Communication method and device, and storage medium

Abstract

This application relates to the field of communication technology, and provides a communication method and device, as well as a storage medium, for solving a problem of conflict between different configurations of a terminal device. In this application, a first communication device receives a first message from a network device. The first message includes first configuration information. The first communication device receives or transmits a discovery message. The first communication device performs a measurement based on the first configuration information by receiving or transmitting the discovery message. The measurement is a measurement of a signal quality of a sidelink between the first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device transmits measurement information of the measurement to the network device.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202210219318.3, entitled “COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM,” filed with the China National Intellectual Property Office on March 8, 2022, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] This application relates to the field of communications technology, and in particular to communications methods and devices, and storage media. [Background technology]

[0003] In a UE-to-Network Relay (U2N Relay) communication system, a remote terminal (remote UE) can communicate with a network through a relay terminal (relay UE). The remote terminal communicates with the relay terminal through a sidelink (SL), and the corresponding interface is called PC5. The relay terminal is directly connected to a network device and communicates with the network device through an air interface (e.g., Uu interface).

[0004] In the U2N relay communication system, the remote terminal may measure the communication quality of the current serving cell and the communication quality of the sidelink between the remote terminal and the neighboring relay terminal based on the configuration of the network device to facilitate mobility management. For example, the remote terminal may receive the configuration information of the network device and act based on the configuration information, for example, perform measurements or receive / send discovery messages. In addition, in the U2N relay communication system, the remote terminal needs to satisfy a threshold condition of the Uu interface to receive / send discovery messages.

[0005] When a remote terminal receives the configuration information of a network device and does not meet the threshold condition for receiving / sending a discovery message, if the remote terminal operates based on the configuration information of the network device, the remote terminal can perform measurement and report measurement information, or if the remote terminal operates based on the threshold condition for receiving / sending a discovery message, the remote terminal cannot receive / send a discovery message, and therefore cannot perform measurement or report measurement information. How to resolve conflicts between different configurations of a remote terminal has become an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a communication method and apparatus, as well as a storage medium, for resolving the problem of conflicts between different configurations of a remote UE.

[0007] A first aspect of an embodiment of this application provides a communication method, the method including the steps of: receiving a first message from a network device, the first message including first configuration information, receiving or transmitting a discovery message, performing a measurement based on the first configuration information by receiving or transmitting the discovery message, the measurement being a measurement of a signal quality of a sidelink between a first communication device and a second communication device, and transmitting measurement information of the measurement to the network device.

[0008] According to the method, according to the communication method and device provided in this embodiment of this application, the remote UE performs measurement and reporting based on the received first configuration information, which is not constrained by the threshold condition configured or preconfigured by the base station for receiving / transmitting discovery messages. In this way, the problem of conflict between different configurations of the remote terminal is solved.

[0009] In relation to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, receiving or transmitting the discovery message includes receiving or transmitting the discovery message when a reference signal received power (RSRP) is less than a first threshold, the RSRP being an RSRP of an air interface between the first communication device and the network device.

[0010] According to the communication method and device provided in this embodiment of the present application, the remote UE performs measurement and reporting based on the received first configuration information, and detects whether the constraint of the threshold condition configured or pre-configured by the base station is satisfied for receiving / transmitting a discovery message. In this way, the problem of conflict between different configurations of the remote terminal is solved.

[0011] In relation to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the step of receiving or transmitting a discovery message includes: of When a message is received, receiving or sending a discovery message is included.

[0012] In relation to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first message further includes second configuration information, and the second configuration information is utilized to reconfigure the first threshold or release the first threshold.

[0013] Related to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes sending a second message to the second communication device, the second message including switching indication information, the switching indication information indicating that switching is completed, the switching being that the first communication device switches from the network device to the second communication device.

[0014] In relation to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the second message includes a local identity (local ID) of the first communication device and a bearer identity corresponding to the second message.

[0015] A second aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method includes the steps of sending a first message to a first communication device. The first message includes first configuration information, the first configuration information indicating that the first communication device performs a measurement. The first message further includes second configuration information, the second configuration information being utilized to reconfigure the first threshold or release the first threshold.

[0016] According to the communication method and device provided in this embodiment of the present application, a threshold condition for receiving / transmitting a discovery message is configured by a base station, and a constraint of the threshold condition for receiving / transmitting a discovery message by a remote UE is enabled, thus resolving the problem of conflict between different configurations of a remote terminal.

[0017] In relation to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, a third message is sent to the second communication device, the third message including configuration information utilized to forward the second message.

[0018] A third aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, the method including the steps of: receiving a second message from a first communication device, the second message including switching indication information, the switching indication information indicating that a switch is completed, the switch being the first communication device switching from the network device to the second communication device, storing the second message, and receiving a third message from the network device, the third message including configuration information utilized to forward the second message.

[0019] In relation to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the second message includes a local identity (local ID) of the first communication device and a bearer identity corresponding to the second message.

[0020] In relation to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes determining that the second message includes switching indication information based on a bearer identity corresponding to the second message.

[0021] Related to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the third message is a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message received from the network device after the second message is received, a first RRC message received after the second communication device enters a connected state from an idle or inactive state, or a first RRC message including a Sidelink Relay Adaptation Protocol (SRAP) configuration.

[0022] In relation to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the configuration information utilized to forward the second message includes a mapping relationship between a local ID of the first communication device, a bearer identity corresponding to the second message, and a radio link control (RLC) bearer.

[0023] Related to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes setting a timer, starting the timer when the second communication device receives the second message, and discarding the second message if the timer expires and the second communication device has not received the third message.

[0024] In relation to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes setting a timer, starting the timer when the second communication device receives the second message, and sending first indication information to the first communication device when the timer expires and the second communication device has not received the third message. The first indication information indicates that the first communication device reselects a relay device.

[0025] A fourth aspect of an embodiment of this application provides a communication device including a module configured to perform the method described in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0026] A fifth aspect of an embodiment of this application provides a communications device comprising a module configured to perform the method described in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0027] A sixth aspect of an embodiment of this application provides a communication device including a module configured to perform the method described in the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

[0028] A seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device including a processor and an interface circuit configured to receive a signal from a device other than the device and transmit the signal to the processor or transmit a signal from the processor to a device other than the device, the processor configured to perform the method described in the first aspect or possible implementations of the first aspect by utilizing logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

[0029] An eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device including a processor and an interface circuit configured to receive a signal from a device other than the device and transmit the signal to the processor or transmit a signal from the processor to a device other than the device, the processor configured to perform the method described in the second aspect or possible implementations of the second aspect by utilizing logic circuits or executing code instructions.

[0030] A ninth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device including a processor and an interface circuit configured to receive a signal from a device other than the device and transmit the signal to the processor, or transmit a signal from the processor to a device other than the device, and the processor configured to perform a method described in the third aspect or possible implementations of the third aspect by utilizing logic circuits or executing code instructions.

[0031] A tenth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium, the computer readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, the computer program or instructions being executed by a computing device to perform the method described in the first aspect or possible implementations of the first aspect, to perform the method described in the second aspect or possible implementations of the second aspect, or to perform the method described in the third aspect or possible implementations of the third aspect.

[0032] An eleventh aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, the computer program product including a computer program or instructions, which when executed by a communication device performs the method described in the first aspect or possible implementations of the first aspect, the method described in the second aspect or possible implementations of the second aspect, or the method described in the third aspect or possible implementations of the third aspect.

[0033] A twelfth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, the communication system including one or more of the following: a communication device provided in the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect, the seventh aspect, the eighth aspect, or the ninth aspect, a computer readable storage medium provided in the tenth aspect, or a computer program product provided in the eleventh aspect. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1a] 1 is a possible diagram of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable; [Figure 1b] FIG. 1 illustrates a possible application scenario of a sidelink between terminal devices according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 1c] FIG. 13 is a diagram of another possible application scenario of sidelinks between terminal devices according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a protocol architecture of a discovery message according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 3A] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a scenario of a discovery process according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 3B] FIG. 2 is a diagram of another discovery process scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4A] FIG. 2 is an interaction diagram of a unicast connection establishment process according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4B] FIG. 11 is an interaction diagram of another unicast connection establishment process according to an embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a scenario of switching from direct communication to indirect communication according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is an interaction diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an interaction diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 8]FIG. 2 is an interaction diagram of yet another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is an interaction diagram of yet another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 10] 1 is a block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is another block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] In the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application, terms such as "first" and "second" are merely intended to distinguish different objects, and do not limit the sequence, time sequence, priority, or importance of the multiple objects. In the embodiments of this application, "multiple" refers to two or more. In addition, terms such as "comprise", "have", and any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device, etc., that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the recited steps or units, but instead optionally further includes unrecited steps or units, or optionally further includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, devices, etc. In addition, the symbol " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between related objects, unless otherwise specified.

[0036] An "embodiment" referred to in this specification means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in combination with this embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The phrases appearing in various places in the specification may not necessarily be the same embodiment, or may not necessarily be optional embodiments independent or exclusive of other embodiments. It may be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described in the specification may be combined with other embodiments.

[0037] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application may be applied to various communication systems, such as a global system for mobile communications (GSM), a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, a general packet radio service (GPRS), and a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), a worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX) communication system, a 5th generation (5G) system or a new radio (NR), a future communication system or other similar communication systems, or a next generation wireless local area network system, etc.

[0038] In addition, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application may be applied to a sidelink (SL), which may be applied in multiple scenarios, such as a cellular link, a link between devices, such as a device-to-device (D2D) link, or a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) scenario.

[0039] For example, the D2D may be D2D in a long term evolution (LTE) communication system, D2D in a new radio (NR) communication system, or D2D in other communication systems that may emerge as technology advances.

[0040] Similarly, the V2X may be LTE V2X, NR V2X, or V2X in other communication systems that may emerge as technology advances.

[0041] For example, the V2X scenario may specifically be any one of the following systems: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, vehicle-to-network (V2N) services, and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication.

[0042] In V2N, one participant is a terminal device and the other participant is a service entity. V2N is currently the most widely used form of Internet of Vehicles, and the main function of V2N is to enable vehicles to connect to cloud services through mobile networks to provide functions such as navigation, entertainment, or anti-theft through cloud services.

[0043] Both participants in V2V are terminal devices. V2V may be for information exchange and reminders between vehicles, and the most typical application is a collision prevention safety system between vehicles.

[0044] Both participants in V2P are terminal devices. V2P may be for providing safety warnings to pedestrians or non-motorized vehicles on roads.

[0045] In V2I, one participant is a terminal device and the other participant is an infrastructure (or road facility). V2I may be for communication between vehicles and infrastructure. For example, the infrastructure may be a road, a traffic light, or a roadblock, and road management information such as a traffic light signal time sequence may be obtained.

[0046] In the embodiment of this application, the sidelink (SL) may be referred to as a side link, a direct link, a side link, a secondary link, or the like. In the embodiment of this application, the above terms refer to a link established between devices of the same type and have the same meaning. The link between devices of the same type may be a link between terminal devices, a link between base stations, or a link between relay nodes, etc. This is not limited in the embodiment of this application. For the link between terminal devices, there is a D2D link defined in 3GPP Release (Rel)-12 / 13, and there is also a V2X link defined by 3GPP for the Internet of Vehicles, including Rel-14 / 15, such as a vehicle-to-vehicle, a vehicle-to-mobile phone, or a vehicle-to-any entity, and further includes a V2X link based on the NR system in Rel-16 and subsequent releases currently being researched by 3GPP.

[0047] 1a is a possible diagram of a communication system to which the embodiments of this application are applicable. As shown in FIG. 1a, the communication system 100 includes a network device and a terminal device (eg, UE1 and UE2).

[0048] The terminal device in this embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), or mobile terminal (MT), etc., and may be a device that provides voice or data connection to a user, or may be an Internet of Things device. For example, the terminal device includes a handheld device or an in-vehicle device with wireless connection function. The terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, a smart band, or a pedometer), an in-vehicle device (e.g., an automobile, a bicycle, an electric vehicle, an airplane, a ship, a train, or a high-speed train, etc.), a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a smart home device (e.g., a refrigerator, a television, an air conditioner, or a power meter, etc.), an intelligent robot, a workshop device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, a wireless terminal in a smart home, an aerial device (e.g., an intelligent robot, a hot air balloon, an unmanned aerial vehicle, or an airplane), etc. In this embodiment of the application, the devices implementing the above functions are collectively described using a terminal device as an example. It should be understood that the terminal device in this embodiment of the application may alternatively be a chip in a terminal, a communication device, unit, or module having D2D or V2X communication function, such as an in-vehicle communication device, an in-vehicle communication module, or an in-vehicle communication chip.In FIG. 1a, an example in which the terminal devices are V2X UE1 and V2X UE2 is used for presentation.

[0049] A network device in this embodiment of the application is a device that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. The network device may be a node in a wireless access network and may be referred to as a base station or a radio access network (RAN) node (or device). The network device may be configured to convert received over-the-air frames to and from Internet Protocol (IP) packets and act as a router between the terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an IP network. The network device may also coordinate the management of attributes of the air interface. For example, the network device may include an evolved NodeB (eNB or e-NodeB, evolved NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system or an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, a next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5th generation (5G) mobile communication technology new radio (NR) system, a transmission reception point (TRP), a home base station (e.g., a home evolved NodeB or home NodeB, HNB), a baseband unit (BBU), or a Wi-Fi access point (AP), or a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) in a cloud radio access network (CloudRAN) system. This is not limited in this embodiment of the application. As another example, the network device in the V2X technology is a road side unit (RSU).The RSU may be a fixed infrastructure entity supporting the V2X application and may exchange messages with other entities supporting the V2X application. In FIG. 1a, an example in which the network device is a base station is used for presentation.

[0050] Additionally, the communication system 100 further includes an application server. The communication system 100 includes two types of communication interfaces: a PC5 interface and a Uu interface.

[0051] The PC5 interface is a direct communication interface between terminal devices, and the direct communication link between terminal devices is a sidelink, which is used for communication between terminal devices. At least one of the following channels may be used for sidelink-based communication: a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), which is used to carry data, or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), which is used to carry sidelink control information (SCI), also referred to as scheduling assignment (SA).

[0052] The Uu interface is a communication interface between a terminal device and a network device, and the communication link between the terminal device and the network device includes an uplink (UL) and a downlink (DL). The Uu interface-based communication can be as follows: a transmitter terminal device transmits data to a network device through the Uu interface, and the network device transmits the data to an application server for processing. Then, the application server delivers the processed data to the network device, and the network device transmits the processed data to a receiver terminal device.

[0053] It should be noted that in the Uu interface-based communication method, the network device that forwards the uplink data from the transmitter terminal device to the application server and the network device that forwards the downlink data delivered by the application server to the receiver terminal device may be the same network device or different network devices, which is specifically determined by the application server.

[0054] In an embodiment of this application, sidelink transmission is performed between terminal devices in a number of scenarios. Figure 1b is a diagrammatic example of a possible application scenario of sidelink between terminal devices according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1b, sidelink transmission between terminal devices may alternatively include transmission between a remote terminal device (remote UE) and a relay terminal device (relay UE) in a sidelink UE-to-Network Relay (U2N Relay) scenario.

[0055] 1c is a diagrammatic example of another possible application scenario of sidelink transmission between terminal devices according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 1c, the sidelink transmission between terminal devices may alternatively include transmission between a source terminal device (source UE) and a relay terminal device (relay UE) in a Sidelink UE-to-UE Relay scenario, or may include transmission between a relay terminal device (relay UE) and a target terminal device (target UE).

[0056] In the solution provided in the embodiments of this application, the sidelink-based transmission performed between the first terminal device and the second terminal device may be a sidelink transmission between V2X UE1 and V2X UE2 shown in FIG. 1a, or a sidelink transmission between a remote terminal device (remote UE) and a relay terminal device (relay UE) in the scenario shown in FIG. 1b, or a sidelink transmission between a source terminal device (source UE) and a relay terminal device (relay UE) in FIG. 1c, or a sidelink transmission between a relay terminal device (relay UE) and a target terminal device (target UE) in FIG. 1c.

[0057] For example, in sidelink communication, broadcast, unicast, and multicast communication methods may be supported.

[0058] Broadcast communication may be similar to broadcasting system information by network devices: in other words, the transmitting terminal transmits the broadcast service data to the outside without encryption, and other terminal devices that are within the effective reception range of the transmitting terminal and are interested in the broadcast service may receive the broadcast service data.

[0059] In unicast communication, a unicast connection needs to be established between two terminal devices first. This is similar to data communication that is performed after an RRC connection is established between a terminal device and a network device. After the unicast connection is established, the two terminal devices may perform data communication based on an agreed upon identity, and the data may or may not be encrypted. Compared with broadcast communication, in unicast communication, unicast communication can only be performed between two UEs that have established unicast communication.

[0060] Multicast communication is communication between all terminal devices in a communication group. In multicast communication, any terminal device in a communication group can receive or transmit multicast service data. For example, one terminal device in a communication group can transmit one multicast service data, and other terminal devices in the communication group can receive the multicast service data. A terminal device can also receive multicast service data transmitted by other terminal devices in the communication group.

[0061] It should be understood that the communication methods supported by the sidelink are merely examples. In the embodiment of this application, the communication methods supported by the sidelink are not limited to the above three examples, and may alternatively include other new communication methods that appear with the development of technology. Therefore, the three communication methods shown above should not be understood as implementation limitations of this application.

[0062] In sidelink communication, each sidelink communication corresponds to a pair of source layer-2 identity (L2 ID) and destination L2 ID. In other words, each sidelink communication requires one source L2 ID and one destination L2 ID. The source L2 ID and destination L2 ID may be included in the sub-header of the MAC data protocol unit (PDU), so that data can be transmitted from the transmitting terminal to the correct receiving terminal.

[0063] For example, the source L2 ID is assigned by a transmitting terminal (also referred to as a source terminal). For example, the transmitting terminal may select different source L2 IDs based on a communication type and a standard. The communication type may include unicast communication, broadcast communication, and multicast communication, and the standard may include long term evolution (LTE) or new radio (NR). In some implementations, the transmitting terminal may periodically update the source L2 ID to protect the privacy of the sidelink service type and to prevent it from being tracked and identified by other terminal devices.

[0064] For example, the destination L2 ID may depend on the service type. The transmitting terminal may determine the correspondence between the destination L2 ID and the broadcast service, the multicast service, or the unicast service based on a scheme such as pre-configuration, application layer service configuration, or core network configuration. For example, in the process of broadcast communication or multicast communication, the transmitting terminal may determine the destination L2 ID based on the broadcast service type or the multicast service type. In unicast communication, the transmitting terminal first establishes a unicast connection with the receiving terminal (also referred to as a target terminal). For example, in the unicast connection establishment process, the transmitting terminal may select a default destination L2 ID. The default destination L2 ID is related to the service type of the unicast communication. After the establishment of the unicast connection is completed, the transmitting terminal may continue to apply the default destination L2 ID for the unicast communication.

[0065] For example, a terminal device supporting a proximity-based service (ProSe) may utilize a discovery process to discover nearby connectable terminal devices and establish a unicast connection with the terminal device, whereby communication is then performed based on the unicast connection.

[0066] (1) Discovery Process

[0067] The protocol stack of a discovery message is shown in Figure 2. The peer protocol layer established between UE1 and UE2 includes a discovery protocol layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, and a PHY layer. The discovery message of UE1 may be generated by the discovery protocol layer, and is sent to UE2 after being processed in the order of the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer. UE2 obtains the discovery message through processing in the order of the PHY layer, the MAC layer, the RLC layer, and the PDCP layer.

[0068] For example, the discovery process may include two discovery models, namely a first discovery model and a second discovery model. For example, in the first discovery model, the terminal devices may include an announcing terminal (UE) and a monitoring terminal (UE). The announcing terminal broadcasts a discovery message. The discovery message may carry a source L2 ID and a destination L2 ID. For example, the source L2 ID may be assigned by the announcing terminal, and the destination L2 ID may be a predefined or preconfigured destination L2 ID. The discovery message may also be referred to as an announcement message, and the announcement message may carry information about the announcement terminal. For example, the announcement message may include information about a service type. The information indicates the type of service that can be provided by the announcement terminal, so that the monitoring terminal determines whether the service provided by the announcement terminal is required based on the announcement message. The monitoring terminal monitors the announcement message broadcast by the announcement terminal. After receiving the announcement message broadcast by the announcement terminal, the monitoring terminal may determine whether the service provided by the announcement terminal is required based on the information carried in the announcement message, i.e., determine whether to establish a unicast connection with the announcement terminal. Figure 3A shows an example of a first discovery model according to an embodiment of this application. The first discovery model may include multiple terminal devices. Figure 3A shows five terminal devices, namely UE1, UE2, UE3, UE4, and UE5. UE1 is an announcement terminal, and UE2, UE3, UE4, and UE5 are monitoring terminals. UE1 broadcasts an announcement message.UE2, UE3, UE4 and UE5 monitor the announcement message, and after receiving the announcement message, decide whether to establish a unicast connection with UE1 based on the information carried in the announcement message.

[0069] For example, in the second discovery model, the terminal devices may include a discoverer UE and a discoveree UE. The discoverer UE may broadcast a discovery message. The discovery message may carry a source L2 ID and a destination L2 ID. For example, the source L2 ID may be assigned by the discoverer UE, and the destination L2 ID may be a predefined or preconfigured destination L2 ID. The discovery message may also be referred to as a solicitation message, and the solicitation message carries information about a type of service required by the discoverer UE. The discoveree UE monitors the solicitation message broadcast by the discoverer UE and determines whether the service required by the discoverer UE can be provided after receiving the solicitation message. When the discoveree UE determines that the service required by the discoverer UE can be provided, it sends a response message to the discoverer UE. FIG. 3B illustrates an example of the second discovery model according to an embodiment of this application. The second discovery model may include multiple terminal devices. FIG. 3B shows five terminal devices, namely UE1, UE2, UE3, UE4, and UE5. UE1 is a discoverer terminal, and UE2, UE3, UE4, and UE5 are discoveree terminals. UE1 broadcasts a request message. The request message may include the service requirements of UE1. UE2, UE3, UE4, and UE5 monitor the request message, and after receiving the request message, determine whether the service requirements of UE1 are met based on the information carried in the request message. For example, if UE2 and UE3 determine that the service requirements of UE1 are met, they send a response message to UE1. After receiving the response messages sent by UE2 and UE3, UE1 may select one of UE2 and UE3 to establish a unicast connection.

[0070] It should be understood that the two discovery models in the above discovery process are merely examples. In the embodiment of this application, the discovery model in the discovery protocol is not limited to the above two examples, and may alternatively include other new discovery models that appear with the development of technology. Therefore, the two discovery models shown above should not be understood as limitations on the implementation of this application.

[0071] (2) Unicast connection establishment

[0072] For example, in a unicast connection establishment process, a terminal device initiating a unicast connection establishment procedure may be referred to as an initiating UE, e.g., a monitoring terminal in the first discovery model and a discoverer terminal in the second discovery model. The peer end of the initiating terminal may be referred to as a target UE, e.g., an announcing terminal in the first discovery model and a discoveree terminal in the second discovery model. For example, after a discovery process, the initiating terminal may determine a target terminal with which a unicast connection can be established and initiate a unicast connection establishment procedure.

[0073] For example, after the discovery process, the initiating terminal may determine a source L2 ID to be used for the unicast connection and a destination L2 ID of the target terminal. For example, the destination L2 ID may be obtained based on the discovery process. After determining the source L2 ID and the destination L2 ID, the initiating terminal sends a direct communication request (DCR) message to the target terminal. The DCR message may carry the source L2 ID, the destination L2 ID, and user information (User Info). After receiving the DCR message, the target terminal stores the source L2 ID and the destination L2 ID, and associates the source L2 ID and the destination L2 ID with the current unicast connection context. For example, the target terminal may decide whether to accept the direct communication request of the initiating terminal based on the user information included in the DCR message. If the target terminal decides to accept the direct communication request, the target terminal sends a direct communication accept (DCA) message to the initiating terminal (as shown in FIG. 4A). If the target terminal decides not to accept the direct communication request, the target terminal sends a direct communication reject message to the initiating terminal (as shown in FIG. 4B).

[0074] In the U2N relay scenario, the remote UE may perform measurement reporting based on the configuration of the base station, and the base station performs mobility management of the remote UE based on the measurement result. The mobility management includes direct-to-indirect switching, indirect-to-direct switching, indirect-to-indirect switching, etc. of the remote UE. The direct-to-indirect switching is that the remote UE in the connected state switches from direct communication with the base station to communication with the base station using the relay UE. As shown in FIG. 5, when directly communicating with the base station, the remote UE measures the signal quality of the current serving cell and the signal quality of the sidelink between the remote UE and the neighboring relay UE based on the measurement configuration of the base station, and performs measurement reporting based on the measurement configuration. Meanwhile, the base station instructs the remote UE to switch to an appropriate relay UE based on the measurement result reported by the remote UE. In the process of the remote UE performing direct-to-indirect switching, when the remote UE receives the measurement configuration of the relay UE sent by the base station, the remote UE needs to perform measurement and report measurement information. On the other hand, if the Uu RSPR (RSRP of the Uu interface between the remote UE and the base station) of the remote UE does not meet the threshold condition configured or preconfigured by the base station to receive / send a discovery message, the remote UE cannot measure the signal quality of the neighboring relay UE by receiving / sending a discovery message. Therefore, how to resolve the conflict between different configurations of the remote terminal becomes an urgent problem to be solved.

[0075] 6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of this application. The flowchart shown in FIG. 6 relates to a first communication device and a network device. The communication method includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0076] S601: Receive a first message from a network device, where the first message includes first configuration information.

[0077] The first communication device receives a first message from the network device. Optionally, the first communication device may be a remote UE, and the first configuration information may be measurement configuration information of the relay UE delivered by the network device. The measurement configuration information may include information such as a measurement object, a measurement report configuration, a measurement gap (GAP), and a measurement identity (ID). The measurement gap is a period during which the terminal device performs measurements on other frequencies after leaving the current frequency.

[0078] S602: Receive or send a discovery message.

[0079] The first communication device receives a discovery message from the second communication device or sends a discovery message to the second communication device. Optionally, the first communication device may be a remote UE, and the second communication device is a relay UE.

[0080] S603: Perform measurement based on the first configuration information by receiving or sending a discovery message.

[0081] The measurement is a measurement on a communication link between a first communication device and a second communication device. Optionally, the first communication device may be a remote UE and the second communication device is a relay UE.

[0082] For example, the remote UE measures a sidelink signal between the remote UE and the relay UE based on a measurement configuration of the relay UE delivered by the network device. The measurement configuration of the relay UE indicates a frequency at which the remote UE measures the sidelink signal quality of the relay UE. The relay UE and the remote UE may be in the same serving cell or in different serving cells. Optionally, the remote UE may measure the sidelink signal between the remote UE and the relay UE by receiving / sending a discovery message. In other words, after receiving the measurement configuration, the remote UE may trigger the reception / transmission of a discovery message and does not need to determine that the Uu RSRP of the remote UE is less than the first threshold. Optionally, the measurement quality measured by the remote UE and of the sidelink between the remote UE and the relay UE may be a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0083] S604: Send the measurement information to the network device.

[0084] Optionally, the remote UE may send the measured RSRP information to the network device, and the network device decides based on the RSRP information whether to switch the remote UE from a direct connection to an indirect connection, in which the connection to the base station is realized via a relay UE.

[0085] Optionally, the remote UE may send the measured RSSI information, the measured RSRQ information, or the measured SINR information to the network device, which is not limited here. According to the communication method and apparatus provided in this embodiment of this application, the remote UE performs measurement and reporting based on the received first configuration information, which is not constrained by the threshold condition configured or preconfigured by the base station to receive / transmit discovery messages. In this way, the problem of conflict between different configurations of the remote terminal is solved.

[0086] 7 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of this application. The flowchart shown in FIG. 7 relates to a first communication device and a network device. The communication method includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0087] S701: Receive a first message from a network device, where the first message includes first configuration information.

[0088] The first communication device receives a first message from the network device. Optionally, the first communication device may be a remote UE, and the first configuration information may be measurement configuration information of the relay UE delivered by the network device. The measurement configuration information may include information such as a measurement object, a measurement report configuration, a measurement gap (GAP), and a measurement identity (ID). The measurement gap is a period during which the terminal device performs measurements on other frequencies after leaving the current frequency.

[0089] S702: The first communication device receives or transmits a discovery message when the RSRP is less than a first threshold.

[0090] The RSRP is an RSRP of an air interface between the first communication device and the network device. The measurement is a measurement on a communication link between the first communication device and the second communication device. The first threshold may be delivered or pre-configured by the network device. Optionally, the first communication device may be a remote UE and the second communication device is a relay UE.

[0091] For example, when receiving the relay UE measurement configuration delivered by the network device, the remote UE further needs to determine the RSRP of the air interface between the remote UE and the network device, for example, Uu RSRP. When the Uu RSRP is less than a first threshold, it indicates that the current signal quality of the communication link between the remote UE and the network device is poor, and the remote UE is triggered to receive / send a discovery message. The remote UE may search for a suitable relay UE in the vicinity by receiving / sending a discovery message.

[0092] S703: The first communication device performs measurement based on the first configuration information by receiving or transmitting a discovery message.

[0093] For example, the remote UE measures the sidelink signal between the remote UE and the relay UE based on the delivered relay UE measurement configuration, selects a relay UE that satisfies a measurement reporting condition, and reports the measurement result corresponding to the relay UE to the network device. The relay UE and the remote UE may be in the same serving cell or in different serving cells. Optionally, the remote UE may measure the sidelink signal between the remote UE and the relay UE by receiving / transmitting a discovery message. Optionally, the measurement quality of the sidelink between the remote UE and the relay UE may be a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0094] S704: Send the measurement information to the network device.

[0095] Optionally, the remote UE may send the measured RSRP information of the sidelink between the remote UE and the relay UE to the network device, and the network device decides based on the RSRP information whether to switch the remote UE from a direct connection to an indirect connection via the relay UE.

[0096] Optionally, the remote UE may send the measured RSSI information, the measured RSRQ information, or the measured SINR to the network device.

[0097] According to the communication method and device provided in this embodiment of the present application, the remote UE performs measurement and reporting based on the received first configuration information, and detects whether the constraint of the threshold condition configured or pre-configured by the base station is satisfied for receiving / transmitting a discovery message. In this way, the problem of conflict between different configurations of the remote terminal is solved.

[0098] 8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of this application. The flowchart shown in FIG. 8 relates to a first communication device and a network device. The communication method includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0099] S801: A first communication device receives a first message from a network device, where the first message includes first configuration information and a second configuration information Includes:

[0100] Optionally, the first communication device may be a remote UE, and the first configuration information may be measurement configuration information of the relay UE delivered by the network device. The measurement configuration information may include information such as a measurement object, a measurement report configuration, a measurement gap (GAP), and a measurement identity (ID). The measurement gap is a period during which the terminal device performs measurements on other frequencies after leaving the current frequency.

[0101] Second Configuration information is utilized to reconfigure or release a first threshold value, which is utilized to determine whether the first communication device can receive / transmit a discovery message and perform measurement reporting based on the discovery message.

[0102] For example, when receiving the relay UE measurement configuration delivered by the network device, the remote UE further needs to determine the RSRP of the air interface between the remote UE and the network device, for example, Uu RSRP. When the Uu RSRP is less than a first threshold, it indicates that the current signal quality of the communication link between the remote UE and the network device is poor, and the remote UE is triggered to receive / send a discovery message. The remote UE may search for a suitable relay UE in the vicinity by receiving / sending a discovery message.

[0103] The network device may set the first threshold to an infinite threshold or may select a value large enough to allow remote UEs to receive / transmit discovery messages.

[0104] S802: The first communication device performs measurement based on the first configuration information when the RSRP is less than a first threshold.

[0105] The RSRP is the RSRP of the air interface between the first communication device and the network device. The measurement is a measurement on the communication link between the first communication device and the second communication device. The first threshold may be delivered by the network device or may be pre-configured. Optionally, the first communication device may be a remote UE, and the second communication device is a relay UE. When the first threshold is infinity or large enough, the RSRP is less than the first threshold. In other words, the condition for receiving / transmitting a discovery message by the remote UE is met. In this case, the first communication device may perform the measurement based on the first configuration information. When the first threshold is released, the first communication device may not need to consider the relationship between the RSRP and the first threshold, or the discovery message may be received / transmitted by the remote UE. message The remote UE may perform measurements based on the first configuration information, since it may not be necessary to directly consider that the conditions for receiving / transmitting are met.

[0106] S803: The first communication device sends the measurement information to the network device.

[0107] Optionally, the remote UE may send the measured RSRP information of the sidelink between the remote UE and the relay UE to the network device, and the network device decides based on the RSRP information whether to switch the remote UE from direct communication to indirect communication via the relay UE.

[0108] Optionally, the remote UE may send the measured RSSI information, the measured RSRQ information, or the measured SINR to the network device.

[0109] According to the communication method and device provided in this embodiment of the present application, a threshold condition for receiving / transmitting a discovery message is configured by a base station, so that a remote UE satisfies the constraint of the threshold condition for receiving / transmitting a discovery message, thus resolving the problem of conflict between different configurations of a remote terminal.

[0110] In the process of the remote UE performing direct-indirect switching, when the base station instructs the remote UE to switch to a relay UE in an IDLE or INACTIVE state, the remote UE sends an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the relay UE after receiving the switching configuration of the network device. In this case, incorrect packet discard may occur because the relay UE has not received the Sidelink Relay Adaptation Protocol (SRAP) configuration of the network device.

[0111] 9 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of this application. The flowchart shown in FIG. 9 relates to a first communication device, a second communication device, and a network device. The communication method includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0112] S901: A first communication device sends a second message to a second communication device, where the second message includes switching indication information.

[0113] The first communication device may be a remote UE, and the second communication device may be a relay UE. After the first communication device completes the measurement and reporting according to the above method, the network device instructs the first communication device to perform switching. The first communication device sends a second message to the second communication device. The second message includes switching indication information, and the switching indication information indicates that the first communication device completes switching from the network device to the second communication device. The second message may be a radio resource control (RRC) message or a protocol data unit (PDU), such as a Sidelink Relay Adaptation Protocol (SRAP) PDU. The switching indication information may be RRCReconfigurationComplete.

[0114] Optionally, the second message further includes a local identity (local ID) of the first communication device and a bearer identity corresponding to the second message.

[0115] Optionally, before the first communication device transmits the second message to the second communication device, the first communication device may further receive a first message from the network device. The first message may include a first configuration informationThe first communication device further includes receiving or transmitting a discovery message, and by receiving or transmitting the discovery message, information The first communication device may measure a signal quality of a sidelink between the first communication device and the second communication device based on the signal quality of the sidelink between the first communication device and the second communication device. The first communication device may further transmit measurement information of the measurement to the network device.

[0116] S902: The second communication device stores the second message.

[0117] After receiving the second message, if the second communication device does not receive the following third message, the second communication device stores the second message. In this case, since the second communication device is in an IDLE state or an INACTIVE state, the second communication device requests to enter a connection state with the network device.

[0118] Optionally, the second communication device sets a timer, starts the timer when the second communication device receives the second message, and discards the second message when the timer expires and the second communication device has not yet received the third message, thereby preventing the waste of buffer resources.

[0119] Optionally, the second communication device sets a timer and starts the timer when receiving the second message. When the timer expires and the second communication device has not yet received the third message, the relay UE may further send a first indication information to the first communication device. The first indication information indicates that the remote UE performs re-establishment or reselects the relay UE. This can prevent the waste of buffer resources.

[0120] The value of the timer may be set by the relay UE or may be set by the remote UE, for example, determined based on Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and sent to the relay UE.

[0121] Optionally, the second communication device determines, based on a bearer identity corresponding to the second message, that the second message includes switching indication information.

[0122] S903: The second communication device receives a third message from the network device, where the third message includes configuration information utilized to forward the second message.

[0123] For example, after being connected to the network device, the second communication device may further send an RRC message, such as a sidelink UE information (SUI) message, to the network device. The SUI message includes remote UE identity information and / or relay UE identity information. After receiving the SUI message, the network device sends a third message to the second communication device. The third message may include a configuration used to forward the second message. information For example, the third message includes SRAP configuration information. The SRAP configuration information includes a mapping relationship between a local ID of the first communication device, a bearer identity corresponding to data of the first communication device, and a Uu RLC channel.

[0124] S904: The second communication device forwards the second message to the network device.

[0125] SRAP configuration for the second message information After receiving the SRAP configuration, the second communication device will receive the SRAP configuration between the local ID of the first communication device, the bearer identity corresponding to the data of the first communication device, and the Uu RLC channel. information Based on the mapping relationship included in, the second message may be directly forwarded to the network device, or the second message may be processed and then the processed second message may be sent to the network device.

[0126] In a possible implementation, the first communication device transmits second data to the second communication device, where the second data is a SRAP PDU.

[0127] The first communication device may be a remote UE, and the second communication device may be a relay UE.

[0128] The second message may include a radio resource control (RRC) message or may include communication data. Optionally, the second message further includes a local identity (local ID) of the first communication device, a bearer identity corresponding to the radio resource control (RRC) message, or the communication data.

[0129] In a possible implementation, the second communication device receives the second data, obtains a local identity (local ID) and a bearer identity included in the second data, and performs subsequent processing on the data packet, for example, performs packet discarding or forwards the second message to the network device based on the SRAP configuration information.

[0130] After receiving the second data, the relay UE needs to obtain information about the local ID and the bearer identity in the packet header, and forward the second data to the network device based on the configuration. information , that is, if the relay UE does not have information about the mapping relationship between the local ID, the bearer identity information and the Uu RLC channel, the relay UE performs packet discarding.

[0131] If the relay UE receives second data from a default RLC channel corresponding to SRB1, or the bearer identity included in the second data is a bearer identity corresponding to SRB1, the second data includes an RRCReconfigurationComplete message. In addition, when receiving the second data, the relay UE is in an idle state. In this case, the relay UE receives the SRAP configuration configured by the base station. information and the relay UE does not receive the SRAP configuration for the second data. information In this case, if the relay UE performs packet discarding in the above manner, incorrect packet discarding will occur.

[0132] Therefore, in another possible implementation, if the relay UE receives the second data from a default RLC channel corresponding to SRB1 or the bearer identity included in the second data is the bearer identity corresponding to SRB1, the relay UE does not perform packet discard.

[0133] Optionally, the second communication device sets a timer, starts the timer when the second communication device receives the second message, and discards the second message when the timer expires and the second communication device has not yet received the third message, thereby preventing the waste of buffer resources.

[0134] Optionally, the second communication device sets a timer and starts the timer when receiving the second message. When the timer expires and the second communication device has not yet received the third message, the relay UE may further send a first indication information to the first communication device. The first indication information indicates that the remote UE performs re-establishment or reselects the relay UE. This can prevent the waste of buffer resources.

[0135] The value of the timer may be set by the relay UE or may be set by the remote UE, for example, determined based on Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and sent to the relay UE.

[0136] In a possible implementation, the second communication device receives a third message from the network device, the third message including configuration information utilized to forward the second message.

[0137] The third message may be an SUI message sent by the second communication device to the base station or the first RRC message received by the second communication device from the base station after the second message is received, for example, the third message includes SRAP configuration information.

[0138] In a possible implementation, the second communication device forwards the second message to the network device.

[0139] The second communication unit may forward the second message directly to the network device, or may process the second message and then send the processed second message to the network device.

[0140] If the third message does not include information about the mapping relationship between the local ID, the bearer identity, and the Uu RLC channel included in the second message, the second communication device performs packet discarding for the second message.

[0141] For ease of understanding, the following specific example is used as an illustration.

[0142] After generating the RRCReconfigurationComplete message, the remote UE includes the RRCReconfigurationComplete message for the SRB1 of the remote UE. After the SRAP layer of the remote UE receives the PDCP PDU from the PDCP entity corresponding to the SRB1, the local ID and bearer identity of the remote UE are added to the SRAP PDU header, and the SRAP PDU data packet is submitted to the SRAP layer of the relay UE side through the PC5 RLC channel for processing based on the configuration of the base station. After receiving the SRAP PDU data packet, the SRAP layer of the relay UE sends the SRAP configuration ( sl-SRAP-Config-Relay ) When it is found that there is no corresponding mapping configuration information between the local ID and the bearer identity, the relay UE does not perform packet discarding or temporarily stores the SRAP PDU data packet. information After receiving the SRAP PDU data packet, the relay UE determines the corresponding Uu RLC channel based on the mapping relationship in the configuration, and forwards the SRAP PDU data packet containing the RRC message to the base station. In addition, the relay UE may continue to store the data packet due to the lack of the base station's configuration. For example, in a scenario where the relay UE fails to establish a connection, buffer overhead will be incurred. Therefore, it may receive the corresponding SRAP configuration from the first RRC message received from the base station after receiving the SRAP PDU data packet and connecting to the base station or reporting the SUI message. information In another possible implementation, the relay UE may set a timer T and start the timer when it receives the above data from the remote UE. When the timer expires, the relay UE may set a timer T and start the timer when it receives the above data from the remote UE. informationIf T has not yet been received, the data packet is discarded. Optionally, in this case, the relay UE may further indicate that the remote UE should perform a re-establishment or reselect a relay UE. The value of the timer T may be configured by the relay UE based on the implementation or may be determined by the remote UE based on the QoS requirements of the data and indicated in the packet to the relay UE.

[0143] It should be understood that the above solution may alternatively be applied to a general scenario and is not necessarily limited to a scenario in which a remote UE is switched to an idle / inactive relay UE. In other words, when a relay UE receives a SRAP PDU, whether it is an uplink transmission or a downlink transmission, but does not have a corresponding SRAP PDU configuration (sl-SRAP-Config-Relay configuration information is required for uplink transmission and sl-SRAP-Config-Remote configuration information is required for downlink transmission), the relay UE stores the SRAP PDU and starts a timer T. If the relay UE does not receive a corresponding SRAP configuration within the duration of the timer T, the relay UE stores the SRAP PDU and starts a timer T. information from the base station, the relay UE forwards the data based on the configuration. If the relay UE does not receive the required configuration before the timer expires, the relay UE discards the data.

[0144] Optionally, the timer may be configured by the base station or may be determined by the relay UE or remote UE based on the implementation.

[0145] For uplink transmission, in a possible implementation manner, timer T may be configured by the base station based on the QoS requirements corresponding to different bearers of the remote UE. The base station may configure timer T for each PC5 RLC channel of the remote UE, e.g., {PC5 RLC channel 1, T1; PC5 RLC channel 2, T2...}, or may configure a unified timer T for all bearer data, which is not limited here. Before transmitting data, the remote UE indicates timer T to the relay UE using sidelink configuration, e.g., sends {PC5 RLC channel 1, T1; PC5 RLC channel 2, T2...} configuration information to the relay UE using an RRCReconfigurationSidelink message. Optionally, the remote UE may alternatively indicate the timer to the relay UE in a packet.

[0146] In another possible implementation method, the remote UE may determine timers corresponding to data on different PC5 RLC channels based on QoS requirements corresponding to different PC5 RLC channels configured by the base station. Similarly, the remote UE transmits the determined timers T corresponding to different PC5 RLC channels to the relay UE using sidelink RRC signaling. In addition, the relay UE may alternatively determine timer T, or the base station may configure a universal timer T and transmit the timer T to the UE using a broadcast message (e.g., SIB).

[0147] For downlink transmission, the relay UE may receive timer T indicated by the base station. The base station may configure timer T based on the granularity of the remote UE. In other words, the base station may send {local ID1, T1; local ID2, T2...} configuration information to the relay UE. Alternatively, the base station may configure timer T based on the granularity of the Uu RLC channel, e.g., send {Uu RLC channel 1, T1; Uu RLC channel 2, T2...} configuration information to the relay UE. Optionally, the relay UE may determine timer T.

[0148] According to the communication method and apparatus provided in this embodiment of the present application, the relay UE receives the RRCReconfigurationComplete message, but the SRAP configuration of the network device is not yet completed. information When the RRCReconfigurationComplete message is not received, the RRCReconfigurationComplete message is stored to prevent incorrect packet discard.

[0149] As shown in Fig. 10, the communication device 1000 includes a processing module 1010 and a transceiver module 1020. The communication device 1000 is configured to implement the functions of the first communication device in the embodiment corresponding to Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, or Fig. 9.

[0150] When the communication device 1000 is configured to implement the functionality of the first communication device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, or FIG. 9, the following example is provided.

[0151] The transceiver module 1020 is configured to receive a first message from a network device, the first message including first configuration information.

[0152] Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 is further configured to transmit measurement information of the measurement to the network device.

[0153] Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 is further configured to receive or transmit discovery messages.

[0154] Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 is further configured to send a second message to the second communication device, the second message including switching indication information, the switching indication information indicating that a switching is completed, the switching being that the first communication device switches from the network device to the second communication device.

[0155] The processing module 1010 is configured to perform a measurement based on the first configuration information by receiving or transmitting a discovery message, the measurement being a measurement of a signal quality of a sidelink between the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0156] Optionally, the processing module 1010 is further configured to receive or transmit a discovery message when a reference signal received power (RSRP) is below a first threshold.

[0157] Optionally, the processing module 1010 is information is received, the device is further configured to receive or transmit a discovery message.

[0158] The above are only some of the examples when the communication device 1000 is configured to realize the functions of the first communication device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, or FIG. 9. The functions of the processing module 1010 and the transceiver module 1020 in the communication device 1000 may be realized by the functions of the first communication device in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, or FIG. N See Network Device Operation.

[0159] The communication device 1000 may alternatively be configured to implement the functionality of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, or Figure 9. When the communication device 1000 is configured to implement the functionality of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, or Figure 9, the following example is provided.

[0160] The transceiver module 1020 is configured to transmit a first message to a first communication device, the first message including first configuration information, the first configuration information indicating that the first communication device is to perform a measurement, the first message further including second configuration information, the second configuration information utilized to reconfigure or release the first threshold condition.

[0161] Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 is further configured to transmit a third message to the second communication device, the third message including configuration information utilized to forward the second message.

[0162] The processing module 1010 is configured to determine first configuration information and second configuration information.

[0163] The above are only some of the examples when the communication device 1000 is configured to realize the functions of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, or Figure 9. For the functions of the processing module 1010 and the transceiver module 1020 in the communication device 1000, please refer to the operation of the network device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, or Figure 9.

[0164] The communication device 1000 may alternatively be configured to implement the functionality of the second communication device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9. When the communication device 1000 is configured to implement the functionality of the second communication device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9, the following example is provided.

[0165] The transceiver module 1020 is configured to receive a second message from the first communication device, the second message including switching indication information indicating that a switch is completed, the switch being that the first communication device switches from the network device to the second communication device.

[0166] Optionally, the transceiver module 1020 is further configured to receive a third message from the network device, the third message including configuration information utilized to forward the second message.

[0167] The processing module 1010 is configured to store the second message.

[0168] Optionally, the processing module 1010 is further configured to determine, based on a bearer identity corresponding to the second message, that the second message includes switching indication information.

[0169] Optionally, the processing module 1010 is further configured to set a timer, start the timer when the second communication device receives the second message, and discard the second message if the timer expires and the second communication device has not received the third message.

[0170] Optionally, the processing module 1010 is further configured to set a timer, start the timer when the second communication device receives the second message, and send a first indication information to the first communication device when the timer expires and the second communication device has not received the third message. The first indication information indicates that the first communication device reselects a relay device.

[0171] The above are only some of the examples when the communication device 1000 is configured to realize the functions of the second communication device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9. For the functions of the processing module 1010 and the transceiver module 1020 in the communication device 1000, please refer to the operation of the second communication device in the method embodiment shown in Figure 9.

[0172] 11 is another block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 11, the communication device 1100 includes a processor 1110 and an interface circuit 1130. The processor 1110 and the interface circuit 1130 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 1130 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface.

[0173] Optionally, the communication device 1100 comprises a processor 1110 The processor 1110 may further include a memory 1120 configured to store instructions to be executed by the processor 1110, to store input data required by the processor 1110 to execute the instructions, or to store data generated after the processor 1110 executes the instructions.

[0174] When the communication device 1100 is configured to implement the functions of a first communication device, a second communication device, or a network device shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, or FIG. 9, the processor 1110 is configured to implement the functions of the processing module 1010, and the interface circuit 1130 is configured to implement the functions of the transceiver module 1020.

[0175] It may be understood that there may be one or more processors 1110, interface circuits 1130, or memories 1120. This is not a limitation in this specification.

[0176] Optionally, the communications device 1100 further includes a bus 1140. The processor 1110, the interface circuit 1130, and the memory 1120 may communicate with each other via the bus 1140.

[0177] An embodiment of the present application further provides a system chip, which includes an input / output interface, at least one processor, at least one memory, and a bus, wherein the at least one memory is configured to store instructions, and the at least one processor is configured to call the instructions in the at least one memory to perform the operations of the method in the above aspect.

[0178] It should be noted that in this embodiment of this application, the above method embodiments of the embodiments of this application may be applied to or realized by a processor. The processor may be an integrated circuit chip and has signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, the steps in the above method embodiments may be completed using hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or using instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application may be realized or performed. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, the processor may be any conventional processor, and so on. The steps of the methods disclosed in connection with the embodiments of this application may be directly implemented when executed by a hardware decoding processor, or may be performed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be arranged in a storage medium that is mature in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, or a register. The storage medium is arranged in the memory. The processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with the hardware of the processor.

[0179] It should be understood that the memory in this embodiment of the application may be volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM) and is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM may be used, 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), synchlink dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein includes, but is not limited to, these and any other memory of a suitable type.

[0180] All or part of the methods provided in the above embodiments may be realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to realize the above embodiments, all or part of the above embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product may include one or more computer instructions. When the computer program product is loaded and executed on a computer, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of this application may be generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from a computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, or digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, radio wave, microwave, etc.) methods. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a computer, or may be a data storage device, such as a server or data center, that consolidates one or more available media contained therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic disk), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state disk (SSD)).

[0181] Those skilled in the art may see by reference to the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification that the units and algorithm steps can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may utilize different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but this implementation should not be considered as departing from the scope of this application.

[0182] It can be obviously understood by those skilled in the art that for the purpose of convenient and concise description, the detailed operation processes of the above systems, devices and units should be referred to the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments, and the details will not be described again here.

[0183] In some embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device, and method may be realized in other ways. For example, the described device embodiment is merely an example. For example, the division into units is merely a logical functional division, and may be other divisions in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into other systems, or some features may be omitted or not implemented. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be realized through some interfaces. Indirect couplings or communication connections between devices or units may be realized in electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0184] The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and the parts shown as units may or may not be physical units, located in one location or distributed over multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on the actual implementation to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments.

[0185] In addition, the functional units in the embodiments of this application may be integrated into a single processing unit, each of the units may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit.

[0186] When a function is realized in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the integrated unit may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of this application may be essentially implemented in the form of a software product, or a part of the technical solution may be contributed to the prior art. The computer software product includes some instructions that are stored in a storage medium and enable a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method in the embodiments of this application. The above storage medium includes any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flash disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0187] The above description is merely a specific implementation of this application, and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications or replacements that are immediately understood by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should fall within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. receiving a first message from a network device, the first message including first configuration information; receiving or sending a discovery message; performing a measurement based on the first configuration information by receiving or transmitting the discovery message, the measurement being a measurement of a signal quality of a sidelink between a first communication device and a second communication device; transmitting measurement information of the measurements to the network device; A communication method comprising:

2. The step of receiving or transmitting a discovery message includes: receiving or transmitting the discovery message when a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) is less than a first threshold, the RSRP being an RSRP of an air interface between the first communication device and the network device; The method of claim 1.

3. The step of receiving or transmitting a discovery message includes: receiving or transmitting the discovery message when the first configuration message is received; The method according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The first message further includes second configuration information, the second configuration information being utilized to reconfigure the first threshold or release the first threshold. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The method comprises: and sending a second message to the second communication device, the second message including switching indication information, the switching indication information indicating that switching is completed, the switching being that the first communication device switches from the network device to the second communication device. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The second message includes a local identity (local ID) of the first communication device and a bearer identity corresponding to the second message. The method according to claim 5.

7. sending a first message to a first communication device, the first message including first configuration information, the first configuration information indicating that the first communication device is to perform measurements; The first message further includes second configuration information, the second configuration information being utilized to reconfigure the first threshold or release the first threshold. Communication methods.

8. The method comprises: and transmitting a third message to a second communication device, the third message including configuration information utilized to forward the second message. The method of claim 7.

9. receiving a second message from a first communication device, the second message including switching indication information, the switching indication information indicating that a switch is completed, the switch being the first communication device switching from a network device to a second communication device; storing the second message; receiving a third message from the network device, the third message including configuration information utilized to forward the second message, the configuration information utilized to forward the second message being a Sidelink Relay Adaptation Protocol (SRAP) configuration; A communication method comprising:

10. The second message includes a local identity (local ID) of the first communication device and a bearer identity corresponding to the second message.

10. The method of claim 9.

11. The method comprises: determining, based on the bearer identity corresponding to the second message, that the second message includes the switching indication information. The method of claim 10.

12. The third message includes: a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message received from the network device after the second message is received; the first RRC message received after the second communication device enters a connected state from an idle or inactive state; or a first RRC message including the Sidelink Relay Adaptation Protocol (SRAP) configuration; The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11.

13. The configuration information utilized to forward the second message includes a mapping relationship between the local ID of the first communication device, the bearer identity corresponding to the second message, and a Radio Link Control (RLC) bearer. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12.

14. The method comprises: setting a timer, starting the timer when the second communication device receives the second message, and discarding the second message if the timer expires and the second communication device has not received the third message. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13.

15. The method comprises: and further comprising the steps of: setting a timer, starting the timer when the second communication device receives the second message, and sending a first indication information to the first communication device when the timer expires and the second communication device has not received the third message, the first indication information indicating that the first communication device reselects a relay device. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13.

16. A communication device comprising a module adapted to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

17. A communication device comprising a module adapted to carry out the method according to claim 7 or 8.

18. A communication device comprising a module configured to carry out the method according to any one of claims 9 to 15.

19. A communications device comprising a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being configured to receive signals from a device other than the device and transmit the signals to the processor, or transmit signals from the processor to a device other than the device, the processor being configured to implement a method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 by utilizing logic circuits or executing code instructions.

20. A communications device comprising a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being configured to receive signals from a device other than the device and transmit the signals to the processor or transmit signals from the processor to a device other than the device, the processor being configured to implement a method according to claim 7 or 8 by utilizing logic circuits or executing code instructions.

21. A communications device comprising a processor and an interface circuit, the interface circuit being configured to receive signals from a device other than the device and transmit the signals to the processor, or transmit signals from the processor to a device other than the device, the processor being configured to implement a method according to any one of claims 9 to 15 by utilizing logic circuits or by executing code instructions.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, the computer-readable storage medium causing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the method according to claim 7 or 8, or the method according to any one of claims 9 to 15, when the computer program or the instructions are executed by a communication device, to be performed.

23. A computer program product, which when executed by a communication device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the method according to claim 7 or 8, or the method according to any one of claims 9 to 15.

24. A communication system including one or more of the communication devices according to any one of claims 16 to 21.

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