CN106454791B - Method for expanding number of base stations supported by network, base station, terminal and core network equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network, which comprises the following steps: in an LTE network, a first base station acquires base station identification information (eNB ID) of the first base station; the first base station sends the eNB ID of the first base station to a second base station, a terminal or core network equipment, wherein the bit occupied by the eNB ID is larger than a standard threshold value. Wherein the eNB ID occupies 22 to 36 bits. The invention also discloses a base station, a terminal and core network equipment.

Description

Method for expanding number of base stations supported by network, base station, terminal and core network equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technologies, and in particular, to a method for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network, a base station, a terminal, and a core network device.

Background

With the continuous deployment of LTE networks, the number of base stations (enbs) in LTE networks is increasing, and by the end of 2014, there are 70 thousands LTE macro base stations deployed by some telecommunications operators. In the existing LTE protocol, in the same Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), a base station and a Cell in the LTE Network are uniquely identified by identification information (eNB ID) of the base station and an E-UTRAN Cell Global Identifier (ECGI), where the E-UTRAN is called an Evolved Universal Radio Access Network (E-UTRA). Current protocols specify that the eNB ID is characterized by 20 bits (bits), and that the ECGI is characterized by 8 bits after the 20-bit eNB ID. That is, the maximum number of supported eNB IDs is 1,048,576 as specified by the existing protocol.

With the continuous expansion of a telecommunication operator to an LTE network, the number of macro base stations can possibly break through 100 thousands by only Time Division Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE), namely the number of base stations supported by the existing protocol to the maximum extent; in addition, considering the number of macro base stations and the number of small stations deployed after Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) Frequency band reuse, the number of eNB IDs specified in the existing protocol is far from sufficient, and therefore a protocol layer is required to support and solve the problem of eNB ID shortage.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a method, a base station, a terminal, and a core network device for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network to solve at least one problem in the prior art, so as to expand the number of base stations supported by an LTE network.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention is realized as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network, where the method includes:

in an LTE network, a first base station acquires self base station identification information eNB ID;

the first base station sends the eNB ID of the first base station to a second base station, a terminal or core network equipment, and the bit occupied by the eNB ID is larger than a standard threshold value.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network, where the method includes:

a terminal or core network equipment receives base station identification information eNB ID of a first base station or a second base station, wherein the base station identification information eNB ID is sent by the first base station, and the bit position occupied by the eNB ID is larger than a standard threshold value;

the terminal or core network device addresses the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a base station, where the base station includes an obtaining unit and a sending unit, where:

the acquiring unit is used for acquiring the self base station identification information eNB ID;

the sending unit is configured to send the eNB ID to a second base station, a terminal, or core network equipment in an LTE network, where bits occupied by the eNB ID are greater than a standard threshold.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal, where the terminal includes a receiving unit and an addressing unit, where:

the receiving unit is configured to receive base station identification information eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station, where the base station identification information eNB ID is sent by the first base station, and bits occupied by the eNB ID are greater than a standard threshold;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a core network device, where the core network device includes a receiving unit and an addressing unit, where:

the receiving unit is configured to receive base station identification information eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station, where the base station identification information eNB ID is sent by the first base station, and bits occupied by the eNB ID are greater than a standard threshold;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

The method for expanding the number of the base stations supported by the network, the base stations, the terminal and the core network equipment are provided by the embodiment of the invention, wherein in an LTE network, a first base station acquires the ID of the eNB; a first base station sends an eNB ID of the first base station to a second base station, a terminal or core network equipment, wherein the bit occupied by the eNB ID is larger than a standard threshold; in this way, the number of base stations supported by the LTE network can be expanded.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation of a method for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2-1 is a first schematic diagram illustrating a second X2 interface establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2-2 is a first schematic diagram illustrating a handover request process according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2-3 are schematic diagrams of a broadcast process according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2-4 are schematic diagrams illustrating a second X2 interface establishment procedure according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2-5 are schematic diagrams illustrating a second handover request procedure according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2-6 are schematic diagrams of a second air interface broadcasting process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation of a method for supporting the number of base stations by a third extended network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4-1 is a schematic diagram of a first exemplary configuration of a four-base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4-2 is a schematic structural diagram of a four-base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the present invention is further elaborated below with reference to the drawings and the specific embodiments.

Example one

Based on the technical problems in the background art, embodiments of the present invention provide a method for extending the number of base stations supported by a network, where the method is applied to a base station, and functions implemented by the method may be implemented by a processor in the base station calling a program code, where of course, the program code may be stored in a computer storage medium, and thus, the base station includes at least a processor and a storage medium.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation of a method for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, the method includes:

step 101, in an LTE network, a first base station acquires an eNB ID of the first base station;

102, the first base station sends its own base station identification information eNB ID to a second base station, a terminal or a core network device, and the bit occupied by the eNB ID is greater than a standard threshold.

Here, the standard threshold may be a bit occupied by the eNB ID in the existing LTE network technology, for example, when the bit occupied by the eNB ID in the existing LTE network is 20 bits, the standard threshold may be equal to 20.

The base stations described in the present invention and the following embodiments, for example, the first base station, the second base station, the base station a or the base station B, etc., may be base station types such as a macro base station, a micro base station, a pico base station, etc.

Here, the standard threshold is 20 bits or more, and correspondingly, the bits occupied by the eNB ID are 22 to 36 bits. In the specific implementation process, the following several ways can be adopted to implement:

in a first mode, the eNB ID is represented by using a leftmost N-bit and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field of 8 bits occupied by a cell Global identifier ECGI of an original evolved terrestrial radio access network, where N is an integer greater than 1, and as a preferred embodiment, N may be 2 to 4.

And in the second mode, the eNB ID is represented by using the bit occupied by the original system information and a Global eNB ID field with 20 bits. Wherein the system information includes: tracking Area Code (TAC), Physical Cell identification information (PCI), and base station Name eNB Name.

In a third mode, the eNB ID is represented by a Global eNB ID field with a bit number greater than 20 bits, for example, the eNB ID is represented by a Global eNB ID field with a bit number of 22 to 24 bits, that is, the original 20-bit Global eNB ID field is changed into a 22-24-bit Global eNB ID field.

In the fourth mode, Extended eNB ID fields with 4, 8 and 16 bits and Global eNB ID fields with 20 bits are used to represent the eNB ID information. Wherein the Extended eNB ID field is located to the left of the Global eNB ID field.

In the embodiment of the invention, in an LTE network, the method for expanding the number of base stations supported by the network, the base stations, the terminal and the core network device provided by the embodiment of the invention are provided, wherein in the LTE network, a first base station acquires an eNB ID of the first base station; a first base station sends an eNB ID of the first base station to a second base station, a terminal or core network equipment, wherein the bit position occupied by the eNB ID is more than 20 bits; in this way, the number of base stations supported by the LTE network can be expanded.

Example two

Based on the foregoing first embodiment, the embodiment of the present invention is to design a protocol for the situation that there is a limitation on the eNB ID of the current network side, so as to meet the sustainable development requirement of the future operator. The embodiment of the invention provides a main scheme which comprises the following steps:

scheme 1: borrow the bit number occupied by ECGI.

In the prior art, the ECGI occupies 8 bits in total; in the embodiment of the present invention, the leftmost 2 to 4 of the 8 bits occupied by the ECGI are allocated to the eNB ID for use. The advantage of this scheme 1 is that the old terminal can read the ECGI; here, the old terminal refers to a terminal before the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention is adopted, and correspondingly, the new terminal refers to a terminal after the technical solution of the present invention is adopted.

The disadvantage of the scheme 1 is that the number of cells supported by the same eNB is reduced, which may have a certain impact on deployment scenarios such as Home evolved Node bs (henbs). In addition, the problem of scheme 1 is that from the core network perspective, two cells with the same eNB ID should belong to the same eNB, and the S1/X2 interface establishment is based on the eNB ID, so that it is easy to confuse the neighboring enbs and MMEs. In TS36.413/TS36.423, taking the leftmost 4 bits as an example, the specific modifications to the protocol are shown in table 1:

TABLE 1

It should be noted that, in table 1 above and tables 2 and 3 below, in order to correspond to the 3GPP standard, an english description is adopted, and for the corresponding chinese, reference may be made to the description in parentheses. For a more detailed description, please refer to the relevant 3GPP standard. The bit stream (28) refers to the number of bits occupied by the Home eNB ID, the Global eNB ID is represented by a 20-bit field in the prior art, in the embodiment of the present invention, the Global eNB ID is represented by a 24-bit field in the prior art, and the Home eNB ID is equal to the Cell ID and is 28 bits, so that one Home eNB only supports one Cell (Cell).

The following describes technical solution 1 of the present invention by using an X2 interface establishment procedure and a base station and core network MME interaction procedure, and specifically,

1) an interaction process between base stations, for example, a process established between base stations by using an X2 interface; fig. 2-1 is a first schematic diagram of an X2 interface establishment procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2-1, the procedure includes:

step 201, a base station A sends an X2 interface establishment request to a base station B, wherein the X2 interface establishment request comprises 24-bit eNB ID information of the base station A;

step 202, the base station B analyzes the X2 interface establishment request to obtain the ID information of the 24-bit base station A and the ID information of the 28-bit cell;

here, the analysis procedure of the base station B is mainly to determine to which base station the X2 interface establishment response needs to be initiated, and it should be noted that the cell ID information in the macro base station is 28 bits because the cell ID information and the HeNB ID are equal.

Step 203, the base station B sends an X2 interface establishment response to the base station a, wherein the X2 interface establishment response includes 24-bit eNB ID information of the base station B;

in step 204, the base station a parses 24-bit eNB ID information and 28-bit cell ID information.

2) The base station and core network MME interaction flows, such as S1 interface establishment, handover flow, SON related flow, which are described herein by taking a handover request flow as an example. Fig. 2-2 is a first schematic diagram illustrating a handover request process according to a second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2-2, the process includes:

step 211, the base station a sends an S1 interface message, such as a handover request message, to the MME a, where the message includes the 24-bit ID information of the target base station B;

step 212, the MME resolves the 24-bit eNB ID information and addresses the corresponding base station;

step 213, MME sends S1 interface message, such as handover request message, to base station B;

step 214, the base station B feeds back a handover confirmation message to the MME;

step 215, the base station B sends S1 handover response message to the MME;

in step 216, the MME sends a handover command message to base station a.

Scheme 2, directly extending the eNB ID field or extending the number of the eNB IDs by using an extension field; specifically, the scheme 2 includes the following schemes.

Scheme 2-1, the eNB ID field is directly extended. Specifically, the eNB ID field is directly extended to 22 to 24 bits in the standard, so that the base station deployment requirements of 400 to 1600 ten thousand under the same Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) can be met. The scheme 2-1 has the advantages that: is simple and clear. The drawback of this scheme 2-1 is that compatibility is poor, an old terminal cannot read the ECGI, for example, the ECGI is extended to 24 bits, and a specific modification is shown in table 2, where the Cell ID that can be supported by a single base station is not changed.

TABLE 2

In the process related to the scheme 2-1, the processes of the X2 interface and the S1 interface are similar to the processes of the X2 interface and the S1 interface in the above scheme 1, and therefore, the description is omitted. Next, a broadcast flow in the scheme 2-1 is introduced, and fig. 2-3 are schematic broadcast flows according to a second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2-3, the broadcast flow includes:

step 221, the base station sends a broadcast message to the terminal;

here, the broadcast message carries J bits of cell ID information, where the first Q bits in the cell ID information represent the eNB ID of the first base station, where J is an integer greater than 20, Q is an integer greater than 20, and J is greater than Q, for example, the broadcast message includes 32 bits of cell ID information of the eNB ID information, the first 24 bits in the 32 bits of cell ID information are eNB ID information, and the last 8 bits are ECGI;

step 222, the terminal receives the broadcast message;

for example, 32-bit cell ID information is included in the broadcast message.

Scheme 2-2, eNB ID is extended using existing information. Specifically, using existing system information, unique determination of eNB in the network, such as eNB ID + TAC, eNB ID + PCI, eNB ID + eNB Name, etc., is implemented by the MME or eNB. The disadvantage of this scheme 2-2 is that it is difficult to ensure the uniqueness of the whole network in other existing systems such as TAC, PCI, eNB Name. According to the scheme, the existing protocol and the existing flow are not required to be modified, and the eNB information is distinguished by matching the existing eNB ID with other information.

Scheme 2-3, new eNB ID extension bits are used.

The number of existing eNB ID bits is kept as it is, and eNB ID extension is performed using extension bits, where the extension mode is as follows, that is, Extended eNB ID is added to Global eNB ID definition, and specific number of bits is 4 bits, 8 bits, or 16 bits, as shown in table 3:

TABLE 3

It should be noted that there are the following items:

1) when the air interface ECGI broadcasts or the terminal reports, the ECGI is added into the corresponding information, such as SIB 2. Or the air interface ECGI still broadcasts the 28-bit ECGI, and the eNB adds the Extended eNB ID through the implementation mode.

2) The Extended eNB ID may be placed on the leftmost side of the Global eNB ID, i.e. in the form "Extended eNB ID + Global eNB ID". The Extended eNB ID in table 3 is optional, i.e. in the PLMN, the IE is sent if needed, and if the number of enbs is not large enough, the IE may be selected not to be sent.

3) If the neighboring base station or core network MME does not recognize the IE, an error may occur, and therefore the neighboring base station or core network MME needs to be upgraded. The identification form of the Cell ID at the empty port is 28-bit ECGI, if the terminal is an old terminal, the original 28-bit old Cell ID is still read, the original 28-bit old Cell ID is still reported during reporting, and the MME/eNB realizes processing according to the method; if the terminal is a new terminal, reading 28-bit Cell ID + extension bit, wherein the extension bit is designed as an independent IE; in the following two cases, a) for the 28-bit ECGI reported by the old terminal, determining the potentially ambiguous eNB by reporting the TAC used by the eNB in the geographic area, that is, the MME or eNB confirms the geographic area of the target base station by the TAI used by the terminal source base station: if the TAI used by the base station and the source base station in the base stations with the same ECGI are the same, selecting the base station as a target base station; and if none of the base stations with the same ECGI is the same as the source base station TAI, selecting the base station in the TAI adjacent to the source base station TAI as the target base station. Deployment requirements are as follows: different eNB IDs of different eNBs in adjacent TAIs need to be ensured to be different in deployment; b) and the base station finds that the reported terminal is an old terminal, and refuses the access of the terminal if confirming that other old versions of eNB cover the periphery.

The following takes an X2 procedure for adding a 4-bit Extended eNB ID as an example to describe the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 2 to 4 are schematic diagrams two of the establishment procedures of a second X2 interface of the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2 to 4, the procedures include:

231, the base station a sends an X2 interface establishment request to the base station B, wherein the X2 interface establishment request includes 4-bit Extended eNB ID information;

here, step 231 is exemplified by 4 bits, and in general, the Extended eNB ID field may include I bits in the X2 interface setup request, where I is an integer greater than or equal to 1, for example, I is 4, 8, or 16 bits.

Step 232, the base station B analyzes 20 bit eNB ID information and 4 bit Extended eNB ID information;

step 233, the base station B sends an X2 interface establishment response to the base station a, wherein the X2 interface establishment response includes 4-bit Extended eNB ID information;

step 234, the base station B analyzes the 20-bit eNB ID information and the 4-bit Extended eNB ID information;

the following takes an S1 procedure of adding a 4-bit Extended eNB ID as an example to describe the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 2 to 5 are schematic diagrams of a handover request procedure of a second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2 to 5, the procedure includes:

step 241, the base station a sends an S1 interface message, such as a handover request message, to the MME a, where the handover request message includes Extended eNB ID information with 4 bits;

step 242, the MME parses 20-bit eNB ID information and 4-bit extended eNB ID information and addresses the corresponding eNB;

step 243, MME sends S1 interface message, such as handover request message, to base station B;

step 244, the base station B feeds back a handover confirmation message to the MME, where the handover confirmation message is used to indicate that the handover procedure is confirmed;

step 245, the base station B sends S1 handover response message to the MME;

step 246, the MME sends a handover command message to the base station a, where the handover command message is used to instruct the base station a to perform handover.

The following takes an air interface broadcast flow for adding a 4-bit Extended eNB ID as an example to describe the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 2 to 6 are schematic diagrams of a second air interface broadcast flow of the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2 to 6, the flow includes:

step 251, the base station broadcasts new cell ID information containing Extended eNB ID information;

in step 252, the terminal receives new cell ID information including Extended eNB ID information.

EXAMPLE III

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network, where the method is applied to a terminal or a core network device, where the core network device may refer to a Mobility Management Entity (MME), and fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation process of a method for expanding the number of base stations supported by a network according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

step 301, receiving base station identification information eNB ID of a first base station or a second base station sent by a first base station, wherein the bit position occupied by the eNB ID is greater than 20 bits;

step 302, addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

It should be noted that, all the steps 301 to 302 may be completed by a terminal, or all the steps 301 to 302 may be completed by a core network device.

Example four

Based on the foregoing method embodiments, an embodiment of the present invention provides a base station, where an obtaining unit, a sending unit, a receiving unit, an analyzing unit, and an addressing unit in the base station may all be implemented by a processor in the base station; of course, the implementation can also be realized through a specific logic circuit; in the course of a particular embodiment, the processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Microprocessor (MPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or the like.

Fig. 4-1 is a schematic structural diagram of a four-base station according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4-1, the base station 400 includes an obtaining unit 401 and a sending unit 402, where:

the acquiring unit 401 is configured to acquire an eNB ID of the eNB in the LTE network;

the sending unit 402 is configured to send an eNB ID to a second base station, a terminal, or a core network device, where bits occupied by the eNB ID are greater than 20 bits.

Here, the eNB ID occupies bits of 22 to 36.

In the embodiment of the invention, the eNB ID is represented by using the leftmost N bits and the 20-bit Global eNB ID fields of the 8 bits occupied by the original ECGI, wherein N is an integer greater than 1.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the sending unit is configured to send an X2 interface establishment request to a second base station, where the X2 interface establishment request includes an eNB ID of the first base station.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4-2, the base station 400 further includes a receiving unit 411, an analyzing unit 412, and an addressing unit 413, where:

the receiving unit 411 is configured to receive an X2 interface setup response sent by the second base station, where the X2 interface setup response includes 22 to 24-bit eNB ID of the second base station;

the parsing unit 412 is configured to parse the 22 to 24-bit eNB ID of the second base station;

the addressing unit 413 is configured to address the corresponding base station according to the 22 to 24-bit eNB ID of the second base station.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the sending unit is further configured to send an S1 handover request message to a core network device, where the S1 handover request message includes an eNB ID of a target base station;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a handover command message sent by the core network device, where the handover command message carries an S1 handover response message sent by the target base station.

In the embodiment of the invention, the eNB ID is represented by a bit occupied by the original system information and a Global eNB ID field with 20 bits. Wherein the eNB ID is represented by a Global eNB ID field with a bit number greater than 20 bits, for example, 22 or 24 bits.

Here, the sending unit is further configured to send a broadcast message to a terminal, where the broadcast message carries J bits of cell ID information, where the first Q bits in the cell ID information represent an eNB ID of the first base station, J is an integer greater than 20, Q is an integer greater than 20, and J is greater than Q; for example, the sending unit sends a broadcast message to the terminal, where the broadcast message carries 32 bits of cell ID information, and the first 22 to 24 bits of the 32 bits of cell ID information represent the eNB ID of the first base station.

In the embodiment of the invention, an Extended eNB ID field with the bit number of I and a Global eNB ID field with the bit number of 20 are adopted to represent the eNB ID information, wherein I is an integer which is more than or equal to 1; for example, Extended eNB ID fields with 4, 8, 16 bits and Global eNB ID fields with 20 bits are used to represent the eNB ID information. Wherein the Extended eNB ID field is located to the left of the Global eNB ID field.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the sending unit is further configured to send an X2 interface establishment request to the second base station, where the X2 interface establishment request includes an Extended eNB ID field and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field, and the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field are combined to represent the eNB ID of the first base station.

Here, the base station further comprises a receiving unit, a parsing unit, and an addressing unit, wherein:

the receiving unit is configured to receive an X2 interface setup response sent by the second base station, where the X2 interface setup response includes an Extended eNB ID field and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field, and the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field are used to represent 22-24-bit eNB IDs of the second base station;

the analyzing unit is used for analyzing the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field to obtain the eNB ID of the second base station;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the second base station.

Here, the sending unit is further configured to send an S1 handover request message to a core network device, where the S1 handover request message includes an eNB ID of a target base station, and the eNB ID of the target base station is represented by an Extended eNB ID field and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field;

the receiving unit is configured to receive a handover command message sent by a core network device, where the handover command message carries an S1 handover response message sent by a target base station.

Here, it should be noted that: the above description of the base station embodiment is similar to the above description of the method embodiment, and has similar beneficial effects to the method embodiment, and therefore, the description is omitted. For technical details that are not disclosed in the embodiments of the base station of the present invention, please refer to the description of the embodiments of the method of the present invention for understanding, and therefore, for brevity, will not be described again.

EXAMPLE five

Based on the foregoing method embodiment, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal, where a receiving unit, an analyzing unit, and an addressing unit in the terminal may all be implemented by a processor in the terminal; of course, the implementation can also be realized through a specific logic circuit; in the course of a particular embodiment, the processor may be a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or the like. The terminal comprises a receiving unit, an analyzing unit and an addressing unit, wherein:

the receiving unit is configured to receive base station identification information eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station, where the bit occupied by the eNB ID is greater than 20 bits;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

Here, it should be noted that: the above description of the terminal embodiment is similar to the above description of the method embodiment, and has similar beneficial effects to the method embodiment, and therefore, the description is omitted. For technical details that are not disclosed in the terminal embodiment of the present invention, please refer to the description of the method embodiment of the present invention for understanding, and therefore, for brevity, will not be described again.

EXAMPLE six

Based on the foregoing method embodiment, an embodiment of the present invention provides a core network device, where a receiving unit, an analyzing unit, and an addressing unit in the core network device may all be implemented by a processor in the core network device; of course, the implementation can also be realized through a specific logic circuit; in the course of a particular embodiment, the processor may be a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or the like. The core network device comprises a receiving unit and an addressing unit, wherein:

the receiving unit is configured to receive an eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station, where the eNB ID is sent by the first base station, and bits occupied by the eNB ID are greater than 20 bits;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

Here, it should be noted that: the above description of the core network device embodiment is similar to the description of the above method embodiment, and has similar beneficial effects to the method embodiment, and therefore, the description is omitted here for brevity. For technical details that are not disclosed in the core network device embodiment of the present invention, please refer to the description of the method embodiment of the present invention for understanding, and therefore, for brevity, will not be described again.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one 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 phrases "in one 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. It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present invention, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned 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 on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. The above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, for example, the division of the unit is only a logical functional division, and there may be other division ways in actual implementation, such as: multiple units or components may be combined, or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not implemented. In addition, the coupling, direct coupling or communication connection between the components shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between the devices or units may be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

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; can be located in one place or distributed on a plurality of network units; some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, all the functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may be separately regarded as one unit, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit; the integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, or in a form of hardware plus a software functional unit.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: all or part of the steps for realizing the method embodiments can be completed by hardware related to program instructions, the program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the program executes the steps comprising the method embodiments when executed; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a removable Memory device, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Alternatively, the integrated unit of the present invention may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if it is implemented in the form of a software functional module and sold or used as a separate product. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention may be essentially implemented or a part contributing to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several 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 methods described in the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a removable storage device, a ROM, a magnetic or optical disk, or other various media that can store program code.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims (32)

1. A method for extending the number of base stations supported by a network, the method comprising:

in an LTE network, a first base station acquires self base station identification information eNB ID;

the first base station sends the eNB ID of the first base station to a second base station, a terminal or core network equipment, and the bit occupied by the eNB ID is larger than a standard threshold;

the number of eNB ID is expanded by borrowing the bit number occupied by the cell global identifier (ECGI) of the evolved terrestrial radio access network, or by using an expansion field, or by expanding the eNB ID field.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the standard threshold is greater than or equal to 20 bits, and wherein the bits occupied by the eNB ID are 22 to 36 bits correspondingly.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the eNB ID is represented by a Global eNB ID field of leftmost N bits and 20 bits of 8 bits occupied by an original ECGI, wherein N is an integer greater than 1.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first base station sends an X2 interface setup request to a second base station, and wherein the eNB ID of the first base station is included in the X2 interface setup request.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

the second base station sends an X2 interface establishment response to the first base station, wherein the X2 interface establishment response comprises the eNB ID of the second base station;

and the first base station analyzes the eNB ID of the second base station and addresses the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the second base station.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the first base station sends an S1 handover request message to a core network device, and wherein the S1 handover request message includes the eNB ID of 22 to 24 bits of the target base station;

the first base station receives a handover command message sent by core network equipment, wherein the handover command message carries an S1 handover response message sent by a target base station.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the eNB ID is represented by bits occupied by some information in original system information and a Global eNB ID field of 20 bits.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the system information comprises: tracking area code TAC, identification information PCI of physical cell and base station Name eNB Name.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the eNB ID is represented by a Global eNB ID field with a number of bits greater than 20.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first base station sends a broadcast message to a terminal, and wherein the broadcast message carries J bits of cell ID information, and wherein the first Q bits in the cell ID information represent an eNB ID of the first base station, wherein J is an integer greater than 20, Q is an integer greater than 20, and J is greater than Q.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the eNB ID information is represented by an Extended eNB ID field with a bit number of I bits and a Global eNB ID field with a bit number of 20 bits, wherein I is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the Extended eNB ID field is located to the left of the Global eNB ID field.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the first base station sends an X2 interface setup request to the second base station, and wherein the X2 interface setup request includes an Extended eNB ID field and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field, and wherein the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field are jointly used to indicate the eNB ID of the first base station.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

the second base station sends an X2 interface establishment response to the first base station, wherein the X2 interface establishment response comprises an Extended eNB ID field and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field, and the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field are used for representing 22-24-bit eNB IDs of the second base station;

and the first base station analyzes the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field to obtain the eNB ID of the second base station, and addresses the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the second base station.

15. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the first base station sends S1 handover request message to a core network device, the S1 handover request message includes eNB ID of a target base station, and the eNB ID of the target base station is represented by Extended eNB ID field and 20-bit Global eNB ID field;

the first base station receives a handover command message sent by core network equipment, wherein the handover command message carries an S1 handover response message sent by a target base station.

16. A method for extending the number of base stations supported by a network, the method comprising:

a terminal or core network equipment receives base station identification information eNB ID of a first base station or a second base station, wherein the base station identification information eNB ID is sent by the first base station, and the bit position occupied by the eNB ID is larger than a standard threshold value; the method comprises the steps that the bit number occupied by a cell global identifier (ECGI) of an evolved terrestrial radio access network is borrowed, or the number of eNB IDs is expanded by using an expansion field, or the eNB ID field is expanded;

and the terminal or the core network equipment addresses the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

17. A base station, characterized in that a first base station comprises an acquisition unit and a transmission unit, wherein:

the acquiring unit is used for the first base station to acquire the self base station identification information eNB ID;

the sending unit is configured to send the eNB ID to a second base station, a terminal, or a core network device in an LTE network, where bits occupied by the eNB ID are greater than a standard threshold; the number of eNB ID is expanded by borrowing the bit number occupied by the cell global identifier (ECGI) of the evolved terrestrial radio access network, or by using an expansion field, or by expanding the eNB ID field.

18. The base station of claim 17, wherein the eNB ID has 22 to 36 bits.

19. The base station of claim 17, wherein the eNB ID is represented by a leftmost N bits of 8 bits occupied by a cell Global identifier ECGI of an original evolved terrestrial radio access network and a Global eNB ID field of 20 bits, wherein N is an integer greater than 1.

20. The base station of claim 19, wherein the sending unit is configured to send an X2 interface setup request to a second base station, and wherein the eNB ID of the first base station is included in the X2 interface setup request.

21. The base station of claim 20, further comprising a receiving unit, a parsing unit, and an addressing unit, wherein:

the receiving unit is configured to receive an X2 interface establishment response sent by the second base station, where the X2 interface establishment response includes an eNB ID of the second base station;

the analysis unit is configured to analyze the eNB ID of the second base station;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the second base station.

22. The base station of claim 21, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send an S1 handover request message to a core network device, and the S1 handover request message includes an eNB ID of a target base station;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a handover command message sent by the core network device, where the handover command message carries an S1 handover response message sent by the target base station.

23. The base station of claim 17, wherein the eNB ID is represented by bits occupied by original system information and a Global eNB ID field of 20 bits.

24. The base station of claim 17, wherein the eNB ID is represented by a Global eNB ID field with a number of bits greater than 20 bits.

25. The base station of claim 24, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send a broadcast message to a terminal, and the broadcast message carries cell ID information with J bits, where the first Q bits in the cell ID information represent an eNB ID of the first base station, J is an integer greater than 20, Q is an integer greater than 20, and J is greater than Q.

26. The base station of claim 17, wherein the eNB ID information is represented by an Extended eNB ID field with a bit number of I bits and a Global eNB ID field with a bit number of 20 bits, wherein I is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

27. The base station of claim 26, wherein the Extended eNB ID field is located to the left of the Global eNB ID field.

28. The base station of claim 26 or 27, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send an X2 interface setup request to the second base station, and the X2 interface setup request includes an Extended eNB ID field and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field, and the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field are jointly used to represent the eNB ID of the first base station.

29. The base station of claim 28, wherein the base station further comprises a receiving unit, a parsing unit, and an addressing unit, wherein:

the receiving unit is configured to receive an X2 interface setup response sent by the second base station, where the X2 interface setup response includes an Extended eNB ID field and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field, and the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field are used to represent an eNB ID of the second base station;

the analyzing unit is used for analyzing the Extended eNB ID field and the 20-bit Global eNB ID field to obtain the eNB ID of the second base station;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the second base station.

30. The base station of claim 29, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send an S1 handover request message to a core network device, the S1 handover request message includes an eNB ID of a target base station, and the eNB ID of the target base station is represented by an Extended eNB ID field and a 20-bit Global eNB ID field;

the receiving unit is configured to receive a handover command message sent by a core network device, where the handover command message carries an S1 handover response message sent by a target base station.

31. A terminal, characterized in that the terminal comprises a receiving unit and an addressing unit, wherein:

the receiving unit is configured to receive base station identification information eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station, where the base station identification information eNB ID is sent by the first base station, and bits occupied by the eNB ID are greater than a standard threshold;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

32. A core network device, characterized in that the core network device comprises a receiving unit and an addressing unit, wherein:

the receiving unit is configured to receive base station identification information eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station, where the base station identification information eNB ID is sent by the first base station, and bits occupied by the eNB ID are greater than a standard threshold;

the addressing unit is used for addressing the corresponding base station according to the eNB ID of the first base station or the second base station.

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