Electronic device and method for wireless communication, and computer readable storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an electronic device and method for wireless communication, and a computer readable storage medium, the electronic device comprising: a processing circuit configured to: determine a first user equipment as a relay device between a base station and a second user equipment based on received first information, the first user equipment is able to establish a Uu connection with the base station and is able to establish a PC5 connection with the second user equipment, and wherein switching will occur between the Uu communication between the third user equipment and the base station and the PC5 communication between the third user equipment and the second user equipment; the context information of the communication before switching and the information of the QoS mapping relation between the communication before switching and the communication after switching are provided for the base station or the second user equipment, the communication before switching is one of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication, and the communication after switching is the other one of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication.

Description

Electronic device and method for wireless communication, and computer-readable storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on June 30, 2022, with application number 202210757644.X and invention name “Electronic device and method for wireless communication, computer-readable storage medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more particularly to direct path switching between different communication paths, and more particularly to electronic devices and methods for wireless communication, and computer-readable storage media. Background Art

[0003] In some scenarios, a user equipment (UE, also referred to as a remote UE) in a Uu connection with a base station needs to switch directly to a PC5 connection with another UE (referred to as a target UE) due to service requirements. The target UE has no communication or reliable connection with the base station and only uses the 5G ProSe direct communication mechanism. Similarly, in other scenarios, the UE needs to switch directly from a PC5 connection to a Uu connection.

[0004] Because services are switched between different communication connection paths, session continuity may not be guaranteed during the switching process. Therefore, a switching mechanism is needed to support direct switching between different connections while ensuring that the switching strategy can be configured to the remote UE and the target UE in a timely manner through some or some means.

[0005] For example, when a remote UE switches from a direct Uu reference point to a direct PC5 reference point, the path switching policy indicates to the remote UE which path is more suitable for all or certain specific ProSe services, i.e., direct PC5 is optimal, direct Uu is optimal, or no specific indication is given. The path switching policy is defined as a mapping relationship between ProSe services and path reference points, i.e., direct PC5 reference point, direct Uu reference point, or no specific reference point. Furthermore, the path switching policy can also be a mapping relationship for all ProSe services, i.e., all ProSe services are applicable to the same path reference point.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] A brief overview of the present disclosure is provided below to provide a basic understanding of certain aspects of the present disclosure. It should be understood that this overview is not an exhaustive overview of the present disclosure. It is not intended to identify key or important aspects of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Its purpose is simply to present certain concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description discussed later.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for wireless communication is provided, including a processing circuit, configured to: determine, based on received first information, that a first user device is a relay device between a base station and a second user device, wherein the first user device is capable of establishing a Uu connection with the base station and is capable of establishing a PC5 connection with the second user device, and wherein switching will occur between Uu communication between a third user device and the base station and PC5 communication between the third user device and the second user device; and provide, to the base station or the second user device, context information of the communication before the switching and information on a QoS mapping relationship from the communication before the switching to the communication after the switching, wherein the communication before the switching is one of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication, and the communication after the switching is the other of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication.

[0009] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication is provided, comprising: determining, based on received first information, that a first user equipment is a relay device between a base station and a second user equipment, wherein the first user equipment is capable of establishing a Uu connection with the base station and is capable of establishing a PC5 connection with the second user equipment, and wherein switching will occur between Uu communication between a third user equipment and the base station and PC5 communication between the third user equipment and the second user equipment; and providing to the base station or the second user equipment context information of the communication before the switching and information on a QoS mapping relationship from the communication before the switching to the communication after the switching, wherein the communication before the switching is one of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication, and the communication after the switching is the other of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication.

[0010] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for wireless communication is provided, including a processing circuit, configured to: determine a relay user device in response to a switching request of a first user device that is a communication counterpart of a first communication device, wherein the switching request indicates that the first user device is to switch a first communication between the first user device and the first communication device to a second communication between the first user device and the second communication device; and provide context information of the first communication and information on a QoS mapping relationship from the first communication to the second communication to the second communication device via the relay user device, wherein the first communication device is one of a base station and a second user device, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second user device.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication is provided, comprising: determining a relay user device in response to a switching request of a first user device that is a communication counterpart of a first communication device, wherein the switching request indicates that the first user device is to switch a first communication between the first user device and the first communication device to a second communication between the first user device and a second communication device; and providing context information of the first communication and information on a QoS mapping relationship of the first communication to the second communication to the second communication via the relay user device, wherein the first communication device is one of a base station and a second user device, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second user device.

[0012] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for wireless communication is provided, including: a processing circuit configured to: establish a connection between a first user device and a second communication device when the first user device is to switch from a current first communication between the first user device and the first communication device to a second communication between the first user device and the second communication device; and disconnect the connection of the first communication after the connection establishment is completed and the second communication can be carried out, wherein the first communication device is one of the base station and the second user device, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second user device.

[0013] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication is provided, comprising: establishing a connection between a first user device and a second communication device when a first user device is to switch from a current first communication between the first user device and a first communication device to a second communication between the first user device and a second communication device; and disconnecting the connection of the first communication after the connection establishment is completed and the second communication can be carried out, wherein the first communication device is one of a base station and a second user device, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second user device.

[0014] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for wireless communication is provided, including: a processing circuit configured to: receive a switching request from a first user device, the switching request indicating that the first user device is to switch from Uu communication currently between the first user device and a base station to PC5 communication between the first user device and a second user device; and obtain context information and information on a QoS mapping relationship from Uu communication to PC5 communication based on the switching request.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication is provided, comprising: receiving a switching request from a first user equipment, the switching request indicating that the first user equipment is to switch from Uu communication between the current first user equipment and a base station to PC5 communication between the first user equipment and a second user equipment; and obtaining context information and information on a QoS mapping relationship from the Uu communication to the PC5 communication based on the switching request.

[0016] According to other aspects of the present disclosure, a computer program code and a computer program product for implementing the above-mentioned method for wireless communication, as well as a computer-readable storage medium having the computer program code for implementing the above-mentioned method for wireless communication recorded thereon, are also provided.

[0017] The electronic device and method according to the embodiments of the present application can implement direct path switching between Uu communication between a user equipment and a base station and PC5 communication between the user equipment and other user equipment, and ensure session continuity as much as possible.

[0018] These and other advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent through the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In order to further illustrate the above and other advantages and features of the present disclosure, the following is a further detailed description of the specific embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings, together with the detailed description below, are included in this specification and form a part of this specification. Elements with the same function and structure are represented by the same reference numerals. It should be understood that these drawings only depict typical examples of the present disclosure and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. In the drawings:

[0020] FIG1 shows a schematic scenario diagram of switching between relay UE-assisted Uu communication and PC5 communication;

[0021] FIG2 is a block diagram showing functional modules of an electronic device for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] FIG3 shows a schematic flow chart of relaying UE-assisted Uu communication to PC5 communication handover;

[0023] FIG4 shows a schematic flow chart of relaying UE-assisted switching from PC5 communication to Uu communication;

[0024] FIG5 is a functional module block diagram of an electronic device for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0025] FIG6 shows a schematic scenario diagram of switching between Uu communication and PC5 communication without relay UE assistance;

[0026] FIG7 is a block diagram showing functional modules of an electronic device for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG8 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of information related to switching from Uu communication to PC5 communication in a dual-connection mode;

[0028] FIG9 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of related information for blind switching from Uu communication to PC5 communication;

[0029] FIG10 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of information related to switching from PC5 communication to Uu communication without relay UE assistance;

[0030] FIG11 is a functional module block diagram of an electronic device for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG12 shows a flow chart of a method for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG13 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG14 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG15 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG16 is a block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of an eNB or gNB to which the technology of the present disclosure may be applied;

[0036] FIG17 is a block diagram illustrating a second example of a schematic configuration of an eNB or gNB to which the technology of the present disclosure may be applied;

[0037] FIG18 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied;

[0038] FIG19 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied; and

[0039] FIG20 is a block diagram of an exemplary structure of a general-purpose personal computer in which the method and / or apparatus and / or system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the sake of clarity and conciseness, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. However, it should be understood that in the process of developing any such actual implementation, many implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with system and business-related constraints, which may vary from implementation to implementation. In addition, it should be understood that although the development work may be very complex and time-consuming, it is a routine task for those skilled in the art who benefit from the contents of this disclosure.

[0041] It is also necessary to explain here that, in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure due to unnecessary details, the accompanying drawings only show the device structure and / or processing steps that are closely related to the solution according to the present disclosure, while other details that are not closely related to the present disclosure are omitted.

[0042] <First embodiment>

[0043] As previously mentioned, it is desirable to provide a handover mechanism that ensures session continuity during path switching. In this embodiment, a scheme for direct path switching using a relay user equipment (relay UE) is proposed. Note that, hereinafter, direct communication between a UE and a base station is referred to as Uu communication, and direct communication between two UEs is referred to as PC5 communication. Similarly, a direct connection, direct communication path, or direct link between a UE and a base station is referred to as a Uu connection, and a direct connection, direct communication path, or direct link between two UEs is referred to as PC5 communication.

[0044] In addition, the first, second, third, etc. before the term are only for the purpose of distinction and do not indicate any order or priority or any other meaning. The same reference numerals or abbreviations in the drawings and the specification refer to the same elements or meanings, and their repeated explanations are omitted where appropriate.

[0045] Figure 1 shows a schematic scenario diagram of the switching between Uu communication and PC5 communication assisted by a relay UE. As shown in Figure 1, taking the switching from Uu communication to PC5 communication as an example, before the switching, the remote UE (also called the service UE) performs Uu communication with the base station. Due to changes in channel status, service requirements or service status, the remote UE needs to switch to PC5 communication with the target UE. Among them, there is no Uu connection between the target UE and the base station. At this time, the relay UE that has a Uu connection with the base station and can perform a PC5 connection with the target UE acts as an intermediary to forward the context information of the Uu communication and the QoS mapping relationship of the Uu communication to the PC5 communication from the base station to the target UE to ensure smooth and stable switching. Among them, the context information of the Uu communication and the QoS mapping relationship of the Uu communication to the PC5 communication can be obtained by the base station from the core network (for example, the 5GC in Figure 1).

[0046] Similarly, taking the example of switching from PC5 communication to Uu communication, before the handover, the remote UE is communicating with the target UE in PC5 communication. Due to changes in channel conditions, service requirements, or service status, a switch to Uu communication with the base station is necessary. Although there is no Uu connection between the target UE and the base station, the relay UE still provides the PC5 communication context information and the QoS mapping from PC5 communication to Uu communication to the base station to ensure a smooth and stable handover.

[0047] Since the relay link can provide stable and reliable transmission, the relay UE-assisted approach can ensure a stable and smooth handover process.

[0048] Figure 2 shows a functional module block diagram of an electronic device 100 for wireless communication according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the electronic device 100 includes: a determination unit 101, configured to determine, based on the received first information, that the first UE is a relay device between the base station and the second UE, wherein the first UE can establish a Uu connection with the base station and can establish a PC5 connection with the second UE, and wherein switching will occur between the Uu communication between the third UE and the base station and the PC5 communication between the third UE and the second UE; and a communication unit 102, configured to provide the base station or the second UE with context information of the communication before the switching and information on the QoS mapping relationship from the communication before the switching to the communication after the switching, wherein the communication before the switching is one of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication, and the communication after the switching is the other of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication.

[0049] The electronic device 100 is, for example, provided at a first UE side or communicatively connected to the first UE. The first UE is, for example, the relay UE shown in FIG1 . The second UE is, for example, the target UE shown in FIG1 , and the third UE is, for example, the remote UE shown in FIG1 .

[0050] The determination unit 101 and the communication unit 102 can be implemented by one or more processing circuits, which can be implemented as chips or processors, for example. Furthermore, it should be understood that the various functional units in the electronic device shown in FIG2 are merely logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not intended to limit specific implementation methods. This also applies to other examples of electronic devices to be described later.

[0051] It should also be noted that the electronic device 100 can be implemented at the chip level, or it can also be implemented at the device level. For example, the electronic device 100 can work as the UE itself, and may also include external devices such as a memory, a transceiver (not shown in the figure), etc. The memory can be used to store programs and related data information that the user equipment needs to execute to implement various functions. The transceiver may include one or more communication interfaces to support communication with different devices (e.g., base stations, other UEs, core networks, etc.), and the implementation form of the transceiver is not specifically limited here.

[0052] In the first example, a switch from Uu communication to PC5 communication is described. In this case, the communication unit 102 is configured to receive first information from a base station, where the first information includes an identifier (ID) of a second UE (i.e., a target UE). For ease of understanding, the specific process of switching from Uu communication to PC5 communication and the corresponding operations of the electronic device 100 during this process will be described below with reference to FIG3 .

[0053] Figure 3 shows a schematic flow chart for relay UE-assisted handover from Uu communication to PC5 communication. As shown in Figure 3, when a remote UE (i.e., a third UE) requires handover, it sends a path switch request to the radio access network (RAN), such as a base station (using the gNB as an example in the following description). This path switch request includes, for example, the ID of the target UE to which the remote UE is handing over. After receiving the path switch request, the gNB sends a path switch initial response to the remote UE, indicating that the gNB has acknowledged the remote UE's intention to perform a path switch (but not necessarily indicating a successful handover).

[0054] The User Plane Function (UPF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Policy Control Function (PCF), and Application Function (AF) shown in Figure 3 are all network elements in the core network. These network elements can exchange signaling with the base station and UE through various network interfaces. For example, the AMF interacts with the base station and UE through the N2 and N1 interfaces, respectively, and the UPF interacts with the base station through the N3 interface, etc. In Figure 3, after confirming the need for path switching, the core network executes the composition and provision of ProSe policies, such as the aforementioned path switching policy and corresponding parameter configuration.

[0055] Next, the gNB searches for a relay UE within its coverage area. This relay UE must be able to establish a Uu connection with the base station and a PC5 connection with the target UE. Specifically, the gNB may broadcast or multicast first information within its coverage area via the Uu interface to identify UEs that can serve as relay UEs. Accordingly, the communication unit 102 of the first UE receives the first information via broadcast or multicast.

[0056] As previously mentioned, the first information may include the ID of the second UE. In addition, the first information may also include the ID of the first UE. When the determination unit 101 of the electronic device 100 located on the first UE determines, based on the received first information, that the first UE is capable of establishing a PC5 connection with the second UE indicated by the first information and that the first UE is capable of establishing a Uu connection with the base station, the determination unit 101 determines that the first UE serves as a relay UE between the base station and the second UE. It should be noted that the ability to establish a connection described herein includes situations where the corresponding connection has already been established.

[0057] In some examples, there is a relay UE that has maintained a PC5 connection with the target UE, as shown in step 4 of Figure 3. At this time, the PC5 connection between the relay UE and the target UE has been established. In other examples, the first UE and the second UE are not currently in a PC5 connection state. As shown in step 5 of Figure 3, the communication unit 102 is further configured to establish a PC5 connection between the first UE and the second UE in response to the first information. For example, the communication unit 102 can search for the target UE through the target UE discovery process to establish the PC5 connection. The communication unit 102 can also feed back the search result to the base station through the Uu port (not shown in Figure 3).

[0058] After the PC5 connection between the first UE and the second UE is established or stabilized, that is, after the communication link in the dotted box shown in Figure 1 is stabilized, the gNB may send a further path switching response to the remote UE to indicate to the remote UE that path switching with the assistance of the relay UE is feasible.

[0059] The gNB then retrieves the remote UE's Uu communication context information and the QoS mapping from Uu to PC5 from the core network and sends it to the first UE, acting as the relay UE. The first UE then sends this information to the second UE. Based on this information, the remote UE and the target UE can perform PC5 link preparation, subsequently execute the transmission over the PC5 connection, and release the original Uu link.

[0060] Since the target UE can obtain the context information of Uu communication for the remote UE and the QoS mapping relationship from Uu communication to PC5 communication through the relay UE, smooth and stable switching between communication paths can be achieved, ensuring service continuity during the switching process.

[0061] In the second example, a switch from PC5 communication to Uu communication is described. In this case, the communication unit 102 is configured to receive first information from the second UE, where the first information includes information indicating an intention to search for a relay device and / or a requirement for a relay device. For ease of understanding, the specific process of switching from PC5 communication to Uu communication and the corresponding operations of the electronic device 100 during this process will be described below with reference to FIG. 4.

[0062] Figure 4 shows a schematic flow chart of a relay UE-assisted handover from PC5 communication to Uu communication. As shown in Figure 4, when a handover is required, a remote UE (i.e., the third UE) sends a path switch request to a target UE (i.e., the second UE) currently connected to PC5. This path switch request, for example, indicates the remote UE's intention to switch to a Uu connection. After receiving the path switch request, the second UE sends a path switch initial response to the remote UE, indicating that the second UE has been informed of the remote UE's intention to perform a path switch (this does not necessarily indicate a successful handover).

[0063] Similar to FIG3 , in FIG4 , after confirming that there is a path switching requirement, the core network executes the composition and provision of the ProSe policy, for example, including the aforementioned path switching policy, corresponding parameter configuration, etc.

[0064] Next, the second UE searches for a relay UE within its coverage area. This relay UE must be able to establish a Uu connection with the base station and a PC5 connection with the second UE. Specifically, the second UE can broadcast or multicast the first information within its coverage area to identify a UE that can serve as a relay UE. Accordingly, the communication unit 102 of the first UE receives the first information via broadcast or multicast.

[0065] As mentioned above, the first information may include information indicating the intention to find a relay UE and / or requirements for the relay UE. For example, the first information may include information asking whether the relay UE is currently in a Uu connection state and / or information indicating the intention for the first UE to act as a relay UE. When the determination unit 101 of the electronic device 100 located on the first UE determines that the first UE can establish a PC5 connection with the second UE and the first UE can establish a Uu connection with the base station based on the received first information, the determination unit 101 determines that the first UE acts as a relay UE between the base station and the second UE. Similarly, the ability to establish a connection described here includes a situation where the corresponding connection has been established. The communication unit 102 can also send feedback to the second UE, which includes information about the ID of the first UE (not shown in Figure 4).

[0066] In some examples, the first UE already maintains a PC5 connection with the second UE, as shown in step 4 of Figure 4 , and at this point, the PC5 connection between the first UE and the second UE has been established. In other examples, the first UE and the second UE are not currently in a PC5 connection state, and in this case, the communication unit 102 is further configured to establish a PC5 connection between the first UE and the second UE in response to the first information. In addition, if the first UE does not maintain a Uu connection with the base station, the communication unit 102 is further configured to establish a Uu connection between the first UE and the base station in response to the first information.

[0067] After the PC5 connection between the first UE and the second UE and the Uu connection between the first UE and the base station are established or stabilized, that is, after the communication link in the dotted box shown in Figure 1 is stable, the second UE can send a further path switching response to the remote UE (step 6 of Figure 4) to indicate to the remote UE that the path switching method assisted by the relay UE is feasible.

[0068] Next, in step 7 of Figure 4 , the second UE can send the remote UE's PC5 communication context information and the QoS mapping relationship between PC5 communication and Uu communication to the first UE, acting as the relay UE. The first UE then sends this information to the base station. Alternatively, the second UE can send an indication to the relay UE, instructing the base station to obtain relevant PC5 communication context information and QoS mapping relationship information between PC5 communication and Uu communication from the core network. The relay UE forwards this indication to the base station, which then obtains the required context information and QoS mapping relationship information from the core network based on the indication. Based on this information, the remote UE and the base station can perform the Uu link preparation process, and subsequently perform transmission over the Uu connection and release the original PC5 link.

[0069] Since the base station can use the relay UE to obtain the context information of PC5 communication for the remote UE and the QoS mapping relationship from PC5 communication to Uu communication, it can achieve smooth and stable switching between communication paths, ensuring service continuity during the switching process.

[0070] To sum up, according to this embodiment, the electronic device 100 provides the context information and QoS mapping relationship information required for switching by acting as a relay device between the base station and the target UE, thereby enabling smooth and stable switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication, and ensuring service continuity during the switching process.

[0071] <Second embodiment>

[0072] FIG5 shows a functional module block diagram of an electronic device 200 for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the electronic device 200 includes: a determining unit 201 configured to determine a relay UE in response to a handover request from a first UE, which is a communication counterpart of a first communication device, wherein the handover request indicates that the first UE is to handover a first communication between the first UE and the first communication device to a second communication between the first UE and a second communication device; and a communicating unit 202 configured to provide context information of the first communication and information on a QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication to the second communication via the relay UE. The first communication device is one of a base station and a second UE, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second UE.

[0073] The determining unit 201 and the communication unit 202 may be implemented by one or more processing circuits, which may be implemented as chips or processors, for example. Furthermore, it should be understood that the various functional units in the electronic device shown in FIG5 are merely logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not intended to limit specific implementations.

[0074] The electronic device 200 is, for example, arranged on the side of the first communication device or communicatively connected to the first communication device. The electronic device 200 can be implemented at the chip level, or it can also be implemented at the device level. For example, the electronic device 200 can work as the first communication device itself, and can also include external devices such as a memory, a transceiver (not shown), etc. The memory can be used to store programs and related data information that need to be executed by the first communication device to implement various functions. The transceiver may include one or more communication interfaces to support communication with different devices (for example, UE, base station, core network, etc.), and the implementation form of the transceiver is not specifically limited here.

[0075] In this embodiment, the first communication device is the device currently communicating with the first UE, and the second communication device is the device serving as the handover target for the first UE. Furthermore, a direct path handover from the first communication between the first UE and the first communication device to the second communication between the first UE and the second communication device is performed with the aid of a relay UE. Therefore, the second embodiment can be described based on the same scenario as that in the first embodiment. The scenario diagram shown in FIG1 and the information flow diagrams shown in FIG3 and FIG4 are also applicable to this embodiment, and reference will be made to FIG1, FIG3, and FIG4 as appropriate in the following description.

[0076] In the first example, the first communication device is a base station, the first communication is Uu communication between a first UE and the base station, the second communication device is a second UE, the second communication is PC5 communication between the first UE and the second UE, the first UE is a remote UE, and the second UE is a target UE. This example corresponds to a switch from Uu communication to PC5 communication. The electronic device 200 is located at the base station or is communicatively connected to the base station.

[0077] Referring back to the information flow diagram shown in FIG3 , after receiving the path switching request from the remote UE, the communication unit 202 of the electronic device 200 at the base station first sends a preliminary path switching response to the remote UE to indicate that the base station has learned of the remote UE's intention to perform path switching (not indicating that the switching is successful).

[0078] After confirming that there is a path switching requirement, the core network executes the composition and provision of the ProSe policy, for example, including the aforementioned path switching policy, corresponding parameter configuration, etc.

[0079] Next, the base station searches for a relay UE within its coverage area. Specifically, the determination unit 201 of the electronic device 200 at the base station can determine a third UE within the coverage area of ​​the base station that can establish a Uu connection with the base station and can establish a PC5 connection with the second UE as a relay UE. For example, the communication unit 202 can determine the third UE by sending broadcast information or multicast information within the coverage area of ​​the base station, wherein the broadcast information or multicast information is equivalent to the first information described in the first embodiment. Similarly, the broadcast information or multicast information may include the ID of the second UE. In addition, the broadcast information or multicast information may also include the ID of the first UE.

[0080] The third UE receives the broadcast or multicast information. When the third UE determines, based on the received broadcast or multicast information, that it is capable of establishing a PC5 connection with the second UE indicated therein and that it is capable of establishing a Uu connection with the base station, the third UE is determined to serve as a relay UE between the base station and the second UE. It should be noted that the term "capable of establishing a connection" herein includes the case where the corresponding connection has already been established.

[0081] In some examples, the third UE has already maintained a PC5 connection with the second UE, as shown in step 4 of Figure 3, and the PC5 connection between the third UE and the second UE has been established. In other examples, the third UE and the second UE are not currently in a PC5 connection state, and the communication unit 202 can also be configured to instruct the third UE to establish a PC5 connection with the second UE and receive feedback from the third UE regarding the connection establishment.

[0082] As shown in step 5 of Figure 3, the third UE can find the second UE through the target UE discovery process to establish the PC5 connection. The third UE can also send the search result (i.e., feedback on the connection establishment) to the base station via the Uu interface (not shown in Figure 3).

[0083] After the PC5 connection between the third UE and the second UE is established or stabilized, that is, after the communication link in the dotted box shown in Figure 1 is stable, the base station can send a further path switching response to the remote UE to indicate to the remote UE that the path switching method assisted by the relay UE is feasible.

[0084] The base station can then obtain the remote UE's Uu communication context information and the QoS mapping relationship between Uu communication and PC5 communication from the core network, and send it to the third UE acting as the relay UE. The third UE then sends this information to the second UE. Based on this information, the remote UE and the second UE can perform the PC5 link preparation process, and then perform the transmission over the PC5 connection and release the original Uu link.

[0085] Since the target UE can obtain the context information of Uu communication for the remote UE and the QoS mapping relationship from Uu communication to PC5 communication through the relay UE, smooth and stable switching between communication paths can be achieved, ensuring service continuity during the switching process.

[0086] In the second example, the first communication device is a second UE, the first communication is PC5 communication between the first and second UEs, the second communication device is a base station, the second communication is Uu communication between the first UE and the base station, the first UE is a remote UE, and the second UE is a target UE. This example corresponds to a switch from PC5 communication to Uu communication. The electronic device 200 is located on the second UE's side or is communicatively connected to the second UE.

[0087] Referring back to the information flow diagram shown in FIG4 , after receiving the path switching request from the remote UE, the communication unit 202 of the electronic device 200 at the second UE first sends a preliminary path switching response to the remote UE to indicate that the second UE has learned of the remote UE's intention to perform a path switching (not indicating that the switching is successful).

[0088] After confirming that there is a path switching requirement, the core network executes the composition and provision of the ProSe policy, for example, including the aforementioned path switching policy, corresponding parameter configuration, etc.

[0089] Next, the second UE searches for a relay UE within its coverage range. Specifically, the determination unit 201 of the electronic device 200 at the second UE can determine the third UE within the coverage range of the second UE that can establish a Uu connection with the base station and can establish a PC5 connection with the second UE as a relay UE. For example, the communication unit 202 can determine the third UE by sending broadcast information or multicast information within the coverage range of the second UE, wherein the broadcast information or multicast information is equivalent to the first information described in the first embodiment. Similarly, the broadcast information or multicast information may include information indicating the intention to find a relay device and / or requirements for the relay device. For example, the broadcast information or multicast information may include information asking whether the relay UE is currently in a Uu connection state and / or information indicating the intention of the third UE to act as a relay UE.

[0090] The third UE receives the broadcast information or multicast information. When the third UE determines, based on the received broadcast information or multicast information, that the third UE can establish a PC5 connection with the second UE and that the third UE can establish a Uu connection with the base station, it is determined that the third UE will serve as a relay UE between the base station and the second UE. Similarly, the ability to establish a connection described herein includes a situation where the corresponding connection has already been established. The communication unit 202 also receives feedback from the third UE, which includes information about the ID of the third UE (not shown in FIG. 4 ).

[0091] In some examples, the third UE already maintains a PC5 connection with the second UE, as shown in step 4 of Figure 4 , and at this point, the PC5 connection between the third UE and the second UE has been established. In other examples, the third UE and the second UE are not currently in a PC5 connection state, and at this point, the third UE establishes a PC5 connection between the third UE and the second UE in response to the broadcast information or multicast information. In addition, if the third UE does not maintain a Uu connection with the base station, the third UE is further configured to establish a Uu connection between the third UE and the base station in response to the broadcast information or multicast information.

[0092] After the PC5 connection between the third UE and the second UE and the Uu connection between the third UE and the base station are established or stabilized, that is, after the communication link in the dotted box shown in Figure 1 is stable, the second UE can send a further path switching response to the remote UE to indicate to the remote UE that the path switching method assisted by the relay UE is feasible.

[0093] The second UE can then send the remote UE's PC5 communication context information and the QoS mapping relationship between PC5 communication and Uu communication to a third UE acting as a relay UE. The third UE then sends this information to the base station. Alternatively, the second UE can send an instruction to the third UE, instructing the base station to obtain relevant PC5 communication context information and QoS mapping relationship information between PC5 communication and Uu communication from the core network. The third UE forwards this instruction to the base station, which then obtains the required context information and QoS mapping relationship information from the core network based on the instruction. Based on this information, the remote UE and the base station can perform the Uu link preparation process, subsequently perform transmission over the Uu connection, and release the original PC5 link.

[0094] Since the base station can use the relay UE to obtain the context information of PC5 communication for the remote UE and the QoS mapping relationship from PC5 communication to Uu communication, it can achieve smooth and stable switching between communication paths, ensuring service continuity during the switching process.

[0095] In summary, the electronic device 200 according to this embodiment can achieve smooth and stable switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication by using the relay UE to provide the context information and QoS mapping relationship information required for switching, thereby ensuring service continuity during the switching process.

[0096] <Third embodiment>

[0097] In the first and second embodiments described above, a relay UE is used to perform direct path switching between Uu communication and PC5 communication. The following describes a switching solution in which a relay UE does not exist or is not assisted by a relay UE.

[0098] Figure 6 shows a schematic scenario diagram of switching between Uu communication and PC5 communication without the assistance of relay UE. Taking the switching from Uu communication to PC5 communication as an example, before the switching, the remote UE (also called the service UE) performs Uu communication with the base station. Due to changes in channel status, service requirements or service status, the remote UE needs to switch to PC5 communication with the target UE. Among them, there is no Uu connection between the target UE and the base station. Similarly, taking the switching from PC5 communication to Uu communication as an example, before the switching, the remote UE performs PC5 communication with the target UE. Due to changes in channel status, service requirements or service status, etc., it is necessary to switch to Uu communication with the base station. Among them, there is no Uu connection between the target UE and the base station.

[0099] FIG7 shows a functional module block diagram of an electronic device 300 for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG7 , the electronic device 300 includes: a first connection unit 301, configured to establish a connection between the first UE and the second communication device when the first UE wants to switch from the current first communication between the first UE and the first communication device to the second communication between the first UE and the second communication device; and a second connection unit 302, configured to disconnect the first communication connection after the connection establishment is completed and the second communication can be carried out. The first communication device is one of the base station and the second UE, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the UE.

[0100] The first connection unit 301 and the second connection unit 302 can be implemented by one or more processing circuits, which can be implemented as chips or processors, for example. Furthermore, it should be understood that the various functional units in the electronic device shown in FIG7 are merely logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not intended to limit specific implementation methods.

[0101] The electronic device 300 is, for example, arranged on the first UE side or communicatively connected to the first UE. The electronic device 300 can be implemented at the chip level, or it can also be implemented at the device level. For example, the electronic device 300 can work as the first UE itself, and can also include external devices such as a memory, a transceiver (not shown), etc. The memory can be used to store programs and related data information that need to be executed by the first UE to implement various functions. The transceiver may include one or more communication interfaces to support communication with different devices (for example, other UEs, base stations, core networks, etc.), and the implementation form of the transceiver is not specifically limited here.

[0102] 6 , the first UE is a remote UE. According to this embodiment, the electronic device 300 disconnects the first communication after determining that the second communication is possible, thereby achieving smooth and stable switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication, ensuring service continuity during the switching process.

[0103] In the first example, the first communication device is a base station, the first communication is Uu communication, the second communication device is a second UE, and the second communication is PC5 communication. That is, this example is for a scenario where Uu communication switches to PC5 communication, and the second UE is the target UE. As one approach, the first connection unit 301 can be configured to establish a PC5 connection with the second UE while maintaining the Uu connection between the first UE and the base station to achieve dual connectivity.

[0104] For example, the first connection unit 301 may send the context information of the first communication (ie, Uu communication) and the information of the QoS mapping relationship from the first communication to the second communication to the second UE through the PC5 connection.

[0105] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of the relevant information flow under the dual connection mode. As shown in Figure 8, steps 1 to 3 are the same as steps 1 to 3 in Figure 3 and are not repeated here. The remote UE performs the target UE discovery process while maintaining a connection with the base station and establishes a PC5 connection with the target UE, as shown in steps 4 and 5 of Figure 8. Then, the remote UE can send the context information of the Uu communication and the QoS mapping relationship between the Uu communication and the PC5 communication to the target UE through the PC5 connection. After receiving this information, the target UE can send a path switching ready response to the remote UE, and the remote UE will then switch the service to the PC5 connection and release the original Uu connection.

[0106] In addition, the second UE may also obtain the context information of Uu communication and the QoS mapping relationship between Uu communication and PC5 communication from the core network, for example, through NAS signaling of the N1 interface. Specifically, the second UE may perform the acquisition under the instruction of the first UE or may acquire the information autonomously, which is not restrictive.

[0107] Alternatively, a blind handover from Uu communication to PC5 communication can be performed. For example, the first connection unit 301 can be configured to broadcast a handover request from the first UE via a direct link. The handover request may include the type and network connection status of the second UE (target UE) to be handed over to. That is, the remote UE searches for the target UE via the direct link broadcast. During this process, the Uu connection between the remote UE and the base station is maintained, and basic service communications can be maintained or temporarily suspended.

[0108] The relevant information flow is shown in Figure 9. Steps 1 to 3 are identical to those in Figure 3 and are not repeated here. After finding a target UE that matches the service, the remote UE and the target UE establish PC5 unicast communication. For example, in step 5, the remote UE may send the Uu communication context information and the QoS mapping relationship between Uu communication and PC5 communication to the target UE via the PC5 link to assist it in preparing for handover. Alternatively, the target UE may obtain the Uu communication context information and the QoS mapping relationship between Uu communication and PC5 communication from the core network in response to the handover request.

[0109] After receiving the above information, the target UE also sends feedback information to the remote UE, namely the path switch readiness response shown in Figure 9. This feedback information indicates that the target UE is ready for handover. The remote UE receives this feedback information and, based on it, determines that the connection establishment is complete and PC5 communication is possible. The remote UE and the target UE then transmit over the PC5 connection and release the original Uu connection.

[0110] In addition, the Uu communication context information and the QoS mapping relationship between Uu communication and PC5 communication can also be included in the direct link broadcast in step 4. In this way, the target UE that matches the service can obtain the relevant context information and QoS mapping relationship information when determining the match, and can directly switch to PC5 communication. In this case, the operation of step 6 can be omitted.

[0111] On the other hand, if the remote UE fails to find a suitable target UE through the target UE discovery process of PC5 and the current Uu service communication cannot meet the QoS requirements, the Uu connection will be disconnected. In the subsequent handover process, the service is always in an interrupted state.

[0112] In the second example, the first communication device is a second UE, the first communication is PC5 communication, the second communication device is a base station, and the second communication is Uu communication. That is, this example addresses a scenario where a switch occurs from PC5 communication to Uu communication, with the second UE being the target UE. The first connection unit 301 is configured to establish a Uu connection by triggering a protocol data unit (PDU) session, and the base station obtains PC5 communication context information and information about the QoS mapping relationship between PC5 communication and Uu communication from the core network.

[0113] Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of the relevant information flow. Steps 1 to 3 are the same as steps 1 to 3 in Figure 3 and are not repeated here. Steps 4 to 5 correspond to the PDU session establishment process. In step 7, the base station also obtains the context information of PC5 communication and the QoS mapping relationship between PC5 communication and Uu communication from the core network. For example, the remote UE actively interacts with the AMF to enable the core network to determine which information to pass to the base station, so that the base station can obtain this information from the core network. After the Uu connection is established, the remote UE transmits services through the Uu connection and releases the previous PC5 connection.

[0114] In addition, the above operations in this embodiment can be performed when there is no relay UE between the first communication device and the second communication device. For example, the first communication device can search for a relay UE, and the first connection unit 301 is further configured to determine, based on feedback information from the first communication device, that there is no relay UE between the first communication device and the second communication device. The operation of the first communication device searching for a relay UE can, for example, refer to the description of the first and second embodiments. It should be understood that this is not restrictive, and the above operations in this embodiment can also be performed without such a determination.

[0115] In summary, the electronic device 300 according to this embodiment can implement direct path switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication, and ensure service continuity during the switching process as much as possible.

[0116] <Fourth embodiment>

[0117] Figure 11 shows a functional module block diagram of an electronic device 400 for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11, the electronic device 400 includes: a receiving unit 401, configured to receive a switching request from a first UE, the switching request indicating that the first UE wants to switch from the current Uu communication between the first UE and the base station to the PC5 communication between the first UE and the second UE; and an acquisition unit 402, configured to obtain context information and QoS mapping relationship information from Uu communication to PC5 communication based on the switching request.

[0118] The receiving unit 401 and the acquiring unit 402 may be implemented by one or more processing circuits, which may be implemented as chips or processors, for example. Furthermore, it should be understood that the various functional units in the electronic device shown in FIG11 are merely logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not intended to limit specific implementation methods.

[0119] The electronic device 400 is, for example, arranged on the second UE side or communicatively connected to the second UE. The electronic device 400 can be implemented at the chip level, or it can also be implemented at the device level. For example, the electronic device 400 can work as the second UE itself, and can also include external devices such as a memory, a transceiver (not shown), etc. The memory can be used to store programs and related data information that the second UE needs to execute to implement various functions. The transceiver may include one or more communication interfaces to support communication with different devices (for example, other UEs, base stations, core networks, etc.), and the implementation form of the transceiver is not specifically limited here.

[0120] The first UE is a remote UE and the second UE is a target UE. Currently, the first UE performs Uu communication with the base station. Due to changes in channel status, service requirements or service status, the first UE needs to switch to PC5 communication with the second UE.

[0121] In the absence of assistance from the relay UE, the relevant information flow may refer back to Figures 8 and 9. For example, the receiving unit 401 may receive the handover request as follows: via a direct link broadcast; or via a PC5 connection previously established between the first UE and the second UE, wherein the first UE establishes a PC5 connection with the second UE while maintaining a Uu connection with the base station to obtain a dual connectivity state.

[0122] The acquiring unit 402 may be configured to acquire the context information and the QoS mapping relationship information in one of the following ways: acquiring from the core network; receiving from the first UE via a direct link broadcast; or receiving from the first UE via a PC5 connection.

[0123] The relevant detailed description has been given in the third embodiment, which is also applicable to this embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0124] On the other hand, in the presence of relay UE assistance, the acquisition unit 402 can acquire the context information and QoS mapping relationship information through the relay UE. The relevant information flow can be referred to 3, and the relevant detailed description is given in the first and second embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0125] In summary, the electronic device 400 according to this embodiment can implement direct path switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication, and ensure service continuity during the switching process as much as possible.

[0126] <Fifth embodiment>

[0127] In the process of describing the electronic device for wireless communication in the above embodiments, it is obvious that some processes or methods are also disclosed. Below, an overview of these methods is given without repeating some of the details discussed above, but it should be noted that although these methods are disclosed in the process of describing the electronic device for wireless communication, these methods do not necessarily use the components described or are not necessarily performed by those components. For example, the embodiments of the electronic device for wireless communication can be partially or completely implemented using hardware and / or firmware, and the methods for wireless communication discussed below can be completely implemented by computer-executable programs, although these methods can also use the hardware and / or firmware of the electronic device for wireless communication.

[0128] FIG12 illustrates a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application, the method comprising: determining, based on received first information, that a first UE is a relay device between a base station and a second UE (S11), wherein the first UE is capable of establishing a Uu connection with the base station and a PC5 connection with the second UE, and wherein a handover will occur between Uu communication between a third UE and the base station and PC5 communication between the third UE and the second UE; and providing, to the base station or the second UE, context information of communications before the handover and information on a QoS mapping relationship between communications before the handover and communications after the handover (S12), wherein the communications before the handover are one of Uu communication and PC5 communication, and the communications after the handover are the other of Uu communication and PC5 communication. The method is performed, for example, on the first UE side. The first UE operates as a relay UE, the second UE operates as a target UE, and the third UE operates as a remote UE.

[0129] For example, in the case where Uu communication switches to PC5 communication, the method further includes receiving first information from the base station, and the first information includes the ID of the second UE. The first information may also include the ID of the first UE.

[0130] For example, when PC5 communication switches to Uu communication, the method further includes receiving first information from a second UE, where the first information includes information indicating an intention to search for a relay device and / or a requirement for a relay device. The method further includes sending feedback to the second UE, where the feedback includes information about the ID of the first UE.

[0131] The first information may be received via broadcast or multicast. When the first UE and the second UE are not in a PC5 connection state, the method further includes establishing a PC5 connection between the first UE and the second UE in response to the first information.

[0132] The above method corresponds to the electronic device 100 in the first embodiment, and the relevant detailed description has been given in the first embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0133] FIG13 illustrates a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application, the method comprising: determining a relay UE (S21) in response to a handover request from a first UE, which is a communication partner of a first communication device, wherein the handover request indicates that the first UE is to handover a first communication between the first UE and the first communication device to a second communication between the first UE and a second communication device; and providing context information of the first communication and information on a QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication to the second communication device via the relay UE (S22), wherein the first communication device is one of a base station and a second UE, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second UE. The method is performed, for example, on the first communication device side. The first UE operates as a remote UE.

[0134] In one example, the first communication device is a base station, the first communication is Uu communication between a first UE and the base station, the second communication device is a second UE, and the second communication is PC5 communication between the first UE and the second UE. In step S21, a third UE within the coverage of the base station that can establish a Uu connection with the base station and a PC5 connection with the second UE is determined as a relay UE. For example, the third UE can be determined by sending broadcast information or multicast information within the coverage of the base station. The broadcast information or multicast information may include the ID of the second UE. In addition, the broadcast information or multicast information may also include the ID of the third UE.

[0135] In the case that no PC5 connection is established between the third UE and the second UE, the method further includes instructing the third UE to establish a PC5 connection with the second UE, and receiving feedback on the connection establishment from the third UE.

[0136] For example, in step S22, context information of the first communication and information about the QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication may be obtained from the core network and sent to the relay UE to be forwarded to the second UE.

[0137] In another example, the first communication device is a second UE, the first communication is PC5 communication between the first UE and the second UE, the second communication device is a base station, and the second communication is Uu communication between the first UE and the base station. In step S21, a third UE within the coverage of the second UE that can establish a Uu connection with the base station and can establish a PC5 connection with the second UE is determined to be a relay UE. For example, the third UE can be determined by sending broadcast information or multicast information within the coverage of the second UE, where the broadcast information or multicast information includes information indicating an intention to search for a relay device and / or a requirement for a relay device. Feedback can also be received from the third UE, where the feedback includes information indicating the identification of the third UE.

[0138] In a case where a PC5 connection is not established between the third UE and the second UE, the method further includes establishing a PC5 connection between the third UE and the second UE in response to broadcast information or multicast information.

[0139] The above method corresponds to the electronic device 200 in the second embodiment, and the relevant detailed description has been given in the second embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0140] FIG14 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application, the method comprising: establishing a connection between the first UE and the second communication device (S31) when the first UE is to switch from the current first communication between the first UE and the first communication device to the second communication between the first UE and the second communication device; and disconnecting the first communication connection (S32) after the connection establishment is completed and the second communication can be carried out, wherein the first communication device is one of the base station and the second UE, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second UE. The method can be performed, for example, on the first UE side. The first UE operates as a remote UE.

[0141] In one example, the first communication device is a base station, the first communication is Uu communication, the second communication device is a second UE, and the second communication is PC5 communication.

[0142] For example, in step S31, a PC5 connection can be established with a second UE while maintaining a Uu connection between the first UE and the base station to achieve a dual connectivity state. The method further includes sending context information of the first communication and information about a QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication to the second UE via the PC5 connection. Alternatively, the second UE can obtain the context information of the first communication and information about a QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication from the core network.

[0143] In addition, in step S31, a handover request of the first UE may be broadcast via a direct link, the handover request including the type and network connection status of the second UE to be handed over. After finding a matching second UE, context information of the first communication and information about the QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication may be sent to the second UE; alternatively, the second UE obtains the context information of the first communication and information about the QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication from the core network in response to the handover request. Step S31 may also include receiving feedback information from the second UE, the feedback information indicating that the second UE is ready for handover, and determining based on the feedback information that the connection establishment is complete and that the second communication can be performed.

[0144] In another example, the first communication device is the second UE, the first communication is PC5 communication, the second communication device is a base station, and the second communication is Uu communication. In step S31, a Uu connection is established by triggering a PDU session, and the base station obtains the context information of the first communication and the QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication from the core network.

[0145] Optionally, the above method may be performed when there is no relay UE between the first communication device and the second communication device. For example, the first communication device may search for the relay UE and determine that there is no relay UE between the first communication device and the second communication device based on feedback information from the first communication device.

[0146] The above method corresponds to the electronic device 300 in the third embodiment. The relevant detailed description has been given in the third embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0147] FIG15 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application, the method comprising: receiving a handover request from a first UE (S41), the handover request indicating that the first UE wishes to switch from Uu communication between the first UE and a base station to PC5 communication between the first UE and a second UE; and obtaining context information and QoS mapping information from Uu communication to PC5 communication based on the handover request (S42). The method can be executed, for example, on the second UE side. The first UE operates as a remote UE and the second UE operates as a target UE.

[0148] For example, in step S41, the switching request can be received as follows: via a direct link broadcast; or via a PC5 connection pre-established by the first UE with the second UE, wherein the first UE establishes a PC5 connection with the second user equipment while maintaining a Uu connection with the base station to obtain a dual connection state.

[0149] In step S42, the context information and the QoS mapping relationship information may be obtained, for example, in one of the following ways: obtaining from the core network, receiving from the first UE via direct link broadcast, or receiving from the first UE via PC5 connection.

[0150] The above method corresponds to the electronic device 400 in the fourth embodiment. The relevant detailed description has been given in the fourth embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0151] Note that the above methods can be used in combination or individually, and their details have been described in detail in the first to fourth embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0152] The technology of the present disclosure can be applied to various products.

[0153] For example, the electronic devices 100-400 may be implemented as various user devices. The user device may be implemented as a mobile terminal (such as a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable / dongle-type mobile router, and a digital camera) or an in-vehicle terminal (such as a car navigation device). The user device may also be implemented as a terminal that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication (also known as a machine type communication (MTC) terminal). In addition, the user device may be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip) installed on each of the above-mentioned terminals.

[0154] The electronic device 200 can also be implemented as various base stations. The base station can be implemented as any type of evolved Node B (eNB) or gNB (5G base station). eNBs include, for example, macro eNBs and small eNBs. Small eNBs can be eNBs that cover cells smaller than macro cells, such as pico eNBs, micro eNBs, and home (femto) eNBs. Similar situations can also be encountered for gNBs. Alternatively, the base station can be implemented as any other type of base station, such as a NodeB and a base transceiver station (BTS). The base station may include: a main body (also referred to as a base station device) configured to control wireless communications; and one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) located at a different place from the main body. In addition, various types of user equipment can work as a base station by temporarily or semi-permanently performing base station functions.

[0155] [Application examples for base stations]

[0156] (First application example)

[0157] FIG16 is a block diagram illustrating a first example of a schematic configuration of an eNB or gNB to which the techniques of this disclosure can be applied. Note that the following description uses an eNB as an example, but is equally applicable to a gNB. An eNB 800 includes one or more antennas 810 and a base station device 820. The base station device 820 and each antenna 810 can be connected to each other via an RF cable.

[0158] Each of the antennas 810 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna) and is used for base station device 820 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in FIG16 , eNB 800 may include multiple antennas 810. For example, multiple antennas 810 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by eNB 800. Although FIG16 shows an example in which eNB 800 includes multiple antennas 810, eNB 800 may also include a single antenna 810.

[0159] The base station device 820 includes a controller 821 , a memory 822 , a network interface 823 , and a wireless communication interface 825 .

[0160] The controller 821 may be, for example, a CPU or a DSP, and operates various functions of the higher layers of the base station device 820. For example, the controller 821 generates data packets based on the data in the signal processed by the wireless communication interface 825, and transmits the generated packets via the network interface 823. The controller 821 may bundle data from multiple baseband processors to generate bundled packets, and transmit the generated bundled packets. The controller 821 may have logic functions for performing the following controls: the control may be radio resource control, radio bearer control, mobility management, admission control, and scheduling. The control may be performed in conjunction with a nearby eNB or core network node. The memory 822 includes RAM and ROM, and stores programs executed by the controller 821 and various types of control data (such as a terminal list, transmission power data, and scheduling data).

[0161] The network interface 823 is a communication interface for connecting the base station device 820 to the core network 824. The controller 821 can communicate with the core network node or another eNB via the network interface 823. In this case, the eNB 800 and the core network node or other eNB can be connected to each other through a logical interface (such as an S1 interface and an X2 interface). The network interface 823 can also be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface for a wireless backhaul line. If the network interface 823 is a wireless communication interface, the network interface 823 can use a higher frequency band for wireless communication than the frequency band used by the wireless communication interface 825.

[0162] The wireless communication interface 825 supports any cellular communication scheme, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced, and provides wireless connectivity to terminals located in the cell of the eNB 800 via the antenna 810. The wireless communication interface 825 may typically include, for example, a baseband (BB) processor 826 and RF circuitry 827. The BB processor 826 can perform various signal processing functions, such as encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and performs various types of signal processing for layers such as Layer 1 (L1), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP). In place of the controller 821, the BB processor 826 may have some or all of the aforementioned logical functions. The BB processor 826 may be a memory that stores communication control programs, or a module including a processor configured to execute programs and associated circuitry. Program updates can modify the functionality of the BB processor 826. This module may be a card or blade inserted into a slot in the base station device 820. Alternatively, the module may be a chip mounted on the card or blade. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 827 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via the antenna 810 .

[0163] As shown in FIG16 , the wireless communication interface 825 may include multiple BB processors 826. For example, multiple BB processors 826 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the eNB 800. As shown in FIG16 , the wireless communication interface 825 may include multiple RF circuits 827. For example, multiple RF circuits 827 may be compatible with multiple antenna elements. Although FIG16 illustrates an example in which the wireless communication interface 825 includes multiple BB processors 826 and multiple RF circuits 827, the wireless communication interface 825 may also include a single BB processor 826 or a single RF circuit 827.

[0164] In the eNB 800 shown in FIG16 , the communication unit 202 and transceiver of the electronic device 200 may be implemented by the wireless communication interface 825. At least a portion of the functionality may also be implemented by the controller 821. For example, the controller 821 may determine the relay UE by executing the functions of the determination unit 201 and the communication unit 202 and utilize the context information and QoS mapping relationship information provided by the relay UE to achieve stable and smooth direct path switching between relay UE-assisted Uu communication and PC5 communication.

[0165] (Second application example)

[0166] FIG17 is a block diagram illustrating a second example of a schematic configuration of an eNB or gNB to which the techniques of this disclosure can be applied. Note that similarly, the following description uses an eNB as an example, but is equally applicable to a gNB. An eNB 830 includes one or more antennas 840, a base station device 850, and an RRH 860. The RRH 860 and each antenna 840 can be connected to each other via an RF cable. The base station device 850 and the RRH 860 can be connected to each other via a high-speed line such as an optical fiber cable.

[0167] Each of the antennas 840 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for RRH 860 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in FIG17 , eNB 830 may include multiple antennas 840. For example, multiple antennas 840 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by eNB 830. Although FIG17 shows an example in which eNB 830 includes multiple antennas 840, eNB 830 may also include a single antenna 840.

[0168] Base station device 850 includes a controller 851, a memory 852, a network interface 853, a wireless communication interface 855, and a connection interface 857. Controller 851, memory 852, and network interface 853 are the same as controller 821, memory 822, and network interface 823 described with reference to FIG.

[0169] The wireless communication interface 855 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and provides wireless communication to terminals located in the sector corresponding to the RRH 860 via the RRH 860 and the antenna 840. The wireless communication interface 855 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 856. The BB processor 856 is the same as the BB processor 826 described with reference to FIG. 16, except that the BB processor 856 is connected to the RF circuit 864 of the RRH 860 via the connection interface 857. As shown in FIG. 17, the wireless communication interface 855 may include multiple BB processors 856. For example, the multiple BB processors 856 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the eNB 830. Although FIG. 17 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 855 includes multiple BB processors 856, the wireless communication interface 855 may also include a single BB processor 856.

[0170] The connection interface 857 is an interface for connecting the base station device 850 (wireless communication interface 855) to the RRH 860. The connection interface 857 may also be a communication module for connecting the base station device 850 (wireless communication interface 855) to the RRH 860 for communication in the high-speed line.

[0171] The RRH 860 includes a connection interface 861 and a wireless communication interface 863 .

[0172] The connection interface 861 is an interface for connecting the RRH 860 (wireless communication interface 863) to the base station device 850. The connection interface 861 may also be a communication module for communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line.

[0173] The wireless communication interface 863 transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 840. The wireless communication interface 863 may generally include, for example, an RF circuit 864. The RF circuit 864 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 840. As shown in FIG17 , the wireless communication interface 863 may include multiple RF circuits 864. For example, multiple RF circuits 864 may support multiple antenna elements. Although FIG17 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 863 includes multiple RF circuits 864, the wireless communication interface 863 may also include a single RF circuit 864.

[0174] In the eNB 830 shown in FIG17 , the communication unit 202 and the transceiver of the electronic device 200 may be implemented by the wireless communication interface 855 and / or the wireless communication interface 863. At least a portion of the functionality may also be implemented by the controller 851. For example, the controller 851 may determine the relay UE by executing the functions of the determination unit 201 and the communication unit 202 and utilize the context information and QoS mapping relationship information provided by the relay UE to achieve stable and smooth direct path switching between Uu communication assisted by the relay UE and PC5 communication.

[0175] [Application examples on user devices]

[0176] (First application example)

[0177] 18 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone 900 to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The smartphone 900 includes a processor 901, a memory 902, a storage device 903, an external connection interface 904, a camera 906, a sensor 907, a microphone 908, an input device 909, a display device 910, a speaker 911, a wireless communication interface 912, one or more antenna switches 915, one or more antennas 916, a bus 917, a battery 918, and an auxiliary controller 919.

[0178] The processor 901 may be, for example, a CPU or a system on a chip (SoC), and controls the functions of the application layer and other layers of the smartphone 900. The memory 902 includes RAM and ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 901. The storage device 903 may include storage media such as semiconductor memories and hard disks. The external connection interface 904 is an interface for connecting external devices (such as memory cards and universal serial bus (USB) devices) to the smartphone 900.

[0179] The camera 906 includes an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and generates a captured image. The sensor 907 may include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The microphone 908 converts the sound input to the smartphone 900 into an audio signal. The input device 909 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a keypad, a keyboard, a button, or a switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 910, and receives an operation or information input from the user. The display device 910 includes a screen such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display and displays an output image of the smartphone 900. The speaker 911 converts the audio signal output from the smartphone 900 into sound.

[0180] The wireless communication interface 912 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communications. The wireless communication interface 912 may typically include, for example, a BB processor 913 and an RF circuit 914. The BB processor 913 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and may also perform various types of signal processing for wireless communications. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 914 may include, for example, mixers, filters, and amplifiers, and transmit and receive wireless signals via an antenna 916. Note that while the figure shows a scenario where one RF link is connected to one antenna, this is merely illustrative, and also encompasses scenarios where one RF link is connected to multiple antennas via multiple phase shifters. The wireless communication interface 912 may be a chip module on which the BB processor 913 and the RF circuit 914 are integrated. As shown in FIG18 , the wireless communication interface 912 may include multiple BB processors 913 and multiple RF circuits 914. While FIG18 illustrates an example in which the wireless communication interface 912 includes multiple BB processors 913 and multiple RF circuits 914, the wireless communication interface 912 may also include a single BB processor 913 or a single RF circuit 914.

[0181] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 912 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as a short-range wireless communication scheme, a near-field communication scheme, and a wireless local area network (LAN) scheme. In this case, the wireless communication interface 912 may include a BB processor 913 and an RF circuit 914 for each wireless communication scheme.

[0182] Each of the antenna switches 915 switches a connection destination of the antenna 916 between a plurality of circuits (eg, circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 912 .

[0183] Each of the antennas 916 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for transmitting and receiving wireless signals via the wireless communication interface 912. As shown in FIG18 , the smartphone 900 may include multiple antennas 916. Although FIG18 shows an example in which the smartphone 900 includes multiple antennas 916, the smartphone 900 may also include a single antenna 916.

[0184] In addition, the smartphone 900 may include an antenna 916 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 915 may be omitted from the configuration of the smartphone 900.

[0185] The bus 917 connects the processor 901, the memory 902, the storage device 903, the external connection interface 904, the camera 906, the sensor 907, the microphone 908, the input device 909, the display device 910, the speaker 911, the wireless communication interface 912, and the auxiliary controller 919. The battery 918 supplies power to the various blocks of the smartphone 900 shown in FIG18 via feeders, which are partially shown as dotted lines in the figure. The auxiliary controller 919 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smartphone 900, for example, in sleep mode.

[0186] In the smart phone 900 shown in FIG18 , the communication unit 102 and transceiver of the electronic device 100, the communication unit 202 and transceiver of the electronic device 200, the first connection unit 301, the second connection unit 302 and the transceiver of the electronic device 300, and the receiving unit 401, the acquisition unit 402 and the transceiver of the electronic device 400 can be implemented by the wireless communication interface 912. At least part of the functions can also be implemented by the processor 901 or the auxiliary controller 919. For example, the processor 901 or the auxiliary controller 919 can execute the functions of the determination unit 101 and the communication unit 102 to enable the first UE where the electronic device 100 is located to transmit the context information and QoS mapping relationship information required for the handover by acting as a relay device between the base station and the target UE, thereby achieving smooth and stable handover between PC5 communication and Uu communication, and ensuring service continuity during the handover process. The processor 901 or the auxiliary controller 919 can implement the functions of the determination unit 201 and the communication unit 202 to utilize the relay device to transmit the context information and QoS mapping relationship information required for the switch, thereby achieving smooth and stable switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication, and ensuring business continuity during the switching process. The processor 901 or the auxiliary controller 919 can implement direct path switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication by executing the functions of the first connection unit 301 and the second connection unit 302, and strive to ensure business continuity during the switching process. The processor 901 or the auxiliary controller 919 can implement direct path switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication by executing the functions of the receiving unit 401 and the acquisition unit 402, and strive to ensure business continuity during the switching process.

[0187] (Second application example)

[0188] 19 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device 920 to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The car navigation device 920 includes a processor 921, a memory 922, a global positioning system (GPS) module 924, a sensor 925, a data interface 926, a content player 927, a storage medium interface 928, an input device 929, a display device 930, a speaker 931, a wireless communication interface 933, one or more antenna switches 936, one or more antennas 937, and a battery 938.

[0189] The processor 921 may be, for example, a CPU or an SoC, and controls a navigation function and other functions of the car navigation apparatus 920. The memory 922 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 921.

[0190] The GPS module 924 measures the position (such as latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the car navigation device 920 using GPS signals received from GPS satellites. The sensor 925 may include a group of sensors such as a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an air pressure sensor. The data interface 926 is connected to, for example, the in-vehicle network 941 via an unillustrated terminal and acquires data generated by the vehicle (such as vehicle speed data).

[0191] The content player 927 reproduces content stored in a storage medium (such as a CD or DVD) inserted into the storage medium interface 928. The input device 929 includes, for example, a touch sensor, button, or switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 930, and receives an operation or information input from the user. The display device 930 includes a screen such as an LCD or OLED display and displays an image of a navigation function or reproduced content. The speaker 931 outputs the sound of the navigation function or the reproduced content.

[0192] The wireless communication interface 933 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 933 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 934 and an RF circuit 935. The BB processor 934 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 935 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via an antenna 937. The wireless communication interface 933 may also be a chip module on which the BB processor 934 and the RF circuit 935 are integrated. As shown in Figure 19, the wireless communication interface 933 may include multiple BB processors 934 and multiple RF circuits 935. Although Figure 19 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 933 includes multiple BB processors 934 and multiple RF circuits 935, the wireless communication interface 933 may also include a single BB processor 934 or a single RF circuit 935.

[0193] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 933 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as a short-range wireless communication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a wireless LAN scheme. In this case, for each wireless communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 933 can include a BB processor 934 and an RF circuit 935.

[0194] Each of the antenna switches 936 switches a connection destination of the antenna 937 between a plurality of circuits included in the wireless communication interface 933 , such as circuits for different wireless communication schemes.

[0195] Each of the antennas 937 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for transmitting and receiving wireless signals via the wireless communication interface 933. As shown in FIG19, the car navigation device 920 may include multiple antennas 937. Although FIG19 shows an example in which the car navigation device 920 includes multiple antennas 937, the car navigation device 920 may also include a single antenna 937.

[0196] Furthermore, the car navigation device 920 may include an antenna 937 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 936 may be omitted from the configuration of the car navigation device 920.

[0197] The battery 938 supplies power to the respective blocks of the car navigation device 920 shown in Fig. 19 via a feeder line, which is partially shown as a dotted line in the figure. The battery 938 accumulates the power supplied from the vehicle.

[0198] In the car navigation device 920 shown in FIG19 , the communication unit 102 and transceiver of the electronic device 100, the communication unit 202 and transceiver of the electronic device 200, the first connection unit 301, the second connection unit 302, and the transceiver of the electronic device 300, and the receiving unit 401, the acquisition unit 402, and the transceiver of the electronic device 400 can be implemented by the wireless communication interface 933. At least a portion of the functions can also be implemented by the processor 921. For example, the processor 921 can execute the functions of the determination unit 101 and the communication unit 102 to enable the first UE of the electronic device 100 to transmit the context information and QoS mapping relationship information required for handover by acting as a relay device between the base station and the target UE, thereby achieving smooth and stable handover between PC5 communication and Uu communication, ensuring service continuity during the handover process. The processor 921 can execute the functions of the determination unit 201 and the communication unit 202 to utilize the relay device to transmit the context information and QoS mapping relationship information required for handover, thereby achieving smooth and stable handover between PC5 communication and Uu communication, ensuring service continuity during the handover process. The processor 921 can implement direct path switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication by executing the functions of the first connection unit 301 and the second connection unit 302, thereby ensuring service continuity during the switching process as much as possible. The processor 921 can implement direct path switching between PC5 communication and Uu communication by executing the functions of the receiving unit 401 and the acquiring unit 402, thereby ensuring service continuity during the switching process as much as possible.

[0199] The technology of the present disclosure can also be implemented as an in-vehicle system (or vehicle) 940 including a car navigation device 920, an in-vehicle network 941, and one or more blocks of a vehicle module 942. The vehicle module 942 generates vehicle data (such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and fault information) and outputs the generated data to the in-vehicle network 941.

[0200] The basic principles of the present disclosure are described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. However, it should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, it is understandable that all or any steps or components of the methods and devices of the present disclosure can be implemented in any computing device (including a processor, storage medium, etc.) or a network of computing devices in the form of hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. This can be achieved by those skilled in the art using their basic circuit design knowledge or basic programming skills after reading the description of the present disclosure.

[0201] Furthermore, the present disclosure also provides a program product storing machine-readable instruction codes. When the instruction codes are read and executed by a machine, the method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can be executed.

[0202] Accordingly, the storage medium for carrying the program product storing the machine-readable instruction code is also included in the disclosure of the present invention, including but not limited to a floppy disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a memory card, a memory stick, and the like.

[0203] When the present disclosure is implemented through software or firmware, the programs constituting the software are installed from a storage medium or a network to a computer with a dedicated hardware structure (such as the general-purpose computer 2000 shown in Figure 20). When various programs are installed on the computer, it can perform various functions, etc.

[0204] In FIG20 , a central processing unit (CPU) 2001 executes various processes according to a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 2002 or a program loaded from a storage section 2008 to a random access memory (RAM) 2003. In the RAM 2003, data required when the CPU 2001 executes various processes, etc., is also stored as needed. The CPU 2001, the ROM 2002, and the RAM 2003 are connected to each other via a bus 2004. An input / output interface 2005 is also connected to the bus 2004.

[0205] The following components are connected to the input / output interface 2005: an input section 2006 (including a keyboard, a mouse, etc.), an output section 2007 (including a display such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and a speaker, etc.), a storage section 2008 (including a hard disk, etc.), and a communication section 2009 (including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem, etc.). The communication section 2009 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet. A drive 2010 may also be connected to the input / output interface 2005 as needed. A removable medium 2011 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, etc. is installed in the drive 2010 as needed, so that a computer program read therefrom is installed in the storage section 2008 as needed.

[0206] In the case where the above-described series of processing is realized by software, a program constituting the software is installed from a network such as the Internet or a storage medium such as the removable medium 2011 .

[0207] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that such storage media is not limited to the removable medium 2011 shown in FIG. 20 , which stores the program and is distributed separately from the device to provide the program to the user. Examples of the removable medium 2011 include magnetic disks (including floppy disks (registered trademark)), optical disks (including compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs) and digital versatile disks (DVDs)), magneto-optical disks (including minidiscs (MDs) (registered trademark)), and semiconductor memories. Alternatively, the storage medium may be a ROM 2002, a hard disk included in the storage section 2008, or the like, in which the program is stored and distributed to the user together with the device containing them.

[0208] It should also be noted that in the apparatus, method, and system of the present disclosure, each component or step can be decomposed and / or recombined. Such decomposition and / or recombination should be regarded as equivalent solutions of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the steps of performing the above series of processes can naturally be performed in chronological order according to the order of description, but do not necessarily need to be performed in chronological order. Certain steps can be performed in parallel or independently of each other.

[0209] Finally, it should be noted that the terms "comprises," "includes," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, in the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprises a ..." does not preclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes the element.

[0210] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are merely illustrative of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and variations can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is solely defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An electronic device for wireless communication, comprising: The processing circuit is configured to: determining, based on the received first information, that a first user equipment is a relay device between a base station and a second user equipment, wherein the first user equipment is capable of establishing a Uu connection with the base station and capable of establishing a PC5 connection with the second user equipment, and wherein a handover is to occur between Uu communication between a third user equipment and the base station and PC5 communication between the third user equipment and the second user equipment; and Provide the base station or the second user equipment with context information of the communication before the switching and information on the QoS mapping relationship from the communication before the switching to the communication after the switching, wherein the communication before the switching is one of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication, and the communication after the switching is the other of the Uu communication and the PC5 communication.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein In a case where the Uu communication is switched to the PC5 communication, the processing circuit is configured to receive the first information from the base station, and the first information includes an identification of the second user equipment.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein The first information also includes an identifier of the first user equipment.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein In a case where the PC5 communication switches to the Uu communication, the processing circuit is configured to receive the first information from the second user equipment, and the first information includes information indicating an intention to find a relay device and / or a requirement for a relay device.

5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein The processing circuit is further configured to send feedback to the second user equipment, where the feedback includes information about the identification of the first user equipment. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein: The processing circuit is configured to receive the first information via broadcast or multicast.

7. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein In a case where the first user equipment and the second user equipment are not in a PC5 connection state, the processing circuit is further configured to establish a PC5 connection between the first user equipment and the second user equipment in response to the first information.

8. An electronic device for wireless communication, comprising: The processing circuit is configured to: determining a relay user equipment in response to a handover request from a first user equipment that is a communication counterpart of the first communication equipment, wherein the handover request indicates that the first user equipment is to hand over a first communication between the first user equipment and the first communication equipment to a second communication between the first user equipment and the second communication equipment; and providing the context information of the first communication and information of the QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication to the second communication device via the relay user equipment, The first communication device is one of a base station and a second user equipment, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second user equipment.

9. The electronic device according to claim 8, wherein: The first communication device is the base station, the first communication is Uu communication between the first user equipment and the base station, the second communication device is the second user equipment, and the second communication is PC5 communication between the first user equipment and the second user equipment. The processing circuit is configured to determine a third user equipment within the coverage of the base station that can establish a Uu connection with the base station and can establish a PC5 connection with the second user equipment as the relay user equipment.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein The processing circuit is configured to determine the third user equipment by sending broadcast information or multicast information within the coverage of the base station, where the broadcast information or multicast information includes an identifier of the second user equipment.

11. The electronic device according to claim 10, wherein: The broadcast information or multicast information further includes an identifier of the third user equipment.

12. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein In the case that no PC5 connection is established between the third user equipment and the second user equipment, the processing circuit is further configured to instruct the third user equipment to establish a PC5 connection with the second user equipment and receive feedback about the connection establishment from the third user equipment.

13. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein The processing circuit is configured to obtain context information of the first communication and information about a QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication from a core network, and send the information to the relay user equipment to be forwarded to the second user equipment.

14. The electronic device according to claim 8, wherein The first communication device is the second user equipment, the first communication is PC5 communication between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, the second communication device is the base station, and the second communication is Uu communication between the first user equipment and the base station. The processing circuit is configured to determine a third user equipment within the coverage of the second user equipment that can establish a Uu connection with the base station and can establish a PC5 connection with the second user equipment as the relay user equipment.

15. The electronic device according to claim 14, wherein The processing circuit is configured to determine the third user equipment by sending broadcast information or multicast information within the coverage of the second user equipment, wherein the broadcast information or multicast information includes information indicating an intention to find a relay device and / or a requirement for a relay device.

16. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein The processing circuit is further configured to receive feedback from the third user equipment, where the feedback includes information of an identification of the third user equipment.

17. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein: In a case where a PC5 connection is not established between the third user equipment and the second user equipment, the processing circuit is further configured to establish a PC5 connection between the third user equipment and the second user equipment in response to the broadcast information or the multicast information.

18. An electronic device for wireless communication, comprising: The processing circuit is configured to: When the first user equipment is to switch from a current first communication between the first user equipment and a first communication device to a second communication between the first user equipment and a second communication device, establishing a connection between the first user equipment and the second communication device; as well as After the connection is established and the second communication can be carried out, the first communication connection is disconnected, The first communication device is one of a base station and a second user equipment, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second user equipment.

19. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein The first communication device is the base station, the first communication is Uu communication, the second communication device is the second user equipment, and the second communication is PC5 communication. The processing circuit is configured to establish a PC5 connection with the second user equipment while maintaining a Uu connection between the first user equipment and the base station to obtain a dual connection state.

20. The electronic device according to claim 19, wherein The processing circuit is configured to send the context information of the first communication and information about the QoS mapping relationship from the first communication to the second communication to the second user equipment through the PC5 connection.

21. The electronic device according to claim 19, wherein The second user equipment obtains the context information of the first communication and information about the QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication from the core network.

22. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein The first communication device is the second user equipment, the first communication is PC5 communication, the second communication device is the base station, and the second communication is Uu communication. The processing circuit is configured to establish a Uu connection by triggering a PDU session, and the base station obtains context information of the first communication and information on a QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication from a core network.

23. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein The first communication device is a base station, the first communication is Uu communication, the second communication device is the second user equipment, the second communication is PC5 communication, and the processing circuit is configured to broadcast a switching request for the first user equipment through a direct link, wherein the switching request includes the type and network connection status of the second user equipment to be switched to.

24. The electronic device according to claim 23, wherein The processing circuit is further configured to send the context information of the first communication and information of a QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication to the second user equipment; or The second user equipment obtains the context information of the first communication and information about the QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication from the core network in response to the handover request.

25. The electronic device according to claim 24, wherein The processing circuit is further configured to receive feedback information from the second user equipment, where the feedback information indicates that the second user equipment is ready for handover, and the processing circuit determines based on the feedback information that the connection establishment is complete and the second communication can be performed.

26. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein There is no relay user equipment between the first communication device and the second communication device.

27. The electronic device according to claim 26, wherein The first communication device searches for the relay user equipment, and the processing circuit is configured to determine that no relay user equipment exists between the first communication device and the second communication device based on feedback information from the first communication device.

28. An electronic device for wireless communication, comprising: The processing circuit is configured to: receiving a handover request from a first user equipment, the handover request indicating that the first user equipment is to switch from a current Uu communication between the first user equipment and a base station to a PC5 communication between the first user equipment and a second user equipment; as well as The context information and QoS mapping relationship information of the Uu communication to the PC5 communication are acquired based on the switching request.

29. The electronic device of claim 28, wherein the processing circuit is configured to receive the handover request as follows: broadcast via a direct link; or The first user device is connected to the second user device via PC5, wherein: The first user equipment establishes a PC5 connection with the second user equipment while maintaining a Uu connection with the base station to obtain a dual connection state.

30. The electronic device according to claim 29, wherein, The processing circuit is configured to obtain the context information and the QoS mapping relationship information in one of the following ways: obtaining from a core network, receiving from the first user equipment via a direct link broadcast, and receiving from the first user equipment via the PC5 connection.

31. A method for wireless communication, comprising: determining, based on the received first information, that a first user equipment is a relay device between a base station and a second user equipment, wherein the first user equipment is capable of establishing a Uu connection with the base station and capable of establishing a PC5 connection with the second user equipment, and wherein a handover is to occur between Uu communication between a third user equipment and the base station and PC5 communication between the third user equipment and the second user equipment; and The context information of the communication before the handover and information on a QoS mapping relationship from the communication before the handover to the communication after the handover are provided to the base station or the second user equipment.

32. A method for wireless communication, comprising: determining a relay user equipment in response to a handover request from a first user equipment that is a communication counterpart of the first communication equipment, wherein the handover request indicates that the first user equipment is to hand over a first communication between the first user equipment and the first communication equipment to a second communication between the first user equipment and the second communication equipment; and providing the context information of the first communication and information on the QoS mapping relationship between the first communication and the second communication to the second communication device via the relay user equipment, The first communication device is one of a base station and a second user equipment, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second user equipment.

33. A method for wireless communication, comprising: When the first user equipment is to switch from a current first communication between the first user equipment and a first communication device to a second communication between the first user equipment and a second communication device, establishing a connection between the first user equipment and the second communication device; as well as After the connection is established and the second communication can be carried out, the first communication connection is disconnected, The first communication device is one of a base station and a second user equipment, and the second communication device is the other of the base station and the second user equipment.

34. A method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving a handover request from a first user equipment, the handover request indicating that the first user equipment is to switch from a current Uu communication between the first user equipment and a base station to a PC5 communication between the first user equipment and a second user equipment; as well as The context information and QoS mapping relationship information of the Uu communication to the PC5 communication are acquired based on the switching request.

35. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the method for wireless communication according to any one of claims 31 to 34.

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