Handling of setup reasons in sidelink relay scenarios

Abstract

A remote communication device (110) determines (510) an establishment cause for a network node (120A, 120B) to connect to a communication network. Further, the remote communication device (110) sends (520, 530) a message comprising the establishment cause to the relay communication device (110). In response to sending the message, the remote communication device (110) establishes (540) a connection to the network node (110) via the relay communication device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to calculating a mobility state of a communication device using a reference frequency. Background Art

[0002] Current wireless communication networks, for example based on the fourth generation (4G) LTE (Long Term Evolution) or fifth generation (5G) NR (New Radio) technology as specified by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), support a device-to-device (D2D) communication mode to enable direct communication between UEs (User Equipment), sometimes also referred to as sidelink (SL) communication. This D2D communication mode can be used, for example, for vehicle communications, for example including communications between vehicles, between vehicles and roadside communication infrastructure, and possibly between vehicles and cellular networks. For NR technology, sidelink transmission is specified in 3GPP Release 16. The sidelink transmission of NR technology can be considered as an enhancement of ProSe (Proximity-based Services) specified for LTE technology. The radio interface for the sidelink mode of LTE technology and NR technology is called the "PC5" interface. The radio interface for uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) transmission between a UE and an access node of a wireless communication network is called the "Uu" interface.

[0003] The following four enhancements are specifically introduced for NR sidelink transmission. First, support for unicast and multicast transmission is added in the NR sidelink. For unicast and multicast, a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) is introduced for the receiving UE to acknowledge the decoding status to the transmitting UE. Second, the unlicensed transmission adopted in NR uplink transmission is also provided in NR sidelink transmission to improve delay performance. Third, in order to mitigate resource conflicts between different sidelink transmissions initiated by different UEs, it enhances the channel sensing and resource selection process, which also leads to a new design of the physical shared control channel (PSCCH). Fourth, in order to achieve high connection density, congestion control (and therefore quality of service (QoS) management) is supported in NR sidelink transmission.

[0004] To achieve the above enhancements, new physical channels and reference signals (previously available in LTE) are introduced in NR.

[0005] The physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) is the sidelink (SL) version of the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The PSSCH is sent by the sidelink transmitting UE and carries part of the sidelink transmission data, the system information (SI) block (SIB) for radio resource control (RRC) configuration, and the sidelink control information (SCI).

[0006] PSFCH is the SL version of the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). PSFCH is sent by the sidelink receiving UE for unicast and multicast, which transmits 1 bit of information on 1 resource block (RB) for hybrid automatic request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) and negative ACK (NACK). In addition, channel state information (CSI) is carried in the medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) on PSSCH instead of PSFCH.

[0007] The physical sidelink common control channel (PSCCH) is the SL version of the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). When the traffic to be sent to the receiving UE arrives at the transmitting UE, the transmitting UE should first send the PSCCH, which conveys a part of the SCI (e.g., the SL version of the DCI) to be decoded by any UE for channel sensing purposes, including the time-frequency resources reserved for transmission, the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern, and the antenna port, etc.

[0008] The sidelink primary synchronization signal (S-PSS) and the sidelink secondary synchronization signal (S-SSS) are similar to the downlink transmission in NR, in which the primary synchronization signal and the secondary synchronization signal (referred to as S-PSS and S-SSS, respectively) are supported in the sidelink transmission. By detecting the S-PSS and S-SSS, the UE is able to identify the sidelink synchronization identifier (SSID) from the UE that sends the S-PSS / S-SSS. By detecting the S-PSS / S-SSS, the UE is therefore able to know the characteristics of the UE that sends the S-PSS / S-SSS. The series of processes for acquiring timing and frequency synchronization and the SSID of the UE is called initial cell search. Note that the UE that sends the S-PSS / S-SSS may not necessarily participate in the sidelink transmission, and the node that sends the S-PSS / S-SSS (e.g., UE, eNB (evolved Node B) or gNB) is called the synchronization source. There are 2 S-PSS sequences and 336 S-SSS sequences in the cell, forming a total of 672 SSIDs.

[0009] The physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) is sent as a synchronization signal / PSBCH block (SSB) together with the S-PSS / S-SSS. The SSB has the same parameter set as the PSCCH / PSSCH on this carrier, and the SSB should be sent within the bandwidth of the configured bandwidth part (BWP). The PSBCH transmits synchronization-related information such as the direct frame number (DFN), an indication of the time resources at the time slot and symbol level for sidelink transmission, a coverage indicator, etc. The SSB is sent periodically every 160ms.

[0010] DMRS, Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS) and Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) are physical reference signals supported by NR downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) transmissions and are also adopted by sidelink transmissions. Similarly, PT-RS is only applicable to frequency range 2 (FR2) transmissions.

[0011] Another new feature is the two-stage SCI. This is a version of the DCI used for SL. Unlike DCI, only a portion of the SCI (e.g., the first stage) is sent on the PSCCH. This portion is used for channel sensing purposes (including time-frequency resources reserved for transmission, DMRS patterns, antenna ports, etc.) and can be read by all UEs, while the remaining (e.g., second stage) scheduling and control information (such as 8-bit source identification (ID) and 16-bit destination ID, NDI, RV, and HARQ process ID) is sent on the PSSCH to be decoded by the receiving UE.

[0012] Similar to ProSe in LTE, NR sidelink transmission has the following two resource allocation modes: Mode 1) sidelink resources are scheduled by the gNB; and Mode 2) the UE autonomously selects sidelink resources from (pre-)configured (one or more) sidelink resource pools based on a channel sensing mechanism.

[0013] For UEs within coverage, the gNB can be configured to use Mode 1 or Mode 2. For UEs outside coverage, only Mode 2 can be used.

[0014] As in LTE, scheduling on the sidelink in NR is done differently for Mode 1 and Mode 2. Mode 1 supports dynamic grants and configured grants.

[0015] Dynamic Grant: When traffic to be sent over the sidelink arrives at a transmitting UE, the UE shall initiate a four-message exchange process to request sidelink resources from the gNB (SR on UL, Grant, BSR on UL, Grant for data sent to the UE on SL). During the resource request process, the gNB may allocate a Sidelink Radio Network Temporary Identifier (SL-RNTI) to the transmitting UE. If the sidelink resource request is granted by the gNB, the gNB indicates the resource allocation for the PSCCH and PSSCH in a DCI transmitted by the PDCCH with a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) scrambled with the SL-RNTI. When the transmitting UE receives such a DCI, the transmitting UE may obtain a grant only if the scrambled CRC of the DCI can be successfully resolved by the allocated SL-RNTI. The transmitting UE then indicates the transmission scheme of the time-frequency resources and the allocated PSSCH in the PSCCH and initiates the PSCCH and PSSCH on the allocated resources for sidelink transmission. When a grant is obtained from the gNB, the transmitting UE may send only a single transport block (TB). Therefore, this license is suitable for services with relaxed latency requirements.

[0016] Configuring Grants: For services with strict latency requirements, performing a four-message exchange procedure to request sidelink resources may result in unacceptable latency. In this case, before the service arrives, the transmitting UE can perform a four-message exchange procedure and request a resource set. If a grant is available from the gNB, the requested resources are reserved in a periodic manner. After the service arrives at the transmitting UE, the UE can start PSCCH and PSSCH on the upcoming resource opportunity. In fact, this grant is also called unlicensed transmission.

[0017] In both dynamic grant and configured grant, the sidelink receiving UE cannot receive DCI (because it is addressed to the transmitting UE), so the receiving UE should perform blind decoding to identify the presence of PSCCH and find resources for PSSCH through SCI.

[0018] When the transmitting UE activates the PSCCH, the CRC is also inserted into the SCI without any scrambling.

[0019] In mode 2 resource allocation, when the service arrives at the transmitting UE, the transmitting UE shall autonomously select resources for PSCCH and PSSCH. In order to further minimize the delay of feedback HARQ ACK / NACK transmission and subsequent retransmission, the transmitting UE may also reserve resources for PSCCH / PSSCH for retransmission. In order to further increase the probability of successful TB decoding in one go, and thus suppress the probability of performing retransmission, the transmitting UE may repeat TB transmission together with the initial TB transmission. This mechanism is also called blind retransmission. Therefore, when the service arrives at the transmitting UE, the transmitting UE shall select resources for the following transmissions: 1) PSSCH associated with PSCCH for initial transmission and blind retransmission; and 2) PSSCH associated with PSCCH for retransmission.

[0020] Since each transmitting UE in the sidelink transmission should autonomously select the resources for the above transmission, how to prevent different transmitting UEs from selecting the same resources proves to be a key issue in Mode 2. Therefore, a specific resource selection process is applied to Mode 2 based on channel sensing. The channel sensing algorithm involves measuring RSRP (reference signal received power) on different subchannels and requires knowledge of different UE power levels of DMRS on PSSCH or DMRS on PSCCH, depending on the configuration. This information is only known after a receiving SCI initiated by (all) other UEs. The sensing and selection algorithm is quite complex.

[0021] Layer 2 (L2) UE to Network (U2N) Relay is described below and in TR 23.752 clause 6.7. In this clause, the protocol architecture supporting L2 UE to Network Relay UE is provided. L2 UE to Network Relay UE provides forwarding functionality that can relay any type of traffic over PC5 link. L2 U2N Relay UE provides functionality to support the connection of remote UE to 5GS. If a UE has successfully established a PC5 link to a L2 U2N Relay UE, the UE is considered to be a remote UE. The remote UE can be located within the NG-RAN coverage or outside the NG-RAN coverage.

[0022] Figure 1A The protocol stack for user plane transmission associated with a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session is shown, including Layer 2UE to Network Relay UE. The PDU layer corresponds to the PDUs carried between the Remote UE and the Data Network (DN) via the PDU session. It is important to note that the two endpoints of the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) link are the Remote UE and the gNB. The relay functionality is performed under the PDCP. This means that data security is ensured between the Remote UE and the gNB, while the original data is not exposed at the U2N Relay UE.

[0023] The Adaptation Relay Layer within the UE-to-Network Relay UE can differentiate between Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) and Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) for a specific remote UE. The Adaptation Relay Layer is also responsible for mapping PC5 traffic to one or more DRBs of Uu.

[0024] Figure 1B The protocol stack for the non-access stratum (NAS) connection of the remote UE to the NAS mobility management (MM) component and the NAS system management (SM) component is shown. NAS messages are transparently transmitted between the remote UE and the 5G access network (AN) over a layer 2 UE to a network relay UE using the following connections:

[0025] -PDCP end-to-end connection, where the UE to network relay UE's role is to relay PDUs on the signalling radio bearer

[0026] without making any modifications.

[0027] -N2 connection between 5G-AN and Access Management Function (AMF) on N2.

[0028] -N3 connection between AMF and System Management Function (SMF) on N11.

[0029] The role of the U2N relay UE is to relay PDUs from the signalling radio bearers without any modification.

[0030] The following describes the relay establishment process.

[0031] The remote UE needs to establish its own PDU session / DRB with the network before user plane data transmission.

[0032] The PC5-RRC aspects of the Rel-16 NR V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) PC5 unicast link establishment procedure may be reused to establish a secure unicast link for L2UE to network relay between the remote UE and the relay UE before the remote UE establishes a Uu RRC connection with the network via the relay UE.

[0033] For both in-coverage and out-of-coverage cases, when the remote UE initiates its first RRC message for connection establishment with the gNB, the PC5 L2 configuration for transmission between the remote UE and the UE to the network relay UE can be based on the RLC (Radio Link Control) and / or MAC configuration defined in the specification.

[0034] The establishment of Uu SRB1 / SRB2 and DRB for the remote UE is subject to the conventional Uu configuration procedure for L2 UE to network relay.

[0035] Figure 2An example of a high-level connection establishment procedure applied to a L2 UE to a network relay is shown. At block 1, the remote UE and the relay UE perform a discovery procedure and establish a PC5-RRC connection using conventional Rel-16 procedures as a reference.

[0036] At box 2, the remote UE sends its first RRC message for connection establishment with the gNB (i.e., RRCSetupRequest) via the relay UE using the default L2 configuration on PC5. The gNB responds to the remote UE with an RRCSetup message. The RRCSetup delivery to the remote UE uses the default configuration on PC5. If the relay UE has not started in RRC_CONNECTED, it will need to do its own connection establishment as part of the process.

[0037] At box 3, the gNB and relay UE perform a relay channel setup procedure over Uu. Based on the configuration from the gNB, the relay / remote UE establishes an RLC channel for relaying SRB1 to the remote UE over PC5. This procedure prepares the relay channel for SRB1.

[0038] At box 4, the remote UE sends an SRB1 message (e.g., RRCSetupComplete message) to the gNB via the relay UE using the SRB1 relay channel on PC5. The remote UE is then RRC connected on Uu.

[0039] At box 5, the remote UE and gNB establish security following conventional procedures and the security message is forwarded by the relay UE.

[0040] At block 6, the gNB establishes an additional RLC channel between the gNB and the relay UE for service relay. Based on the configuration from the gNB, the relay / remote UE establishes an additional RLC channel between the remote UE and the relay UE for service relay. The gNB sends RRCReconfiguration to the remote UE via the relay UE to establish relay SRB2 / DRB. The remote UE sends RRCReconfigurationComplete to the gNB via the relay UE as a response.

[0041] In addition to the connection establishment process, for L2 UE to network relay, the RRC reconfiguration process and the RRC connection release process can reuse the traditional RRC process, leaving the message content / configuration design to the WI stage. In addition, the RRC connection reestablishment process and the RRC connection recovery process can reuse the traditional RRC process by considering the above-mentioned L2 UE to network relay connection establishment process to handle the relay-specific part as a benchmark, leaving the message content / configuration design to the WI stage.

[0042] There are certain challenges currently. It is not clear how the remote UE and the relay UE should set the establishment cause when accessing the network. Therefore, the relay UE can set any establishment cause regardless of the establishment cause set by the remote UE. However, if, for example, the remote UE attempts access for emergency purposes (or sets the establishment cause anyway to have priority access, such as mcs_PriorityAccess), then if the relay UE will not set an establishment cause consistent with the remote UE's establishment cause, its access to the network may fail and the relay connection may not be established. Of course, this can be extremely bad in the case of public safety services, where priority access is of fundamental importance to the network. Summary of the invention

[0043] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments thereof may provide solutions to these and other challenges.

[0044] According to an embodiment, a method for operating a remote communication device is provided. According to the method, the remote communication device determines an establishment reason for connecting to a network node of a communication network. Further, the remote communication device sends a message including the establishment reason to a relay communication device. In response to sending the message, the remote communication device establishes a connection to the network node via the relay communication device.

[0045] According to another embodiment, a method of operating a relay communication device is provided. According to the method, the relay communication device determines an establishment cause for a remote communication device to connect to a network node of a communication network via the relay communication device. In response to determining the establishment cause, the relay communication device uses the establishment cause to establish a connection between the relay communication device and the network node.

[0046] According to another embodiment, a remote communication device is provided. The remote communication device is configured to determine an establishment cause for connecting to a network node of a communication network. Further, the remote communication device is configured to send a message including the establishment cause to a relay communication device. Further, the remote communication device is configured to establish a connection to the network node via the relay communication device in response to sending the message.

[0047] According to another embodiment, a telecommunication device is provided. The telecommunication device includes a processing circuit and a memory. The memory contains a program code executable by the processing circuit. Execution of the program code by the processing circuit causes the telecommunication device to determine an establishment reason for connecting to a network node of a communication network. Further, execution of the program code by the processing circuit causes the telecommunication device to send a message including the establishment reason to a relay communication device. Further, execution of the program code by the processing circuit causes the telecommunication device to establish a connection to the network node via the relay communication device in response to sending the message.

[0048] According to another embodiment, a relay communication device is provided. The relay communication device is configured to determine an establishment cause for a remote communication device to connect to a network node of a communication network via the relay communication device. Further, the relay communication device is configured to establish a connection between the relay communication device and the network node using the establishment cause in response to determining the establishment cause.

[0049] According to another embodiment, a relay communication device is provided. The relay communication device includes a processing circuit and a memory. The memory contains a program code executable by the processing circuit. The execution of the program code by the processing circuit causes the relay communication device to determine an establishment cause for a remote communication device to connect to a network node of a communication network via the relay communication device. Further, the execution of the program code by the processing circuit causes the relay communication device to establish a connection between the relay communication device and the network node using the establishment cause in response to determining the establishment cause.

[0050] According to another embodiment, a computer program or computer program product is provided, for example in the form of a non-transitory storage medium, which includes program code to be executed by a processing circuit of a remote communication device. Execution of the program code causes the remote communication device to determine an establishment reason for connecting to a network node of a communication network. Further, execution of the program code causes the remote communication device to send a message including the establishment reason to a relay communication device. Further, execution of the program code causes the remote communication device to establish a connection to the network node via the relay communication device in response to sending the message.

[0051] According to another embodiment, a computer program or computer program product is provided, for example, in the form of a non-transitory storage medium, which includes program code to be executed by a processing circuit of a relay communication device. Execution of the program code causes the relay communication device to determine an establishment cause for a remote communication device to connect to a network node of a communication network via the relay communication device. Further, execution of the program code causes the relay communication device to establish a connection between the relay communication device and the network node using the establishment cause in response to determining the establishment cause.

[0052] Details of this and further embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0053] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of the inventive concept. In the drawings:

[0054] Figure 1A is a block diagram illustrating an example of a protocol stack for a user plane of a layer 2 UE to a network relay UE;

[0055] Figure 1Bis a block diagram illustrating an example of a protocol stack for a layer 2 UE to network relay UE control plane;

[0056] Figure 2 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example of a process for remote UE connection establishment;

[0057] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a fifth generation network in which concepts according to some embodiments may be applied;

[0058] Figure 4 illustrates an example of an information message according to some embodiments;

[0059] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations performed by a remote UE according to some embodiments;

[0060] Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations performed by a relay UE according to some embodiments;

[0061] Figure 7 is a block diagram of a communication system according to some embodiments;

[0062] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a user equipment according to some embodiments;

[0063] Fig. 9 is a block diagram of a network node according to some embodiments;

[0064] Fig.10 is a block diagram of a host computer in communication with a user device according to some embodiments;

[0065] Fig.11 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to some embodiments; and

[0066] Fig.12 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating with a user device via a base station over a partially wireless connection according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0067] Some embodiments of the embodiments considered herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of subject matter to those skilled in the art, wherein examples of embodiments of the inventive concept are shown. However, the inventive concept can be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will be exhaustive and complete, and the scope of the inventive concept is fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be assumed by default to be present in / used in another embodiment.

[0068] The various embodiments described herein generally relate to NR radio access technology (RAT), but may also be applied to LTE RAT and / or any other RAT (e.g., WIFI, ZIGBEE, BLUETOOTH) that enables direct communication between two (or more) nearby devices without any significant loss.

[0069] A remote communication device (also referred to as user equipment (UE)) may be referred to herein as a remote (RM) UE, which is capable of sending / receiving packets from / to a gNB via an intermediate mobile terminal (e.g., a U2N relay UE), which may be referred to as a relay (RL) UE.

[0070] A link or radio link for transmitting signals between at least two UEs for device-to-device (D2D) operation may be referred to herein as a side link (SL). Signals transmitted between UEs for D2D operation may be referred to as SL signals. The term SL may also be interchangeably referred to as a D2D link, a V2X link, a ProSe link, a peer link, a PC5 link, etc. SL signals may also be interchangeably referred to as V2X signals, D2D signals, ProSe signals, PC5 signals, peer signals, etc.

[0071] Various embodiments described herein allow the relay UE to set the establishment cause according to the establishment cause set by the remote UE. In some examples, the relay UE may set the establishment cause according to the establishment cause set by the remote UE for a specific situation (eg, emergency-related services).

[0072] In some embodiments, the remote UE sends an indication to the relay UE when setting a certain establishment cause of the access network so that the relay UE can set the same establishment cause of the remote UE. In some examples, the indication can be sent only when a specific establishment cause is used, or can be sent each time the establishment cause is used. In additional or alternative examples, the indication can be sent via a PC5-RRC message, via a SL MAC CE, via a control PDU of the adaptation layer, or via PHY layer (PHY) signaling (e.g., SCI).

[0073] In an additional or alternative embodiment, if the relay UE is not yet connected to the network (e.g., when in the RRC_IDLE / RRC_INACTIVE state), then when receiving a new PDU from the remote UE at the sidelink adaptation layer, the relay UE can implicitly understand that the adaptation layer PDU is carrying an RRC message from the remote UE to access the network, and for this reason, it can decode the message (i.e., at the RRC layer) to check which establishment causes the remote UE has used.

[0074] In an additional or alternative embodiment, the remote UE may trigger a broadcast message (e.g., a discovery message, or a sidelink broadcast / multicast transmission) when setting a certain establishment cause for accessing the network, to notify nearby UEs of the establishment cause that has been used. In this case, upon receiving the broadcast message, the relay UE connected to the remote UE may set the establishment cause according to the establishment cause that has been set by the remote UE. In some examples, the broadcast message may be triggered only when an emergency service is in progress, so that the relay UE connected to the remote UE will implicitly understand that an emergency-related establishment cause should be used.

[0075] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. Some embodiments described herein allow a relay UE to set an establishment cause based on an establishment cause set by a remote UE. This may avoid having access to the relay UE denied if the establishment cause used by the relay UE is different from that of the remote UE (this is particularly important if the remote UE has an emergency-related establishment cause). This may improve user performance and, in some examples, improve public safety services where priority access is fundamentally important to the network.

[0076] Figure 3 An example of an NR network (e.g., a 5G network) is shown, which includes a 5G core 5GC network 130, network nodes 120a-b (e.g., corresponding to 5G base stations (gNBs)), and multiple communication devices 110 (e.g., corresponding to UEs). One or more such UEs may act as remote UEs according to the concepts shown, while one or more other UEs may act as relay UEs according to the concepts shown.

[0077] In some embodiments, the remote UE is in the RRC_IDLE / RRC_INACTIVE state and selects a certain establishment cause to be used when accessing the network (e.g., performing a radio resource control (RRC) establishment or RRC recovery process). After selecting a certain establishment cause, the remote UE sends an indication to the relay UE to explicitly inform the relay UE which establishment cause has been used, and therefore, the relay UE (which is also in RRC_IDLE / RRC_INACTIVE) can also use the same establishment cause of the remote UE.

[0078] In some examples, the remote UE may send signaling to the relay UE according to one of the following signaling alternatives:

[0079] -RRC signaling (e.g., PC5-RRC);

[0080] -PC5-S signaling;

[0081] - Discovery signaling;

[0082] - Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE);

[0083] - Layer 1 (L1) signaling on a channel such as the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) or the Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH);

[0084] - A control protocol data unit (PDU) of a protocol layer, such as Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), or an adaptation layer introduced to be responsible for the duplication function.

[0085] In an additional or alternative embodiment, when the remote UE performs an RRC establishment or RRC recovery procedure and sends an RRCSetupRequest or RRCResumeRequest message to the network via the relay UE, if the relay UE is not yet connected to the network (e.g., when in the RRC_IDLE / RRC_INACTIVE state), when receiving a new PDU from the remote UE at the sidelink adaptation layer, the relay UE implicitly understands that the adaptation layer PDU is carrying an RRC message from the remote UE to access the network. Accordingly, the relay UE processes such a sidelink adaptation layer PDU up to its RRC layer and decodes the message sent by the remote UE to check which establishment causes have been used by the remote UE. The relay UE can then set the establishment cause based on the establishment cause set by the remote UE in the message.

[0086] In an additional or alternative embodiment, when the remote UE performs an RRC setup or RRC recovery process and sends an RRCSetupRequest or RRCResumeRequest message to the network via the relay UE, the remote UE triggers a broadcast message (e.g., a discovery message or a sidelink broadcast / multicast transmission) to notify nearby UEs of the establishment cause that has been used. In this case, when receiving the broadcast message, the relay UE connected to the remote UE can set the establishment cause according to what the remote UE has already set.

[0087] In some examples, the broadcast message may be triggered only when a setup cause is set that requires special handling from the network. Such a setup cause may correspond, for example, to an emergency or priority access for mission-critical services (also denoted as "mcs_priority access"). Based on the setup cause, the relay UE connected to the remote UE will implicitly understand that an emergency-related setup cause should be used.

[0088] In an additional or alternative example, the indication or broadcast message is triggered when the remote UE has selected a different establishment cause than a previous establishment cause.

[0089] In an additional or alternative example, when the remote UE has a new service / traffic / application to process and it is different from the previous service / traffic / application, the indication or broadcast message is triggered.

[0090] In an additional or alternative example, the indication or broadcast message is triggered whenever the remote UE sets an establishment cause during an RRC establishment or RRC recovery procedure.

[0091] In the context of the RRC connection establishment procedure as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.7.0 (2021-12), implementation of the concepts of the present disclosure may include the following actions related to the UE sending an RRCSetupRequest message.

[0092] The UE shall set the content of the RRCSetupRequest message as follows:

[0093] The UE may set an indication of the UE identity (denoted as "ue-identity") based on information provided by upper layers (e.g., based on 5G-S-TMSI (5G Service Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity)). If no such information is provided by upper layers, the UE may set an indication of the UE identity based on a random value. For example, the UE may set an indication of the UE identity based on a random value in the range 0 ... 2 39 -1, and set ue-identity to that value. If the UE is registered in the TA (tracking area) of the current cell, the upper layer can provide 5G-S-TMSI.

[0094] If the establishment of the RRC connection is the result of a redirected release with mpsPriorityIndication (in NR or E-UTRAN), the UE shall set the indication of the establishment cause (denoted as "establishmenCause") to "mps-PriorityAccess".

[0095] According to one option, if the UE is connected to a L2 U2N remote UE via a PC5-RRC connection, i.e., the UE is a L2 U2N relay UE, the UE may trigger a remote UE information procedure and set the value of the sidelink establishment cause indication (denoted as "sl-EstablishmentCause") to "mps-PriorityAccess". Otherwise, the UE may set establishmentCause according to information received from an upper layer.

[0096] According to an alternative option, if the UE is connected to a L2 U2N remote UE via a PC5-RRC connection, i.e., the UE is a L2 U2N relay UE, and if establishmentCause is set to "emergency" or "mps-PriorityAccess", the UE may trigger the Remote UE Information procedure and set the value of sl-EstablishmentCause to "mps-PriorityAccess".

[0097] According to an alternative option, if the UE is connected to a L2 U2N remote UE via a PC5-RRC connection, ie the UE is a L2 U2N relay UE, the UE may trigger the Remote UE Information procedure and set the value of sl-EstablishmentCause to the same value as that of establishmentCause.

[0098] The UE may then submit the RRCSetupRequest message to lower layers for transmission.

[0099] The UE may continue cell reselection related measurements and cell reselection evaluation. If the conditions for cell reselection are met, the UE may perform cell reselection as specified.

[0100] For an L2 U2N remote UE in RRC_IDLE / INACTIVE state, a cell (re)selection procedure and a relay (re)selection procedure may be performed independently, and the UE may decide to select a cell or a L2 U2N relay UE.

[0101] The UE may initiate this procedure when the upper layers or access stratum (AS), for example, in response to RAN paging, when triggering RNA (RAN-based Notification Area) update while the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE, or when requesting to resume a suspended RRC connection for NR sidelink communication or V2X sidelink communication. Before initiating this procedure, the UE may ensure that it has valid and up-to-date basic system information.

[0102] When initiating this procedure, the UE may:

[0103] - If the restoration of the RRC connection is triggered by a response to NG-RAN paging, "0" is selected as the Access Category and the specified unified access control procedure is performed using the selected Access Category and one or more Access Identities provided by upper layers. If the access attempt is prohibited, the procedure ends.

[0104] - Otherwise, if the restoration of the RRC connection is triggered by an upper layer, and if the upper layer provides an access category and one or more access identifiers, a unified access control procedure is performed using the access category and access identifiers provided by the upper layer. If the access attempt is prohibited, the procedure ends.

[0105] - Otherwise, if the resumption of the RRC connection is triggered by upper layers and if the resumption occurs after a redirected release with mpsPriorityIndication, then:

[0106] - Set resumeCause to mps-PriorityAccess.

[0107] - If the UE is connected to an L2 U2N Remote UE via a PC5-RRC connection, i.e. the UE is an L2 U2N Relay UE, the Remote UE Information procedure is triggered and the value of sl-ResumeCause is set to mps-PriorityAccess. Alternatively, if resumeCause is set to Emergency or mps-PriorityAccess, the Remote UE Information procedure is triggered and the value of sl-ResumeCause is set to mps-PriorityAccess. Alternatively, the Remote UE Information procedure is triggered and the value of sl-ResumeCause is set to the same value as resumeCause.

[0108] - Otherwise, set resumeCause based on the information received from upper layers.

[0109] - Otherwise, if the restoration of the RRC connection is triggered by an RNA update and if emergency services are in progress, then:

[0110] -Select "2" as the access category and set resumeCause to emergency. If the UE is connected to a L2 U2N remote UE via a PC5-RRC connection, i.e. the UE is a L2 U2N relay UE, the Remote UE Information procedure is triggered and the value of sl-ResumeCause is set to emergency.

[0111] - Otherwise, "8" is selected as the access category and a unified access control procedure is performed as specified in 3GPP TS 24.501 using the selected access category and one or more access identities to be applied.

[0112] - If the access attempt is barred, the variable denoted "pendingRNA-Update" is set to "true" and the process ends.

[0113] The message denoted as "RemoteUEInformationSidelink" may be used to request (one or more) SIBs or provide paging related information in the remote UE information procedure. The RemoteUEInformationSidelink message may be sent on the signaling radio bearer SL-SRB3 using AM (Acknowledged Mode) RLC-AP and SCCH as logical channels. The RemoteUEInformationSidelink message may be sent from a L2 U2N remote UE to a L2 U2N relay UE. Figure 4 An example configuration of the RemoteUEInformationSidelink message is shown.

[0114] The information elements of the RemoteInformationSidelink message include:

[0115] sl-EstablishmentCause-17: Indication of the establishment cause for the sidelink. Possible values ​​are "Emergency" or "mcs_PriorityAccess".

[0116] sl-ResumeCause-17: Indication of the resumption reason for the sidelink. Possible values ​​are "Emergency" or "mcs_PriorityAccess".

[0117] sl-Requested-SI-List: List of requested SI messages. The first / leftmost bit corresponds to SIB index 1 (i.e. SIB1), the second bit corresponds to SIB index 2 (i.e. SIB2), and so on.

[0118] sl-PagingInfo-RemoteUE: indicates paging information used by the L2 U2N relay UE to perform paging monitoring of the connected L2 U2N remote UE.

[0119] sl-PagingIdentity-RemoteUE: indicates the paging UE ID of the L2 U2N remote UE.

[0120] sl-PagingCycle-RemoteUE: Indicates the UE-specific DRX (discontinuous reception) cycle of the L2 U2N remote UE. The value rf32 corresponds to 32 radio frames, the value rf64 corresponds to 64 radio frames, and so on.

[0121] exist Figure 4In the first alternative (Alternative 1), the indication sl-EstablishmentCause is selected from an enumerated list of values ​​including "emergency", "mcs_PriorityAccess", and optionally one or more alternate values. Similarly, the indication sl-ResumeCause is selected from an enumerated list of values ​​including "emergency", "mcs_PriorityAccess", and optionally one or more alternate values. Figure 4 In the second alternative (Alternative 2), the indication sl-EstablishmentCause is set to the same value as the indication establishmentCause. Similarly, the indication sl-ResumeCause is set to the same value as the indication resumeCause. In the following description, although the communication device can be any one of UE QQ112A-D, QQ200, hardware QQ504 or virtual machines QQ508A, QQ508B, the communication device QQ200 should be used to describe the functionality of the operation of the remote communication device. Reference will now be made to some embodiments of the inventive concept. Figure 5 The flowchart of the communication device QQ200 (implemented using the structure of Figure QQ2) discusses the operation of the communication device QQ200. For example, the modules can be stored in the memory QQ210 of Figure QQ2, and these modules can provide instructions so that when the instructions of the modules are executed by the corresponding communication device processing circuit QQ202, the processing circuit QQ202 performs the corresponding operation of the flowchart.

[0122] Figure 5 Examples of operations performed by a remote communication device are shown.

[0123] At block 510, processing circuit QQ202 determines an establishment cause for connecting to a network node. In some examples, connecting to a network node includes connecting to a communication network (e.g., a 5G network). In some embodiments, determining an establishment cause for connecting to a network node includes determining an establishment cause for reconnecting to a network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control inactive state. In other embodiments, determining an establishment cause for connecting to a network node includes determining an establishment cause for establishing a new connection to a network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control RRC idle state.

[0124] In some embodiments, the establishment reason is associated with an emergency situation or mcs_PriorityAccess.

[0125] At block 520, processing circuit QQ202 determines to send a message including an establishment cause to the relay communication device. In some embodiments, determining to send the message includes: determining to send the message based on at least one of: the establishment cause; the connection (being established) is associated with a new service; the connection is associated with a new business; the connection is associated with a new application; the establishment cause is different from a previous establishment cause used by the remote communication device; and the establishment cause is associated with special processing of the communication network.

[0126] In additional or alternative embodiments, determining to send a message further comprises: determining the type of message based on at least one of: an establishment cause; a connection associated with a new service; a connection associated with a new business; a connection associated with a new application; a difference between the establishment cause and a previous establishment cause used by a remote communication device; and the establishment cause being associated with special processing of the communication network.

[0127] At block 530, processing circuit QQ202 sends a message to the relay communication device via communication interface QQ212. In some embodiments, sending the message including the establishment cause includes sending at least one of: radio resource control signaling; PC5-S signaling; discovery signaling; MAC CE; layer 1 signaling; and control protocol data unit.

[0128] In additional or alternative embodiments, sending the message including the establishment cause includes broadcasting the message to a plurality of communication devices including a relay communication device.

[0129] At block 540, processing circuit QQ202 establishes a connection to the network node via the communication interface QQ212 and via the relay communication device. In some embodiments, establishing a connection to the network node via the relay communication device includes performing an RRC recovery procedure. In other embodiments, establishing a connection to the network node via the relay communication device includes performing an RRC establishment procedure.

[0130] In some embodiments, establishing a connection to the network node via the relay communication device comprises establishing a side link connection.

[0131] Figure 5 Various operations of may be optional with respect to some embodiments. For example, with respect to Embodiment 1 (described below), block 520 may be optional.

[0132] In the following description, although the communication device may be any one of UE QQ112A-D, QQ200, hardware QQ504 or virtual machines QQ508A, QQ508B, the communication device QQ200 shall be used to describe the function of the operation of the relay communication device. Figure 6 Flowchart discussion (using Figure 8The operation of the communication device QQ200 is implemented by the structure of the communication device QQ200. For example, the module can be stored in Figure 8 The modules are stored in the memory QQ210, and these modules can provide instructions, so that when the instructions of the modules are executed by the corresponding communication device processing circuit QQ202, the processing circuit QQ202 performs the corresponding operations of the flowchart.

[0133] Figure 6 An example of operations performed by a relay communication device is shown.

[0134] At block 610, processing circuit QQ202 determines an establishment cause for the remote communication device to connect to the network node via the relay communication device. In some embodiments, determining the establishment cause includes determining an establishment cause for reconnecting the remote communication device to the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control inactive state. In other embodiments, determining the establishment cause includes determining an establishment cause for establishing a new connection between the remote communication device and the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control idle state.

[0135] In some embodiments, the establishment reason is associated with an emergency situation or mcs_PriorityAccess.

[0136] In additional or alternative embodiments, determining the establishment cause for the remote communication device includes receiving a message including the establishment cause from the remote communication device. In some examples, receiving the message including the establishment cause includes receiving at least one of: radio resource control signaling; PC5-S signaling; discovery signaling; MAC CE; layer 1 signaling; and a control protocol data unit. In additional or alternative examples, the message is a broadcast message. In additional or alternative examples, the message is part of a connection establishment message to be forwarded to a network node, and determining the establishment cause also includes decoding a part of the connection establishment message including the establishment cause.

[0137] At block 620, processing circuit QQ202 establishes a connection between the relay communication device and the network node via communication interface QQ212 using the establishment cause. In some embodiments, establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node comprises reestablishing a connection between the remote communication device and the network node via the relay communication node. In other embodiments, establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node comprises establishing a new connection between the remote communication device and the network node via the relay communication node.

[0138] In some embodiments, establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node includes establishing a portion of a side link connection between the remote communication device and the network node.In additional or alternative embodiments, the network node is part of a communication network (e.g., a 5G network).

[0139] Figure 6 Various operations may be optional with respect to some embodiments.

[0140] Figure 7 An example of a communication system QQ 100 is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0141] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 including an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network (CN) QQ106 including one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110), or any other similar third generation partnership project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. The network node QQ110 facilitates direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UE QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UE QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0142] Example wireless communications via wireless connections include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals (whether via a wired or wireless connection). The communication system QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar types of systems.

[0143] UE QQ 112 may be any of a variety of communication devices, including wireless devices that are arranged, configured and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with network node QQ 110 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node QQ 110 is arranged, capable, configured and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE QQ 112 and / or with other network nodes or devices in telecommunication network QQ 102 to enable and / or provide network access (such as wireless network access) and / or perform other functions (such as management in telecommunication network QQ 102).

[0144] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network node QQ110 to one or more hosts, such as the host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, the network node may be directly coupled to the host. The core network QQ106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) constructed with hardware and software components. The features of these components may be substantially similar to the features described with respect to the UE, network node and / or host, so that their description is generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. The example core network node includes one or more of the following functions: a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME), a home subscriber server (HSS), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a subscription identifier de-hiding function (SIDF), a unified data management (UDM), a security edge protection agent (SEPP), a network open function (NEF), and / or a user plane function (UPF).

[0145] The host QQ 116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than the operator or provider of the access network QQ 104 and / or the telecommunications network QQ 102, and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The host QQ 116 may host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (such as retrieving and compiling data about various environmental conditions detected by multiple UEs), analysis functions, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for alarm and monitoring centers, or any other such functions performed by a server.

[0146] As a whole, Figure 7The communication system QQ100 implements the connection between the UE, the network node and the host. In this sense, the communication system can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards including but not limited to the following: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standards, for example, the sixth generation (6G) standard; Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standards, such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards, such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0147] In some examples, telecommunication network QQ 102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Therefore, telecommunication network QQ 102 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to telecommunication network QQ 102. For example, telecommunication network QQ 102 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or massive machine type communication (mMTC) / massive IoT services to other UEs.

[0148] In some examples, the UE QQ112 is configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE may be designed to send information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the access network QQ104. In addition, the UE may be configured to operate in a single RAT or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, the UE may operate with any one or a combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio), and LTE, i.e., configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0149] In an example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and a network node (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, a router, a content source, and analysis, or any other communication device described herein with respect to the UE. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router that enables the UE to access the core network QQ106. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. The command or instruction may be received from the UE, the network node QQ110, or may be received by an executable code, a script, a process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage for UE data, and in some embodiments, analysis or other processing of data may be performed. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, the hub QQ 114 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, and then the hub QQ 114 provides it directly to the UE after performing local processing and / or after adding additional local content. In another example, the hub QQ 114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UE, especially when one or more UEs are low-energy IoT devices.

[0150] Hub QQ114 can have constant / persistent or intermittent connection to network node QQ110b. Hub QQ114 can also allow different communication schemes and / or scheduling between hub QQ114 and UE (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and hub QQ114 and core network QQ106. In other examples, hub QQ114 is connected to core network QQ106 and / or one or more UE via wired connection. Moreover, hub QQ114 can be configured to be connected to M2M service provider and / or connected to another UE by direct connection through access network QQ104. In some scenes, UE can establish wireless connection with network node QQ110, while still connected via hub QQ114 via wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub QQ114 can be a dedicated hub--that is, its main function is to route communication from network node QQ110b to UE / route from UE to the hub of network node QQ110b. In other embodiments, hub QQ 114 may be a non-dedicated hub—that is, a device operable to route communications between UEs and network node QQ 110b, but additionally capable of operating as a communications origin and / or endpoint for certain data channels.

[0151] Figure 8 UE QQ200 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, UE refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with a network node and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptops, notebook embedded devices (LEEs), notebook mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless user premises equipment (CPEs), vehicle-mounted or vehicle-mounted embedded / integrated wireless devices, etc. Other examples include any UE determined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, machine type communications (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0152] The UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communications, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communications, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, the UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Instead, the UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not, or may not initially, be associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, the UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user, but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart meter).

[0153] UE QQ200 includes processing circuit QQ202, which is operatively coupled to input / output interface QQ206, power supply QQ208, memory QQ210, communication interface QQ212 and / or any other components, or any combination thereof, via bus QQ204. Some UEs may utilize Figure 8 All or part of the components shown in . The level of integration between components may vary from UE to UE. Further, some UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0154] The processing circuit QQ202 is configured to process instructions and data, and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute instructions stored as a machine-readable computer program in the memory QQ210. The processing circuit QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors (such as microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs)) together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuit QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0155] In an example, the input / output interface QQ206 can be configured to provide one or more interfaces to an input device, an output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital video cameras, webcams, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, directional keys, trackpads, rollers, smart cards, etc. The presence display may include capacitive or resistive touch sensors to sense input from the user. The sensor may be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use an interface port of the same type as an input device. For example, a universal serial bus (USB) port may be used to provide input devices and output devices.

[0156] In some embodiments, the power supply QQ208 is configured as a battery or a battery pack. Other types of power supplies may be used, such as an external power supply (e.g., a power socket), a photovoltaic device, or a power battery. The power supply QQ208 may further include a power supply circuit for delivering power from the power supply QQ208 itself and / or an external power supply to various parts of the UEQQ200 via an input circuit or interface (such as a power cable). The delivered power may be used, for example, to charge the power supply QQ208. The power supply circuit may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification on the power from the power supply QQ208 to make the power suitable for the corresponding components of the UEQQ200 being powered.

[0157] The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include a memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, a removable cartridge, a flash drive, etc. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214 (such as an operating system, a web browser application, a widget, a gadget engine, or other application) and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store any one of a variety of different operating systems or a combination of operating systems for use by the UE QQ200.

[0158] The memory QQ210 may be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (such as a tamper-proof module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more user identification modules (SIMs) (such as USIM and / or ISIM)), other memories, or any combination thereof. The UICC may be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly referred to as a "SIM card". The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, applications, etc. stored on a transient or non-transient storage medium to offload data or upload data. An article of manufacture, such as an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system, may be tangibly embodied as or in memory QQ210, which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0159] The processing circuit QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using a communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include an antenna QQ222 or be communicatively coupled to the antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 may include one or more transceivers for communicating, for example, by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 suitable for providing network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter QQ218 and the receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or may be optionally implemented separately.

[0160] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functionality of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near field communication, location-based communication such as using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication functionality, or any combination thereof. Communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, new radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical network (SONET), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), QUIC, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0161] Regardless of the type of sensor, the UE can provide an output of the data captured by its sensor via its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. The data captured by the sensor of the UE can be transmitted to the network node via another UE via a wireless connection. The output can be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if the sensed temperature is reported), random (e.g., balancing the load of reports from several sensors), in response to a trigger event (e.g., when humidity is detected, an alarm is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a real-time video feed of a patient).

[0162] As another example, the UE includes an actuator, motor, or switch associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input, the state of the actuator, motor, or switch may change. For example, the UE may include a motor that adjusts a control surface or rotor of a drone in flight based on the received input, or adjusts a robotic arm performing a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0163] When in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a UE may be a device for one or more application areas including, but not limited to, urban wearable technology, extended industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices are the following devices or devices embedded in the following devices: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a television, connected lighting devices, an electric meter, a robotic vacuum cleaner, a voice-controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / humidity sensor, an electric door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system (such as a heat pump), an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), a wearable device for tactile enhancement or sensory enhancement, a sprinkler, an animal or item tracking device, a sensor for monitoring plants or animals, an industrial robot, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and any type of medical device such as a heart rate monitor or a remotely controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an IoT device includes circuitry and / or software that depends on the intended application of the IoT device, as well as information such as the following. Figure 8 Other components described in the UE QQ200 shown in FIG.

[0164] As another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may identify a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another UE and / or a network node. In this case, the UE may be an M2M device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a means of transport, such as a car, bus, truck, ship, and airplane, or other devices capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions related to its operation.

[0165] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together for a single use case. For example, a first UE may be a drone or may be integrated into a drone and provide the drone's speed information (obtained by a speed sensor) to a second UE, which is a remote controller that operates the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the speed of the drone. The first and / or second UE may also include more than one of the functions described above. For example, the UE may include sensors and actuators and handle the communication of data for the speed sensor and actuator.

[0166] Fig. 9A network node QQ300 according to some embodiments is shown. As used herein, a network node refers to a device in a telecommunications network that is capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or devices. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), and NR node Bs (gNBs)).

[0167] Base stations can be classified based on the coverage they provide (or, in other words, their transmit power level), and therefore can be called femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations or macro base stations, depending on the coverage provided. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes called a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be called nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0168] Other examples of network nodes include a multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access node, a multi-standard radio (MSR) device (such as an MSR BS), a network controller (such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC)), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), an operation and maintenance (O&M) node, an operation support system (OSS) node, a self-organizing network (SON) node, a positioning node (e.g., an evolved serving mobile positioning center (E-SMLC)), and / or a minimization of drive tests (MDT).

[0169] The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuit QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power supply QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of a plurality of physically separated components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have its corresponding component. In certain scenarios where the network node QQ300 includes a plurality of individual components (e.g., a BTS and a BSC component), one or more individual components may be shared between several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control a plurality of NodeBs. In this case, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered as a single individual network node in some cases. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may be configured to support a plurality of radio access technologies (RATs). In such an embodiment, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories QQ304 for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of various illustrated components for different wireless technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, radio frequency identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies, integrated into the network node QQ300. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within the network node QQ300.

[0170] The processing circuit QQ302 may include a combination of one or more of the following: a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic, which can be operated alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components (e.g., memory QQ304) to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

[0171] In some embodiments, the processing circuit QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuit QQ302 includes one or more of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit QQ312 and a baseband processing circuit QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit QQ312 and the baseband processing circuit QQ314 may be located on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units, such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the radio frequency transceiver circuit QQ312 and the baseband processing circuit QQ314 may be located on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0172] The memory QQ304 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to persistent memory, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile non-transitory device readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including computer programs, software, applications, including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations performed by the processing circuit QQ302 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuit QQ302 and the memory QQ304 are integrated.

[0173] The communication interface QQ306 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks and / or UEs. As shown in the figure, the communication interface QQ306 includes (one or more) ports / (one or more) terminals QQ316, which are used to send and receive data to and from the network, for example, via a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes a radio front-end circuit QQ318, which can be coupled to the antenna QQ310, or in some embodiments, coupled to a part of the antenna QQ310. The radio front-end circuit QQ318 includes a filter QQ320 and an amplifier QQ322. The radio front-end circuit QQ318 can be connected to the antenna QQ310 and the processing circuit QQ302. The radio front-end circuit can be configured to adjust the signal communicated between the antenna QQ310 and the processing circuit QQ302. The radio front-end circuit QQ318 can receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or terminals via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit QQ318 can use a combination of the filter QQ320 and / or the amplifier QQ322 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna QQ310 may collect the radio signal, which may then be converted to digital data by radio front end circuit QQ318. The digital data may be passed to processing circuit QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0174] In some alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include a separate radio front end circuit QQ318, instead the processing circuit QQ302 includes the radio front end circuit and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of the RF transceiver circuit QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front end circuit QQ318 and the RF transceiver circuit QQ312 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuit QQ314, which is part of the digital unit (not shown).

[0175] Antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna QQ310 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly sending and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna QQ310 is separate from network node QQ300 and may be connected to network node QQ300 via an interface or port.

[0176] Antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306 and / or processing circuit QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306 and / or processing circuit QQ302 may be configured to perform any sending operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal may be sent to a UE, another network node and / or any other network device.

[0177] The power supply QQ308 provides power to the various components of the network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective self-component). The power supply QQ308 may further include or be coupled to a power management circuit to provide power to the components of the network node QQ300 for performing the functions described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power grid, a power outlet) via an input circuit or interface such as a cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to the power circuit of the power supply QQ308. As a further example, the power supply QQ308 may include a power source in the form of a battery or a battery pack, which is connected to the power circuit or integrated in the power circuit. The battery may provide backup power when the external power source fails.

[0178] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include, in addition to Fig. 9Additional components other than those shown are used to provide certain aspects of the network node functionality, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may include a user interface device that allows information to be input to the network node QQ300 and allows information to be output from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostics, maintenance, repair, and other management functions on the network node QQ300.

[0179] Fig.10 is a block diagram of a host QQ400 according to various aspects described herein, and the host QQ400 may be Figure 7 1. The host QQ 116 of the embodiment of the present invention. As used herein, the host QQ 400 can be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including processing resources in a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, a container, or a server cluster. The host QQ 400 can provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0180] The host QQ400 includes a processing circuit QQ402, which is operably coupled to an input / output interface QQ406, a network interface QQ408, a power supply QQ410, and a memory QQ412 via a bus QQ404. Other components may be included in other embodiments. The features of these components may be similar to those described with respect to the previous figures (such as Figure 8 and Fig. 9 ) The features of the devices described in the present invention are substantially similar, so that their descriptions are generally applicable to corresponding components of the host QQ400.

[0181] The memory QQ412 may include one or more computer programs, including one or more host applications QQ414 and data QQ416, which may include user data, such as data generated by the UE for the host QQ400 or data generated by the host QQ400 for the UE. The embodiment of the host QQ400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application QQ414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., general video coding (VVC), high efficiency video coding (HEVC), advanced video coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, advanced audio coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different categories, types, or implementations of UE (e.g., handheld devices, desktop computers, wearable display systems, head-up display systems). The host application QQ414 may also provide user authentication and license checks, and may periodically report health status, routing, and content availability to a central node (such as a device within a core network or on the edge). Therefore, the host QQ 400 can select and / or indicate different hosts for over-the-top services to the UE. The host application QQ 414 can support various protocols, such as HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0182] Fig.11 It is a block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment QQ500, in which the functions implemented by certain embodiments can be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of a device or equipment, which can include a virtualized hardware platform, storage device, and network resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device or component thereof described herein, and is related to the implementation of at least a portion of the functions being implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein can be implemented as virtual components performed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtualized environments QQ500, and the virtualized environment QQ500 is hosted by one or more hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device running as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in an embodiment where a virtual node does not require a radio connection (e.g., a core network node or host), the node can be fully virtualized.

[0183] Application QQ502 (which may alternatively be referred to as a software instance, a virtual device, a network function, a virtual node, a virtual network function, etc.) runs in a virtualized environment QQ500 to implement some features, functions and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0184] Hardware QQ504 includes processing circuitry, memory storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices described herein, such as network interfaces, input / output interfaces, etc. The software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM QQ508a and QQ508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VM QQ508), and / or perform any functions, features, and / or benefits described in connection with some embodiments described herein. Virtualization layer QQ506 may provide a virtual operating platform that appears to VM QQ508 to be network hardware.

[0185] VM QQ508 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual network or interface, and virtual storage, and can be run by the corresponding virtualization layer QQ506. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual device QQ502 can be implemented on one or more VMQQ508, and can be implemented in different ways. Virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV) in some contexts. NFV can be used to integrate many network device types onto industry standard high-capacity server hardware, physical switches and physical storage (which can be located in a data center) and customer premises equipment.

[0186] In the context of NFV, VM QQ508 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM QQ508 and the portion of the hardware QQ504 on which the VM executes, whether hardware dedicated to the VM and / or hardware shared by the VM with other VMs, form a separate virtual network unit. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more VM QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to an application QQ502.

[0187] Hardware QQ504 can be implemented in an independent network node with general or specific components. Hardware QQ504 can implement some functions through virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (such as in a data center or CPE), in which many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ510, including the life cycle management of supervisory application QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 is coupled to one or more radio units, each of which includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio unit can communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces, and can be used in combination with virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or base station. In some embodiments, a control system QQ512 can be used to provide some signaling, which can be used alternatively for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0188] Fig.12 6 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ 602 communicating with a UE QQ 606 via a network node QQ 604 over a partially wireless connection according to some embodiments. According to various embodiments, a UE (such as a Figure 7 UE QQ 112a and / or Figure 8 UE QQ200), network nodes (such as Figure 7 The network node QQ110a and / or Fig. 9 network nodes QQ300) and hosts (such as Figure 7 Host QQ116 and / or Fig.10 The embodiment of the host QQ400) will now be referred to Fig.12 to describe.

[0189] As with host QQ400, an embodiment of host QQ602 includes hardware, such as a communication interface, a processing circuit, and a memory. Host QQ602 also includes software that is stored in or accessible to host QQ602 and can be executed by the processing circuit. The software includes a host application that is operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE QQ606 connected via an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ650 extending between UE QQ606 and host QQ602. When providing services to a remote user, the host application can provide user data sent using the OTT connection QQ650.

[0190] The network node QQ 604 includes hardware that enables it to communicate with the host QQ 602 and the UE QQ 606. The connection QQ 660 can be direct or through a core network (such as Figure 7The core network QQ106) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private or managed networks. For example, the intermediate network can be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0191] UE QQ606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ606 and executed by the processing circuit of UE. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or an operator-specific "application", which is operable to provide services to human or non-human users via UE QQ606 under the support of host QQ602. In host QQ602, the executed host application can communicate with the executed client application via the OTT connection QQ650 terminated in UE QQ606 and host QQ602. When providing services to users, the client application of UE can receive request data from the host application of the host and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection QQ650 can transmit both request data and user data. The client application of UE can interact with the user to generate user data, which is provided to the host application through OTT connection QQ650.

[0192] The OTT connection QQ650 may be extended via a connection QQ660 between the host QQ602 and the network node QQ604 and via a wireless connection QQ670 between the network node QQ604 and the UE QQ606 to provide a connection between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 and the wireless connection QQ670 that may provide the OTT connection QQ650 are drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606 via the network node QQ604 without explicit reference to any intermediate devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0193] As an example of sending data via OTT connection QQ650, in step QQ608, host QQ602 provides user data, which can be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with UE QQ606. In other embodiments, user data is associated with UE QQ606 that shares data with host QQ602 without explicit human interaction. In step QQ610, host QQ602 initiates a transmission carrying user data to UE QQ606. Host QQ602 may initiate transmission in response to a request sent by UE QQ606. The request may be caused by human interaction with UE QQ606, or by the operation of a client application executed on UE QQ606. According to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transmission may be performed via network node QQ604. Therefore, in step QQ612, according to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure, network node QQ604 sends user data carried in the transmission initiated by host QQ602 to UE QQ606. In step QQ614 , UE QQ606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executing on UE QQ606 associated with a host application executed by host QQ602 .

[0194] In some examples, UE QQ606 executes a client application that provides user data to host QQ602. User data may be provided as a reaction or response to data received from host QQ602. Therefore, in step QQ616, UE QQ606 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing a client application. When providing user data, the client application may further consider user input received from a user via an input / output interface of UE QQ606. Regardless of the specific manner of providing user data, in step QQ618, UE QQ606 initiates transmission of user data to host QQ602 via network node QQ604. In step QQ620, according to the teachings of the embodiments described in the present disclosure, network node QQ604 receives user data from UE QQ606 and initiates transmission of the received user data to host QQ602. In step QQ622, host QQ602 receives user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE QQ606.

[0195] One or more of the various embodiments improves the performance of an OTT service provided to a UE QQ606 using an OTT connection QQ650 in which a wireless connection QQ670 forms the final segment. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments may allow a relay UE to set an establishment cause according to that set by a remote UE. If the establishment cause used by the relay UE is different from the establishment cause used by the remote UE, this may avoid the relay UE's access being denied. This may improve the user experience and improve public safety in emergency situations.

[0196] In an example scenario, plant status information may be collected and analyzed by host QQ602. As another example, host QQ602 may process audio and video data retrieved from UE for use in creating maps. As another example, host QQ602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, host QQ602 stores surveillance videos uploaded by UE. As another example, host QQ602 may store media content or control access to media content, such as video, audio, VR or AR, which may be broadcast, multicast or unicast to UE. As other examples, host QQ602 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time-critical power loads to balance power generation demand, positioning services, presentation services (such as compiling charts from data collected from remote devices, etc.), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or sending data.

[0197] In some examples, a measurement process may be provided to monitor data rates, delays, and other factors that are improved by one or more embodiments. There may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection QQ650 between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or the network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in the software and hardware of the host QQ602 and / or the UE QQ606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with other devices through which the OTT connection QQ650 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by providing the values ​​of the above-mentioned monitoring quantities or providing the values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software can calculate or estimate the monitoring quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection QQ650 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routes, etc.; the reconfiguration does not require direct changes to the operation of the network node 1504. These processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In some embodiments, the measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling, which facilitates the measurement of throughput, propagation time, delay, etc. by the host QQ602. The measurements can be implemented in software so that messages (particularly empty or "dummy" messages) are sent using the OTT connection QQ650 while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0198] Although the computing devices (e.g., UE, network node, host) described herein may include a combination of the hardware components shown, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It should be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, acquisition or similar operations described herein may be performed by a processing circuit that can process information, such as by converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with the information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and determining as a result of the processing. In addition, although the components are described as a single box located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, the computing device may contain multiple different physical components constituting a single illustrated component, and the functions may be divided between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any component described herein, and / or the functions of the components may be divided between a processing circuit and a communication interface. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, while the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0199] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be provided by a processing circuit that executes instructions stored in a memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In an optional embodiment, some or all of the functions may be provided by a processing circuit without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these specific embodiments, the processing circuit may be configured to perform the described functions regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited solely to the processing circuit or other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or by both the end user and the wireless network.

[0200] In view of the above, the present disclosure includes the following embodiments:

[0201] Group A Embodiment

[0202] 1. A method of operating a telecommunication device, the method comprising:

[0203] determining (510) an establishment reason for a network node connected to a communication network;

[0204] sending (530) a message including the establishment reason to the relay communication device; and

[0205] In response to sending the message, a connection is established (540) to the network node via the relay communication device.

[0206] 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein determining an establishment cause for connecting to the network node comprises: determining an establishment cause for reconnecting to the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, and

[0207] Wherein, establishing a connection to the network node via the relay communication device includes performing an RRC recovery process.

[0208] 3. The method of embodiment 1, wherein determining an establishment cause for connecting to the network node comprises: determining an establishment cause for establishing a new connection to the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state, and

[0209] Wherein, establishing a connection to the network node via the relay communication device includes performing an RRC establishment process.

[0210] 4. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the establishment cause is associated with an emergency situation or mcs_PriorityAccess.

[0211] 5. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 4, further comprising:

[0212] The message is sent based on at least one of the following determinations (520):

[0213] The reason for establishment;

[0214] The connection is associated with a new service;

[0215] The connection is associated with a new service;

[0216] The connection is associated with the new application;

[0217] a difference between the establishment cause and a previous establishment cause used by the telecommunications device; and

[0218] The establishment cause is associated with special handling of the communication network.

[0219] 6. The method of embodiment 5, wherein determining to send the message further comprises: determining a type of the message based on at least one of the following:

[0220] The reason for establishment;

[0221] The connection is associated with the new service;

[0222] The connection is associated with the new service;

[0223] The connection is associated with the new application;

[0224] a difference between the establishment cause and the previous establishment cause used by the remote communications device; and

[0225] The establishment cause is associated with the special handling of the communication network.

[0226] 7. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein sending the message including the establishment cause includes sending at least one of the following:

[0227] Radio resource control signaling;

[0228] PC5-S signaling;

[0229] Discovery signaling;

[0230] MAC CE;

[0231] Layer 1 signalling; and

[0232] Control protocol data unit.

[0233] 8. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein sending the message including the establishment cause includes: broadcasting the message to multiple communication devices including the relay communication device.

[0234] 9. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein establishing the connection to the network node via the relay communication device comprises establishing a side link connection.

[0235] 10. A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein the communication network includes a fifth generation 5G network.

[0236] 11. A method of operating a relay communication device, the method comprising:

[0237] determining (610) an establishment cause for a remote communication device to connect to a network node of a communication network via the relay communication device;

[0238] In response to determining the establishment cause, a connection is established (620) between the relay communication device and the network node using the establishment cause.

[0239] 12. The method of embodiment 11, wherein determining the establishment cause comprises: determining an establishment cause for reconnecting the remote communication device to the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, and

[0240] Wherein, establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node comprises: re-establishing a connection between the remote communication device and the network node via the relay communication node.

[0241] 13. The method of embodiment 11, wherein determining the establishment cause comprises: determining an establishment cause for establishing a new connection between the remote communication device and the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state, and

[0242] Wherein, establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node comprises: establishing a new connection between the remote communication device and the network node via the relay communication node.

[0243] 14. The method of any one of embodiments 11 to 13, wherein the establishment cause is associated with an emergency situation or mcs_PriorityAccess.

[0244] 15. The method of any one of embodiments 11 to 14, wherein determining an establishment cause for the remote communication device comprises receiving a message including the establishment cause from the remote communication device.

[0245] 16. The method of embodiment 15, wherein receiving the message including the establishment cause comprises receiving at least one of:

[0246] Radio resource control signaling;

[0247] PC5-S signaling;

[0248] Discovery signaling;

[0249] MAC CE;

[0250] Layer 1 signalling; and

[0251] Control protocol data unit.

[0252] 17. The method of embodiment 15, wherein the message is a broadcast message.

[0253] 18. The method of embodiment 15, wherein the message is part of a connection establishment message to be forwarded to the network node, and wherein determining the establishment cause further comprises decoding a part of the connection establishment message including the establishment cause.

[0254] 19. The method of any one of embodiments 11 to 18, wherein establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node comprises establishing a portion of a side link connection between the remote communication device and the network node.

[0255] 20. A method according to any one of embodiments 11 to 19, wherein the communication network includes a fifth generation 5G network.

[0256] Group C Example

[0257] 21. A remote communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), the communication device comprising:

[0258] processing circuit (QQ202); and

[0259] A memory (QQ210) coupled to the processing circuit and storing therein instructions, the instructions being executable by the processing circuit to cause the remote communication device to perform operations including any one of the operations of Embodiments 1 to 10.

[0260] 22. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a telecommunication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), whereby execution of the program code causes the telecommunication device to perform operations including any of the operations of embodiments 1-10.

[0261] 23. A computer program product, comprising a non-volatile storage medium (QQ210), wherein the non-volatile storage medium comprises a program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a remote communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), whereby execution of the program code causes the remote communication device to perform operations including any operations of embodiments 1-10.

[0262] 24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, wherein the instructions can be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a remote communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504) to cause the remote communication device to perform any one of the operations of embodiments 1 to 10.

[0263] 25. A relay communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), the communication device comprising:

[0264] processing circuit (QQ202); and

[0265] A memory (QQ210) coupled to the processing circuit and storing therein instructions, wherein the instructions can be executed by the processing circuit to cause the relay communication device to perform operations including any one of the operations of embodiments 11 to 20.

[0266] 26. A computer program comprising program codes to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a relay communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), whereby execution of the program codes causes the relay communication device to perform operations including any of the operations of embodiments 11 to 20.

[0267] 27. A computer program product, comprising a non-volatile storage medium (QQ210), wherein the non-volatile storage medium comprises a program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a relay communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), whereby the execution of the program code causes the relay communication device to perform operations including any operations of embodiments 11 to 20.

[0268] 28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, wherein the instructions can be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a remote communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504) to cause the relay communication device to perform any one of the operations of embodiments 11 to 20.

Claims

1. A method for operating a telecommunication device, the method include: determining (510) an establishment reason for a network node connected to a communication network; sending (530) a message including the establishment reason to the relay communication device; as well as In response to sending the message, a connection is established (540) to the network node via the relay communication device.

2. The method according to claim 1, in, Determining an establishment cause for connecting to the network node comprises: determining an establishment cause for reconnecting to the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, and Wherein, establishing a connection to the network node via the relay communication device includes: performing an RRC recovery process.

3. The method according to claim 1, in, Determining the establishment cause for connecting to the network node comprises: determining an establishment cause for establishing a new connection to the network node while the remote communication device is in an RRC idle state, and Wherein, establishing a connection to the network node via the relay communication device includes: executing an RRC establishment process.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in, The establishment reason is associated with an emergency situation or priority access to mission critical services.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: include: The message is sent based on at least one of: The reason for establishment; The connection is associated with a new service; The connection is associated with a new service; The connection is associated with the new application; a difference between the establishment cause and a previous establishment cause used by the telecommunication device; as well as The establishment cause is associated with special handling of the communication network.

6. The method according to claim 5, in, Determining to send the message further includes: determining a type of the message based on at least one of the following: The reason for establishment; The connection is associated with the new service; The connection is associated with the new service; The connection is associated with the new application; a difference between the establishment cause and the previous establishment cause used by the remote communications device; and The establishment cause is associated with special handling of the communication network.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in, Sending the message including the establishment cause includes sending at least one of: Radio resource control signaling; PC5-S signaling; Discovery signaling; Media Access Control MAC control element; Layer 1 signalling; and Control protocol data unit.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in, Sending the message including the establishment cause includes broadcasting the message to a plurality of communication devices including the relay communication device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, in, Establishing a connection to the network node via the relay communication device includes establishing a sidelink connection.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, in, The remote communication device is an in-vehicle wireless device or a vehicle integrated wireless device.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, in, The communication network includes the fifth generation 5G network.

12. A method for operating a relay communication device, the method include: determining (610) an establishment cause for a remote communication device to connect to a network node of a communication network via the relay communication device; In response to determining the establishment cause, a connection is established (620) between the relay communication device and the network node using the establishment cause.

13. The method according to claim 12, in, Determining the establishment cause includes: determining an establishment cause for reconnecting the remote communication device to the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, and Wherein, establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node includes: re-establishing a connection between the remote communication device and the network node via the relay communication node.

14. The method according to claim 12, in, Determining the establishment cause includes: determining an establishment cause for establishing a new connection between the remote communication device and the network node when the remote communication device is in a radio resource control (RRC) idle state, and Wherein, establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node comprises: establishing a new connection between the remote communication device and the network node via the relay communication node.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, in, The establishment reason is associated with an emergency situation or priority access to mission critical services.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, in, Determining the establishment cause for the remote communication device includes receiving a message from the remote communication device including the establishment cause.

17. The method according to claim 16, in, Receiving the message including the establishment cause includes: receiving at least one of: Radio resource control signaling; PC5-S signaling; Discovery signaling; Media Access Control MAC control element; Layer 1 signalling; and Control protocol data unit.

18. The method according to claim 16, in, The message is a broadcast message.

19. The method according to claim 16, in, The message is part of a connection establishment message to be forwarded to the network node, and Wherein, determining the establishment reason further comprises: decoding a part of the connection establishment message including the establishment reason.

20. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, in, Establishing a connection between the relay communication device and the network node includes establishing a portion of a sidelink connection between the remote communication device and the network node.

21. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 20, in, The relay communication device is a vehicle-mounted wireless device or a vehicle-integrated wireless device.

22. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 21, in, The communication network includes the fifth generation 5G network.

23. A remote communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), the remote communication device being configured to: determining (510) an establishment reason for a network node connected to a communication network; sending (530) a message including the establishment reason to the relay communication device; and In response to sending the message, a connection is established (540) to the network node via the relay communication device.

24. The telecommunication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504) according to claim 23, in, The remote communication device is configured to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

25. The telecommunication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504) according to claim 23 or 24, include: Processing circuit (QQ202); as well as A memory (QQ210) coupled to the processing circuit and having stored therein instructions executable by the processing circuit to cause the remote communication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

26. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a telecommunication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), whereby execution of the program code causes the telecommunication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

27. A computer program product, comprising a non-volatile storage medium (QQ210), the non-volatile storage medium comprising program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a remote communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), whereby execution of the program code causes the remote communication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored therein, the instructions being executable by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a remote communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504) to cause the remote communication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

29. A relay communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), the relay communication device being configured as: determining an establishment cause for a remote communication device to connect to a network node of a communication network via said relay communication device; In response to determining the establishment cause, a connection is established between the relay communication device and the network node using the establishment cause.

30. The relay communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504) according to claim 29, in, The relay communication device is configured to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

31. The relay communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504) according to claim 29 or 30, include: Processing circuit (QQ202); as well as A memory (QQ210) coupled to the processing circuit and storing therein instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the processing circuit to cause the relay communication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

32. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a relay communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), whereby execution of the program code causes the relay communication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

33. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory storage medium (QQ210), wherein the non-transitory storage medium comprises a program code to be executed by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a relay communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504), whereby execution of the program code causes the relay communication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a processing circuit (QQ202) of a remote communication device (QQ112A-D, QQ200, QQ504) to cause the relay communication device to perform the steps of the method according to any one of claims 12 to 22.

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