Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and a communication device, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: generating first information, wherein the first information is used for indicating that an identifier of a relay time service is a first identifier; and sending the first information. According to the method in the embodiment of the invention, the relay time service can be provided for the terminal equipment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] With the development of communication technologies, some communication systems can provide timing services to terminal devices. However, existing timing methods cannot meet the timing requirements of all terminal devices. For example, for proximity service (ProSe) terminal devices that access the network through layer 3 (L3) relays, it is currently not possible to directly perform timing on them through the air interface. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a communication method and a communication device, which help to provide relay timing services for terminal devices.

[0004] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a first network element. The method includes: generating first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier; and sending the first information.

[0005] In an embodiment of this application, the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier. Generating the first information helps the terminal device to perform relay timing based on the first identifier, thereby helping to provide relay timing services for the terminal device.

[0006] In some possible implementation manners, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the timing domain.

[0007] In an embodiment of this application, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the timing domain. In this way, it helps the terminal device (such as a remote terminal device) to distinguish multiple timing domains and determine the timing service it is interested in according to the first information when receiving (or being able to receive) timing messages in multiple timing domains, thereby helping the terminal device to perform relay timing services.

[0008] In some possible implementation manners, the timing domain includes at least one domain, the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier and the at least one domain are in one-to-one correspondence.

[0009] In some possible implementation manners, the first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the timing domain for the relay timing service.

[0010] In some possible implementations, sending the first information includes: sending the first information to a first terminal device and / or a second terminal device, where the first terminal device is capable of providing relay timing service, and the second terminal device is capable of receiving relay timing service.

[0011] In some possible implementations, before generating the first information, the method further includes: receiving a second information, where the second information is used to trigger the first network element to generate and send the first information.

[0012] In some possible implementations, the second information includes one or more of the following: request information for requesting to generate the first information for a target terminal device; notification information for indicating that a target terminal device has established a specific protocol data unit (PDU) session; session configuration information associated with a specific PDU session established with the target terminal device; proximity service subscription information and / or timing service subscription information of the target terminal device; where the target terminal device includes the first terminal device and / or the second terminal device.

[0013] In some possible implementations, the first network element is used to manage the timing service of a user. Or rather, the first network element is a network element for managing the timing service of a user.

[0014] In some possible implementations, sending the first information includes: sending the first information to a second network element.

[0015] In some possible implementations, before generating the first information, the method further includes: receiving a third information from the second network element, where the third information is used to request the first network element to generate the first information.

[0016] In some possible implementations, the first network element is used to manage user policies, and / or the second network element is used to manage the timing service of a user. Or rather, the first network element is a network element for managing user policies, and the second network element is a network element for managing the timing service of a user.

[0017] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a second network element. The method includes: receiving a first information from a first network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier; sending the first information to a first terminal device and / or a second terminal device.

[0018] In the embodiments of the present application, the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier. Sending the first information to the first terminal device and / or the second terminal device helps the first terminal device and / or the second terminal device perform relay timing based on the first identifier, thereby helping to provide relay timing service for the terminal device.

[0019] In some possible implementations, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the time synchronization domain.

[0020] In the embodiments of the present application, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the time synchronization domain. In this way, when the terminal device (such as a remote terminal device) receives (or can receive) time synchronization messages of multiple time synchronization domains, it helps the terminal device distinguish multiple time synchronization domains according to the first information and determine the time synchronization service it is interested in, thereby facilitating the terminal device to perform relay time synchronization services.

[0021] In some possible implementations, the time synchronization domain includes at least one domain, and the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier corresponds to the at least one domain one by one.

[0022] In some possible implementations, the first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the time synchronization domain for relay time synchronization services.

[0023] In some possible implementations, before receiving the first information from the first network element, the method further includes: sending third information to the first network element, where the third information is used to request the first network element to generate the first information.

[0024] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device. The method includes: receiving first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier for relay time synchronization services is a first identifier; determining a target identifier for relay time synchronization services according to the first information.

[0025] In the embodiments of the present application, the first information is used to indicate that the identifier for relay time synchronization services is a first identifier. Generating the first information helps the terminal device perform relay time synchronization based on the first identifier, thereby facilitating the provision of relay time synchronization services for the terminal device.

[0026] In some possible implementations, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the time synchronization domain.

[0027] In the embodiments of the present application, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the time synchronization domain. In this way, when the terminal device (such as a remote terminal device) receives (or can receive) time synchronization messages of multiple time synchronization domains, it helps the terminal device distinguish multiple time synchronization domains according to the first information and determine the time synchronization service it is interested in, thereby facilitating the terminal device to perform relay time synchronization services.

[0028] In some possible implementations, the time granting domain includes at least one domain, and the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier corresponds to the at least one domain one by one.

[0029] In some possible implementations, the first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the time granting domain for relaying the time service.

[0030] In some possible implementations, determining the target identifier for providing the relayed time service according to the first information includes: determining the target identifier according to the first information and a first time message, where the first time message is from the core network or from other terminal devices.

[0031] In some possible implementations, determining the target identifier according to the first information and the first time message includes: determining the target identifier according to the first information and one or more of the following: the association relationship between the port for sending or receiving the first time message and the time granting domain; the time instance identifier corresponding to the first time message; the time granting domain information in the first time message.

[0032] In some possible implementations, the first identifier includes one or more of the following: relay service code (RSC), multicast identifier, broadcast identifier, application code, layer 2 identifier.

[0033] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a generating unit configured to generate first information for indicating that the identifier of the relayed time service is a first identifier; a sending unit configured to send the first information.

[0034] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a receiving unit configured to receive first information from a first network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relayed time service is a first identifier; a sending unit configured to send the first information to a first terminal device and / or a second terminal device.

[0035] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a receiving unit configured to receive first information for indicating that the identifier of the relayed time service is a first identifier; a determining unit configured to determine a target identifier for the relayed time service according to the first information.

[0036] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a processor and a memory, the processor being coupled to the memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions), when the computer program is executed by the processor, causing the device to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner in the first aspect.

[0037] In some possible implementation manners, the device further includes a memory coupled to the processor.

[0038] In some possible implementation manners, the processor is one or more, and / or the memory is one or more.

[0039] In some possible implementation manners, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory is separately provided from the processor.

[0040] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a processor and a memory, the processor being coupled to the memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions), when the computer program is executed by the processor, causing the device to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner in the second aspect.

[0041] In some possible implementation manners, the device further includes a memory coupled to the processor.

[0042] In some possible implementation manners, the processor is one or more, and / or the memory is one or more.

[0043] In some possible implementation manners, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory is separately provided from the processor.

[0044] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, including: a processor and a memory, the processor being coupled to the memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions), when the computer program is executed by the processor, causing the device to execute the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner in the third aspect.

[0045] In some possible implementation manners, the device further includes a memory coupled to the processor.

[0046] In some possible implementation manners, the processor is one or more, and / or the memory is one or more.

[0047] In some possible implementation manners, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory is separately provided from the processor.

[0048] In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions), and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method in any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible implementation manners in any one of the above aspects.

[0049] In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product, including: a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions), and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method in any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible implementation manners in any one of the above aspects.

[0050] In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a chip, including: a processor and a memory, the memory is used for storing a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions), and the processor is used for calling and running the computer program stored in the memory, so that a device or equipment equipped with the chip executes the method in any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible implementation manners in any one of the above aspects. Description of the Drawings

[0051] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to the present application.

[0052] Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a ProSe communication scenario in the present application.

[0053] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0054] Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application.

[0055] Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart of a remote UE discovering a U2N relay in an embodiment of the present application.

[0056] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0057] Figure 7 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application.

[0058] Figure 8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by yet another embodiment of the present application.

[0059] Figure 9 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by yet another embodiment of the present application.

[0060] Figure 10It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application.

[0061] Figure 11 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of the present application.

[0062] Figure 12 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0063] Figure 13 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by another embodiment of the present application.

[0064] Figure 14 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by another embodiment of the present application.

[0065] Figure 15 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0066] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0067] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B may represent A or B; "and / or" in the present application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. These three situations, where A and B may be singular or plural. And, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality of" means two or more than two. "At least one (item)" or its similar expression below refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (item) or plural items (items). For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, c may be single or multiple. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art can understand that the words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit to be different. It should be understood that in the present application, descriptions such as "in... case", "if...", "when...", "if...", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0068] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: the 5th generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, etc. The technical solutions provided by this application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as the 6th generation mobile communication system, or satellite communication system, and so on.

[0069] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to user equipment (UE), station, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile terminal (MT), user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be a mobile phone, cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication function, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, large screen, in-vehicle device, wearable device, terminal device in a 5G network or terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be a tablet computer (Pad), laptop computer, palmtop computer, mobile internet device (MID), wearable device, virtual reality (VR) device, augmented reality (AR) device, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in self-driving, wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in transportation safety, wireless terminal in smart city, wireless terminal in smart home, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0070] In some embodiments, the terminal device can be used as a base station. Optionally, the terminal device can act as a scheduling entity to provide sidelink signals between terminal devices in vehicle to everything (V2X) or device to device (D2D), etc. For example, a cellular phone and a vehicle can communicate using the sidelink signals, or a cellular phone and a smart home device can also communicate using the sidelink signals without relaying the communication signals through a base station.

[0071] The network device in the embodiments of this application can refer to a radio access network (RAN) node (or device) that connects the terminal device to a wireless network, and can also be referred to as a base station. For example, the network device can be a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB), a next-generation Node B (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a transmission reception point (TRP), an access point (AP), a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node (AP) in a WiFi system, a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in other future evolved communication systems, etc.

[0072] In some embodiments, multiple RAN nodes may cooperate to assist a terminal device in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes may respectively implement some functions of a base station. For example, an RAN node (i.e., the network device in this application) may be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The CU and the DU may be separately provided, or may also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU may be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as included in a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). In different systems, the CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU, or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, the CU may also be referred to as an open CU (O-CU), the DU may also be referred to as an open DU (O-DU), the CU-CP may also be referred to as O-CU-CP, the CU-UP may also be referred to as O-CU-UP, and the RU may also be referred to as O-RU. Any one of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. It should be understood that this application does not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the network device.

[0073] In some embodiments, the network device may be fixed or mobile, and this application does not limit this. For example, a helicopter or a drone may be configured as a mobile network device, and one or more cells may move according to the position of this mobile network device. In other examples, a helicopter or a drone may be configured to be used as a device for communicating with another network device.

[0074] In some embodiments, the network device may be deployed on land or in the air, and this application does not limit this. For example, the network device may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; it may also be deployed on water; it may also be deployed on an aircraft, a balloon, and a satellite in the air.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present application, a terminal device or a network device may include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and a memory (also referred to as main memory). The operating system may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement service processing through processes. For example, the Linux operating system, the Unix operating system, the Android operating system, the iOS operating system, or the Windows operating system, etc. The application layer includes applications such as a browser, an address book, a word processing software, and an instant messaging software. Moreover, in the embodiments of the present application, the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is not particularly limited, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0076] In addition, various aspects or features of the present application may be implemented as a method, an apparatus, or an article of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" used in the present application encompasses a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, the computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to: magnetic storage devices (such as hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes, etc.), optical discs (such as compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (such as erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). Additionally, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0077] Figure 1 is an exemplary architecture diagram of a wireless communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applied. The wireless communication system 100 may include a network device, a terminal device, and a core network device.

[0078] The core network device may include network elements such as a time sensitive communication and time synchronization function (TSCTSF) network element, an application function (AF) network element, a policy control function (PCF) network element, a user plane function (UPF) network element, a unified data management (UDM) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, and a session management function (SMF) network element, etc.

[0079] The main functions of the TSCTSF network element include: associating the time synchronization service request of the network function consumer with the AF session of the PCF network element.

[0080] The AF network element is similar to an application server, which interacts with other core network control plane network elements and provides service services. The AF network element can exist for different application services and can be owned by the operator or a trusted third party.

[0081] The PCF network element supports a unified policy framework to manage network behavior and provides policy rules for network entities to implement and execute.

[0082] The UDM network element is responsible for the management of user identification, subscription data, authentication data, and the registration management of the user's serving network element.

[0083] The UPF network element is a module in the core network that processes data, and its main function is: routing and forwarding data from the base station to the network.

[0084] The AMF network element is responsible for functions such as UE authentication, authorization, registration, mobility management, and connection management.

[0085] The SMF network element is mainly responsible for allocating addresses to terminals and managing each channel between the terminals and the core network.

[0086] It can be understood that Figure 1 Exemplarily, an architecture diagram of a communication system to which the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is applicable is shown. The communication system to which the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is applicable may include other network elements or network entities, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0087] The method of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a proximity service (ProSe) communication scenario, for example, it can be applied to scenarios such as sidelink (SL), device-to-device (D2D) communication, or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication.

[0088] In the ProSe communication of the embodiments of the present application, it is allowed that terminal devices communicate directly through a proximity communications 5 (PC5) interface, so that terminal devices can communicate or access the network through other terminal devices when there is no wireless network coverage.

[0089] Figure 2 It is an example diagram of the ProSe communication scenario of the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 2 shown, when a direct connection cannot be established between the terminal device 230 and the network device 210, the terminal device 220 can be used as a relay to indirectly establish a connection with the network device.

[0090] Among them, the terminal device 230 can be called a remote terminal device, which can be simply referred to as a remote device or a far end; the terminal device 220 can be called a relay terminal device, which can be simply referred to as a relay. It can be understood that Figure 2 only one relay is given in the shown scenario, but the number of relays is not limited in the communication scenario of the present application.

[0091] In this embodiment, the far end and the relay, and the relay and the relay can discover each other through a relay service code (RSC) and establish a PC5 connection respectively. The relay forwards communication signals or data for the UE, so that the UE indirectly establishes a connection with the network. Currently, ProSe communication has been applied to the 5G system.

[0092] Absolute time synchronization is a time synchronization method different from relative time synchronization and phase synchronization, also known as time service. In the communication system, it is proposed that the network device can provide a precision time protocol (PTP) or a generalized precision time protocol (gPTP) time service based on the user plane for the terminal device.

[0093] However, when the far end accesses the network through a Layer 3 relay, currently, the network side cannot provide PTP or gPTP time service for the far end.

[0094] To solve the foregoing technical problems, the present application proposes a communication method and a communication device. In the method provided by the present application, the network side can configure a relay and / or a remote end so that they can discover the gPTP domain relay timing service they want to use; the network side can configure a relay so that it can relay timing messages of multiple gPTP domains simultaneously through the PC5 user plane; the remote end can use the PC5-U to transmit timing information in the user plane in scenarios such as layer 3 UE-to-network (U2N) or layer 3 UE-to-UE (U2U) relay.

[0095] In the method provided by the present application, it can be determined that the UE supports ProSe communication and is authorized for the user plane timing service according to the request of the AF, the notification of the PCF, or the UE subscription information, so that the PC5-related configuration for ProSe L3 U2N Relay relay timing used for the UE can be determined.

[0096] In the method provided by the present application, the relay can determine the PC5-related configuration for relaying gPTP timing information in the PC5 user plane according to the configuration of the network and the received gPTP messages.

[0097] The method provided by the present application will be introduced below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 3 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 The method shown may include steps S320 and S330. This method is mainly used to configure timing service information.

[0098] S320, a first network element configures first information, and the first information indicates that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier.

[0099] The first network element may be a network element that manages the user timing service. For example, the first network element may be a TSCTSF network element.

[0100] Alternatively, the first network element may be a network element that manages user policies. For example, the first network element may be a PCF network element.

[0101] The relay timing service can be understood as: a timing service provided through the PC5 interface, abbreviated as the PC5 timing service. Correspondingly, the identifier of the relay timing service can be called the PC5 identifier (identity, ID) of the relay timing service, or the PC5 ID of the timing service.

[0102] As an example, the PC5 ID of the timing service may be an RSC, a multicast layer 2 (L2) ID, a broadcast L2 ID, an application layer group identifier (App Layer Group ID), or an application code for U2U direct communication.

[0103] The first piece of information indicates that the identifier of the relay timing service is the first identifier, which can also be referred to as: the first identifier preconfigured by the control device in the core network for the relay timing service.

[0104] The first piece of information can be referred to as PC5 timing configuration information, which is used to configure the PC5 ID of the timing service.

[0105] The first network element configures the first piece of information, which can be understood as: the first network element configures the PC5 ID of the relay timing service for the terminal device. In this embodiment, the first network element configuring the first piece of information can be referred to as the first network element generating the first piece of information or the first network element determining the first piece of information or the first network element obtaining the first piece of information.

[0106] As an example, the first piece of information indicating the first identifier may include: the first identifier is included in the first piece of information.

[0107] Optionally, the first piece of information may indicate the identifiers of one or more relay timing services. When the first piece of information indicates multiple relay timing services, the first identifier may include the identifiers of each relay timing service among the multiple relay timing services. In some implementation manners, the relay timing service indicated by the first identifier may be a unified PC5 ID for transmitting gPTP messages, or rather, the relay timing service indicated by the first identifier is a unified identifier shared by the relay timing services in multiple PTP domains.

[0108] In some other implementation manners, the relay timing service indicated by the first identifier is generated for each PTP domain, or rather, the first identifier is PTP domain-specific, and the PC5 ID is generated separately for the relay timing services in each PTP domain. In this case, optionally, the first piece of information may further indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the timing domain, or rather, the first piece of information may further indicate which domain the relay timing service represented by the first identifier belongs to and which domain provides the timing service.

[0109] As an example, the first piece of information indicating the mapping relationship between the relay timing service and the timing domain includes: the first piece of information contains the identifier of the relay timing service and the domain information of the timing domain to which the relay timing service belongs. This example can be considered as the domain information being explicitly carried in the first identifier.

[0110] As another example, the first piece of information indicating the mapping relationship between the relay timing service and the timing domain includes: the identifier of the relay timing service included in the first piece of information contains the domain information of the timing domain. This example can also be considered as the domain information being explicitly carried in the first identifier.

[0111] In some examples, the first information may not explicitly carry domain information, and after the first network element configures the first information, it records the mapping relationship between the first information and the corresponding timing grant domain. This example can be considered as implicitly indicating domain information.

[0112] As an example, the domain information of the timing grant domain may include "domainNumber" and / or "sdoId".

[0113] S330, the first network element sends the first information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information.

[0114] The terminal device may include a relay terminal device and / or a remote terminal device. The relay terminal device may provide relay timing service based on the first information, and the remote terminal device may request or receive relay timing service based on the first information.

[0115] The terminal device may include a device-side TSN translator (DSTT), where TSN is the English abbreviation for time-sensitive network.

[0116] For the convenience of distinction, the terminal device that provides relay timing service based on the first information may be denoted as DSTT1, and the terminal device that requests or receives relay timing service may be denoted as DSTT2.

[0117] In this embodiment, after the first network element configures the first information for the terminal device, the ProSe terminal device (or ProSe UE) may discover the timing service it needs based on the first information.

[0118] In some implementation manners, the method of this embodiment may further include S310, where the second network element sends the second information to the first network element, and the second information is used to trigger the first network element to configure the first information. Correspondingly, the first network element receives the second information and executes S420.

[0119] Optionally, the second information may further indicate for which terminal device the first network element configures the first information. For example, the second information contains the identification information of the terminal device.

[0120] Optionally, the second information may also indicate the timing grant domain to which the relay timing service for which identification needs to be configured belongs. For example, the second information may contain the domain information of the timing grant domain.

[0121] As an example, the second information used to trigger the first network element to configure the first information may include: the second information is used to request to generate the configuration of the relay timing service for the terminal device, or the second information is used to request to generate the configuration of the PC5 user plane timing service for the terminal device.

[0122] For example, the second network element sends a PC5 timing synchronization policy request message to the first network element. The PC5 timing synchronization policy request message requests the configuration for the ProSe UE to transmit timing messages in the PC5 user plane when used for L3 relaying. Optionally, the second network element may be an AF network element, and the first network element may be a TSCTSF network element; or, optionally, the second network element may be an AF network element or a TSCTSF network element, and the first network element is a PCF network element.

[0123] Optionally, the PC5 timing synchronization policy request message may carry the identification information of the UE to inform the TSCTSF network element which terminal device the relay timing service configuration is generated for.

[0124] Optionally, the PC5 timing synchronization policy request message may carry the domain information of the timing domain to inform the TSCTSF network element which timing domain the relay timing service configuration is generated for.

[0125] As another example, the second information is used to trigger the first network element to configure the first information, which may include: the second information indicates that the terminal device has established a PDU session that will be affected by the timing service. The PDU session that will be affected by the timing service may become a specific PDU session, such as a PDU session for time-sensitive communication.

[0126] For example, the second network element may be a PCF network element, the first network element may be a TSCTSF network element, and the TSCTSF network element sends a timing service-related notification message to the AF network element to notify the TSCTSF network element that the terminal device has established a PDU session that will be affected by the gPTP timing service.

[0127] Optionally, the timing service-related notification message may carry the identification information of the UE to inform the TSCTSF network element which terminal device's PDU session will be affected by the gPTP timing service, so that the TSCTSF network element knows which terminal device the relay timing service configuration is generated for.

[0128] As another example, the second information is used to trigger the first network element to configure the first information, which may include: the second information indicates the subscription information of the terminal device. The subscription information may include the ProSe-related subscription information of the terminal device and / or the gPTP timing-related subscription information of the terminal device.

[0129] For example, the second network element may be a PCF network element, the first network element may be a TSCTSF network element, and the TSCTSF network element sends the subscription information of the terminal device to the AF network element.

[0130] Optionally, the timing service-related notification message may carry the identification information of the terminal device to enable the TSCTSF network element to know which UE the relay timing service configuration is generated for.

[0131] When the first network element is a TSCTSF network element, in some implementation manners, the TSCTSF network element may, when receiving multiple pieces of the following information, configure information, i.e., the first information: information requesting configuration of a relay timing service for a terminal device, information indicating that the terminal device has established a PDU session that will be affected by the timing service, or the subscription information of the terminal device.

[0132] In some implementation manners, after S320, the method of this embodiment may further include S325, that is, the first network element sends response information to the second network element, and the response information is used to indicate that the first network element has configured the relay timing service.

[0133] For example, when the second network element is an AF network element or a TSCTSF network element and the first network element is a PCF network element, the PCF network element notifies the AF network element or the TSCTSF network element that a PC5 timing service configuration has been generated for the UE.

[0134] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by another embodiment of this application. Figure 4 The method shown may include steps S420, S430, and S440. This method is mainly used to configure timing service information, and is different from Figure 3 the embodiment shown in that: Figure 3 In the embodiment shown, after the network element configures the timing service information, it sends it to the terminal device by itself; while Figure 4 In the embodiment shown, after the network element configures the timing service information, it sends it to another network element, and the other network element sends it to the terminal device.

[0135] S420, the first network element configures information, i.e., the first information, and the first information indicates that the identifier of the relay timing service is the first identifier.

[0136] For the relevant content of the first network element configuring the first information, reference may be made to Figure 3 the relevant content of the first network element configuring the first information in the embodiment shown, which will not be elaborated here.

[0137] As an example, the first network element may be a PCF network element.

[0138] S430, the first network element sends the first information to the second network element. Correspondingly, the second network element receives the first information.

[0139] When the first network element is a PCF network element, as an example, the second network element may be a TSCTSF network element.

[0140] When the first network element configures the first information based on the request of the second network element, then in some implementation manners, the first information sent by the first network element to the second network element may be carried in the response message sent by the first network element to the second network element in response to the request of the second network element.

[0141] As an example, when the second network element sends a PC5 timing synchronization policy request message to the first network element, requesting the first network element to generate a configuration for the relay timing synchronization service for the terminal device, the first network element may carry the first information in a response message indicating that the first network element has configured the relay timing synchronization service.

[0142] S440, the second network element sends the first information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the first information.

[0143] This step can refer to S330 and will not be elaborated here.

[0144] In some embodiments provided in the present application, after the terminal device acting as a relay receives the first information, it can obtain the PC5 ID that can provide the L3 relay timing synchronization service; after the terminal device acting as a remote end receives the first information, it can obtain the PC5 ID of the timing synchronization service it is interested in; the terminal device acting as a relay and the terminal device acting as a remote end can perform the ProSe relay discovery process. Among them, the terminal device acting as a relay and the terminal device acting as a remote end can perform the ProSe L3 U2N relay discovery process based on the RSC, multicast L2 ID, or App Layer Group ID. After completing the ProSe relay discovery process, the terminal device acting as a relay can associate the identity identifier (such as L2 ID and / or UserInfoID) of the terminal device acting as a remote end with the corresponding timing domain.

[0145] For the convenience of description, in the subsequent content of the present application, the relay terminal device will be simply referred to as UE1, and the remote terminal device will be simply referred to as UE2.

[0146] When the first information indicates the identifier of the relay timing synchronization service and displays the timing domain corresponding to the relay timing synchronization service, after UE1 and UE2 perform the ProSe L3 U2N relay discovery process, as an example, UE1 can transmit gPTP messages to UE2 on PC5 based on the first information, so as to provide the timing synchronization service.

[0147] When the first piece of information indicates the identifier of the relay timing service and implicitly indicates the timing domain corresponding to the relay timing service, after UE1 and UE2 execute the ProSe L3 U2N relay discovery process, in some implementation manners, UE1 receives a gPTP message sent by the network side, for example, receives a gPTP message from a UPF network element or a network side TSN translator (NW-TT); UE1 receives the first piece of information from the first network element; UE1 obtains a PC5 ID used to forward the gPTP message on PC5-U based on one or more of the association relationship between the port of the gPTP message and the PTP domain, the PTP instance identifier corresponding to the gPTP message, and the domain information in the gPTP message, and the first piece of information; UE1 transmits the gPTP message to UE2 on PC5 based on the PC5 ID, thereby providing a timing service.

[0148] ProSe relay discovery includes U2N and U2U discovery, which are respectively used to discover the network or another ProSe UE. Among them, the identifier of the relay service, such as the relay service code (RSC), is used to identify which service this relay communication is for.

[0149] Taking U2N discovery as an example, the discovery process is as follows: When a ProSe UE (remote UE) wants to discover the network through a relay for PC5 communication corresponding to a certain relay service identifier, the remote UE sends a discovery message in a broadcast form to the surrounding UEs to indicate that it wants to discover a U2N relay; after the relay UE (U2N Relay UE) receives the discovery message of the remote UE, if it has been connected to the network, it responds to the request of the remote UE; the remote UE can know the relay connected to the network according to the response message.

[0150] The following combines Figure 5 to introduce the specific process of the remote UE discovering the U2N Relay. Among them, take the ProSe UE as an example, which identifies its identity through the user information ID, distinguishes the sending and receiving addresses of the message through the L2 ID, and distinguishes the relay service through the RSC.

[0151] S510, the remote UE sends a discovery message for discovering the U2N terminal.

[0152] As an example, the discovery message may include at least one of the following information: the type of the discovery message, the user information of the remote UE, the RSC, the target information, the source L2 ID, or the destination L2 ID. Among them, the L2 ID of the remote UE can be used as the source L2 ID, and the broadcast L2 ID can be used as the destination L2 ID.

[0153] S520, Relay 1 and / or Relay 2 send a response message.

[0154] As an example, Relay 1, Relay 2, and Relay 3 receive the U2N Relay of the discovery message in S510.

[0155] Relay 1 and Relay 2 determine that they can provide the relay service corresponding to the RSC. Further, if it can be determined that the target information in the discovery message matches itself, it can select to respond to the discovery message according to conditions such as signal quality.

[0156] The response message may include at least one of the following information: the type of the discovery message, the user information of the U2N Relay, or the RSC corresponding to the relay service, the source L2 ID, or the destination L2 ID. Among them, the L2 ID of the U2N Relay is used as the source L2 ID, and the L2 ID of the remote UE is used as the destination L2 ID.

[0157] After the remote UE receives the discovery message sent by Relay 1 and / or Relay 2, it can select one of the Relays to establish a PC5 connection according to conditions such as signal quality.

[0158] The following takes the first network element and the second network element as Figure 1 specific network elements in the shown communication system as an example to introduce Figure 3 or Figure 4 the shown configuration method and the detailed process of the terminal discovering the relay timing service based on the configuration information.

[0159] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 In the shown method, the TSCTSF network element is the Figure 3 first network element in the shown method, and the AF network element, the PCF network element, and the UDM network element are the Figure 3 second network element in the shown method. UE1 is a relay, and UE2 is a remote end.

[0160] In the method of this embodiment, as an example, UE1 and UE2 can access the network according to the prior art.

[0161] S610-a, UE1 performs absolute time synchronization with the network side.

[0162] As an example, UE1 can perform absolute time synchronization with the network using the air interface timing service (Uu ASTI) according to the prior art.

[0163] S610-b, the network side transmits the gPTP timing service to UE1.

[0164] As an example, the network side transmits the gPTP timing service to UE1 according to the existing technology, that is, the network knows the domain information (for example, domainNumber, sdoId) of the gPTP timing message transmitted to UE1 and / or the port information of the port on UE1 that receives the gPTP message.

[0165] S611, the AF network element sends a PC5 timing policy request message to the TSCTSF network element.

[0166] As an example, the PC5 timing policy request message may request the configuration for UE to transmit the timing message on the PC5 user plane when used for L3 relay.

[0167] As an example, the identity information of UE1 is carried in the PC5 timing policy request message. The gPTP domain information may also be carried in the PC5 timing policy request message.

[0168] S612, the PCF network element sends a timing service related notification message to the TSCTSF network element.

[0169] As an example, the timing service related notification message may inform the TSCTSF network element that UE1 has established a PDU session that may be affected by gPTP.

[0170] S613, the UDM network element sends the subscription information of UE1 to the TSCTSF network element.

[0171] As an example, the subscription information may include: the ProSe related subscription information of UE1 and / or the gPTP timing related subscription information of UE1.

[0172] It can be understood that one or more steps of S611, S612, and S613 may be included in this embodiment.

[0173] S614, the TSCTSF network element confirms the configuration and configures the PC5 ID for UE to transmit the timing message on PC5. That is, the TSCTSF network element confirms the configuration and configures the first information.

[0174] As an example, if the TSCTSF network element determines that UE1 supports ProSe and UE1 is authorized for the gPTP timing service based on one or more of the request from the AF network element, the notification from the PCF network element, and the subscription information of the UE, the TSCTSF network element may determine that it is necessary to configure the PC5 ID for UE1 to transmit the timing message on PC5 and configure this information.

[0175] The mode in which the TSCTSF network element generates the configuration information of the PC5 ID for UE1 to transmit the timing message on PC5 may include: Mode 1, generating a unified PC5 ID for transmitting gPTP messages; and / or, Mode 2, generating a PC5 ID for each PTP domain.

[0176] When using Mode 2, as an example, the gPTP domain information can be explicitly carried in the PC5 ID. For example, the domainNumber and sdoId in the gPTP message are carried in the PC5 ID. In this way, just through the PC5 ID, the ProSe UE can know the gPTP domain corresponding to the PC5 ID.

[0177] When using Mode 2, as another example, the PC5 ID may not explicitly carry the gPTP domain information. After the TSCTSF network element allocates the PC5 ID for the relay timing service, it records the mapping relationship between the PC5 ID and the corresponding gPTP domain.

[0178] In this embodiment, as an example, the PC5 ID of the relay timing service may be the Relay Service Code (RSC).

[0179] S615, the TSCTSF network element sends the PC5 timing configuration to UE1 and UE2. That is, the TSCTSF network element sends the first information to UE1 and UE2.

[0180] As an example, the PC5 timing configuration may include the PC5 ID configured in S614. Optionally, the PC5 timing configuration may also include the mapping relationship between the PC5 ID and the corresponding gPTP domain information.

[0181] In this way, when UE1 and UE2 need to use the PC5 user plane to transmit the timing message, the subsequent steps can be executed.

[0182] S616, UE1 and UE2 perform ProSe L3 U2N relay discovery.

[0183] As an example, UE1 uses the PC5 ID in the PC5 user plane timing configuration received in S615 to know the PC5 ID corresponding to the L3 relay timing service it can provide; UE2 uses the PC5 ID in the PC5 user plane timing configuration received in S615 to know the PC5 ID corresponding to the timing service it is interested in; UE1 and UE2 perform ProSe L3 U2N relay discovery according to the existing technology.

[0184] S617, UE1 receives the gPTP message sent by the network. For example, UE1 receives the gPTP message sent by the UPF network element or the NWTT network element.

[0185] S618. The UE1 determines the PC5 ID for forwarding the gPTP message on PC5-U based on the PC5 user plane timing configuration and the gPTP message.

[0186] As an example, the UE1 obtains the PC5 ID for forwarding the (g)PTP message on PC5-U based on the PC5 user plane timing configuration received in S615 and at least one of the following information: the association relationship between the port receiving the gPTP message in S617 and the PTP domain, the PTP instance ID corresponding to the gPTP message received in S617, or the domainNumber and / or sdoId in the gPTP message received in S617.

[0187] S619. The UE1 transmits the gPTP message on PC5.

[0188] As an example, the UE1 transmits the gPTP message according to the PC5 ID obtained in S618.

[0189] Figure 7 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 In the method shown, the TSCTSF network element requests the PCF network element for the configuration of the PC5 ID used by the UE for transmitting the timing message on PC5.

[0190] Figure 7 In the method shown, the TSCTSF network element is Figure 4 the first network element in the method shown, the PCF network element is Figure 4 the second network element in the method shown, the UE1 is a relay, and the UE2 is a remote end; or, the TSCTSF network element is Figure 3 the second network element in the method shown, the PCF network element is Figure 3 the first network element in the method shown, the UE1 is a relay, and the UE2 is a remote end.

[0191] In the method of this embodiment, as an example, the UE1 and the UE2 can access the network according to the prior art.

[0192] S710-a. The UE1 performs absolute time synchronization with the network side.

[0193] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0194] S710-b. The network side transmits the gPTP timing service to the UE1.

[0195] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0196] S711. The TSCTSF network element sends a PC5 timing policy request message to the PCF network element.

[0197] The PC5 timing strategy request message in this step may refer to the PC5 timing strategy request message in S611.

[0198] S712, the PCF network element configures the UE with the PC5 ID for transmitting the timing message on PC5. That is, the PCF network element configures the first information.

[0199] This step may refer to the content in S614 where the TSCTSF network element configures the PC5 ID for transmitting the timing message on PC5.

[0200] S713, the PCF network element sends a PC5 timing strategy response to the TSCTSF network element.

[0201] As an example, the content carried in the response message may include the content configured in S712. That is, the PCF network element sends the first information to the TSCTSF network element.

[0202] S715, the TSCTSF network element sends the PC5 timing configuration to UE1 and UE2. That is, the TSCTSF network element sends the first information to UE1 and UE2.

[0203] S716, UE1 and UE2 perform ProSe L3 U2N relay discovery.

[0204] S717, UE1 receives the gPTP message sent by the network.

[0205] S718, UE1 determines the PC5 ID for forwarding the gPTP message on PC5-U according to the PC5 user plane timing configuration and the gPTP message.

[0206] S719, UE1 transmits the gPTP message on PC5.

[0207] It can be understood that S715 to S719 may refer to S615 to S619.

[0208] Figure 8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 In the method shown, the PCF network element generates and sends the PC5-related configuration for L3 relay transmission of the corresponding PTP domain timing message to the direct ProSe UE according to the request of the AF network element. This embodiment Figure 7 The difference of the method described includes: after the PCF network element generates the configuration, it does not need to feedback to the AF network element and can be directly sent to the UE.

[0209] Figure 8 In the method shown, the AF network element is Figure 3 In the method shown, the second network element, and the PCF network element is Figure 3In the method shown, the first network element, UE1 is a relay and UE2 is a remote end.

[0210] In the method of this embodiment, as an example, UE1 and UE2 can access the network according to the existing technology.

[0211] S810-a, UE1 performs absolute time synchronization with the network side.

[0212] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0213] S810-b, the network side transmits the gPTP timing service to UE1.

[0214] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0215] S811, the AF network element sends a PC5 timing policy request message to the PCF network element.

[0216] The PC5 timing policy request message in this step can refer to the PC5 timing policy request message in S611.

[0217] S812, the PCF network element configures the PC5 ID for UE to transmit timing messages on PC5. That is, the PCF network element configures the first information.

[0218] This step can refer to the content in S614 where the TSCTSF network element configures the PC5 ID for transmitting timing messages on PC5.

[0219] S813, the PCF network element sends a PC5 timing policy response to the AF network element.

[0220] As an example, the response message notifies the AF network element that the PC5 timing configuration has been generated for UE.

[0221] S815, the PCF network element sends the PC5 timing configuration to UE1 and UE2. That is, the PCF network element sends the first information to UE1 and UE2.

[0222] It can be understood that this embodiment does not limit the execution order of S813 and S815.

[0223] S816, UE1 and UE2 perform ProSe L3 U2N relay discovery.

[0224] S817, UE1 receives the gPTP message sent by the network.

[0225] S818, UE1 determines the PC5 ID for forwarding the gPTP message on PC5-U according to the PC5 user plane timing configuration and the gPTP message.

[0226] S819. The UE1 transmits gPTP messages on PC5.

[0227] It can be understood that S815 to S819 can refer to S615 to S619.

[0228] It can be understood that the AF network element in this embodiment can be replaced by a TSCTSF network element.

[0229] Figure 9 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 9 The method shown can be applied to the scenario of transmitting timing messages through L3 relay in the form of multicast, that is, it can be applied to the scenario when the PC5 ID configured in the network is a multicast L2 ID and / or an App Layer Group ID. The main differences between this method and the foregoing embodiments include: The ProSe UE uses multicast discovery instead of unicast discovery.

[0230] In the method of this embodiment, as an example, the UE1 and UE2 can access the network according to the prior art.

[0231] S910-a. The UE1 performs absolute time synchronization with the network side.

[0232] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0233] S910-b. The network side transmits the gPTP timing service to the UE1.

[0234] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0235] S911. The network side sends the configuration for the UE to transmit timing messages on the PC5 user plane when performing L3 relay to the UE. Here, the UE includes the UE1 and UE2.

[0236] The implementation of this step can refer to Figure 6 S615 in the embodiment shown, or can refer to S715, or can refer to S815.

[0237] In this embodiment, the PC5 ID is a multicast L2 ID and / or an App Layer Group ID.

[0238] S912. The UE1 and UE2 perform ProSe L3 U2N relay discovery.

[0239] This step can refer to S616, and the differences include: In this embodiment, the discovery is performed according to the multicast L2 ID and / or the App Layer Group ID.

[0240] S913. The UE1 receives the gPTP message sent by the network.

[0241] This step can refer to S617.

[0242] S914. UE1 determines the PC5 ID for forwarding gPTP messages on PC5-U according to the PC5 user plane timing configuration and gPTP messages.

[0243] This step can refer to S618. The differences include: In this embodiment, the PC5 ID determined for forwarding gPTP messages on PC5-U is the multicast L2 ID and / or the App Layer Group ID.

[0244] S915. UE1 transmits gPTP messages on PC5.

[0245] This step can refer to S619. The differences include: The PC5 ID used by UE1 to transmit gPTP messages on PC5 is the multicast L2 ID and / or the App Layer Group ID.

[0246] Figure 10 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 10 The method shown can be applied to the scenario of transmitting timing messages in the form of L3 relay in broadcast, that is, the scenario where the PC5 ID configured by the network is the broadcast L2 ID. The main differences between this method and the foregoing embodiments include: There is no discovery process between ProSe UEs.

[0247] In the method of this embodiment, as an example, UE1 and UE2 can access the network according to the prior art.

[0248] S1010-a. UE1 performs absolute time synchronization with the network side.

[0249] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0250] S1010-b. The network side transmits the gPTP timing service to UE1.

[0251] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0252] S1011. The network side sends the configuration for UE to transmit timing messages on the PC5 user plane when performing L3 relay to UE.

[0253] The implementation of this step can refer to Figure 6 S615 in the embodiment shown, or can refer to S715, or can refer to S815.

[0254] In this embodiment, the PC5 ID is the broadcast L2 ID.

[0255] S1013, UE1 receives the gPTP message sent by the network.

[0256] This step can refer to S617.

[0257] S1014, UE1 determines the PC5 ID for forwarding the gPTP message on PC5-U according to the PC5 user plane timing configuration and the gPTP message.

[0258] This step can refer to S618, and the differences include: the PC5 ID determined in this embodiment for forwarding the gPTP message on PC5-U is the broadcast L2 ID.

[0259] S1015, UE1 transmits the gPTP message on PC5.

[0260] This step can refer to S619, and the differences include: the PC5 ID used by UE1 to transmit the gPTP message on PC5 is the broadcast L2 ID.

[0261] Figure 11 It is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 11 The shown method can be applied to scenarios of U2U or L2 / L3 U2U relay timing.

[0262] In the method of this embodiment, as an example, UE1 and UE2 can access the network according to the prior art.

[0263] S1110-a, UE1 performs absolute time synchronization with the network side.

[0264] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0265] S1110-b, the network side transmits the gPTP timing service to UE1.

[0266] As an example, this step can refer to S610-a.

[0267] S1111, the network side sends the configuration for UE to transmit the timing message on the PC5 user plane when used for L3 U2U relay or for U2U direct communication.

[0268] The implementation of this step can refer to Figure 6 S615 in the shown embodiment, or can refer to S715, or can refer to S815.

[0269] In this embodiment, by way of example, the PC5 ID for transmitting the timing message on the PC5 user plane for L3 U2U relay may include RSC, and the PC5 ID for transmitting the timing message on the PC5 user plane for U2U direct communication may include ApplicationCode.

[0270] S1112, UE1 performs U2U direct discovery or ProSe L3 U2U relay discovery using the PC5 user plane relay timing configuration.

[0271] S1113-a, UE1 receives the gPTP message sent by the UPF network element or NWTT.

[0272] This step may refer to S617.

[0273] S1113-b, UE1 receives the gPTP message sent by the PTP entity.

[0274] It can be understood that in this embodiment, the two steps of S1113-a and S1113-b may be executed in whole or in part.

[0275] S1114, UE1 determines the PC5 ID for forwarding the gPTP message on the PC5-U according to the PC5 user plane timing configuration and the gPTP message.

[0276] This step may refer to S618, and the differences include: the PC5 ID determined in this embodiment for forwarding the gPTP message on the PC5-U is RSC and / or Application Code.

[0277] S1115, UE1 transmits the gPTP message on the PC5.

[0278] This step may refer to S619, and the differences include: the PC5 ID used by UE1 to transmit the gPTP message on the PC5 is RSC and / or Application Code.

[0279] As described above in conjunction with Figures 3 to 11 , the method embodiments of the present application have been described in detail. Next, in conjunction with Figures 12 to 15 , the apparatus embodiments of the present application will be described in detail. It should be understood that the descriptions of the method embodiments and the apparatus embodiments correspond to each other. Therefore, for the parts not described in detail, reference may be made to the previous method embodiments.

[0280] Figure 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 12 shown, the apparatus 1200 includes a generating unit 1210 and a transmitting unit 1220, specifically as follows:

[0281] A generating unit 1210, configured to generate first information for indicating that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier;

[0282] A sending unit 1220, configured to send the first information.

[0283] Optionally, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the timing domain.

[0284] Optionally, the timing domain includes at least one domain, and the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier corresponds to the at least one domain one by one.

[0285] Optionally, the first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the timing domain for the relay timing service.

[0286] Optionally, the sending unit 1220 is specifically configured to: send the first information to a first terminal device and / or a second terminal device, where the first terminal device can provide a relay timing service, and the second terminal device can receive a relay timing service.

[0287] Optionally, the apparatus 1200 further includes a receiving unit 1230, which is configured to: receive second information before generating the first information, where the second information is used to trigger the first network element to generate the first information.

[0288] Optionally, the second information includes one or more of the following:

[0289] Request information for requesting to generate the first information for a target terminal device;

[0290] Notification information for indicating that the target terminal device has established a specific protocol data unit (PDU) session;

[0291] Session configuration information associated with the specific PDU session established with the target terminal device;

[0292] Proximity service subscription information and / or timing service subscription information of the target terminal device;

[0293] Wherein, the target terminal device includes a first terminal device and / or a second terminal device.

[0294] Optionally, the first network element is used to manage the timing service of the user.

[0295] Optionally, the sending unit 1220 is specifically configured to: send the first information to a second network element.

[0296] Optionally, the apparatus 1200 further includes a receiving unit 1230, which is configured to, before generating the first information: receive third information from the second network element, where the third information is used to request the first network element to generate the first information.

[0297] Optionally, the first network element is used to manage user policies, and / or the second network element is used to manage user timing services.

[0298] Figure 13 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 13 shown, the apparatus 1300 includes a receiving unit 1310 and a sending unit 1320, specifically as follows:

[0299] The receiving unit 1310 is configured to receive first information from the first network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is the first identifier;

[0300] The sending unit 1320 is configured to send the first information to the first terminal device and / or the second terminal device.

[0301] Optionally, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the timing domain.

[0302] Optionally, the timing domain includes at least one domain, and the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier corresponds to the at least one domain one by one.

[0303] Optionally, the first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the timing domain for the relay timing service.

[0304] Optionally, before receiving the first information from the first network element, the sending unit 1320 is further configured to: send third information to the first network element, where the third information is used to request the first network element to generate the first information.

[0305] Figure 14 It is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. As Figure 14 shown, the apparatus 1400 includes a receiving unit 1410 and a determining unit 1420, specifically as follows:

[0306] The receiving unit 1410 is configured to receive first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is the first identifier;

[0307] The determining unit 1420 is configured to determine a target identifier for the relay timing service according to the first information.

[0308] Optionally, the first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the time granting domain.

[0309] Optionally, the time granting domain includes at least one domain, and the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier corresponds to the at least one domain one by one.

[0310] Optionally, the first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the time granting domain for relaying the time service.

[0311] Optionally, the determining unit 1420 is specifically configured to: determine the target identifier according to the first information and the first time granting message, where the first time granting message is from the core network or from other terminal devices.

[0312] Optionally, the determining unit 1420 is specifically configured to: determine the target identifier according to the first information and one or more of the following:

[0313] The association relationship between the port for sending or receiving the first time granting message and the time granting domain;

[0314] The time granting instance identifier corresponding to the first time granting message;

[0315] The time granting domain information in the first time granting message.

[0316] Optionally, the first identifier includes one or more of the following:

[0317] Relay service code RSC, multicast identifier, broadcast identifier, application code, layer 2 identifier.

[0318] Figure 15 It is a schematic structural diagram of a device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 15 The dashed line in indicates that the unit or module is optional. The device 1500 can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment. The device 1500 can be a chip or a communication device.

[0319] Device 1500 may include one or more processors 1510. The processor 1510 may support Device 1200, Device 1300, Device 1400, or Device 1500 in implementing the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments. The processor 1510 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor. For example, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU). Alternatively, the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0320] Device 1500 may further include one or more memories 1520. A program is stored on the memory 1520, and the program may be executed by the processor 1510, so that the processor 1510 executes the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments. The memory 1520 may be independent of the processor 1510 or integrated in the processor 1510.

[0321] Device 1500 may further include a transceiver 1530. The processor 1510 may communicate with other devices or chips through the transceiver 1530. For example, the processor 1510 may transmit and receive data with other devices or chips through the transceiver 1530.

[0322] It should be noted that for the content such as information interaction and execution process among the above-mentioned devices / units, since it is based on the same concept as the method embodiments of the present application, for its specific functions and the technical effects brought, reference may be specifically made to the method embodiment section, and details are not described herein again.

[0323] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, only the above division of each functional unit and module is used as an example. In actual applications, the above functions can be allocated to different functional units and modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different functional units or modules to complete all or part of the functions described above. Each functional unit and module in the embodiments can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit. In addition, the specific names of each functional unit and module are only for the convenience of mutual distinction and do not limit the protection scope of this application. The specific working processes of the units and modules in the above system can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0324] An embodiment of this application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer is enabled to implement the steps in each of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0325] An embodiment of this application provides a computer program product. When the computer program product runs on an electronic device (such as a server or a terminal device), the electronic device is enabled to implement the steps in each of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0326] An embodiment of this application provides a chip. The chip includes a processor and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that an electronic device (such as a server or a terminal device) installed with the chip executes the steps in each of the foregoing method embodiments.

[0327] When the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, to implement all or part of the processes in the above-described embodiment methods of this application, a computer program can be used to instruct the relevant hardware to complete. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the above-described method embodiments can be implemented. Among them, the computer program includes computer program code, and the computer program code can be in the form of source code, object code, executable file, or some intermediate form, etc. The computer-readable storage medium can at least include: any entity or device that can carry the computer program code to the device / electronic device, recording medium, computer memory, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electrical carrier signal, telecommunication signal, and software distribution medium. For example, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc, etc. In some jurisdictions, according to legislation and patent practice, the computer-readable storage medium cannot be an electrical carrier signal and a telecommunication signal.

[0328] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have their own focuses. For parts not detailed or recorded in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0329] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are executed in a hardware or software manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods for each specific application to implement the described functions, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0330] In the embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed device / electronic device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device / electronic device embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the modules or units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there can be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed coupling or direct coupling or communication connection to each other can be through some interfaces. The indirect coupling or communication connection of the device or unit can be in an electrical, mechanical, or other form.

[0331] The unit described as the separation component may or may not be physically separated. The component shown as a unit may or may not be a physical unit, that is, it may be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0332] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present application, and should all be included within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, applied to a first network element, characterized in that, Including: Generating first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier; Sending the first information.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the timing domain.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The timing domain includes at least one domain, and the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier corresponds one-to-one with the at least one domain.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the timing domain for the relay timing service.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The sending of the first information includes: Sending the first information to a first terminal device and / or a second terminal device, where the first terminal device can provide a relay timing service, and the second terminal device can receive a relay timing service.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Before generating the first information, the method further includes: Receiving second information, where the second information is used to trigger the first network element to generate the first information.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The second information includes one or more of the following: Request information for requesting the generation of the first information for a target terminal device; Notification information indicating that a target terminal device has established a specific protocol data unit (PDU) session; Session configuration information associated with a specific PDU session established with a target terminal device; Proximity service subscription information and / or timing service subscription information of a target terminal device; Wherein, the target terminal device includes a first terminal device and / or a second terminal device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that The first network element is used to manage the timing service of a user.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The sending of the first information includes: Sending the first information to a second network element.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein Before generating the first information, the method further includes: Receiving third information from the second network element, where the third information is used to request the first network element to generate the first information.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that The first network element is used to manage user policies, and / or the second network element is used to manage the timing service of a user.

12. A communication method, applied to a second network element, characterized in that, Including: Receiving first information from a first network element, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier; Sending the first information to a first terminal device and / or a second terminal device.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein The first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the timing domain.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The timing domain includes at least one domain, and the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier corresponds one-to-one with the at least one domain.

15. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the timing domain for the relay timing service.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that, Before receiving the first information from the first network element, the method further includes: Sending third information to the first network element, where the third information is used to request the first network element to generate the first information.

17. A communication method, characterized in that, Applied to a terminal device, the method includes: Receiving first information, where the first information is used to indicate that the identifier of the relay timing service is a first identifier; Determining a target identifier for the relay timing service according to the first information.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that, The first information is further used to indicate the mapping relationship between the first identifier and the timing domain.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The time granting domain includes at least one domain, and the mapping relationship is that the first identifier corresponds to the at least one domain, or the first identifier includes at least one identifier, and the mapping relationship is that the at least one identifier corresponds to the at least one domain one by one.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein The first information is further used to indicate the domain information of the time granting domain for relaying the time service.

21. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 20, characterized in that, Determining the target identifier for providing the relayed time service according to the first information includes: Determining the target identifier according to the first information and the first time message, where the first time message is from the core network or from other terminal devices.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein Determining the target identifier according to the first information and the first time message includes: Determining the target identifier according to the first information and one or more of the following: The association relationship between the port for sending or receiving the first time message and the time granting domain; The time instance identifier corresponding to the first time message; The time granting domain information in the first time message.

23. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 22, characterized in that, The first identifier includes one or more of the following: Relay service code RSC, multicast identifier, broadcast identifier, application code, layer 2 identifier.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, Including: A module or unit for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, Including: A processor and a memory, the processor is coupled to the memory, the memory is used to store a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.

27. A computer program product, characterized in that, Including: A computer program, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.

28. A chip, characterized in that, Including: A processor and a memory, the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the device or equipment installed with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 23.

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