxiliary information forward judgment timer is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment in broadcast signaling or dedicated signaling;

the length of time of the preset period of time is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment in broadcast signaling or dedicated signaling; and

the preset value of time is transmitted in advance by the source base station to the user equipment in dedicated signaling or broadcast signaling.

15. The user equipment according to claim 10, wherein in the sixth approach, the point of time when the source base station transmits the handover request to the destination base station is transmitted by the source base station to the user equipment in dedicated signaling or new RRC signaling.

16. The user equipment according to claim 14, wherein the reporting unit is further configured to report auxiliary information related capability indication information to the source base station, before the auxiliary information is reported to the source base station, to notify the source base station of whether the user equipment has the capability to report the auxiliary information.

17. The user equipment according to claim 10, wherein the auxiliary information comprises auxiliary information of an eDDA or auxiliary information of an eMBMS or auxiliary information of IDC.

18. A base station, comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive auxiliary information reported by a user equipment; and

a transmitting unit configured to transmit information to the user equipment for the user equipment to determine whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in a destination cell;

wherein the transmitting unit is configured;

to transmit indication signaling to the user equipment, upon reception of a handover command transmitted by a destination base station, to indicate whether the respective pieces of auxiliary information reported by the user equipment to the base station before the base station transmits the handover command are forwarded by the base station to the destination base station, or to indicate whether the user equipment needs to report again the lastly reported auxiliary information in the destination cell;

or

to transmit configuration information of an auxiliary information forward judgment timer to the user equipment, so that the user equipment starts the auxiliary information forward judgment timer according to the configuration information after the auxiliary information is reported, and determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell dependent upon whether the auxiliary information forward judgment timer expires upon reception of a handover command;

or

to transmit information about the length of time of a preset period of time to the user equipment, so that the user equipment determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell dependent upon whether the auxiliary information is reported after a handover measurement report has been made to the source base station for the preset period of time and before a handover command transmitted by the base station is received;

or

to transmit a preset value of time to the user equipment, so that the user equipment determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell dependent upon whether the difference between a point of time when a handover command is received, and a point of time when the auxiliary information is reported to the base station is less than the preset value of time;

or

to transmit to the user equipment a point of time when the base station transmits a handover request to the destination base station, after the handover request is transmitted to the destination base station, so that the user equipment determines whether the auxiliary information needs to be reported again in the destination cell dependent upon whether a point of time when the auxiliary information is transmitted to the base station is later than the point of time when the base station transmits the handover request to the destination base station.