Communication method and device and storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method, a communication device and a storage medium, relates to the technical field of communication, and can solve the problems of increase of system air interface signaling overhead, communication interruption or delay increase, influence on terminal transmission performance and the like caused by the current cell switching technology. The method comprises: a terminal device determines that a source relay device does not meet a signal transmission requirement of the terminal device when the received signal quality of a source cell is lower than a second threshold, and sends first indication information to a network device to indicate to initiate relay device switching. And the network device receives and responds to the first indication information from the terminal device, determines a target relay device meeting the signal transmission requirement of the terminal device according to the position information of the terminal device, and sends second indication information to the target relay device to indicate the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device. According to the invention, the overhead of air interface signaling can be reduced, so that the time delay is reduced, and the communication and terminal transmission performance is guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, device and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In mobile communication systems, it is crucial to ensure that terminals can continuously and stably access the network and maintain high-quality communication during movement. Cell switching technology is a common technology to solve the problem of signal coverage continuity when terminals move. In order to ensure the continuity and quality of communication, cell switching technology allows terminals to switch from the current serving cell to another cell with a stronger signal when they move from one cell to the border of another cell to maintain communication continuity.

[0003] However, since the cell switching technology is based on the communication between terminal devices and network devices to ensure the continuity of signal coverage, it increases the system air interface signaling overhead, which in turn causes communication interruption or increased latency and affects terminal transmission performance. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method, device and storage medium, which solve the problems caused by the current cell switching technology, such as increasing the system air interface signaling overhead, causing communication interruption or increased delay, and affecting the terminal transmission performance. It can reduce the air interface signaling overhead, thereby reducing the delay to ensure the communication and terminal transmission performance.

[0005] In order to achieve the above objectives, this application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, applied to a network device, the method comprising: receiving first indication information from a terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the initiation of relay device switching; the terminal device is a device that communicates with the network device through a source relay device in a source cell; the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; in response to the first indication information, determining a target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device, and sending a second indication information to the target relay device; the second indication information is used to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device.

[0007] In combination with the above-mentioned first aspect, in a possible implementation method, the method also includes: based on the location information of the terminal device and the maximum coverage distance of multiple relay devices controlled by the network device, determining the relay device among the multiple relay devices whose signal can cover the terminal device and is at the shortest distance from the terminal device as the target relay device.

[0008] In combination with the above-mentioned first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: determining the target relay device based on the location information of the terminal device and a first mapping relationship; wherein the first mapping relationship specifies the correspondence between terminal devices and relay devices at different locations.

[0009] In combination with the above-mentioned first aspect, in a possible implementation method, the second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device; the second indication information is specifically used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the direction angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier, so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device and forwards the signal of the terminal device.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the method for determining the target beam identifier includes: determining the direction of the target beam based on the location information of the terminal device; the direction of the target beam is the direction pointing to the location of the terminal device; and determining the target beam identifier based on the direction of the target beam.

[0011] In combination with the above-mentioned first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: determining a beamforming codebook corresponding to the direction of the target beam; and determining a target beam identifier corresponding to the corresponding beamforming codebook based on the second mapping relationship.

[0012] In combination with the above-mentioned first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: sending third indication information to the source relay device; the third indication information is used to instruct the source relay device to stop forwarding the signal of the terminal device.

[0013] In combination with the above-mentioned first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: corresponding to repeatedly receiving the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is less than the first threshold, sending fourth indication information to the terminal device; the fourth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to switch from the source cell to the target cell; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; the preset period is the time period after sending the second indication information; the first threshold is used to characterize the maximum signal coverage distance of the target relay device.

[0014] In combination with the above-mentioned first aspect, in a possible implementation method, the method also includes: corresponding to the repeated receipt of the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device being greater than a first threshold, redetermining the target relay device, and sending a second indication information to the redetermined target relay device.

[0015] In combination with the above-mentioned first aspect, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: corresponding to the situation where the first indication information is not received within the preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is less than the first threshold, the fourth indication information is not sent to the terminal device.

[0016] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method applied to a relay device, the method comprising: receiving second indication information from a network device; and forwarding a signal of a terminal device based on the second indication information.

[0017] In combination with the above-mentioned second aspect, in a possible implementation method, the second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device; the method also includes: based on the target beam identifier, adjusting the direction angle of the target beam so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device, and forwarding the signal of the terminal device.

[0018] In combination with the above-mentioned second aspect, in a possible implementation method, the method also includes: based on the second mapping relationship, determining a beamforming codebook corresponding to the target beam identifier; the beamforming codebook corresponds one-to-one to the direction of the target beam; based on the beamforming codebook, adjusting the direction angle of the target beam so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device.

[0019] In combination with the above-mentioned second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: receiving third indication information from the network device; and stopping forwarding the signal of the terminal device based on the third indication information.

[0020] In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a terminal device, wherein the terminal device is a device that communicates with a network device through a source relay device in a source cell; the method includes: corresponding to the received signal quality of the source cell being lower than a second threshold, determining that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device, and sending a first indication information to the network device; the first indication information is used to indicate the initiation of relay device switching.

[0021] In combination with the third aspect above, in a possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving fourth indication information from a network device; switching from a source cell to a target cell based on the fourth indication information; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device.

[0022] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes: a communication unit and a processing unit; the communication unit is used to receive first indication information from a terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the initiation of relay device switching; the terminal device is a device that communicates with a network device through a source relay device in a source cell; the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; the processing unit is used to respond to the first indication information, determine a target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device according to the location information of the terminal device, and instruct the communication unit to send a second indication information to the target relay device; the second indication information is used to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device.

[0023] In combination with the fourth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the processing unit is specifically used to: based on the location information of the terminal device and the maximum coverage distance of multiple relay devices controlled by the network device, determine the relay device among multiple relay devices whose signal can cover the terminal device and is at the shortest distance from the terminal device as the target relay device.

[0024] In combination with the fourth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the processing unit is specifically used to: determine the target relay device based on the location information of the terminal device and the first mapping relationship; wherein the first mapping relationship specifies the correspondence between the terminal devices and the relay devices at different locations.

[0025] In combination with the above-mentioned fourth aspect, in a possible implementation method, the second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device; the second indication information is specifically used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the direction angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier, so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device and forwards the signal of the terminal device.

[0026] In combination with the fourth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the processing unit is also used to: determine the direction of the target beam based on the location information of the terminal device; the direction of the target beam is the direction pointing to the location of the terminal device; and determine the target beam identifier based on the direction of the target beam.

[0027] In combination with the fourth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the processing unit is further used to: determine a beamforming codebook corresponding to the direction of the target beam; and determine a target beam identifier corresponding to the corresponding beamforming codebook based on the second mapping relationship.

[0028] In combination with the fourth aspect above, in a possible implementation, the communication unit is further used to: send third indication information to the source relay device; the third indication information is used to instruct the source relay device to stop forwarding the signal of the terminal device.

[0029] In combination with the fourth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the processing unit is also used to: in response to repeated receipt of the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is less than the first threshold, instruct the communication unit to send a fourth indication information to the terminal device; the fourth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to switch from the source cell to the target cell; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; the preset period is the time period after sending the second indication information; the first threshold is used to characterize the maximum signal coverage distance of the target relay device.

[0030] In combination with the fourth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the processing unit is also used to: in response to repeated receipt of the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is greater than a first threshold, redetermine the target relay device and send a second indication information to the redetermined target relay device.

[0031] In combination with the fourth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the processing unit is also used to: corresponding to not receiving the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is less than a first threshold, not sending the fourth indication information to the terminal device.

[0032] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which includes: a communication unit and a processing unit; the communication unit is used to receive second indication information from a network device; and the processing unit is used to forward a signal of a terminal device based on the second indication information.

[0033] In combination with the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device; the processing unit is specifically used to: based on the target beam identifier, adjust the direction angle of the target beam so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device, and forward the signal of the terminal device.

[0034] In combination with the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation method, the processing unit is specifically used to: determine the beamforming codebook corresponding to the target beam identifier based on the second mapping relationship; the beamforming codebook corresponds one-to-one to the direction of the target beam; based on the beamforming codebook, adjust the direction angle of the target beam so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device.

[0035] In combination with the fifth aspect above, in a possible implementation, the communication unit is further used to receive third indication information from the network device; and the processing unit is further used to stop forwarding the signal of the terminal device based on the third indication information.

[0036] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; the processing unit is used to determine that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device in response to the received signal quality of the source cell being lower than a second threshold, and instruct the communication unit to send a first indication message to the network device; the first indication message is used to indicate the initiation of relay device switching.

[0037] In combination with the above-mentioned sixth aspect, in a possible implementation method, the communication unit is also used to receive a fourth indication information from the network device; the processing unit is also used to switch from the source cell to the target cell based on the fourth indication information; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device.

[0038] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface and the processor are coupled, and the processor is used to run a computer program or instructions to implement the communication method described in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0039] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores instructions. When the instructions are executed on a terminal, the terminal executes a communication method described in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0040] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when the computer program product is run on a communication device, enables the communication device to perform a communication method as described in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0041] In the tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip, comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the processor are coupled, and the processor is used to run a computer program or instructions to implement the communication method described in the first aspect, any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, any possible implementation of the second aspect, the third aspect, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0042] Specifically, the chip provided in the present application also includes a memory for storing computer programs or instructions.

[0043] It should be noted that the above computer instructions may be stored in whole or in part on a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium may be packaged together with the processor of the device, or may be packaged separately from the processor of the device, which is not limited in this application.

[0044] In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication system, comprising: a network device, a relay device, and a terminal device, wherein the network device is used to execute the communication method described in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect, the relay device is used to execute the communication method described in the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect, and the terminal device is used to execute the communication method described in the third aspect and any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0045] The descriptions of the second to eleventh aspects of the present application can refer to the detailed description of the first aspect; and the beneficial effects of the descriptions of the second to eleventh aspects can refer to the beneficial effect analysis of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0046] In this application, the name of the above communication device does not limit the device or functional module itself. In actual implementation, these devices or functional modules may appear with other names. As long as the functions of each device or functional module are similar to those of this application, they fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalent technologies.

[0047] These and other aspects of the present application will become more apparent from the following description.

[0048] The above scheme brings at least the following beneficial effects: Based on the above technical scheme, in the communication method provided by the present application, when the quality of the received signal of the source cell is lower than the second threshold, the terminal device determines that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device, and sends a first indication information to the network device to indicate the initiation of relay device switching. Then the network device receives and responds to the first indication information from the terminal device, determines the target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device according to the location information of the terminal device, and sends a second indication information to the target relay device to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device. That is to say, in the above technical scheme, the network device communicates with the relay device to implement relay device switching. Compared with the current cell switching technology, the continuity of signal coverage is guaranteed based on the communication between the terminal device and the network device, which increases the system air interface signaling overhead, thereby causing communication interruption or delay increase and affecting the terminal transmission performance. The above technical scheme avoids the communication between the network device and the terminal device, thereby reducing the overhead of air interface signaling, reducing the delay and ensuring the transmission performance of the communication and the terminal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Figure 4 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0057] The term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone.

[0058] The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the specification and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, or to distinguish different processing of the same object, rather than to describe a specific order of objects.

[0059] In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof mentioned in the description of the present application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device comprising a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include other steps or units that are not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units that are inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0060] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

[0061] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, “plurality” means two or more.

[0062] The following explains the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application to facilitate the reader's understanding.

[0063] (1) Relay equipment.

[0064] In order to improve network coverage performance, different types of network nodes such as macro base stations, micro base stations, and repeaters are usually deployed in mobile communication networks to achieve wide and deep coverage of wireless networks. As mobile communication networks evolve towards the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) enhanced (5G-advanced, 5G-A) and the sixth generation mobile communication technology (6G), various new relay communication technologies will be introduced to provide more diverse technical solutions for network deployment.

[0065] Among them, the new relay communication technologies mainly include: network-controlled repeater (NCR) technology and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) technology. That is, NCR or RIS can be used as relay equipment in the relay communication system to assist the base station in enhancing coverage, thereby effectively improving the efficiency of signal amplification and forwarding.

[0066] In a relay communication system, a relay device (RIS and / or NCR) needs to assist the communication between a terminal device and a network device by regulating a forwarding beam when the forwarding beam is directed toward a terminal device within a coverage area.

[0067] The following is a detailed introduction to NCR technology and RIS technology.

[0068] 1. NCR technology.

[0069] Based on the RF repeater, 3GPP Rel-18 proposed NCR technology. NCR technology is a relay and amplification technology based on network control. In the network, NCR acts as a repeater to receive signals from base stations or mobile terminals, and after amplification and necessary processing, it forwards the signals to the target receiver. Through network control, the working status of the repeater can be remotely monitored and adjusted, thereby optimizing the performance of the communication network.

[0070] Compared with traditional RF repeaters, NCR is a RF repeater that has the ability to receive and process control information from the network side. It is mainly used for signal amplification and transmission to enhance signal coverage and signal quality. NCR can be used as a relay device in a relay communication system. Based on the control information sent from the network side, it optimizes and controls its amplification and forwarding strategy and adjusts the forwarding beam, which can effectively improve the efficiency of signal amplification and forwarding.

[0071] In addition, NCR has the ability of beamforming, which means that NCR can control the direction and shape of its forwarding beam. By adjusting the phase and amplitude of each element in the antenna array, NCR can form a beam with a specific directionality to achieve precise coverage of the target area. During the communication process, NCR will dynamically adjust its forwarding beam based on factors such as the location and mobility of the terminal device and network conditions. For example, when the terminal device moves to a new location, NCR will adjust the beam direction accordingly to ensure that the signal can continue to stably cover the area. By precisely controlling the forwarding beam, NCR can reduce signal attenuation and interference during transmission, thereby improving communication quality. At the same time, it can also help terminal devices maintain a stable connection in the edge areas of network coverage or signal blind spots.

[0072] 2.RIS technology.

[0073] RIS is a large number of low-cost reflective elements integrated on a plane. By intelligently adjusting and configuring these components, the wireless propagation environment can be regulated, thereby improving the performance of wireless communication networks. As a two-dimensional implementation of electromagnetic metamaterials, RIS actively and intelligently regulates electromagnetic waves in space in a programmable manner, thereby forming an electromagnetic field with controllable amplitude, phase, polarization and frequency. As a carrier for implementing electromagnetic regulation, RIS is usually composed of a series of periodically arranged electromagnetic unit structures.

[0074] Among them, multiple adjustable elements (such as PIN diodes, varactor diodes, liquid crystals, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) switches, etc.) are integrated in the electromagnetic unit structure to obtain the reconfigurability of electromagnetic wave control.

[0075] The introduction of RIS has changed the wireless propagation environment from passive adaptation to active control, thus building an intelligent wireless environment. By dynamically adjusting the wireless channel environment, RIS can significantly improve the transmission performance between communication devices and enhance the coverage performance of wireless communication systems. In the relay communication system, using RIS as a relay device can assist the base station in enhancing coverage, especially when covering the cell edge and blind spot areas. The signals sent by the base station are mainly forwarded (reflected / transmitted) to the terminal through the intelligent metasurface, and the signals sent by the terminal can also be forwarded to the base station through the intelligent metasurface. In order to expand the coverage range and suppress interference, RIS needs to point the beam to a specific terminal through beamforming.

[0076] (ii) Beamforming codebook.

[0077] Beamforming is a technology that adjusts the parameters of the antenna array to form an enhanced beam in a specific direction. The beamforming codebook is a set of predefined beamforming parameters, and each codebook corresponds to a specific beam direction and shape.

[0078] Determining the corresponding beamforming codebook according to the beam direction is to select the codebook that best suits the target beam direction from the codebook set. This process can be achieved through methods such as lookup tables, mapping relationships, algorithm calculations, or machine learning.

[0079] In addition, in order to facilitate the management and identification of different beamforming codebooks, the communication system usually assigns a unique beam identifier to each beamforming codebook. This identifier can be a combination of numbers, letters or other symbols, and there is a one-to-one correspondence between it and the beamforming codebook. By establishing and maintaining this correspondence, the communication system can quickly and accurately find the beam identifier corresponding to a specific beamforming codebook, thereby realizing the identification and control of the beam. After determining the beam identifier corresponding to the beamforming codebook, the communication system can also use this identifier to perform subsequent communication operations, such as sending signals, receiving signals, switching beams, etc. The beam identifier can be used as an identifier within the communication system to facilitate collaboration and interaction between different modules. At the same time, it can also provide information about the current communication beam to external systems or users for easy monitoring and management.

[0080] The above is a detailed explanation of the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application. The following is a detailed introduction to the application scenarios of the embodiments of the present application.

[0081] In mobile communication systems, it is crucial to ensure that terminals can continuously and stably access the network and maintain high-quality communication during movement. Cell switching technology is a common technology to solve the problem of signal coverage continuity when terminals move. In order to ensure the continuity and quality of communication, cell switching technology allows terminals to switch from the current serving cell to another cell with a stronger signal when they move from one cell to the border of another cell to maintain communication continuity.

[0082] However, since the cell switching technology is based on the communication between terminal devices and network devices to ensure the continuity of signal coverage, it increases the system air interface signaling overhead, which in turn causes communication interruption or increased latency and affects terminal transmission performance.

[0083] In view of this, in the communication method provided by the present application, when the quality of the received signal of the source cell is lower than the second threshold, the terminal device determines that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device, and sends a first indication information to the network device to indicate the initiation of relay device switching. Then the network device receives and responds to the first indication information from the terminal device, determines the target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device according to the location information of the terminal device, and sends a second indication information to the target relay device to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device. That is to say, in the above technical solution, the network device communicates with the relay device to implement relay device switching. Compared with the current cell switching technology, the continuity of signal coverage is guaranteed based on the communication between the terminal device and the network device, which increases the system air interface signaling overhead, thereby causing communication interruption or delay increase and affecting the terminal transmission performance. The above technical solution avoids the communication between the network device and the terminal device, thereby reducing the overhead of air interface signaling, reducing the delay and ensuring the communication and terminal transmission performance.

[0084] The implementation of the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0085] Figure 1 The following is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication system includes: a terminal device 101, multiple relay devices 102 and a network device 103.

[0086] The terminal device 101 and the relay device 102 are connected via a communication link. The relay device 102 and the network device 103 are connected via a communication link. The communication link may be a wired communication link or a wireless communication link, which is not limited in this application.

[0087] The following is a detailed introduction to the terminal device 101 involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0088] In a possible implementation, the terminal device 101 accesses the source relay device 1021 in the source cell to communicate with the network device 103. The terminal device 101 may monitor the quality of the received signal of the access source cell according to a preset period; when the quality of the received signal is lower than the second threshold, the first indication information is sent to the network device 103 to indicate initiating the relay device switching.

[0089] After the relay device is switched, the terminal device 101 communicates with the network device 103 through the target relay device 1022 .

[0090] In a possible implementation, the terminal device 101 in the embodiment of the present application may also be an entity on the user side for receiving signals, or sending signals, or receiving and sending signals. The terminal device 101 is used to provide one or more of voice services and data connectivity services to the user. The terminal device 101 may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device 101 may be a vehicle to everything (V2X) device, such as a smart car (or intelligent car), a digital car, an unmanned car (or driverless car or pilotless car or automobile), a self-driving car (or autonomous car), a pure electric vehicle (or battery EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (or HEV), a range extended EV (or REEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (or PHEV), a new energy vehicle, etc. The terminal device 101 may also be a device to device (or D2D) device, such as an electric meter, a water meter, etc.

[0091] The terminal device 101 may also be a mobile station (MS), a subscriber unit (subscriberunit), a drone, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a station (ST) in a WLAN, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a cordless phone, a wireless data card, a tablet computer, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a laptop computer, a machine type communication (MTC) terminal, a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device (also referred to as a wearable smart device). The terminal device 101 may also be a terminal device in a next generation communication system, for example, a terminal device in a 5G system or a terminal device in a future evolved PLMN, a terminal device in an NR system, etc.

[0092] The following is a detailed introduction to the relay device 102 involved in the embodiment of the present application.

[0093] In some embodiments, the relay device 102 includes a source relay device 1021 and a target relay device 1022. Before the terminal device 101 sends the first indication information, the source relay device 1021 is a relay device that supports the communication between the terminal device 101 and the network device 103. After the terminal device 101 sends the first indication information and after the network device 103 switches the relay device, the target relay device 1022 is a relay device that supports the communication between the terminal device 101 and the network device 103.

[0094] Optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, the source relay device 1021 is a relay device configured in the source cell. The target relay device 1022 may be a relay device configured in the source cell, or may be a relay device configured in an adjacent cell. The source cell and the adjacent cell are both cells within the coverage area of ​​the network device. In other words, the source relay device 1021 and the target relay device 1022 are both relay devices managed by the network device 103, or the source relay device 1021 and the target relay device 1022 are both relay devices accessing the network device 103.

[0095] Optionally, the relay device 102 may be a RIS and / or an NCR. Of course, the above is only an exemplary description of the relay device 102, and the relay device 102 may also be other relay devices, such as an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), a large-scale multiple input multiple output (MIMO) relay device, and a drone relay device, etc., and this application does not impose any limitation on this.

[0096] The following is a detailed introduction to the network device 103 involved in the embodiment of the present application.

[0097] In one possible implementation, the network device 103 is used to receive first indication information from the terminal device 101, and switch the relay device connected to the terminal device 101 in response to the first indication information (for example, switching from the source relay device 1021 to the target relay device 1022).

[0098] In a possible implementation, the network device 103 is a device located at the access network side of the above-mentioned communication system and having a wireless transceiver function or a chip or chip system that can be set in the device. The network device 103 includes, but is not limited to: an access point (AP) in a WiFi system, such as a home gateway, a router, a server, a switch, a bridge, etc., an evolved NodeB (eNB), a radio network controller (RNC), a NodeB (NB), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home NodeB, HNB), a base band unit (BBU), a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TRP or TP), etc. It can also be a 5G base station, such as a gNB in ​​a new radio (NR) system, or a transmission point (TRP or TP), one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, or it can also be a network node constituting a gNB or a transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU), or a distributed unit (distributed unit). The network device 103 also includes base stations in different networking modes, such as master evolved NodeB (MeNB), secondary eNB (SeNB, or secondary gNB, SgNB). The network device 103 also includes different types, such as ground base stations, air base stations, and satellite base stations.

[0099] When implemented by hardware, the terminal device 101, the relay device 102 and the network device 103 in the communication system can be integrated into Figure 2 Specifically, Figure 2 As shown, the basic hardware structure of the communication device is introduced.

[0100] Figure 2 The hardware structure diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Figure 2As shown, the communication device includes at least one processor 201, a communication line 202, and at least one communication interface 204, and may also include a memory 203. The processor 201, the memory 203 and the communication interface 204 may be connected via the communication line 202.

[0101] The processor 201 may be a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGA).

[0102] The communication link 202 may include a pathway for transmitting information between the above-mentioned components.

[0103] The communication interface 204 is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks, and can use any transceiver-like device, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.

[0104] The memory 203 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, an optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to include or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to these.

[0105] In one possible design, the memory 203 can exist independently of the processor 201, that is, the memory 203 can be a memory outside the processor 201. In this case, the memory 203 can be connected to the processor 201 through the communication line 202, and is used to store execution instructions or application code, and the processor 201 controls the execution to implement the communication method provided in the following embodiments of the present application. In another possible design, the memory 203 can also be integrated with the processor 201, that is, the memory 203 can be the internal memory of the processor 201, for example, the memory 203 is a high-speed cache, which can be used to temporarily store some data and instruction information.

[0106] As a possible implementation, the processor 201 may include one or more CPUs, for example Figure 2 As another possible implementation, the communication device may include multiple processors, such as Figure 2 As another possible implementation, the communication apparatus may further include an output device 205 and an input device 206.

[0107] It should be pointed out that the various embodiments of the present application can learn from or refer to each other. For example, the same or similar steps, method embodiments, system embodiments and device embodiments can all refer to each other without limitation.

[0108] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to Figure 1 In the communication system shown in FIG. Figure 3 As shown, the method includes the following S301-S305.

[0109] S301. Corresponding to the received signal quality of the source cell being lower than a second threshold, the terminal device determines that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirement of the terminal device.

[0110] The terminal device is a device that communicates with the network device through a source relay device in a source cell. The second threshold can be determined according to the signal transmission requirement of the terminal device, and is further used to characterize the signal transmission requirement of the terminal device.

[0111] It is understandable that, since the terminal device communicates with the network device through the source relay device in the source cell, the received signal quality of the source cell measured by the terminal device can also be considered as the received signal quality of the source relay device. In other words, when the received signal quality of the source cell is less than the second threshold, it can be considered that the received signal quality of the source relay device is also less than the second threshold, that is, the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device.

[0112] S302: The terminal device sends first indication information to the network device. Correspondingly, the network device receives the first indication information from the terminal device.

[0113] The first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to initiate a relay device switch, or to instruct the terminal device to initiate a cell switch.

[0114] Optionally, the received signal quality includes but is not limited to: signal strength, signal to interference noise ratio. Of course, the above is only an exemplary introduction to the received signal quality, and the received signal quality can also be characterized by parameters such as delay, packet loss rate and bit error rate, which are not limited in this application.

[0115] In a possible implementation, the implementation process of S302 includes: the terminal device measures the received signal quality of the source cell according to a preset period, and when the received signal quality is lower than a second threshold, the terminal device sends first indication information to the network device.

[0116] In another possible implementation, the implementation process of S302 includes: the terminal device measures the received signal quality of the source cell and the signal received quality of at least one neighboring cell according to a preset period. When the received signal quality of the source cell is lower than the second threshold, or the received signal quality of the source cell is lower than the received signal quality of any neighboring cell, the terminal device sends the first indication information to the network device.

[0117] That is to say, the second threshold can be set according to actual conditions or determined according to the quality of received signals of adjacent cells.

[0118] It can be understood that, through the above S302, when the measured received signal quality does not meet the communication requirements, the terminal device sends the first indication information to the network device to indicate the initiation of relay device switching, thereby triggering the switching of the relay device responsible for transmitting the signal of the terminal device to improve the received signal quality of the terminal device. In addition, when the measured received signal quality meets the communication requirements (for example, greater than or equal to the second threshold), the terminal device does not send the first indication information to the network device to reduce the air interface signaling overhead between the terminal device and the network device.

[0119] S303: The network device responds to the first indication information and determines a target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device according to the location information of the terminal device.

[0120] The target relay device is the relay device to be connected after the terminal device initiates the switch.

[0121] In one possible implementation, the implementation process of S303 includes: the network device determines, based on the location information of the terminal device and the maximum coverage distance of multiple relay devices controlled by the network device, that the relay device whose signal can cover the terminal device and is at the shortest distance from the terminal device is the target relay device.

[0122] Specifically, the network device determines, based on the interval distance between each relay device and the terminal device, that if the interval distance is less than the maximum coverage distance of the corresponding relay device, the relay device is determined as a candidate relay device; and the candidate relay device with the shortest interval distance with the terminal device among multiple candidate relay devices is determined as the target relay device.

[0123] Optionally, the maximum coverage distance of the relay device is related to the antenna gain of the relay device, that is, the network device can determine the maximum coverage distance of the relay device according to the antenna gain of the relay device.

[0124] Optionally, the process of the network device acquiring the location information of the terminal device may be implemented through the following process: determining the location information of the terminal device based on the base station positioning technology and / or the terminal positioning technology.

[0125] In another possible implementation process, the implementation process of S303 includes: determining the target relay device according to the location information of the terminal device and the first mapping relationship.

[0126] Among them, the first mapping relationship specifies the correspondence between terminal devices and relay devices at different locations (a location can also be understood as an area). In the first mapping relationship, a preset location (or a preset area) corresponds to a relay device. The terminal device located at the location (area) can communicate with the network device through the relay device corresponding to the location.

[0127] In one example, it is assumed that the first mapping relationship specifies that there is a corresponding relationship between position 1 and relay device 1, a mapping relationship between position 2 and relay device 2, and a mapping relationship between position 3 and relay device 3. If the location information of the terminal device matches position 1 (for example, the terminal device is located in the area corresponding to position 1), relay device 1 is determined to be the target relay device based on the first mapping relationship.

[0128] Optionally, the first mapping relationship can be determined by testing and / or simulation. For example, multiple relay devices accessing the network device are turned on in sequence so that each relay device forwards the signal of the target base station; the signal quality parameters forwarded by each relay device received at the target preset position are determined by testing and / or simulation, and then the relay device with the best signal quality is determined as the relay device corresponding to the preset position. Repeat the above steps, traverse each preset position in the coverage area of ​​the network device, and obtain the relay device corresponding to each preset position.

[0129] It can be understood that in the above S303, the network device determines the target relay device based on the location information of the terminal device, so that the terminal device is located within the coverage range of the relay device, and for the terminal device, the received signal quality of the target relay device is optimal, thereby improving the signal quality after the terminal device switches to the target relay device, and solving the problem of poor communication quality when the terminal device accesses the source forwarding device in the source cell.

[0130] S304: The network device sends second indication information to the target relay device. Correspondingly, the target relay device receives the second indication information from the network device.

[0131] The second indication information is used to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device.

[0132] Optionally, the second indication information may be radio resource control (RRC) information, medium access control (MAC) control element (MACCE) or downlink control information (DCI). Of course, the above is only an exemplary description of the second indication information form, and the second indication information may also be a non-access stratum (NAS) message, which is not limited in this application.

[0133] Optionally, the second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the second indication information is specifically used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the direction angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier, so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device and forwards the signal of the terminal device.

[0134] Among them, the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device, that is, the beam direction corresponding to the target beam identifier points to the location of the terminal device.

[0135] Optionally, the target beam identifier may be determined according to the location information of the terminal device. For example, the method for determining the target beam identifier includes: determining the direction of the target beam according to the location information of the terminal device; and determining the target beam identifier according to the direction of the target beam.

[0136] The direction of the target beam is the direction pointing to the location of the terminal device.

[0137] Further, optionally, the process of determining the target beam identifier according to the direction of the target beam can be implemented by the following process: determining the beamforming codebook corresponding to the direction of the target beam; and determining the target beam identifier corresponding to the corresponding beamforming codebook based on the second mapping relationship.

[0138] It should be noted that the relationship between the beam identifier, beam direction and beamforming codebook can refer to the explanation of "beamforming codebook" in the above-mentioned glossary, and will not be repeated here.

[0139] In the above technical solution, the network device sends a second indication message to the target relay device to instruct the target relay device to adjust the direction angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device and forwards the signal of the terminal device. That is to say, the above technical solution can improve the quality of communication between the target relay device and the terminal device based on beamforming technology.

[0140] S305. The target relay device forwards the signal of the terminal device based on the second indication information.

[0141] In one possible implementation, corresponding to the target beam identifier carried in the second indication information, the implementation process of S305 may be: the target relay device adjusts the direction angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device, and forwards the signal of the terminal device.

[0142] Among them, optionally, the target relay device adjusts the directional angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device can be achieved as follows: the target relay device determines the beamforming codebook corresponding to the target beam identifier based on the second mapping relationship; based on the beamforming codebook, adjusts the directional angle of the target beam so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device.

[0143] Among them, the beamforming codebook corresponds one-to-one to the direction of the target beam. The second mapping relationship can be configured in the target relay device, and can also be stored in a storage device. Corresponding to the second mapping relationship being configured in the target relay device, the target relay device can directly call the second mapping relationship; corresponding to the second mapping relationship being stored in the storage device, the target relay device can request the second mapping relationship from the storage device. Of course, the above is only an exemplary description of the configuration location of the second mapping relationship. The second mapping relationship can also be configured in other locations. For example, the second mapping relationship can also be configured in a network device, and the target relay device can request the mapping relationship from the network device. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0144] Based on the above technical solution, in the communication method provided by the present application, when the quality of the received signal of the source cell is lower than the second threshold, the terminal device determines that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device, and sends a first indication information to the network device to indicate the initiation of relay device switching. Then the network device receives and responds to the first indication information from the terminal device, determines the target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device according to the location information of the terminal device, and sends a second indication information to the target relay device to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device. That is to say, in the above technical solution, the network device communicates with the relay device to implement relay device switching. Compared with the current cell switching technology, the continuity of signal coverage is guaranteed based on the communication between the terminal device and the network device, which increases the system air interface signaling overhead, thereby causing communication interruption or delay increase and affecting the terminal transmission performance. The above technical solution avoids the communication between the network device and the terminal device, thereby reducing the overhead of air interface signaling, reducing the delay and ensuring the communication and terminal transmission performance.

[0145] Further, in some embodiments, after S305, the network device sends third indication information to the source relay device. Correspondingly, the source relay device receives the third indication information from the network device and stops forwarding the signal of the terminal device based on the third indication information.

[0146] The third indication information is used to instruct the source relay device to stop forwarding the signal of the terminal device.

[0147] In one example, the third indication information carries identification information of a beam in a source relay device for forwarding signals of a terminal device. Based on the identification information and in response to the third indication information, the source relay device stops sending and receiving signals in a direction corresponding to the identification information, thereby releasing the transmission resources of the source relay device and improving resource utilization.

[0148] Optionally, in some other embodiments, after S305, the network device does not send the third indication information to the source relay device, and the terminal device sends the third indication information to the target relay device after accessing the target relay device. In this way, it can be ensured that after the terminal accesses the new relay device, the link with the source relay device is disconnected, and the terminal can be prevented from being disconnected from the source relay device when the terminal does not access the new relay device, thereby ensuring the communication of the terminal.

[0149] It can be understood that the above technical solution can enable the terminal device to switch from the source relay device with poor received signal quality to the target relay device with good received signal quality, thereby improving the signal quality of the terminal device. In addition, the process of switching the terminal device from the source relay device to the target relay device is mainly completed based on the signaling interaction between the network device and the relay device. The terminal does not need to participate in the switching process, nor does it need to send indication information to the terminal device. Compared with the current cell switching technology, it has the effect of reducing signaling overhead.

[0150] As a possible embodiment of the present application, Figure 3 ,like Figure 4 As shown, after the above S305, the implementation process of ensuring the communication of the terminal device may include the following S401-S402.

[0151] S401: In response to the network device repeatedly receiving the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device being less than the first threshold, the network device sends fourth indication information to the terminal device. Accordingly, the terminal device receives the fourth indication information from the network device.

[0152] Among them, the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device switches from the source cell to the target cell; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; the first threshold is used to characterize the maximum signal coverage distance of the target relay device. The preset period is the time period after the second indication information is sent, and the preset period can be understood as the signal measurement period of the terminal device, that is, the preset period. The preset period can be set according to the actual situation, and this application does not limit this.

[0153] Optionally, the fourth indication information may carry a cell identifier of a target cell, where the target cell is an adjacent cell to be accessed after the terminal device switches. The target cell may be determined by relevant technologies (e.g., cell switching technologies), for example, the terminal device measures the received signal quality of each adjacent cell respectively, and sends the received signal quality of each adjacent cell to the network device; correspondingly, the network device receives the received signal quality of each adjacent cell, and determines the cell with the best received signal quality (e.g., the highest signal strength, or the lowest packet loss rate, or the smallest delay) as the target cell based on the received signal quality of each adjacent cell.

[0154] S402. The terminal device switches from the source cell to the target cell based on the fourth indication information.

[0155] It is understandable that if the network device receives the first indication information again within the preset period, and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is always less than the maximum signal coverage distance of the relay device within the preset period, it means that after the terminal device switches to the target relay device, it is within the coverage range of the target relay device within the preset period, but the signal quality forwarded by the target relay device does not meet the transmission requirements of the terminal device. Then, the network device sends the fourth indication information to the terminal device, instructing the terminal device to switch from the source cell to the target cell. In this way, the signal quality of the terminal device can be further improved through cell switching on the basis of relay device switching.

[0156] As a possible embodiment of the present application, Figure 4 As shown, after the above S305, the implementation process of ensuring the communication quality of the terminal device may include the following S403-S405.

[0157] S403: Corresponding to the network device repeatedly receiving the first indication information within the preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device being greater than the first threshold, the network device re-determines the target relay device.

[0158] In a possible implementation, the network device re-determines the target relay device according to the real-time location information of the terminal device. The detailed process of re-determining the target relay device according to the real-time location information of the terminal device can refer to the embodiment shown in S303, which will not be repeated here.

[0159] S404: The network device sends second indication information to the re-determined target relay device. Correspondingly, the re-determined target relay device receives the second indication information.

[0160] In a possible implementation, the second indication information refers to the description of the second indication information in S304, which will not be repeated here.

[0161] S405. The re-determined target relay device forwards the signal of the terminal device based on the second indication information.

[0162] In a possible implementation, the re-determined target relay device adjusts the directional angle of the target beam based on the second indication information so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device, and forwards the signal of the terminal device.

[0163] It is understandable that if the network device receives the first indication information again within the preset period, and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device within the preset period is greater than the maximum coverage distance of the target relay device, it means that after the terminal device switches to the target relay device, the reason why the terminal device sends the first indication information at this time may be that it moves outside the signal coverage range of the target relay device within the preset period. In this case, the network device executes the above S403-S405. In this way, the terminal device does not need to initiate a cell switch, and the signal quality of the terminal device can be improved by accessing the target relay device, thereby reducing the frequency of cell switching during the movement of the terminal device and ensuring the continuity of the signal coverage of the terminal device.

[0164] As a possible embodiment of the present application, Figure 3 ,like Figure 4 As shown, after the above S305, the implementation process of ensuring the communication of the terminal device may include the following S406.

[0165] S406: Corresponding to the situation that the network device does not receive the first indication information within the preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is less than the first threshold, the network device does not send the fourth indication information to the terminal device.

[0166] It is understandable that if the network device does not receive the first indication information again within the preset period, and the terminal device is always within the coverage of the target relay device within the preset period, it means that the received signal quality of the target relay device meets the transmission requirements of the terminal device. In this case, the network device does not send the fourth indication information to the terminal device, that is, the network device does not need to instruct the terminal device to switch cells. Maintaining communication through the target relay device can improve the signal quality of the terminal device, thereby reducing the frequency of cell switching, so as to reduce the impact of cell switching on terminal transmission performance.

[0167] It should be pointed out that the execution order of S401-S402, S403-S405 and / or S406 involved in the embodiments of the present application is not specific, and the present application does not limit this.

[0168] The embodiment of the present application can divide the communication device into functional modules or functional units according to the above method example. For example, each functional module or functional unit can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules or functional units. Among them, the division of modules or units in the embodiment of the present application is schematic, which is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0169] like Figure 5 , which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 50 provided in an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication device 50 includes: a communication unit 501 and a processing unit 502 .

[0170] A communication unit 501 is used to receive first indication information from a terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate the initiation of relay device switching; the terminal device is a device that communicates with a network device through a source relay device in a source cell; the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; a processing unit 502 is used to respond to the first indication information, determine a target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device according to the location information of the terminal device, and instruct the communication unit 501 to send a second indication information to the target relay device; the second indication information is used to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device.

[0171] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 502 is specifically used to: based on the location information of the terminal device and the maximum coverage distance of multiple relay devices controlled by the network device, determine that the relay device among multiple relay devices whose signal can cover the terminal device and is at the shortest distance from the terminal device is the target relay device.

[0172] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 502 is specifically configured to: determine a target relay device according to location information of the terminal device and a first mapping relationship; wherein the first mapping relationship specifies a correspondence between terminal devices at different locations and relay devices.

[0173] In one possible implementation, the second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device; the second indication information is specifically used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the directional angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier, so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device and forwards the signal of the terminal device.

[0174] In a possible implementation, the processing unit 502 is further used to: determine the direction of the target beam according to the location information of the terminal device; the direction of the target beam is the direction pointing to the location of the terminal device; and determine the target beam identifier according to the direction of the target beam.

[0175] In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 502 is further configured to: determine a beamforming codebook corresponding to the direction of the target beam; and determine a target beam identifier corresponding to the corresponding beamforming codebook based on the second mapping relationship.

[0176] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 501 is further used to: send third indication information to the source relay device; the third indication information is used to instruct the source relay device to stop forwarding the signal of the terminal device.

[0177] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 502 is further used to: in response to repeated receipt of the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device being less than a first threshold, instruct the communication unit 501 to send a fourth indication information to the terminal device; the fourth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to switch from the source cell to the target cell; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; the preset period is the time period after sending the second indication information; the first threshold is used to characterize the maximum signal coverage distance of the target relay device.

[0178] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 502 is further used to: in response to repeated receipt of the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device being greater than a first threshold, redetermine the target relay device and send a second indication information to the redetermined target relay device.

[0179] In a possible implementation, the processing unit is further used for: corresponding to not receiving the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is less than a first threshold, not sending the fourth indication information to the terminal device.

[0180] In a possible implementation, the communication device 50 may further include a storage unit 503 ( Figure 5 The storage unit 503 stores a program or instruction. When the processing unit 502 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 50 can execute the communication method described in the above method embodiment.

[0181] like Figure 6 , which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 60 provided in an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication device 60 includes: a communication unit 601 and a processing unit 602 .

[0182] The communication unit 601 is used to receive second indication information from the network device; the processing unit 602 is used to forward the signal of the terminal device based on the second indication information.

[0183] In one possible implementation, the second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device; the processing unit 602 is specifically used to: based on the target beam identifier, adjust the direction angle of the target beam so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device, and forward the signal of the terminal device.

[0184] In one possible implementation, the processing unit 602 is specifically used to: determine a beamforming codebook corresponding to the target beam identifier based on a second mapping relationship; the beamforming codebook corresponds one-to-one to the direction of the target beam; and based on the beamforming codebook, adjust the direction angle of the target beam so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device.

[0185] In a possible implementation, the communication unit 601 is further configured to receive third indication information from the network device; and the processing unit 602 is further configured to stop forwarding the signal of the terminal device based on the third indication information.

[0186] In a possible implementation, the communication device 60 may further include a storage unit 603 ( Figure 6 The storage unit 603 stores a program or instruction. When the processing unit 602 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 60 can execute the communication method described in the above method embodiment.

[0187] like Figure 7 , which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 70 provided in an embodiment of the present application, wherein the communication device 70 includes: a communication unit 701 and a processing unit 702.

[0188] The processing unit 702 is used to determine that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device in response to the received signal quality of the source cell being lower than the second threshold, and to instruct the communication unit 701 to send a first indication message to the network device; the first indication message is used to indicate the initiation of relay device switching.

[0189] In combination with the above-mentioned sixth aspect, in a possible implementation method, the communication unit 701 is also used to receive a fourth indication information from the network device; the processing unit 702 is also used to switch from the source cell to the target cell based on the fourth indication information; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device.

[0190] In a possible implementation, the communication device 70 may further include a storage unit 703 ( Figure 7 The storage unit 703 stores a program or instruction. When the processing unit 702 executes the program or instruction, the communication device 70 can execute the communication method described in the above method embodiment.

[0191] Through the description of the above implementation methods, technicians in the relevant field can clearly understand that for the convenience and simplicity of description, only the division of the above functional modules is used as an example. In actual applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above. The specific working process of the system, device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the aforementioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0192] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the communication method in the above method embodiment.

[0193] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes the communication method in the method flow shown in the above method embodiment.

[0194] Among them, the computer readable storage medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples of computer readable storage media (a non-exhaustive list) include: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a register, a hard disk, an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above, or any other form of computer readable storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). In the embodiments of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program, which may be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0195] Since the communication device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above-mentioned method, the technical effects that can be obtained can also refer to the above-mentioned method embodiments, and the embodiments of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0196] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0197] It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to reorder, add or delete steps. For example, the steps recorded in this disclosure can be executed in parallel, sequentially or in different orders, as long as the desired results of the technical solution of this disclosure can be achieved, and this document is not limited here.

[0198] The above specific implementations do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions can be made according to design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure shall be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0199] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0200] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0201] The above are only specific implementations of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a network device, the method comprises: Receiving first indication information from a terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate initiating a relay device switch; the terminal device is a device that communicates with the network device through a source relay device in a source cell; the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; In response to the first indication information, a target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device is determined based on the location information of the terminal device, and a second indication information is sent to the target relay device; the second indication information is used to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining of a target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirement of the terminal device includes: Based on the location information of the terminal device and the maximum coverage distance of multiple relay devices controlled by the network device, the relay device whose signal can cover the terminal device and is at the shortest distance from the terminal device among the multiple relay devices is determined as the target relay device.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining of a target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirement of the terminal device includes: The target relay device is determined according to the location information of the terminal device and a first mapping relationship; wherein the first mapping relationship specifies the correspondence between the terminal devices and relay devices at different locations.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device; The second indication information is specifically used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the direction angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device and forwards the signal of the terminal device.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method for determining the target beam identifier includes: Determine the direction of the target beam according to the location information of the terminal device; the direction of the target beam is the direction pointing to the location of the terminal device; The target beam identifier is determined according to the direction of the target beam.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Determining the target beam identifier according to the direction of the target beam includes: Determine a beamforming codebook corresponding to the direction of the target beam; Based on the second mapping relationship, a target beam identifier corresponding to the corresponding beamforming codebook is determined.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending third indication information to the source relay device; the third indication information is used to instruct the source relay device to stop forwarding the signal of the terminal device.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Corresponding to the first indication information being repeatedly received within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device being less than a first threshold, sending fourth indication information to the terminal device; The fourth indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to switch from the source cell to the target cell; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device; the preset deadline is the time limit after sending the second indication information; the first threshold is used to characterize the maximum signal coverage distance of the target relay device.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Corresponding to the repeated receipt of the first indication information within a preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device being greater than a first threshold, the target relay device is redetermined, and the second indication information is sent to the redetermined target relay device.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Corresponding to the situation that the first indication information is not received within the preset period and the distance between the terminal device and the target relay device is less than the first threshold, the fourth indication information is not sent to the terminal device.

11. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a relay device, the method comprises: receiving second indication information from the network device; Based on the second indication information, the signal of the terminal device is forwarded.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The second indication information carries a target beam identifier; the target beam identifier is used to instruct the target relay device to adjust the target beam to point to the location of the terminal device; The forwarding the signal of the terminal device based on the second indication information includes: Based on the target beam identifier, the direction angle of the target beam is adjusted so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device, and the signal of the terminal device is forwarded.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The adjusting the direction angle of the target beam based on the target beam identifier so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device includes: Based on the second mapping relationship, determining a beamforming codebook corresponding to the target beam identifier; the beamforming codebook corresponds one-to-one to the direction of the target beam; Based on the beamforming codebook, the direction angle of the target beam is adjusted so that the target beam points to the location of the terminal device.

14. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving third indication information from the network device; Based on the third indication information, stop forwarding the signal of the terminal device.

15. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal device, the terminal device is a device that communicates with a network device through a source relay device in a source cell; the method comprises: Corresponding to the received signal quality of the source cell being lower than a second threshold, it is determined that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device, and a first indication information is sent to the network device; the first indication information is used to indicate the initiation of relay device switching.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving fourth indication information from the network device; Based on the fourth indication information, the source cell is switched to the target cell; the target cell is an adjacent cell that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device.

17. A communication device, characterized in that: The apparatus comprises: a communication unit and a processing unit; the communication unit is used to receive first indication information from a terminal device; the first indication information is used to indicate initiating a relay device switch; the terminal device is a device that communicates with the network device through a source relay device in a source cell; the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirement of the terminal device; The processing unit is used to respond to the first indication information, determine the target relay device that meets the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device according to the location information of the terminal device, and instruct the communication unit to send second indication information to the target relay device; the second indication information is used to instruct the target relay device to forward the signal of the terminal device.

18. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a communication unit and a processing unit; The communication unit is used to receive second indication information from the network device; The processing unit is used to forward the signal of the terminal device based on the second indication information.

19. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a communication unit and a processing unit; The processing unit is used to determine that the source relay device does not meet the signal transmission requirements of the terminal device in response to the received signal quality of the source cell being lower than a second threshold, and to instruct the communication unit to send a first indication message to the network device; the first indication message is used to indicate the initiation of relay device switching.

20. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run a computer program or instruction to implement the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-10 or claims 11-14 or claims 15-16.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores instructions. When a computer executes the instructions, the computer executes the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, claims 11 to 14, or claims 15 to 16.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, claims 11 to 14, or claims 15 to 16.

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