Node in wireless communication system and method performed by same

Abstract

A node in a wireless communication system and a method performed by the same are provided. The method includes: receiving a first message from a second node, the first message including first state information related to a state of the second node; and transmitting a second message to the third node through the direct path, the second message including second state information for determining whether a failure occurs in an indirect path, the second state information being obtained based on the first state information, the indirect path being a transmission path served by the second node between the first node and the third node, the direct path is a relay-free path between the first node and the third node.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of wireless communications, and more particularly to a node in a wireless communication system and a method executed by the node. Background Art

[0002] In order to meet the increased demand for wireless data communication services since the deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop improved 5G or quasi-5G communication systems. Therefore, 5G or quasi-5G communication systems are also referred to as "super 4G networks" or "post-LTE systems."

[0003] Wireless communication is one of the most successful innovations in modern history. The number of subscribers to wireless communication services recently exceeded 5 billion and continues to grow rapidly. The demand for wireless data services is growing rapidly due to the increasing popularity of smartphones and other mobile data devices (e.g., tablets, laptops, netbooks, e-book readers, and machine-type devices) among consumers and enterprises. In order to meet the high growth of mobile data services and support new applications and deployments, it is critical to improve the efficiency and coverage of the wireless interface. Summary of the invention

[0004] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a first node in a wireless communication system is disclosed, comprising: receiving a first message from a second node, the first message including first status information related to the status of the second node; and sending a second message to a third node via a direct path, the second message including second status information for determining whether an indirect path fails, the second status information being obtained based on the first status information, wherein the indirect path is a transmission path between the first node and the third node served by the second node, and the direct path is a path between the first node and the third node that does not require relaying.

[0005] In some embodiments, the first status information includes at least one of the following information:

[0006] The first state indication information is used to indicate the type of state of the second node.

[0007] The first state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0008] Identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell;

[0009] identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment;

[0010] The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; and

[0011] The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

[0012] In some embodiments, the second status information includes at least one of the following information:

[0013] The second state indication information is used to indicate the type of state of the second node.

[0014] The second failure indication information indicates that the indirect path fails.

[0015] The second state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0016] Identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell;

[0017] identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment;

[0018] The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; and

[0019] The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

[0020] The indirect path failure includes at least one of an indirect path addition failure, an indirect path change failure, and an indirect path failure during multi-path service.

[0021] In some embodiments, the method further includes: after receiving the first message, performing at least one of the following: setting second state information based on the first state information; setting second state information based on the first state information when a second condition is satisfied; stopping the timer for indirect path addition or indirect path change if it is running; stopping indirect path addition; suspending indirect path addition; stopping indirect path change; suspending indirect path change; enabling the configuration for data transmission for the first node before the indirect path addition; enabling the configuration before the indirect path change; suspending the bearer transmitted via the indirect path.

[0022] In some embodiments, the first message is sent by the second node to the first node when the second node satisfies the first condition, and the first condition includes at least one of the following: conditional switching occurs, conditional switching occurs within the base station, conditional switching occurs across base stations, reconstruction failure occurs, link failure occurs, switching occurs, and the switching is a normal switching or a conditional switching, switching occurs within the base station, and the switching is a normal switching or a conditional switching, switching occurs across base stations, and the switching is a normal switching or a conditional switching, cell reselection occurs, cell reselection occurs within the base station, cell reselection occurs across base stations, connection establishment failure occurs, and connection restart failure occurs.

[0023] In some embodiments, the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0024] Direct path available,

[0025] The direct path is available, and a bearer for sending the second state information is configured on the direct path and is available,

[0026] The timer for indirect path addition or indirect path change is running,

[0027] The first node receives the first state information,

[0028] The first node receives the first status information, and the first status information indicates an indirect path addition failure or an indirect path change failure or indicates an indirect path failure during a multipath service.

[0029] The first node receives the first status information, and the first node learns, according to the first status information, that an indirect path fails to be added or that an indirect path fails to be changed, or learns that an indirect path fails during a multipath service.

[0030] The third node pre-configures indication information, and the indication information instructs the first node to send the second status information after receiving the first status information, or instructs the first node to send the second status information after knowing that an indirect path addition fails or an indirect path change fails or that an indirect path fails during multipath service.

[0031] In some embodiments, the first status indication information or the second status indication information includes at least one of the following: indication information of indirect path failure, indication information of conditional switching, indication information of conditional switching within a base station, indication information of conditional switching across base stations, indication information of reconstruction failure, indication information of link failure, indication information of switching, indication information of switching within a base station, indication information of switching across base stations, indication information of cell reselection, indication information of cell reselection within a base station, indication information of cell reselection across base stations, and indication information of connection failure.

[0032] In some embodiments, the second failure indication information includes at least one of the following: indication information of indirect path failure, information for indicating conditional switching of the second node across base stations, information for indicating reconstruction failure of the second node, information for indicating link failure of the second node, information for indicating switching of the second node across base stations, information for indicating cell reselection of the second node across base stations, and information for indicating connection failure of the second node.

[0033] In some embodiments, the second state auxiliary information also includes: information related to the candidate relay node, including identification information of the candidate relay node, identification information of the cell of the candidate relay node, measurement results of the candidate relay node by the first node, and at least one of the measurement results of the candidate relay node in the cell.

[0034] In some implementations, the method further includes: receiving a third message from a third node, where the third message is used to add an indirect path or change the indirect path for the first node.

[0035] In some implementations, when the first node cannot determine whether the indirect path fails, the second message is a status reporting message; or when the first node determines that the indirect path fails, the second message is an indirect path failure message.

[0036] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a second node in a wireless communication system is provided, comprising: receiving first configuration information from a third node, the first configuration information being used to determine whether to notify the first node of a state of the second node; and in the case of determining to notify the first node of the state of the second node, sending a first message to the first node, the first message comprising first state information related to the state of the second node, wherein the first state information is used by the first node to determine second state information, and the second state information is used by the third node to determine whether an indirect path fails, wherein the second state information is included in a second message, the second message is sent by the first node to the third node via a direct path, and wherein the indirect path is a transmission path between the first node and the third node served by the second node, and the direct path is a path between the first node and the third node that does not require relaying.

[0037] In some embodiments, the first status information includes at least one of the following information:

[0038] The first state indication information is used to indicate the type of state of the second node.

[0039] The first state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0040] Identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell;

[0041] identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment;

[0042] The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; and

[0043] The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

[0044] In some embodiments, the second status information includes at least one of the following information:

[0045] The second state indication information is used to indicate the type of state of the second node.

[0046] The second failure indication information indicates that the indirect path fails.

[0047] The second state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0048] Identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell;

[0049] identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment;

[0050] The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; and

[0051] The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

[0052] The indirect path failure includes at least one of an indirect path addition failure, an indirect path change failure, and an indirect path failure during multi-path service.

[0053] In some embodiments, the first message is sent by the second node to the first node when the second node satisfies the first condition, and the first condition includes at least one of the following: conditional switching occurs, conditional switching occurs within the base station, conditional switching occurs across base stations, reconstruction failure occurs, link failure occurs, switching occurs, and the switching is a normal switching or a conditional switching, switching occurs within the base station, and the switching is a normal switching or a conditional switching, switching occurs across base stations, and the switching is a normal switching or a conditional switching, cell reselection occurs, cell reselection occurs within the base station, cell reselection occurs across base stations, connection establishment failure occurs, and connection restart failure occurs.

[0054] In some embodiments, the first status indication information or the second status indication information includes at least one of the following: indication information of indirect path failure, indication information of conditional switching, indication information of conditional switching within a base station, indication information of conditional switching across base stations, indication information of reconstruction failure, indication information of link failure, indication information of switching, indication information of switching within a base station, indication information of switching across base stations, indication information of cell reselection, indication information of cell reselection within a base station, indication information of cell reselection across base stations, and indication information of connection failure.

[0055] In some embodiments, the second failure indication information includes at least one of the following: indication information of indirect path failure, information for indicating conditional switching of the second node across base stations, information for indicating reconstruction failure of the second node, information for indicating link failure of the second node, information for indicating switching of the second node across base stations, information for indicating cell reselection of the second node across base stations, and information for indicating connection failure of the second node.

[0056] In some embodiments, the second state auxiliary information also includes: information related to the candidate relay node, including identification information of the candidate relay node, identification information of the cell of the candidate relay node, measurement results of the candidate relay node by the first node, and at least one of the measurement results of the candidate relay node in the cell.

[0057] In some implementations, when the first node cannot determine whether the indirect path fails, the second message is a status reporting message; or when the first node determines that the indirect path fails, the second message is an indirect path failure message.

[0058] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by a third node in a wireless communication system is provided, comprising: sending first configuration information to a second node, the first configuration information being used to determine whether to notify the first node of a state of the second node; and receiving a second message from the first node via a direct path, the second message comprising second state information for determining whether an indirect path fails, the second state information being obtained based on first state information related to a state of the second node, wherein the indirect path is a transmission path between the first node and the third node served by the second node, and the direct path is a path between the first node and the third node that does not require relaying.

[0059] In some embodiments, the first status information includes at least one of the following information:

[0060] The first state indication information is used to indicate the type of state of the second node.

[0061] The first state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0062] Identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell;

[0063] identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment;

[0064] The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; and

[0065] The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

[0066] In some embodiments, the second status information includes at least one of the following information:

[0067] The second state indication information is used to indicate the type of state of the second node.

[0068] The second failure indication information indicates that the indirect path fails.

[0069] The second state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following:

[0070] Identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell;

[0071] identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment;

[0072] The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; and

[0073] The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

[0074] The indirect path failure includes at least one of an indirect path addition failure, an indirect path change failure, and an indirect path failure during multi-path service.

[0075] In some embodiments, the first status indication information or the second status indication information includes at least one of the following: indication information of indirect path failure, indication information of conditional switching, indication information of conditional switching within a base station, indication information of conditional switching across base stations, indication information of reconstruction failure, indication information of link failure, indication information of switching, indication information of switching within a base station, indication information of switching across base stations, indication information of cell reselection, indication information of cell reselection within a base station, indication information of cell reselection across base stations, and indication information of connection failure.

[0076] In some embodiments, the second failure indication information includes at least one of the following: indication information of indirect path failure, information for indicating conditional switching of the second node across base stations, information for indicating reconstruction failure of the second node, information for indicating link failure of the second node, information for indicating switching of the second node across base stations, information for indicating cell reselection of the second node across base stations, and information for indicating connection failure of the second node.

[0077] In some embodiments, the second state auxiliary information also includes: information related to the candidate relay node, including identification information of the candidate relay node, identification information of the cell of the candidate relay node, measurement results of the candidate relay node by the first node, and at least one of the measurement results of the candidate relay node in the cell.

[0078] In some implementations, the method further includes: sending a third message to the first node, where the third message is used to add an indirect path or change the indirect path for the first node.

[0079] In some implementations, when the first node cannot determine whether the indirect path fails, the second message is a status reporting message; or when the first node determines that the indirect path fails, the second message is an indirect path failure message.

[0080] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first node in a wireless communication system is disclosed, including: a transceiver configured to send and receive signals; and a controller coupled to the transceiver and configured to execute the aforementioned method.

[0081] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a second node in a wireless communication system is disclosed, including: a transceiver configured to send and receive signals; and a controller coupled to the transceiver and configured to execute the aforementioned method.

[0082] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a third node in a wireless communication system is disclosed, including: a transceiver configured to send and receive signals; and a controller coupled to the transceiver and configured to execute the aforementioned method. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0083] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description only relate to some embodiments of the present disclosure, but are not intended to limit the present disclosure. In the drawings:

[0084] Figure 1 An exemplary system architecture of System Architecture Evolution (SAE) according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0085] Figure 2 shows an exemplary system architecture according to various embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0086] Figure 3 An example of a base station structure according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0087] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing a process according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0088] Figure 5 A block diagram showing a configuration of a node according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0089] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. This description includes various specific details to facilitate understanding but should be considered as exemplary only. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made to the various embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, for the sake of clarity and conciseness, descriptions of well-known functions and structures may be omitted.

[0090] The terms and expressions used in the following specification and claims are not limited to their dictionary meanings, but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustration purposes only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0091] It should be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

[0092] The term "include" or "may include" refers to the presence of the corresponding disclosed functions, operations or components that can be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than limiting the presence of one or more additional functions, operations or features. In addition, the term "include" or "have" may be interpreted as indicating certain characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, constituent elements, components or combinations thereof, but should not be interpreted as excluding the possibility of the presence of one or more other characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, constituent elements, components or combinations thereof.

[0093] The term "or" used in various embodiments of the present disclosure includes any of the listed terms and all combinations thereof. For example, "A or B" may include A, may include B, or may include both A and B.

[0094] Unless defined differently, all terms (including technical terms or scientific terms) used in the present disclosure have the same meanings as understood by those skilled in the art described in the present disclosure. Common terms as defined in dictionaries are interpreted as having meanings consistent with the context in the relevant technical field, and should not be interpreted ideally or overly formally unless clearly defined in the present disclosure.

[0095] The following discussion Figures 1 to 5 The various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are for illustration only and should not be interpreted in any way as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present disclosure can be implemented in any appropriately arranged system or device.

[0096] Figure 1It is an exemplary system architecture 100 of System Architecture Evolution (SAE). User Equipment (UE) 101 is a terminal device used to receive data. Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 102 is a radio access network, which includes a macro base station (eNodeB / NodeB) that provides a wireless network interface for the UE to access. The Mobility Management Entity (MME) 103 is responsible for managing the mobility context, session context and security information of the UE. The Serving Gateway (SGW) 104 mainly provides user plane functions, and the MME 103 and SGW 104 may be in the same physical entity. The Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) 105 is responsible for functions such as billing and lawful interception, and may also be in the same physical entity as the SGW 104. The Policy and Charging Rules Function Entity (PCRF) 106 provides Quality of Service (QoS) policies and charging criteria. The General Packet Radio Service Support Node (SGSN) 108 is a network node device that provides routing for data transmission in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 109 is the home subsystem of the UE and is responsible for protecting user information including the current location of the user equipment, the address of the service node, user security information, and the packet data context of the user equipment.

[0097] Figure 2 2 is an exemplary system architecture 200 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments of the system architecture 200 can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0098] User equipment (UE) 201 is a terminal device used to receive data. The next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) 202 is a radio access network, which includes a base station (gNB or eNB connected to the 5G core network 5GC, the eNB connected to the 5GC is also called ng-gNB) that provides the UE with an access wireless network interface. The access control and mobility management function entity (AMF) 203 is responsible for managing the mobility context and security information of the UE. The user plane function entity (UPF) 204 mainly provides user plane functions. The session management function entity SMF 205 is responsible for session management. The data network (DN) 206 includes services such as operators, Internet access, and third-party services.

[0099] In the NR system, in order to support network function virtualization, more efficient resource management and scheduling, the base station (gNB / ng-eNB) that provides a wireless network interface for the terminal (UE) can be further divided into a centralized unit gNB-CU / ng-eNB-CU (gNBcentral unit / ng-eNB central unit) and a distributed unit gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU (gNB distributedunit / ng-eNB distributed unit) (referred to as CU and DU in the present invention), such as Figure 3 As shown in (a). gNB-CU has radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP: Service Data Adaptation Protocol) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol layers, and ng-eNB-CU has RRC and PDCP layers. gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU has radio link control protocol (RLC), medium access control (MAC) and physical layer, etc. There is a standardized public interface F1 between gNB-CU and gNB-DU, and a standardized public interface W1 between ng-eNB-CU and ng-eNB-DU. The F1 interface is divided into the control plane F1-C and the user plane F1-U. The transport network layer of F1-C is based on IP transmission. In order to transmit signaling more reliably, the SCTP protocol is added on top of IP. The protocol of the application layer is F1AP. SCTP can provide reliable application layer message transmission. The transport layer of F1-U is UDP / IP, and GTP-U is used to carry user plane protocol data unit PDU on top of UDP / IP. Furthermore, for gNB-CU, such as Figure 3As shown in (b), the gNB-CU may include gNB-CU-CP (control plane part of the centralized unit of the base station) and gNB-CU-UP (user plane part of the centralized unit of the base station). The gNB-CU-CP includes the control plane function of the base station, and has RRC and PDCP protocol layers. The gNB-CU-UP includes the user plane function of the base station, and has SDAP and PDCP protocol layers. The standardized public interface E1 is used between gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP, and the protocol is E1AP. The interface between the control plane part of the centralized unit of the base station and the distributed unit of the base station is the F1-C interface, i.e., the control plane interface of F1. The interface between the user plane part of the centralized unit of the base station and the distributed unit of the base station is the F1-U interface, i.e., the user plane interface of F1. In addition, in the NR system, the base station that provides the E-UTRA user plane and control plane accessing the 5G core network is called ng-eNB. In order to support virtualization, this base station (ng-eNB) can also be further divided into a centralized unit ng-eNB-CU (gNB central unit / ng-eNB central unit) and a distributed unit ng-eNB-DU (gNB distributed unit / ng-eNB distributed unit) (abbreviated as CU and DU in the present invention), such as Figure 3 (c) As shown. ng-eNB-CU has RRC and PDCP layers. gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU has radio link control protocol (RLC), medium access control (MAC) and physical layer, etc. There is a standardized public interface W1 between ng-eNB-CU and ng-eNB-DU. The W1 interface is divided into the control plane W1-C and the user plane W1-U. The transport network layer of W1-C is based on IP transmission. In order to transmit signaling more reliably, the SCTP protocol is added on top of IP. The protocol of the application layer is W1AP. The transport layer of W1-U is UDP / IP, and GTP-U is used to carry the user plane protocol data unit PDU on top of UDP / IP.

[0100] In the NR (New Radio access) network, two user devices can communicate data through the sidelink, and then the user and the base station can also communicate. In order to expand the coverage of the base station and improve the performance of user data transmission, user devices can also be allowed to access the network through other user devices. This technology is the sidelink relay technology.

[0101] Normally, a user device communicates with the base station through a direct path. However, as the number of users increases and the frequency of the cell increases, the coverage of the cell is limited, and the data transmission rate that the cell can provide is limited. The sidelink relay technology was proposed to solve this problem, that is, the base station will communicate with the user equipment through a relay terminal. After the sidelink relay technology was proposed, the data communication of the user equipment needs to be enhanced. For example, in some cases, the connection between the user terminal and the network is either through an air interface link directly connected to the network (such as a direct path) or through a relay terminal (such as an indirect path), and it is not possible to implement the relay terminal through both a direct path and an indirect path at the same time. The scenario considered by the present invention is that the user terminal will be configured with a direct path and an indirect path.

[0102] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0103] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help understand the present disclosure. They should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on what is disclosed herein that the embodiments and examples shown may be changed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0104] Before introducing the specific contents, some assumptions and definitions of the present invention are given below.

[0105] The message names in the present invention are only examples, and other message names may also be used.

[0106] The "first" and "second" contained in the message names of the present invention are just examples of messages.

[0107] It does not represent the order of execution.

[0108] Detailed descriptions of steps not related to the present invention are omitted in the present invention.

[0109] In the present invention, the steps in each process may be performed in combination with each other or may be performed separately.

[0110] The execution steps of each process are only examples and do not exclude other possible execution orders.

[0111] In the present invention, the base station may be a 5G base station (such as gNB, ng-eNB), a 4G base station (such as eNB), or other types of access nodes.

[0112] In the present invention, data transmission refers to the reception or sending of data.

[0113] In the present invention, the cell identification information may be the primary cell identification Primary Cell ID, or the primary secondary cell identification Primary Secondary cell ID, or the special primary cell identification Special primary Cell ID

[0114] Nodes involved in the present invention:

[0115] nFirst node: user terminal, such as Remote UE. In one embodiment, the terminal can communicate directly with the base station. In another embodiment, the terminal can communicate with the base station through other terminals (such as relay terminals). In another embodiment, the terminal can communicate with the base station directly or through other terminals.

[0116] nSecond node: relay terminal (interchangeable with relay node), such as relay UE, which directly communicates with the base station and can provide relay services for other terminals (such as the first node mentioned above), that is, other terminals can communicate with the base station through the second node

[0117] nThird node: a base station serving the first node and / or the second node. The first node may communicate with the base station directly or through the second node. The second node may communicate with the third node or reside in the cell served by the third node.

[0118] In the present invention, the link between the first node and the second node is a sidelink, or may also be called a PC5 link, and the link between the first node and the third node is an air interface link, or may also be called a Uu link.

[0119] The present invention involves two communication paths:

[0120] nDirect path: This direct path indicates a path for data transmission between a first node and a third node. On this path, the first node and the third node are directly connected (such as through an air interface link between the first node and the third node), without the need for other nodes to provide relays, and data is transmitted on this path

[0121] nIndirect path: This indirect path indicates another path for data transmission between the first node and the third node. On this path, there is a second node (such as a relay terminal) between the first node and the third node. In an example, the first node and the second node are connected by a sidelink (sidelink, or PC5 link, or other proprietary link communication technologies, such as non-3GPP link, WIFI, etc.), and the second node and the third node are connected by an air interface link (Uu link). The data transmission between the first node and the third node is relayed by the second node.

[0122] The scenarios involved in the technical problem addressed by the present invention include the following three scenarios:

[0123] nScene 1 (indirect path addition)

[0124] In this scenario, the network finds that the direct path currently serving the user terminal is not sufficient to provide it with good service, and the network side will add an indirect path for the user terminal that is served by a relay terminal.

[0125] nScene 2 (indirect path change)

[0126] In this scenario, the network finds that the indirect path currently serving the user terminal is not sufficient to provide it with good service. The network side will change the indirect path serving the user terminal, such as changing the indirect path 1 currently provided by relay terminal 1 to the indirect path 2 provided by relay terminal 2.

[0127] nScene 3 (Multi-path service)

[0128] In this scenario, the user terminal is being served by both the direct path and the indirect path.

[0129] In the above three scenarios, the state change of the relay terminal may cause changes in the indirect path adding process or the indirect path changing process (such as the failure of the indirect path adding process or the indirect path changing process), or changes in the indirect path during multi-path service. These changes may cause communication interruption or delay of the user terminal. How to help the network side and the user terminal side to timely discover the state change of the relay terminal is an urgent problem to be solved.

[0130] The present invention proposes that after the relay terminal finds that the state has changed, it promptly notifies the user terminal, and the user terminal informs the base station of the state of the relay terminal so that the base station can promptly find the problem of the indirect path served by the relay terminal and reconfigure the user terminal to restore the communication of the user terminal.

[0131] The present invention relates to the following three relay terminals:

[0132] nFirst user terminal: a relay terminal. In one example, during the indirect path adding process,

[0133] The first user terminal is a relay terminal serving the first node in the added indirect path.

[0134] nSecond user terminal: relay terminal, in one example, during the indirect path change process,

[0135] The second user terminal is a target relay terminal serving the first node in the new indirect path. n Third user terminal: relay terminal. In one example, when the user terminal is served by multiple paths, the third user terminal is a relay terminal of the indirect path serving the first node.

[0136] In the present invention, the failure of the indirect path includes at least one of the following situations:

[0137] nIndirect path addition process failed

[0138] nIndirect path change process failed

[0139] nIndirect path failure during multipath service.

[0140] The present invention comprises the following steps: Figure 4 As shown:

[0141] Step 0: Optionally, the third node sends a first user configuration message (which can be used interchangeably with the third message) to the first node. The function of the message is to add an indirect path or change an indirect path for the first node. The newly added indirect path is the indirect path served by the second node. In the process of changing the indirect path, the new indirect path is the indirect path served by the second node. The first user configuration message may include at least one of the following information:

[0142] n configuration information of an indirect path, which indicates configuration information of an added indirect path, or configuration information of a new indirect path during a change of an indirect path, and includes at least one of the following information:

[0143] n The identification information of the second node, which identifies the node as the relay terminal serving the newly added indirect path

[0144] n Indirect path channel configuration information, which indicates the configuration of the channel between the first node and the second node on the configured indirect path. In one example, the channel is the RLC channel of the Sidelink (PC5 link)

[0145] n bearer mapping information, which indicates the channel to which the bearer of the first node is mapped. According to this information, the first node can know the channel required for transmitting each bearer. In one example, the channel is the RLC channel n transmission path indication information of the Sidelink (PC5 link), which indicates the path used by the first node when transmitting the message. The indicated path can be a direct path or an indirect path. In one example, the message transmitted by the first node can be a specific message, such as a response message to the above-mentioned first user configuration message, such as an RRC ReconfigurationComplete message. According to the indication information, the first node will use the corresponding path to send the message. In this way, if the third node receives the message through the specified path, it means that the process corresponding to the first user configuration message (such as the indirect path addition process, or the indirect path change process) executed by the first node and the third node is successful. The beneficial effects of this information are:

[0146] Help the third node determine whether the indirect path adding process or the indirect path changing process is successful, and then determine whether the first node can be served through the indirect path.

[0147] After receiving the first user configuration message, the first node starts a timer for adding / changing an indirect path, and the timer is used to monitor whether the process of adding / changing an indirect path is successful.

[0148] Optionally, after the above step 0, the following steps are further included:

[0149] Step 1: The first node sends a first user configuration response message to the third node, which is a response to the first user configuration message to confirm the correct reception of the first user configuration message. An example of this message is an RRCReconfiguration Complete message. The first node may send the first user configuration response message after the link (such as PC5link) between the first node and the second node is successfully established. The first user configuration response message may be sent in at least one of the following ways:

[0150] nMethod 1: Send via direct path

[0151] nMethod 2: Send via indirect path

[0152] nMethod 3: Sending via direct and indirect paths

[0153] In addition, after the first node starts the timer for adding / changing the indirect path, the timer is stopped after at least one of the following conditions occurs:

[0154] nCondition A: The first user configuration response message is correctly sent on the direct path (e.g., a confirmation indication of the message is received from the third node, such as RLC Acknowledge)

[0155] nCondition B: The first user configuration response message is correctly sent on the link between the first node and the second node (such as receiving an acknowledgement indication of the message from the second node, such as PC5 RLCAcknowledge)

[0156] nCondition C: The first user configuration response message is correctly sent on the direct path and is also correctly sent on the link between the first node and the second node

[0157] nCondition D: The link between the first node and the second node is successfully established

[0158] Step 1-1: The second node (such as the first user terminal or the second user terminal) sends a first notification message (Notification message) (which can be used interchangeably with the first message) to the first node. The function of the message is to notify the second node of the state change, and further, it can help the first node determine whether the indirect path (the indirect path in the indirect path addition process, the new indirect path in the indirect path change process, and the indirect path in the multi-path service) fails. The message contains at least one of the following information:

[0159] nFirst state indication information, which indicates the type of state the second node is in. After receiving the information, the first node can determine the state of the second node. Further, based on the state, it can also determine whether the indirect path served by the second node is suitable or whether a failure has occurred, thereby helping the first node determine whether the process of adding / changing the indirect path has failed, or whether the indirect path has failed when serving the first node with multiple paths. The beneficial effect of this information is to help the first node determine the state of the relay terminal in the indirect path, promptly discover possible failures in adding or changing the indirect path, or failures of the indirect path when serving the first node with multiple paths, and reduce interruptions and delays in data transmission. The indication information may include at least one of the following information:

[0160] n Indication information of indirect path failure, which indicates that the indirect path served by the second node has failed. In one example, the indirect path served by the second node is an indirect path added for the first node. In another example, the indirect path served by the second node is the target indirect path in the process of changing the indirect path of the first node. In another example, the second node is an indirect path in the multi-path serving the first node. Further, the indication information is added after the second node meets any of the following "conditions for sending the first notification message" or meets a specific condition (such as condition 2 / 3 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 9 / 10) in the following "conditions for sending the first notification message";

[0161] n indication information of conditional switching, which indicates that the second node meets the execution conditions of the conditional switching. Further, the indication information is the indication information of conditional switching within n base stations added after the second node meets condition 1 and / or condition 2 in the following "conditions for sending a first notification message", which indicates that the second node meets the execution conditions of the conditional switching, and the target cell of the conditional switching is in the same base station as the source cell. The indication information is added after the second node meets condition 2a in the following "conditions for sending a first notification message".

[0162] n indication information of conditional switching across base stations, which indicates that the second node meets the execution conditions of the conditional switching, and the target cell of the conditional switching is in a different base station from the source cell. Further, the indication information is n reconstruction failure indication information added after the second node meets condition 2 in the following "conditions for sending a first notification message", which indicates that the reconstruction process of the second node has failed. Further, the indication information is n link failure indication information added after the second node meets condition 3 in the following "conditions for sending a first notification message", which indicates that the link of the second node has failed, that is, the link between the second node and the third node has failed. In one step, the indication information is the n switching indication information added after the second node satisfies condition 4 in the following “conditions for sending the first notification message”, and the information indicates that the second node has received the switching command. Further, the indication information is the n base station intra-handover indication information added after the second node satisfies condition 5 in the following “conditions for sending the first notification message”, and the information indicates that the second node has received the switching command, and the target cell and the source cell of the switching are in the same base station. Further, the indication information is the n inter-base station switching indication information added after the second node satisfies condition 6a in the following “conditions for sending the first notification message”, and the information indicates that the second node has received the switching command. A switching command is received, and the target cell and the source cell of the switching are located in different base stations. Further, the indication information is the indication information of n cell reselection added after the second node satisfies condition 6 in the following “conditions for sending a first notification message”, and the information indicates that a cell reselection has occurred at the second node. Further, the indication information is the indication information of n intra-base station cell reselection added after the second node satisfies condition 7 in the following “conditions for sending a first notification message”, and the information indicates that a cell reselection has occurred at the second node, and the reselected cell and the cell before the reselection are located in the same base station ... The n cross-base station cell reselection indication information added after condition 8a in the "condition for sending the first notification message" indicates that the second node has undergone cell reselection, and the reselected cell and the cell before the reselection are in different base stations. Further, the indication information is n connection failure indication information added after the second node meets condition 8 in the following "condition for sending the first notification message", such as RRC failure indication information, which indicates that the second node has failed to establish a connection. Further, the indication information is added after the second node meets condition 9 or condition 10 in the following "condition for sending the first notification message". Further, the indication information can also indicate a connection establishment failure or a connection restart failure.

[0163] nFirst state auxiliary information, which indicates auxiliary information of the state of the second node. This information can help the first node or the third node determine whether the indirect path addition / change is successful, or whether the indirect path is still working normally when the multipath serves the first node. After receiving this information, the first node can determine whether the indirect path has failed, or whether it is necessary to report the state of the second node to the third node. The beneficial effects of this information are:

[0164] Help the first node determine the state of the relay terminal in the indirect path, or determine whether the indirect path fails, or determine whether it is necessary to notify the third node of the state of the second node, thereby helping to timely discover the failure of adding / changing the indirect path or the failure of the indirect path, and reducing the interruption or delay of the communication of the first node. The information includes at least one of the following information:

[0165] n Identification information of the first new cell. The cell identified by the information may be a target cell for handover, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, or a camped cell.

[0166] n Identification information of the first old cell. The cell identified by this information may be the source cell of the handover, the source cell of the conditional handover, the cell before the reselection, or the cell before the connection is reestablished.

[0167] n first state change type indication information, which indicates the type of state change of the second node, such as a state change within a base station (intra-BS) (such as a target cell for handover and a source cell are located in the same base station, a target cell for conditional handover and a source cell are located in the same base station, a reselected cell and a cell before reselection are located in the same base station, a cell for connection reestablishment and a cell before reestablishment are located in the same base station),

[0168] Inter-BS status changes (e.g. the target cell of handover is in a different base station than the source cell, the target cell of conditional handover is in a different base station than the source cell, the reselected cell is in a different base station than the cell before reselection, the cell of connection reestablishment is in a different base station than the cell before reestablishment)

[0169] nMeasurement information of the first cell, which indicates the measurement result of the second node on the cell identified by the above-mentioned “identification information of the first new cell” and / or “identification information of the first old cell”, such as RSRP, RSRQ, etc. In one example, the measurement result is the measurement result when the second node is in a connected state, and in another example, the measurement result is the measurement result when the second node is in a non-connected state.

[0170] This information can help indicate whether the second node can continue to serve the indirect path of the first node after the state change.

[0171] The first notification message may be a sidelink notification message, a new sidelink RRC message, or other new messages.

[0172] The condition for sending the first notification message may be at least one of the following conditions:

[0173] nCondition 1: Conditional handover occurs, that is, the first user equipment satisfies the execution condition of conditional handover, that is, conditional handover execution condition is satisfiednCondition 2a: Conditional handover occurs within the base station, that is, the first user equipment satisfies the execution condition of conditional handover, and the target cell of the conditional handover and the source cell are in the same base station, that is, intra-BS CHO execution condition is satisfiednCondition 2: Inter-base station conditional handover occurs, that is, the first user equipment satisfies the execution condition of conditional handover, and the target cell of the conditional handover and the source cell are in different base stations, that is, inter-BS CHO execution condition is satisfied

[0174] nCondition 3: Re-establishment failure occurs nCondition 4: Link failure occurs (such as wireless link failure, handover failure, etc.), i.e. link failure. In one example, a link failure occurs when the second node is in a connected state nCondition 5: Handover occurs. In one example, the second node receives a handover command.

[0175] (such as Reconfiguration with synchronization information), that is, reception of reconfiguration with synchronization; further, the handover can be a normal handover or a conditional handover.

[0176] nCondition 6a: Handover within the base station occurs. In one example, the second node receives a handover command (such as Reconfiguration with synchronization information), and the target cell and the source cell of the handover are in the same base station, i.e., reception of reconfiguration with synchronization for intra-BS handover; further, the handover can be a normal handover or a conditional handover.

[0177] nCondition 6: An inter-BS handover occurs. In one example, the second node receives a handover command (such as Reconfiguration with synchronization information), and the target cell and the source cell are located in different base stations, i.e., reception of reconfiguration with synchronization for inter-BS handover. Furthermore, the handover can be a normal handover or a conditional handover.

[0178] nCondition 7: Cell reselection occurs. In one example, the second node performs cell reselection when it is in an idle or inactive state, i.e., cell reselectionnCondition 8a: Cell reselection occurs within a base station. In one example, the second node performs cell reselection when it is in an idle or inactive state, and the reselected cell and the cell before reselection are in the same base station, i.e., intra-BS cell reselectionnCondition 8: Cell reselection occurs across base stations. In one example, the second node performs cell reselection when it is in an idle or inactive state, and the reselected cell and the cell before reselection are in different base stations, i.e., inter-BS cell reselection

[0179] nCondition 9: Connection establishment failure occurs. In one example, the second node triggers the connection establishment process in the idle state, but the process fails, i.e., RRC connection establishment failure

[0180] nCondition 10: Connection restart failure occurs. In one example, the second node triggers the connection restart process when it is in an inactive state, but the process fails, i.e., RRC resume failure

[0181] In one example, if at least one of the above conditions is met, the second node will send a first notification message. In another example, if the second node is a relay terminal in an indirect path addition process, or a target relay terminal in an indirect path change process, and at least one of the above conditions is met, the second node will send a first notification message.

[0182] In order to help the second node determine whether the condition for triggering the first notification message is met, before step 1-1, the following may also be included:

[0183] Step 1-0: The third node (or other base station different from the third node) may also send a first configuration message to the second node. After receiving the message, the second node may determine the type of cell in which it is located, thereby helping it determine whether it needs to update its status to the first node. The beneficial effect of the message is to help the second node determine whether its status change will cause the failure of the indirect path addition / change of the first node or the failure of the indirect path during multipath service, so that it can promptly notify the first node of the status change, thereby reducing the interruption or delay of the data communication of the first node. The message includes at least one of the following information:

[0184] n cell type indication information, the cell can be the target cell for handover, or a candidate cell for conditional handover, the information indicates that the type can be one of the following types:

[0185] n Intra-BS cell, that is, the cell and the current serving cell of the second node (such as the cell of the third node) are located in the same base station

[0186] n inter-BS cell, that is, the cell and the current serving cell of the second node (such as the cell of the third node) are located in different base stations

[0187] n Information related to a base station of a serving cell, the information indicating relevant information of a base station of a cell accessed by the second node, the cell accessed by the second node may be a current serving cell, a target cell for handover, a candidate cell for conditional handover, a resident cell, or a reselected cell, the base station of the serving cell may be a third node, or may be another base station different from the third node, the information including at least one of the following information:

[0188] Base station identification information

[0189] n The length of the base station identification, which indicates the length of the base station identification information contained in the cell identification information

[0190] n status notification indication information, which indicates whether the second node needs to send its status to other nodes. In one example, the information indicates whether the second node needs to send the above-mentioned first notification message. In one example, the indication information indicates that the second node is an indirect path among multiple paths serving the first node, then the second node needs to send the above-mentioned first notification message when the state changes. Otherwise (the second node is a node on the indirect path serving the first node, and the indirect path is the only path), the second node does not need to send the above-mentioned first notification message. Further, the indication information can also indicate the information that needs to be included in the status notification (such as the information required to be included in the above-mentioned first notification message), such as whether the above-mentioned "first status indication information" needs to be included, whether the above-mentioned "first status auxiliary information" needs to be included, etc. In addition, the indication information can also indicate the triggering condition for the second node to send its status to other nodes, and the triggering condition can be at least one of the above-mentioned "conditions for sending the first notification message".

[0191] The first configuration message may be an RRC Reconfiguration message, or other RRC messages, or other new messages.

[0192] If the first node is in the process of adding an indirect path or the first node is in the process of changing an indirect path or the first node is in the process of providing a multipath service (e.g., a configuration message of adding an indirect path or a configuration message of changing an indirect path is received, a timer for adding / changing an indirect path (in one example, the timer is started after the first node receives an instruction to add / change an indirect path) is running, e.g., an RRCReconfigurationComplete message is not sent to the base station, an acknowledgment message about the sent RRCReconfigurationComplete message is not received, a data packet is not successfully transmitted on the indirect path, etc.), the first node may perform at least one of the following actions after receiving the first notification message:

[0193] n starts the following step 1-2, that is, sets the information in the second notification message in the following step 1-2, and sends the second notification message to the third node

[0194] nStart the following step 1-2 based on the following “conditions for sending the second notification message”, that is, start the following step 1-2 only when at least one of the following “conditions for sending the second notification message” is satisfied, that is, set the information in the second notification message in the following step 1-2,

[0195] And send the second notification message to the third node

[0196] If the timer for indirect path addition or indirect path change is running, stop the timer

[0197] Stop the process of adding indirect paths

[0198] Suspend the process of adding indirect paths

[0199] Stop the process of indirect path change

[0200] Suspend the process of indirect path change

[0201] nEnable the configuration before the indirect path was added. In one example, enable the configuration used when communicating with the third node only through the direct path.

[0202] n Enable the configuration before the indirect path is changed. In one example, enable the configuration of the direct path used by the first node and the indirect path established with the source relay terminal.

[0203] Suspend the payload transmitted via the indirect path

[0204] Step 1-2: The first node sends a second notification message (interchangeable with the second message) to the third node, which contains the status information of the indirect path. In one example, if the first node can determine the failure of adding / changing the indirect path, the second notification message is used to notify the failure of adding / changing the indirect path, or the failure of the indirect path; in another example, if the first node cannot determine the failure of adding / changing the indirect path or the failure of the indirect path, the second notification message is used to notify the status of the second node. This message can help the third node determine whether the indirect path (the indirect path in the indirect path addition process, the new indirect path in the indirect path change process, the indirect path in multi-path service) has failed. The second notification message is sent via a direct path. The message includes at least one of the following information:

[0205] nSecond status indication information, which indicates the status of the second node. In one example, the content of this information is set according to the information contained in the first notification message. Further, when the first node cannot determine whether a failure to add / change an indirect path or a failure of the indirect path occurs based on the information in the first notification message, the first node can indicate the status of the second node through this information. After receiving this information, the third node can determine the status of the second node serving the indirect path, and then determine whether to reconfigure the first node. The beneficial effect of this information is: helping the third node to promptly discover the failure of adding / changing an indirect path or a failure of the indirect path, and reducing the interruption or delay of the communication of the first node. This information includes at least one of the following information (the meaning of each information contained in this information can be found in the "first status indication information" in the above-mentioned first notification message):

[0206] Indication of indirect path failure

[0207] nConditional switching instructions

[0208] n Conditional handover indication information within the base station

[0209] nIndication information of conditional handover across base stations

[0210] Indications for failed rebuilds

[0211] nLink failure indication information

[0212] nSwitch instruction information

[0213] n Indication information of handover within the base station

[0214] n Indication information of handover between base stations

[0215] nCell reselection indication information

[0216] nIndication information of cell reselection within the base station

[0217] nIndication information of cell reselection across base stations

[0218] nIndication of connection failure

[0219] nSecond failure indication information, which indicates a failure of an indirect path, such as a failure to add an indirect path, a failure to change an indirect path, or a failure of an indirect path in a multipath service. In one example, the first node determines the failure based on information in the first notification message (the information may indicate the failure explicitly or implicitly, i.e., the first node needs to determine the failure based on the content in the first notification message).

[0220] After receiving the information, the third node can determine the failure of the indirect path and then reconfigure the first node in a timely manner. The beneficial effect of the information is: timely discovering the failure of adding / changing the indirect path or the failure of the indirect path, reducing the interruption or delay of the communication of the first node. The information is used to indicate different failure types, and the information includes at least one of the following information (each information indicates a failure type):

[0221] n Indication of indirect path failure, indicating that an indirect path has failed

[0222] n Indication information of conditional handover across base stations, which indicates that the reason for the failure is that the relay terminal has performed conditional handover across base stations

[0223] nReconstruction failure indication information, which indicates that the reason for the failure is that the relay terminal has experienced a reconstruction failure

[0224] nIndication information of link failure, which indicates that the reason for the failure is that the relay terminal has experienced a link failure, such as wireless link failure, handover failure, etc.

[0225] n Indication information of inter-base station handover, which indicates that the reason for the failure is that the relay terminal has performed an inter-base station handover

[0226] n Indication information of cell reselection across base stations, which indicates that the reason for the failure is that the relay terminal has performed cell retransmission across base stations, that is, the reselected cell and the cell before reselection are in different base stations.

[0227] nIndication information of connection failure, which indicates that the reason for the failure is that the relay terminal sent a failure to establish or restart the RRC connection

[0228] nSecond state auxiliary information, which indicates the state of the first node or the state of the second node. This information can help the third node determine whether the indirect path addition / change is successful, or whether the indirect path fails, and can also help the first node add a new indirect path. The beneficial effect of this information is: assisting the third node to discover the failure of the indirect path, helping the third node to reconfigure the first node, and reducing the interruption and delay of the first node's communication.

[0229] The information includes at least one of the following:

[0230] n information related to the second node, the information is obtained through the first state auxiliary information in the first notification message, and the information includes at least one of the following information:

[0231] u Identification information of the second new cell, see "Identification information of the first new cell" in the above "First state auxiliary information"

[0232] u Identification information of the second old cell, see "Identification information of the first old cell" in the above "First state auxiliary information"

[0233] uIndication information of the second state change type, see the "Indication information of the first state change type" in the above "First state auxiliary information"

[0234] u Measurement information of the second cell, see "Measurement information of the first cell" in the above "First state auxiliary information"

[0235] nInformation related to the new relay terminal (which can be used interchangeably with the candidate relay terminal), which is used to provide information about the new relay terminal discovered by the first node, which can help the third node select the new relay terminal so as to configure an indirect path for the first node. In an example, the information is sent by the new relay terminal to the first node or obtained by the first node itself. The information includes at least one of the following information:

[0236] u Identification information of the new relay terminal

[0237] u Identification information of the cell where the new relay terminal is located

[0238] u The first measurement result of the new relay terminal, that is, the measurement result of the first node on the relay terminal, such as RSRP, RSRQ, etc.

[0239] u The second measurement result of the new relay terminal, that is, the measurement result of the new relay terminal in the cell identified by the above “identification information of the cell where the relay terminal is located”, such as RSRP, RSRQ, etc.,

[0240] In one embodiment, the second notification message may be a message for notifying the second node of the state, such as a status reporting message. In one example, the second notification message is sent when the first node cannot determine whether an indirect path failure occurs. For example, when the information in the first state indication information included in the first notification message is at least one of the following information (further, the first notification message does not include the above-mentioned “indication information of the first state change type”), the first node cannot determine the occurrence of the failure:

[0241] nConditional switching instructions

[0242] nSwitch instruction information

[0243] nCell reselection indication information

[0244] In another embodiment, the second notification message may be a message for indicating an indirect path failure, such as an indirect path addition / change failure message / indirect path failure message, or an SCG failure information message. In one example, the second notification message is sent when the first node determines that the indirect path has failed. For example, when the information in the first state indication information included in the first notification message is at least one of the following information (or, the first notification message includes the above-mentioned "conditional switching indication information" or "switching indication information" or "cell reselection indication information", and the above-mentioned "first state change type indication information" and indicates a cross-base station state change), the first node may determine the occurrence of the failure:

[0245] Indication of indirect path failure

[0246] nIndication information of conditional handover across base stations

[0247] Indications for failed rebuilds

[0248] nLink failure indication information

[0249] n Indication information of handover between base stations

[0250] nIndication information of cell reselection across base stations

[0251] nIndication of connection failure

[0252] In the above two embodiments, the first node determines whether an indirect path failure occurs according to information in the received first notification message, and then selects different messages to notify the third node according to the result of the determination.

[0253] In another embodiment, regardless of whether the first node can determine the failure of the indirect path, the second notification message is used to notify the status of the second node, such as a status report message; or the second notification message is used to notify the failure, such as an indirect path addition / change failure message / indirect path failure message, or an SCG failure information message.

[0254] In another embodiment, the second notification message may be an RRCReconfigurationComplete message in response to the first user configuration message, or may be a measurement report message, or may be other RRC messages or new messages.

[0255] The condition for sending the second notification message may be at least one of the following conditions:

[0256] nCondition a: Direct path available

[0257] nCondition b: The direct path is available, and a bearer (such as SRB1, SRB2, etc.) for sending the second notification message is configured on the direct path, and the bearer is available (such as not suspended)

[0258] nCondition c: The timer for monitoring the process of adding or changing indirect paths is running

[0259] nCondition d: The first notification message mentioned above is received

[0260] nCondition e: The first notification message is received, and the information in the message indicates the failure of adding / changing the indirect path, or indicates the failure of the indirect path

[0261] nCondition f: The first notification message is received, and the first node learns the failure of adding / changing the indirect path according to the information in the first notification message, or learns the failure of the indirect path

[0262] nCondition g: The third node is pre-configured with indication information, which indicates that the first node sends the second notification message after receiving the first notification message, or indicates that the first node sends the second notification message after learning the failure of adding / changing the indirect path or the failure of the indirect path.

[0263] Step 1-3: The third node determines the state of adding / changing the indirect path or the state of the indirect path (such as whether a failure has occurred). It can determine whether the adding / changing of the indirect path has failed or whether the indirect path has failed according to one of the following methods:

[0264] nMethod 1: Obtained through the display indication information in the second notification message, such as the above-mentioned "second status indication information" or "second failure indication information" or "second status auxiliary information"

[0265] (such as the indication information of the second state change type in the "second state auxiliary information")

[0266] nMethod 2: Obtain information through implicit indication information in the second notification message, such as the information in the above-mentioned "second state auxiliary information". In one example, whether the cell where the second node is located is the serving cell of the third node is obtained according to the "identification information of the second cell" in the "second state auxiliary information". If not, it indicates that a failure has occurred.

[0267] nMethod 3: Acquire through information sent by other nodes, the other nodes may be nodes connected by the second node (such as the node where the target cell is located after the handover is completed, the node where the target cell is located after the conditional handover is completed, the service node of the cell connected after the connection is established / reestablished / restarted, etc.). In this way, the third node can learn that the second node has left the cell served by the third node. The information sent by the other nodes includes at least one of the following information:

[0268] n identification information of the second node, such as C-RNTI, identification information of the interface (such as identification information of the Xn interface). In one example, the identification information is the identification information of the second node in the cell served by the third node.

[0269] n The identification information of the old cell of the second node. In one example, the identification information is the cell that the second node accesses and belongs to the third node.

[0270] Further, in step 1-3, the third node may determine to reconfigure the first node. If it is determined to configure a new indirect path for the first node, it will send a second configuration message to the first node, which includes one of the following information:

[0271] nInstruction information for releasing the old indirect path, which instructs the first node to release the old indirect path (i.e., the failed indirect path). The old indirect path may be an indirect path in the process of adding an indirect path, or a target indirect path in the process of changing an indirect path (i.e., the path served by the target relay terminal), or an indirect path in the case of multi-path service

[0272] n New indirect path configuration information, which indicates the configuration information of the newly added indirect path, such as the identification information of the relay terminal, the channel configuration information of the PC5 link between the first node and the relay terminal (such as the configuration information of the RLC channel), the mapping information of the bearer of the first node, etc.

[0273] The second configuration message may be an RRC Reconfiguration message, or other RRC messages, or a new message.

[0274] Figure 5 A block diagram of a configuration of a node according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The node includes at least one of the various nodes described herein.

[0275] refer to Figure 5 , the node 500 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may include a transceiver 501 and a controller 502. For example, the transceiver 501 may be configured to send and receive signals. For example, the controller 502 may be coupled to the transceiver 501 and configured to perform the aforementioned method.

[0276] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above illustrative embodiments are described herein and are not intended to be limiting. It should be understood that any two or more of the embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in any combination. In addition, other embodiments may be utilized and other changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readily understood that the various aspects of the invention of the present disclosure as generally described herein and shown in the accompanying drawings may be arranged, replaced, combined, separated and designed in a variety of different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein.

[0277] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logic boxes, modules, circuits, and steps described in the present application can be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of the two. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, boxes, modules, circuits, and steps are described generally in the form of their function sets above. Whether such function sets are implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Technicians can implement the described function sets in different ways for each specific application, but such design decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

[0278] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this application may be implemented or executed with 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 device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors cooperating with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0279] The method or algorithm described in the present application can be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module can reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, a storage medium can be integrated into a processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium can reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0280] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, the latter including any media that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general or special purpose computer.

[0281] The above description is merely an exemplary embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a first node in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving a first message from a second node, the first message comprising first state information related to a state of the second node; as well as sending a second message to a third node through the direct path, the second message including second status information for determining whether a failure occurs in the indirect path, the second status information being obtained based on the first status information, The indirect path is a transmission path between the first node and the third node that is served by the second node, and the direct path is a path between the first node and the third node that does not require a relay.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first status information includes at least one of the following information: first state indication information, used to indicate the type of state of the second node, The first state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell; identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment; The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; as well as The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second status information includes at least one of the following information: Second state indication information, used to indicate the type of state of the second node, The second failure indication information indicates that the indirect path fails. The second state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell; identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment; The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; as well as first measurement information, including a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell, The indirect path failure includes at least one of an indirect path adding failure, an indirect path changing failure, and an indirect path failure during multi-path service.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: After receiving the first message, perform at least one of the following: Based on the first status information, setting second status information; When a second condition is met, setting second status information based on the first status information; If a timer for an indirect path addition or an indirect path change is running, stopping the timer; Stop indirect path addition; Pending indirect path addition; Stop indirect path changes; Pending indirect path changes; enabling configuration of data transmission for said first node before the indirect path is added; Enable indirect path changes before configuration; Suspends bearers that are transferred via an indirect path.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first message is sent by the second node to the first node when the second node satisfies a first condition, The first condition includes at least one of the following: A conditional switch occurs. A conditional switch occurred within the base station. A cross-base station conditional handover occurred. A rebuild failure occurred. A link failure occurred. A switch occurs, the switch is a normal switch or a conditional switch, A handover occurs within the base station, the handover being a normal handover or a conditional handover, A handover across base stations occurs, the handover being a normal handover or a conditional handover, A cell reselection occurred. A cell reselection occurred within the base station. Cross-base station cell reselection occurs. A connection establishment failure occurred. A connection restart failure occurred.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The second condition includes at least one of the following: Direct path available, The direct path is available, and a bearer for sending the second state information is configured on the direct path and is available, The timer for indirect path addition or indirect path change is running, The first node receives the first state information, The first node receives the first status information, and the first status information indicates an indirect path addition failure or an indirect path change failure or indicates an indirect path failure during a multipath service. The first node receives the first status information, and the first node learns, according to the first status information, that an indirect path fails to be added or an indirect path fails to be changed, or learns that an indirect path fails during a multipath service. The third node pre-configures indication information, and the indication information instructs the first node to send the second status information after receiving the first status information, or instructs the first node to send the second status information after knowing that an indirect path addition fails or an indirect path change fails or knowing that an indirect path fails during multipath service.

7. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The first status indication information or the second status indication information includes at least one of the following: Indications of indirect path failures, Instructions for conditional switching, Indication information of conditional switching within the base station, Indication information of conditional switching across base stations, Indications for failed rebuilds, Indication of link failure, Switching instructions, Indication information of handover within the base station, Indication information of handover between base stations, Indication information for cell reselection, Indication information of cell reselection within the base station, Indication information for cell reselection across base stations, Indication that the connection failed.

8. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The second failure indication information includes at least one of the following: Indications of indirect path failures, Information for indicating conditional handover of the second node across base stations, Information indicating that the reconstruction of the second node has failed, Information indicating a link failure of the second node, Information for indicating inter-base station handover of the second node, Information used to instruct the second node to reselect a cell across base stations, Information used to indicate a connection failure of the second node.

9. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The second state auxiliary information also includes: The information related to the candidate relay node includes at least one of identification information of the candidate relay node, identification information of the cell of the candidate relay node, a measurement result of the first node on the candidate relay node, and a measurement result of the candidate relay node in the cell.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A third message is received from the third node, where the third message is used to add an indirect path or change an indirect path for the first node.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: When the first node cannot determine whether the indirect path fails, the second message is a status reporting message; or When the first node determines that the indirect path fails, the second message is an indirect path failure message.

12. A method performed by a second node in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving first configuration information from a third node, wherein the first configuration information is used to determine whether to notify the first node of a state of the second node; as well as In the case of determining to notify the first node of the state of the second node, sending a first message to the first node, the first message including first state information related to the state of the second node, wherein the first state information is used by the first node to determine the second state information, and the second state information is used by the third node to determine whether an indirect path fails, wherein the second state information is included in a second message, and the second message is sent by the first node to the third node through a direct path, and The indirect path is a transmission path between the first node and the third node that is served by the second node, and the direct path is a path between the first node and the third node that does not require a relay.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The first status information includes at least one of the following information: first state indication information, used to indicate the type of state of the second node, The first state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell; identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment; The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; as well as The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The second status information includes at least one of the following information: Second state indication information, used to indicate the type of state of the second node, The second failure indication information indicates that the indirect path fails. The second state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell; identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment; The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; as well as first measurement information, including a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell, The indirect path failure includes at least one of an indirect path adding failure, an indirect path changing failure, and an indirect path failure during multi-path service.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein: When the first node cannot determine whether the indirect path fails, the second message is a status reporting message; or When the first node determines that the indirect path fails, the second message is an indirect path failure message.

16. A method performed by a third node in a wireless communication system, comprising: Sending first configuration information to the second node, where the first configuration information is used to determine whether to notify the first node of a state of the second node; as well as receiving a second message from the first node via the direct path, the second message including second status information for determining whether a failure occurs in the indirect path, the second status information being obtained based on first status information related to a status of the second node, The indirect path is a transmission path between the first node and the third node that is served by the second node, and the direct path is a path between the first node and the third node that does not require a relay.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The first status information includes at least one of the following information: first state indication information, used to indicate the type of state of the second node, The first state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell; identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment; The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; as well as The first measurement information includes a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The second status information includes at least one of the following information: Second state indication information, used to indicate the type of state of the second node, The second failure indication information indicates that the indirect path fails. The second state auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: identification information of a first cell, where the first cell includes one of a target cell for handover of the second node, a target cell for conditional handover, a reselected cell, a cell for connection reestablishment, and a resident cell; identification information of a second cell, where the second cell includes one of a source cell for handover of the second node, a source cell for conditional handover, a cell before reselection, and a cell before connection reestablishment; The first indication information is used to indicate that the type of the state change of the second node is an intra-base station change or an inter-base station change; as well as first measurement information, including a measurement result of the first cell or the second cell, The indirect path failure includes at least one of an indirect path adding failure, an indirect path changing failure, and an indirect path failure during multi-path service.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein: When the first node cannot determine whether the indirect path fails, the second message is a status reporting message; or When the first node determines that the indirect path fails, the second message is an indirect path failure message.

20. A node device in a wireless communication system, comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals; Controller; coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-11 or 12-15 or 16-19.

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