Patent Description:
Since <NUM> new radio (NR) has huge social benefits and a promising commercial prospect, various countries and regions have developed <NUM> NR and continuously increase technical investment, resulting in the rapid development of the <NUM> NR technology. At present, NR base stations have been deployed for testing in some regions, and the pre-commercial use of <NUM> NR has also been put forward.

In the evolution from the long-term evolution (LTE) to the NR network architecture, Non-Standalone (NSA) mode is an intermediate evolution form. NSA nodes play a very important strategic role in the evolution from <NUM> to <NUM>, and the load balancing of NSA nodes is a very important goal in the radio access network technology and also a technology focused by operators.

After accessing an LTE cell, an NSA terminal will select an NSA node according to the NSA selection strategy on the LTE side, then migrate bearers of a user equipment (UE) to the NSA node, and complete data transmission by utilizing the NSA node.

In the NSA networking, the UE is accessed on the LTE side, and the data is mainly transmitted on the NSA node. In this processing mode, after lots of UEs are accessed to a same NSA node, the load of the NSA node will be increased, so that the load of the NSA node is out of balance, resulting in low operation efficiency of the NSA node.

<NPL>, relates to the load information reporting mechanism for EN-DC X2 interface and the load information selection for reporting in Release <NUM>.

<NPL>, relates to the solution based on the way forward on the load management for NSA (i.e. FI and X2).

<CIT> relates to a load sharing method in radio communication, including: determining, by a base station, whether load migration needs to be performed; and in the case of determining that the load migration needs to be performed, performing, by the base station, the load migration between a load sharing node and the base station.

<NPL>, relates to further details of neighbour relation establishment in different deployment scenarios.

The objective realization, functional characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure will be further described by embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

To make the technical problems to be solved, technical schemes and beneficial effects of the present disclosure clearer, the present disclosure will be further described below in detail by embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments to be described herein are merely for illustrating the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

In the following description, the suffixes such as "module", "component" or "unit" for representing elements are merely used to facilitate the description of the present disclosure and have no any special meaning. Therefore, the "module", "component" or "unit" may be used interchangeably.

It is to be noted that the terms such as "first" and "second" in the description and claims of the present disclosure and the accompanying drawings are used for distinguishing similar objects, but not necessarily used for describing a specific sequence or a precedence order.

In an embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, the present disclosure provides a load-based bearer migration method. The method includes the following steps S1 to S2.

At S1, load information of an NSA node is acquired.

The acquisition of the load information means that an LTE side or an NSA node acquires the load information of other NSA nodes when it is necessary to perform bearer migration. A load information acquisition message is transmitted through an X2 interface between the LTE side and an NSA node or through an X2 interface between NSA nodes.

The load information acquisition mode may be classified into two categories, i.e., active acquisition and passive acquisition.

The candidate NSA nodes transmit the load information in two ways. One way is that the load information is transmitted to the current LTE side or the current NSA node when the load information is changed. The other way is that the load information is periodically transmitted to the current LTE side or the current NSA node.

In some implementations, the way to determine whether the load information is changed is setting stages. For example, N stages of load information are preset, and it is considered that the load information is changed when the actual load condition is in a different stage.

At S2, bearer migration is performed according to the acquired load information.

The performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information of the NSA node includes the following two scenarios.

In Scenario one, the bearers on the LTE side are migrated to an NSA node.

The performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information includes the following.

According to the claimed invention, a bearer migration metod is provided comprising: acquiring load information of a Non-Standalone, NSA, node; and performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information; wherein acquiring load information of an NSA node comprises: in response to that the bearer migration needs to be performed, transmitting, by a current Long-Term Evolution, LTE, side, a load request message to candidate NSA nodes, and acquiring load information of the candidate NSA nodes; and wherein, performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information, comprises: sorting, by the current LTE side, according to the acquired load information of the candidate NSA nodes, acquired candidate NSA nodes in a preset load sorting mode to form a target NSA node list; and selecting, by the current LTE side, from the target NSA node list, a target NSA node for user equipment, UE, bearer migration attempts until the bearer migration is successful.

In some implementations, the preset load sorting mode at least includes one of: sorting according to the traffic size of bearers, sorting according to the priority of bearers, and sorting from the lowest to highest load.

For N bearer migration options, bearer sorting may be performed in unit of UEs or individual bearers.

By considering the load information of the NSA node during the bearer migration from the current LTE side to the NSA node, the situation where the migration of lots of UE bearers to one NSA node leads to a high load of this NSA node is avoided, the load of a plurality of NSA nodes can also be increased evenly, and the load of high-load NSA nodes is relieved, leading to a relatively balanced load and high operation efficiency of NSA nodes in the NSA networking.

In Scenario two, the current NSA node migrates bearers to other candidate NSA nodes or the LTE side when the load is high.

By migrating bearers to other NSA node or back to the LTE side when the NSA node has a high load, the load of high-load NSA nodes is relieved, leading to a relatively balanced load and high operation efficiency of NSA nodes in the NSA networking.

In the embodiment, by actively or passively acquiring load information of candidate NSA nodes and performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information of the candidate NSA nodes, the load of high-load NSA nodes is relieved, leading to a relatively balanced load and high operation efficiency of NSA nodes in the NSA networking. Specifically, firstly, by considering the load information of the NSA node during the bearer migration from the current LTE side to the NSA node, the situation where the migration of lots of UE bearers to one NSA node leads to a high load of this NSA node is avoided, and the load of a plurality of NSA nodes can also be increased evenly. Secondly, by migrating bearers to other NSA node or back to the LTE side when the NSA node has a high load, the load of high-load NSA nodes is relieved.

In an embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, the present disclosure provides a bearer migration apparatus to which the bearer migration method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure is applied. The apparatus includes an acquisition module <NUM> and a migration module <NUM>. The acquisition module <NUM> is configured to acquire load information of an NSA node. The migration module <NUM> is configured to perform bearer migration according to the acquired load information.

In some implementations, the acquisition module <NUM> acquires the load information of the NSA node in two ways, i.e., active acquisition and passive acquisition.

In some implementations, the migration module <NUM> performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information includes the following two scenarios.

The migration module <NUM> performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information includes the following.

It is to be noted that the apparatus embodiment belongs to the same concept as the method embodiment, the specific implementation process may refer to the method embodiment, and the technical features in the method embodiment are all applicable to the apparatus embodiment and will not be repeated here.

The technical schemes of the present disclosure will be further described below in detail by embodiments.

In the embodiment, the bearers of the LTE side are migrated to an NSA node, and the load information is acquired actively, as shown in <FIG>.

In <FIG>, Cell11 is a cell of LTE1, Cell21 and Cell22 are cells of an NSA node NR2, and Cell31 and Cell32 are cells of an NSA node NR3.

In the embodiment, an NSA node migrates beaters to other NSA nodes, the load information is acquired passively, and other NSA nodes feed back the load periodically, as shown in <FIG>.

In the embodiment, an NSA node migrates beaters to other NSA nodes, the load information is acquired passively, and other NSA nodes transmit the load when the load is changed, as shown in <FIG>.

In <FIG>, Cell11 is a cell of the LTE1, and Cell21 is a cell of the NSA node NR2.

In addition, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic device. As shown in <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> includes a memory <NUM>, a processor <NUM> and one or more computer programs that are stored on the memory <NUM> and executable by the processor <NUM>. The memory <NUM> and the processor <NUM> are coupled through a bus system <NUM>, and the one or more computer programs, when executed by the processor <NUM>, cause the processor <NUM> to implement the bearer migration method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The method includes steps S1 to S2.

The method disclosed in the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to the processor <NUM> or implemented by the processor <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may be an integrated circuit chip having the signal processing capability. During the implementation process, the steps in the above method may be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor <NUM> or by instructions in the form of software. The processor <NUM> may be a general-purpose processor, a DSP or other programmable logic devices, a discrete gate or a transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, etc. The processor <NUM> may implement or execute the method, steps and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps in the method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or being executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may reside in a storage medium, the storage medium resides in the memory <NUM>, and the processor <NUM> reads the information in the memory <NUM> to complete the steps in the above method in combination with the hardware.

It should be understood that the memory <NUM> in the embodiment of the present disclosure may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory or may include volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be read-only memories (ROMs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), erasable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), ferromagnetic random access memories (FRAMs), flash memories or other memory technologies, compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), digital video disks (DVDs) or other optical disk storages, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storages or other magnetic storage devices. The volatile memory may be random access memories (RAMs), and by way of illustration but not limitation, many forms of RAMs are available, such as static random access memories (SRAMs), synchronous static random access memories (SSRAMs), dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), synchronous dynamic random access memories (SDRAMs), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memories (DDRSDRAMs), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memories (ESDRAMs), SyncLink dynamic random access memories (SLDRAMs) and direct rambus random access memories (DRRAMs). The memory described in the embodiment of the present disclosure is intended to include, but not limited to, these memories and any other suitable types of memories.

It is to be noted that the base station embodiment belongs to the same concept as the method embodiment, the specific implementation process may refer to the method embodiment, and the technical features in the method embodiment are all applicable to the base station embodiment and will not be repeated here.

In addition, in an example embodiment, the embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer storage medium, particularly a computer-readable storage medium, for example, including a memory <NUM> storing computer programs. The computer storage medium stores one or more programs for performing bearer migration method which, when executed by a processor <NUM>, cause the processor <NUM> to implement the bearer migration method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure. The method includes steps S1 to S2.

Compared with the related technology, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a bearer migration method and apparatus, an electronic device and a storage medium. The bearer migration method includes steps of: acquiring load information of an NSA node; and, performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information. In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, by actively or passively acquiring load information of candidate NSA nodes and performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information of the candidate NSA nodes, the load of high-load NSA nodes is relieved, leading to relatively balanced load and high operation efficiency of NSA nodes in the NSA networking. In an embodiment, firstly, by considering the load information of the NSA node during the bearer migration from the current LTE side to the NSA node, the situation where the migration of lots of UE bearers to one NSA node leads to a high load of this NSA node is avoided, and the load of a plurality of NSA nodes can also be increased evenly. Secondly, by migrating bearers to other NSA nodes or back to the LTE side when the NSA node has a high load, the load of high-load NSA nodes is relieved.

It is to be noted that the program embodiment of the bearer migration method on the computer-readable storage medium belongs to the same concept as the method embodiment, the specific implementation process may refer to the method embodiment, and the technical features in the method embodiment are all applicable to the embodiment of the computer-readable storage medium and will not be repeated here.

It is to be noted that, in the present disclosure, the term "comprise/comprising", "include/including" or any other variant thereof is non-exclusive, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes these elements, but also includes other elements not listed explicitly, or further includes elements inherent to this process, method, article or device. Without further restrictions, the element defined by the statement "comprising an/a. " does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including this element.

The serial numbers in the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for description and does not indicate the superiority of the embodiments.

Claim 1:
A bearer migration method, comprising:
acquiring load information of a Non-Standalone, NSA, node (S1); and
performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information (S2);
characterized in that,
acquiring load information of an NSA node (S1) comprises:
in response to that the bearer migration needs to be performed, transmitting, by a current Long-Term Evolution, LTE, side, a load request message to candidate NSA nodes, and acquiring load information of the candidate NSA nodes; and
wherein, performing bearer migration according to the acquired load information (S2), comprises:
sorting, by the current LTE side, according to the acquired load information of the candidate NSA nodes, acquired candidate NSA nodes in a preset load sorting mode to form a target NSA node list; and
selecting, by the current LTE side, from the target NSA node list, a target NSA node for user equipment, UE, bearer migration attempts until the bearer migration is successful.