A method for controlling connection of a terminal device and apparatus therefor

Abstract

The embodiment of the disclosure discloses a method for controlling terminal device connection and a device thereof, which can be applied to a terminal device to network (U2N) relay scene. The method comprises: in the case that a first terminal device in a connected state receives a first message sent by a second terminal device, the first terminal device judges whether to start a radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment according to a first condition; wherein the first terminal device is a remote terminal device in the U2N relay scene, and the second terminal device is a relay terminal device in the U2N relay scene. Through the implementation of the embodiment of the disclosure, unnecessary connection reestablishment triggered when receiving a notification message sent by the relay terminal device can be avoided, thereby saving resources and avoiding resource waste.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular, to a method for controlling connection of a terminal device and an apparatus thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] In order to support direct communication between terminal devices (also referred to as User Equipment, UE) and UEs, a Sidelink communication mode is introduced, and the interface between the UEs is PC-5. One UE can not be directly connected with a network device (such as a base station) but can communicate with the network device through the relay of another UE, wherein the UE without connection with the network device is referred to as a remote UE, and the UE providing the relay function is referred to as a relay UE. The remote UE and the relay UE communicate through the Sidelink, and this architecture is referred to as U2N (UE to NW) relay.

[0003] The remote UE and the network device (such as a base station) can establish a direct link (Direct Link) and an indirect link (Indirect Link). The direct link is a link in which the remote UE is directly connected with the network device, and the indirect link is a link in which the remote UE is indirectly connected with the network device through the relay UE. The remote UE can maintain connection with the network device through the direct link and the indirect link at the same time, and this function is referred to as multipath connection (Multipath). The multipath connection can enable the remote UE to support multipath transmission, thereby improving transmission rate and transmission reliability. It should be noted that the remote UE must be in a connected state to support multipath connection.

[0004] In the related art, when the relay UE has connection problems such as radio link failure, handover, cell reselection, radio resource control (RRC) connection failure, etc., a notification message is sent to the connected remote UE through the Sidelink. When the remote UE in the connected state receives the notification message sent by the relay UE, the remote UE triggers a reestablishment to ensure normal communication. However, in this case, unnecessary connection reestablishment usually occurs.

[0005] Therefore, there is currently a lack of effective means for controlling connection of a remote UE in a U2N relay scenario. SUMMARY

[0006] The method and apparatus for controlling connection of a terminal device provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to a terminal device to network (UE to NW, also referred to as U2N) relay scenario, and whether RRC (Radio Resource Control) reestablishment needs to be started is determined according to a condition by a terminal device in a connected state, so that unnecessary connection reestablishment triggered when a notification message sent by a relay terminal device is received can be avoided, resources are saved, and resource waste is avoided.

[0007] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for controlling connection of a terminal device, which is applied to a terminal device to network relay scenario, and the method is performed by a first terminal device, and the method comprises the following steps.

[0008] In response to that the first terminal device in a connected state receives a first message sent by a second terminal device, whether RRC (Radio Resource Control) reestablishment needs to be started is determined according to a first condition.

[0009] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, whether RRC (Radio Resource Control) reestablishment needs to be started is determined according to a condition by a terminal device in a connected state, so that unnecessary connection reestablishment triggered when a notification message sent by a relay terminal device is received can be avoided, resources are saved, and resource waste is avoided.

[0010] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, whether RRC (Radio Resource Control) reestablishment needs to be started is determined according to a condition by a terminal device in a connected state, so that unnecessary connection reestablishment triggered when a notification message sent by a relay terminal device is received can be avoided, resources are saved, and resource waste is avoided.

[0011] In an implementation manner, the first condition is that the first terminal device is configured with multipath transmission, and the step of determining whether RRC (Radio Resource Control) reestablishment needs to be started according to the first condition comprises the following steps.

[0012] In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multipath transmission, RRC (Radio Resource Control) reestablishment is not started.

[0013] In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multipath transmission, RRC (Radio Resource Control) reestablishment is started.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner, whether the first terminal device is configured with multipath transmission is determined in the following any manner.

[0015] It is determined that a network device configures the first terminal device with multipath bearer.

[0016] It is determined that a network device configures the first terminal device with direct bearer and indirect bearer simultaneously.

[0017] In an implementation form, the first condition comprises that the first terminal device is configured with a multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path; and the determining whether to initiate the RRC reestablishment according to the first condition comprises:

[0018] in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission and the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, not initiating the RRC reestablishment; or

[0019] in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with the multi-path transmission and / or the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path, initiating the RRC reestablishment.

[0020] The indirect path is a path through which the first terminal device is indirectly connected with a network device via the second terminal device.

[0021] In another implementation form, the first condition comprises that the first terminal device is configured with a multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function; and the determining whether to initiate the RRC reestablishment according to the first condition comprises:

[0022] in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission and the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path, and the first terminal device is configured with the failure recovery function, not initiating the RRC reestablishment; or

[0023] in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with the multi-path transmission and / or the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, and / or the first terminal device is not configured with the failure recovery function, initiating the RRC reestablishment.

[0024] In a possible implementation form, the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is determined to be the main path in any of the following ways:

[0025] it is determined that the indirect path is used for transmission of a signaling radio bearer (SRB);

[0026] it is determined that the first terminal device triggers RRC connection reestablishment after a failure of the indirect path;

[0027] it is determined that the indirect path is a main transmission path of the SRB;

[0028] it is determined that the indirect path is a path used for maintaining an RRC connection;

[0029] it is determined that the indirect path is an anchor path;

[0030] determine the cell connected by the indirect path as a primary cell of the first terminal device.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the first terminal device is determined to be configured with the failure recovery function by the following manner, comprising:

[0032] determine that a timer is running; wherein the timer is a timer started by the first terminal device after reporting link failure information to a network device, and the link failure information is used to indicate that a direct link or an indirect link in the multi-path transmission has link failure.

[0033] In an implementation, the first message is a notification message sent by the second terminal device to the connected first terminal device through a sidelink in a first case; or the first message comprises the notification message and an indication type in the notification message is a radio link failure; wherein the first case comprises any one of the following:

[0034] a radio link failure occurs;

[0035] a handover occurs;

[0036] a cell reselection occurs;

[0037] an RRC connection failure occurs.

[0038] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication apparatus having part or all functions of a terminal device in the method of the first aspect, for example, the communication apparatus can have part or all functions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, or can have the function of implementing any one of the embodiments of the present disclosure independently. The functions can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0039] In an implementation, the communication apparatus can include a transceiver module and a processing module in its structure, and the processing module is configured to support the communication apparatus to perform the corresponding functions in the above method. The transceiver module is used to support the communication between the communication apparatus and other devices. The communication apparatus can also include a storage module for coupling with the transceiver module and the processing module, which saves the necessary computer programs and data of the communication apparatus.

[0040] For example, the processing module can be a processor, the transceiver module can be a transceiver or a communication interface, and the storage module can be a memory.

[0041] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication apparatus, which includes a processor, and when the processor invokes a computer program in a memory, the method in the first aspect is executed.

[0042] In a fourth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication apparatus, which comprises a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program; the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication apparatus executes the method in the first aspect.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a communication apparatus, which comprises a processor and an interface circuit for receiving code instructions and transmitting the code instructions to the processor, the processor being configured to execute the code instructions so that the apparatus executes the method in the first aspect.

[0044] In a sixth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer readable storage medium for storing instructions for the terminal device, when the instructions are executed, the terminal device executes the method in the first aspect.

[0045] In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer program product comprising a computer program, when the computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer program product causes the computer to execute the method in the first aspect.

[0046] In an eighth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a chip system, which comprises at least one processor and an interface for supporting the terminal device to implement the functions related to the first aspect, for example, determining or processing at least one of the data and information related to the method. In a possible design, the chip system further comprises a memory, the memory being configured to store the computer program and data necessary for the terminal device. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can comprise a chip and other discrete devices.

[0047] In a ninth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer program, when the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer program causes the computer to execute the method in the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0048] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure or the background art, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments of the present disclosure or the background art will be described below.

[0049] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0050] Figure 2 FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for controlling connection of a terminal device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0051] Figure 3 FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for controlling connection of a terminal device according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0052] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method of controlling connection of a terminal device according to an example embodiment;

[0053] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a method of controlling connection of a terminal device according to an example embodiment;

[0054] Figure 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0055] Figure 7 is a structural schematic diagram of another communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0056] Figure 8 is a structural schematic diagram of a chip provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, examples of which are shown in the drawings, wherein the same or similar notations represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are exemplary and are intended to explain the present disclosure, and should not be understood as limiting the present disclosure. In the description of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, " / " means or, for example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" herein only describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which means that there are three cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone.

[0058] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure. The singular forms "a", "an" and "the" used in the embodiments of the present disclosure and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0059] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used in the embodiments of the present disclosure to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish information of the same type from each other. For example, the first information can also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information can also be referred to as the first information, without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Depending on the context, the words "if" and "when" as used herein can be interpreted as "upon" or "when... or in response to determining".

[0060] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar notations represent the same or similar elements throughout. The embodiments described below by reference to the drawings are exemplary and are intended to explain the present disclosure, and cannot be understood as a limitation of the present disclosure.

[0061] In order to support direct communication between terminal devices (UEs), a Sidelink communication mode is introduced, and the interface between UEs is PC-5. According to the correspondence between the sending and receiving UEs, three transmission modes are supported on the Sidelink, such as unicast, groupcast and broadcast. The sending UE sends Sidelink control information (SCI) on the PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel) channel and second-stage SCI on the PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel) channel, which carries the resource location of the transmission data and the source and target identification, etc. After receiving the SCI, the receiving UE determines whether to receive the corresponding data and which process according to the source UE and destination UE identification in it. In unicast connection, each UE corresponds to one destination identification, in groupcast, each UE can belong to one or more groups, each group corresponds to one destination identification, and in broadcast, all UEs correspond to at least one destination identification.

[0062] A UE can not be directly connected with a network device (such as a base station) but can communicate with the network device through the relay of another UE, wherein the UE without connection with the network device is called a remote UE, and the UE providing the relay function is called a relay UE. The remote UE and the relay UE communicate through the Sidelink, and this architecture is called U2N (UE to NW) relay.

[0063] The remote UE and the network device (such as a base station) can establish a direct link (Direct Link) and an indirect link (Indirect Link). The direct link is a link directly connecting the remote UE and the network device, and the indirect link is a link indirectly connecting the remote UE and the network device through the relay UE. The remote UE can maintain connection with the network device through the direct link and the indirect link at the same time, and this function is called multipath connection (Multipath), which can enable the remote UE to support multipath transmission, thereby improving the transmission rate and transmission reliability. It should be noted that the remote UE must be in a connected state to support multipath connection.

[0064] When any one of radio link failure, handover, cell reselection and RRC connection failure occurs in the relay UE, a notification message (NotificationMessageSidelink) is sent to the connected remote UE through the sidelink, and the relay UE carries an indication type (indicationType) in the notification message according to the event triggering the notification message. In an implementation, if the relay UE occurs radio link failure, the indication type can be set as relayUE-UuRLF; if the relay UE occurs handover, the indication type is set as relayUE-HO; if the relay UE occurs cell reselection, the indication type can be set as relayUE-CellReselection; and if the relay UE occurs connection failure, the indication type is set as relayUE-UuRRCFailure.

[0065] When the remote UE receives the notification message, the remote UE in the connected state will trigger a reestablishment to ensure normal communication, but in this case, unnecessary connection reestablishment usually exists. Therefore, there is currently a lack of effective means for controlling the connection of the remote UE in the U2N relay scenario.

[0066] To this end, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for controlling the connection of the remote UE in the U2N relay scenario. First, the communication system to which the embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable is described as follows.

[0067] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 An architecture schematic diagram of a communication system is provided for the embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication system can include, but is not limited to, one network device and two terminal devices, Figure 1 The number and form of devices shown are only for example and do not constitute a limitation to the embodiment of the present disclosure, and in actual applications, two or more network devices can be included. Figure 1 The communication system shown takes one network device 101 and two terminal devices UE (such as a first terminal device 102 and a second terminal device 103) as an example.

[0068] It should be noted that the technical solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. For example: long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, 5th generation (5th generation, 5G) mobile communication system, 5G new radio (5G new radio, NR) system, or other future new mobile communication systems, etc. It should also be noted that the sidelink in the embodiment of the present disclosure can also be referred to as a sidelink or a direct link.

[0069] The network device 101 in the embodiments of the present disclosure is an entity for transmitting or receiving signals on the network side. For example, the network device 101 can be an evolved NodeB (eNB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB) in an NR system, a base station in other future mobile communication systems, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, and the like. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device. The network device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can be composed of a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), wherein the CU can also be referred to as a control unit (control unit). The CU-DU structure can split the protocol layer of the network device, for example, the base station, and the functions of part of the protocol layer are controlled by the CU, and the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layer are distributed in the DU and controlled by the CU.

[0070] The first terminal device 102 and the second terminal device 103 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be an entity for receiving or transmitting signals on the user side, such as a mobile phone. The terminal device can also be referred to as a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), and the like. The terminal device can be a car, a smart car, a mobile phone, a wearable device, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device in smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in smart city, a wireless terminal device in smart home, and the like. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal device.

[0071] It is worth noting that, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, Figure 1In the illustrated wireless communication system, the first terminal device 102 and the second terminal device 103 communicate through a Sidelink direct link. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 102 can not be directly connected with the network device 101, but can communicate with the network device 101 through the relay of the second terminal device 103, where the first terminal device 102 without connection with the network device 101 is referred to as a remote UE, the second terminal device 103 providing the relay function is referred to as a relay UE, and the remote UE and the relay UE communicate through a Sidelink unicast, which is referred to as a U2N (UE to NW) relay.

[0072] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 102 and the network device 101 can establish a direct link (Direct Link) and an indirect link (Indirect Link). The direct link is a link in which the first terminal device 102 is directly connected with the network device 101, and the indirect link is a link in which the first terminal device 102 is indirectly connected with the network device 101 through the second terminal device 103. It should be noted that the first terminal device 102 is a remote UE and the second terminal device 103 is a relay UE. In this way, the remote UE can maintain connection with the network device through the direct link and the indirect link at the same time, which is referred to as multipath connection, and can support multipath transmission to improve transmission rate and transmission reliability. It should be noted that the remote UE must be in a connected state to support multipath connection.

[0073] It should be further noted that the first terminal device 102 is a remote UE and the second terminal device 103 is a relay UE. The bearer of the remote UE can be transmitted only through a direct path, which is referred to as a direct bearer (Direct Bearer), or only through an indirect path, which is referred to as an indirect bearer (Indirect Bearer), or through both a direct path and an indirect path, which is referred to as a multipath bearer (Multipath Bearer). The cell to which the remote UE is directly connected and the cell to which the relay UE is connected can be the same or different.

[0074] In some embodiments, in the multipath scheme, the two paths are divided into a primary path and a secondary path.

[0075] In some embodiments, when the second terminal device is configured with multiple cell groups, i.e., a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG), if the second terminal device has a radio link failure in one cell group, the second terminal device can send failure information to the network device through another cell group, so that the network device can reconfigure a new cell for the failed cell group, thereby restoring communication. The failure information includes the failure cause and the latest measurement results of the terminal device on the cell. In one implementation, when the first terminal device is connected to the network device through a direct link and an indirect link at the same time, if one of the direct link and the indirect link fails, the first terminal device can report the failure information of the corresponding link to assist the network in recovering the failed link, so that the first terminal device has a failure recovery function, which can enable the network side device to recover the failed link in time, thereby reducing the delay of data transmission on the failed link.

[0076] It can be understood that the communication system described in the embodiments of the present disclosure is for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art can know that the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems as the system architecture evolves and new business scenarios appear.

[0077] The method for controlling terminal device connection and the apparatus thereof provided by the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0078] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 is a flowchart of a method for controlling terminal device connection provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the method of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to a terminal device to network (U2N) relay scenario, and the method can be executed by a first terminal device. It should be noted that the first terminal device herein is a remote UE in the U2N relay scenario, and the second terminal device is a relay UE in the U2N relay scenario. The remote UE and the network device can establish a direct link (Direct Link) and an indirect link (Indirect Link). The direct link is a link directly connecting the remote UE and the network device, and the indirect link is a link indirectly connecting the remote UE and the network device through the relay UE. The remote UE can maintain connection with the network device through the direct link and the indirect link at the same time, and this function is called multipath connection (Multipath). The multipath connection can enable the remote UE to support multipath transmission, thereby improving transmission rate and transmission reliability. It should be noted that the remote UE must be in a connected state to support multipath connection.

[0079] As Figure 2 shown, the method can include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0080] In step 201, in response to the first terminal device in the connected state receiving a first message sent by the second terminal device, it is judged whether to start a radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment according to a first condition.

[0081] Optionally, the first terminal device in the connected state receives the first message sent by the second terminal device, and the first terminal device can judge whether to start the RRC reestablishment, for example, can judge whether to start the RRC reestablishment according to the first condition.

[0082] In some embodiments, the first message can be a notification message sent by the second terminal device to the connected first terminal device through a sidelink (Sidelink) in a first case. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the first message can include the notification message and an indication type; wherein the indication type can be used to indicate the reason (that is, the first case) for the second terminal device losing connection with the network device. For example: the indication type can be a radio link failure. Wherein, the first case can include any one of the following: a radio link failure occurs; a handover occurs; a cell reselection occurs; an RRC connection failure occurs.

[0083] In a possible implementation, taking the first message as the notification message for example, when the second terminal device occurs any one of the radio link failure, the handover, the cell reselection and the RRC connection failure, the second terminal device sends the notification message (NotificationMessageSidelink) to the connected remote UE through the Sidelink. The first terminal device in the connected state receives the notification message sent by the second terminal device, and the first terminal device can judge whether to start the RRC reestablishment, and optionally, the first terminal device can judge whether to start the RRC reestablishment according to the first condition.

[0084] In another possible implementation, taking the example of including the notification message and the indication type in the first message; when the second terminal device has any one of radio link failure, handover, cell reselection, and RRC connection failure, the second terminal device sends a first message to the connected remote UE through Sidelink, and the first message can include the notification message. In addition, the second terminal device can also carry an indication type (indicationType) in the first message according to the event triggering the notification message. As an example, the first terminal device in the connected state receives the first message sent by the second terminal device, and the indication type carried in the first message is radio link failure. The first terminal device can determine whether to start RRC reestablishment according to the first condition. That is, the first terminal device in the connected state receives the first message sent by the second terminal device, and the indication type carried in the first message is radio link failure. In this case, it can be considered that the second terminal device has radio link failure, and the first terminal device in the connected state can determine whether to start RRC reestablishment according to the first condition.

[0085] By implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure, by the terminal device in the connected state determining whether to start RRC reestablishment, unnecessary connection reestablishment triggered when receiving the notification message sent by the relay terminal device can be avoided, so that the resources are saved, and resource waste is avoided.

[0086] It should be noted that in some embodiments, the first condition can be that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission. The first terminal device can determine whether to start RRC reestablishment according to the first condition. If the first terminal device meets the first condition, the RRC reestablishment can not be started; if the first terminal device does not meet the first condition, the RRC reestablishment needs to be started. Alternatively, Figure 3 is a flowchart of a method of controlling terminal device connection according to an example embodiment. It should be noted that the method of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to a terminal device to network (U2N) relay scenario, and the method can be executed by a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is in a connected state. It should be noted that the first terminal device here is a remote UE in the U2N relay scenario, and the second terminal device is a relay UE in the U2N relay scenario. As shown in Figure 3 the method can include but is not limited to the following steps:

[0087] In step 301, a first message sent by a second terminal device is received.

[0088] In one implementation, after receiving the first message sent by the second terminal device, the first terminal device in the connected state determines whether multi-path transmission is configured to decide whether to start RRC reestablishment.

[0089] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, step 301 can be implemented in any of the embodiments of the present disclosure respectively, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this, and will not be repeated here. For example, the first message sent by the first terminal device can be received in the manner of step 201 described above; wherein the first message can be a notification message, or the first message includes a notification message and an indication type; wherein the indication type can be used to indicate the reason for the second terminal device losing connection with the network side device.

[0090] In step 302, it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, and RRC reestablishment is not started.

[0091] Optionally, when it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, it can be considered that the first terminal device supports multi-path transmission, so that the first terminal device can be directly connected with the network device through the direct path in the multi-path transmission, and can also be indirectly connected with the network device through the indirect path in the multi-path transmission. For any of the cases of radio link failure, handover, cell reselection and RRC connection failure of the second terminal device, the first message is sent to the first terminal device. After receiving the first message sent by the second terminal device, since the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, the first terminal device can also be directly connected with the network device through the link of the direct path (i.e. the direct link) in the multi-path transmission, so that the first terminal device can also continue to maintain connection with the network device, and therefore the first terminal device can not start RRC reestablishment, thereby avoiding unnecessary connection reestablishment of the remote UE when receiving the information sent by the relay UE for indicating the radio link failure, and causing connection interruption.

[0092] In a possible implementation, when the first terminal device determines that the network device configures the first terminal device with a multi-path bearer, it can be determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission.

[0093] In another possible implementation, when the first terminal device determines that the network device configures the first terminal device with a direct bearer and an indirect bearer at the same time, it can be determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission.

[0094] By implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case of determining that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, RRC reestablishment can not be started, thereby avoiding unnecessary connection reestablishment of the remote UE when receiving the information sent by the relay UE for indicating the radio link failure, and causing connection interruption, so that resources can be saved, and resource waste can be avoided.

[0095] Optionally, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission, and RRC reestablishment is started.

[0096] Optionally, after receiving the first message sent by the second terminal device, the first terminal device in the connected state determines that the first terminal device is not configured with the multi-path transmission, and it can be considered that the first terminal device does not have the multi-path transmission function. For any one of the radio link failure, handover, cell reselection and RRC connection failure of the second terminal device, the first message is sent to the first terminal device. After receiving the first message sent by the second terminal device, since the first terminal device does not have the multi-path transmission function, the first terminal device needs to start the RRC reestablishment to ensure the connection between the terminal device and the network device, and to ensure the normal communication of the terminal device.

[0097] It should be noted that in some embodiments, the first condition can include that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission and the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, and the first terminal device can determine whether to start the RRC reestablishment according to the first condition. If the first terminal device meets the first condition, the RRC reestablishment can not be started; if the first terminal device does not meet the first condition, the RRC reestablishment needs to be started. Optionally, Figure 4 is a flowchart of a method of controlling terminal device connection according to an exemplary embodiment. It should be noted that the method of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to a terminal device to network (U2N) relay scenario, and the method can be executed by a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is in a connected state. It should be noted that the first terminal device herein is a remote UE in the U2N relay scenario, and the second terminal device is a relay UE in the U2N relay scenario. As shown in Figure 4 The method can include but is not limited to the following steps:

[0098] In step 401, a first message sent by a second terminal device is received.

[0099] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, step 401 can be implemented in any one of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this and will not be repeated. For example, the first message sent by the first terminal device can be received in the manner of step 201 as described above; wherein the first message can be a notification message, or the first message includes a notification message and an indication type; wherein the indication type can be used to indicate the reason for the second terminal device losing the link with the network side device.

[0100] In one implementation, after receiving the first message sent by the second terminal device, the first terminal device in the connected state determines whether the multi-path transmission is configured, and determines whether the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, to decide whether to start the RRC reestablishment.

[0101] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, step 401 can be implemented in any of the embodiments of the present disclosure respectively, and the present disclosure does not limit this, and will not be repeated here.

[0102] In step 402, it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, and the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, and the RRC reestablishment is not started.

[0103] The indirect path is a path through which the first terminal device is indirectly connected with the network device through the second terminal device. If it is determined that the indirect path is not the main path, it is the auxiliary path.

[0104] Optionally, if it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, it can be considered that the first terminal device supports multi-path transmission, so that the first terminal device can be directly connected with the network device through the direct path in the multi-path transmission, and can also be indirectly connected with the network device through the indirect path in the multi-path transmission. For any of the wireless link failure, handover, cell reselection and RRC connection failure of the second terminal device, the first message is sent to the first terminal device. After the first terminal device receives the first message sent by the second terminal device, since the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, and the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, the first terminal device can also be directly connected with the network device through the link (i.e. direct link) of the direct path in the multi-path transmission, so that the first terminal device can also continue to maintain the connection with the network device, and therefore the first terminal device can not start the RRC reestablishment, thereby avoiding unnecessary connection reestablishment of the remote UE when receiving the information sent by the relay UE for indicating the wireless link failure, and causing the connection interruption.

[0105] Optionally, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission, and / or the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path, and the RRC reestablishment is started.

[0106] In an implementation manner, after the first terminal device in the connected state receives the first message sent by the second terminal device, the first terminal device determines that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission, and / or the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path, and then the first terminal device needs to start the RRC reestablishment to guarantee the normal communication of the terminal device.

[0107] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first terminal device can determine the indirect path in the multi-path transmission as the main path in any of the following ways: determining that the indirect path is used for transmission of a signaling radio bearer (SRB); determining that the first terminal device triggers RRC connection reestablishment after failure of the indirect path; determining that the indirect path is a main transmission path of the SRB; determining that the indirect path is a path for maintaining an RRC connection; determining that the indirect path is an anchor path; and determining that a cell connected by the indirect path is a primary cell of the first terminal device.

[0108] In a possible implementation, in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is used for transmission of an SRB, the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is determined as the main path.

[0109] In another possible implementation, in a case where the first terminal device triggers RRC connection reestablishment after failure of the indirect path, the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is determined as the main path.

[0110] In another possible implementation, in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is a main transmission path of the SRB, the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is determined as the main path.

[0111] In another possible implementation, in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is a path for maintaining an RRC connection, the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is determined as the main path.

[0112] In another possible implementation, in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is an anchor path, the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is determined as the main path.

[0113] In another possible implementation, in a case where it is determined that a cell connected by the indirect path is a primary cell of the first terminal device, the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is determined as the main path.

[0114] It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the first condition can include that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission, the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path, and the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function; the first terminal device can determine whether to start RRC reestablishment according to the first condition, if the first terminal device satisfies the first condition, the RRC reestablishment can not be started; if the first terminal device does not satisfy the first condition, the RRC reestablishment needs to be started. Optionally, Figure 5is a flow chart of a method for controlling terminal device connection according to an exemplary embodiment. It should be noted that the method of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to a terminal device-to-network (U2N) relay scenario, and the method can be executed by a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is in a connected state. It should be noted that the first terminal device herein serves as a remote UE in the U2N relay scenario, and the second terminal device serves as a relay UE in the U2N relay scenario. As shown in Figure 5 the method can include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

[0115] In step 501, a first message sent by a second terminal device is received.

[0116] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, step 501 can be implemented in any of the embodiments of the present disclosure respectively, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this and will not be repeated. For example, the first message sent by the first terminal device can be received in the manner of step 201 as described above; wherein the first message can be a notification message, or the first message includes a notification message and an indication type; wherein the indication type can be used to indicate the reason for the second terminal device losing connection with the network side device.

[0117] In an implementation manner, after receiving the first message sent by the second terminal device, the first terminal device in the connected state determines whether a multi-path transmission is configured, determines whether an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path, and determines whether a failure recovery function is configured for the first terminal device, to decide whether to start RRC reestablishment.

[0118] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, step 501 can be implemented in any of the embodiments of the present disclosure respectively, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this and will not be repeated.

[0119] In step 502, it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with a multi-path transmission, an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function, and RRC reestablishment is not started.

[0120] Optionally, it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission, and it is considered that the first terminal device supports the multi-path transmission, so that the first terminal device can be directly connected to the network device through a direct path in the multi-path transmission, and can be indirectly connected to the network device through an indirect path in the multi-path transmission. For any one of the wireless link failure, the handover, the cell reselection, and the RRC connection failure of the second terminal device, the first message is sent to the first terminal device. In the case where the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission, although the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path, since the first terminal device is configured with the failure recovery function, the first terminal device can assist the network device to recover the failed link through the failure recovery function, and in this case, the first terminal device can not start the RRC reestablishment, so as to avoid unnecessary connection interruption caused by the remote UE performing the connection reestablishment when receiving the information sent by the relay UE and indicating the wireless link failure.

[0121] In a possible implementation, the first terminal device can determine that the first terminal device is configured with the failure recovery function by determining that a timer is running, wherein the timer is a timer started by the first terminal device after reporting the link failure information to the network device, and the link failure information is used to indicate that the direct link or the indirect link in the multi-path transmission has a link failure. That is, the first terminal device determines that the first terminal device is configured with the failure recovery function in the case where it is determined that the timer is running.

[0122] Optionally, in some embodiments, the first terminal device starts the RRC reestablishment in the case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with the multi-path transmission, and / or the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, and / or the first terminal device is not configured with the failure recovery function.

[0123] In some embodiments, the implementation of the failure recovery function can be as follows: when the first terminal device is connected to the network device through the direct link and the indirect link at the same time, if one of the direct link and the indirect link fails, the first terminal device can report the failure information of the corresponding link to assist the network to recover the failed link.

[0124] In a possible implementation, in the case where the indirect link fails, the first terminal device reports the indirect link failure information to the network device through the direct link. The indirect link failure information can include at least one of the following: indirect link failure cause information; terminal device information of a third terminal device, the terminal device information including at least one of a terminal device identifier, a wireless channel quality of a sidelink link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device, and a serving cell identifier of the third terminal device; and a terminal device identifier of the second terminal device. The third terminal device can be a terminal device capable of establishing an indirect link with the first terminal device.

[0125] Optionally, the indirect link failure cause includes at least one of the following: the sidelink link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device has a radio link failure; the sidelink RLC entity notifies that the sending reaches a first maximum number of retransmissions; the T400 timer times out; the sidelink MAC entity notifies that the lost feedback reaches a maximum number of losses; the sidelink PDCP entity notifies that the integrity detection of SL-SRB2 fails; the sidelink PDCP entity notifies that the integrity detection of SL-SRB3 fails; the sidelink link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device has a continuous LBT failure; the second terminal device has a radio link failure; the second terminal device has a connection failure; and the PC5-RRC connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is released.

[0126] In a possible implementation, in the case of a direct link failure, the first terminal device reports direct link failure information to the network device through an indirect link. The direct link failure information includes direct link failure cause information, and the direct link failure cause information includes at least one of the following: a radio link failure; a T310 timer timeout; a T312 timer timeout; RLC retransmission reaching a second maximum number of retransmissions; random access failure; beam recovery failure; and continuous LBT failure.

[0127] In the above embodiments of the present disclosure, the method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure is introduced from the perspective of the first terminal device. To implement the functions in the above method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first terminal device can include hardware structures, software modules, and implement the above functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules. Some of the above functions can be executed in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules.

[0128] Please refer to Figure 6 FIG. 1 shows a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 60 provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 6 The communication apparatus 60 shown can include a transceiver module 601 and a processing module 602. The transceiver module 601 can include a sending module and / or a receiving module, the sending module is used to implement a sending function, and the receiving module is used to implement a receiving function. The transceiver module 601 can implement the sending function and / or the receiving function.

[0129] The communication apparatus 60 can be a terminal device (such as the first terminal device in the above method embodiments), can also be an apparatus in a terminal device, and can also be an apparatus that can be used in matching with a terminal device.

[0130] The communication apparatus 60 is a terminal device (e.g., the first terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment): the transceiver module 601 is configured to receive a first message sent by a second terminal device; and the processing module 602 is configured to, in a case where the first terminal device in a connected state receives the first message sent by the second terminal device, determine whether to start a radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment according to a first condition; wherein the first terminal device is a remote terminal device in a terminal device-to-network relay scenario, and the second terminal device is a relay terminal device in the terminal device-to-network relay scenario.

[0131] In an implementation manner, the first condition is that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission; and the processing module 602 is specifically configured to: in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, not start the RRC reestablishment; or in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission, start the RRC reestablishment.

[0132] In a possible implementation manner, the processing module 602 is further configured to: in a case where it is determined that the network device configures the first terminal device with a multi-path bearer, determine that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission; or in a case where it is determined that the network device configures the first terminal device with both a direct bearer and an indirect bearer, determine that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission.

[0133] In an implementation manner, the first condition includes that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path; and the processing module 602 is specifically configured to: in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path, not start the RRC reestablishment; or in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission and / or an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, start the RRC reestablishment; wherein the indirect path is a path through which the first terminal device is indirectly connected to the network device via the second terminal device.

[0134] In another implementation manner, the first condition includes that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function; and the processing module 602 is specifically configured to: in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function, not start the RRC reestablishment; or in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission and / or an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path and / or the first terminal device is not configured with a failure recovery function, start the RRC reestablishment.

[0135] In a possible implementation, the processing module 602 is further configured to: determine the indirect path as the main path in the multi-path transmission in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is used for transmission of a signaling radio bearer (SRB); or determine the indirect path as the main path in the multi-path transmission in a case where the first terminal device triggers RRC connection re-establishment after it is determined that the indirect path fails; or determine the indirect path as the main path in the multi-path transmission in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is the main transmission path of the SRB; or determine the indirect path as the main path in the multi-path transmission in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is a path used for maintaining the RRC connection; or determine the indirect path as the main path in the multi-path transmission in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is an anchor path; or determine the indirect path as the main path in the multi-path transmission in a case where it is determined that a cell connected by the indirect path is a main cell of the first terminal device.

[0136] In another implementation, the processing module 602 is further configured to: determine that the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function in a case where it is determined that a timer is running; the timer is a timer started by the first terminal device after reporting, to a network device, link failure information used to indicate that a direct link or an indirect link in the multi-path transmission has link failure.

[0137] In an implementation, the first message is a notification message sent by the second terminal device to the connected first terminal device through a sidelink in a first case; or the first message includes the notification message and indicates, in the notification message, that the type is a radio link failure; the first case includes any of the following: a radio link failure occurs; handover occurs; cell reselection occurs; RRC connection failure occurs.

[0138] As to the apparatuses in the above-described embodiments, specific manners in which various modules perform operations have been described in details in the embodiments of the method, and will not be described here in details.

[0139] See Figure 7 , Figure 7 is a structural schematic diagram of another communication apparatus 70 provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The communication apparatus 70 can be a terminal device (such as the first terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments), or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the terminal device to implement the method described above. The apparatus can be used to implement the method described in the foregoing method embodiments, and specific implementation can be referred to the description in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0140] The communication device 70 may include one or more processors 701. The processor 701 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, such as a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor can be used to process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU can be used to control the communication device (e.g., base station, baseband chip, terminal equipment, terminal equipment chip, DU or CU, etc.), execute computer programs, and process data from the computer programs.

[0141] Optionally, the communication device 70 may further include one or more memories 702, on which a computer program 704 may be stored. The processor 701 executes the computer program 704 to cause the communication device 70 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory 702 may also store data. The communication device 70 and the memory 702 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0142] Optionally, the communication device 70 may also include a transceiver 705 and an antenna 706. The transceiver 705 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver circuit, etc., and is used to implement the transmission and reception functions. The transceiver 705 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiver or receiving circuit, etc., and is used to implement the receiving function; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or transmitting circuit, etc., and is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0143] Optionally, the communication device 70 may further include one or more interface circuits 707. The interface circuits 707 are used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor 701. The processor 701 executes the code instructions to cause the communication device 70 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0144] The communication device 70 is a terminal device (such as the first terminal device in the aforementioned method embodiment): the processor 701 is used to execute Figure 2 Step 201; Execute Figure 3 Step 302 in the middle; Figure 4 Step 402 in the middle; or Figure 5 Step 502 in the process. Transceiver 705 is used to perform... Figure 3 Step 301 in the middle; Figure 4 Step 401 in the middle; or Figure 5 Step 501 in the process.

[0145] In an implementation, the processor 701 can include a transceiver for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit, or an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions can be separate or integrated together. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit described above can be used for reading and writing of code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit described above can be used for transmission or transfer of signals.

[0146] In an implementation, the processor 701 can store a computer program, which, when running on the processor 701, can cause the communication apparatus 70 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. The computer program can be fixed in the processor 701, in which case the processor 701 can be implemented by hardware.

[0147] In an implementation, the communication apparatus 70 can include a circuit, which can implement the functions of transmitting or receiving or communicating in the above method embodiments. The processor and the transceiver described in the present disclosure can be implemented on an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a mixed-signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and the transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), positive channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0148] The communication apparatus described in the above embodiments can be a terminal device (such as the first terminal device in the above method embodiments), but the scope of the communication apparatus described in the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication apparatus can not be limited by Figure 7 The communication apparatus can be a standalone device or can be part of a larger device. For example, the communication apparatus can be:

[0149] (1) a standalone integrated circuit (IC), or a chip, or a chip system or subsystem;

[0150] (2) a set of one or more ICs, optionally including storage for data, computer programs, etc. in addition to memory that is part of the IC set;

[0151] (3) an ASIC, such as a modem;

[0152] (4) a module that can be embedded within other devices;

[0153] (5) a receiver, terminal device, intelligent terminal device, cellular phone, wireless device, handset, mobile unit, vehicle-mounted device, network device, cloud device, artificial intelligence device, etc.

[0154] (6) other, etc.

[0155] For the case that the communication apparatus can be a chip or a chip system, refer to the structural schematic diagram of the chip shown in FIG. 1. Figure 8 The chip shown in FIG. 1 includes a processor 801 and an interface 802. The number of the processor 801 can be one or more, and the number of the interface 802 can be multiple. Figure 8 For the case that the chip is used to implement the function of the terminal device (such as the first terminal device in the foregoing method embodiment) in the embodiments of the disclosure:

[0156] The interface 802 is configured to receive a first message sent by a second terminal device; and the processor 801 is configured to determine whether to start a radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment according to a first condition in a case where the first terminal device in a connected state receives the first message sent by the second terminal device; and the first terminal device is a remote terminal device in a terminal device-to-network relay scenario, and the second terminal device is a relay terminal device in the terminal device-to-network relay scenario.

[0157] In an implementation manner, the first condition is that the first terminal device is configured with a multi-path transmission; and the processor 801 is specifically configured to: in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission, not start the RRC reestablishment; or in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with the multi-path transmission, start the RRC reestablishment.

[0158] In a possible implementation manner, the processor 801 is further configured to: in a case where it is determined that the network device configures the first terminal device with a multi-path bearer, determine that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission; or in a case where it is determined that the network device configures the first terminal device with a direct bearer and an indirect bearer at the same time, determine that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission.

[0159]

[0160] ​In an implementation, the first condition comprises that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path; the processor 801 is specifically configured to: in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission and the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, not starting the RRC reestablishment; or in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with the multi-path transmission and / or the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path, starting the RRC reestablishment; wherein the indirect path is a path through which the first terminal device is indirectly connected with the network device through the second terminal device.

[0161] In another implementation, the first condition comprises that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function; the processor 801 is specifically configured to: in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with the multi-path transmission and the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path, and the first terminal device is configured with the failure recovery function, not starting the RRC reestablishment; or in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with the multi-path transmission and / or the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, and / or the first terminal device is not configured with the failure recovery function, starting the RRC reestablishment.

[0162] In a possible implementation, the processor 801 is further configured to: in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is used for transmission of a signaling radio bearer (SRB), determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path; or in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device triggers the RRC connection reestablishment after a failure of the indirect path, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path; or in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is a main transmission path of the SRB, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path; or in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is a path used for maintaining the RRC connection, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path; or in a case where it is determined that the indirect path is an anchor path, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path; or in a case where it is determined that a cell connected by the indirect path is a main cell of the first terminal device, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is the main path.

[0163] In another implementation, the processor 801 is further configured to: in a case where it is determined that a timer is running, determining that the first terminal device is configured with the failure recovery function; wherein the timer is a timer started by the first terminal device after reporting link failure information to the network device, and the link failure information is used to indicate that a direct link or an indirect link in the multi-path transmission has a link failure.

[0164] In an implementation, the first message is a notification message sent by the second terminal device to the connected first terminal device through a sidelink in a first case; or the first message includes the notification message and indicates a type of wireless link failure in the notification message; and the first case includes any one of the following: a wireless link failure occurs; a handover occurs; a cell reselection occurs; and an RRC connection failure occurs.

[0165] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory 803, configured to store necessary computer programs and data.

[0166] Those skilled in the art can appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps listed in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Whether the functions are implemented by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design requirements of the whole system. Those skilled in the art can use various methods to implement the functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be interpreted as beyond the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0167] The present disclosure further provides a readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a computer, implement the functions of any of the method embodiments described above.

[0168] The present disclosure further provides a computer program product, which, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the method embodiments described above.

[0169] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs. When the computer programs are loaded on a computer and executed, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present disclosure are generated. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer programs can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer programs can be transferred from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), optical media (such as high-density digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD)), or semiconductor media (such as solid state disk (solid state disk, SSD)) and the like.

[0170] Those skilled in the art can understand that the first, second, and the like various numerical numbers involved in the present disclosure are only for the convenience of description, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor represent the order of precedence.

[0171] At least one of the present disclosure can also be described as one or more, and the plurality can be two, three, four or more, and the present disclosure does not limit. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, for a technical feature, the technical features in the technical feature are distinguished by "first", "second", "third", "A", "B", "C" and "D", and there is no order or size order between the technical features described by "first", "second", "third", "A", "B", "C" and "D".

[0172] The correspondence relationship shown in each table in the present disclosure can be configured or predefined. The values of the information in each table are merely examples, and other values can be configured, and the present disclosure does not limit. When configuring the correspondence relationship between the information and each parameter, it is not necessarily required to configure all the correspondence relationships shown in each table. For example, the correspondence relationship shown in some rows in the table in the present disclosure can also not be configured. For another example, the above tables can be appropriately deformed, for example, split, merged, and the like. The names of the parameters shown in the titles of the above tables can also use other names understandable by the communication device, and the values or representations of the parameters can also use other values or representations understandable by the communication device. The above tables can also use other data structures when implemented, for example, arrays, queues, containers, stacks, linear tables, pointers, linked lists, trees, graphs, structures, classes, heaps, hash tables, or the like.

[0173] The predefinition in the present disclosure can be understood as definition, predefinition, storage, prestorage, prenegotiation, preconfiguration, solidification, or pre-burning.

[0174] Those skilled in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are realized in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present disclosure.

[0175] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0176] The above is merely a specific implementation of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the present disclosure, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of controlling connection of a terminal device, characterized by, The method is applied to a terminal device-to-network relay scenario, the method is executed by a first terminal device, and the method comprises: In response to the first terminal device in a connected state receiving a first message sent by a second terminal device, determining whether to start radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment according to a first condition; The first terminal device is a remote terminal device in the terminal device-to-network relay scenario, and the second terminal device is a relay terminal device in the terminal device-to-network relay scenario; The first condition is that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission; and the determining whether to start RRC reestablishment according to the first condition comprises: In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, RRC reestablishment is not started; or In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission, RRC reestablishment is started; The method further comprises: In a case of indirect link failure, the first terminal device reports indirect link failure information to a network device through a direct link; wherein the indirect link failure information comprises terminal device information of a third terminal device, and the terminal device information comprises at least one of a terminal device identifier, a wireless channel quality of a sidelink link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device, and a serving cell identifier of the third terminal device; and the third terminal device is a terminal device capable of establishing an indirect link with the first terminal device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission in any of the following ways: It is determined that a network device configures the first terminal device with multi-path transmission; It is determined that a network device configures the first terminal device with both direct transmission and indirect transmission.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The indirect link is a path through which the first terminal device is indirectly connected to a network device through the second terminal device.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that, The indirect link failure reason comprises at least one of the following: a sidelink link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device has radio link failure, the second terminal device has radio link failure, and a PC5-RRC connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is released.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first condition comprises that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path; and the determining whether to start RRC reestablishment according to the first condition comprises: In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path, RRC reestablishment is not started; or In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission or an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, RRC reestablishment is started; The indirect path is a path through which the first terminal device is indirectly connected to a network device through the second terminal device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, The first condition comprises that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with failure recovery function; and the determining whether to start RRC reestablishment according to the first condition comprises: not start RRC reestablishment in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission, an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with failure recovery function; or start RRC reestablishment in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission, or the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not the main path, or the first terminal device is not configured with failure recovery function.

7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein, The indirect path in the multi-path transmission is determined to be the main path in any of the following ways: It is determined that the indirect path is used for transmission of signaling radio bearer (SRB); It is determined that the first terminal device triggers RRC connection reestablishment after failure of the indirect path; It is determined that the indirect path is a main transmission path of SRB; It is determined that the indirect path is a path for maintaining RRC connection; It is determined that the indirect path is an anchor path; It is determined that a cell connected by the indirect path is a primary cell of the first terminal device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, The first terminal device is determined to be configured with failure recovery function in the following ways: It is determined that a timer is running; wherein the timer is a timer started by the first terminal device after reporting link failure information to a network device, and the link failure information is used to indicate that a direct link or an indirect link in the multi-path transmission has link failure.

9. The method of any one of claims 1-2 or 5-6, wherein: the first message is a notification message sent by the second terminal device to the connected first terminal device through a sidelink in a first case; or the first message includes the notification message and indicates a type as radio link failure in the notification message; wherein the first case includes any of the following: a radio link failure occurs; a handover occurs; cell reselection occurs; RRC connection failure occurs.

10. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus is applied to a first terminal device and includes: a transceiver configured to receive a first message sent by a second terminal device; a processing module configured to determine whether to start radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment according to a first condition in a case where the first terminal device in a connected state receives the first message sent by the second terminal device; wherein the first terminal device is a remote terminal device in a terminal device-to-network relay scenario, and the second terminal device is a relay terminal device in the terminal device-to-network relay scenario; wherein the first condition is that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission; and the processing module is specifically configured to: not start RRC reestablishment in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission; or start RRC reestablishment in a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission. In the case of indirect link failure, the communication device is further configured to report indirect link failure information to the network device through the direct link; the indirect link failure information comprises terminal device information of the third terminal device, and the terminal device information comprises at least one of a terminal device identifier, a wireless channel quality of a sidelink link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device, and a serving cell identifier of the third terminal device; and the third terminal device is a terminal device capable of establishing an indirect link with the first terminal device.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, The processing module is further configured to: In a case where it is determined that the network device configures the first terminal device with a multi-path bearer, it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission; or, In a case where it is determined that the network device configures the first terminal device with a direct bearer and an indirect bearer simultaneously, it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 or 11, wherein, The indirect link is a path through which the first terminal device is indirectly connected to the network device via the second terminal device.

13. The apparatus of any one of claims 10 to 11, wherein, The indirect link failure reason comprises at least one of the following: a radio link failure occurs in a sidelink link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, a radio link failure occurs in the second terminal device, and a PC5-RRC connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is released.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, The first condition comprises that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path; and the processing module is specifically configured to: In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path, RRC reestablishment is not started; or, In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission or an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, RRC reestablishment is started. The indirect path is a path through which the first terminal device is indirectly connected to the network device via the second terminal device.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein, The first condition comprises that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function; and the processing module is specifically configured to: In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is configured with multi-path transmission and an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path, and the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function, RRC reestablishment is not started; or, In a case where it is determined that the first terminal device is not configured with multi-path transmission or an indirect path in the multi-path transmission is not a main path or the first terminal device is not configured with a failure recovery function, RRC reestablishment is started.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 or 15, wherein, The processing module is further configured to: In a case where it is determined that the indirect path is used for transmission of a signaling radio bearer (SRB), it is determined that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path; or, In a case where the first terminal device triggers RRC connection reestablishment after it is determined that the indirect path fails, it is determined that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path; or, In a case where it is determined that the indirect path is a main transmission path of the SRB, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path; or, In a case where it is determined that the indirect path is a path for maintaining an RRC connection, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path; or, In a case where it is determined that the indirect path is an anchor path, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path; or, In a case where it is determined that a cell connected by the indirect path is a main cell of the first terminal device, determining that the indirect path in the multi-path transmission is a main path.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein, The processing module is further configured to: In a case where it is determined that the timer is running, determining that the first terminal device is configured with a failure recovery function; The timer is a timer started by the first terminal device after reporting link failure information to a network device, and the link failure information is used to indicate that a direct link or an indirect link in the multi-path transmission has link failure.

18. The apparatus of any one of claims 10-11, 14-15, wherein, The first message is a notification message sent by the second terminal device to the connected first terminal device through a sidelink in a first case; or The first message includes the notification message and indicates a type as a radio link failure in the notification message; and wherein the first case includes any one of: a radio link failure occurs; a handover occurs; a cell reselection occurs; an RRC connection failure occurs.

19. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus includes a processor and a memory, the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to enable the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9.

20. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause the method of any one of claims 1-9 to be implemented.

21. A computer program product comprising a computer program that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9.

22. A chip system comprising at least one processor and an interface for supporting a terminal device to implement the method of any one of claims 1-9.

23. A communication system, characterized by including a terminal device and a network device, wherein the terminal device is configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1-9.

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