Electronic device with adaptive device-to-device communication handover

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device having an adaptive device-to-device communication handover. A communication network may include a relay device that receives device-to-device (D2D) signals. In an ad hoc mode, the relay device may consume relatively less power when receiving relatively few messages from relatively few transmitting devices in the D2D signal. In an organized mode, the device may consume relatively higher power when receiving many messages from many transmitting devices in the D2D signal. A receiver on the device may transition from the ad hoc mode to the organized mode in response to a first criterion and may transition from the organized mode to the ad hoc mode in response to a second handover criterion. Considering that the D2D signal may rarely arrive or may arrive in a clustered manner due to unforeseen events, this may allow the device to balance communication load and power consumption when relaying messages such as emergency messages received on the signal.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 481,214, filed on September 21, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This disclosure generally relates to wireless communications, including wireless communications performed by user equipment devices. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0003] Communication systems generally include user equipment and wireless base stations. A wireless base station has a corresponding coverage area. When the user equipment is within the coverage area, radio frequency signals are exchanged between the user equipment and the wireless base station to transmit wireless data.

[0004] In practice, there are situations where the user equipment is no longer within the coverage area of the wireless base station. In these cases, the user equipment cannot transmit wireless data to the wireless base station. However, there may also be scenarios where the user equipment needs to send wireless data to a recipient while the user equipment is outside the coverage area of the wireless base station. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0005] A communication network may include user equipment (UE) devices and external communication equipment such as wireless base stations, access points, or communication satellites. Relay devices within the range of the external communication equipment may include radio circuitry having a receiver, a transmitter, and one or more antennas. The relay device may receive device-to-device (D2D) signals from one or more transmitting devices. The relay device may operate in an ad hoc operating mode and in an organized operating mode. In the ad hoc operating mode, the relay device may consume relatively less power when receiving relatively few messages from relatively few transmitting devices in the D2D signal. In the organized operating mode, the relay device may consume relatively higher power when receiving many messages from many transmitting devices in the D2D signal.

[0006] One or more processors may cause the receiver to transition from the ad hoc operating mode to the organized operating mode in response to a first switching criterion, and may cause the receiver to transition from the organized operating mode in response to a second switching criterion. One or more devices may transmit a synchronization signal when in the organized operating mode. The transmission of the synchronization signal may be handed over to other devices. One or more of these transmitting devices may transmit a beacon in a D2D signal when an emergency message needs to be transmitted.

[0007] The first handover criterion may be receiving a beacon at the relay device; receiving a user-specific paging signal at the relay device; the D2D traffic level exceeding a threshold at the relay device; other user-specific events occurring, etc. The second handover criterion may be the end of a specific communication session; the D2D traffic level dropping below a threshold at the relay device; receiving a specific signal from one of the transmitting devices; not receiving an additional message for a predetermined amount of time, etc. Considering that D2D signals may rarely arrive or arrive in a clustered manner due to unforeseen events, this may allow the relay device to balance the communication load and power consumption when relaying messages (such as emergency messages received on D2D signals).

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a user equipment device. The user equipment device may include one or more antennas. The user equipment device may include a radio circuit configured to receive device-to-device (D2D) signals from one or more additional user equipment devices via the one or more antennas and to transmit one or more messages from the D2D signals to external communication equipment via the one or more antennas. The user equipment device may include one or more processors. The one or more processors may be configured to operate the radio circuit in a first operating mode and in a second operating mode, in the first operating mode, the receiver consumes a first amount of power and supports a first service level, and in the second operating mode, the radio circuit consumes a second amount of power higher than the first amount of power and supports a second service level higher than the first service level. The one or more processors may be configured to switch the radio circuit from the first operating mode to the second operating mode in response to a first handover criterion. The one or more processors may be configured to switch the radio circuit from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to a second handover criterion.

[0009] One aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of operating a user equipment device to relay an emergency message in a device-to-device (D2D) signal received from one or more additional user equipment devices to external communication equipment. The method may include using a receiver to receive the D2D signal in a first operating mode that consumes a first amount of power. The method may include using one or more processors to cause the receiver to transition from the first operating mode to a second operating mode in response to a first trigger condition. The method may include using the receiver to receive the D2D signal in a second operating mode that consumes a second amount of power greater than the first amount of power. The method may include using the one or more processors to cause the receiver to transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to a second trigger condition.

[0010] One aspect of the present disclosure provides an electronic device. The electronic device may include a radio circuit configured to receive device-to-device (D2D) signals and configured to relay an emergency message in the D2D signals to external communication equipment. The electronic device may include one or more processors. The one or more processors may be configured to operate the radio circuit in an ad-hoc operation mode and in an infrastructure operation mode. In the ad-hoc operation mode, a receiver in the radio circuit is active for a first amount of time and consumes a first amount of power. And in the infrastructure operation mode, the receiver is active for a second amount of time greater than the first amount of time and consumes a second amount of power greater than the first amount of power. The radio circuit is configured to receive D2D signals from a first group of additional electronic devices in the ad-hoc operation mode. The one or more processors may be configured to switch the receiver from the first operation mode to the second operation mode when receiving D2D signals from a second group of additional electronic devices having more additional electronic devices than the first group of additional electronic devices. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary communication network according to some embodiments, the communication network having user equipment devices and external communication equipment such as radio base stations or access points.

[0012] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary user equipment device according to some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 3 is a flowchart of exemplary operations according to some embodiments, the operations involving relaying device-to-device signals from one or more other user equipment devices using a first user equipment device while balancing power consumption and communication load.

[0014] Figure 4 includes timing diagrams according to some embodiments, the timing diagrams showing how an exemplary first user equipment device may have different levels of receiver activity in an ad-hoc mode and in an infrastructure mode.

[0015] Figure 5 is a state diagram of an exemplary operation mode for a first user equipment device according to some embodiments, the first user equipment device relaying device-to-device signals while balancing power consumption and communication load. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] Figure 1FIG. 0 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary communication system 26 (sometimes referred to herein as communication network 26) for transmitting wireless data between communication terminals. The communication system 26 may include network nodes (e.g., communication terminals). The network nodes may include user equipment (UE), such as one or more UE devices 10. The network nodes may also include external communication equipment (e.g., communication equipment other than UE device 10), such as external communication equipment 12. As an example, the external communication equipment 12 may include a wireless base station, a wireless access point, or a communication satellite (e.g., a communication satellite in a satellite constellation that routes two-way or one-way wireless communication in one or more satellite communication bands between a UE device and a satellite gateway or a ground station). The UE device 10 and the external communication equipment 12 may communicate with each other using a wireless communication link. If desired, the UE device 10 may communicate wirelessly with the external communication equipment 12 without passing the communication through any other intermediate network nodes in the communication system 26 (e.g., the UE device 10 may communicate directly wirelessly with the external communication equipment 12).

[0017] The communication system 26 may form part of a larger communication network that includes network nodes coupled to the external communication equipment 12 via wired and / or wireless links. The larger communication network may include one or more wired communication links (e.g., communication links formed using cables such as Ethernet cables, radio frequency cables such as coaxial cables or other transmission lines, optical fibers or other optical cables, etc.), one or more wireless communication links (e.g., short-range wireless communication links operating in the range of inches, feet, or dozens of feet, medium-range wireless communication links operating in the range of hundreds of feet, thousands of feet, miles, or dozens of miles, and / or long-range wireless communication links operating in the range of hundreds or thousands of miles, etc.), communication gateways, wireless access points, base stations, switches, routers, servers, modems, repeaters, telephone lines, network cards, line cards, ports, user equipment (e.g., computing devices, mobile devices, etc.), etc. The larger communication network may include communication (network) nodes or terminals (e.g., some or all of those in a mesh network, a relay network, a ring network, a local area network, a wireless local area network, a personal area network, a cloud network, a star network, a tree network, or a communication node network having other network topologies) coupled together using these components or other components, the Internet, combinations thereof, etc. The UE device 10 may send data to other nodes or terminals in the larger communication network via the external communication equipment 12 and / or may receive data from other nodes or terminals (e.g., the external communication equipment 12 may act as an interface between the user equipment device 10 and the rest of the larger communication network). If desired, some or all of the communication networks may be operated by corresponding network operators or service providers.

[0018] The external communication device 12 may include one or more antennas that provide wireless coverage for UE devices 10 located within a corresponding geographical area or region, such as cell 14. The size of cell 14 may correspond to, for example, the maximum transmit power level of the external communication device 12 and the wireless attenuation characteristics of the radio frequency signals transmitted by the external communication device 12. When the UE device 10 is located within cell 14, the UE device may communicate with the external communication device 12 via a wireless link. To support the wireless link, the external communication device 12 may transmit radio frequency signals from the external communication device 12 to the UE device in the downlink (DL) direction, and / or the UE device may transmit radio frequency signals from the UE device to the external communication device 12 in the uplink (UL) direction. In Figure 1 the example of, a first UE device 10, such as UE device 10R, may be located within cell 14. Thus, UE device 10R may communicate with the external communication device 12 via a corresponding wireless link. Radio frequency signals 16 may be transmitted between UE device 10R and the external communication device 12 to support the wireless link.

[0019] In practice, it may occur that one or more UE devices, such as UE device 10T, are located outside the coverage area of the external communication device 12 and the coverage area of any other wireless access point or base station in the communication system 26. When outside the coverage area of the external communication device 12, UE device 10T may sometimes be referred to as "off-grid". When the external communication device 12 is inactive, disabled, overloaded, or otherwise unavailable for communication with the UE device (e.g., due to a power outage or other disability at the external communication device 12, due to a disaster or other emergency, due to network load balancing, due to excessive traffic at the external communication device 12 caused by a disaster or other emergency at the location of the UE device or due to an excessive number of UE devices attempting to access the network, due to the access of the UE device to the rest of the communication network 26 being blocked or denied by a network service provider, a government entity, and / or other actors, due to intermediate obstacles, terrain, or weather preventing the UE device from transmitting radio frequency signals to the external communication device 12, etc.), UE device 10T may also be off-grid. Conversely, when a UE device is located within a coverage area, such as cell 14, and is able to transmit wireless data to the rest of the network (e.g., communication system 26) via the external communication device 12, the UE device, such as UE device 10R, may sometimes be referred to as "on-grid".

[0020] When the UE device 10T is positioned in an off-network manner, the UE device 10T may still need to provide wireless data such as message data, voice data, video data, or other data to a communication terminal in the communication system 26 or to another UE device. For example, a user of the UE device 10T may encounter an emergency while off-network and may need to use the UE device 10T to send an emergency message to an administrative authority (e.g., emergency services) and / or another person to alert the administrative authority and / or another person of the user's situation and / or to request assistance.

[0021] While off-network, the UE device 10T may still be able to (e.g., via a wireless device-to-device (D2D) link) transmit radio frequency signals to other UE devices such as the UE device 10R. The UE device 10R may have its own coverage area 20. The size of the coverage area 20 is determined by the maximum transmit power level of the UE device 10R and the wireless attenuation characteristics of the radio frequency signals transmitted by the UE device 10R. When a user of the UE device 10T needs to send an emergency message while off-network, the UE device 10T may transmit radio frequency signals 24 that include the emergency message or other wireless data. The UE device 10R may receive the radio frequency signals 24 and thus the emergency message transmitted by the UE device 10T. The UE device 10R may then act as a repeater for the emergency message by transmitting the emergency message via radio frequency signals 16 to the external communication equipment 12. The external communication equipment 12 may be managed by the emergency services or may further relay the message to other network nodes where the emergency services operate (e.g., the "911" service in the United States) or to other users.

[0022] Thus, the UE device 10R may sometimes be referred to herein as the relay device 10R. The UE device 10T that transmits a message for relaying via the relay device 10R to the external communication equipment 12 may sometimes be referred to herein as the transmitting device 10T. In the case where the relay device 10R is located outside the cell 14, the relay device 10R may (e.g., using D2D signals) relay the message to one or more additional relay devices 10R until a relay device 10R within the cell 14 receives the message.

[0023] To relay messages in the radio frequency signal 24 transmitted by the relay transmitting device 10T, the relay device 10R needs to monitor the incoming messages to be relayed. The wireless receiver in the relay device 10R needs to stay powered on and active to monitor the incoming messages. However, emergencies and thus the messages in the radio frequency signal 24 are relatively rare. Therefore, keeping the wireless receiver powered on can consume an excessive amount of power in the relay device 10R (e.g., unnecessarily draining the battery of the relay device 10R). To reduce power consumption, the relay device 10R can activate its wireless receiver only periodically (e.g., during relatively long data reception (DRX) cycles). On the other hand, relatively long DRX cycles introduce high latency and limit the total wireless resources available at the relay device 10R for relaying the received D2D messages. In scenarios where there are many transmitting devices 10T that need to transmit messages to the network, this high latency and resource limitation can significantly impair the ability of the relay device 10R to relay messages.

[0024] For example, there may be a scenario where many transmitting devices 10T, such as group 18 of the transmitting devices 10T, are present within the coverage area 20 of the relay device 10R and have emergency messages to transmit to the network. The transmitting devices 10T in group 18 can simultaneously transmit messages to the relay device 10R in radio frequency signals 22 (e.g., D2D signals). Group 18 can include up to dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of transmitting devices. Such scenarios may occur, for example, in crowded places where access to the external communication equipment 12 in the communication system 26 suddenly becomes unavailable (e.g., due to natural disasters, severe weather that wirelessly blocks the transmitting devices 10T, riots, wars, the government or other actors blocking access to the network, etc.). These events are rare but occur in a clustered manner (e.g., in cases where there are many affected transmitting devices 10T that are geographically close to each other).

[0025] The radio frequency signals 22 and 24 are D2D signals and can thus sometimes be referred to as D2D signals 22 and 24 herein. The D2D signals 22 and 24 can form corresponding wireless D2D communication links between the transmitting device 10T and the relay device 10R. The implementation where the D2D signals 22 and 24 include the emergency messages transmitted by the transmitting device 10T is merely illustrative and is described as an example herein. Generally speaking, the D2D signals 22 and 24 can include any desired data to be transmitted to the relay device 10R (e.g., message data, voice data, application data, video data, etc.). The relay device 10R can also transmit D2D signals to the transmitting device 10T (e.g., the D2D link can be a two-way link). The D2D signals transmitted by the relay device 10R to the transmitting device 10T can include beacon signals, synchronization signals, control signals, and / or other wireless communication data (e.g., message data, voice data, etc.).

[0026] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary UE device 10 (e.g., Figure 1 relay device 10R or transmitting device 10T). The UE device 10 is an electronic device and may thus sometimes be referred to simply as device 10 in this document. The UE device 10 may be: a computing device such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a computer monitor incorporating an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular phone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device; a smaller device such as a wristwatch device, a pendant device, a headset or earpiece device, a device embedded in glasses; or other equipment worn on a user's head; or other wearable or miniature devices, a television, a computer monitor not incorporating an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system (such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is installed in a kiosk or a vehicle), a voice-controlled speaker connected to a wireless Internet, a home entertainment device, a remote control device, a game controller, a peripheral user input device, a wireless base station or access point, equipment implementing the functions of two or more of these devices; or other electronic equipment.

[0027] As Figure 2 shown, the UE device 10 may include components located on or within an electronic device housing such as housing 50. The housing 50 (which may sometimes be referred to as a casing) may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramic, fiber composite material, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, metal alloy, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of these materials. In some cases, part or all of the housing 50 may be formed of a dielectric or other low electrical conductivity material (e.g., glass, ceramic, plastic, sapphire, etc.). In other cases, the housing 50 or at least some of the structures making up the housing 50 may be formed of metal elements.

[0028] The UE device 10 may include control circuitry 28. The control circuitry 28 may include a repository such as storage circuitry 30. The storage circuitry 30 may include hard disk drive storage, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory configured to form a solid state drive or other electrically programmable read-only memory), volatile memory (e.g., static random access memory or dynamic random access memory), etc. The storage circuitry 30 may include storage devices integrated within the UE device 10 and / or removable storage media.

[0029] The control circuit 28 may include processing circuitry such as processing circuitry 32. The processing circuitry 32 may be used to control the operation of the UE device 10. The processing circuitry 32 may include one or more processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, host processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), etc. The control circuit 28 may be configured to perform operations in the UE device 10 using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware, and / or software. Software code for performing operations in the UE device 10 may be stored on the storage circuitry 30 (e.g., the storage circuitry 30 may include a non-transitory (tangible) computer-readable storage medium storing the software code). The software code may sometimes be referred to as program instructions, software, data, instructions, or code. The software code stored on the storage circuitry 30 may be executed by the processing circuitry 32.

[0030] The control circuit 28 may be used to run software on the UE device 10, such as satellite navigation applications, Internet browsing applications, Internet voice protocol (VOIP) telephone call applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, etc. To support interaction with external communication equipment, the control circuit 28 may be used to implement communication protocols. Communication protocols that may be implemented using the control circuit 28 include Internet protocol, wireless local area network (WLAN) protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocol - sometimes referred to as )), protocols for other short-range wireless communication links such as protocol or other wireless personal area network (WPAN) protocols, IEEE 802.11ad protocol (e.g., ultra-wideband protocol), cellular telephone protocols (e.g., 3G protocol, 4G (LTE) protocol, 3GPP fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) protocol, etc.), antenna diversity protocols, satellite navigation system protocols (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS) protocol, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) protocol, etc.), antenna-based spatial ranging protocols, or any other desired communication protocol. Each communication protocol may be associated with a corresponding radio access technology (RAT), which specifies the physical connection method for implementing the protocol.

[0031] UE device 10 may include input-output circuitry 36. The input-output circuitry 36 may include input-output devices 38. The input-output devices 38 may be used to allow data to be provided to the UE device 10 and to allow data to be provided from the UE device 10 to external devices. The input-output devices 38 may include user interface devices, data port devices, and other input-output components. For example, the input-output devices 38 may include touch sensors, displays (e.g., touch-sensitive displays and / or force-sensitive displays), light-emitting components such as displays without touch sensor capabilities, buttons (mechanical, capacitive, optical, etc.), rollers, touch pads, keypads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, buttons, speakers, status indicators, audio jacks, and other audio port components, digital data port devices, motion sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes, and / or compasses that detect motion), capacitive sensors, proximity sensors, magnetic sensors, force sensors (e.g., force sensors coupled to a display to detect pressure applied to the display), temperature sensors, etc. In some configurations, a keyboard, headphones, a display, pointing devices such as touch pads, mice, and joysticks, and other input-output devices may be coupled to the UE device 10 using wired or wireless connections (e.g., some of the input-output devices 38 may be peripheral devices coupled to the main processing unit or other parts of the UE device 10 via wired or wireless links).

[0032] The input-output circuitry 36 may include wireless circuitry 34 to support wireless communication. The wireless circuitry 34 (sometimes referred to herein as wireless communication circuitry 34) may include one or more antennas 40. The wireless circuitry 34 may also include one or more radio components 44. The radio components 44 may include circuitry that operates on signals at baseband frequencies (e.g., baseband circuitry) and radio frequency transceiver circuitry, such as one or more radio frequency transmitters 46 and one or more radio frequency receivers 48. The transmitter 46 may include signal generator circuitry, modulation circuitry, mixer circuitry for upconverting a signal from baseband frequency to intermediate frequency and / or radio frequency, amplifier circuitry such as one or more power amplifiers, digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, control paths, power paths, switching circuitry, filter circuitry, and / or any other circuitry for transmitting radio frequency signals using the antenna 40. The receiver 48 may include demodulation circuitry, mixer circuitry for downconverting a signal from intermediate frequency and / or radio frequency to baseband frequency, amplifier circuitry (e.g., one or more low noise amplifiers (LNAs)), analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuitry, control paths, power paths, signal paths, switching circuitry, filter circuitry, and / or any other circuitry for receiving radio frequency signals using the antenna 40. The components of the radio components 44 may be mounted on a single substrate or integrated into a single integrated circuit, chip, package, or system-on-chip (SOC) or may be distributed among multiple substrates, integrated circuits, chips, packages, or SOCs.

[0033] Any desired antenna structure for transmitting radio frequency signals can be used to form antenna 40. For example, antenna 40 can include an antenna having a resonant element, which is formed by a loop antenna structure, a patch antenna structure, an inverted-F antenna structure, a slot antenna structure, a planar inverted-F antenna structure, a helical antenna structure, a monopole antenna, a dipole, a hybrid of these designs, etc. Adjustable filter circuits, switching circuits, impedance matching circuits, and / or other antenna tuning components are used to adjust the frequency response and wireless performance of antenna 40 over time. If desired, two or more antennas in antenna 40 can be integrated into a phased antenna array (sometimes referred to herein as a phased array antenna), in which each antenna transmits a radio frequency signal having a corresponding phase and magnitude that are adjusted over time, such that the radio frequency signals interfere constructively and destructively to produce a signal beam in a given pointing direction.

[0034] As used herein, the term "transmit radio frequency signals" means the emission and / or reception of radio frequency signals (e.g., for performing one-way and / or two-way wireless communication with external wireless communication equipment). Antenna 40 can transmit radio frequency signals by radiating the radio frequency signals into free space (or into free space through an intervening device structure such as a dielectric overlay). In addition or alternatively, antenna 40 can receive radio frequency signals from free space (e.g., through an intervening device structure such as a dielectric overlay). The emission and reception of radio frequency signals by antenna 30 each involve the excitation or resonance of antenna current on the antenna resonant element in the antenna by radio frequency signals within the operating frequency band of the antenna.

[0035] Each radio component 44 can be coupled to one or more antennas 40 through one or more radio frequency transmission lines 42. The radio frequency transmission lines 42 can include coaxial cables, microstrip transmission lines, stripline transmission lines, edge-coupled microstrip transmission lines, edge-coupled stripline transmission lines, transmission lines formed by a combination of these types of transmission lines, etc. If desired, the radio frequency transmission lines 42 can be integrated into rigid and / or flexible printed circuit boards. If desired, one or more radio frequency lines 42 can be shared among multiple radio components 44. A radio frequency front end (RFFE) module can be interposed on one or more radio frequency transmission lines 42. The radio frequency front end module can include a substrate, integrated circuit, chip, or package separate from the radio component 44, and can include filter circuits, switching circuits, amplifier circuits, impedance matching circuits, radio frequency coupler circuits, and / or any other desired radio frequency circuits for operating on radio frequency signals transmitted through the radio frequency transmission lines 42.

[0036] The radio component 44 can transmit and / or receive radio frequency signals within a corresponding frequency band of radio frequencies (sometimes referred to herein as a communication frequency band or simply a "frequency band"). The frequency band processed by the radio component 44 can include a wireless local area network (WLAN) frequency band (e.g., (IEEE 802.11) or other WLAN communication bands) such as the 2.4 GHz WLAN band (e.g., 2400 MHz to 2480 MHz), the 5 GHz WLAN band (e.g., 5180 MHz to 5825 MHz), the 6E band (e.g., 5925 MHz to 7125 MHz) and / or other bands (e.g., 1875 MHz to 5160 MHz), wireless personal area network (WPAN) bands such as 2.4 GHz Frequency bands or other WPAN communication frequency bands, cellular telephone communication frequency bands such as cellular low band (LB) (e.g., 600 MHz to 960 MHz), cellular low mid-band (LMB) (e.g., 1400 MHz to 1550 MHz), cellular mid-band (MB) (e.g., 1700 MHz to 2200 MHz), cellular high band (HB) (e.g., 2300 MHz to 2700 MHz), cellular ultra-high band (UHB) (e.g., 3300 MHz to 5000 MHz, or other cellular communication frequency bands between approximately 600 MHz and approximately 5000 MHz), 3G frequency bands, 4G LTE frequency bands, 3GPP 5G New Radio frequency range 1 (FR1) frequency bands below 10 GHz, 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) frequency range 2 (FR2) frequency bands between 20 GHz and 60 GHz, other centimeter or millimeter wave frequency bands between 10 GHz and 300 GHz, near field communication frequency bands (e.g., at 13.56 MHz), satellite navigation frequency bands such as Global Positioning System (GPS) L1 frequency band (e.g., at 1575 MHz), L2 frequency band (e.g., at 1228 MHz), L3 frequency band (e.g., at 1381 MHz), L4 frequency band (e.g., at 1380 MHz) and / or L5 frequency band (e.g., at 1176 MHz), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) frequency bands, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) frequency bands, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) frequency bands operating according to the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol and / or other ultra-wideband communication protocols (e.g., a first UWB communication frequency band at 6.5 GHz and / or a second UWB communication frequency band at 8.0 GHz), communication frequency bands according to the 3GPP wireless communication standard series, communication frequency bands according to the IEEE 802.XX standard series, satellite communication frequency bands such as L-band, S-band (e.g., 2 GHz to 4 GHz), C-band (e.g., 4 GHz to 8 GHz), X-band, Ku-band (e.g., 12 GHz to 18 GHz), Ka-band (e.g., 26 GHz to 40 GHz), etc., Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) frequency bands such as the ISM frequency band between approximately 900 MHz and 950 MHz or other ISM frequency bands below or above 1 GHz, one or more unlicensed frequency bands, one or more frequency bands reserved for emergency and / or public services and / or any other desired frequency bands of interest. If desired, radio circuitry 34 may also be used to perform spatial ranging operations.

[0037] When the transmitter 46 is active (e.g., enabled), the transmitter 46 can transmit radio frequency signals through the antenna 40. When the transmitter 46 is inactive (e.g., disabled or not actively transmitting symbols), the transmitter 46 does not transmit radio frequency signals through the antenna 40. Similarly, when the receiver 48 is active (e.g., enabled), the receiver 48 can receive radio frequency signals through the antenna 40. When the receiver 48 is inactive (e.g., disabled), the receiver 48 does not receive radio frequency signals through the antenna 40. The control circuit 28 can control the transmitter 46 to be active or inactive at any given time. The control circuit 28 can also control the receiver 48 to be active or inactive at any given time. The control circuit 28 can activate or deactivate the transmitter 46 and / or the receiver 48 at different times, e.g., these different times are determined by the communication protocol that manages the radio component 44 and / or based on instructions provided by the user and / or from other software running on the control circuit 28. The control circuit 28 can configure the transmitter 46 to be inactive, for example, by powering down the transmitter 46, providing a control signal to a switching circuit on the power supply or enable line of the transmitter 46, providing a control signal to the control circuit on the transmitter 46, and / or providing a control signal to a switching circuit within the transmitter 46. When the transmitter 46 is inactive, some or all of the components within the transmitter 46 can be inactive (e.g., disabled or powered down) or the transmitter 46 can remain powered on but not transmit radio frequency signals through the antenna 40. Similarly, the control circuit 28 can configure the receiver 48 to be inactive, for example, by powering down the receiver 48, providing a control signal to a switching circuit on the power supply or enable line of the receiver 48, providing a control signal to the control circuit on the receiver 48, and / or providing a control signal to a switching circuit within the receiver 48. When the receiver 48 is inactive, some or all of the components within the receiver 48 can be disabled (e.g., powered down) or the receiver 48 can remain powered on but not actively receive radio frequency signals incident on the antenna 40. The transmitter 46 and the receiver 48 can consume more power on the UE device 10 when they are active compared to when they are inactive (e.g., the battery on the UE device 10 can be consumed faster when the transmitter 46 and the receiver 48 are active compared to when the transmitter 46 or the receiver 48 is inactive).

[0038] Figure 2 The examples are illustrative only. Although for clarity Figure 1In the example, control circuit 28 is shown separately from wireless circuit 34, but wireless circuit 34 may include processing circuitry (e.g., one or more processors) that forms part of processing circuit 32 and / or storage circuitry (e.g., storage circuitry on which part of control circuit 28 may be implemented) that forms part of storage circuit 30 of control circuit 28. As an example, control circuit 28 may include baseband circuitry (e.g., one or more baseband processors), digital control circuitry, analog control circuitry, and / or other control circuitry that forms part of radio component 44. The baseband circuitry may, for example, access a communication protocol stack on control circuit 28 (e.g., storage circuit 30) to: perform user plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, SDAP layer, and / or PDU layer; and / or perform control plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, RRC layer, and / or non-access stratum. If desired, PHY layer operations may alternatively or additionally be performed by radio frequency (RF) interface circuitry in wireless circuit 34.

[0039] When Figure 1 the UE device is off-network, the UE device should still be reachable in the event that a user of the UE device encounters an emergency or otherwise needs to transmit wireless data to another UE device (e.g., Figure 1 relay device 10R). To maximize the likelihood that another UE device will be able to receive a D2D signal (e.g., Figure 1 D2D signal 22 or 24), UE device 10 should be able to transmit D2D signals over relatively long distances (e.g., it may be desirable for the UE device to have as large a coverage area as possible). For example, this distance (e.g., Figure 1 the radius of coverage area 20) may be as far as hundreds of meters, several km, tens of km, or dozens of km. UE device 10 may maximize the range of the D2D signal by transmitting at a relatively high transmit power level (e.g., the maximum transmit power level) for a relatively long amount of time.

[0040] Generally speaking, the UE device 10 may transmit D2D signals at any desired frequency (e.g., frequencies within the ISM band, unlicensed band, frequencies within the band reserved for emergency / public services, etc.). If necessary, the UE device 10 may transmit D2D signals at frequencies within a relatively low frequency band such as below 1 GHz, below 2 GHz, below 3 GHz, below 950 MHz, etc. This can be used to minimize the attenuation of the wireless signals of the D2D signals, thereby maximizing the size of the coverage area. The radio circuitry 34 on the UE device 10 may include dedicated radio components 44 for transmitting D2D signals, or the radio components for transmitting D2D signals may also transmit other signals associated with other communication protocols or RATs (e.g., a single radio component 44 on the UE device 10 may transmit both WLAN signals and D2D signals, a single radio component 44 on the UE device 10 may transmit both cellular phone signals and D2D signals, etc.).

[0041] Meanwhile, even when the UE device 10 is within the coverage area of another UE device, the UE device can only (a) correctly recover the wireless data (e.g., emergency messages) in the D2D signal when the receiver 48 on the UE device 10 is active and (b) when the UE device 10 is time-synchronized with another UE device 10. For example, although Figure 1 the UE relay device 10R can always keep its receiver 48 active to listen for any D2D signals 22 / 24 that happen to be transmitted, this will consume an excessive amount of power in the relay device 10R, thereby causing the relay device 10R to consume its battery relatively quickly. Keeping the receiver 48 active all the time is particularly power-inefficient because off-grid UE devices such as the transmitting device 10T only need to occasionally transmit emergency messages or other wireless data in D2D signals. In addition, although UE devices use signals from external communication equipment 12 to synchronize with each other when located within the cell 14 (e.g., the base station can configure the sleep mode and paging cycle to allow the devices to sleep when they can save power), off-grid UE devices such as the transmitting device 10T did not previously synchronize with each other (e.g., not synchronize with the relay device 10R) or with a time reference. Even if the UE devices are time-synchronized at one point in time (e.g., when both UE devices are grid-connected), once one or both of these UE devices go off-grid, the timing of the transmitting device 10T can drift relative to the timing of the relay device 10R. Therefore, a simple paging mechanism may not be sufficient to allow the relay device 10R to correctly receive and recover the wireless data in the D2D signals 22 / 24.

[0042] To allow the relay device 10R to minimize power consumption while listening for potential D2D signals 24 from a relatively small number of transmitting devices 10T, the relay device 10R may periodically activate its receiver 48 during receiver (RX) windows, during which the receiver is capable of receiving D2D signals 24 (e.g., where the receiver is inactive between RX windows). When the duration of the RX window is short, there is a high likelihood that any transmission of a D2D signal 24 will arrive at the relay device 10R while the receiver is inactive – thus preventing the relay device 10R from correctly recovering the data in the D2D signal 24. When the duration of the RX window is long, there is a greater likelihood that a transmission of a D2D signal 24 will arrive at the relay device 10R.

[0043] When there are a number of transmitting devices 10T such as a group 18 of transmitting devices 10T ( Figure 1 ) that need to relay messages to the network via the relay device 10R, the relay device 10R may need to utilize more power and wireless resources to successfully relay all the messages compared to a scenario where it is receiving D2D signals 24 from a single transmitting device 10T (e.g., sacrificing battery in the process). However, the relay device 10R typically does not know in advance when the group 18 of transmitting devices 10R will need to relay messages. It may thus be desirable for the relay device 10R to be able to effectively balance power consumption with communication capacity while allowing the relay device 10R to relay messages sparsely transmitted from individual transmitting devices 10T (e.g., via radio frequency signals 24) and also allowing the relay device 10R to relay messages densely transmitted from a large number of transmitting devices such as the transmitting devices in group 18 (e.g., via radio frequency signals 22) when needed.

[0044] If desired, the relay device 10R may effectively balance power consumption with communication capacity in both the sparse transmission of D2D signals 24 from a relatively small number of transmitting devices 10T and the dense transmission of D2D signals 22 from a group 18 of transmitting devices 10T ( Figure 1 ) by switching between at least a first operating mode (state) and a second operating mode (state). The first operating mode may sometimes be referred to herein as the self-grouping mode. The second operating mode may sometimes be referred to herein as the organizing mode. Figure 3 is a flowchart of an exemplary operation that may be performed by the relay device 10R to switch between the self-grouping mode and the organizing mode.

[0045] At operation 60, the relay device 10R may operate in an ad - hoc mode. In the ad - hoc mode, the relay device 10R may monitor and receive incoming messages in the D2D signal 24 from the transmitting device 10T. The relay device 10R may limit the amount of time the receiver 48 is active to save power. For example, the receiver 48 may be active during a series of relatively short RX windows separated by relatively long gaps, during which the receiver 48 is inactive (e.g., the relay device 10R may activate its wireless receiver only periodically and during relatively long discontinuous reception (DRX) cycles). This may allow the relay device 10R to receive and relay a relatively small number of messages from a relatively small number of transmitting devices 10R per unit time, while also minimizing power consumption (e.g., the relay device 10R may sacrifice communication capacity for power savings).

[0046] As an example, the relay device 10R may receive at least a portion of one or more preambles transmitted by the transmitting device 10T in the D2D signal 24 during one of the RX windows when the receiver 48 on the relay device 10R is active. The control circuit 28 on the relay device 10R may process the received preambles to synchronize the timing with the transmitting UE device 10T. For example, the relay device 10R may identify (e.g., determine, measure, calculate, generate, produce, etc.) the timing of the emergency message listening window in which the transmitting device 10T will transmit an emergency message (e.g., the emergency message listening window may start from an initial time that is separated from the end of the one or more preambles by a predetermined time period or offset time). This may be used to time - synchronize the relay device 10R with the transmitting device 10T so that the relay device 10R will be able to correctly recover the emergency message transmitted by the transmitting device 10T. If needed, the relay device 10R may de - activate the receiver 48 after identifying the timing and / or after receiving the one or more preambles to save power. The control circuit 28 on the relay device 10R may re - activate its receiver 48 during the emergency message listening window. The receiver 48 on the relay device 10R may receive the emergency message transmitted during the emergency message listening window.

[0047] The relay device 10R may perform any desired subsequent processing based on the received emergency message. For example, the relay device 10R may alert or notify the user of the relay device 10R of the emergency message and / or its content; may transmit a UL signal to the external communication equipment 12 to notify the network of the emergency message (e.g., when the relay device 10R is within the cell 14); may transmit an additional D2D signal to another UE device to notify the UE device of the emergency message, etc. The relay device 10R may remain in the ad-hoc mode until a first trigger condition or handover criterion is met or detected at the relay device 10R. Once the first trigger condition or handover criterion is met, the relay device 10R may transition (handover) from the ad-hoc mode to the organized mode and the processing may proceed to operation 62. Examples of the first trigger condition (handover criterion) that may be used by the relay device 10R to transition from the ad-hoc mode to the organized mode will be discussed in more detail below.

[0048] At operation 62, the relay device 10R may operate in the organized mode. In the organized mode, the relay device 10R may monitor and receive incoming messages in the D2D signal 22 of group 18 from the transmitting device 10T. The relay device 10R may increase or maximize the amount of time the receiver 48 is active to increase the communication capacity while sacrificing battery. For example, the receiver 48 may be active during a series of relatively long RX windows separated by relatively short gaps during which the receiver 48 is inactive (e.g., the relay device 10R may activate its wireless receiver using a relatively short data reception (DRX) cycle), or the receiver may be active within a single continuous extended RX window. This may allow the relay device 10R to receive and relay a relatively large number of messages per unit time from a large number of transmitting devices 10T (e.g., in group 18).

[0049] If needed, in the organized mode, the relay device 10R and / or one or more of these transmitting devices 10T may actively broadcast communication information to allow other UE devices to effectively join the network. For example, the relay device 10R and / or one or more other UE devices (e.g., for a longer period of time and / or during a longer scan compared to operating in the ad-hoc mode) may actively broadcast synchronization signals and / or system information. For example, the synchronization signals may synchronize the sleep and frame structure of each UE device and / or the availability of control and routing information. A UE device that transmits synchronization signals and / or system information may sometimes be referred to herein as a primary UE device and may be the relay device 10R, a UE device with a reliable time reference (e.g., an accurate and recently verified clock), a grid-connected UE device, a UE device with the highest battery charge, a UE device currently connected to a power source, etc. A UE device that receives synchronization signals and / or system information may sometimes be referred to herein as a secondary UE device. When operating in the organized mode compared to the ad-hoc mode, the relay device 10R may exhibit higher throughput, higher throughput per unit of energy consumed, less latency, higher communication capacity, and a higher number of concurrent users and connections.

[0050] As an example, in the organized mode, the relay device 10R may perform PHY-centric synchronization with primary / relay PSS transmission, a fixed discovery frame structure, and control time slots and prior synchronization for all users in the system. As another example, in the organized mode, the relay device 10R may form a P2P mesh system (e.g., actively exchange routing and network information with other UE devices). As another example, the relay device 10R may use the Wi-Fi Neighbor Awareness Network (NAN) protocol in the organized mode. As yet another example, the relay device 10R may implement an ad-hoc network in the organized mode. Combinations of these techniques and / or other techniques may also be used. The relay device 10R may omit these communication schemes in the ad-hoc mode.

[0051] The relay device 10R can perform any desired subsequent processing based on the received emergency message in the organized mode. For example, the relay device 10R can alert or notify the user of the relay device 10R about the emergency message; can transmit a UL signal to the external communication equipment 12 to notify the network about the emergency message (e.g., when the relay device 10R is located within the cell 14); can transmit an additional D2D signal to another UE device to notify the UE device about the emergency message, etc. The relay device 10R can remain in the organized mode until a second trigger condition or handover criterion is met or detected at the relay device 10R. Once the second trigger condition or handover criterion is met, the relay device 10R can transition (handover) from the ad-hoc mode to the organized mode and the processing can loop back via path 64 to operation 60. Examples of the second trigger condition (handover criterion) that can be used by the relay device 10R to transition from the organized mode to the ad-hoc mode will be discussed in more detail below. In this way, the relay device 10R can balance power consumption and communication capacity based on the communication requirements of the nearby transmitting device 10T.

[0052] Figure 4 A timing diagram including an example showing how the relay device 10R can control the receiver 48 in the ad-hoc mode and in the organized mode. Figure 4 The timing diagram 66 plots the receiver (RX) timing during the reception of D2D signals from one or more transmitting devices 10T when the relay device 10R is operating in the ad-hoc mode. As shown in the timing diagram 66, the relay device 10R can periodically activate the receiver 48 during a series of RX windows 68 to monitor (listen for) D2D signals. The RX windows 68 can have a relatively short duration and can be separated by relatively long periods 70 during which the receiver 48 is inactive (e.g., in sleep or powered off). This can allow the relay device 10R to correctly receive and process D2D signals from one transmitting device 10T or a relatively small number of transmitting devices 10T while minimizing power consumption and saving battery power.

[0053] Figure 4 The timing diagram 74 plots the RX timing during the reception of D2D signals from the group 18 of transmitting devices 10T when the relay device 10R is operating in the organized mode. As shown in the timing diagram 74, the relay device 10R can periodically activate the receiver 48 during a series of RX windows 68 to monitor (listen for) D2D signals. The RX windows 68 can have a relatively long duration and can be separated by relatively short periods during which the receiver 48 is inactive (e.g., in sleep or powered off). If needed, the relay device 10R can keep the receiver 48 active within an extended and continuous RX window 72. This can allow the relay device 10R to correctly receive and process D2D signals from many transmitting devices 10T to relay the messages in the D2D signals to the appropriate parties. Figure 4The examples are merely illustrative, and generally, any desired receiver timing can be used.

[0054] Figure 5 State diagram 80 shows an exemplary operating mode (state) of relay device 10R. Transmitting device 10T can also adjust its operation between each operating mode (e.g., Figure 5 the operating mode can be the operating mode for both relay device 10R and transmitting device 10T). As Figure 5 shown, relay device 10R can have at least a first operating mode and a second operating mode, such as self - organizing mode 84 and infrastructure mode 86. The self - organizing mode 84 can sometimes be referred to herein as self - organizing state 84, self - organization mode 84, or low - power mode 84. The infrastructure mode 86 can sometimes be referred to herein as infrastructure state 86, infrastructure mode 86, or high - power mode 86. Relay device 10R can also optionally have additional operating modes, such as beacon - transmitting mode 90 and / or synchronization - signal - transmitting mode 88. Generally, Figure 5 the operating modes consume an increasing amount of power in the direction of arrow 82 and involve a greater amount of communication activity.

[0055] When in the self - organizing mode 84, relay device 10R can monitor for the occurrence of a first trigger condition (e.g., during the processing of Figure 3 operation 60). Once the first trigger condition (switching criterion) has been met or has occurred (e.g., once relay device 10R detects the occurrence of the first trigger condition), relay device 10R can transition from the self - organizing mode 84 to the infrastructure mode 86, as shown by arrow 92.

[0056] As a first example, the first trigger condition (switching criterion) can be the receipt of a wake - up signal in the D2D signals received at relay device 10R while operating in the self - organizing mode 84. The wake - up signal can include a paging signal or a beacon signal (e.g., the preamble of one or more frames or symbols of D2D data) transmitted by one or more of the transmitting devices 10T within the range of relay device 10R. As an example, when the transmitting device is no longer within the range of the external communication equipment 12, when the transmitting device (e.g., using sensors and / or software applications running on the transmitting device) detects an emergency such as a fall or an acute medical condition such as atrial fibrillation or hypoglycemia, and / or in response to user input provided by the user of the transmitting device indicating that the transmitting device should transmit a wake - up signal (e.g., transmit an emergency message to an appropriate regulatory body), transmitting device 10T can transmit a wake - up signal. Relay device 10R can transition to the infrastructure mode 86 upon receipt of the wake - up signal (e.g., to also monitor broadcasts in addition to the wake - up signal when in the infrastructure mode). Transmitting device 10T that transmits the wake - up signal can also transition to the infrastructure mode 86 when transmitting the wake - up signal.

[0057] As a second example, the first trigger condition (handover criterion) can be a load-related trigger condition, such as when the relay device 10R detects that the D2D communication load at the relay device 10R exceeds a threshold (e.g., when the quality of service (QoS) or service level required to process the expected or actual amount of data traffic exceeds a threshold level, when the amount of data traffic exceeds a threshold level, etc.). For example, compared to the ad-hoc mode, the radio circuitry can support / handle a higher QoS / service level and / or can handle a higher amount of traffic in the organized mode. The relay device 10R can, for example, monitor the utilization of beacon resources (e.g., the percentage of occupied beacon time slots or other time slots over time) when in the ad-hoc mode 84 and can transition to the organized mode 86 when the utilization of the beacon resources exceeds a threshold. The threshold can correspond to a situation where there is sufficient D2D traffic at the relay device 10R to justify spending excessive power when communicating with the group 18 of the organized transmitting device 10T.

[0058] As a third example, the first trigger condition (handover criterion) can be the reception of a user-specific paging signal in the D2D signal received at the relay device 10R when operating in the ad-hoc mode 84. The user-specific paging signal can be a paging signal that specifically (explicitly) identifies or addresses the relay device 10R. This can, for example, improve the communication efficiency of the relay device 10R when a known transmitting device 10T transmits a D2D signal. The relay device 10R can transition to the organized mode 86 when receiving the user-specific paging signal. The transmitting device 10T that transmits the user-specific paging signal can also transition to the organized mode 86 when transmitting the user-specific paging signal.

[0059] As a fourth example, the first trigger condition (handover criterion) can be the occurrence of a user-specific event detected by the relay device 10R. Such events can include the loss of a cellular connection, the reception of a public warning system (PWS) message that can be forwarded, critical user vital statistics measured at the relay device 10R or transmitted in the received D2D signal, application calls, etc. The relay device 10R can transition to the organized mode 86 when detecting the occurrence of a user-specific event. Any other desired trigger condition can be used.

[0060] If needed, a UE device with sufficient power on its own can always transition to organization mode 86 when an emergency has been detected by the device or its user. In these examples, a first trigger condition can occur when the UE device or its user identifies that an emergency has occurred and the UE device detects that it has a battery charge level above a threshold level or that it is connected to a power source. If needed, a UE device such as relay device 10R can always activate organization mode 86 when it receives an emergency beacon or when it receives an emergency beacon while having more available power than the UE device transmitting the emergency beacon or having sufficient battery power to operate as a repeater in organization mode for a predetermined number of minutes X (e.g., 60 minutes).

[0061] When in organization mode 86, relay device 10R can monitor for the occurrence of a second trigger condition (e.g., during operation 62 of processing) Figure 3 Once the second trigger condition (handover criterion) has been met or has occurred (e.g., once relay device 10R detects that the second trigger condition has occurred), relay device 10R can transition from organization mode 86 to ad-hoc mode 84, as shown by arrow 94.

[0062] As a first example, the second trigger condition (handover criterion) can occur when relay device 10R and / or one or more transmitting devices 10T detect that the higher overhead in organization mode 86 is no longer beneficial to the system (e.g., when the D2D traffic level has dropped below a threshold level, when network control data such as exchanged routing information indicates that the higher overhead is no longer beneficial, etc.).

[0063] As a second example, the second trigger condition can occur when relay device 10R and / or one or more transmitting devices 10T announce their intention to leave organization mode 86 to other user devices and perform a handover before switching to ad-hoc mode 84.

[0064] As a third example, if organization mode 86 is entered due to a specific communication session (e.g., forwarding an emergency message to an emergency service), the second trigger condition can occur after the session ends. Any other desired trigger condition can be used.

[0065] For a case where the organization mode 86 involves the maintenance of a mesh network (e.g., network status and routing information need to be exchanged), once no response, query, and / or status update is received from other UE devices within a pre-determined period of Y minutes (e.g., five minutes), the UE device can switch from the organization mode 86 to the ad-hoc mode 84. If necessary, if the UE device is power-constrained (e.g., not plugged in, battery level is below a threshold, etc.) and it detects that it participates in the exchange of control information but does not exchange payloads (e.g., the user / device itself has not communicated within the last Z minutes such as five minutes), the device can switch back to the ad-hoc mode 84. If necessary, in a case where the UE device (e.g., the relay device 10R) operates as a repeater between an emergency user (e.g., the transmitting device 10T) and an emergency service, the UE device may never switch to the ad-hoc mode 84 if information from either party has been forwarded within the last W minutes (e.g., 20 minutes).

[0066] If necessary, the relay device 10R and / or the transmitting device 10T can enter the beacon transmission mode 90 from the ad-hoc mode 84, as shown by the arrow 96. This can occur when the relay device 10R detects that a first trigger condition has occurred (e.g., before entering the organization mode 86) and / or when the transmitting device 10T has a message (e.g., an emergency message) that it needs to transmit to the relay device 10R using a D2D signal. In the beacon transmission mode 90, the relay device 10R and / or the transmitting device 10T can transmit a beacon (e.g., a preamble) to other nearby UE devices. Once the UE device that transmits the beacon receives a response to the beacon from one or more of the other UE devices, the UE device can switch to the organization mode 86, as shown by the arrow 100. This can, for example, help to coordinate the operation modes of the UE devices near the relay device 10R. In an example where the transmitting device 10T transmits the beacon, the beacon transmission mode 90 can allow the transmitting device 10T to generate the occurrence of the first trigger condition at the relay device 10R in the ad-hoc mode 84. Waiting for a response from the relay device 10R before switching to the organization mode 86 can help to synchronize the operation modes of the UE devices. If necessary, the UE device that transmits the beacon can fallback from the organization mode 86 to the beacon transmission mode (as shown by the arrow 102) to allow the transmitting UE device to transmit the beacon to additional nearby UE devices that may still be in the ad-hoc mode 84.

[0067] If needed, a UE device that transmits a beacon signal (or subsequent broadcast) in beacon transmission mode 90 may extend the transmitted beacon signal to carry control information. For example, if the beacon includes a preamble sequence such as a Zadoff Chu (ZC) sequence, a different ZC root or an additional overlay code may be applied to the beacon to convey additional control information that helps to notify one or more other UE devices of network configuration (e.g., the operation mode of one or more of the UE devices using D2D signals). The receiving UE device may recover this information by processing the preamble sequence. If the beacon involves two sequential transmissions (e.g., first transmitting a preamble to detect the presence of the signal and for initial time and frequency synchronization, and then transmitting control information that includes a checksum to rule out false alarms), a larger control payload may be transmitted in the second transmission if needed.

[0068] The control information in the beacon may include information identifying the type of communication to be transmitted by the UE device transmitting the beacon in a D2D signal message (e.g., whether the message is an emergency message, a non-emergency social message, or a message including paging information about which users or user groups are being paged). The control information may include organizational mode status information such as information. For example, if the originating device has decided to switch to organizational mode 86, the beacon may identify this decision and wake up other UE devices to utilize this decision. As another example, if the originating device has a low battery level and wishes to limit its transmissions, the device may request a potential repeater to provide a synchronization signal (e.g., using a single bit or metric indicating the battery level so that the repeater can compare it with its own battery level before making a decision).

[0069] If needed, relay device 10R and one or more transmitting devices 10T may enter the synchronization signal transmission mode 88 from the organization mode 86, as shown by arrow 104. In the synchronization signal mode 88, a primary UE device (e.g., relay device 10R or transmitting device 10T) may transmit (broadcast) a synchronization signal (e.g., in a D2D signal) to any other nearby UE device (e.g., a secondary UE device). In other words, the primary UE device may transmit a synchronization signal in mode 88 while the secondary UE device remains in the organization mode 86. The synchronization signal may be used to synchronize the timing across UE devices to coordinate the relay of messages in the D2D signal to and through the relay device 10R. In the organization mode 86, the secondary UE device may scan for synchronization signals and / or other activities. If needed, the primary UE device may transfer the synchronization signal transmission task to another UE device, thereby making the other UE device the primary UE device and allowing the initial primary UE device to become a secondary device (e.g., allowing the primary UE device to transition back from mode 88 to the organization mode 86, as shown by arrow 106). The primary UE device may also transition back from mode 88 to the organization mode 86 via arrow 106 when the battery level of the primary UE device drops below a threshold level, when another UE device has a higher battery level, when the primary UE device is unplugged from a power source or goes off the network, etc.

[0070] The example described herein where relay device 10R serves as a relay device for the network is merely illustrative. If needed, devices 10R and 10T (e.g., a group of devices 10) may operate in a fully peer-to-peer (P2P) setup. In such a setup, a group of devices may use the self-organization mode 84 to communicate with a relatively low traffic size and / or a relatively low service level. At some point in time, one or more of these devices may decide to switch to the organization mode 86 to operate more efficiently (e.g., by forming and / or maintaining a mesh network between peer devices). In these scenarios, the external communication equipment 12, relay device 10R, and UE device 10T may be replaced by any device 10 in the group (e.g., any device 10 in the group may perform the operations of devices 10R, 10T, and 12 as described herein).

[0071] Device 10 may collect and / or use personally identifiable information. It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly explained to the user.

[0072] As described above in connection with Figures 1 to 5The methods and operations described above may be performed by components of device 10 using software, firmware, and / or hardware (e.g., dedicated circuitry or hardware). Software code for performing these operations may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a tangible computer-readable storage medium), which is stored on one or more of the components of device 10 (e.g., Figure 2 the storage circuit 30). This software code may sometimes be referred to as software, data, instructions, program instructions, or code. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include a drive, non-volatile memory such as non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), a removable flash drive or other removable media, other types of random access memory, and the like. The software stored on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be executed by a processing circuit (e.g., Figure 1 the processing circuit 18) on one or more of the components of device 10. The processing circuit may include a microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), an application-specific integrated circuit with a processing circuit, or other processing circuits.

[0073] If desired, an apparatus may be provided that includes means for performing one or more of the methods or processes described herein, or any combination of one or more elements thereof.

[0074] If desired, one or more non-transitory computer-readable media may be provided that include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more of the methods or processes described herein, or any combination of one or more elements thereof.

[0075] If desired, an apparatus may be provided that includes logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more of the methods or processes described herein, or any combination of one or more elements thereof.

[0076] If desired, an apparatus may be provided that includes one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more of the methods or processes described herein, or any combination of one or more elements thereof.

[0077] If desired, a signal (e.g., a signal encoded with data), a datagram, an information element (IE), a packet, a frame, a segment, a PDU, or a message may be provided that includes or performs one or more of the methods or processes described herein, or any combination of one or more elements thereof.

[0078] If desired, an electromagnetic signal may be provided that carries computer-readable instructions, and execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform one or more elements or any combination of elements of one or more of the methods or processes described herein.

[0079] If desired, a computer program may be provided that includes instructions, and execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform one or more elements or any combination of elements of one or more of the methods or processes described herein.

[0080] According to one embodiment, a user equipment device is provided that includes one or more antennas; a radio circuit configured to receive device-to-device (D2D) signals from one or more additional user equipment devices via the one or more antennas and to transmit one or more messages from the D2D signals to external communication equipment via the one or more antennas; and one or more processors configured to: operate the radio circuit in a first operating mode and in a second operating mode, in the first operating mode, the radio circuit consuming a first amount of power and supporting a first service level, and in the second operating mode, the radio circuit consuming a second amount of power higher than the first amount of power and supporting a second service level higher than the first service level; switch the radio circuit from the first operating mode to the second operating mode in response to a first switching criterion; and switch the radio circuit from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to a second switching criterion.

[0081] According to another embodiment, the first switching criterion includes receiving an amount of D2D traffic that exceeds a threshold.

[0082] According to another embodiment, the second switching criterion includes receiving an additional amount of D2D traffic that is less than a threshold.

[0083] According to another embodiment, the first switching criterion includes receiving a wake-up signal in a D2D signal.

[0084] According to another embodiment, the first switching criterion includes receiving a user-specific paging signal in a D2D signal.

[0085] According to another embodiment, the first switching criterion includes receiving an emergency message in a D2D signal.

[0086] According to another embodiment, the first switching criterion includes receiving a Public Alert System (PWS) message.

[0087] According to another embodiment, the first handover criterion includes receiving a message that identifies an emergency situation detected by sensor data collected by the one or more additional user equipment devices.

[0088] According to another embodiment, the second handover criterion includes the end of a communication session.

[0089] According to another embodiment, the second handover criterion includes a lack of D2D message reception within a predetermined time period.

[0090] According to another embodiment, the radio circuit is configured to transmit a synchronization signal to the one or more additional user equipment devices via the one or more antennas when the radio circuit is in the second operating mode.

[0091] According to another embodiment, the radio circuit is configured to hand over the transmission of the synchronization signal to an additional user equipment device among the one or more additional user equipment devices.

[0092] According to another embodiment, the one or more processors are configured to identify control information transmitted by the one or more additional user equipment devices from a coverage code applied to a D2D signal.

[0093] According to one embodiment, a method of operating a user equipment device to relay an emergency message in a device-to-device (D2D) signal received from one or more additional user equipment devices to external communication equipment provides the method, the method including using a receiver to receive a D2D signal in a first operating mode consuming a first power amount; using one or more processors to cause the receiver to transition from the first operating mode to a second operating mode in response to a first trigger condition; using the receiver to receive a D2D signal in a second operating mode consuming a second power amount greater than the first power amount; and using the one or more processors to cause the receiver to transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to a second trigger condition.

[0094] According to another embodiment, causing the receiver to transition from the first operating mode to the second operating mode in response to a first trigger condition includes causing the receiver to transition from the first operating mode to the second operating mode in response to D2D traffic at the user equipment device exceeding a threshold level.

[0095] According to another embodiment, the threshold level includes a threshold percentage of occupied beacon time slots varying over time.

[0096] According to another embodiment, causing the receiver to transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to a second trigger condition includes causing the receiver to transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to D2D traffic at the user equipment device dropping below a threshold level.

[0097] According to another embodiment, the method includes using a transmitter to relay an emergency message to a communication satellite.

[0098] According to another embodiment, the method includes using a transmitter to relay an emergency message to a wireless base station or a wireless access point.

[0099] According to one embodiment, there is provided an electronic device including a wireless circuit configured to receive device-to-device (D2D) signals and configured to relay an emergency message in the D2D signals to external communication equipment; and one or more processors configured to: operate the wireless circuit in an ad-hoc operation mode and in an organized operation mode, in the ad-hoc operation mode, a receiver in the wireless circuit is active for a first time period and consumes a first power amount, and in the organized operation mode, the receiver is active for a second time period greater than the first time period and consumes a second power amount greater than the first power amount, the wireless circuit being configured to receive D2D signals from a first group of additional electronic devices in the ad-hoc operation mode; and switch the receiver from the first operation mode to the second operation mode when receiving D2D signals from a second group of additional electronic devices having more additional electronic devices than the first group of additional electronic devices.

[0100] The foregoing is merely exemplary and various modifications may be made to the embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented independently or in any combination.

Claims

1. A user equipment device, the user equipment device comprising: one or more antennas; a radio circuit configured to receive device-to-device (D2D) signals from one or more additional user equipment devices via the one or more antennas and configured to transmit one or more messages from the D2D signals to external communication equipment via the one or more antennas, wherein the radio circuit is operable in a first operating mode and in a second operating mode, in the first operating mode, the radio circuit consumes a first amount of power and supports a first service level, and in the second operating mode, the radio circuit consumes a second amount of power higher than the first amount of power and supports a second service level higher than the first service level; and one or more processors configured to switch the radio circuit from the first operating mode to the second operating mode in response to receiving an amount of traffic exceeding a threshold in the D2D signal.

2. The user equipment device according to claim 1, wherein the traffic comprises at least one wake-up signal.

3. The user equipment device according to claim 1, wherein the traffic comprises at least one user-specific paging signal.

4. The user equipment device according to claim 1, wherein the traffic comprises at least one emergency message.

5. The user equipment device according to claim 1, wherein the traffic comprises at least one message identifying an emergency situation detected by sensor data collected by the one or more additional user equipment devices.

6. The user equipment device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to switch the radio circuit from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to the end of a communication session.

7. The user equipment device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to switch the radio circuit from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to a lack of D2D message reception within a predetermined period of time.

8. The user equipment device according to claim 1, wherein the radio circuit is configured to transmit a synchronization signal to the one or more additional user equipment devices via the one or more antennas when the radio circuit is in the second operating mode.

9. The user equipment device according to claim 8, wherein the radio circuit is configured to hand over the transmission of the synchronization signal to an additional user equipment device among the one or more additional user equipment devices.

10. The user equipment device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to identify control information transmitted by the one or more additional user equipment devices from a coverage code applied to the D2D signal.

11. A method of operating a user equipment device to relay an emergency message in a device-to-device (D2D) signal received from one or more additional user equipment devices to external communication equipment, the method comprising: receiving the D2D signal in a first operating mode consuming a first amount of power using a receiver; Using one or more processors, causing the receiver to transition from the first operating mode to the second operating mode in response to D2D traffic at the user equipment device exceeding a threshold; Using the receiver to receive the D2D signal in a second operating mode that consumes a second power amount greater than the first power amount; And Using the one or more processors, causing the receiver to transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to a trigger condition.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the threshold level includes a threshold percentage of occupied beacon time slots varying over time.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein causing the receiver to transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode in response to the trigger condition Comprises: In response to the D2D traffic at the user equipment device dropping below the threshold level, causing the receiver to transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode.

14. The method according to claim 11, the method further Comprises: Using a transmitter to relay the emergency message to a communication satellite.

15. The method according to claim 11, the method further Comprises: Using a transmitter to relay the emergency message to a wireless base station or a wireless access point.

16. An electronic device, the electronic device Comprises: A radio circuit configured to receive device-to-device (D2D) signals and configured to relay an emergency message in the D2D signals to external communication equipment; And One or more processors configured to operate the radio circuit in a first operating mode and in a second operating mode, In the first operating mode, the receiver in the radio circuit is active for a first time amount and consumes a first power amount, and in the second operating mode, the receiver is active for a second time amount greater than the first time amount and consumes a second power amount greater than the first power amount, the radio circuit being configured to receive the D2D signal from a first set of additional electronic devices in the first operating mode, and When receiving the D2D signal from a second set of additional electronic devices having more additional electronic devices than the first set of additional electronic devices, switching the receiver from the first operating mode to the second operating mode.

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