Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method and device, in the method, a first terminal determines an address of a third terminal associated with the first terminal according to a first address of the first terminal in a first message through an association relationship between locally stored addresses, that is, a destination address of the first message used for connection establishment / connection modification is determined; no new identification information needs to be added for association, messages in the discovery process are not affected, and the overhead of storage resources and wireless resources is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] Proximity service (ProSe) communication allows direct communication between user equipments (UEs). Specifically, after mutual discovery between UEs, direct communication can be performed through the proximity communications 5 (PC5) interface. When two UEs cannot establish a direct PC5 connection, an intermediate UE can be used as a relay to indirectly establish a PC5 connection between these two UEs.

[0003] During the relay communication process, a source UE discovers a target UE through a relay UE, and sends a connection / modification request message through the relay UE for PC5 communication. In the prior art, a relay device adds identification information associated with the current discovery process to the discovery message during the relay discovery process. This identification information is associated with the address of the source UE, and then this identification information is added to the response message and the connection / modification request message. Thus, the relay device can use this identification information to determine the destination address of the target UE to implement this relay communication process.

[0004] However, this method adds new identification information, and the newly added identification information needs to be added to the message content of the discovery process, increasing the overhead of storage resources and radio resources. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Embodiments of this application provide a communication method and apparatus, which do not need to add new identification information during the relay communication process, reducing the overhead of storage resources and radio resources.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a terminal, or by a chip or logic module in the terminal. The method includes: a first terminal receives a first message from a second terminal, where the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to establish or modify a first communication connection. When the first message includes a first address of the first terminal, the first terminal sends a second message to a third terminal, where the first address of the first terminal is associated with the address of the third terminal, and the second message is used for the first terminal to request to establish a second communication connection with the third terminal. The first message includes a user information identifier of the third terminal.

[0007] As can be seen from the method according to the first aspect, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with it based on the association relationship between the addresses stored locally according to the first address of the first terminal in the first message, that is, determines the destination address of the first message for connection establishment / connection modification, without adding new identification information for association, and without affecting the messages in the discovery process, reducing the overhead of storage resources and radio resources.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the communication method may further include: before the first terminal receives the first message from the second terminal, when the first terminal discovers the third terminal, the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal. It can be understood that the first terminal discovering the third terminal here may refer to that in the relay discovery process, the first terminal discovers the third terminal that can be connected to the second terminal, and obtains the address of the third terminal, and associates (and stores) the address of the third terminal with the first address of the first terminal allocated locally. When sending the second message later, the destination address of the second message can be directly determined according to this association, without adding new identification information, reducing the overhead of storage resources and radio resources.

[0009] Optionally, when the first terminal discovers the third terminal, the first terminal associating the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal may include: the first terminal receives a first discovery request message from the second terminal, the first discovery request message includes the user information identifier of the third terminal, and the first discovery request message is used to request to discover the terminal that can be connected to the second terminal, that is, to discover the relay terminal that can establish a relay connection for the second terminal and the third terminal. The first terminal sends a second discovery request message based on the first discovery request message, and the second discovery request message is used to instruct the first terminal to request to discover the terminal that can be connected to the second terminal, and the first terminal is the endpoint device of the response message corresponding to the second discovery request message. The first terminal receives a first response message from the third terminal, and the first response message is used to respond to the second discovery request message, and the source address for transmitting the first response message is the address of the third terminal. The first terminal sends a second response message to the second terminal, and the second response message is used to respond to the first discovery request message, and the second response message indicates that the first terminal discovers the third terminal that can be connected to the second terminal, and the source address for transmitting the second response message is the first address of the first terminal. The first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal.

[0010] It can be understood that this is the specific process of relay discovery. The first terminal obtains the address of the third terminal through the source address of the first response message returned by the third terminal, and stores the association between the first address of the first terminal and the address of the third terminal, without adding new cells and without carrying additional content in the messages of the discovery process, saving signaling overhead.

[0011] Among them, the first response message includes information associated with the source address of the first response message; the first terminal stores the association between the first address of the first terminal and the address of the third terminal. Specifically, it may include: when it is determined that the information associated with the source address of the first response message in the first response message is information that the first terminal cannot decrypt, the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the first address of the third terminal. It can be understood that the information associated with the source address of the first response message may be a user information identifier associated with the source address of the first response message. That is to say, if the first response message does not include the user information identifier that can be obtained, it means that the user information identifier is confidential to the first terminal and the first terminal cannot decrypt it. At this time, the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the first address of the third terminal and stores the association relationship. If the first terminal can obtain the user information identifier, there is no need to store the association relationship to avoid wasting storage resources.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the first message includes the first address of the first terminal, which may include: when the first message is used to instruct the second terminal to request to establish a first communication connection, the destination address for transmitting the first message is the first address of the first terminal. When the first message is used to instruct the second terminal to request to modify the first communication connection, the first message includes the first address of the first terminal, or the payload of the first message includes the first address of the first terminal.

[0013] It can be understood that the first message including the first address of the first terminal may include two cases. If the first message is a message for requesting to establish a first communication connection, the first message is transmitted with the first address of the first terminal as the destination address. If the first message is a message for requesting to modify the first communication connection, at this time, an existing connection is reused, that is, the destination address of the existing connection is used as the destination address of the first message, and the first address of the first terminal exists in the payload of the first message. Here, the payload can be replaced with a content module or an information element (IE). In this possible implementation, based on the difference of the first message and the different ways of carrying the first address of the first terminal, it can be ensured that the first terminal can know whether the first message includes the first address of the first terminal according to the first message, which can ensure the normal use of the association relationship, so as to realize the relay connection process.

[0014] Optionally, the communication method may further include: before the first terminal sends a second message to the third terminal, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal.

[0015] Optionally, the communication method may further include: before the first terminal sends a second message to the third terminal, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal according to the first address of the first terminal and the association relationship between the first address of the first terminal and the address of the third terminal stored in the first terminal.

[0016] Optionally, the first message further includes a first relay service code; the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal, which may include: when it is determined that there is no communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the first terminal and the third terminal, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal. It can be understood that if there is a communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the first terminal and the third terminal, the unicast connection between the third terminal and the relay device only needs to receive and retrieve one destination address, that is, it can only receive and retrieve the destination address in the existing communication connection, which can reduce the complexity of the third terminal.

[0017] Optionally, the destination address for transmitting the second message is the address of the third terminal. It can be understood that the address of the third terminal can be obtained through the association relationship locally stored in the first terminal, and then the address of the third terminal is used as the destination address for transmitting the second message to implement the second communication connection process.

[0018] Optionally, the first address of the first terminal includes the layer 2 address of the first terminal, and the address of the third terminal includes the layer 2 address of the third terminal.

[0019] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. This method may be executed by a terminal, or by a chip or logic module within the terminal. The method includes: the second terminal sends a first message to the first terminal. Among them, when the first message is used to establish a first communication connection between the second terminal and the first terminal, the destination address for transmitting the first message is the first address of the first terminal. When the first message is used to modify the first communication connection between the second terminal and the first terminal, the payload of the first message includes the first address of the first terminal.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the communication method may further include: before the second terminal sends a first message to the first terminal, the second terminal sends a first discovery request message, and the first discovery request message is used to request to discover a terminal that can be connected to the second terminal. The second terminal receives a second response message from the first terminal, and the second response message is used to respond to the first discovery request message. The second response message is used to indicate that the first terminal discovers a third terminal that can be connected to the second terminal, and the source address for transmitting the second response message is the first address of the first terminal.

[0021] Optionally, the first message includes a first relay service code. When there is a third communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the second terminal and the first terminal, the first message is used to modify the first communication connection to the third communication connection.

[0022] Optionally, in the case where the first message is used to modify the first communication connection to the third communication connection, the destination address for transmitting the first message is the second address of the first terminal, and the second address of the first terminal is the destination address of the second communication connection.

[0023] Optionally, the first address of the first terminal includes the layer 2 address of the first terminal.

[0024] It can be understood that for the related technical effects of the method in the second aspect above, reference can also be made to the relevant introduction in the first aspect above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0025] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a module for executing the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect, such as a transceiver module and a processing module. For example, the transceiver module is used to indicate the transceiver function of the communication device, and the processing module is used to execute the functions of the communication device other than the transceiver function.

[0026] Optionally, the transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module. Among them, the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device described in the third aspect, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device described in the third aspect.

[0027] Optionally, the communication device described in the third aspect may further include a storage module that stores programs or instructions. When the processing module executes the programs or instructions, the communication device can execute the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0028] It can be understood that the communication device described in the third aspect may be a terminal or a network device, or may be a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be set in a terminal or a network device, or may also be a device including a terminal or a network device. This application does not make any limitations in this regard.

[0029] In addition, for the technical effects of the communication device described in the third aspect, reference can be made to the technical effects in the first aspect above, which will not be elaborated here.

[0030] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a processor, and the processor is used to execute the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device described in the fourth aspect to communicate with other communication devices.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may further include a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or may be separately provided. The memory may be used to store the computer programs and / or data involved in the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0033] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device described in the fourth aspect may be the terminal or network device described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be disposed in the terminal or network device, or a device including the terminal or network device.

[0034] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fourth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0035] Fifth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes: a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and the processor is configured to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory, so that the communication device executes the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the communication device may further include a transceiver. The transceiver may be a transceiver circuit or an interface circuit. The transceiver may be used for the communication device to communicate with other communication devices.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the communication device further includes the memory for storing the above-mentioned computer programs or instructions. Optionally, the memory and the processor are integrated together.

[0038] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication device described in the fifth aspect may be the terminal or network device described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect, or a chip (system) or other component or assembly that can be disposed in the terminal or network device, or a device including the terminal or network device.

[0039] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device described in the fifth aspect may refer to the technical effects of the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect, which will not be elaborated here.

[0040] Sixth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes: a first terminal for executing the method described in the first aspect, and a second terminal for executing the method described in the second aspect.

[0041] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, including: a computer program or instruction; when the computer program or instruction runs on a computer, the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect is implemented.

[0042] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program or instruction, when the computer program or instruction runs on a computer, the method described in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect is implemented. Description of the Drawings

[0043] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a relay-based ProSe communication architecture;

[0044] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the process of establishing a PC5 connection between UEs in a 5G system;

[0045] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the process of establishing a unicast connection for relay communication;

[0046] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the process of U2U relay discovery;

[0047] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication system provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the process of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0051] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 。 Detailed Embodiments

[0052] 1. Proximity Service

[0053] Proximity service (ProSe) communication allows direct communication between user equipment (UEs), enabling UEs to communicate or access the network through other UEs in the absence of wireless network coverage. Currently, ProSe communication has been applied in the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system.

[0054] After the mutual discovery between UEs is completed, direct communication is carried out between ProSe UEs through the Proximity Communications 5 (PC5) interface. When two UEs that need to perform PC5 communication cannot establish a direct PC5 connection, one or more intermediate UEs can be used as relay devices, such as Figure 1 As shown, when UE1 and UE2 that need to perform PC5 communication cannot establish a direct PC5 connection, multi-hop relay discovery is performed through relay device 1, relay device 2,..., relay device N, where N is greater than or equal to 1. After UE2 is discovered through the relay device, the relay device forwards communication signals or data for UE1 and UE2, so that these two UEs indirectly establish a PC5 connection.

[0055] 2. PC5 Unicast Connection Establishment

[0056] Figure 2 This is the PC5 connection establishment process between UEs in the 5G system (this PC5 connection establishment process can also be called the PC5 unicast link establishment process).

[0057] As Figure 2 shown, this PC5 connection establishment process includes S201 to S205, which are specifically as follows:

[0058] S201, UE1 sends a communication request message.

[0059] This communication request message can be a direct communication request (DCR) message. The DCR message includes the application layer identifier of UE2. The application layer identifier can be, for example, a user information identity (User Info ID), and the user information identity can identify the identity of the user using UE2. This DCR message is transmitted through the layer 2 (L2) address. The L2 address can be indicated by the L2 identity (ID), that is, the L2ID can be used to indicate the sending and receiving address of the message, or the L2 identity indicates the source address and destination address of the message. Specifically, UE1 sends this DCR message using the source layer 2 address identifier (Source L2 ID) and the destination layer 2 address identifier (Destination L2 ID). This DCR message is a broadcast / unicast message. Among them, the Source L2 ID is the layer 2 address assigned by UE1 itself, and the Destination L2 ID is the broadcast / unicast layer 2 address.

[0060] Before the UE1 sends a DCR message, the UE2 determines the layer 2 address for receiving the DCR message, which is configured on the UE2 side. The application layer of the UE1 provides application information for PC5 communication, including the application layer identifier of the UE2, etc.

[0061] S202, a secure channel is established between the UE1 and the UE2.

[0062] This step can refer to the existing process of establishing a secure channel, which is not relevant to this case and will not be elaborated here.

[0063] S203, the UE2 receives the communication request message broadcast / unicast by the UE1.

[0064] S204, the UE2 sends a response message to the UE1. Correspondingly, the UE1 receives the response message from the UE2.

[0065] When the UE2 determines that the DCR message includes the application layer identifier of the UE2, the UE2 sends a response message corresponding to the DCR message to the UE1. The response message can be a direct communication accept message. The source address of this response message is the layer 2 address assigned by the UE2 itself, and the destination address is the layer 2 address of the UE1 in S201.

[0066] S205, after the PC5 connection is established between the UE1 and the UE2, data is transmitted between them.

[0067] When the UE2 receives a data packet, the access stratum layer (AS layer) of the UE2 receives all data packets sent by the UE and determines whether the identifier of the destination address (Destination L2 ID) of the data packet is the L2 ID assigned by the UE2 itself. If so, the UE2 determines that it is the receiver of the data and delivers it to the upper layer for further processing; if not, the received data packet is discarded.

[0068] 3. Unicast connection establishment for UE-to-UE (U2U) relay communication

[0069] The process of establishing a U2U relay connection is similar to that of establishing a PC5 unicast connection. After the UE1 discovers the UE2 through the U2U relay discovery process, the UE1 sends a connection establishment request DCR message to the relay, and then the relay sends a connection establishment request DCR message to the UE2. The specific steps are as Figure 3 shown.

[0070] As Figure 3 shown, the unicast connection establishment process for this relay communication includes S301 to S305, which are specifically as follows:

[0071] S301. During the U2U relay discovery process, UE1 discovers UE2 through a relay device.

[0072] Among them, both the relay device and UE2 are devices that support the services corresponding to the relay service code (RSC) specified during the discovery process. The RSC can be used to identify the relay service / relay communication connection. The specific process of the U2U relay discovery process can refer to the following description of U2U relay discovery and will not be elaborated here.

[0073] S302. UE1 sends a DCR message to the relay device.

[0074] If there is no PC5 connection corresponding to the existing RSC between UE1 and the relay device, UE1 sends a DCR message to the relay device. The DCR message carries information such as the User Info ID of UE1, the User Info ID of the relay device, the User Info ID of UE2, and the RSC. If UE1 knows the L2 ID of UE2, it can also carry the L2 ID of UE2 in the DCR message. The specific process is as described above for the establishment of a PC5 unicast connection.

[0075] S303. UE1 sends a connection modification request message to the relay device.

[0076] It can be understood that S303 is an optional step. If there is a PC5 connection corresponding to the existing RSC between UE1 and the relay device, UE1 sends a link modification request (LMR) message to the relay device to reuse the existing unicast connection. The LMR message carries the User Info ID information of UE1, the User Info ID information of the relay device, the User Info ID information of UE2, and the RSC. If UE1 knows the L2 ID of UE2, it can also carry the L2 ID of UE2 in the LMR message. The sending and receiving of the LMR message are similar to those of the DCR message.

[0077] S304. The relay device sends a DCR message to UE2.

[0078] If there is no PC5 connection corresponding to the existing RSC between the relay device and UE2, the relay device sends a DCR message to UE2. The DCR message carries information such as the User Info ID of UE1, the User Info ID of the relay device, the User Info ID of UE2, and the RSC.

[0079] S305. The relay device sends a connection modification message to UE2.

[0080] It can be understood that S305 is an optional step. If there is a PC5 connection corresponding to an existing RSC between the relay device and UE2, the relay device sends an LMR message to UE2 to reuse the existing unicast connection. The LMR message carries the User Info ID of UE1, the User Info ID of the relay device, the User Info ID of UE2, and the RSC.

[0081] In this way, after UE1 establishes a unicast connection with the relay device and the relay device establishes a unicast connection with UE2, an end-to-end unicast communication connection from UE1 to UE2 is established.

[0082] 4. U2U Relay Discovery

[0083] When a ProSe UE (UE1) wants to discover another ProSe UE (UE2) through a relay for PC5 communication corresponding to a certain RSC, UE1 sends a discovery message in broadcast form to the surrounding UEs to indicate that it wants to discover UE2. After receiving the discovery message that UE1 wants to discover UE2, the relay device adds its own identity information and then sends the discovery message in broadcast form to UE2. After receiving the discovery message from a certain relay device, UE2 sends a response message in unicast form to the corresponding relay device. After receiving the response message, the relay device sends the response message in unicast form to UE1. UE1 can learn about the relay connected to UE2 based on the response message.

[0084] As Figure 4 shown, the specific process of U2U relay discovery may include S401 to S405, as follows:

[0085] S401, UE1 sends a discovery message to the relay device. Correspondingly, the relay device receives the discovery message.

[0086] The discovery message can be a discovery solicitation message, which can be sent in broadcast form. The discovery message contains the discovery type, the User Info ID of UE1, the RSC, the UserInfo ID of UE2, uses the layer 2 address indicated by the L2 ID assigned by UE1 as the source address, and uses the layer 2 address indicated by the broadcast L2 ID as the destination address. Here, the number of relay devices can be N, where N is greater than or equal to 1.

[0087] S402, the relay device sends the discovery message.

[0088] The relay device selects whether to broadcast and send discovery messages according to conditions such as signal quality. The discovery messages include discovery type, User Info ID of Source UE, RSC, User Info ID of UE2, and User Info ID of the relay device, that is, after adding the User Info ID of the relay device to the original discovery messages, they are forwarded.

[0089] S403, UE2 receives one or more discovery messages sent by relay devices and sends discovery response messages to one or more of the relay devices.

[0090] UE2 can select to send discovery response messages to one or more of the relay devices according to conditions such as signal quality. The discovery response messages include discovery type, User Info ID of UE1, RSC, User Info ID of UE2, and User Info ID of the corresponding relay device. The discovery response messages include discovery type, User Info ID of UE1, RSC, User Info ID of UE2, and User Info ID of the relay device.

[0091] S404, the relay device sends a discovery response message to UE1.

[0092] S405, UE1 selects a relay device according to the received discovery response message.

[0093] The selection of the relay device here can select a relay device according to conditions such as signal quality, and then establish a unicast connection. The connection can be established according to the process described in the unicast connection establishment of the above U2U relay communication.

[0094] However, there are the following two problems in the above unicast connection processes of U2U relay discovery and U2U relay communication:

[0095] Problem 1: In the above U2U relay discovery process, the User Info IDs of UE1 and UE2 are invisible (encrypted) to the relay device and visible to UE1 and UE2. Therefore, in S404, when the relay device receives a discovery response message, it cannot know which UE discovered which UE, and thus cannot determine which UE to send the response message to, that is, it cannot determine the destination layer 2 address for sending the response message.

[0096] Problem 2: During the U2U relay connection establishment / connection modification process, when there is no existing communication connection corresponding to the RSC between the relay device and UE2, the relay device cannot determine the destination layer 2 address for sending the connection establishment message based on the User InfoID in the DCR / LMR message sent by UE1.

[0097] To solve the above problem, in the prior art, before the relay device broadcasts and sends a discovery message, a unique identification information (index) associated with the current discovery process is added to the discovery message, and this identification information is associated with the L2 ID of UE1. When UE2 sends a response message, the identification information received from the received discovery message is added to the response message. When the relay device sends a response message, based on the identification information received from the received response message, it can determine the L2 ID of UE1, add this identification information to the response message, and associate this identification information with the L2 ID of UE2. Thus, when UE1 receives the response message, it can associate the identification information with UE2. When UE1 sends a DCR / LMR message, this identification information is added to the DCR / LMR message, so that the relay device can use this identification information to determine the L2 ID of UE2. However, this method adds new identification information, and the newly added identification information is added to the message content of the discovery process, increasing the overhead of storage resources and radio resources.

[0098] In view of the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application propose the following technical solutions.

[0099] Next, the technical solutions in the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0100] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the ProSe communication field and can be applied to various communication systems, such as wireless network (Wi-Fi) systems, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication systems, device-to-device (D2D) communication systems, vehicle networking communication systems, fourth generation (4G) mobile communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, 5G, such as NR systems, and communication systems evolved after 5G such as 6G, etc.

[0101] In the embodiments of the present application, "indication" may include direct indication and indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. If the information indicated by a certain piece of information (such as the first indication information, the second indication information, or the third indication information below) is called the information to be indicated, then in the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated. For example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated, etc. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where there is an association relationship between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to only indicate a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or pre-agreed. For example, it is also possible to use the arrangement order of each piece of information pre-agreed (such as stipulated in the protocol) to realize the indication of specific information, thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, the common parts of each piece of information can also be identified and indicated uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by indicating the same information separately.

[0102] In addition, the specific indication method can also be various existing indication methods, such as but not limited to, the above indication methods and their various combinations, etc. As can be seen from the above description, for example, when it is necessary to indicate multiple pieces of information of the same type, there may be a situation where the indication methods of different pieces of information are different. In the specific implementation process, the required indication method can be selected according to specific needs. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the selected indication method. In this way, the indication methods involved in the embodiments of the present application should be understood to cover various methods that can enable the party to be indicated to obtain the information to be indicated.

[0103] It should be understood that the information to be indicated can be sent as a whole, or can be divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately, and the sending periods and / or sending opportunities of these sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. Among them, the sending periods and / or sending opportunities of these sub-information can be predefined, such as predefined according to the protocol, or can be configured by the sending node device by sending configuration information to the receiving node device.

[0104] "Predefined" or "preconfigured" can be implemented by pre-saving the corresponding code, table or other ways that can be used to indicate relevant information in the device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit its specific implementation method. Among them, "saving" can mean saving in one or more memories. The one or more memories can be set separately, or can be integrated in the encoder or decoder, processor, or communication device. The one or more memories can also be partly set separately and partly integrated in the decoder, processor, or communication device. The type of the memory can be any form of storage medium, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0105] The "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a protocol family in the communication field, a standard protocol with a frame structure similar to that of a protocol family, or a related protocol applied to future communication systems. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations thereto.

[0106] In the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "when...", "in the case of...", "if", and "in the event that" all mean that the device will perform corresponding processing under a certain objective situation, which does not limit time, and does not require the device to have a judgment action during implementation, nor does it imply other limitations.

[0107] In the description of the embodiments 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. The "and / or" in the embodiments of the present application is merely a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Here, A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality of" means two or more than two. "At least one (item)" or its similar expression means any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural 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, and c can be single or multiple. Additionally, for the convenience of clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same functions and roles. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different. At the same time, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to represent examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any embodiment or implementation described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or implementations. Exactly speaking, using words such as "exemplary" or "for example" aims to present relevant concepts in a specific way for easy understanding.

[0108] The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly explaining the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those of ordinary skill in the art know that with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0109] To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first,Figure 5 Taking the communication system shown in Figure 5 FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system applicable to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0110] As Figure 5 shown, the communication system mainly includes at least one of the following: a first terminal, a second terminal, and a third terminal.

[0111] A terminal may also be referred to as a terminal device, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), V2X communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), intelligent point of sale (POS) machines, customer-premises equipment (CPE), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote medical treatment, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearables (such as smart watches, smart bracelets, pedometers, smart glasses, etc.), smart transportation, smart cities, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a wearable device, a vehicle device (such as a whole vehicle device, an in-vehicle module, an in-vehicle chip, an on-board unit (OBU) or a telematics box (T-BOX)), a drone, a helicopter, an airplane, a ship, a robot, a robotic arm, a smart home device, a satellite terminal, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the network device.

[0112] In this communication system, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with it according to the first address of the first terminal in the first message through the association relationship between the addresses stored locally, that is, determines the destination address of the first message for connection establishment / connection modification, without adding new identification information for association, and does not affect the messages in the discovery process, reducing the overhead of storage resources and wireless resources.

[0113] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the device form of the network device. The device for implementing the functions of the network device can be a network device; it can also be a device capable of supporting the network device to implement this function, such as a chip system. This device can be installed in the network device or used in matching with the network device. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of chips or can also include chips and other discrete devices.

[0114] The following will be described in conjunction with Figure 6 , and the interaction process between each network element / device in the above communication system will be specifically introduced through method embodiments. The communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the above communication system and specifically applied to various scenarios / processes mentioned in the above communication system. The following is a specific introduction.

[0115] Figure 6 FIG. is a schematic flowchart of the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application. This communication method is applicable to the above communication system and mainly involves the interaction between a first terminal, a second terminal, and a third terminal.

[0116] As Figure 6 shown, the process of this communication method is as follows:

[0117] S601, the second terminal sends a first message to the first terminal. Correspondingly, the first terminal receives the first message from the second terminal.

[0118] Among them, the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to establish or modify a first communication connection. The first message can be a direct communication request DCR message for requesting to establish a first communication connection. The DCR message carries information such as the application layer identifier of the second terminal, the application layer identifier of the first terminal, the application layer identifier of the third terminal, and RSC. The application layer identifier can be a user information identifier (User Info ID) for identifying the identity of the user. It can be understood that here the second terminal can only know the application layer identifier of the third terminal and cannot know the address of the third terminal. The first terminal needs to be used as a U2U relay device to forward communication signals or data for the second terminal. The first message can also be a connection modification request LMR message for requesting to modify the first communication connection. The sending and receiving of the LMR message are similar to those of the DCR message and can refer to the DCR message.

[0119] It can be understood that the connection between the second terminal and the first terminal can be a unicast connection, that is, the first communication connection can be a PC5 connection between the second terminal and the first terminal. Here, the first terminal can be used as a relay device to forward communication signals or data for the second terminal. Correspondingly, it can be understood that during the relay discovery process before establishing or modifying the first communication connection, the second terminal discovers, through the first terminal, a terminal that can establish / modify a connection with the second terminal, or rather, the first terminal determines the destination address of the terminal that can establish / modify a connection with the second terminal. Therefore, the second terminal and the first terminal can send a first message here to establish a unicast connection. The source address of this first message can be the layer 2 address of the second terminal, or rather, any layer 2 address of the second terminal. The relevant description of the layer 2 address can refer to the description of the first address of the first terminal below and will not be elaborated here.

[0120] S602. When the first message includes the first address of the first terminal, the first terminal sends a second message to the third terminal. Correspondingly, the third terminal receives the second message from the first terminal.

[0121] Wherein, the first address of the first terminal is associated with the address of the third terminal, and the second message is used for the first terminal to request to establish a second communication connection with the third terminal.

[0122] It can be understood that the first address of the first terminal can be a unique layer 2 address of the first terminal, which can be indicated by the layer 2 identifier (Layer-2 ID) corresponding to the layer 2 address of the first terminal. The layer 2 identifier can be letters, numbers, symbols, etc. that can uniquely identify the layer 2 address of the first terminal, and there is no limitation here. It can be understood that only when the first message includes the first address of the first terminal, the first terminal will send a second message to the third terminal. That is to say, if the first message does not include the first address of the first terminal, or if the first message includes other layer 2 addresses of the first terminal, the first terminal will not be triggered to send a second message to the third terminal. Similar to the first address of the first terminal, the address of the third terminal can be the layer 2 address of the third terminal, which can be indicated by the layer 2 identifier corresponding to the layer 2 address of the third terminal. Since the first address of the first terminal is associated with the address of the third terminal, the address of the third terminal is determined through the first address of the first terminal, and the address of the third terminal is used as the destination address for transmitting the second message.

[0123] It can be understood that the first communication connection can be a PC5 connection between the first terminal and the second terminal, and the second communication connection can be a PC5 connection between the first terminal and the third terminal. Here, the first terminal acts as a relay terminal to forward communication signals or data between the second terminal and the third terminal. Therefore, the first communication connection and the second communication connection constitute a connection between the second terminal and the third terminal, that is, this connection is a relay.

[0124] Optionally, the first message includes the first address of the first terminal, which may include the following two cases:

[0125] When the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to establish a first communication connection, the destination address for transmitting the first message is the first address of the first terminal. It can be understood that when there is no existing PC5 connection between the second terminal and the first terminal, the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to establish a first communication connection, that is, the first message is a DCR message. At this time, the first address of the first terminal is used as the destination address to transmit the first message. Here, all the transmissions mentioned below can be replaced with expressions such as sending and initiating.

[0126] In the case where the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to modify the first communication connection, the payload of the first message includes the first address of the first terminal. It can be understood that in the case where there is an existing PC5 connection between the second terminal and the first terminal, the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to modify the first communication connection, that is, the first message is an LMR message. At this time, the existing connection is multiplexed, that is, the destination address of the existing connection is used as the destination address of the first message, and the first address of the first terminal exists in the first message, specifically carried in the payload of the first message. Here, the payload can be replaced by a content module or an information element IE. It can be understood that the first address of the first terminal is not used as the destination address of the first message, but is carried in the payload / content module of the first message.

[0127] For example, as Figure 7 shown, when there is no PC5 connection between UE1 and the relay device, UE1 sends a DCR message to the relay device to establish a PC5 connection. The destination address of the DCR message uses the unique layer 2 address (L2-Relay2) assigned by the relay device. Subsequently, the relay device sends a DCR message to UE2. When there is an existing PC5 connection between UE1 and the relay device, UE1 sends an LMR message to the relay device to establish a PC5 connection. The unique layer 2 address (L2-Relay2) assigned by the relay device is carried in the payload / content module of the LMR message. Subsequently, the relay device sends an LMR message to UE2.

[0128] Optionally, when the second terminal cannot obtain the layer 2 address (L2 ID) of the third terminal and the first message is an LMR message, the second terminal carries the first address of the first terminal in the payload / content module of the LMR message. In this way, when the second terminal knows the layer 2 address of the third terminal, the redundant first address of the first terminal is not carried in the LMR message, avoiding wasting wireless resources.

[0129] Optionally, the first message includes a first relay service code. When there is a third communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the second terminal and the first terminal, the first message is used to modify the first communication connection to the third communication connection. It can be understood that whether there is an existing PC5 connection between the second terminal and the first terminal needs to be judged by the first relay service code. The first relay service code can be RSC information, which can be used to identify the first communication connection. For example, according to the RSC information in the first message, it is judged whether there is a PC5 connection corresponding to the RSC information between the second terminal and the first terminal. If so, it means that there is an existing PC5 connection between the second terminal and the first terminal. At this time, the first message is an LMR message, and the existing connection is multiplexed.

[0130] Optionally, when the first message is used to modify the first communication connection to a third communication connection, the destination address for transmitting the first message is the second address of the first terminal, and the second address of the first terminal is the destination address of the third communication connection. It can be understood that the second address of the first terminal may be the layer 2 address used by the existing PC5 connection between the second terminal and the first terminal. Modifying the first communication connection to a third communication connection means reusing the existing third communication connection and using the destination address of the third communication connection as the destination address for transmitting the first message.

[0131] The following describes how to determine the association between the first address of the first terminal and the address of the third terminal.

[0132] In a possible implementation, the communication method may further include: before the first terminal receives the first message from the second terminal, when the first terminal discovers the third terminal, the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal.

[0133] It can be understood that the first terminal discovering the third terminal here may refer to that in the U2U relay discovery process, the first terminal, as a U2U relay device, sends a discovery solicitation message to the third terminal through the first terminal, and the third terminal returns a discovery response message to the first terminal. The first terminal discovers the third terminal that can be connected to the second terminal and obtains the address (layer 2 address) of the third terminal. At this time, the first terminal allocates a unique first address of the first terminal, associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal, and stores the association / mapping relationship between the first address of the first terminal and the address of the third terminal. When sending the first message later, the destination address of the first message can be directly determined according to this association, without adding new identification information, reducing the overhead of storage resources and radio resources.

[0134] Here, the association between the first address of the first terminal and the address of the third terminal may be that the identifier for indicating the first address of the first terminal is associated with the identifier for indicating the address of the third terminal. For example, the relay device allocates a unique layer 2 identifier, denoted as L2-Relay2, and associates L2-Relay2 with the layer 2 identifier (L2-UE2) corresponding to the layer 2 address of the third terminal.

[0135] The following specifically describes the relay discovery process.

[0136] Optionally, when the first terminal discovers the third terminal, the association of the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal by the first terminal may include: The first terminal receives a first discovery request message from the second terminal, where the first discovery request message is used to request discovery of a terminal capable of connecting to the second terminal. The first terminal sends a second discovery request message based on the first discovery request message, where the second discovery request message is used to instruct the first terminal to request discovery of a terminal capable of connecting to the second terminal, and the first terminal is the endpoint device for the response message corresponding to the second discovery request message. The first terminal receives a first response message from the third terminal, where the first response message is used to respond to the second discovery request message, and the source address for transmitting the first response message is the address of the third terminal. The first terminal sends a second response message to the second terminal, where the second response message is used to respond to the first discovery request message, the second response message indicates that the first terminal has discovered the third terminal capable of connecting to the second terminal, and the source address for transmitting the second response message is the first address of the first terminal. The first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal.

[0137] It can be understood that the first discovery request message may be sent by the second terminal to surrounding relay devices in a broadcast manner, and all relay devices authorized by the second terminal can receive the first discovery request message. The first terminal may be one of the relay devices authorized by the second terminal. The first discovery request message may be used to request discovery of a terminal capable of connecting to the second terminal, that is, to discover a relay terminal capable of establishing a relay connection between the second terminal and the third terminal. The first discovery request message may include an identifier of the third terminal, such as an application layer identifier, a user information identifier, etc. Since the second terminal can know the identifier of the third terminal but not the address of the third terminal, the first discovery request message is used to request discovery of the address of the third terminal.

[0138] After receiving the first discovery request message, the first terminal sends the second discovery request message in a broadcast manner. The second discovery request message may include the identifier of the third terminal and the identifier of the first terminal. The identifier of the third terminal is used to instruct the first terminal to request discovery of a terminal capable of connecting to the second terminal, that is, when the third terminal receives the second discovery request message, it can determine that the second discovery request message is sent to itself based on the identifier of the third terminal carried in the second discovery request message. It can be understood that the first terminal adds the identifier of the first terminal to the second discovery request message based on the first discovery request message. The identifier of the first terminal is used to indicate that the first terminal is the endpoint device for the response message corresponding to the second discovery request message, that is, when the third terminal receives the second discovery request message, it can send the first response message corresponding to the second discovery request message to the first terminal.

[0139] The first response message is used to respond to the second discovery request message. Since the third terminal transmits the first response message with the address of the third terminal as the source address, when the first terminal receives the first response message, it can obtain the address of the third terminal, allocate a unique first address of the first terminal, associate the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal, and store the association relationship. Then, the first terminal sends a second response message to the second terminal with the first address of the first terminal as the source address, indicating that the first terminal has discovered the third terminal that can be connected to the second terminal. Of course, it is also possible that after the first terminal sends the second response message to the second terminal with the first address of the first terminal as the source address, the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal and stores the association relationship. That is, the step of associating and storing the association relationship can be before or after sending the second response message, which is not limited here.

[0140] In this way, the first terminal obtains the address of the third terminal through the source address of the first response message returned by the third terminal, and stores the association between the first address of the first terminal and the address of the third terminal, without adding new cells and without carrying additional content in the messages during the discovery process, saving signaling overhead.

[0141] Optionally, the first response message includes information associated with the source address of the first response message; the first terminal storing the association between the first address of the first terminal and the address of the third terminal may include: in the case where it is determined that the information associated with the source address of the first response message in the first response message is information that the first terminal cannot decrypt, the first terminal stores the association between the first address of the first terminal and the first address of the third terminal.

[0142] It can be understood that before the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the first address of the third terminal, it is necessary to determine whether the information associated with the source address of the first response message can be obtained from the first response message. Among them, the information associated with the destination address of the first response message can be the user information identifier (UserInfo ID) associated with the source address of the first response message. That is to say, if the first response message includes the user information identifier that can be obtained, it means that the user information identifier is public to the first terminal, and the first terminal can determine the source address of the first response message associated with it according to the user information identifier. For example, if the first terminal obtains the User Info ID of the terminal (i.e., UE2) corresponding to the source address of the first response message from the first response message, it can follow the existing technology, and the first terminal stores the association relationship between the User Info ID and the source address (the address of UE2) of the first response message. Subsequently, the address of UE2 associated with the User Info ID can be determined according to the association relationship, so as to avoid determining the association relationship between the first address of the first terminal and the first address of the third terminal and wasting storage resources.

[0143] Then, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal. Consequently, the first terminal sends a second message to the third terminal. It can be understood that, depending on the first message, the position of the first address of the first terminal in the first message is different. That is, the first address of the first terminal can be the destination address of the first message or can be included in the payload / content module of the first message. Thus, the method for determining the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal is different. For example, if the relay device receives a DCR message sent by UE1, it determines the layer 2 identifier (L2-Relay2) corresponding to the destination address of the DCR message and the association relationship stored in the relay device, and determines that the layer 2 identifier associated with L2-Relay2 is L2-UE2, that is, the identifier corresponding to the layer 2 address of UE2. Then, based on the layer 2 address corresponding to this L2-UE2, it sends the DCR message to UE2. If the relay device receives an LMR message sent by UE1, it determines the layer 2 identifier (L2-Relay2) corresponding to the relay device included in the LMR message and the association relationship stored in the relay device, and determines that the layer 2 identifier associated with L2-Relay2 is L2-UE2, that is, the identifier corresponding to the layer 2 address of UE2. Then, based on the layer 2 address corresponding to this L2-UE2, it sends the LMR message to UE2.

[0144] Optionally, the first message further includes a first relay service code; the first terminal determining the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal may include: when it is determined that there is no communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the first terminal and the third terminal, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal. It can be understood that it is determined whether there is a communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the first terminal and the third terminal. If not, the first terminal will determine the address of the third terminal based on the association relationship; if so, the prior art can be followed to determine the destination address corresponding to the application layer identifier in the existing communication connection between the first terminal and the third terminal according to the application layer identifier in the first message. In this way, if there is a communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the first terminal and the third terminal, the unicast connection between the third terminal and the relay device only needs to receive and retrieve one destination address (L2 ID), that is, it can only receive and retrieve the destination address in the existing communication connection, which can reduce the complexity of the third terminal.

[0145] For example, after receiving the DCR message sent by UE1, the relay device first determines whether there is a PC5 connection between the relay device and UE2 based on the User InfoID of UE2 in the DCR message, and whether the RSC information corresponding to the PC5 connection is consistent with the RSC information in the DCR message. If so, it is determined that there is an existing PC5 connection between the relay device and UE2. At this time, the existing technology can be used, that is, the destination address associated with the User Info ID in the existing PC5 connection is determined according to the User Info ID of UE2, and the DCR message is sent to UE2 based on this destination address. If it is determined that there is no existing PC5 connection between the relay device and UE2, the L2-UE2 associated with the Layer-2 ID is determined according to the association relationship stored in the relay device, so as to obtain the layer 2 address of UE2. The LMR message is similar to the DCR message and will not be elaborated here.

[0146] In summary, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with it according to the first address of the first terminal in the first message through the association relationship between the addresses stored locally, that is, determines the destination address of the first message for connection establishment / connection modification, without adding new identification information for association, and does not affect the messages in the discovery process, reducing the overhead of storage resources and radio resources.

[0147] The above is combined with Figures 6 - 7 The method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail. The following is combined with Figures 8 - 9 The communication device for executing the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail.

[0148] Figure 8 is a schematic structure of the communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application Figure 1 Exemplarily, as Figure 8 shown, the communication device 800 includes: a transceiver module 801 and a processing module 802. For the sake of convenience of description, Figure 8 only the main components of the communication device are shown.

[0149] Among them, the transceiver module 801 is used to perform the transceiver function of the method shown above Figure 6 shown, and the processing module 802 is used to perform other functions of the method shown above Figure 6 shown except for the transceiver function.

[0150] Optionally, the transceiver module 801 may include a sending module ( Figure 8 not shown in Figure 8 ) and a receiving module (

[0151] not shown in Figure 8 ). Among them, the sending module is used to implement the sending function of the communication device 800, and the receiving module is used to implement the receiving function of the communication device 800.Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include a storage module ( Figure 8 not shown in the figure), and the storage module stores programs or instructions. When the processing module 802 executes the programs or instructions, the communication device 800 can perform the functions of the terminal or the network device in the method Figure 6 shown above.

[0152] It can be understood that the communication device 800 may be a terminal or a network device, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be disposed in a terminal or a network device, or a device including a terminal or a network device. The present application does not make any limitation thereto.

[0153] In addition, the technical effects of the communication device 800 can refer to the technical effects of the communication method Figure 6 shown above, and will not be elaborated herein.

[0154] Figure 9 FIG. is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application Figure 2 . Exemplarily, the communication device may be a terminal, or a chip (system) or other components or assemblies that can be disposed in a terminal. As Figure 9 shown in the figure, the communication device 900 may include a processor 901. Optionally, the communication device 900 may further include a memory 902 and / or a transceiver 903. Wherein, the processor 901 is coupled to the memory 902 and / or the transceiver 903, such as being connected through a communication bus, being connected through an on-chip interface, or being connected through other communication lines. Optionally, the memory 902 may be integrated with the processor 901.

[0155] Next, each component of the communication device 900 will be specifically introduced in conjunction with Figure 9 the figure:

[0156] Among them, the processor 901 is the control center of the communication device 900, and may be a single processor or a collective term for multiple processing elements. For example, the processor 901 is one or more central processing units (CPUs), or may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, such as: one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0157] Optionally, the processor 901 can execute various functions of the communication device 900 by running or executing software programs stored in the memory 902 and calling data stored in the memory 902. For example, it can execute the communication method shown above Figure 6 as shown.

[0158] In a specific implementation, as an example, the processor 901 can include one or more CPUs, such as Figure 9 CPU0 and CPU1 shown in

[0159] In a specific implementation, as an example, the communication device 900 can also include multiple processors, such as Figure 9 processor 901 and processor 904 shown in

[0160] Each of these processors can be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). Here, the processor can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0160] Among them, the memory 902 is used to store the software program for implementing the solution of this application and is controlled by the processor 901 for execution. The specific implementation method can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0161] Optionally, the memory 902 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), a magnetic storage medium such as a disk storage, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but not limited to this. The memory 902 can be integrated with the processor 901 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 901 through the interface circuit of the communication device 900 ( Figure 9 not shown in

[0162] A transceiver 903 is used for communication with other communication devices. For example, if the communication device 900 is a terminal, the transceiver 903 can be used to communicate with a network device or another terminal device. For another example, if the communication device 900 is a network device, the transceiver 903 can be used to communicate with a terminal or another network device.

[0163] Optionally, the transceiver 903 may include a receiver and a transmitter ( Figure 9 not shown separately in []). The receiver is used to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0164] Optionally, the transceiver 903 may be integrated with the processor 901 or exist independently and be coupled to the processor 901 through an interface circuit ( Figure 9 not shown in []) of the communication device 900. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0165] It can be understood that Figure 9 the structure of the communication device 900 shown in [] does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. The actual communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine some components, or have different component arrangements.

[0166] In addition, for the technical effects of the communication device 900, reference may be made to the technical effects of the method described in the above method embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0167] It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, DSPs, ASICs, 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.

[0168] It should also be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus random access memory (DR RAM).

[0169] The above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware (such as circuits), firmware, or any other combination. When implemented using software, the above embodiments can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions or computer programs. When the computer instructions or computer programs are loaded or executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wired (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that the computer can access, or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more collections of available media. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (such as DVDs), or semiconductor media. The semiconductor media can be a solid-state drive.

[0170] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this text is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Here, A and B can be singular or plural. Additionally, the character " / " in this text generally represents an "or" relationship between the preceding and following associated objects, but it may also represent an "and / or" relationship, which can be specifically understood by referring to the context before and after.

[0171] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "At least one of the following" or its similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0172] It should be understood that in various embodiments of this application, the magnitude of the sequence numbers of the above processes does not imply the order of execution. The order of execution of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of this application.

[0173] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example 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.

[0174] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be elaborated herein.

[0175] In several embodiments provided by this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and there can be other division methods in actual implementation. 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 between each other can be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of the devices or units can be in an electrical, mechanical, or other form.

[0176] The unit described as a separation component may or may not be physically separated. The component displayed 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.

[0177] In addition, each functional unit in various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a processing unit, may exist separately as individual physical units, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0178] If the above function 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 such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various possible memories.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: The first terminal receives a first message from the second terminal, where the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to establish or modify a first communication connection. When the first message includes the first address of the first terminal, the first terminal sends a second message to the third terminal, where the first address of the first terminal is associated with the address of the third terminal, and the second message is used for the first terminal to request to establish a second communication connection with the third terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before the first terminal receives the first message from the second terminal, the method further includes: When the first terminal discovers the third terminal, the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The step of when the first terminal discovers the third terminal, the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal includes: The first terminal receives a first discovery request message from the second terminal, where the first discovery request message is used to request to discover a terminal that can be connected to the second terminal. The first terminal sends a second discovery request message based on the first discovery request message, where the second discovery request message is used to indicate that the first terminal requests to discover a terminal that can be connected to the second terminal, and the first terminal is the endpoint device of the response message corresponding to the second discovery request message. The first terminal receives a first response message from the third terminal, where the first response message is used to respond to the second discovery request message, and the source address for transmitting the first response message is the address of the third terminal. The first terminal sends a second response message to the second terminal, where the second response message is used to respond to the first discovery request message, the second response message indicates that the first terminal discovers the third terminal that can be connected to the second terminal, and the source address for transmitting the second response message is the first address of the first terminal. The first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first response message includes information associated with the source address of the first response message; the step of the first terminal associating the first address of the first terminal with the address of the third terminal includes: When it is determined that the information associated with the source address of the first response message in the first response message is information that the first terminal cannot decrypt, the first terminal associates the first address of the first terminal with the first address of the third terminal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The first message includes the first address of the first terminal, including: When the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to establish a first communication connection, the destination address for transmitting the first message is the first address of the first terminal. When the first message is used to indicate that the second terminal requests to modify a first communication connection, the payload of the first message includes the first address of the first terminal.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that Before the first terminal sends a second message to the third terminal, the method further includes: The first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The first message includes a first relay service code; The first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal, including: When it is determined that there is no communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the first terminal and the third terminal, the first terminal determines the address of the third terminal associated with the first address of the first terminal according to the first address of the first terminal.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The destination address for transmitting the second message is the address of the third terminal.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The first address of the first terminal includes the layer 2 address of the first terminal, and the address of the third terminal includes the layer 2 address of the third terminal.

10. A communication method, characterized in that, Including: The second terminal sends a first message to the first terminal; Wherein, when the first message is used to establish a first communication connection between the second terminal and the first terminal, the destination address for transmitting the first message is the first address of the first terminal; When the first message is used to modify the first communication connection between the second terminal and the first terminal, the payload of the first message includes the first address of the first terminal.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein Before the second terminal sends a first message to the first terminal, the method further includes: The second terminal sends a first discovery request message for requesting to discover terminals that can be connected to the second terminal; The second terminal receives a second response message from the first terminal. The second response message is used to respond to the first discovery request message, and the second response message is used to indicate that the first terminal discovers the third terminal that can establish a communication connection with the second terminal. The source address for transmitting the second response message is the first address of the first terminal.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, The first message includes a first relay service code. When there is a third communication connection corresponding to the first relay service code between the second terminal and the first terminal, the first message is used to modify the first communication connection to the third communication connection.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein When the first message is used to modify the first communication connection to the third communication connection, the destination address for transmitting the first message is the second address of the first terminal, and the second address of the first terminal is the destination address of the third communication connection.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that, The first address of the first terminal includes the layer 2 address of the first terminal.

15. A communication device, characterized in that, The device includes: a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-14.

16. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the method according to any one of claims 1-14 is executed.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium includes a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-14.

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