First node, second node and methods performed thereby

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method performed by a first node in a communication system, the method comprising: determining cell-related information of the first node, and sending the cell-related information and first information to a second node, the first information comprises at least one of the following: fifth information related to the number of nodes included in a communication path from the base station to the first node; and sixth information related to whether the first node is reference user equipment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method performed by a first node in a communication system, a method performed by a second node in the communication system, the first node, and the second node. Background Art

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

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

[0004] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a first node in a communication system is provided, the method comprising: determining cell-related information of the first node, and sending the cell-related information and first information to a second node, wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following: fifth information related to the number of nodes included in a communication path from a base station to the first node; sixth information related to whether the first node is a reference user equipment.

[0005] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the fifth information includes at least one of the following: the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node; the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node plus one; the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node plus two; the number of relay user devices other than the base station in the communication path from the base station to the first node; the number of all nodes in the communication path from the base station to the first node.

[0006] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the first information also includes at least one of the following: a user equipment identifier; seventh information related to the mobility of the first node; and eighth information related to the load of the first node.

[0007] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the user equipment identifier includes at least one of the following: a layer 2 identifier of the user equipment; a source layer 2 identifier of the user equipment; a destination layer 2 identifier of the user equipment; an application layer identifier of the user equipment; an identifier of the user equipment for selection and / or reselection.

[0008] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the seventh information includes at least one of the following: the moving speed of the first node; information related to whether the moving speed of the first node meets or does not meet the first threshold condition; information related to whether the first node is moving at least one of high speed, low speed or medium speed.

[0009] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the eighth information includes at least one of the following: load percentage; available resource percentage; information related to whether the load of the first node meets or does not meet the second threshold condition; information related to whether the load of the first node is at least one of high load, low load or medium load.

[0010] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the reference user equipment includes at least one of the following: a user equipment with a fixed position or a relatively fixed position; a user equipment with a determined position coordinate and the position coordinate can be obtained by other nodes; a user equipment moving at a low speed or at a relatively low speed; a user equipment with a fixed motion trajectory or a trackable or predictable motion trajectory; a user equipment dedicated to a relay network; a user equipment that can be deployed in advance to provide a relay function.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a second node in a communication system is provided, the method comprising: receiving cell-related information and first information from a first node, and determining, based on the first information, a previous-hop node of the second node on a communication path from the base station to the second node; wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following: fifth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the base station to the first node; and sixth information related to whether the first node is a reference user equipment.

[0012] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the fifth information includes at least one of the following: the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node; the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node plus one; the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node plus two; the number of relay user devices other than the base station in the communication path from the base station to the first node; the number of all nodes in the communication path from the base station to the first node.

[0013] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the first information also includes at least one of the following: a user equipment identifier; seventh information related to the mobility of the first node; and eighth information related to the load of the first node.

[0014] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the user equipment identifier includes at least one of the following: a layer 2 identifier of the user equipment; a source layer 2 identifier of the user equipment; a destination layer 2 identifier of the user equipment; an application layer identifier of the user equipment; an identifier of the user equipment for selection and / or reselection.

[0015] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the seventh information includes at least one of the following: the moving speed of the first node; information related to whether the moving speed of the first node meets or does not meet the first threshold condition; information related to whether the first node is moving at least one of high speed, low speed or medium speed.

[0016] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the eighth information includes at least one of the following: load percentage; available resource percentage; information related to whether the load of the first node meets or does not meet the second threshold condition; information related to whether the load of the first node is at least one of high load, low load or medium load.

[0017] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, receiving the first information from the first node includes: receiving multiple first information from multiple first nodes, and the method also includes: based on at least one of the multiple first information and / or first channel quality related information, selecting one of the multiple first nodes as the previous hop node, wherein the first channel quality related information is obtained by the second node based on the signal measurement sent by the first node.

[0018] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the first node is determined to be a reference user equipment based on the sixth information included in the first information received from one of the multiple first nodes, and the first node is selected as the previous hop node.

[0019] According to the method performed by the second node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the method further includes: updating the fifth information.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a first node in a communication system is provided, the method comprising: sending second information to a second node, and receiving fourth information from the second node, wherein the second information comprises at least one of the following: ninth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from a first remote user device to the first node; relay user device-related identification information, comprising a list of identifications of relay user devices included in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; wherein the fourth information comprises at least one of the following: tenth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from a second remote user device to the second node; eleventh information related to a reference user device.

[0021] According to the method performed by the first node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the ninth information includes at least one of the following: the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node plus one; the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node plus two; the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; the number of all nodes in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node.

[0022] According to the method performed by the first node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the tenth information includes at least one of the following: the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node; the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node plus one; the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node plus two; the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node; the number of all nodes in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node.

[0023] According to the method performed by the first node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the eleventh information includes at least one of the following: the number of reference user equipments; and twelfth information related to whether the second node is a reference user equipment.

[0024] According to the method performed by the first node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the second information further includes at least one of the first remote user equipment identifier and the second remote user equipment identifier.

[0025] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the fourth information also includes at least one of the following: at least one of the second remote user equipment identifier and the first remote user equipment identifier; thirteenth information related to the mobility of the second node; fourteenth information related to the load of the second node.

[0026] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the first remote user equipment identifier, the second remote user equipment identifier, or the relay user equipment identifier includes at least one of the following: a layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; a source layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; a destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; an application layer identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; an identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment for selection and / or reselection.

[0027] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the thirteenth information includes at least one of the following: the moving speed of the second node; information related to whether the moving speed of the second node meets or does not meet the third threshold condition; information related to whether the second node is moving at least one of high speed, low speed or medium speed.

[0028] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the fourteenth information includes at least one of the following: load percentage; available resource percentage; information related to whether the load of the second node meets or does not meet the fourth threshold condition; information related to whether the load of the second node is at least one of high load, low load or medium load.

[0029] According to the method performed by the first node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the method further includes: determining the next hop node of the first node on the communication path from the first node to the second remote user equipment based on the fourth information.

[0030] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, receiving the fourth information from the second node includes: receiving multiple fourth information from multiple second nodes, and the method also includes: based on at least one of the multiple fourth information or second channel quality related information, selecting one of the multiple second nodes as the next hop node, wherein the second channel quality related information is obtained by the first node based on the signal measurement sent by the second node.

[0031] According to the method provided in the present disclosure and performed by a first node in a communication system, the second node is determined to be a reference user device based on the eleventh information included in the fourth information received from one of the multiple second nodes, and the second node is selected as the next hop node; or the second node is selected as the next hop node based on the fact that the number of reference user devices included in the fourth information received from one of the multiple second nodes is the largest.

[0032] According to the method performed by the first node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the method further includes: updating the tenth information.

[0033] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the first node in the communication system, the method further includes: updating the reference user equipment quantity, and sending the updated reference user equipment quantity to the previous hop node of the first node or the first remote user equipment.

[0034] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a second node in a communication system is provided, the method comprising: receiving second information from a first node, and sending fourth information to the first node, wherein the second information comprises at least one of the following: ninth information related to the number of nodes included in a communication path from a first remote user device to the first node; relay user device-related identification information, comprising a list of identifications of relay user devices included in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; wherein the fourth information comprises at least one of the following: tenth information related to the number of nodes included in a communication path from a second remote user device to the second node; eleventh information related to a reference user device.

[0035] According to the method performed by the second node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the ninth information includes at least one of the following: the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node plus one; the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node plus two; the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; the number of all nodes in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node.

[0036] According to the method performed by the second node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the tenth information includes at least one of the following: the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node; the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node plus one; the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node plus two; the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node; the number of all nodes in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node.

[0037] According to the method performed by the second node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the eleventh information includes at least one of the following: the number of reference user equipments; and twelfth information related to whether the second node is a reference user equipment.

[0038] According to the method performed by the second node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the second information further includes at least one of the first remote user equipment identifier and the second remote user equipment identifier.

[0039] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the first remote user equipment identifier, the second remote user equipment identifier, or the relay user equipment identifier includes at least one of the following: a layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; a source layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; a destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; an application layer identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; an identifier of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment for selection and / or reselection.

[0040] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the fourth information also includes at least one of the following: at least one of the second remote user equipment identifier and the first remote user equipment identifier; thirteenth information related to the mobility of the second node; fourteenth information related to the load of the second node.

[0041] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the thirteenth information includes at least one of the following: the moving speed of the second node; information related to whether the moving speed of the second node meets or does not meet the third threshold condition; information related to whether the second node is moving at least one of high speed, low speed or medium speed.

[0042] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the fourteenth information includes at least one of the following: load percentage; available resource percentage; information related to whether the load of the second node meets or does not meet the fourth threshold condition; information related to whether the load of the second node is at least one of high load, low load or medium load.

[0043] According to the method performed by the second node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the method further includes: updating the ninth information.

[0044] According to the method performed by the second node in the communication system provided by the present disclosure, the method further includes: updating the identification information related to the relay user equipment.

[0045] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, the method also includes: sending third information to a relay user device or a second remote user device not included in the list, wherein the third information includes at least one of the following: the first remote user device identifier; the updated ninth information; the updated relay user device related identifier information.

[0046] According to the method provided by the present disclosure and executed by the second node in the communication system, wherein the receiving of the second information from the first node includes: receiving multiple second information from multiple first nodes, the method also includes: the second node only operates or processes the first received second information; or the second node only sends the third information once.

[0047] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a first node is provided, comprising: a transceiver configured to send and receive signals to and from the outside; and a controller configured to control the transceiver to execute the method executed by the first node.

[0048] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a second node is provided, the second node comprising: a transceiver configured to send and receive signals to and from the outside; and a controller configured to control the transceiver to execute the method executed by the second node.

[0049] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium is provided, on which a program for executing any of the above methods when executed by a computer is stored. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] Figure 1 is an exemplary system architecture for System Architecture Evolution (SAE).

[0051] Figure 2 is an exemplary system architecture according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0052] Figure 3 is an exemplary architecture of a base station according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0053] Figure 4A This is a scenario in which there are at least two relay user equipments between a base station and a remote user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0054] Figure 4B This is a scenario in which there are at least two relay user equipments between two remote user equipments according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0055] Figure 5A It is a schematic diagram of a method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0056] Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of another method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0057] Figure 5Cis a schematic diagram of yet another method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0058] Figure 5D is a schematic diagram of yet another method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0059] Figure 5E is a schematic diagram of yet another method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0060] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a node device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure clearer, the technical solution of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all of the embodiments. Based on the described embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0062] Before carrying out the description of the following specific embodiments, it may be advantageous to elaborate on the definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document.The term "coupling" and its derivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two or more elements, regardless of whether these elements are in physical contact with each other.The terms "send", "receive" and "communication" and their derivatives cover direct and indirect communication.The terms "include" and "comprise" and their derivatives mean including but not limited to.The term "or" is inclusive, meaning and / or.The phrase "associated with..." and its derivatives mean including, included in, connected to, interconnected with, included in, connected to or connected with, coupled to or coupled with, can communicate with, collaborate with, interweave, juxtapose, approach, bind to or bind with, have, have... attributes, have... relationships or have relationships with, etc.The term "controller" means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation.Such a controller can be implemented in hardware, or implemented in a combination of hardware and software and / or firmware.The functions associated with any particular controller can be centralized or distributed locally or remotely. The phrase "at least one of" when used with a list of items means that different combinations of one or more of the listed items may be used, and only one item in the list may be needed. For example, "at least one of A, B, and C" includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C. For example, "at least one of A, B, or C" includes any of the following combinations: A, B, C, A and B, A and C, B and C, and A and B and C.

[0063] In addition, the various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed by a computer-readable program code and embodied in a computer-readable medium. The terms "application" and "program" refer to one or more computer programs, software components, instruction sets, processes, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data or parts thereof suitable for implementation in a suitable computer-readable program code. The phrase "computer-readable program code" includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code and executable code. The phrase "computer-readable medium" includes any type of medium that can be accessed by a computer, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD) or any other type of memory. "Non-transitory" computer-readable media excludes wired, wireless, optical or other communication links that transmit temporary electrical signals or other signals. Non-transitory computer-readable media include media that can permanently store data and media that can store and rewrite data later, such as rewritable optical discs or erasable memory devices.

[0064] The terms used to describe the embodiments of the present application are not intended to limit and / or define the scope of the present application. For example, unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used in the present disclosure should be the common meanings understood by people with ordinary skills in the field to which the present application belongs.

[0065] It should be understood that the words "first", "second" and the like used in the present disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" or "the" and the like do not indicate quantity limitation, but indicate the presence of at least one.

[0066] As used herein, any reference to "one example" or "example", "one embodiment" or "embodiment" means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an example" appearing in different places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

[0067] As used herein, "a portion" of something means "at least some" of that thing, and thus may mean less than all of that thing or all of that thing. Thus, "a portion" of a thing includes the entire thing as a special case, i.e., the entire thing is an example of a portion of a thing.

[0068] It will be further understood that the terms "include" or "comprises" and similar words mean that the elements or objects appearing before the word include the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. "Connected" or "connected" and similar words are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "Up", "down", "left", "right", etc. are only used to indicate relative position relationships. When the absolute position of the object being described changes, the relative position relationship may also change accordingly.

[0069] The various embodiments discussed below for describing the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are intended to be illustrative only and should not be interpreted in any way as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present disclosure can be implemented in any appropriately arranged wireless communication system. For example, although the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be directed to LTE and 5G communication systems, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the main points of the present disclosure can also be applied to other communication systems with similar technical backgrounds and channel formats with slight modifications without substantially departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example, the communication system may include a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, a general packet radio service (GPRS), a long term evolution (LTE) system, a LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, a LTE time division duplex (TDD), a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), a world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, a fifth generation (5G) system or a new radio (NR), etc. In addition, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to future-oriented communication technologies. In addition, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to future-oriented communication technologies.

[0070] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. This description includes various specific details to facilitate understanding but should be considered as exemplary only. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made to the various embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, for the sake of clarity and conciseness, descriptions of well-known functions and structures may be omitted.

[0071] The terms and expressions used in the following specification and claims are not limited to their dictionary meanings, but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustration purposes only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0072] It should be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

[0073] The term "include" or "may include" refers to the presence of the corresponding disclosed functions, operations or components that can be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than limiting the presence of one or more additional functions, operations or features. In addition, the term "include" or "have" may be interpreted as indicating certain characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, constituent elements, components or combinations thereof, but should not be interpreted as excluding the possibility of the presence of one or more other characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, constituent elements, components or combinations thereof.

[0074] The term "or" used in various embodiments of the present disclosure includes any of the listed terms and all combinations thereof. For example, "A or B" may include A, may include B, or may include both A and B.

[0075] Unless defined differently, all terms (including technical terms or scientific terms) used in the present disclosure have the same meanings as understood by those skilled in the art described in the present disclosure. Common terms as defined in dictionaries are interpreted as having meanings consistent with the context in the relevant technical field, and should not be interpreted ideally or overly formally unless clearly defined in the present disclosure.

[0076] The following discussion Figures 1 to 6 The various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are for illustration only and should not be interpreted in any way as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present disclosure can be implemented in any appropriately arranged system or device.

[0077] Figure 1 It is an exemplary system architecture 100 of System Architecture Evolution (SAE). User Equipment (UE) 101 is a terminal device used to receive data. Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 102 is a radio access network, which includes a macro base station (eNodeB / NodeB) that provides a wireless network interface for the UE to access. The Mobility Management Entity (MME) 103 is responsible for managing the mobility context, session context and security information of the UE. The Serving Gateway (SGW) 104 mainly provides user plane functions, and the MME 103 and SGW 104 may be in the same physical entity. The Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) 105 is responsible for functions such as billing and lawful interception, and may also be in the same physical entity as the SGW 104. The Policy and Charging Rules Function Entity (PCRF) 106 provides Quality of Service (QoS) policies and charging criteria. The General Packet Radio Service Support Node (SGSN) 108 is a network node device that provides routing for data transmission in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 109 is the home subsystem of the UE and is responsible for protecting user information including the current location of the user equipment, the address of the service node, user security information, and the packet data context of the user equipment.

[0078] Figure 2 is an exemplary system architecture 200 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments of the system architecture 200 can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0079] User equipment (UE) 201 is a terminal device used to receive data. The next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) 202 is a radio access network, which includes a base station (gNB or eNB connected to the 5G core network 5GC, the eNB connected to the 5GC is also called ng-gNB) that provides the UE with an access wireless network interface. The access control and mobility management function entity (AMF) 203 is responsible for managing the mobility context and security information of the UE. The user plane function entity (UPF) 204 mainly provides user plane functions. The session management function entity SMF 205 is responsible for session management. The data network (DN) 206 includes services such as operators, Internet access, and third-party services.

[0080] In the NR system, in order to support network function virtualization, more efficient resource management and scheduling, the base station (gNB / ng-eNB) that provides the wireless network interface for the user equipment (UE) can be further divided into a centralized unit gNB-CU / ng-eNB-CU (gNB central unit / ng-eNB central unit) and a distributed unit gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU (gNB distributed unit / ng-eNB distributed unit) (referred to as CU and DU in the present invention), such as Figure 3 As shown in (a). gNB-CU has radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP: Service Data Adaptation Protocol) and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol layers, and ng-eNB-CU has RRC and PDCP layers. gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU has radio link control protocol (RLC), medium access control (MAC) and physical layer, etc. There is a standardized public interface F1 between gNB-CU and gNB-DU, and a standardized public interface W1 between ng-eNB-CU and ng-eNB-DU. The F1 interface is divided into the control plane F1-C and the user plane F1-U. The transmission network layer of F1-C is based on IP transmission. In order to transmit signaling more reliably, the SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) protocol is added on top of IP. The protocol of the application layer is F1AP (F1Application Protocol, F1 application protocol / F1 interface application protocol), see 3GPP TS38.473. SCTP can provide reliable application layer message transmission. The transport layer of F1-U (F1-User) is UDP / IP, and GTP-U (GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for the user plane) is used to carry the user plane protocol data unit PDU on top of UDP / IP. Furthermore, for gNB-CU, Figure 3As shown in (b), the gNB-CU may include gNB-CU-CP (control plane part of the centralized unit of the base station) and gNB-CU-UP (user plane part of the centralized unit of the base station). The gNB-CU-CP includes the control plane function of the base station, with RRC and PDCP protocol layers, and the gNB-CU-UP includes the user plane function of the base station, with SDAP and PDCP protocol layers. The standardized public interface E1 is used between the gNB-CU-CP and the gNB-CU-UP, and the protocol is E1AP, see 3GPP TS38.463. The interface between the control plane part of the centralized unit of the base station and the distributed unit of the base station is the F1-C interface, i.e., the control plane interface of F1, and the interface between the user plane part of the centralized unit of the base station and the distributed unit of the base station is the F1-U interface, i.e., the user plane interface of F1. In addition, in the NR system, the base station that provides the E-UTRA user plane and control plane accessing the 5G core network is called ng-eNB. In order to support virtualization, this base station (ng-eNB) can also be further divided into a centralized unit ng-eNB-CU (gNB central unit / ng-eNBcentral unit) and a distributed unit ng-eNB-DU (gNB distributed unit / ng-eNB distributedunit) (abbreviated as CU and DU in the present invention), such as Figure 3 As shown in (c). ng-eNB-CU has RRC and PDCP layers. gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU has radio link control protocol (RLC), medium access control (MAC) and physical layer, etc. There is a standardized public interface W1 between ng-eNB-CU and ng-eNB-DU. The W1 interface is divided into control plane W1-C and user plane W1-U. The transport network layer of W1-C is based on IP transmission. In order to transmit signaling more reliably, the SCTP protocol is added on top of IP. The protocol of the application layer is W1AP, see 3GPP TS37.473. The transport layer of W1-U is UDP / IP, and GTP-U is used to carry user plane protocol data unit PDU on top of UDP / IP.

[0081] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0082] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help understand the present disclosure. They should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on what is disclosed herein that the embodiments and examples shown may be changed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0083] Before introducing the specific contents, some assumptions and definitions of the present invention are given below.

[0084] ■The message names in the present invention are only examples, and other message names may also be used.

[0085] ■The "first" and "second" contained in the message names of the present invention are just examples of messages.

[0086] It does not imply the order of execution.

[0087] ■ In the present invention, detailed descriptions of steps not related to the present invention are omitted.

[0088] ■ In the present invention, the steps in each process can be executed in combination with each other or individually. The execution steps of each process are only examples and do not exclude other possible execution orders.

[0089] ■In the present invention, the base station can be a 5G base station (such as gNB, ng-eNB), a 4G base station (such as eNB), a 6G base station, or other types of access nodes.

[0090] ■In the present invention, data transmission refers to the reception or sending of data.

[0091] Nodes involved in the present invention:

[0092] ■First relay user equipment (Relay UE).

[0093] ■Second relay user equipment.

[0094] ■First remote user equipment (Remote UE).

[0095] ■Second remote user device.

[0096] ■ A base station, or a centralized unit of a base station, or the control plane part of a centralized unit of a base station.

[0097] At present, the selection and / or reselection of user equipment by sidelink (also called bypass, sidelink) relay is mainly focused on the scenario where there is only a single relay user equipment in the communication link, and the scenario where multiple relay user equipment are in the communication link has not been studied, that is, the current sidelink relay only studies the selection and / or reselection of relay user equipment in the scenario where there is only a single relay user equipment in the communication link, and has not studied the selection and / or reselection of relay user equipment in the scenario where there are at least two relay user equipment in the communication link. If there is only a single relay user equipment in the communication link, it is impossible to well guarantee the communication of remote user equipment in a deep coverage blind spot or a remote user equipment with a long communication distance.

[0098] Of course, it can be understood that the above technical problem is only an example of the present disclosure and is not a limitation. Any technical problem that can be solved by the technical solution of the present disclosure belongs to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0099] Various embodiments of the present invention provide a method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user device, which can support the existence of at least two relay user devices in a communication link (the corresponding network can be called a multi-hop relay network), thereby ensuring communication between remote user devices.

[0100] As an implementation method, various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a first node in a communication system, the method comprising: determining cell-related information of the first node, and sending the cell-related information and first information to a second node, wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following: fifth information related to the number of nodes included in a communication path from a base station to the first node; sixth information related to whether the first node is a reference user equipment.

[0101] As another implementation, various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method executed by a second node in a communication system, the method comprising: receiving cell-related information and first information from a first node, and determining, based on the first information, a previous-hop node of the second node on the communication path from the base station to the second node; wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following: fifth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the base station to the first node; and sixth information related to whether the first node is a reference user device.

[0102] The methods for selecting and / or reselecting relay user equipment provided by various embodiments of the present disclosure ensure that remote user equipment with communication needs can communicate with each other through at least two relay user equipments (for example, Figure 4A In the scenario, that is, the first node and the second node are located on the first communication link from the base station to the second remote user equipment, and the first communication link includes multiple relay user equipment), the opposite remote user equipment or network is discovered; and it is ensured that the remote user equipment with communication needs can select and / or reselect to a suitable relay user equipment, thereby ensuring the communication of the remote user equipment.

[0103] As another implementation, various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a first node in a communication system, the method comprising: sending second information to a second node, and receiving fourth information from the second node, wherein the second information includes at least one of the following: ninth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; relay user device-related identification information, including a list of identifications of relay user devices included in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; wherein the fourth information includes at least one of the following: tenth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node; eleventh information related to a reference user device.

[0104] As another implementation, various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method executed by a second node in a communication system, the method comprising: receiving second information from a first node, and sending fourth information to the first node, wherein the second information includes at least one of the following: ninth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from a first remote user device to the first node; relay user device-related identification information, including a list of identifications of relay user devices included in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node; wherein the fourth information includes at least one of the following: tenth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from a second remote user device to the second node; eleventh information related to a reference user device.

[0105] The methods for selecting and / or reselecting relay user equipment provided by various embodiments of the present disclosure ensure that remote user equipment with communication needs can communicate with each other through at least two relay user equipments (for example, Figure 4B In the scenario, that is, the first node and the second node are located on the second communication link from the first remote user device to the second remote user device, and the second communication link includes multiple relay user devices), the remote user device or network at the opposite end is discovered; and it is ensured that the remote user device with communication needs can select and / or reselect to a suitable relay user device, thereby ensuring the communication of the remote user device.

[0106] Of course, it is understandable that the technical solution of the present invention is not limited to being applied to a multi-hop relay network, and the technical solution of the present invention can also be applied to a scenario including only one relay user equipment.

[0107] Below FIG. 4A to FIG. 4B An example scenario of a communication link including multiple relay user equipments according to various embodiments of the present invention is illustrated.

[0108] Figure 4AA scenario in which there are at least two relay user equipments between a base station and a remote user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0109] Figure 4B A scenario in which at least two relay user equipments are between two remote user equipments according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0110] It should be noted that FIG. 4A to FIG. 4B Only some example scenarios are described. For the selection and / or reselection scheme described below, the scenarios that can be solved include but are not limited to FIG. 4A to FIG. 4B Example scene shown.

[0111] First of all, it should be pointed out that the reason for triggering the selection and / or reselection of the user equipment includes at least one of the following reasons:

[0112] - Upper level instructions;

[0113] -PC5 link signal quality trigger;

[0114] -PC5 wireless link failed;

[0115] -PC5 connection released.

[0116] For triggering the selection and / or reselection of user equipment, a possible implementation method is: if the PC5 link signal quality between the remote user equipment and the relay user equipment is triggered or the PC5 wireless link fails or the PC5 connection is released, the remote user equipment triggers the selection and / or reselection of the relay user equipment.

[0117] If the PC5 link signal quality between relay user devices is triggered or the PC5 wireless link fails or the PC5 connection is released, in one embodiment, one of the relay user devices negotiated in advance triggers the selection and / or reselection of other relay user devices; or in another embodiment, the relay user device (for example, it can be any one of the relay user devices or both) notifies the remote user device to trigger the selection and / or reselection of the relay user device.

[0118] Combine the following FIG. 5A to FIG. 5E The methods for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment provided by various embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail.

[0119] Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of a method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4A and Figure 5AAs an example, when the first node is a first relay user equipment, the second node may be a second relay user equipment; as another example, when the first node is a second relay user equipment, the second node may be a second remote user equipment, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0120] like Figure 5A As shown, the method may include the following steps:

[0121] The first node sends cell related information and first information for selection and / or reselection of a relay user equipment to the second node (wherein, before sending the cell related information and the first information to the second node, the method may further include: determining cell related information of the first node), where the first information may, for example, include at least one of the following information:

[0122] -User equipment identifier, used to identify information of the first node;

[0123] - fifth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the base station to the first node (also referred to as hop count information);

[0124] - seventh information related to the mobility of the first node (may also be referred to as mobility-related information);

[0125] - eighth information related to the load of the first node (may also be referred to as load information);

[0126] - Sixth information related to whether the first node is a reference user equipment.

[0127] The user equipment identifier may include at least one of the following information:

[0128] -Layer 2 identification of the user equipment;

[0129] -Source layer 2 identifier of the user equipment;

[0130] - Destination layer 2 identifier of the user equipment;

[0131] -Application layer identification of the user equipment;

[0132] - Identification of the user equipment used for selection and / or reselection.

[0133] The cell-related information may include at least one of the following information:

[0134] - Physical cell identity;

[0135] -Cell global identification;

[0136] -Carrier frequency information.

[0137] by Figure 4A For example, the definition of the fifth information is based on different embodiments: in one embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the link from the base station to the first node; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the link from the base station to the first node plus one; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the base station and the first node in the link from the base station to the first node plus two; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the base station (i.e., including the first node) in the link from the base station to the first node; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of all nodes in the link from the base station to the first node, i.e., the number of base stations, the first node and other relay user devices.

[0138] The seventh information related to the mobility of the first node may include, for example, at least one of the following information:

[0139] -The movement speed of the first node.

[0140] -Information related to whether the moving speed of the first node meets or does not meet the first threshold condition. When the moving speed of the first node exceeds the threshold or is lower than the first threshold condition, the information is included in the seventh information, wherein the first threshold condition can be configured by network signaling, determined by a network system message, or a predetermined value.

[0141] - Information related to whether the first node is moving at least one of high speed, low speed or medium speed, wherein the definition of high speed, low speed or medium speed is preset according to requirements.

[0142] The eighth information related to the load of the first node may include, for example, at least one of the following information:

[0143] -Combined load percentage, where 0 means no load and 100 means full load.

[0144] - The percentage of available resources, where 0 means no resources are available.

[0145] -Information related to whether the load of the first node meets or does not meet the second threshold condition. When the load of the first node exceeds the threshold or is lower than the second threshold condition, the information is included in the eighth information, wherein the second threshold condition can be configured by network signaling, determined by a network system message, or a predetermined value.

[0146] - Information related to whether the load of the first node is at least one of high load, low load or medium load, wherein the definitions of high load, low load and medium load are preset according to requirements.

[0147] The reference user equipment is a type of relay user equipment, and the reference user equipment may have at least one of the following characteristics:

[0148] - Fixed position, or fixed relative position;

[0149] -The location coordinates are determined and can be obtained by other nodes;

[0150] - Slow-speed movement, or relatively slow-speed movement;

[0151] -The motion trajectory is fixed, or the motion trajectory can be tracked or predicted;

[0152] - Dedicated to relay networks;

[0153] -Can be deployed in advance, mainly providing relay functions.

[0154] A possible implementation manner is: the second node preferentially selects and / or reselects a reference user equipment as the relay user equipment.

[0155] A possible implementation manner is: the base station preferentially selects the reference user equipment as the target relay user equipment for handover or path switching.

[0156] The first information may be included in a PC5 message or in an RRC message.

[0157] The first node may send the first information in a broadcasting manner, may send the first information in a multicasting manner, or may send the first information in a unicasting manner.

[0158] After the second node receives the first information, the second node determines the cell of the first node according to the cell-related information included in the first information.

[0159] If the second node receives multiple first information from multiple first nodes, it can select and / or reselect one of the first nodes as the relay user equipment of the previous hop in the communication link with the base station based on one or more information included in the first information (such as the number of hops information; the mobility-related information; the load information; the sixth information, etc.), and / or the channel quality-related information (such as reference signal received power, etc.) obtained by the second node based on the signal measurement sent by the first node.

[0160] In an embodiment, the second node may refer to the hop count information to select and / or reselect the first node, for example, the first node with fewer hops may be selected as the previous hop relay user equipment.

[0161] In another embodiment, the second node may select and / or reselect the first node with reference to the mobility-related information. For example, a stationary or relatively stationary first node may be selected as the previous hop relay user equipment. For another example, a first node with a relatively low moving speed or a relatively low moving speed may be selected as the previous hop relay user equipment.

[0162] In another embodiment, the second node may refer to the load information to select and / or reselect the first node. For example, the first node with a lower load may be selected as the previous hop relay user equipment.

[0163] In another embodiment, the second node may refer to the sixth information to select and / or reselect the first node. For example, the first node of the reference user equipment may be selected as the previous hop relay user equipment.

[0164] In another embodiment, the second node may select and / or reselect the first node by comprehensively referring to the multiple information included in the first information. For example, if the first nodes selected by referring to different information are different (for example, one first node has fewer hops but is not a reference user device, while another first node is a reference user device but has more hops), the first node that is a reference device is preferentially selected and / or reselected.

[0165] In another embodiment, the second node may select and / or reselect the first node by comprehensively referring to the multiple information included in the first information. For example, if the first nodes selected by referring to different information are different (for example, one first node has fewer hops but is not a reference user device, while another first node is a reference user device but has more hops), the first node with fewer hops is preferentially selected and / or reselected.

[0166] In another embodiment, the second node may select and / or reselect the first node by comprehensively referring to one or more information included in the first information and information related to channel quality. For example, if different first nodes are selected with reference to different information (for example, one first node has fewer hops, while another first node has more hops but better channel quality), the first node with better channel quality is preferentially selected and / or reselected.

[0167] After the second node selects the first node, the second node sets the cell-related information to the cell-related information of the selected first node.

[0168] After the second node reselects the first node, the second node sets or updates the cell-related information to the cell-related information of the reselected first node.

[0169] After the second node selects and / or reselects the first node, the second node increases the hop count information by one and saves the information.

[0170] If the first node is a first relay user equipment and the second node is a second relay user equipment: after the second relay user equipment reselects the first relay user equipment, the second relay user equipment may send the updated cell-related information to other relay user equipment or a remote user equipment. The second relay user equipment may send the updated cell-related information by broadcasting, by multicasting, or by unicasting.

[0171] It is also worth mentioning that the first node can update the first information.

[0172] The first node may send updated first information to the second node in a broadcast, multicast or unicast manner. The second node may reselect the first node according to the received latest first information.

[0173] Through the above method, it is ensured that the second node can select or reselect a suitable previous hop node (i.e., the first node) in the scenario where there are multiple relay user equipments in the communication link, and the second node can update and store the resident cell information, thereby ensuring that the subsequent second node can quickly connect to the base station to which the cell belongs. At the same time, by the relay user equipment of each hop selecting and / or reselecting the previous hop only based on the information received from the previous hop, it is ensured that the complexity of the selection and / or reselection function of each hop is controlled at a reasonable level.

[0174] Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of another method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4B and Figure 5B As an example, when the first node is a first relay user device, the second node may be a second relay user device; as another example, when the first node is a second relay user device, the second node may be a second remote user device; as yet another example, when the first node is a first remote user device, the second node is a first relay user device.

[0175] like Figure 5B As shown, the method may include the following steps:

[0176] The first node sends second information for requesting selection and / or reselection of a relay user equipment to the second node, where the second information may include at least one of the following information:

[0177] - a remote user equipment identifier (eg, at least one of a first remote user equipment identifier and a second remote user equipment identifier);

[0178] - ninth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node (also referred to as hop count information);

[0179] -Relay user equipment related identification information.

[0180] The remote user equipment identifier may include at least one of the following information:

[0181] - Layer 2 identification of the remote user equipment;

[0182] -Source layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment;

[0183] -Destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment;

[0184] - Application layer identification of the remote user equipment;

[0185] - An identifier used by the remote user equipment for selection and / or reselection.

[0186] The source layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment may be an identifier of a first remote user equipment, which is used to identify the first remote user equipment that needs to find a second remote user equipment.

[0187] The destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment may be an identifier of a second remote user equipment, and is used to identify the second remote user equipment that the first remote user equipment needs to find.

[0188] The identifier used by the remote user equipment for selection and / or reselection may be an access layer identifier or an application layer identifier. The identifier used by the remote user equipment for selection and / or reselection may be configured in advance by the network side to the remote user equipment.

[0189] by Figure 4BFor example, the definition of the ninth information (also called hop count information) related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the first remote user device to the first node is based on different embodiments: in one embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the link from the first remote user device to the first node; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the link from the first remote user device to the first node plus one; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device and the first node in the link from the first remote user device to the first node plus two; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the first remote user device (i.e., including the first node) in the link from the first remote user device to the first node; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of all nodes in the link from the first remote user device to the first node, including the number of the first remote user device, the first node and other relay user devices.

[0190] The relay user equipment related identification information may include, for example, at least a relay user equipment identification list for recording relay user equipment that has passed through the path. The relay user equipment identification list may include at least one relay user equipment identification. The relay user equipment identification may include, for example, at least one of the following information:

[0191] - Layer 2 identification of the relay user equipment;

[0192] - Source layer 2 identifier of the relay user equipment;

[0193] - Destination layer 2 identifier of the relay user equipment;

[0194] - Application layer identification of relay user equipment;

[0195] - An identification used by the relay user equipment for selection and / or reselection.

[0196] The second information may be included in a PC5 message, such as a Solicitation message used by PC5 for discovery; or may be included in an RRC message.

[0197] The first node may send the second information in a broadcast manner, may send the second information in a multicast manner, or may send the second information in a unicast manner.

[0198] After the second node receives the second information, the second node confirms the first remote user device (i.e., the source remote user device) and the second remote user device (i.e., the destination remote user device) based on the remote user device identifier contained in the received second information, wherein the first remote user device and the second remote user device form a remote user device pair.

[0199] After the second node receives the hop count information included in the second information, the second node increases the hop count information by one and saves the information.

[0200] After the second node receives the relay user equipment identification list contained in the relay user equipment identification information contained in the second information, the second node stores the identification list of the relay user equipment; if the second node is a relay user equipment, the second node adds the relay user equipment identification of the second node to the relay user equipment identification list in sequence.

[0201] If the destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment is an identifier of a second remote user equipment, after receiving the identifier, the second node queries whether a path to the second remote user equipment identified by the destination layer 2 identifier is stored: if so, the path is selected as the path from the second node to the second remote user equipment; if not, the third information is sent to other relay user equipment or the second remote user equipment, and the third information may include at least one of the following information:

[0202] - the received remote user equipment identifier;

[0203] -Updated hop count information;

[0204] -Updated relay user equipment related identification information.

[0205] The second node may send the third information in a broadcasting manner, may send the third information in a multicasting manner, or may send the third information in a unicasting manner.

[0206] It should be noted that the second node sending the third information to other relay user equipment or the second remote user equipment corresponds to the first node sending the second information to the second node: the second node sending the third information is the first node sending the second information of the next hop. The third information sent is the second information sent by the next hop.

[0207] In one embodiment, the second node sends the third information only to the relay user equipment or the second remote user equipment that is not in the relay user equipment identification list.

[0208] In one embodiment, the second node determines whether the user equipment identifier of the second node already exists in the relay user equipment identifier list. If it does exist, the second node no longer sends the third information.

[0209] The second node may receive a plurality of pieces of the second information from a plurality of first nodes.

[0210] In one embodiment, the second node only operates or processes the second information first received from the first node: the second node stores the second information first received, and the second node determines the relevant information of the first node based on the stored second information.

[0211] In one embodiment, the second node does not operate or process other second information subsequently received from other first nodes.

[0212] In one embodiment, after the second node has sent the third information, the second node will no longer send other or new third information to the same remote user equipment pair.

[0213] Through the above method, it is ensured that the second node receiving the second information does not need to perform repeated operations on multiple pieces of second information for the same remote user equipment pair, saving the processing overhead of the second node, reducing the transmission of the third information, and alleviating the potential signaling storm problem in the user equipment discovery phase. In addition, the second node only operates or processes the first received second information, thereby reducing the delay in the user equipment discovery phase.

[0214] Figure 5C is a schematic diagram of another method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4B and Figure 5C As an example, when the first node is a first relay user device, the second node may be a second relay user device; as another example, when the first node is a second relay user device, the second node is a second remote user device; as yet another example, when the first node is a first remote user device, the second node is a first relay user device.

[0215] like Figure 5C As shown, in this method, the following steps may be included:

[0216] The second node sends fourth information for responding to the selection and / or reselection of the relay user equipment to the first node, where the fourth information may include at least one of the following information:

[0217] - a remote user equipment identifier (eg, at least one of a second remote user equipment identifier and a first remote user equipment identifier);

[0218] - tenth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the second remote user equipment to the second node (also referred to as hop count information);

[0219] - thirteenth information related to the mobility of the second node;

[0220] - fourteenth information related to the load of the second node;

[0221] - eleventh information related to the reference user equipment.

[0222] The remote user equipment identifier may include at least one of the following information:

[0223] - Layer 2 identification of the remote user equipment;

[0224] -Source layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment;

[0225] -Destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment;

[0226] - Application layer identification of the remote user equipment;

[0227] - An identifier used by the remote user equipment for selection and / or reselection.

[0228] The source layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment may be an identifier of a second remote user equipment, which is used to identify the second remote user equipment that needs to respond to the first remote user equipment.

[0229] The destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment may be an identifier of the first remote user equipment, which is used to identify the first remote user equipment to which the second remote user equipment needs to respond.

[0230] It is worth mentioning that, in one embodiment, when the second node generates the fourth information, the source layer 2 identifier of the remote user device in the fourth information can be set to the destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user device in the second information received by the second node; and / or the destination layer 2 identifier of the remote user device in the fourth information can be set to the source layer 2 identifier of the remote user device in the second information received by the second node.

[0231] The identifier used by the remote user equipment for selection and / or reselection may be an access layer identifier or an application layer identifier. The identifier used by the remote user equipment for selection and / or reselection may be configured in advance by the network side to the remote user equipment.

[0232] by Figure 4B For example, the definition of the tenth information (also called hop count information) related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the second remote user device to the second node is based on different embodiments: in one embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the link from the second remote user device to the second node; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the link from the second remote user device to the second node plus one; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device and the second node in the link from the second remote user device to the second node plus two; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of relay user devices other than the second remote user device (i.e., including the second node) in the link from the second remote user device to the second node; in another embodiment, the hop count information is defined as the number of all nodes in the link from the second remote user device to the second node, i.e., the number information including the second remote user device, the second node and other relay user devices.

[0233] The thirteenth information related to the mobility of the second node may include, for example, at least one of the following information:

[0234] -The movement speed of the second node.

[0235] -Information related to whether the moving speed of the second node meets or does not meet the third threshold condition. When the moving speed of the second node exceeds the third threshold condition or is lower than the third threshold condition, the information is included in the thirteenth information, wherein the third threshold condition can be configured by network signaling, determined by a network system message, or a predetermined value.

[0236] - Information related to whether the second node is moving at least one of high speed, low speed or medium speed, wherein the definition of high speed, low speed or medium speed is preset according to requirements.

[0237] The fourteenth information related to the load of the second node may include, for example, at least one of the following information:

[0238] -Combined load percentage, where 0 means no load and 100 means full load.

[0239] - The percentage of available resources, where 0 means no resources are available.

[0240] -Information related to whether the load of the second node meets or does not meet the fourth threshold condition. When the load of the second node exceeds the fourth threshold condition or is lower than the fourth threshold condition, the information is included in the fourteenth information, wherein the fourth threshold condition can be configured by network signaling, determined by a network system message, or a predetermined value.

[0241] - Information related to whether the load of the second node is at least one of high load, low load or medium load, wherein the definitions of high load, low load and medium load are preset according to requirements.

[0242] The eleventh information related to the reference user equipment may include, for example, at least one of the following information:

[0243] - Number of reference user devices;

[0244] - twelfth information related to whether the second node is a reference user equipment.

[0245] It is worth mentioning that the reference user equipment is a type of relay user equipment, and the reference user equipment may have at least one of the following characteristics:

[0246] - Fixed position, or fixed relative position;

[0247] -The location coordinates are determined and can be obtained by other nodes;

[0248] - Slow-speed movement, or relatively slow-speed movement;

[0249] -The motion trajectory is fixed, or the motion trajectory can be tracked or predicted;

[0250] - Dedicated to relay networks;

[0251] -Can be deployed in advance, mainly providing relay functions.

[0252] A possible implementation manner is: the first node preferentially selects and / or reselects a reference user equipment as the relay user equipment.

[0253] The number of reference user equipment may be the number of reference user equipment included in the path between the second node and the second remote user equipment; if the second node is a reference user equipment, this number may include the second node or may not include the second node.

[0254] The fourth information may be included in a PC5 message, such as a Response message used for Discovery in PC5; or may be included in an RRC message.

[0255] The second node may send the fourth information in a unicast manner. The second node determines the first node to which the fourth information needs to be sent according to the identification list of the relay user equipments contained in the stored second information.

[0256] If the first node receives multiple fourth information from multiple second nodes, it can select and / or reselect one of the second nodes as the relay user equipment of the next hop in the communication link with the second remote user equipment based on one or more information included in the fourth information (such as, the number of hops information; the mobility-related information; the load information; the eleventh information, etc.), and / or the channel quality-related information (such as reference signal received power, etc.) obtained by the first node based on the signal measurement sent by the second node.

[0257] In an embodiment, the first node may refer to the hop count information to select and / or reselect the second node, for example, a second node with fewer hops to the second remote user equipment may be selected as the next hop relay user equipment.

[0258] In another embodiment, the first node may select and / or reselect the second node with reference to the mobility-related information. For example, a stationary or relatively stationary second node may be selected as the next-hop relay user equipment. For another example, a second node with a relatively low moving speed or a relatively low moving speed may be selected as the next-hop relay user equipment.

[0259] In another embodiment, the first node may refer to the load information to select and / or reselect the second node, for example, the second node with a lower load may be selected as the next-hop relay user equipment.

[0260] In another embodiment, the first node may select and / or reselect the second node with reference to the eleventh information. For example, the second node that is a reference user equipment may be selected as the relay user equipment of the next hop. For another example, the second node that includes a larger number of reference user equipments included in the eleventh information may be selected as the relay user equipment of the next hop.

[0261] In another embodiment, the first node may comprehensively refer to the multiple information included in the fourth information to select and / or reselect the second node. For example, if the second nodes selected with reference to different information are different (for example, a second node has fewer hops but is not a reference user device, while another second node is a reference user device but has more hops), the second node that is a reference device is preferentially selected and / or reselected. For another example, if the second nodes selected with reference to different information are different (for example, a second node has better channel quality but has fewer reference user devices on the path from the second remote user device to the second node, while another second node has more reference user devices on the path), the second node with more reference devices on the path is preferentially selected and / or reselected.

[0262] In another embodiment, the first node may select and / or reselect the second node by comprehensively referring to the multiple information included in the fourth information. For example, if the second nodes selected by referring to different information are different (for example, one second node has fewer hops but is not a reference user device, while another second node is a reference user device but has more hops), the second node with fewer hops is preferentially selected and / or reselected.

[0263] In another embodiment, the first node may select and / or reselect the second node by comprehensively referring to one or more information included in the fourth information and information related to channel quality. For example, if the second nodes selected by referring to different information are different (for example, one second node has fewer hops, while another second node has more hops but better channel quality), the second node with better channel quality is preferentially selected and / or reselected.

[0264] After the first node selects and / or reselects the second node, the first node increases the hop count information by one and saves the information.

[0265] After the first node selects and / or reselects the second node, for the number of reference user devices contained in the fourth information received by the first node from the selected and / or reselected second node, if the second node is a reference user device, the first node may have different operations based on different situations: In one embodiment, if the second node is not included in the number of reference user devices, the first node increases the number of reference user devices by one and sends the updated number of reference user devices to the previous hop relay user device or the first remote user device. In another embodiment, if the second node is included in the number of reference user devices, the first node determines whether it is a reference user device. If so, the first node increases the number of reference user devices by one and sends the updated number of reference user devices to the previous hop relay user device or the first remote user device.

[0266] It should be noted that the first node sending the response information to the relay user equipment or the first remote user equipment of the previous hop corresponds to the second node sending the fourth information to the first node: wherein the first node sending the response information is the second node sending the fourth information of the previous hop. wherein the response information sent is the fourth information sent by the previous hop.

[0267] It is also worth mentioning that the second node can update the fourth information.

[0268] The second node may send updated fourth information to the first node, and the sending method may be unicast. The first node may reselect the second node according to the latest fourth information received.

[0269] Through the above method, it is ensured that the first node can select or reselect a suitable second node in a scenario where there are multiple relay user devices in the communication link. By selecting and / or reselecting the next hop by each hop relay user device, the path between the first remote user device and the second remote device is ensured to be unobstructed, thereby ensuring that the subsequent first remote user device can quickly connect to the second remote user device.

[0270] Figure 5D FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of another method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 5D As shown, in this method, one or more steps from step 0 to step 7 may be included.

[0271] Step 0: A first relay user equipment resides in or is connected to a first cell.

[0272] Step 1: The first relay user equipment sends a PC5 and / or RRC message to the second relay user equipment, wherein the PC5 and / or RRC message includes first information of the first relay user equipment.

[0273] Step 2: After receiving the first information of the first relay user equipment, the second relay user equipment selects and / or reselects the first relay user equipment.

[0274] Step 3: The second relay user equipment stores the cell of the first relay user equipment, that is, the first cell, as a camped cell.

[0275] Step 4: The second relay user equipment increases the number of hops contained in the received first information of the first relay user equipment by one, and includes the hops in the first information of the second relay user equipment.

[0276] Step 5: The second relay user equipment sends a PC5 and / or RRC message to the second remote user equipment. The PC5 and / or RRC message includes the first information of the second relay user equipment.

[0277] Step 6: After receiving the first information of the second relay user equipment, the second remote user equipment selects and / or reselects the second relay user equipment.

[0278] Step 7: The second remote user equipment stores the cell of the second relay user equipment, that is, the first cell, as a camped cell.

[0279] Through the above method, it is ensured that the second node can update and store the information of the resident cell, thereby ensuring that the second node can quickly connect to the base station to which the cell belongs subsequently.

[0280] Figure 5E FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of another method for selecting and / or reselecting a relay user equipment according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 5E As shown, in this method, one or more steps from step 0 to step 12 may be included.

[0281] Step 1: The first remote user equipment sends a PC5 and / or RRC message to the first relay user equipment, where the PC5 and / or RRC message includes second information of the first remote user equipment.

[0282] Step 2: The first relay user equipment increases the hop count information included in the received second information of the first remote user equipment by one, and / or adds the first relay user equipment identifier to the relay user equipment identifier list.

[0283] Step 3: The first relay user equipment sends a PC5 and / or RRC message to the second relay user equipment, where the PC5 and / or RRC message includes second information of the first relay user equipment.

[0284] Step 4: The second relay user equipment increases the hop count information included in the received second information of the first relay user equipment by one, and / or adds the second relay user equipment identifier to the relay user equipment identifier list.

[0285] Step 5: The second relay user equipment sends a PC5 and / or RRC message to the second remote user equipment. The PC5 and / or RRC message includes second information of the second relay user equipment.

[0286] Step 6: After receiving the second information of the second relay user equipment, the second remote user equipment sends a PC5 and / or RRC message to the second relay user equipment, where the PC5 and / or RRC message includes the fourth information of the second remote user equipment.

[0287] Step 7: After receiving the second information of the second remote user equipment, the second relay user equipment updates the hop count information; and / or if the second relay user equipment is the reference user equipment, updates the eleventh information.

[0288] Step 8: The second relay user equipment sends a PC5 and / or RRC message to the first relay user equipment, where the PC5 and / or RRC message includes fourth information of the second relay user equipment.

[0289] Step 9: After receiving the fourth information from the second relay user equipment, the first relay user equipment selects and / or reselects the second relay user equipment.

[0290] Step 10: The first relay user equipment updates hop count information; and / or if the second relay user equipment is the reference user equipment, updates eleventh information.

[0291] Step 11: The first relay user equipment sends a PC5 and / or RRC message to the first remote user equipment, where the PC5 and / or RRC message includes fourth information of the first relay user equipment.

[0292] Step 12: After receiving the fourth information from the first relay user equipment, the first remote user equipment selects and / or reselects the first relay user equipment.

[0293] Through the above method, the path between the first remote user device and the second remote user device is ensured to be unobstructed by selecting and / or reselecting the next hop by each hop relay user device, thereby ensuring that the first remote user device can subsequently be quickly connected to the second remote user device.

[0294] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a node device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0295] The network nodes in the network can be used to implement the first node to the second node in the present invention. Figure 6 , the node device according to the present invention includes a transceiver 510, a controller 520 and a memory 530. The transceiver 510, the controller 520 and the memory 530 are configured to perform the operations of the method and / or embodiments of the present invention. Although the transceiver 510, the controller 520 and the memory 530 are shown as separate entities, they can be implemented as a single entity, such as a single chip. The transceiver 510, the controller 520 and the memory 530 can be electrically connected or coupled to each other. The transceiver 510 can send signals to other network nodes and receive signals from other network nodes. The controller 520 may include one or more processing units and may control the network node to perform operations and / or functions according to one of the above embodiments. The memory 530 may store instructions for implementing the operations and / or functions of one of the above embodiments.

[0296] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above illustrative embodiments are described herein and are not intended to be limiting. It should be understood that any two or more of the embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in any combination. In addition, other embodiments may be utilized and other changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readily understood that the various aspects of the invention of the present disclosure as generally described herein and shown in the accompanying drawings may be arranged, replaced, combined, separated and designed in a variety of different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein.

[0297] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logic boxes, modules, circuits, and steps described in the present application can be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of the two. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, boxes, modules, circuits, and steps are described generally in the form of their function sets above. Whether such function sets are implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Technicians can implement the described function sets in different ways for each specific application, but such design decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

[0298] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this application may be implemented or executed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors cooperating with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0299] The method or algorithm described in the present application can be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module can reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, a storage medium can be integrated into a processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium can reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0300] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, the latter including any media that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general or special purpose computer.

[0301] The above description is merely an exemplary embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. The protection scope of the present application is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a first node in a communication system, the method comprises: determining cell-related information of the first node, and sending the cell-related information and first information to a second node, wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following: fifth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the base station to the first node; sixth information related to whether the first node is a reference user equipment.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the fifth information comprises at least one of the following: the number of relay user equipments other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node; the number of relay user equipments other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node plus one; the number of relay user equipments other than the base station and the first node in the communication path from the base station to the first node plus two; the number of relay user equipments other than the base station in the communication path from the base station to the first node; the number of all nodes in the communication path from the base station to the first node.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the reference user equipment comprises at least one of the following: a user equipment with a fixed position or a relatively fixed position; a user equipment with determined position coordinates and the position coordinates can be obtained by other nodes; a user equipment with a low speed of movement or a relatively low speed of movement; a user equipment with a fixed movement trajectory or a movement trajectory that can be traced or predicted; a user equipment dedicated to a relay network; a user equipment that can be pre-deployed to provide a relay function.

4. A method performed by a second node in a communication system, the method comprises: receiving cell-related information and first information from a first node, and determining, based on the first information, the previous-hop node of the second node on the communication path from the base station to the second node; wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following: fifth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the base station to the first node; sixth information related to whether the first node is a reference user equipment.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, receiving the first information from the first node comprises: receiving multiple first information from multiple first nodes, the method further comprises: selecting, based on at least one of the multiple first information and / or first channel quality-related information, one of the multiple first nodes as the previous-hop node, wherein the first channel quality-related information is measured by the second node based on the signal sent by the first node.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, determining that the first node is a reference user equipment based on the sixth information included in the first information received from one of the multiple first nodes, and selecting the first node as the previous-hop node.

7. A method performed by a first node in a communication system, the method comprises: sending second information to a second node, and receiving fourth information from the second node, wherein the second information comprises at least one of the following: Ninth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node; Relay user equipment related identification information, including a list of the identifications of the relay user equipment included in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node; Wherein, the fourth information includes at least one of the following: Tenth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the second remote user equipment to the second node; Eleventh information related to the reference user equipment.

8. The method according to claim 7, Wherein, The ninth information includes at least one of the following: The number of relay user equipment other than the first remote user equipment and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node; The number of relay user equipment other than the first remote user equipment and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node plus one; The number of relay user equipment other than the first remote user equipment and the first node in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node plus two; The number of relay user equipment other than the first remote user equipment in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node; The number of all nodes in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node.

9. The method according to claim 7, Wherein, The tenth information includes at least one of the following: The number of relay user equipment other than the second remote user equipment and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user equipment to the second node; The number of relay user equipment other than the second remote user equipment and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user equipment to the second node plus one; The number of relay user equipment other than the second remote user equipment and the second node in the communication path from the second remote user equipment to the second node plus two; The number of relay user equipment other than the second remote user equipment in the communication path from the second remote user equipment to the second node; The number of all nodes in the communication path from the second remote user equipment to the second node.

10. The method according to claim 7, Wherein, The eleventh information includes at least one of the following: The number of reference user equipment; Twelfth information related to whether the second node is a reference user equipment.

11. The method according to claim 7, Wherein, The fourth information further includes at least one of the following: At least one of the second remote user equipment identification and the first remote user equipment identification; Thirteenth information related to the mobility of the second node; Fourteenth information related to the load of the second node.

12. The method according to any one of claims 7 or 11, Wherein, The first remote user equipment identification, the second remote user equipment identification, or the identification of the relay user equipment includes at least one of the following: The layer 2 identification of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; The source layer 2 identification of the remote user equipment or the relay user equipment; The layer 2 identifier of the remote user equipment or relay user equipment; The application layer identifier of the remote user equipment or relay user equipment; The identifier used by the remote user equipment or relay user equipment for selection and / or reselection.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein, the thirteenth information includes at least one of the following: The moving speed of the second node; Information related to whether the moving speed of the second node meets or does not meet the third threshold condition; Information related to the second node being at least one of high-speed movement, low-speed movement, or medium-speed movement.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein, the fourteenth information includes at least one of the following: Load percentage; Available resource percentage; Information related to whether the load of the second node meets or does not meet the fourth threshold condition; Information related to the load of the second node being at least one of high load, low load, or medium load.

15. The method according to claim 7, wherein, the method further includes: Based on the fourth information, determining the next-hop node of the first node on the communication path from the first node to the second remote user equipment.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, Receiving the fourth information from the second node includes: receiving multiple fourth information from multiple second nodes, the method further includes: Based on at least one of the multiple fourth information or the second channel quality related information, selecting one of the multiple second nodes as the next-hop node, wherein the second channel quality related information is measured by the first node based on the signal sent by the second node.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, Based on the eleventh information included in the fourth information received from one of the multiple second nodes, determining that the second node is a reference user equipment, and selecting the second node as the next-hop node; or Based on the largest number of reference user equipment included in the fourth information received from one of the multiple second nodes, selecting the second node as the next-hop node.

18. A method executed by a second node in a communication system, the method includes: Receiving second information from the first node, and Sending fourth information to the first node, wherein the second information includes at least one of the following: The ninth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node; Relay user equipment related identification information, including a list of the identifiers of the relay user equipment included in the communication path from the first remote user equipment to the first node; wherein the fourth information includes at least one of the following: The tenth information related to the number of nodes included in the communication path from the second remote user equipment to the second node; The eleventh information related to the reference user equipment.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, Receiving the second information from the first node includes: receiving multiple second information from multiple first nodes, the method further includes: The second node only operates or processes the first received second information; or The second node only sends the third information once.

20. A node device, the node device comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals with the outside; and a controller configured to control the transceiver to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-19.

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