US-20260129530-A1 - CELL MEASUREMENT METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM

US20260129530A1US 20260129530 A1US20260129530 A1US 20260129530A1US-20260129530-A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to user equipment for a cell measurement. One example user equipment includes a cell control unit and a cell measurement unit. The cell control unit is configured to determine at least one first neighboring cell belonging to a first priority and/or at least one second neighboring cell belonging to a second priority among at least one neighboring cell adjacent to a serving cell of the user equipment, where the first priority is lower than the second priority. When the at least one neighboring cell includes the at least one first neighboring cell, a cell measurement policy includes measuring the at least one first neighboring cell in a plurality of discontinuous reception (DRX) cycles, where a time interval between two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to one DRX cycle.

Inventors

Rui Yang
Fenghui DOU
Hui Jin

Assignees

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20260106
Priority Date: 20200910

Claims (20)

1 . A cell measurement method for user equipment, comprising: enabling power consumption priority mode; determining a first neighboring cell belonging to a first priority among neighboring cells of the user equipment and a second neighboring cell belonging to a second priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment, wherein the first priority is lower than the second priority; measuring the first neighboring cell by using a first measurement policy, wherein a time interval between two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is greater than one discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle; and measuring the second neighboring cell by using a second measurement policy, wherein measuring the second neighboring cell by using the second measurement policy comprises measuring no more than a predetermined quantity of second neighboring cells.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein before determining the first neighboring cell belonging to the first priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment and the second neighboring cell belonging to the second priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment, the method further comprises: obtaining information of a cell set related to the user equipment, wherein the cell set comprises a serving cell and a plurality of neighboring cells of the user equipment; and selecting at least two neighboring cells from the plurality of neighboring cells based on the information of the cell set; and wherein determining the first neighboring cell belonging to the first priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment and the second neighboring cell belonging to the second priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment comprises: determining the first neighboring cell and the second neighboring cell from the at least two neighboring cells.
3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein measuring the first neighboring cell by using the first measurement policy comprises measuring, within each measurement period, a preset quantity of neighboring cells selected from first neighboring cells for a preset quantity of times.
4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first measurement policy comprises: when a quantity of first neighboring cells is greater than or equal to 2, the time interval is equal to N-1 DRX cycles, wherein N is the quantity of the first neighboring cells; or the time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is the same as or different from a time interval between other two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time interval is related to signal strength, greater signal strength indicates longer time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell, and smaller signal strength indicates shorter time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell.
6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein that the time interval is related to signal strength comprises: when the signal strength is between a measurement start threshold and a middle threshold, determining that the time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is a first time interval, wherein the middle threshold is equal to an average value of the measurement start threshold and an escape threshold; and when the signal strength is between the middle threshold and the escape threshold, determining that the time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is a second time interval, wherein the first time interval is greater than the second time interval, wherein: the measurement start threshold is set to start a cell measurement when the signal strength is less than the measurement start threshold, and the escape threshold is set to perform the cell measurement in a default manner when the signal strength is less than the escape threshold.
7 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the method further comprises: skipping a cell measurement when the signal strength is greater than a measurement start threshold; and measuring the first neighboring cell according to a third measurement interval when the signal strength is less than an escape threshold, wherein the third measurement interval is less than the time interval in the first measurement policy.
8 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises: sorting cells in descending order of stability based on at least one of a length of camp-on duration of the user equipment in each cell, signal strength of each cell, or a quantity of connection handovers between the user equipment and each cell, wherein the cells comprise at least one of the serving cell or the plurality of neighboring cells, longer camp-on duration indicates higher stability of the cell, stronger signal strength indicates higher stability of the cell, and smaller quantity of the connection handovers indicates higher stability of the cell; and wherein selecting the at least two neighboring cells from the plurality of neighboring cells comprises selecting, from the plurality of neighboring cells, a preset quantity of top-ranking neighboring cells in a descending order of stability.
9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein measuring no more than the predetermined quantity of second neighboring cells comprises: comparing a quantity of the second neighboring cells with a first quantity; when the quantity of the second neighboring cells is greater than the first quantity, determining the first quantity of second neighboring cells from the second neighboring cells for a measurement, wherein the predetermined quantity is equal to the first quantity; and when the quantity of the second neighboring cells is less than or equal to the first quantity, performing a measurement on all the second neighboring cells, wherein the predetermined quantity is the quantity of the second neighboring cells.
10 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: determining that a location of the user equipment changes, a serving cell of the user equipment changes, or signal strength of a signal received through the serving cell is less than a threshold; and if a cell measurement policy is not obtained within a predetermined time period, measuring the first neighboring cell within a plurality of DRX cycles, and determining, based on a quantity of neighboring cells, a measurement interval for measuring the first neighboring cell.
11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein; measuring the first neighboring cell by using the first measurement policy further comprises measuring, in a power saving mode, the first neighboring cell by using the first measurement policy; and measuring the second neighboring cell by using the second measurement policy further comprises measuring, in the power saving mode, the second neighboring cell by using the second measurement policy.
12 . A user equipment, comprising: at least one memory comprising instructions; and one or more processors in communication with the at least one memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to enable the user equipment to perform operations comprising: enabling power consumption priority mode; determining a first neighboring cell belonging to a first priority among neighboring cells of the user equipment and a second neighboring cell belonging to a second priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment, wherein the first priority is lower than the second priority; measuring the first neighboring cell by using a first measurement policy, wherein a time interval between two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is greater than one discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle; and measuring the second neighboring cell by using a second measurement policy, wherein measuring the second neighboring cell by using the second measurement policy comprises measuring no more than a predetermined quantity of second neighboring cells.
13 . The user equipment according to claim 12 , wherein before determining the first neighboring cell belonging to the first priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment and the second neighboring cell belonging to the second priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment, the operations comprise: obtaining information of a cell set related to the user equipment, wherein the cell set comprises a serving cell and a plurality of neighboring cells of the user equipment; and selecting at least two neighboring cells from the plurality of neighboring cells based on the information of the cell set; and wherein determining the first neighboring cell belonging to the first priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment and the second neighboring cell belonging to the second priority among the neighboring cells of the user equipment comprises: determining the first neighboring cell and the second neighboring cell from the at least two neighboring cells.
14 . The user equipment according to claim 12 , wherein measuring the first neighboring cell by using the first measurement policy comprises measuring, within each measurement period, a preset quantity of neighboring cells selected from first neighboring cells for a preset quantity of times.
15 . The user equipment according to claim 12 , wherein the first measurement policy comprises: when a quantity of first neighboring cells is greater than or equal to 2, the time interval is equal to N-1 DRX cycles, wherein N is the quantity of the first neighboring cells; or the time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is the same as or different from a time interval between other two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell.
16 . The user equipment according to claim 12 , wherein the time interval is related to signal strength, greater signal strength indicates longer time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell, and smaller signal strength indicates shorter time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell.
17 . The user equipment according to claim 16 , wherein that the time interval is related to signal strength comprises: when the signal strength is between a measurement start threshold and a middle threshold, determining that the time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is a first time interval, wherein the middle threshold is equal to an average value of the measurement start threshold and an escape threshold; and when the signal strength is between the middle threshold and the escape threshold, determining that the time interval between the two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is a second time interval, wherein the first time interval is greater than the second time interval, wherein: the measurement start threshold is set to start a cell measurement when the signal strength is less than the measurement start threshold, and the escape threshold is set to perform the cell measurement in a default manner when the signal strength is less than the escape threshold.
18 . The user equipment according to claim 16 , wherein the operations comprise: skipping a cell measurement when the signal strength is greater than a measurement start threshold; and measuring the first neighboring cell according to a third measurement interval when the signal strength is less than an escape threshold, wherein the third measurement interval is less than the time interval in the first measurement policy.
19 . The user equipment according to claim 13 , wherein the operations comprise: sorting cells in descending order of stability based on at least one of a length of camp-on duration of the user equipment in each cell, signal strength of each cell, or a quantity of connection handovers between the user equipment and each cell, wherein the cells comprise at least one of the serving cell or the plurality of neighboring cells, longer camp-on duration indicates higher stability of the cell, stronger signal strength indicates higher stability of the cell, and smaller quantity of the connection handovers indicates higher stability of the cell; and wherein selecting the at least two neighboring cells from the plurality of neighboring cells comprises selecting, from the plurality of neighboring cells, a preset quantity of top-ranking neighboring cells in a descending order of stability.
20 . The user equipment according to claim 12 , wherein measuring no more than the predetermined quantity of the second neighboring cells comprises: comparing a quantity of the second neighboring cells with a first quantity; when the quantity of the second neighboring cells is greater than the first quantity, determining the first quantity of second neighboring cells from the second neighboring cells for a measurement, wherein the predetermined quantity is equal to the first quantity; and when the quantity of the second neighboring cells is less than or equal to the first quantity, performing a measurement on all the second neighboring cells, wherein the predetermined quantity is the quantity of the second neighboring cells.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/044,427, filed on Mar. 8, 2023, which application is a national stage of International Application No. PCT/CN 2021/116721, filed on Sep. 6, 2021, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202010948148.3, filed on Sep. 10, 2020. All of the afore-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a cell measurement method, apparatus, and system, which are used for a serving cell handover and the like. BACKGROUND User equipment (for example, a mobile phone) that can implement a wireless communication function usually includes a modem, configured to perform conversion (that is, modulation and demodulation) between standards of different signals according to a communication protocol (for example, a wireless communication protocol formulated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). Usually, power consumption of the modem may account for a majority (for example, 64%) of power consumption of the entire user equipment, and power consumption of the modem used for a cell measurement and a cell handover (that is, a network selection process) may account for about 30% of the power consumption of the entire user equipment. Usually, to save power consumption, cells to be measured are classified into high-priority cells and low-priority cells. In each discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, the modem measures each high-priority cell once, and measures only one low-priority cell in each DRX cycle. In this way, the power consumption is reduced by controlling a quantity of low-priority cells measured in each DRX cycle. Herein, the high-priority cell may include a cell with high stability. For example, the user equipment camps on the cell for a long time, the user equipment is less handed over from the cell to another cell, or vice versa (that is, few ping-pong handovers), and/or strength of a signal received through the cell is strong. On the contrary, the low-priority cell may include a cell with poor stability. For example, the user equipment camps on the cell for a short time, the user equipment is handed over from the cell to another cell more frequently, or vice versa (that is, more ping-pong handovers), and/or strength of a signal received through the cell is weak. FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 respectively show measurement time sequence diagrams for measuring two recommended low-priority cells and one recommended low-priority cell when the low-priority cell is recommended according to the conventional technology. A quantity of recommended low-priority cells shown in the figure is merely used as an example. A person skilled in the art should understand that another quantity of low-priority cells may also be recommended. Because only one low-priority cell is measured in each DRX cycle, when two low-priority cells are recommended, the two low-priority cells are measured in turn in a plurality of DRX cycles (as shown in FIG. 11), or when one low-priority cell is recommended, a same low-priority cell is measured in each DRX cycle (as shown in FIG. 12). It can be learned that a low-priority cell measurement needs to be performed once in each DRX cycle. Therefore, a quantity of measurement times is not reduced, and power consumption cannot be further reduced. SUMMARY This application provides a cell measurement method, apparatus, and system. According to a first aspect of this application, a cell measurement method used for user equipment includes: determining a first neighboring cell belonging to a first priority and a second neighboring cell belonging to a second priority among neighboring cells of the user equipment, where the first priority is lower than the second priority; measuring the first neighboring cell by using a first measurement policy, where a time interval between two adjacent measurements on the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to one discontinuous reception DRX cycle; and measuring the second neighboring cell by using a second measurement policy, where the measuring the second neighboring cell by using a second measurement policy includes: measuring second neighboring cells whose quantity is not greater than a predetermined quantity. According to a second aspect of this application, before the determining a first neighboring cell belonging to a first priority and a second neighboring cell belonging to a second priority among neighboring cells of the user equipment, the method further includes: obtaining information of a cell set related to the user equipment, where the cell set includes a serving cell and a plurality of neighboring cells of the user equipment; selecting at least one neighboring cell from the plurality of neighboring cells based on the information of the cell set; and the determining a first neighb