Terminal-to-network multi-hop automatic networking method, device and equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a terminal-to-network multi-hop automatic networking method, device and equipment. The method comprises the following steps: relay UE (User Equipment) determines next-hop relay UE from the relay UE to a base station; determining the hop count from the relay UE to a base station based on the hop count of the next hop of relay UE; broadcasting the hop count from the relay UE to a base station; the remote UE determines next-hop relay UE from the remote UE to the base station; and sending a first request message to the next hop relay UE, wherein the first request message is used for the remote UE to request to establish a connection with the base station. According to the method and the device, in a multi-hop relay scene, both the remote UE and the relay UE can quickly determine the hop counts away from the base station, the next hop selection can be independently carried out, and a multi-hop path reaching the base station is established.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and particularly to a multi-hop automatic networking method, apparatus, and device from a terminal to a network. Background Art

[0002] 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) introduced the NR Sidelink (New Radio Sidelink) technology in Release 16, mainly focusing on road safety services related to V2X (Vehicle to Everything), and realizing broadcast, multicast, and unicast communications between terminals in in-network and out-of-network scenarios.

[0003] On this basis, in order to further expand the coverage of the network and Sidelink, improve power efficiency, and support a wider range of applications and services, 3GPP carried out research on the NR Sidelink Relay technology in Release 17, introducing the UE-to-Network Relay (U2N Relay) technology. When the link quality between the remote UE and the base station deteriorates, the remote UE can select a suitable relay UE to ensure service continuity through the U2N relay technology. However, existing solutions can only handle single-hop, and it is impossible to establish a path in the case of multi-hop.

[0004] In the existing solutions, a single-hop, sidelink-based U2N relay mechanism is implemented in scenarios where the relay UEs are in the same cell or different cells, and it is impossible to establish a path in the case of multi-hop. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The objective of this application is to provide a multi-hop automatic networking method, apparatus, and device from a terminal to a network, so as to solve the problem that the existing solutions only provide a single-hop, sidelink-based U2N relay mechanism and it is impossible to establish a path in the case of multi-hop.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of this application provides a multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network, which is applied to a relay UE. The method includes:

[0007] Determine the next-hop relay UE of the relay UE to the base station;

[0008] Based on the hop count of the next-hop relay UE, determine the hop count of the relay UE to the base station;

[0009] Broadcast the hop count of the relay UE to the base station.

[0010] In some possible embodiments, determining the next-hop relay UE of the relay UE to the base station includes:

[0011] If the relay UE is within the signal coverage of the base station, determine that the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station is zero;

[0012] Otherwise, select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs.

[0013] In some possible embodiments, determining the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station based on the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE includes:

[0014] Determine that the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station is the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE plus one.

[0015] In some possible embodiments, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs includes:

[0016] Select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the number of hops and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs.

[0017] In some possible embodiments, the method further includes:

[0018] When receiving a PC5 connection establishment request, initiate a PC5 connection establishment request to the next-hop relay UE.

[0019] In some possible embodiments, the method further includes:

[0020] When it is determined that there are no adjacent relay UEs, or when the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE is a value indicating unreachability, set the number of hops of the relay UE to a value indicating unreachability.

[0021] In some possible embodiments, broadcasting the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station includes:

[0022] Broadcast the number of hops of the relay UE in the network through a broadcast message; or

[0023] When receiving a request message for requesting the number of hops sent by a remote UE or a relay UE in the network, send the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station to the remote UE or the relay UE through a response message.

[0024] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network, which is applied to a remote UE. The method includes:

[0025] Determine the next-hop relay UE of the remote UE to the base station;

[0026] Send a first request message to the next-hop relay UE, where the first request message is used for the remote UE to request to establish a connection with the base station.

[0027] In some possible embodiments, determining the next-hop relay UE from the remote UE to the base station includes:

[0028] If the remote UE is within the signal coverage of the base station, send the first request message to the base station;

[0029] Otherwise, select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs.

[0030] In some possible embodiments, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs includes:

[0031] Select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs.

[0032] In some possible embodiments, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs includes:

[0033] Take the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs as weight factors for calculating the path score;

[0034] According to the principle that the weight factor corresponding to the fewer hop counts is larger and the weight factor corresponding to the better signal strength is larger, determine the adjacent network with the highest path score as the next hop.

[0035] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-hop automatic networking device from a terminal to a network, and the device includes:

[0036] A next-hop determination module, configured to determine the next-hop relay UE from the relay UE to the base station;

[0037] A hop count determination module, configured to determine the hop count from the relay UE to the base station based on the hop count of the next-hop relay UE;

[0038] A hop count broadcast module, configured to broadcast the hop count from the relay UE to the base station.

[0039] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-hop automatic networking device from a terminal to a network, and the device includes:

[0040] A next-hop determination module, configured to determine the next-hop relay UE from the remote UE to the base station;

[0041] A request sending module, configured to send a first request message to a next-hop relay UE, where the first request message is used for the remote UE to request to establish a connection with a base station.

[0042] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-hop automatic networking device from a terminal to a network, including at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein, the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to execute the method described in the first aspect, or execute the method described in the second aspect.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, where the computer storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is used to cause a computer to execute the method described in the first aspect, or execute the method described in the second aspect.

[0044] By using the multi-hop automatic networking method, device, and equipment from a terminal to a network provided in the embodiments of the present application, in a multi-hop relay scenario, both the remote UE and the Relay UE can quickly determine their hop counts from the base station, can independently select the next hop, and establish a multi-hop path to the base station.

[0045] Other features and advantages of the present application will be described in the subsequent specification, and part of them will become obvious from the specification, or be understood by implementing the present application. The objectives and other advantages of the present application can be realized and obtained by the structures specifically pointed out in the written specification, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required to be used in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the following introduced drawings are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0047] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a multi-hop automatic networking system from a terminal to a network according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 2 It is a schematic flowchart of a Relay UE determining and broadcasting its own hop count according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0049] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of a relay UE sending a hop count based on a request from a remote UE or another relay UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0050] Figure 4 Flow chart of a multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network implemented by interaction between a remote UE and a relay UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0051] Figure 5 Flow chart of a multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network applied to a relay UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0052] Figure 6 Flow chart of a multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network applied to a remote UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0053] Figure 7 Structural diagram of a multi-hop automatic networking device from a terminal to a network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0054] Figure 8 Structural diagram of a multi-hop automatic networking apparatus from a terminal to a network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0055] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the structure of a network-side device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed implementation manners

[0056] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Apparently, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0057] PROSE proximity communication needs to solve the multi-hop problem. It depends on the remote UE and the Relay UE being able to independently calculate an optimal path and then automatically establish this path to help the remote UE establish a connection to the base station.

[0058] Existing solutions can only handle single-hop and cannot establish a path in the case of multi-hop.

[0059] In view of this, an embodiment of the present invention proposes a multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network, which can judge the number of hops of each path to the base station for each hop of the multi-hop according to the collected information. Each hop can select a path according to the number of hops to the base station and other conditions and announce the number of hops of the path to the outside. When a certain remote UE selects a Relay UE according to the path, it triggers the Relay UE to select a next-hop Relay UE according to the path, and so on, until a complete path to the base station is established.

[0060] Refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the multi-hop automatic networking system from the terminal to the network provided by the embodiments of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the multi-hop automatic networking system from the terminal to the network provided by the embodiments of the present invention includes a base station 101, a relay UE 102, and a remote UE 103, where:

[0061] The relay UE is used to determine the next-hop relay UE of the relay UE to the base station; determine the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station based on the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE; and broadcast the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station. In the embodiments of the present application, for the relay UE in the system, according to the relevant information of the adjacent relay UE, one relay UE in the adjacent relay UE is selected as the next-hop relay UE. Each relay UE in the system will broadcast its own number of hops to the base station. Therefore, after selecting the next-hop relay UE, based on the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE, the number of hops of itself to the base station can be determined, and the determined number of hops of itself to the base station is broadcast.

[0062] The remote UE is used to determine the next-hop relay UE of the remote UE to the base station; and send a first request message to the next-hop relay UE, where the first request message is used for the remote UE to request to establish a connection with the base station. In the embodiments of the present application, the remote UE will select one relay UE from the adjacent relay UEs as the next-hop relay UE, and after selecting the next-hop relay UE, send a first request message to the relay UE. Thus, the relay UE that receives the first request message determines the next-hop relay UE according to the above mechanism until the first request message is sent to the base station. The above first request message may be a PC5 connection establishment request.

[0063] The embodiments of the present application propose a scheme for quickly establishing a multi-hop U2N path in a multi-hop scenario of a 3GPP prose system UE to network (U2N). The relay UE collects base station information and information of other adjacent relays, judges its own number of hops from the base station based on the number of hops of the adjacent relay UE to the base station, and broadcasts its own number of hops from the base station. The remote UE comprehensively selects a relay UE to establish a connection, and this relay UE also considers the number of hops of the adjacent base station to select a relay UE to establish a connection, and finally establishes a multi-hop U2N path.

[0064] In the embodiments of the present application, the relay UE or the remote UE may be within the coverage range of the base station, so there is no need to communicate with the base station through the relay UE. In some possible embodiments, the relay UE determines the next-hop relay UE of itself to the base station, including: if the relay UE is within the signal coverage range of the base station, determining that the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station is zero; otherwise, according to the information of other relay UEs received, selecting one relay UE as the next-hop relay UE.

[0065] The remote UE determines the next-hop relay UE to the base station, including: if the remote UE is within the signal coverage of the base station, sending the first request message to the base station; otherwise, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs.

[0066] In the embodiments of the present application, the Relay UE periodically measures the signal strength of the base station. If the strength reaches a certain threshold, it is considered that the Relay UE is within the signal coverage of the base station and can directly connect to the base station, and broadcasts that its hop count to the base station is 0. The remote UE periodically measures the signal strength of the base station. If the strength reaches a certain threshold, it is considered that the remote UE is within the signal coverage of the base station and can directly connect to the base station, and directly sends the first request message to the base station.

[0067] In the embodiments of the present application, the relay UE determines the hop count of the relay UE to the base station based on the hop count of the next-hop relay UE, including: determining the hop count of the relay UE to the base station as the hop count of the next-hop relay UE plus one.

[0068] The relay UE in the embodiments of the present application is further configured to: when receiving a PC5 connection establishment request, initiate a PC5 connection establishment request to the next-hop relay UE, so as to continuously forward the PC5 connection establishment request along the selected path until it reaches the base station.

[0069] As described above, the relay UE in the system broadcasts the hop count of itself to the base station when determining it. The relay UE in the embodiments of the present application selects a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs, including: selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs. The remote UE selects a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs, including: selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs. The above hop count and signal strength can reflect the quality of the next-hop path. The fewer the hop count, the better the path quality, and the better the signal strength, the better the path quality. These two factors can be comprehensively considered for optimal path selection.

[0070] In some possible embodiments, for the relay UE and the remote UE, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs includes: using the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs as weight factors for calculating the path score; determining the adjacent network with the highest path score as the next-hop according to the principle that the greater the weight factor corresponding to the fewer the hop count and the better the signal strength.

[0071] In the above manner, the relay UE and the remote UE can select the most suitable next hop, and finally obtain the optimal path.

[0072] In the embodiments of the present application, each relay UE independently collects information (base station signal strength, hop count declared by other relays, signal strength of other relays, etc.), independently calculates the most suitable next hop from itself to the base station, and broadcasts the hop count of the selected most suitable next hop plus one as its own hop count. For a relay UE, when it is determined that there is no adjacent relay UE, or the hop count of the next-hop relay UE is a value indicating unreachability, the hop count of the relay UE is set to a value indicating unreachability. Exemplarily, its own hop count can be set to 255, indicating unreachability to the base station.

[0073] The remote UE also independently collects information (base station signal strength, hop count declared by other relays, signal strength of other relays, etc.), independently calculates the most suitable next hop from itself to the base station, and when a connection establishment needs to be initiated, establishes a connection to the most suitable next hop.

[0074] As Figure 2 shown, the Relay UE periodically measures the base station signal strength to determine whether it is close to the base station; if the strength reaches a certain threshold, it is considered that it can directly connect to the base station, and the hop count is determined to be 0; broadcasts its own hop count to the base station as 0. Otherwise, listens to the broadcast hop count of other Relay UEs or actively requests the hop count of other Relay UEs; determines a certain Relay UE as the optimal next hop based on the hop count and signal strength of other adjacent Relay UEs, integrating the hop count and signal strength; when it is determined that the optimal next-hop hop count is equal to 255 or does not exist, sets its own hop count to 255, otherwise sets its own hop count to the optimal next-hop hop count plus one, and broadcasts its own hop count.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present application, the relay UE broadcasts the hop count of the relay UE to the base station, and two methods can be adopted. One method is to broadcast the hop count of the relay UE through a broadcast message in the network, that is, after determining its own hop count, broadcast it through a system broadcast message. Specifically, a hop count parameter can be added to the UE-to-network relay discovery announcement message to represent its own hop count to the base station. The hop count for directly connecting to the base station is 0, otherwise it is the hop count of the next-hop Relay UE plus one.

[0076] Another possible method is as Figure 3As shown in the figure, specifically, when receiving a request message for the number of hops sent by a remote UE or a relay UE in the network, the number of hops from the relay UE to the base station is sent to the remote UE or the relay UE through a response message. Specifically, a hop count parameter can be added to the UE-to-network relay discovery response message to indicate the number of hops from itself to the base station. The hop count of the direct-connected base station is 0, otherwise it is the hop count of the next-hop relay UE plus one. The above request message for the number of hops can be a UE-to-network relay discovery request message, and an indication of the requested number of hops may also be newly added to the UE-to-network relay discovery request message to indicate that it supports multi-hop capabilities.

[0077] As Figure 4 shown in the figure is the process of the multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network implemented by the interaction between the remote UE and the relay UE in the embodiment of the present application, which specifically includes:

[0078] Step 1, the Relay UE in the system periodically determines the optimal next hop in the above manner. Specifically, after selecting the optimal next hop according to the signal strength of adjacent base stations and the hop counts declared by other Relay UEs, it determines the number of hops from itself to the base station as the hop count of the optimal next-hop Relay UE plus one, and broadcasts its own hop count;

[0079] Step 2, the remote UE executes the Relay discovery process and determines the optimal next hop according to the hop counts and signal strengths declared by other Relay UEs;

[0080] Step 3, send a PC5 connection establishment request to the optimal next-hop Relay UE and establish a PC5 connection with the optimal next-hop Relay UE;

[0081] Step 4, after the above optimal next-hop Relay UE receives the PC5 connection establishment request, continue to determine the optimal next-hop Relay UE according to the above implementation manner;

[0082] Step 5, send a PC5 connection establishment request to the optimal next-hop Relay UE and establish a PC5 connection with the optimal next-hop Relay UE;

[0083] Step 6, the optimal next-hop Relay UE is a relay of the direct-connected base station. After receiving the PC5 connection establishment request, it establishes a connection with the base station through the radio access network RAN.

[0084] The embodiment of the present application provides a multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network, which is applied to the relay UE. AsFigure 5 As shown, the method includes:

[0085] Step 501, determining the next-hop relay UE of the relay UE to the base station;

[0086] Step 502, determining the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station based on the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE;

[0087] Step 503, broadcasting the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station.

[0088] In some possible embodiments, determining the next-hop relay UE of the relay UE to the base station includes:

[0089] If the relay UE is within the signal coverage of the base station, determining that the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station is zero;

[0090] Otherwise, select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs.

[0091] In some possible embodiments, determining the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station based on the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE includes:

[0092] Determining the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station as the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE plus one.

[0093] In some possible embodiments, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs includes:

[0094] Selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the number of hops and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs.

[0095] In some possible embodiments, the method further includes:

[0096] When receiving a PC5 connection establishment request, initiating a PC5 connection establishment request to the next-hop relay UE.

[0097] In some possible embodiments, the method further includes:

[0098] When it is determined that there are no adjacent relay UEs, or the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE is a value indicating unreachability, setting the number of hops of the relay UE to a value indicating unreachability.

[0099] In some possible embodiments, broadcasting the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station includes:

[0100] Broadcasting the number of hops of the relay UE in the network through a broadcast message; or

[0101] When receiving a request message for requesting the number of hops sent by a remote UE or a relay UE in the network, the number of hops from the relay UE to the base station is sent to the remote UE or the relay UE through a response message.

[0102] An embodiment of this application also provides a multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network, which is applied to a remote UE. As Figure 6 shown, this method includes:

[0103] Step 601, determine the next-hop relay UE from the remote UE to the base station;

[0104] Step 602, send a first request message to the next-hop relay UE, where the first request message is used for the remote UE to request to establish a connection with the base station.

[0105] In some possible embodiments, determining the next-hop relay UE from the remote UE to the base station includes:

[0106] If the remote UE is within the signal coverage of the base station, send the first request message to the base station;

[0107] Otherwise, select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other relay UEs received.

[0108] In some possible embodiments, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other relay UEs received includes:

[0109] Select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the number of hops and signal strength sent by other relay UEs received.

[0110] In some possible embodiments, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the number of hops and signal strength sent by other relay UEs received includes:

[0111] Use the number of hops and signal strength sent by other relay UEs received as weight factors for calculating the path score;

[0112] According to the principle that the smaller the number of hops, the larger the corresponding weight factor, and the better the signal strength, the larger the corresponding weight factor, determine the adjacent network with the highest path score as the next hop.

[0113] The above describes a multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network in the present invention. The following describes the device for executing the above multi-hop automatic networking method from a terminal to a network.

[0114] Please refer to Figure 7 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-hop automatic networking device from a terminal to a network, including:

[0115] The next-hop determination module 701 is configured to determine the next-hop relay UE from the relay UE to the base station;

[0116] The hop count determination module 702 is configured to determine the hop count from the relay UE to the base station based on the hop count of the next-hop relay UE;

[0117] The hop count broadcasting module 703 is configured to broadcast the hop count from the relay UE to the base station.

[0118] In some possible embodiments, the next-hop determination module determines the next-hop relay UE from the relay UE to the base station, including:

[0119] If the relay UE is within the signal coverage of the base station, determine that the hop count from the relay UE to the base station is zero;

[0120] Otherwise, select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other relay UEs received.

[0121] In some possible embodiments, the hop count determination module determines the hop count from the relay UE to the base station based on the hop count of the next-hop relay UE, including:

[0122] Determine the hop count from the relay UE to the base station as the hop count of the next-hop relay UE plus one.

[0123] In some possible embodiments, the next-hop determination module selects a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other relay UEs received, including:

[0124] Select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the hop count and signal strength sent by other relay UEs received.

[0125] In some possible embodiments, the apparatus further includes:

[0126] The connection request module is configured to initiate a PC5 connection establishment request to the next-hop relay UE when a PC5 connection establishment request is received.

[0127] In some possible embodiments, the apparatus further includes:

[0128] The unreachable setting module is configured to set the hop count of the relay UE to a value indicating unreachability when it is determined that there is no adjacent relay UE, or the hop count of the next-hop relay UE is a value indicating unreachability.

[0129] In some possible embodiments, the hop count broadcasting module broadcasts the hop count from the relay UE to the base station, including:

[0130] Broadcast the hop count of the relay UE in the network through a broadcast message; or

[0131] When receiving a request message for requesting the number of hops sent by a remote UE or a relay UE in the network, send the number of hops from the relay UE to the base station to the remote UE or the relay UE through a response message.

[0132] The multi-hop automatic networking device from the terminal to the network provided by the embodiments of the present invention and the multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network provided by the above embodiments of the present application belong to the same inventive concept. Various embodiments of the multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network provided by the above embodiments can be applied to the multi-hop automatic networking device from the terminal to the network in this embodiment for implementation, and will not be repeated here.

[0133] Please refer to Figure 8 , the embodiments of the present invention further provide a multi-hop automatic networking device from the terminal to the network, characterized in that the device includes:

[0134] The next-hop determination module 801 is configured to determine the next-hop relay UE from the remote UE to the base station;

[0135] The request sending module 802 is configured to send a first request message to the next-hop relay UE, and the first request message is used for the remote UE to request to establish a connection with the base station.

[0136] In some possible embodiments, the next-hop determination module determines the next-hop relay UE from the remote UE to the base station, including:

[0137] If the remote UE in the network is within the signal coverage range of the base station, send the first request message to the base station;

[0138] Otherwise, select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs.

[0139] In some possible embodiments, the next-hop determination module selects a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs, including:

[0140] Select a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the number of hops and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs.

[0141] In some possible embodiments, the next-hop determination module selects a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the number of hops and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs, including:

[0142] Use the number of hops and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs as weight factors for calculating the path score;

[0143] According to the principle that the larger the weight factor corresponding to the fewer hops and the better the signal strength corresponding to the larger the weight factor, the adjacent network with the highest path score is determined as the next hop.

[0144] The multi-hop automatic networking device from the terminal to the network provided by the embodiments of the present invention and the above-mentioned multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network of the present invention belong to the same inventive concept. Various implementation manners of the above-mentioned multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network can be applied to the multi-hop automatic networking device from the terminal to the network in this embodiment for implementation, and will not be repeated here.

[0145] The above describes the multi-hop automatic networking device from the terminal to the network in the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of modular functional entities. The following describes the multi-hop automatic networking device from the terminal to the network in the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of hardware processing.

[0146] Please refer to Figure 9 , another embodiment of the network-side device in the embodiments of the present application includes:

[0147] A processor 900, a memory 901, a transceiver 902, and a bus interface 903.

[0148] The processor 900 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing. The memory 901 can store the data used by the processor 900 when performing operations. The transceiver 902 is used to receive and send data under the control of the processor 900.

[0149] The bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically various circuits represented by one or more processors represented by the processor 900 and the memory represented by the memory 901 are linked together. The bus architecture can also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and thus will not be further described herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The processor 900 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing. The memory 901 can store the data used by the processor 900 when performing operations.

[0150] The processes disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention can be applied to or implemented by the processor 900. During the implementation, each step of the signal processing process can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor 900 or the instructions in the form of software. The processor 900 can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present invention can be directly embodied as being executed by the hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of the hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. This storage medium is located in the memory 901, and the processor 900 reads the information in the memory 901 and combines its hardware to complete the steps of the signal processing process.

[0151] Specifically, the processor 900 is configured to read the program in the memory 901 and execute the multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network applied to the relay UE provided in the foregoing embodiment, or execute the multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network applied to the remote UE provided in the foregoing embodiment.

[0152] The embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer-readable storage medium, including instructions, which when running on a computer, cause the computer to execute the multi-hop automatic networking method from the terminal to the network provided in the foregoing embodiment.

[0153] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described devices and modules can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be described herein again.

[0154] 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 illustrative. For example, the division of the modules is only a logical function division, and there can be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection can be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of the devices or modules can be in an electrical, mechanical, or other form.

[0155] The module described as a separation component may or may not be physically separated. The component shown as a module may or may not be a physical module, that is, it may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0156] In addition, in each embodiment of this application, the functional modules can be integrated into one processing module, or each module can exist physically alone, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. If the integrated module is implemented in the form of a software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0157] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product.

[0158] The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of this application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wirelessly (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can store or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more integrated available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0159] The technical solutions provided in this application have been introduced in detail above. Specific examples are used in this application to elaborate on the principles and implementation manners of this application. The descriptions of the above embodiments are only used to help understand the method and its core idea of this application; at the same time, for those of ordinary skill in the art, based on the idea of this application, there will be changes in the specific implementation manners and application scopes. In summary, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation to this application.

[0160] Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as a method, a system, or a computer program product. Therefore, the present application can take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the present application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0161] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatuses (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or block in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of flows and / or blocks in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to the processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing devices to generate a machine, such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing devices generate means for implementing the functions specified in Figure 1 one or more of the processes and / or Figure 1 blocks.

[0162] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory generate a manufactured article including instruction means that implement the functions specified in Figure 1 one or more of the processes and / or Figure 1 blocks.

[0163] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, such that a series of operation steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to generate a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in Figure 1 one or more of the processes and / or Figure 1 blocks.

[0164] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A multi-hop automatic networking method from terminal to network, applied to a relay UE, characterized in that, the method includes: determining the next-hop relay UE of the relay UE to the base station; determining the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station based on the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE; broadcasting the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, determining the next-hop relay UE of the relay UE to the base station includes: if the relay UE is within the signal coverage of the base station, determining that the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station is zero; otherwise, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, determining the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station based on the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE includes: determining the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station as the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE plus one.

4. The method according to claim 2, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs, includes: selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the number of hops and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further includes: when receiving a PC5 connection establishment request, initiating a PC5 connection establishment request to the next-hop relay UE.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, further includes: when it is determined that there are no adjacent relay UEs, or the number of hops of the next-hop relay UE is a value indicating unreachability, setting the number of hops of the relay UE to a value indicating unreachability.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, broadcasting the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station includes: broadcasting the number of hops of the relay UE in the network through a broadcast message; or when receiving a request message for requesting the number of hops sent by a remote UE or a relay UE in the network, sending the number of hops of the relay UE to the base station to the remote UE or the relay UE through a response message.

8. A multi-hop automatic networking method from terminal to network, applied to a remote UE, characterized in that, the method includes: determining the next-hop relay UE of the remote UE to the base station; sending a first request message to the next-hop relay UE, where the first request message is used for the remote UE to request to establish a connection with the base station.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, determining the next-hop relay UE of the remote UE to the base station includes: if the remote UE is within the signal coverage of the base station, sending the first request message to the base station; otherwise, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the information of other received relay UEs includes: selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the number of hops and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, Selecting a relay UE as the next-hop relay UE according to the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs, including: Regarding the hop count and signal strength sent by other received relay UEs as weight factors for calculating the path score; Determining the adjacent network with the highest path score as the next hop according to the principle that the smaller the hop count, the larger the corresponding weight factor, and the better the signal strength, the larger the corresponding weight factor.

12. A multi-hop automatic networking device from a terminal to a network, Characterized in that, The device includes: A next-hop determination module, configured to determine the next-hop relay UE of the relay UE to the base station; A hop count determination module, configured to determine the hop count of the relay UE to the base station based on the hop count of the next-hop relay UE; A hop count broadcast module, configured to broadcast the hop count of the relay UE to the base station.

13. A multi-hop automatic networking device from a terminal to a network, Characterized in that, The device includes: A next-hop determination module, configured to determine the next-hop relay UE of the remote UE to the base station; A request sending module, configured to send a first request message to the next-hop relay UE, where the first request message is used for the remote UE to request to establish a connection with the base station.

14. A multi-hop automatic networking device from a terminal to a network, Characterized in that, It includes at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein, the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the method according to any one of claims 1-7, or execute the method according to any one of claims 8-11.

15. A computer storage medium, Characterized in that, The computer storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is used to cause a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-7, or execute the method according to any one of claims 8-11.

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