Terminal selection method and apparatus, and communication device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a terminal selection method and device and communication equipment, and the method comprises the steps that a first node receives a first request message sent by a second node, and the first request message comprises a terminal selection strategy; the first request message is used for triggering a first terminal to execute a ranging process of distance measurement and / or angle measurement for a plurality of terminals to obtain a ranging result corresponding to the plurality of terminals; the first node selects at least one terminal from the plurality of terminals based on Ranging results corresponding to the plurality of terminals and the terminal selection strategy; and the first node sends a first request reply message to the second node, wherein the first request reply message comprises the terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

Description

Terminal selection method and device, and communication equipment Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of mobile communication technology, and specifically to a method and apparatus for terminal selection, and communication equipment. Background Art

[0002] When a third party wants to identify relevant information of a terminal (hereinafter referred to as terminal A for ease of description), the third party needs to cooperate with other terminals near terminal A to collect information about terminal A in different directions from other terminals near terminal A.

[0003] Before collecting data from other terminals, a third party must ensure that the other terminals are near terminal A and located in different directions from terminal A. To this end, the third party must select the appropriate terminal to collect data from. This requirement can be addressed through ranging and / or angle measurement (Ranging). However, no solutions currently discuss how to use Ranging technology for terminal selection.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a method and apparatus for terminal selection, a communication device, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, and a computer program.

[0006] The terminal selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes:

[0007] The first node receives a first request message sent by the second node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; the first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals;

[0008] The first node selects at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy;

[0009] The first node sends a first request reply message to the second node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0010] The terminal selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes:

[0011] The second node sends a first request message to the first node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; the first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; the terminal selection policy is used by the first node to select at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals;

[0012] The second node receives a first request reply message sent by the first node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0013] The terminal selection device provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a first node, and includes:

[0014] a communication unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a second node, wherein the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; the first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals;

[0015] A selection unit, configured to select at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy;

[0016] The communication unit is further configured to send a first request reply message to the second node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0017] The terminal selection device provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a second node, and the device includes:

[0018] A communication unit, configured to send a first request message to a first node, wherein the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; the first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; the terminal selection policy is used by the first node to select at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; and receive a first request reply message sent by the first node, wherein the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0019] The communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes a processor and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the above-mentioned terminal selection method.

[0020] The chip provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to implement the above-mentioned terminal selection method.

[0021] Specifically, the chip includes: a processor, which is used to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the above-mentioned terminal selection method.

[0022] The computer-readable storage medium provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to store a computer program, which enables a computer to execute the above-mentioned terminal selection method.

[0023] The computer program product provided in the embodiment of the present application includes computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the above-mentioned terminal selection method.

[0024] The computer program provided in the embodiment of the present application, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned terminal selection method.

[0025] Through the above technical solution, a new terminal selection strategy is introduced. The second node as a third party can send the terminal selection strategy to the first node; the first node triggers the first terminal to execute the Ranging process for multiple terminals to obtain the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals, and selects at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the terminal selection strategy and the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals, and sends the terminal identifier of the selected at least one terminal to the second node. In this way, the terminal selection is realized by using Ranging technical means, which meets the needs of the joint reasoning scenario and promotes the efficient execution of the joint reasoning business. In addition, the first node sends the terminal identifier of the selected at least one terminal to the second node. In this way, the first node and the second node only need to exchange terminal identifiers without exchanging Ranging results, which reduces the amount of data exchanged between the first node and the second node and protects the security of the Ranging results. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation on the present application. In the drawings:

[0027] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of joint reasoning;

[0028] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a UE-to-network (U2N) relay;

[0029] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a UE-to-UE (U2U) relay;

[0030] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a Ranging result between UE1 and UE2 being open to a third-party UE;

[0031] FIG5 is a flowchart of a terminal selection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG6 is a second flow chart of the terminal selection method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG7 is a third flow chart of the terminal selection method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the first structure of the apparatus for terminal selection provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG9 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of the apparatus for terminal selection provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG11 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0039] It should be noted that the term "and / or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three types of relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. It should also be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association relationship. For example, A indicates B, which can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can be obtained through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C; it can also mean that there is an association relationship between A and B. It should also be understood that the "correspondence" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can mean that there is a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or it can mean that there is an association relationship between the two, or it can mean a relationship between indication and being indicated, configuration and being configured, etc.

[0040] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0041] Federated Reasoning / Distributed Reasoning:

[0042] In a scenario, when a vehicle wants to obtain relevant information about a vehicle in front of it (such as its location, width, length, height, outline, and orientation), the data collected by the vehicle itself is limited. For example, the vehicle directly behind it can only obtain data related to the rear of the vehicle in front through sensors. Through reasoning using the locally installed artificial intelligence (AI) model, it can identify information such as the width and height of the vehicle in front, but it cannot know the length of the vehicle in front, or even the more precise outline of the entire vehicle. In addition, although the position of the vehicle in front can be determined through equipment such as radar on a single vehicle, the positioning accuracy based on information obtained from a single vehicle is limited due to the single nature of the data. All of these problems need to be solved through joint reasoning.

[0043] In another scenario, a car accident, such as a rear-end collision, occurs, causing traffic congestion. A vehicle or third-party server needs to fully understand the accident scene so they can plan their trajectory in real time. Therefore, the vehicle or server needs to locate and connect to vehicles in different directions near the accident vehicle, collecting data from different directions to fully reconstruct the accident scene. This scenario also requires joint reasoning.

[0044] As shown in Figure 1, when a third-party UE (3 rd When a third-party UE wants to identify relevant information about UE1, it needs to collaborate with other UEs near UE1 (such as UE2, UE3, and UE4). These other UEs are located in different directions from UE1, so they can collect information about UE1 in different directions. These other UEs can use local models to feed back the inference results for UE1 to the third-party UE. The third-party UE aggregates multiple results to obtain richer and more accurate information about UE1. Other UEs can also send the collected data related to UE1 to the third-party UE. The third-party UE aggregates multi-source data to obtain richer data samples, performs local inference, and thus obtains more accurate results.

[0045] Prose Architecture:

[0046] A UE with Proximity-based Services (Prose) capability can directly communicate with another UE with Prose capability via a PC5 interface.

[0047] When a UE can connect to an external data network through a 5G network and also has the Prose capability, it can act as a relay UE. Another remote UE with the Prose capability can establish a direct connection with the relay UE through the PC5 interface. The relay UE then establishes a PDU session with the 5G network to interact with the external network, as shown in Figure 2.

[0048] Furthermore, when two Prose-capable UEs are far apart and cannot communicate directly via the PC5 interface, a Prose-capable Relay UE can be used to relay the communication. As shown in Figure 3, the Relay UE can communicate directly with the source UE (Source UE) via the PC5 interface, and can also communicate directly with the target UE (Target UE) via the PC5 interface. The Source UE and Target UE can then exchange services through the Relay UE.

[0049] Ranging:

[0050] Ranging is a newly established research project. Ranging refers to determining the distance between two or more terminals and / or the direction and / or relative position between one terminal (i.e., the target terminal) and another terminal (i.e., the reference terminal) through the PC5 interface. Within the Ranging research project, one direction is to study opening the Ranging results between UEs to third-party UEs or third-party servers. As shown in Figure 4, taking the example of a third-party UE that can connect to UE1, the third-party UE sends a Ranging request to UE1 to request Ranging information between UE1 and UE2. UE1 and UE2 perform the Ranging process. UE1 calculates the Ranking result based on the measurement data obtained during the Ranking process and sends the Ranking result to the third-party UE via a Ranging response.

[0051] When using joint reasoning, before collecting data from other UEs, a third-party UE or third-party server needs to ensure that the other UEs are near a reference UE (such as UE1 in Figure 1), and the other UEs need to be located in different directions from the reference UE. This requirement can be addressed by Ranging. Currently, no solution discusses how to use Ranging technology to meet the requirements of joint reasoning. In addition, before a third-party UE wants to perform reasoning, if the method described in Figure 4 is adopted, the third-party UE requests Ranging results from UE1 to select an appropriate UE to collect data. UE1 is required to send the Ranging results of all nearby UEs relative to UE1 to the third-party UE. Considering the large number of other UEs near UE1, a large amount of interaction overhead will be generated between the third-party UE and UE1. In addition, making a large number of Ranging results available to third-party UEs will also cause security issues. A similar problem occurs when a third-party server requests Ranking results. If the third-party server requests Ranking results through the core network, a large amount of interaction overhead and security issues will also be generated between the core network and the server. To this end, the following technical solutions are proposed in the embodiments of the present application.

[0052] It should be noted that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to, but not limited to, 5G systems.

[0053] It should be noted that the "first core network network element" described in the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be a new network element or an existing network element (the functions of the existing network elements need to be enhanced to realize the functions of the first core network network element). As an example, the existing network element can be a network exposure function network element (Network Exposure Function, NEF).

[0054] It should be noted that the "terminal" described in the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be any type of terminal, such as a mobile phone, a vehicle-mounted terminal, a smart home device, a wearable device, etc. The description of "terminal" can also be replaced by "user equipment (UE)".

[0055] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments. The above related technologies can be combined arbitrarily with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and all of them fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents.

[0056] FIG5 is a flow chart of a terminal selection method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG5 , the terminal selection method includes the following steps:

[0057] Step 501: The second node sends a first request message to the first node, and the first node receives the first request message sent by the second node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; the first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to execute a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0058] Step 502: The first node selects at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy.

[0059] Step 503: The first node sends a first request reply message to the second node, and the second node receives the first request reply message sent by the first node, where the first request reply message includes the terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0060] In an embodiment of the present application, the name of the first request message may be a terminal selection request message. Of course, the first request message may also have other names, and the present application does not limit the name of the first request message.

[0061] In an embodiment of the present application, the name of the first request reply message may be a terminal selection request reply message. Of course, the first request reply message may also have other names. The present application does not limit the name of the first request reply message.

[0062] In an embodiment of the present application, the second node sends a first request message to the first node, and accordingly, the first node receives the first request message sent by the second node; the first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals. The first request message carries a terminal selection policy, and the first node selects at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy. The first node sends a first request reply message to the second node, and accordingly, the second node receives the first request reply message sent by the first node, and the first request reply message includes the terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0063] In the embodiment of the present application, the first node is a first terminal or a first core network element, and the second node is a third-party terminal or a third-party server. The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is described below in conjunction with the specific implementation of the first node and the second node.

[0064] Solution 1: The first node is the first terminal, and the second node is a third-party terminal.

[0065] The second node sending the first request message to the first node means that the third-party terminal sends the first request message to the first terminal; the first node receiving the first request message sent by the second node means that the first terminal receives the first request message sent by the third-party terminal.

[0066] The first node sending the first request reply message to the second node means that the first terminal sends the first request reply message to the third-party terminal. The second node receiving the first request reply message sent by the first node means that the third-party terminal receives the first request reply message sent by the first terminal.

[0067] In some implementations, the third-party terminal establishes a connection with the first terminal before sending the first request message to the first terminal. In other words, the first terminal establishes a connection with the third-party terminal before receiving the first request message sent by the third-party terminal.

[0068] Here, the third-party terminal establishes a connection with the first terminal (or the first terminal establishes a connection with the third-party terminal) in the following manner:

[0069] The first terminal broadcasts a second discovery message, and the third-party terminal receives the second discovery message broadcast by the first terminal, where the second discovery message includes second indication information and / or a first parameter; the second indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal supports Ranging; the first parameter includes a terminal identification list, which is used to indicate a list of terminals on which the first terminal can perform a Ranging process;

[0070] The third-party terminal selects the first terminal based on the second discovery message and requests to establish a connection with the first terminal, and the first terminal accepts the connection establishment requested by the third-party terminal based on the second discovery message.

[0071] In some embodiments, after the first terminal receives the first request message sent by the third-party terminal, the first terminal determines the Ranging service requirement information based on the first request message; the first terminal performs a Ranging process for multiple terminals based on the Ranging service requirement information, and obtains the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0072] Here, optionally, the Ranging service requirement information includes at least one of the following: a measured distance, a measured direction, and a measured accuracy.

[0073] Here, optionally, the Ranging result includes at least one of the following: a distance of the terminal relative to the first terminal, and a direction of the terminal relative to the first terminal.

[0074] Here, the multiple terminals may include 2 terminals or more terminals. Taking the second terminal among the multiple terminals as an example, when the first terminal performs the Ranging process for the second terminal, the first terminal serves as the reference terminal and the second terminal serves as the target terminal. The first terminal measures the reference signal of the second terminal and calculates the distance of the second terminal relative to the first terminal and / or the direction of the second terminal relative to the first terminal (i.e., the Ranging result corresponding to the second terminal) based on the measurement data of the reference signal. Similarly, the first terminal performs the Ranging process for multiple terminals and can obtain the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0075] In some embodiments, the first request message also includes an application identifier, which is used by the first terminal to determine multiple terminals that have a target application, and the application identifier is used to identify the target application. Before the first terminal performs a Ranging process for multiple terminals based on the Ranging service requirement information, the first terminal determines multiple terminals that have the target application based on the application identifier, and the application identifier is used to identify the target application. The first terminal establishes connections with the multiple terminals. Thereafter, the first terminal performs a Ranging process with the multiple terminals with which the connections have been established.

[0076] Here, as an implementation manner, the first terminal determines multiple terminals having the target application based on the application identifier, which can be implemented in the following manner:

[0077] The first terminal broadcasts a first discovery message, where the first discovery message includes the application identifier;

[0078] The first terminal determines a plurality of terminals having the target application based on the received first response message; wherein the first response message is sent by the terminal having the target application identified by the application identifier after receiving the first discovery message.

[0079] Here, the application identifier may include at least one of the following: App ID, model ID, and ProSe Application code.

[0080] In the embodiment of the present application, after the first terminal obtains the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals, it selects at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy.

[0081] In some embodiments, the terminal selection strategy includes at least one of the following:

[0082] a first selection strategy, where the first selection strategy is used to instruct selection of a terminal whose distance from the first terminal is less than or equal to a first distance threshold;

[0083] a second selection strategy, where the second selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: selecting a terminal in a different direction from the first terminal, or selecting a terminal in multiple directions specified by the first terminal;

[0084] A third selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: the number of selected terminals, the number of selected terminals being less than or equal to a first number threshold and / or greater than or equal to a second number threshold.

[0085] Optionally, if the terminal selection strategy includes at least two selection strategies, the at least two selection strategies may have priority distinctions. For example, the terminal selection strategy includes a first selection strategy and a third selection strategy, and the priority of the first selection strategy is higher than the priority of the third selection strategy. In this case, when the first terminal performs terminal selection, it needs to first satisfy the first selection strategy and then satisfy the third selection strategy.

[0086] In the embodiment of the present application, after selecting at least one terminal from the multiple terminals, the first terminal sends a first request reply message to the third-party terminal, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0087] In some embodiments, the first request reply message further includes first indication information and / or connection parameters of the at least one terminal, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first terminal can serve as a relay terminal, and the connection parameters of the at least one terminal being used for relay communication between the third-party terminal and the at least one terminal. Optionally, the first request reply message further includes a relay service code (RSC), the RSC being used to identify the connection service provided by the relay terminal (i.e., the first terminal).

[0088] Here, since the first terminal has established a connection with the third-party terminal and the multiple terminals, if the first terminal has the ability to act as a relay terminal and has been authorized to act as a relay terminal, the first terminal can include first indication information and / or connection parameters of the at least one terminal in the first request reply message. The first indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal can act as a relay terminal, and the connection parameters of the at least one terminal are used for relay communication between the third-party terminal and the at least one terminal.

[0089] Here, the connection parameters of the at least one terminal may include at least one of the following: a user information identifier (User Info ID) and a layer 2 identifier (Layer-2 ID). Here, the User Info ID and Layer-2 ID are used to ensure that the third-party terminal can know the relevant information of the target terminal to which the connection is to be established.

[0090] It should be noted that the information of RSC, User info ID and Layer-2 ID is used to let the third-party terminal know the relevant information of the relay terminal (i.e., the first terminal) and the target terminal (i.e., the at least one terminal), so that there is no need to perform the discovery process again and the established connection can be directly used for relay communication.

[0091] Furthermore, in some embodiments, after obtaining the identifier of the at least one terminal, the third-party terminal communicates with the at least one terminal based on the identifier of the at least one terminal (which may be relay communication through the first terminal), thereby achieving joint reasoning. Taking Figure 1 as an example, after obtaining the UE identifiers of other UEs (such as UE2, UE3, and UE4) near UE1, the third-party UE communicates with the other UEs, thereby collecting information from different directions of UE1 and obtaining richer and more accurate information about UE1.

[0092] Solution 2: The first node is a first core network element, and the second node is a third-party server.

[0093] The second node sends a first request message to the first node, which means that the third-party server sends a first request message to the first core network network element; the first node receives the first request message sent by the second node, which means that the first core network network element receives the first request message sent by the third-party server.

[0094] The first node sending the first request reply message to the second node means that the first core network element sends the first request reply message to the third-party server. The second node receiving the first request reply message sent by the first node means that the third-party server receives the first request reply message sent by the first core network element.

[0095] In some embodiments, after the first core network network element receives the first request message sent by the third-party server, the first core network network element determines the Ranging service requirement information based on the first request message; the first core network network element directly or indirectly sends a Ranging request message to the first terminal, and the Ranging request message includes the Ranging service requirement information; the Ranging service request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals, and obtain the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; the first core network network element directly or indirectly receives a Ranging request reply message sent by the first terminal, and the Ranging request reply message includes the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0096] Optionally, the first request message further includes first identification information and / or second identification information, and the Ranging request message further includes first identification information and / or second identification information; wherein, the first identification information is used to identify that the reference terminal for executing the Ranging process is the first terminal; and the second identification information is used to identify that the target terminal for executing the Ranging process is the multiple terminals. As an implementation method, the first identification information is the terminal identification of the first terminal. As an implementation method, the second identification information includes the terminal identifications of the multiple terminals; or, the second identification information is the group identification corresponding to the multiple terminals. Here, the multiple terminals identified by the second identification information have target applications.

[0097] Here, optionally, the Ranging service requirement information includes at least one of the following: a measured distance, a measured direction, and a measured accuracy.

[0098] Here, optionally, the Ranging result includes at least one of the following: a distance of the terminal relative to the first terminal, and a direction of the terminal relative to the first terminal.

[0099] Here, the multiple terminals may include 2 terminals or more terminals. Taking the second terminal among the multiple terminals as an example, when the first terminal performs the Ranging process for the second terminal, the first terminal serves as the reference terminal and the second terminal serves as the target terminal. The first terminal measures the reference signal of the second terminal and calculates the distance of the second terminal relative to the first terminal and / or the direction of the second terminal relative to the first terminal (i.e., the Ranging result corresponding to the second terminal) based on the measurement data of the reference signal. Similarly, the first terminal performs the Ranging process for multiple terminals and can obtain the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0100] In the above solution, the first core network element indirectly sending a Ranging Request message to the first terminal includes: the first core network element sending the Ranging Request message to the first terminal via forwarding by a second core network element; and the first core network element indirectly receiving a Ranging Request Reply message sent by the first terminal includes: the first core network element receiving the Ranging Request Reply message from the first terminal forwarded by the second core network element. Here, as an example, the second core network element may be an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

[0101] In the embodiment of the present application, after the first core network element obtains the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals, it selects at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy.

[0102] In some embodiments, the terminal selection strategy includes at least one of the following:

[0103] a first selection strategy, where the first selection strategy is used to instruct selection of a terminal whose distance from the first terminal is less than or equal to a first distance threshold;

[0104] a second selection strategy, where the second selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: selecting a terminal in a different direction from the first terminal, or selecting a terminal in multiple directions specified by the first terminal;

[0105] A third selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: the number of selected terminals, the number of selected terminals being less than or equal to a first number threshold and / or greater than or equal to a second number threshold.

[0106] Optionally, if the terminal selection strategy includes at least two selection strategies, the at least two selection strategies may have priority distinctions. For example, the terminal selection strategy includes a first selection strategy and a third selection strategy, and the priority of the first selection strategy is higher than the priority of the third selection strategy. In this case, when the first terminal performs terminal selection, it needs to first satisfy the first selection strategy and then satisfy the third selection strategy.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present application, after the first core network element selects at least one terminal from the multiple terminals, it sends a first request reply message to the third-party server, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0108] It should be noted that the interaction between the third-party server and the first core network element in the above solution is achieved through the application function (AF) corresponding to the third-party server. That is, the interaction between the third-party server and the first core network element can be understood as the interaction between the AF corresponding to the third-party server and the first core network element. Therefore, the description of "third-party server" in the above solution can also be replaced by "AF corresponding to the third-party server, or simply referred to as AF."

[0109] Furthermore, in some implementations, after obtaining the identification of the at least one terminal, the third-party server communicates with the at least one terminal according to the identification of the at least one terminal, thereby achieving joint reasoning.

[0110] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application realizes terminal selection based on Ranging. By introducing a new terminal selection strategy, the third-party terminal or third-party server (i.e., the requester) can send the terminal selection strategy to the first terminal or the first core network element (i.e., the replyer). The first terminal or the first core network element generates Ranging service demand information based on the terminal selection strategy, and guides the first terminal to perform the Ranging process for multiple terminals to obtain the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; the first terminal or the first core network element selects at least one terminal based on the terminal selection strategy and the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals, and sends the terminal identifier of the selected at least one terminal to the third-party terminal or the third-party server. In this way, a large amount of signaling interaction between the requester and the replyer can be avoided. The replyer only needs to reply with the terminal identifier, and does not need to reply with the specific Ranging result, which reduces the amount of interactive data and protects the security of the Ranging result. By implementing the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, the Ranging technical means can be used to realize the needs in the joint reasoning scenario, reflecting the auxiliary role of the 3GPP system in supporting the joint reasoning service and promoting the efficient execution of the joint reasoning service.

[0111] The following is an example of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, which is illustrated with reference to specific application examples. In the following application examples, the first request message is described as a terminal selection request message, and the first request reply message is described as a terminal selection request reply message. Of course, these names are only used for illustration and do not limit the solution of the present application.

[0112] Application Example 1

[0113] This application example describes the complete process of a third-party terminal selecting other terminals located near terminal 1 and in different directions. It generally includes the following two stages:

[0114] Phase 1: The third-party terminal sends a terminal selection request message to terminal 1, which includes a terminal selection policy. After receiving the terminal selection request message, terminal 1 maps it to Ranging service requirement information, performs the Ranging process with the surrounding terminals based on the Ranging service requirement information, and obtains the Ranging results corresponding to the surrounding terminals (such as the position and / or direction of the surrounding terminals relative to terminal 1). Terminal 1 selects at least one terminal based on the terminal selection policy and the Ranging results corresponding to the surrounding terminals, and feeds back the terminal identifier of the at least one selected terminal to the third-party terminal via a terminal selection request reply message. In addition, since terminal 1 has established a connection with the surrounding terminals during the Ranging process, terminal 1 can also carry an indication information in the terminal selection request reply message to the third-party terminal to indicate that it can serve as a relay terminal, and can also carry RSC to identify the relay connection service it provides, and can also carry connection parameters of the surrounding terminals (such as User Info ID and Layer-2 ID) to help the third-party terminal communicate with the surrounding terminals.

[0115] Phase 2: The third-party terminal performs relay communication with at least one selected terminal through terminal 1 and collects information of UE1 from the at least one terminal.

[0116] Figure 6 shows the specific process of this application example, which includes the following steps:

[0117] Step 601: Terminal 1 broadcasts a discovery message, which includes Ranging service indication information and Ranging information open.

[0118] Here, if there is no connection between the third-party terminal and terminal 1, terminal 1 can periodically broadcast a discovery message, which includes Ranging service indication information (i.e., the second indication information in the above scheme) to indicate that terminal 1 supports Ranging. Optionally, the discovery message can also include Ranging information open (i.e., the first parameter in the above scheme), which includes a series of terminal identifiers (i.e., a terminal identifier list) to indicate a series of terminals (i.e., a terminal list) that terminal 1 can execute the Ranging process.

[0119] Step 602: The third-party terminal receives the discovery message, selects terminal 1 and establishes a connection with terminal 1.

[0120] Here, the connection established between the third-party terminal and terminal 1 is a direct communication link.

[0121] Step 603: The third-party terminal sends a terminal selection request message to terminal 1. The terminal selection request message includes a terminal selection policy and an application identifier.

[0122] Here, the terminal selection request message may be a new message or a Ranging request message.

[0123] The terminal selection request message includes a terminal selection policy, where the terminal selection policy includes at least one of the following:

[0124] A first selection strategy, where the first selection strategy is used to indicate selection of a terminal whose distance from terminal 1 is less than or equal to a first distance threshold;

[0125] A second selection strategy, wherein the second selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: selecting terminals in different directions from the terminal 1, and selecting terminals in multiple directions specified by the terminal 1;

[0126] A third selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: the number of selected terminals, the number of selected terminals being less than or equal to a first number threshold and / or greater than or equal to a second number threshold.

[0127] Optionally, the terminal selection request message further includes an application identifier, that is, an application identifier corresponding to an application possessed by the third-party terminal.

[0128] Step 604: Terminal 1 broadcasts a discovery message including an application identifier; a terminal matching the application identifier in the discovery message returns a response message, and then Terminal 1 establishes a connection with the matching terminal.

[0129] Here, after receiving the terminal selection request message, terminal 1 maps it to Ranging service requirement information (such as the measured distance, measured direction, and measured accuracy). In order to execute the Ranging process, terminal 1 first selects a terminal that has the same application as the third-party terminal based on the application identifier to ensure that the data collected or the inference results of the selected terminal can be used by the third-party terminal. To this end, terminal 1 broadcasts a discovery message, which includes an application identifier; the terminal that matches the application identifier in the discovery message returns a response message, and then terminal 1 establishes a connection with the matching terminal. For example: if terminals 2, 3, and 4 have the same application, terminal 1 establishes a connection with terminals 2, 3, and 4.

[0130] Here, the application identifier may be at least one of App ID, model ID, and Prose Application code.

[0131] Step 605: Terminal 1 performs a Ranging process with the terminal to which the connection is established, and obtains measurement data of each terminal.

[0132] Here, assuming that terminal 1 establishes connections with terminals 2, 3, and 4 in step 604, terminal 1 executes Ranging processes with terminals 2, 3, and 4 respectively to obtain measurement data corresponding to terminals 2, 3, and 4 (such as measurement data of reference signals of terminals 2, 3, and 4).

[0133] Here, terminal 1 establishes a connected terminal and executes a Ranging process according to the Ranging service requirement information.

[0134] Step 606: Terminal 1 calculates the Ranging result corresponding to each terminal based on the measurement data of each terminal, and selects at least one terminal in combination with the terminal selection strategy.

[0135] Here, assuming that in step 605, terminal 1 obtains measurement data corresponding to terminals 2, 3, and 4, respectively, terminal 1 calculates the Ranging results corresponding to terminals 2, 3, and 4, respectively, based on the measurement data (e.g., the distances and / or directions of terminals 2, 3, and 4 relative to terminal 1). Terminal 1 selects terminal 3 or 4 based on the terminal selection policy and the Ranging results corresponding to terminals 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

[0136] Step 607: Terminal 1 sends a terminal selection request reply message to the third-party terminal. The terminal selection request reply message includes the terminal identifier of the selected at least one terminal.

[0137] Here, assuming that terminal 1 selects terminal 3 or 4 in step 606 , terminal 1 carries the terminal identifiers of terminals 3 and 4 in the terminal selection request reply message.

[0138] Here, because terminal 1 has already established a connection with the selected terminal (such as terminal 3 or 4), if terminal 1 has the ability to act as a relay terminal and has been authorized to act as a relay terminal, terminal 1 can carry relay indication information (i.e., the first indication information in the above scheme) in the terminal selection request reply message, which is used to indicate that terminal 1 can act as a relay terminal to help the third-party terminal collect data from the selected terminal (such as terminal 3 or 4). In addition, the terminal selection request reply message can also include RSC and connection parameters of terminal 3 or 4 (such as User Info ID and layer-2 ID), thereby ensuring that the third-party terminal does not need to perform the relay terminal discovery process and can directly use the established link to relay communication with terminal 3 or 4.

[0139] Step 608: The third-party terminal communicates with the selected terminal through terminal 1.

[0140] Here, the third-party terminal uses the link modification process to establish connections through terminal 1 and terminals 3 and 4 respectively according to the terminal identifications, relay indication information and connection parameters of terminals 3 and 4 selected in step 607.

[0141] Optionally, in addition to the terminal identification of at least one terminal, the application layer of the third-party terminal can also combine other application information, such as the computing power, power and other non-communication layer information of terminals 3 and 4, to finally determine the selected terminal. For example, the third-party terminal finally determines to select terminals 3 and 4 for joint reasoning.

[0142] Through the above application example, the third-party terminal sends the terminal selection policy to terminal 1, thereby ensuring that terminal 1 provides the terminal identifier that meets the terminal selection policy to the third-party terminal without providing the Ranging result to the third-party terminal, which saves signaling overhead. At the same time, because a large number of Ranging results are not opened to the third party, security is guaranteed.

[0143] Application Example 2

[0144] The third-party terminal shown in the joint inference scenario in Figure 1 can also be a third-party server. To accurately identify terminal 1, the third-party server needs to select other terminals around terminal 1 to collect data. Therefore, in this application example, the third-party server will need the help of the core network to perform terminal selection. This generally involves the following two stages:

[0145] Phase 1: The third-party server first sends a terminal selection request message to the first core network element through the AF. The terminal selection request message includes a terminal selection policy, a reference terminal identifier (i.e., the terminal identifier of terminal 1), and other terminal identifiers. The other terminal identifiers can be a series of terminal identifiers of other terminals surrounding terminal 1, or a group identifier corresponding to other terminals surrounding terminal 1. The third-party server provides the other terminal identifiers to ensure that these terminals are capable of applications requiring joint reasoning. After receiving the terminal selection request message, the first core network element maps it into Ranging service requirement information. The first core network element sends the Ranging request message to the AMF serving terminal 1. The Ranging request message includes the Ranging service requirement information, the reference terminal identifier, and other terminal identifiers. The AMF sends the Ranging request message to terminal 1 via a non-access stratum (NAS) message. Terminal 1 establishes connections with other terminals based on the other terminal identifiers, executes the Ranging process with these terminals based on the Ranging service requirement information, and obtains the Ranging results corresponding to the other terminals (e.g., the location and / or orientation of the other terminals relative to terminal 1). UE1 sends the Ranging result to the AMF, which then sends the Ranging result to the first core network element. The first core network element selects at least one terminal based on the terminal selection policy and the Ranging result, and feeds the terminal identifier of the selected at least one terminal back to the AF via a terminal selection request reply message, which then feeds back to the third-party server.

[0146] Phase 2: The third-party server communicates with at least one selected terminal and collects information of UE1 from the at least one terminal.

[0147] FIG7 shows the specific process of this application example (the third-party server is omitted in FIG7 . The third-party server interacts with the core network through the AF. The operations performed by the AF can be understood as operations performed by the third-party server). The process includes the following steps:

[0148] Step 701: The AF sends a terminal selection request message to the first core network element. The terminal selection request message includes a terminal selection policy, a reference terminal identifier (ie, the terminal identifier of terminal 1), and other terminal identifiers.

[0149] Here, the other terminal identifiers may be a series of terminal identifiers of other terminals around terminal 1, or a group identifier corresponding to other terminals around terminal 1. AF provides other terminal identifiers to ensure that these terminals have applications required for joint reasoning.

[0150] The terminal selection request message includes a terminal selection policy, where the terminal selection policy includes at least one of the following:

[0151] A first selection strategy, where the first selection strategy is used to indicate selection of a terminal whose distance from terminal 1 is less than or equal to a first distance threshold;

[0152] A second selection strategy, wherein the second selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: selecting terminals in different directions from the terminal 1, and selecting terminals in multiple directions specified by the terminal 1;

[0153] A third selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: the number of selected terminals, the number of selected terminals being less than or equal to a first number threshold and / or greater than or equal to a second number threshold.

[0154] Step 702: The first core network element maps the terminal selection policy to Ranging service requirement information.

[0155] Here, after receiving the terminal selection request message, the first core network element maps it into Ranging service requirement information (such as measured distance, measured direction, and measurement accuracy).

[0156] Step 703: The first core network element sends a Ranging request message to the AMF serving terminal 1. The Ranging request message includes Ranging service requirement information, a reference terminal identifier (i.e., the terminal identifier of terminal 1), and other terminal identifiers.

[0157] Here, the Ranging service requirement information includes the measured distance, the measured direction, the measured accuracy, and the like.

[0158] Step 704: The AMF sends a Ranging request message to Terminal 1 via a NAS message. The Ranging request message includes Ranging service requirement information, a reference terminal identifier (i.e., the terminal identifier of Terminal 1), and other terminal identifiers.

[0159] Here, the Ranging service requirement information includes the measured distance, the measured direction, the measured accuracy, and the like.

[0160] Step 705: Terminal 1 establishes connections with other terminals respectively, and executes the Ranging process to obtain Ranging results corresponding to other terminals.

[0161] Step 706: Terminal 1 sends a Ranging Request Reply message to the AMF. The Ranging Request Reply message includes the Ranging results corresponding to other terminals and the corresponding terminal identifiers.

[0162] Step 707: The AMF sends a Ranging request reply message to the first core network element. The Ranging request reply message includes the Ranging results corresponding to other terminals and the corresponding terminal identifiers.

[0163] Step 708: The first core network element selects at least one terminal based on the terminal selection policy and the Ranging result.

[0164] Step 709: The first core network element sends a terminal selection request reply message to the AF. The terminal selection request reply message includes the terminal identifier of the selected at least one terminal.

[0165] The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to the specific details in the above embodiments. Within the technical concept of the present application, the technical solution of the present application can be subjected to a variety of simple modifications, and these simple modifications all fall within the scope of protection of the present application. For example, the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present application will no longer describe the various possible combinations separately. For another example, the various different embodiments of the present application can also be arbitrarily combined, as long as they do not violate the idea of ​​the present application, they should also be regarded as the contents disclosed in the present application. For another example, under the premise of no conflict, the various embodiments and / or the technical features in each embodiment described in the present application can be arbitrarily combined with the prior art, and the technical solution obtained after the combination should also fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0166] It should also be understood that in the various method embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not imply a precedence in the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms "downlink," "uplink," and "sidelink" are used to indicate the transmission direction of signals or data, where "downlink" is used to indicate the first direction of transmission of signals or data from a site to a user equipment in a cell, "uplink" is used to indicate the second direction of transmission of signals or data from a user equipment in a cell to a site, and "sidelink" is used to indicate the third direction of transmission of signals or data from user equipment 1 to user equipment 2. For example, "downlink signal" indicates that the transmission direction of the signal is the first direction. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. Specifically, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0167] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the first structure of a terminal selection apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a first node. As shown in FIG8 , the terminal selection apparatus includes:

[0168] The communication unit 801 is configured to receive a first request message sent by a second node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; the first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals;

[0169] A selecting unit 802 is configured to select at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy;

[0170] The communication unit 801 is further configured to send a first request reply message to the second node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0171] In some embodiments, the terminal selection strategy includes at least one of the following:

[0172] a first selection strategy, where the first selection strategy is used to instruct selection of a terminal whose distance from the first terminal is less than or equal to a first distance threshold;

[0173] a second selection strategy, where the second selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: selecting a terminal in a different direction from the first terminal, or selecting a terminal in multiple directions specified by the first terminal;

[0174] A third selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: the number of selected terminals, the number of selected terminals being less than or equal to a first number threshold and / or greater than or equal to a second number threshold.

[0175] In some embodiments, the first node is the first terminal, and the second node is a third-party terminal;

[0176] The communication unit 801 is configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party terminal; and send a first request reply message to the third-party terminal.

[0177] In some implementations, the apparatus further includes: a determining unit 803, configured to determine Ranging service requirement information based on the first request message;

[0178] The communication unit 801 is configured to execute a Ranging process for multiple terminals based on the Ranging service requirement information, and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0179] In some embodiments, the first request message also includes an application identifier; the determination unit 803 is used to determine multiple terminals having a target application based on the application identifier, and the application identifier is used to identify the target application; the communication unit 801 is used to establish connections with the multiple terminals.

[0180] In some embodiments, the communication unit 801 is used to broadcast a first discovery message, which includes the application identifier; the determination unit 803 is used to determine multiple terminals having the target application based on the first response message received by the communication unit 801; wherein the first response message is sent by the terminal having the target application identified by the application identifier after receiving the first discovery message.

[0181] In some embodiments, the first request reply message also includes first indication information and / or connection parameters of the at least one terminal, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal can serve as a relay terminal, and the connection parameters of the at least one terminal are used for relay communication between the third-party terminal and the at least one terminal.

[0182] In some implementations, the communication unit 801 is configured to establish a connection with the third-party terminal.

[0183] In some embodiments, the communication unit 801 is used to broadcast a second discovery message, the second discovery message includes second indication information and / or a first parameter; the second indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal supports Ranging; the first parameter includes a terminal identification list, which is used to indicate a list of terminals that the first terminal can perform the Ranging process; and accept the connection establishment requested by the third-party terminal based on the second discovery message.

[0184] In some embodiments, the first node is a first core network element, and the second node is a third-party server;

[0185] The communication unit 801 is configured to receive a first request message sent by a third-party server; and send a first request reply message to the third-party server.

[0186] In some implementations, the determining unit 803 is configured to determine Ranging service requirement information based on the first request message;

[0187] The communication unit 801 is used to directly or indirectly send a Ranging request message to the first terminal, where the Ranging request message includes the Ranging service requirement information; the Ranging service request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; and directly or indirectly receive a Ranging request reply message sent by the first terminal, where the Ranging request reply message includes the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0188] In some implementations, the communication unit 801 is configured to send a Ranging request message to the first terminal via forwarding by a second core network element; and receive a Ranging request reply message from the first terminal forwarded by the second core network element.

[0189] In some embodiments, the first request message also includes first identification information and / or second identification information, and the Ranging request message also includes first identification information and / or second identification information; the first identification information is used to identify the reference terminal for executing the Ranging process as the first terminal; the second identification information is used to identify the target terminal for executing the Ranging process as the multiple terminals.

[0190] In some implementations, the first identification information is a terminal identification of the first terminal.

[0191] In some implementations, the second identification information includes terminal identifications of the multiple terminals; or, the second identification information is a group identification corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0192] In some implementations, the multiple terminals identified by the second identification information have a target application.

[0193] In some implementations, the Ranging service requirement information includes at least one of the following: a measured distance, a measured direction, and a measured accuracy.

[0194] In some implementations, the Ranging result includes at least one of the following: a distance of the terminal relative to the first terminal, and a direction of the terminal relative to the first terminal.

[0195] Those skilled in the art should understand that the relevant description of the terminal selection device in the embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to the relevant description of the terminal selection method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0196] FIG9 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of the apparatus for terminal selection provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to the second node. As shown in FIG9 , the apparatus for terminal selection includes:

[0197] Communication unit 901 is used to send a first request message to a first node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection strategy; the first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; the terminal selection strategy is used by the first node to select at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; and receive a first request reply message sent by the first node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

[0198] In some embodiments, the terminal selection strategy includes at least one of the following:

[0199] a first selection strategy, where the first selection strategy is used to instruct selection of a terminal whose distance from the first terminal is less than or equal to a first distance threshold;

[0200] a second selection strategy, where the second selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: selecting a terminal in a different direction from the first terminal, or selecting a terminal in multiple directions specified by the first terminal;

[0201] A third selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: the number of selected terminals, the number of selected terminals being less than or equal to a first number threshold and / or greater than or equal to a second number threshold.

[0202] In some embodiments, the first node is the first terminal, and the second node is a third-party terminal;

[0203] The communication unit 901 is configured to send a first request message to the first terminal; and receive a first request reply message sent by the first terminal.

[0204] In some implementations, the first request message further includes an application identifier, where the application identifier is used by the first terminal to determine multiple terminals having a target application, and the application identifier is used to identify the target application.

[0205] In some embodiments, the first request reply message also includes first indication information and / or connection parameters of the at least one terminal, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal can serve as a relay terminal, and the connection parameters of the at least one terminal are used for relay communication between the third-party terminal and the at least one terminal.

[0206] In some implementations, the communication unit 901 is configured to establish a connection with the first terminal.

[0207] In some embodiments, the communication unit 901 is used to receive a second discovery message broadcast by the first terminal, the second discovery message including second indication information and / or first parameters; the second indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal supports Ranging; the first parameter includes a terminal identification list, which is used to indicate a list of terminals that the first terminal can perform the Ranging process; based on the second discovery message, the first terminal is selected and a connection with the first terminal is requested.

[0208] In some embodiments, the first node is a first core network element, and the second node is a third-party server;

[0209] The communication unit 901 is configured to send a first request message to the first core network element; and receive a first request reply message sent by the first core network element.

[0210] In some embodiments, the first request message also includes first identification information and / or second identification information; the first identification information is used to identify the reference terminal for executing the Ranging process as the first terminal; the second identification information is used to identify the target terminal for executing the Ranging process as the multiple terminals.

[0211] In some implementations, the first identification information is a terminal identification of the first terminal.

[0212] In some implementations, the second identification information includes terminal identifications of the multiple terminals; or, the second identification information is a group identification corresponding to the multiple terminals.

[0213] In some implementations, the multiple terminals identified by the second identification information have a target application.

[0214] In some implementations, the Ranging result includes at least one of the following: a distance of the terminal relative to the first terminal, and a direction of the terminal relative to the first terminal.

[0215] Those skilled in the art should understand that the relevant description of the terminal selection device in the embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to the relevant description of the terminal selection method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0216] Figure 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be a first node or a second node. The communication device 1000 shown in Figure 10 includes a processor 1010, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0217] Optionally, as shown in FIG10 , the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1020. The processor 1010 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1020 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0218] The memory 1020 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1010 , or may be integrated into the processor 1010 .

[0219] Optionally, as shown in FIG10 , the communication device 1000 may further include a transceiver 1030 , and the processor 1010 may control the transceiver 1030 to communicate with other devices, specifically, to send information or data to other devices, or to receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0220] The transceiver 1030 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1030 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0221] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may specifically be the first node of the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1000 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the first node in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0222] Optionally, the communication device 1000 may specifically be the second node of the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1800 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the second node in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0223] Figure 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1100 shown in Figure 11 includes a processor 1110, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0224] Optionally, as shown in FIG11 , the chip 1100 may further include a memory 1120. The processor 1110 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1120 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0225] The memory 1120 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1110 , or may be integrated into the processor 1110 .

[0226] Optionally, the chip 1100 may further include an input interface 1130. The processor 1110 may control the input interface 1130 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0227] Optionally, the chip 1100 may further include an output interface 1140. The processor 1110 may control the output interface 1140 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0228] Optionally, the chip can be applied to the first node in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the first node in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0229] Optionally, the chip can be applied to the second node in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the second node in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0230] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0231] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or software instructions. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0232] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0233] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0234] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program.

[0235] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the first node in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the first node in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0236] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the second node in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the second node in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0237] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions.

[0238] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the first node in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the first node in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0239] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the second node in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the second node in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0240] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program.

[0241] Optionally, the computer program can be applied to the first node in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the first node in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0242] Optionally, the computer program can be applied to the second node in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the second node in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0243] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0244] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0245] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0246] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0247] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0248] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0249] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for terminal selection, the method comprising: The first node receives a first request message sent by the second node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; The first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a ranging and / or angle measurement Ranging process for multiple terminals, and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; The first node selects at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy; The first node sends a first request reply message to the second node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The terminal selection strategy includes at least one of the following: a first selection strategy, where the first selection strategy is used to instruct selection of a terminal whose distance from the first terminal is less than or equal to a first distance threshold; a second selection strategy, where the second selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: selecting a terminal in a different direction from the first terminal, or selecting a terminal in multiple directions specified by the first terminal; A third selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: the number of selected terminals, the number of selected terminals being less than or equal to a first number threshold and / or greater than or equal to a second number threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first node is the first terminal, and the second node is a third-party terminal; The first node receiving the first request message sent by the second node means that the first terminal receives the first request message sent by the third-party terminal; The first node sending the first request reply message to the second node means that the first terminal sends the first request reply message to the third-party terminal.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: After the first terminal receives the first request message sent by the third-party terminal, the method further includes: The first terminal determines Ranging service requirement information based on the first request message; The first terminal performs a Ranging process for multiple terminals based on the Ranging service requirement information, and obtains Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The first request message also includes an application identifier; before the first terminal performs a Ranging process for multiple terminals based on the Ranging service requirement information, the method further includes: The first terminal determines, based on the application identifier, a plurality of terminals having a target application, where the application identifier is used to identify the target application; The first terminal establishes connections with the multiple terminals.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The first terminal determines, based on the application identifier, a plurality of terminals having the target application, including: The first terminal broadcasts a first discovery message, where the first discovery message includes the application identifier; The first terminal determines a plurality of terminals having the target application based on the received first response message; wherein the first response message is sent by the terminal having the target application identified by the application identifier after receiving the first discovery message.

7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein The first request reply message also includes first indication information and / or connection parameters of the at least one terminal, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal can serve as a relay terminal, and the connection parameters of the at least one terminal are used for relay communication between the third-party terminal and the at least one terminal.

8. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein Before the first terminal receives the first request message sent by the third-party terminal, the method further includes: The first terminal establishes a connection with the third-party terminal.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The first terminal establishing a connection with the third-party terminal includes: The first terminal broadcasts a second discovery message, where the second discovery message includes second indication information and / or a first parameter; the second indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal supports Ranging; the first parameter includes a terminal identification list, which is used to indicate a list of terminals on which the first terminal can perform a Ranging process; The first terminal accepts the connection establishment requested by the third-party terminal based on the second discovery message.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first node is a first core network element, and the second node is a third-party server; The first node receiving the first request message sent by the second node means that the first core network element receives the first request message sent by the third-party server; The first node sending the first request reply message to the second node means that the first core network element sends the first request reply message to the third-party server.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: After the first core network element receives the first request message sent by the third-party server, the method further includes: The first core network element determines Ranging service requirement information based on the first request message; The first core network element directly or indirectly sends a Ranging request message to the first terminal, where the Ranging request message includes the Ranging service requirement information; the Ranging service request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; The first core network element directly or indirectly receives a Ranging request reply message sent by the first terminal, where the Ranging request reply message includes Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The first core network element indirectly sending a Ranging request message to the first terminal includes: the first core network element sending a Ranging request message to the first terminal via forwarding by a second core network element; The first core network network element indirectly receives the Ranging request reply message sent by the first terminal, including: the first core network network element receives the Ranging request reply message from the first terminal forwarded by the second core network network element.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein: The first request message further includes first identification information and / or second identification information, and the Ranging request message further includes first identification information and / or second identification information; The first identification information is used to identify the reference terminal for performing the Ranging process as the first terminal; The second identification information is used to identify that the target terminals for executing the Ranging process are the multiple terminals.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The first identification information is the terminal identification of the first terminal.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein The second identification information includes terminal identifications of the multiple terminals; or, The second identification information is a group identification corresponding to the multiple terminals.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein The multiple terminals identified by the second identification information have a target application.

17. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6 and 11 to 16, wherein The Ranging service requirement information includes at least one of the following: a measured distance, a measured direction, and a measured accuracy.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein The Ranging result includes at least one of the following: a distance of the terminal relative to the first terminal, and a direction of the terminal relative to the first terminal.

19. A method for terminal selection, the method comprising: The second node sends a first request message to the first node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; The first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals, and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; The terminal selection strategy is used by the first node to select at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; The second node receives a first request reply message sent by the first node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The terminal selection strategy includes at least one of the following: a first selection strategy, where the first selection strategy is used to instruct selection of a terminal whose distance from the first terminal is less than or equal to a first distance threshold; a second selection strategy, where the second selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: selecting a terminal in a different direction from the first terminal, or selecting a terminal in multiple directions specified by the first terminal; A third selection strategy is used to indicate at least one of the following: the number of selected terminals, the number of selected terminals being less than or equal to a first number threshold and / or greater than or equal to a second number threshold.

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20, wherein The first node is the first terminal, and the second node is a third-party terminal; The second node sending the first request message to the first node means that the third-party terminal sends the first request message to the first terminal; The second node receiving the first request reply message sent by the first node means that the third-party terminal receives the first request reply message sent by the first terminal.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The first request message further includes an application identifier, which is used by the first terminal to determine multiple terminals having a target application, and is used to identify the target application.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein The first request reply message also includes first indication information and / or connection parameters of the at least one terminal, the first indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal can serve as a relay terminal, and the connection parameters of the at least one terminal are used for relay communication between the third-party terminal and the at least one terminal.

24. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 23, wherein Before the third-party terminal sends the first request message to the first terminal, the method further includes: The third-party terminal establishes a connection with the first terminal.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein The third-party terminal establishing a connection with the first terminal includes: The third-party terminal receives a second discovery message broadcast by the first terminal, where the second discovery message includes second indication information and / or a first parameter; the second indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal supports Ranging; and the first parameter includes a terminal identification list, which is used to indicate a list of terminals on which the first terminal can perform a Ranging process; The third-party terminal selects the first terminal based on the second discovery message and requests to establish a connection with the first terminal.

26. The method according to claim 19 or 20, wherein The first node is a first core network element, and the second node is a third-party server; The second node sending the first request message to the first node means that the third-party server sends the first request message to the first core network element; The second node receiving the first request reply message sent by the first node means that the third-party server receives the first request reply message sent by the first core network network element.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein The first request message further includes first identification information and / or second identification information; The first identification information is used to identify the reference terminal for performing the Ranging process as the first terminal; The second identification information is used to identify that the target terminals for executing the Ranging process are the multiple terminals.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein The first identification information is the terminal identification of the first terminal.

29. The method according to claim 27, wherein The second identification information includes terminal identifications of the multiple terminals; or, The second identification information is a group identification corresponding to the multiple terminals.

30. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 29, wherein The multiple terminals identified by the second identification information have a target application.

31. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 30, wherein The Ranging result includes at least one of the following: a distance of the terminal relative to the first terminal, and a direction of the terminal relative to the first terminal.

32. A terminal selection device, applied to a first node, comprising: A communication unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by a second node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; The first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals, and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; A selection unit, configured to select at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals and the terminal selection policy; The communication unit is further configured to send a first request reply message to the second node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

33. A terminal selection device, applied to a second node, comprising: A communication unit, configured to send a first request message to the first node, where the first request message includes a terminal selection policy; The first request message is used to trigger the first terminal to perform a Ranging process for multiple terminals, and obtain Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; The terminal selection strategy is used by the first node to select at least one terminal from the multiple terminals based on the Ranging results corresponding to the multiple terminals; and receive a first request reply message sent by the first node, where the first request reply message includes a terminal identifier of the at least one terminal.

34. A communication device comprising: A processor and a memory, the memory being used to store a computer program, the processor being used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, or the method according to any one of claims 19 to 31.

35. A chip comprising: A processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, or the method according to any one of claims 19 to 31.

36. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, or the method according to any one of claims 19 to 31.

37. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions, the computer program instructions causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18, or the method according to any one of claims 19 to 31.

38. A computer program, the computer program causing a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 18, or any one of claims 19 to 31.

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