MOCN cell communication method and apparatus

A method for allocating a group of channel resources of a multiple operator core network (MOCN) cell shared by multiple communication operators, comprising:

• receiving, by the MOCN cell, an access request sent by a requesting user equipment (UE) associated with a first communication operator;
• and
• providing, in response to the access request sent by the requesting UE, conditional access to a channel resource of the group of channel resources of the MOCN cell by:
• assigning, by a subsystem associated with the MOCN cell, a detected idle channel resource in the group of channel resources in the MOCN cell without regard to a preset rule for allocating the group of channel resources to UEs associated with particular ones of the multiple communications operators to enable the requesting UE to access the MOCN cell for communication, and otherwise
• conditionally reallocating access to a non-idle channel resource of the group of channel resources by:
• allocating access to the non-idle channel resource, by the requesting UE in place of another UE currently accessing the non-idle channel, using the preset rule that specifies a proportion coefficient, and otherwise
• rejecting the access request of the requesting UE to the group of channel resources,
• wherein the allocating access to the non-idle channel resource using the preset rule comprises:
• first determining, using the proportion coefficient, a first quantity of first operator-specific channel resources, of the group of channel resources of the MOCN cell, to which simultaneous access is assured for UEs associated with the first communication operator,
• second determining a second quantity of EUs associated with the first communication operator that are presently allocated to the group of channel resources,
• conditionally designating the non-idle channel resource, from the group of channel resources of the MOCN cell, by assigning the non-idle channel resource currently used by another UE that is not associated with the first communication operator only if the second quantity is less than the first quantity, and otherwise assigning the non-idle channel resource currently used by another UE that is associated with the first communication operator.

A base station subsystem, comprising:

• a transmitter;
• a receiver;
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions;
• and
• a processor, configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to provide public land mobile network (PLMN) information of multiple providers associated with a multiple operator core network (MOCN) cell to user equipment (UE) by performing a method comprising:
• determining a number n of communication operators of the MOCN cell;
• configuring n broadcast control channels (BCCHs) for the MOCN cell, wherein the n BCCHs are in a one-to-one correspondence with the n communication operators and are used to broadcast in the MOCN cell the PLMN information of the n communication operators;
• and
• sending using the transmitter, to a UE in the MOCN cell, PLMN information of a communication operator to which the UE belongs through a BCCH corresponding to the communication operator of the n BCCHs,
• wherein the determining the number n of communication operators of the MOCN cell comprises acquiring, using the receiver, configuration information of the MOCN cell and determining the number n of communication operators of the MOCN cell, and
• wherein the configuring n BCCHs for the MOCN cell comprises configuring idle channels or service channels with low service priorities of the MOCN cell as BCCHs, so that the MOCN cell is configured with n BCCHs.

Abase station subsystem, comprising:

• a receiver, configured to receive an access request sent by a user equipment (UE) associated with a first communication operator;
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions;
• and
• a processor, configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to carry out a method for allocating, by the base station subsystem, a group of channel resources of a multiple operator control network (MOCN) cell shared by multiple communication operators, the method comprising:
• receiving, by receiver, the access request sent by the requesting UE;
• and
• providing, in response to the access request sent by the requesting UE, conditional access to a channel resource of the group of channel resources of the MOCN cell by:
• assigning a detected idle channel resource in the group of channel resources in the MOCN cell without regard to a preset rule for allocating the group of channel resources to UEs associated with particular ones of the multiple communications operators to enable the requesting UE to access the MOCN cell for communication;
• and otherwise
• conditionally reallocating access to a non-idle channel resource of the group of channel resources by:
• allocating access to the non-idle channel resource, by the requesting UE in place of another UE currently accessing the non-idle channel, using the preset rule that specifies a proportion coefficient, and otherwise
• rejecting the access request of the requesting UE to the group of channel resources,
• conditionally reallocating access to a non-idle channel resource of the group of channel resources by:
• allocating access to the non-idle channel resource, by the requesting UE in place of another UE currently accessing the non-idle channel, using the preset rule that specifies a proportion coefficient, and
• otherwise rejecting the access request of the requesting UE to the group of channel resources,
• wherein the allocating access to the non-idle channel resource using the preset rule comprises:
• first determining, using the proportion coefficient, a first quantity of first operator-specific channel resources, of the group of channel resources of the MOCN cell, to which simultaneous access is assured for UEs associated with the first communication operator,
• second determining a second quantity of EUs associated with the first communication operator that are presently allocated to the group of channel resources,
• conditionally designating the non-idle channel resource, from the group of channel resources of the MOCN cell, by assigning the non-idle channel resource currently used by another UE that is not associated with the first communication operator only if the second quantity is less than the first quantity, and otherwise assigning the non-idle channel resource currently used by another UE that is associated with the first communication operator.