WO2014187379A1

WO2014187379A1 - Method, network equipment, and user equipment for seamless switching between cellular and wifi networks

Info

Publication number: WO2014187379A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/078636
Authority: WO
Inventors: 侯晓辉
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2013-12-31
Filing date: 2014-05-28
Publication date: 2014-11-27
Also published as: CN104754661A

Abstract

Disclosed are a method, network equipment, and user equipment (UE) for implementing seamless switching between cellular and WiFi networks. The method comprises: a cellular network transmits a broadcast message, the broadcast message carrying the description information of a neighboring WiFi; according to a received measurement result, the cellular network makes a judgment and controls the UE to access the seamless switching between the cellular network and the WiFi network.

Description

Method for seamlessly switching between cellular and WiFi networks, network equipment and user equipment

The present invention relates to a network switching technology, and in particular, to a method, a network device, and a user equipment for implementing seamless handover between a cellular (cellular) network and a WiFi network. Background technique

In the process of implementing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, at least the following technical problems exist in the prior art:

With the popularity of smart phones, the rate of data transmission is becoming higher and higher. Wireless communication based on the conventional cell concept cannot meet the data communication requirements of users. That is, the user equipment (UE) cannot be met through the Cellular network. Into the demand, therefore, WiFi communication technology has received more and more attention due to its high-speed transmission rate. However, Cellular and WiFi are currently deployed separately. There is not much connection between them. Cellular and WiFi cannot be seamlessly switched. There is no way to integrate Cellular and WiFi well, so that UE access can be achieved in the Cellular network. Seamless handover to the WiFi network, select the appropriate network to achieve UE access.

Currently, when UE access is switched between Cellular and WiFi, the UE selects the access network (Cellular or WiFi) when the UE accesses, that is, the UE actively and manually selects the access control selection. , and can't adaptively choose the network. If the network side can perform active control and the UE controls the access mode, the UE can adaptively select the network to implement seamless handover of the UE access between the Cellular and WiFi networks. In the prior art, there is no effective solution to this problem. Summary of the invention

In view of this, the embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method, a network device, and a UE for implementing seamless handover between a Cellular network and a WiFi network, so that the UE can adaptively select a network and implement the UE. Access seamlessly between Cellular and WiFi networks.

The embodiment of the invention implements a method for seamlessly switching between a cellular network and a WiFi network, and the method includes:

The cellular Cellular network sends a broadcast message, where the broadcast message carries the WiFi neighboring area description information; the Cellular network determines according to the received measurement result, and controls the user equipment UE to access the seamless handover between the Cellular network and the WiFi network. .

Preferably, the Cellular network determines, according to the received measurement result, the UE to control the seamless handover between the Cellular network and the WiFi network, including:

The Cellular network monitors its own network load, the uplink and downlink transmission rate, and the acquired WiFi network load condition, and combines the measurement results to determine, and controls the UE to seamlessly switch from the Cellular network to the WiFi network;

The measurement result at least includes: a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the target access point AP in the WiFi network, and a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the Cellular network.

Preferably, the controlling UE accesses the seamless handover between the Cellular network and the WiFi network, and specifically includes:

The Cellular network sends a handover command, and the WiFi network actively initiates a handover of the UE access, and the UE accesses the WiFi network after responding to the WiFi network; or

The Cellular network sends a handover command, and the UE itself initiates a handover of the UE access, and the WiFi network responds to the UE, allowing the UE to access the WiFi network.

The user equipment UE receives the broadcast message, and obtains the WiFi neighboring area description information from the broadcast message. The UE obtains the target access point AP of the WiFi neighboring area according to the WiFi neighboring area description information, and performs measurement on the target AP. Measuring the Cellular network in which the UE is located;

The measurement result obtained by measuring the target AP and the Cellular network is reported; the measurement result is used for seamless switching between the Cellular network and the WiFi network by the Cellular network control UE. Preferably, the measurement result at least includes: a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the target access point AP in the WiFi network, and a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the Cellular network.

Preferably, the UE obtains the target access point AP of the WiFi neighboring area according to the WiFi neighboring area description information, and performs measurement on the target AP, specifically:

When the target AP is measured, the WiFi neighboring cell description information carried in the frame sent by the target AP is obtained from the target AP;

Matching the WiFi neighboring cell description information carried in the target AP sending frame with the WiFi neighboring cell description information obtained from the broadcast message, and screening the actual measurement object from the target AP; When the information is successfully matched, the AP that successfully matches is continuously measured as the actual measurement object.

The network device of the embodiment of the present invention, the network device includes:

The sending unit is configured to send a broadcast message, where the broadcast message carries the WiFi neighboring area description information, and the control unit is configured to determine, according to the received measurement result, to control the user equipment UE to access between the Cellular network and the WiFi network. Seamless switching.

Preferably, the control unit further includes:

The determining subunit is configured to monitor the network load of the Cellular network itself, the uplink and downlink transmission rate, and the acquired WiFi network load condition, and determine the UE to access the seamless handover from the Cellular network to the WiFi network.

Preferably, the control unit further includes:

After the switching control sub-unit is configured to send the handover command to the Cellular network, the WiFi network actively initiates the handover of the UE access, and the UE accesses the WiFi network after responding to the WiFi network; or, after the Cellular network issues the handover command, The UE itself initiates a handover of the UE access, and the WiFi network responds to the UE, allowing the UE to access the WiFi network.

The sending unit, the control unit, the determining subunit, and the switching control subunit are When performing processing, it can be implemented by a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP, Digital Singna! Processor), or a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).

The user equipment of the embodiment of the present invention, where the user equipment includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a broadcast message, obtain a WiFi neighboring cell description signal measuring unit from the broadcast message, configured to obtain a target access point AP of the WiFi neighboring cell according to the WiFi neighboring cell description information, to the target AP Performing a measurement to measure a Cellular network in which the UE is located; a reporting unit configured to report measurement results obtained by measuring the target AP and the Cellular network; the measurement result is used for Cellular network control UE access in Cellular Seamless switching between the network and the WiFi network.

Preferably, the measurement result at least includes: a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the target access point AP in the WiFi network, and a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the Cellular network.

Preferably, the measuring unit further includes:

Obtaining a sub-unit, configured to acquire, according to the target AP, the WiFi neighboring area description information carried in the frame sent by the target AP from the target AP;

The matching subunit is configured to match the WiFi neighboring area description information carried in the target AP sending frame with the WiFi neighboring area description information obtained from the broadcast message, and select an actual measurement object from the target AP. ;

The measurement subunit is configured to continue to perform measurement when the WiFi neighboring area description information is successfully matched, and the successfully matched AP is used as the actual measurement object.

The receiving unit, the measuring unit, the reporting unit, the obtaining subunit, the matching subunit, and the measuring subunit may use a central processing unit (CPU) when performing processing. Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The method of the embodiment of the present invention includes: the Cellular network sends a broadcast message, where the broadcast message carries the WiFi neighboring area description information; the Cellular network determines according to the measurement result, and controls the UE to access between the Cellular network and the WiFi network. Sew switch. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the broadcast message carries the WiFi neighboring area description information, so that the UE can learn the target access point (AP, Acess Point) in the WiFi neighboring area that needs to be measured according to the WiFi neighboring area description information, and The measurement results measured by the target AP and the Cellular network are reported to the Cellular network for handover control, so that the Cellular network judges according to the received measurement result, and controls the UE to seamlessly switch between the Cellular network and the WiFi network. DRAWINGS

1 is a flowchart of a network side method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart of a user equipment side method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention:

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a fusion of WiFi and Cellular according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

6 is a schematic diagram of an interface relationship between a WLAN access and a core network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a schematic diagram of sending a BSSID in a WiFi cell according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a WLAN actively initiating a UE access handover according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which a UE actively initiates an own access handover according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The implementation of the technical solution will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE seamlessly switches between the Cellular network and the WiFi network as an example. Currently, Cellular and WiFi cannot be seamlessly switched, and there is no way to integrate Cellular and WiFi well, Cellular and WiFi. There is no connection between them, and they are deployed separately. Currently, the choice of the network is artificially selected on the UE, and is controlled by the UE. The UE needs to search for the WiFi periodic broadcast message to know the WiFi information, so that the UE can select a suitable network. Achieve access, that is, currently unable Seamlessly switch between Cellular network and WiFi network, adaptively provide the right network to

The UE needs to manually perform network selection by the UE to implement UE access. Embodiments of the present invention can be solved for this problem.

As for the network side, a method for seamlessly switching between a cellular network and a WiFi network is provided in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the method includes:

Step 101: The Cellular network sends a broadcast message, where the broadcast message carries the WiFi neighboring area description information.

Here, the WiFi neighboring area description information may be a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) or a Service Set Identifier (SSID). Preferably, the BSSID is used. The following are described by BSSID, but it should be pointed out that this article can also be implemented by changing the BSSID to SSID. The benefits of BSSID over SSID are: You can identify the physical address.

Step 102: The Cellular network determines, according to the received measurement result, the UE to control seamless handover between the Cellular network and the WiFi network.

Here, the Cellular network monitors its own network load, uplink and downlink transmission rate, and acquired

The WiFi network load condition is combined with the measurement result to determine that the UE accesses seamless handover between the Cellular network and the WiFi network. For example, when the Cellular network load is high, or the uplink/downlink transmission rate of the UE in the Cellular network is relatively low, the UE is switched from the original resident Cellular network to the WiFi network; when the WiFi network load is high, or the UE is in the WiFi network In the case where the line transmission rate is relatively low, the UE is switched back to the original resident Cellular network by the WiFi network.

The measurement result at least includes: a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the target AP in the WiFi network, and a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the Cellular network. The measurement results obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the target AP in the WiFi network include: the signal strength of the WiFi signal (or the power of the WiFi signal), the signal to interference and noise ratio, and the like. The downlink physical measurements of the Cellular network include: the signal strength of the Cellular network signal (or the power of the Cellular network signal), the signal-to-noise ratio, and the bit error rate.

The measurement result may also include an access level of the UE. For the UE side, a method for seamlessly switching between a cellular network and a WiFi network is provided in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes:

Step 201: The UE receives a broadcast message, and obtains WiFi neighboring area description information from the broadcast message. Step 202: The UE obtains a target AP of the WiFi neighboring area according to the WiFi neighboring area description information, performs measurement on the target AP, and performs measurement on the Cellular network where the UE is located.

Step 203: The measurement result obtained by measuring the target AP and the Cellular network is reported; the measurement result is used by the Cellular network control UE to access seamless handover between the Cellular network and the WiFi network.

For controlling the UE to access seamless handover between the Cellular network and the WiFi network, for example, when the Cellular network load is high, or the UE has a relatively low uplink and downlink transmission rate of the Cellular network, the UE is originally resident. The Cellular network switches to the WiFi network. When the WiFi network load is high, or the UE transmits the uplink and downlink transmission rates of the WiFi network at a relatively low rate, the UE is switched back to the original Cellular network by the WiFi network.

Here, the measurement result at least includes: a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the target AP in the WiFi network, and a measurement result obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the Cellular network. The measurement results obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the target AP in the WiFi network include: the signal strength of the WiFi signal (or the power of the WiFi signal), the signal to interference and noise ratio, and the like. The measurement results obtained by performing downlink physical measurement on the Cellular network include: the signal strength of the Cellular network signal (or the power of the Cellular network signal), the signal-to-noise ratio, and the bit error rate.

The measurement result may also include an access level of the UE.

On the network side, the network device of the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the network device includes: a sending unit 11 configured to send a broadcast message, where the broadcast message carries WiFi neighboring area description information; 12, configured to determine according to the received measurement result, and control user equipment UE to access seamless handover between the Cellular network and the WiFi network.

As shown in FIG. 4, the UE includes: a receiving unit 21 configured to receive a broadcast message, and obtain WiFi neighboring cell description information from the broadcast message; And configured to obtain a target access point of the WiFi neighboring area according to the WiFi neighboring area description information. The AP performs measurement on the target AP, and performs measurement on the Cellular network where the UE is located; the reporting unit 23 is configured to report the measurement result obtained by measuring the target AP and the Cellular network; the measurement result is used for The Cellular network controls UEs to seamlessly switch between Cellular networks and WiFi networks.

The beneficial effects of using the embodiments of the present invention are:

In order to achieve the convergence of WiFi and Cellular, it is very important to adaptively select the network. Currently, the UE's selection of the network is manually set. In the embodiment of the present invention, the network controls the selection of the access mode by the UE. For this reason, WiFi and Cellular The concept of the WiFi neighboring area needs to be configured, and the switching scheme of the embodiment of the present invention can carry the connection between the Cellular network and the WiFi network by using the WiFi neighboring area description information in the broadcast message sent by the Cellular network, thereby establishing Cellular. Integrating with the WiFi network, based on the measurement result reported by the UE, the network control realizes the seamless handover of the UE accessing the Cellular network to the WiFi network, which is a network side control of the UE access. When the UE performs data services, it does not need to manually select the network, thereby achieving deep integration of Cellular and WiFi.

Preferably, the UE obtains the WiFi neighboring cell description information of the target AP by using the message broadcast by the Cellular network, such as the BSSID, and the UE only needs to measure the AP of the BSSID mentioned in the broadcast message list, and reports the measurement result to the UE. Cellular, provides measurement information for Cellular's control. See Figure 5. The solution is based on the tight coupling of WiFi and Cellular. The WL AN access network shown in Figure 5 is a WiFi network, and the Cellular network can be 2G, 3G, 4G. WiFi is controlled by the core network, which complements WiFi and Cellular to better serve users.

Preferably, the WiFi neighboring cell description information carried by the Cellular in the periodically sent system message is a description of the WiFi neighboring cell BSSID, which can be sent to the UE in the form of a broadcast message, and the UE refers to the broadcast message list in real time. The received signal strength of the WiFi signal sent by the AP of the BSSID is measured in real time, and the UE also measures the downlink measurement information of the Cellualr where the UE is located, and the measurement information is reported to the Cellular through the measurement report, due to the network load of the Cellular on the cell, the uplink and the downlink The transmission rate and the like are mastered. Cellular analyzes and processes the information and the measurement report reported by the UE, and can flexibly schedule the UE. The Cellular service is busy (Cellular is on the network of the cell). When the network load is higher than the upper limit of the preset load threshold, or when the Cellular access level of the UE is relatively low (the access level is lower than the preset level threshold), or the uplink and downlink transmission rate of the UE in Cellular is relatively low (up and down) When the line transmission rate is lower than the preset rate threshold, the Cellular initiative initiates a handover command to require the UE to switch from the resident Cellular network to the WiFi network for data offloading. At the same time, the BSC, RNC or eNodeB directly establishes contact with the WLAN controller.

The embodiments of the present invention are specifically described.

1. The WiFi of the embodiment of the present invention adopts a tightly coupled manner. As shown in FIG. 5, WiFi traverses the core network of the operator. The interface between the WLAN and the core network is shown in Figure 6. The AAA server is the server responsible for security and authentication authentication of the 3gpp core network, the PGW/SGSN is the data media gateway, the MME is the mobile control entity, and the PDN is the external data network. CN is a generic term for entities such as AAA, MME, and PGW/SGSN, and CN refers to the core network. The AP and 3gpp AAA servers are interconnected through a standardized Sta interface. The WLAN gateway is interconnected through the S2a interface and the PGW/SGSN. The S6b is a standardized interface between the AAA server and the PGW/SGSN. The core network obtains the neighbor relationship of the WiFi through the S2a interface, and obtains application information such as authentication and encryption of the corresponding WiFi cell through Sta.

2. The base station sends a periodic broadcast message, which includes the information BSSID of the WiFi neighboring cell. Here

The GSM system is taken as an example to elaborate on the specific implementation, and other systems are similar. The broadcast message of the GSM system in the connected state is SYSTEM INFORMATION TYPE 5, which is broadcasted on the SACCH. The message structure is shown in Table 1 below. Table 1 shows the contents of the broadcast message SYSTEM INFORMATION TYPE 5 message. In the embodiment of the present invention, in order to introduce the WiFi neighboring area description information, a new WiFi neighboring cell relationship needs to be introduced in the message structure of the table 1 to increase the description of the WiFi neighboring cell, as shown in Table 2, and Table 2 illustrates that the broadcast message considers WiFi. The contents of the SYSTEM INFORMATION TYPE 5 message. The BSSID is the cell identity of the WiFi. The UE can obtain the BSSID of the corresponding AP through the beacon frame transmitted by the AP. The detailed beacon frame transmission is shown in Figure 7. The beacon sends periodically, and the BSSID is sent on the beacon frame. After obtaining the BSSID, the UE needs to determine whether it is the neighboring area that needs to be measured. If yes, the measurement of the third step is performed. If not, no processing is performed.

3. The UE performs real-time measurement of downlink receiving power or measurement of signal to interference and noise ratio of the WiFi network according to the broadcast message sent by the Cellular, and the UE performs physical layer measurement on the downlink of the service Cellular, mainly power, signal to noise ratio, Bit error rate, etc.

4. The UE reports the measurements of these Cellular and WLAN neighbors through the Cellular uplink channel. 5. Cellular monitors its own network load, user scheduling, uplink and downlink transmission rate, etc. Cellular knows the load of the WiFi network through the core network.

6. Cellular implements the measurement of the uplink of the UE, and then integrates the information reported by the UE to determine whether the UE continues to reside in the Cellular or switches to the most suitable AP. For example, if the Celluar network has a high load and the UE has a higher downlink receiving level for an AP and a lower WiFi load, the UE can be switched to the AP of the BSSID.

The embodiments of the present invention are described in terms of specific application scenarios.

Application scenario 1: The WLAN actively initiates the handover of the UE access, as shown in FIG. 8, including:

Step 301: The Cellular sends a broadcast message, where the message includes a WiFi neighbor BSSID.

Step 302: The UE performs downlink measurement on the delivered BSSID AP, measures the cellularity, and measures other neighboring cells, and reports the measurement report to Cellular through the cellular uplink channel.

Step 303: Cellular performs a judgment, and considers that it is necessary to perform a handover of Cellular to WLAN, A handover request to switch to the WLAN is sent to the core network.

Step 304: The core network sends a handover command to allow the UE to access the target AP.

Step 305: Cellular sends a handover command.

Step 306: The WLAN initiates an access probe, and the authentication may be omitted.

Step 307: The UE accesses the response.

Step 308: The AP accesses successfully.

Step 309: Release the cellular resource of the Cellular.

Step 310: The wireless channel is released.

Here, in the application scenario, as shown in step 306, the handover is initiated by the WLAN to actively initiate UE access.

Application scenario 2: The UE initiates the UE access handover, as shown in FIG. 9, and includes: Step 401: The Cellular sends a broadcast message, where the message includes a WiFi neighbor BSSID.

Step 402: The UE performs downlink measurement on the delivered BSSID AP, measures the cellularity, and measures other neighboring cells, and reports the measurement report to Cellular through the cellular uplink channel.

Step 403: The Cellular performs the judgment, and considers that the cellular to WLAN handover needs to be performed, and sends a handover request to the core network to switch to the WLAN.

Step 404: The core network sends a handover command to allow the UE to access the target AP.

Step 405: Cellular sends a handover command.

Step 406: The UE actively applies to access the AP.

Step 407: The AP accepts, and allows access to the WLAN.

Step 408: The AP accesses successfully.

Step 409: Release the cellular resource of the Cellular.

Step 410: The wireless channel is released.

Here, in the application scenario, as shown in step 406, the handover is initiated by the UE itself to initiate UE access.

Regardless of which of the above application scenarios is used, the following effects can be achieved: 1. The handover is actively controlled by the network, which can reduce the calculation amount of the UE, at the same time, the load condition of the network, the receiving level, etc., the rate of the uplink and downlink, etc., the network is the clearest, therefore, the network actively initiates , can minimize the complexity and power consumption of the UE, and optimally schedule the UE.

2. The WiFi neighboring cell description information represented by the BSSID in the WLAN list that the UE needs to measure is obtained through a periodic broadcast message sent by Cellular. The topology relationship of the WiFi neighboring cell description information is based on the actual deployed WLAN and Cellular. The relationship is obtained, therefore, the measurement work of the UE can be minimized, and the WLAN of the target measurement is clearer, and only the AP of the BSSID mentioned in the broadcast message list needs to be measured.

3. Introduce comprehensive considerations for WLAN and cellular load, as well as uplink and downlink resources and uplink and downlink transmission rates, and comprehensively make decisions for UE handover.

The integrated modules described in the embodiments of the present invention may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium if they are implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as separate products. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product in essence or in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions. A computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) is implemented to perform all or part of the methods described in various embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, a removable hard disk, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, and the like, which can store program code. . Thus, embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer storage medium, wherein a computer program is stored, and the computer program is used to execute a method for seamlessly switching between a cellular network and a WiFi network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Industrial applicability

The method of the embodiment of the present invention includes: the Cellular network sends a broadcast message, where the broadcast message carries the WiFi neighboring area description information; the Cellular network determines according to the measurement result, and controls the UE to access between the Cellular network and the WiFi network. Sew switch. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the broadcast message carries the WiFi neighboring area description information, so that the UE can learn the target access point (AP, Acess Point) in the WiFi neighboring area that needs to be measured according to the WiFi neighboring area description information, and The measurement results measured by the target AP and the Cellular network are reported to the Cellular network for handover control, so that the Cellular network judges according to the received measurement result, and controls the UE to seamlessly switch between the Cellular network and the WiFi network.

Claims

claims

1. A method for realizing seamless switching between a cellular network and a WiFi network. The method includes: The cellular Cellular network sends a broadcast message, and the broadcast message carries WiFi neighbor description information; The Cellular network sends a broadcast message based on the received The measurement results are used to judge and control the seamless switching of user equipment UE access between the Cellular network and the WiFi network.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the Cellular network makes a judgment based on the received measurement results and controls the seamless switching of UE access between the Cellular network and the WiFi network, specifically including:

The Cellular network monitors its own network load, uplink and downlink transmission rates and acquired WiFi network load conditions, makes judgments based on the measurement results, and controls the seamless switching of UE access from the Cellular network to the WiFi network;

The measurement results at least include: measurement results obtained by performing downlink physical measurements on the target access point AP in the WiFi network, and measurement results obtained by performing downlink physical measurements on the Cellular network.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the controlling the seamless switching of UE access between the Cellular network and the WiFi network specifically includes:

The Cellular network issues a handover command, and the WiFi network actively initiates the handover of UE access, and the UE responds to the WiFi network and then accesses the WiFi network; or,

The Cellular network issues a handover command, and the UE itself actively initiates the handover of UE access, and the WiFi network responds to the UE and allows the UE to access the WiFi network.

4. A method for realizing seamless handover between a cellular network and a WiFi network. The method includes: the user equipment UE receives a broadcast message and obtains WiFi neighbor cell description information from the broadcast message; the UE performs the following steps according to the WiFi The neighbor cell description information obtains the target access point AP of the WiFi neighbor cell, measures the target AP, and measures the Cellular network where the UE is located;

The measurement results obtained by measuring the target AP and the Cellular network are reported; the measurement results are used by the Cellular network to control seamless handover of UE access between the Cellular network and the WiFi network.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the measurement results at least include: measurement results obtained by performing downlink physical measurements on the target access point AP in the WiFi network, and measurement results obtained by performing downlink physical measurements on the Cellular network. .

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the UE obtains the target access point AP of the WiFi neighbor cell according to the WiFi neighbor cell description information, and measures the target AP, which specifically includes:

When measuring the target AP, obtain the WiFi neighbor cell description information carried in the frame sent by the target AP from the target AP;

Match the WiFi neighbor cell description information carried in the frame sent by the target AP with the WiFi neighbor cell description information previously obtained from the broadcast message, and filter the actual measurement objects from the target AP; When the WiFi neighbor cell description When the information is successfully matched, the successfully matched AP will be used as the actual measurement object to continue measurement.

7. A network device, the network device includes:

The sending unit is configured to send a broadcast message, and the broadcast message carries WiFi neighbor cell description information; The control unit is configured to make judgments based on the received measurement results and control the access of the user equipment UE between the Cellular network and the WiFi network. Seamless switching.

8. The network device according to claim 7, wherein the control unit further includes: a judgment subunit configured to monitor the network load of the Cellular network itself, the uplink and downlink transmission rates and the acquired WiFi network load, combined with the Make judgments based on the above measurement results, and control the seamless handover of UE access from the Cellular network to the WiFi network;

9. The network device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the control unit further includes: a handover control subunit configured to actively initiate a handover of UE access by the WiFi network after the Cellular network issues a handover command. , the UE responds to the WiFi network and then accesses the WiFi network; or, after the cellular network issues a handover command, the UE itself actively initiates the handover of UE access, and the WiFi network responds to the UE and allows the UE to access the WiFi network.

10. A user equipment, the user equipment includes:

The receiving unit is configured to receive a broadcast message and obtain the WiFi neighbor cell description information from the broadcast message. The measurement unit is configured to obtain the target access point AP of the WiFi neighbor cell according to the WiFi neighbor cell description information. To the target AP Perform measurements on the Cellular network where the UE is located; The upgrading unit is configured to report the measurement results obtained by measuring the target AP and the Cellular network; the measurement results are used by the Cellular network to control the UE's access to the Seamless switching between Cellular network and WiFi network.

11. The user equipment according to claim 10, wherein the measurement results at least include: measurement results obtained by performing downlink physical measurements on the target access point AP in the WiFi network, and measurements obtained by performing downlink physical measurements on the Cellular network result.

12. The user equipment according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the measurement unit further includes:

The acquisition subunit is configured to acquire, from the target AP, the WiFi neighbor cell description information carried in the frame delivered by the target AP when measuring the target AP;

Matching subunit, configured to match the WiFi neighbor description information carried in the frame delivered by the target AP with the WiFi neighbor description information previously obtained from the broadcast message, and filter actual measurement objects from the target AP ;

The measurement subunit is configured to use the successfully matched AP as the actual measurement object to continue measurement when the WiFi neighbor cell description information is successfully matched.