Communication path switching method, device, and terminal

Abstract

The present application discloses a communication path switching method and a terminal, which belong to the field of wireless communication technology. The communication path switching method of an embodiment of the present application includes: a step of receiving a reconfiguration message, where the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, where the first path includes that the remote UE is directly connected to a first base station, and the second path includes that the remote UE is connected to a second base station via a first relay UE; and a step of starting a target timer in the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, where the target timer is used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first path to the second path.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This invention claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on March 30, 2021, bearing application number 202110343630.9 and titled "Method, device and terminal for switching communication paths", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and specifically to a method, device, and terminal for switching a communication path. [Background technology]

[0003] Communication systems such as the 5th Generation New Radio (5G NR) system and the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system can all support Sidelink (SL) transmission, that is, data transmission can be performed directly on the physical layer between User Equipment (UE, i.e., remote UE) without going through network side equipment.

[0004] However, with regard to the problem of path switching that exists in the SL Relay scenario, for example the problem that a terminal needs to switch from a communication path directly connected to a base station to a communication path indirectly connected to the base station via a relay terminal, currently there is still a lack of a reliable set of path switching flows to support this in order to ensure the smooth progress of the switching process. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a method, device and terminal for switching a communication path, which can solve the problem that the communication path switching process cannot proceed smoothly in an SL relay scenario. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to a first aspect, there is provided a method for switching a communication path performed by a remote UE, the method including: receiving a reconfiguration message, the reconfiguration message being used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, the first path including the remote UE being directly connected to a first base station, and the second path including the remote UE being connected to a second base station via a first relay UE; and starting a target timer in a process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, the target timer being used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first path to the second path.

[0007] According to a second aspect, there is provided a communication path switching apparatus, the apparatus including: a receiving module for receiving a reconfiguration message, the reconfiguration message being used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, the first path including the remote UE being directly connected to a first base station, and the second path including the remote UE being connected to a second base station via a first relay UE; and a switching module for starting a target timer in a process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, the target timer being used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first path to the second path.

[0008] According to a third aspect, there is provided a terminal comprising a processor, a memory and a program or instructions stored in the memory and operable to run on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the method of the first aspect.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a terminal comprising a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is coupled to the processor, the processor being adapted to run a program or instructions to implement the method according to the first aspect.

[0010] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a readable storage medium having stored thereon a program or instructions which, when executed by a processor, effectuates the steps of the method according to the first aspect.

[0011] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a chip, the chip including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface coupled to the processor, the processor running a program or instructions and adapted to implement the method of the first aspect.

[0012] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer program / program product, the computer program / program product being stored on a non-volatile storage medium, the computer program / program product being executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the method according to the first aspect. Effect of the Invention

[0013] In an embodiment of the present application, when the remote UE receives a reconfiguration message and switches from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, the remote UE starts a target timer, so that the remote UE can clarify the result of the communication path switching and further ensure the smooth execution of the communication path switching flow. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application; [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart of a method for switching a communication path according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart of a communication path switching method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart of a communication path switching method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present application. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart of a communication path switching method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] 1 is a block structure schematic diagram of a communication path switching device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application; [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a block structure schematic diagram of a terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The following clearly describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present application are all within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0016] The terms "first," "second," etc. in the specification and claims of the present application are intended to distinguish between similar objects and are not intended to describe a particular order or sequence. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable where appropriate, such that the embodiments of the present application may be performed in an order other than that shown or described herein, and that the objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same type and do not limit the number of objects, e.g., the first object may be one or more. It is to be noted that "and / or" in the specification and claims represents at least one of the objects connected, and the character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the related objects.

[0017] It should be noted that the techniques described in the embodiments of the present application are not limited to Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, but can also be applied to other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are always used interchangeably, and the techniques described may be used in the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, or in other systems and radio technologies. Although the following description describes a New Radio (NR) system for illustrative purposes and uses NR terminology in most of the description below, these techniques may be applied to applications other than NR system applications, such as 6th Generation (6G) communication systems.

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a structural schematic diagram of a wireless communication system to which the embodiment of the present application can be applied. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network side device 12. Here, the terminal 11 may be called a terminal device or a user terminal (User Equipment, UE), and the terminal 11 may be a terminal side device such as a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer (or called a notebook computer), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a palmtop computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a mobile Internet device (MID), a wearable device (Wearable Device) or a vehicle-mounted device (VUE), a pedestrian terminal (PUE), etc., and the wearable device includes a smart watch, a bracelet, an earphone, a pair of glasses, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of the terminal 11 in the embodiment of the present application is not limited.The network side equipment 12 may be a base station or a core network, where the base station may be called a Node B, an evolved Node B, an access point, a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a B node, an evolved B node (evolution Node-B (eNB), a home B node, a home evolved B node, a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point, a WiFi node, a transmitting receiving point (TRP), or any other suitable term in the art, and as long as the same technical effect is achieved, the base station is not limited to a specific technical term, and it should be explained that in the embodiments of this application, only a base station in an NR system is taken as an example, but the specific type of the base station is not limited.

[0019] Here, in some communication scenarios, a remote UE needs to transmit data to the network side device 12, but due to poor coverage, it needs to relay through a relay UE, where the relay UE and the network side device 12 may be connected by adopting a Uu interface, and the relay UE and the remote UE may be connected by adopting a sidelink (SL) interface, where the SL interface may be called a PC5 interface. In general, a relay UE is open and can provide services to any remote UE.

[0020] In this regard, the following will describe in detail the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present application through several embodiments and their application scenarios in conjunction with the drawings.

[0021] It should be noted that in the communication path switching method according to the embodiment of the present application, the roles of the remote UE and the relay UE can be exchanged according to the communication scenario. For example, in some communication scenarios, the remote UE may perform uplink and downlink data transfer as a relay UE, and in other communication scenarios, the relay UE may be a remote UE, and the present embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0022] In this case, as shown in Figure 2, which is a flowchart of a method 200 for switching a communication path according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, the method 200 may be performed by a terminal (e.g., a remote UE), but is not limited thereto, and may also be performed by hardware and / or software specifically installed in the terminal. In this embodiment, the method 200 may include at least the following steps:

[0023] S210, receiving a reconfiguration message.

[0024] Here, the reconfiguration message (which may be understood as a switching command) is used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, where the first path includes the remote UE being directly connected to a first base station, and the second path includes the remote UE being connected to a second base station via a first relay UE. For example, referring to FIG. 1 again, the first path may be that the terminal 11 is directly connected to the base station 12, and the second path may be that the terminal 11 is indirectly connected to the base station 12 via another terminal 11. It should be noted that the above-mentioned first base station and second base station may be the same base station or different base stations, and the present embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0025] As a possible implementation, in addition to being used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to the second path, the reconfiguration message can also indicate information of at least one first relay UE, such as, for example, identifier information of the first relay UE.

[0026] As can be understood, when the reconfiguration message indicates that there are multiple relay UEs, the first relay UE may be any one of the multiple relay UEs. Alternatively, the first relay UE may be one that is determined by a protocol, one that is configured by higher layer signaling, etc., without any limitation herein.

[0027] S220, in the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, starting a target timer.

[0028] Here, the target timer is used to determine a switching result (e.g., switching failure, switching success, switching in progress) when the remote UE switches from the first path to the second path, so that the remote UE can ensure smooth execution of the communication path switching flow by clarifying the communication path switching result based on the running state of the target timer. Optionally, the start occasion of the target timer may be determined by a protocol or configured by upper layer signaling, and is not limited here.

[0029] In this embodiment, as a possible implementation method, the target timer includes any one of the following (1)-(2).

[0030] (1) A timer dedicated for the remote UE to be switched from the first path to the second path.

[0031] Wherein, this timer is dedicated for the remote UE to be switched from the first path to the second path. In this embodiment, the value of the timer may be specified by a protocol or configured by higher layer signaling or network side equipment.

[0032] (2) A designated timer that is employed when switching from the first path to a third path, where the third path includes the remote UE being directly connected to a third base station.

[0033] Here, the designated timer may be a conventional timer, such as T304. However, it should be noted that in this embodiment, the value of the designated timer is specifically adapted to the switching process of switching from the first path to the second path, for example, when switching from the first path to the third path (i.e., the remote UE is directly connected to a third base station), the value of the designated timer is a first time, and when switching from the first path to the second path, the value of the designated timer is a second time, and the second time is different from the first time (for example, the first time is larger than the second time or the first time is smaller than the second time), or the second time is the same as the first time. Optionally, the value of the designated timer may be stipulated by a protocol or configured by a base station, etc.

[0034] In this embodiment, when the remote UE receives a reconfiguration message and switches from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, the remote UE starts a target timer, so that the remote UE can clarify the result of the communication path switching and further ensure the smooth execution of the communication path switching flow.

[0035] As shown in Figure 3, a flowchart of a method 300 for switching a communication path according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, in which the method 300 may be performed by a terminal (e.g., a remote UE), but is not limited to this, and may also be performed by hardware and / or software specifically installed in the terminal. In this embodiment, the method 300 may include at least the following steps:

[0036] S310, receiving a reconfiguration message.

[0037] Here, the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, the first path including the remote UE being directly connected to a first base station, and the second path including the remote UE being connected to a second base station via a first relay UE.

[0038] As can be understood, the implementation process of S310 can refer to the relevant description in embodiment 200 of the above-mentioned method. In addition, as a possible implementation manner, when multiple relay UEs are indicated in the reconfiguration message, the remote UE can select a candidate first relay UE from the multiple relay UEs based on a relay reselection process, and further attempt a PC5 connection with the candidate first relay UE to realize switching of the communication path.

[0039] S320, in the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, starting a target timer.

[0040] Here, the target timer is used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first route to the second route.

[0041] As can be understood, the implementation process of S320 can refer to the relevant description in the method embodiment 200. In addition, as a possible implementation manner in this embodiment, the implementation process of S320 may include, but is not limited to, S321 and S322, and the content is as follows:

[0042] S321, when the reconfiguration message is received, starting the target timer.

[0043] Here, for the relevant description of the reconfiguration message and the target timer described in S321, reference may be made to the relevant description in the embodiment 200 of the aforementioned method, and no further description will be given here.

[0044] S322, switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message.

[0045] Here, in the process of switching from the first path to the second path, the remote UE may establish a PC5 connection (i.e., a sidelink connection, which may include a PC5-S connection and / or a PC5-RRC connection, etc.) with the first relay UE, the remote UE sending a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message, the first relay UE initiating a random access process, etc., but are not limited thereto and are not limited thereto herein.

[0046] In this case, as a possible implementation method, when at least one of the following (1) to (3) is satisfied, the remote UE may determine that the route switching is successful and stop the target timer.

[0047] (1) The remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with the first relay UE.

[0048] As can be seen, if the reconfiguration message indicates that there are multiple relay UEs, and the remote UE is able to successfully establish a PC5 connection with at least one (or any one) of the multiple relay UEs, then it is determined that the remote UE has successfully established a PC5 connection (including a PC5-S connection and / or a PC5-RRC connection) with the first relay UE.

[0049] For example, if the reconfiguration message indicates that there is information of multiple relay UEs, after the remote UE fails to establish a PC5 connection with one of the relay UEs, the remote UE may attempt to establish a PC5 connection with one or more other relay UEs, and if the remote UE succeeds in establishing a connection with at least one of them, it determines that the remote UE has successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE.

[0050] As a possible implementation, the target timer may be paused when the remote UE initiates establishment of a PC5 connection with a first relay UE, and the target timer may continue to run when the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with the first relay UE.

[0051] (2) The remote UE successfully sends an RRC reconfiguration message to a fourth base station.

[0052] Wherein, the remote UE may successfully send the RRC reconfiguration message to the fourth base station via the first relay UE, in this embodiment, the fourth base station may be the same as or different from the second base station, and is not limited here.

[0053] (3) The first relay UE has successfully completed a random access process to the fifth base station.

[0054] Here, the fifth base station may be the same as or different from the base station that transmits the reconfiguration message. In other words, the fifth base station may be the same as or different from the second base station, and is not limited here.

[0055] In this embodiment, when the remote UE receives a reconfiguration message, the remote UE starts a target timer, and then switches from the first route to the second route based on the reconfiguration message. Finally, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the remote UE stops the target timer, thereby further ensuring smooth execution of the communication route switching flow.

[0056] 4, a flowchart of a method 400 for switching a communication path according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, which may be performed by a terminal, but is not limited to this, and may be specifically performed by hardware and / or software installed in the terminal. In this embodiment, the method 400 may include at least the following steps:

[0057] S410, receiving a reconfiguration message.

[0058] Here, the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, the first path including the remote UE being directly connected to a first base station, and the second path including the remote UE being connected to a second base station via a first relay UE.

[0059] As can be understood, the implementation process of S410 can refer to the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments 200 and / or 300, and will not be further described here to avoid repetition.

[0060] S420, in the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, starting a target timer.

[0061] Here, the target timer is used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first route to the second route.

[0062] As can be understood, the implementation process of S420 can refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments 200 and / or 300. In addition, as a possible implementation manner in this embodiment, the implementation process of S420 may include, but is not limited to, S421 and S422, and the content is as follows:

[0063] S421, when the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with a first relay UE based on the reconfiguration message, start the target timer.

[0064] Here, for the relevant description of the reconfiguration message and the target timer described in S321, reference may be made to the relevant description in the aforementioned method embodiments 200 and / or 300, and no further description is given here.

[0065] As can be seen, if the reconfiguration message indicates that there are multiple relay UEs, and the remote UE is able to successfully establish a PC5 connection with at least one (or any one) of the multiple relay UEs, it is determined that the remote UE has successfully established a PC5 connection (i.e., a Sidelink link connection, including a PC5-S connection and / or a PC5-RRC connection) with the first relay UE.

[0066] S422, switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message.

[0067] Similar to the above-mentioned S322, in the process of the remote UE switching from the first path to the second path described in S422, it may include, but is not limited to, the remote UE successfully sending an RRC reconfiguration message, the first relay UE initiating a random access process, etc.

[0068] In this case, as a possible implementation method, when at least one of the following (1)-(2) is satisfied, the remote UE may determine that the route switching is successful and stop the target timer.

[0069] (1) The remote UE successfully sends an RRC reconfiguration message to a fourth base station.

[0070] Wherein, the remote UE may successfully send the RRC reconfiguration message to the fourth base station via the first relay UE, in this embodiment, the fourth base station may be the same as or different from the second base station, and is not limited here.

[0071] (2) The first relay UE has successfully completed a random access process to the fifth base station.

[0072] Here, the fifth base station may be the same as or different from the base station that transmits the reconfiguration message. In other words, the fifth base station may be the same as or different from the second base station, and is not limited here.

[0073] In this embodiment, when the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with a first relay UE, the target timer is started, and then the first path is switched to the second path based on the reconfiguration message; and finally, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the target timer is stopped, thereby further ensuring the smooth execution of the communication path switching flow.

[0074] 5, a flowchart of a method 500 for switching a communication path according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, the method 500 may be performed by a terminal (e.g., a remote UE), but is not limited thereto, and may also be performed by hardware and / or software specifically installed in the terminal. In this embodiment, the method 500 may include at least the following steps:

[0075] S510, receiving a reconfiguration message.

[0076] Here, the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, the first path including the remote UE being directly connected to a first base station, and the second path including the remote UE being connected to a second base station via a first relay UE.

[0077] S520, in the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, starting a target timer.

[0078] Here, the target timer is used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first route to the second route.

[0079] It can be understood that the implementation processes of S510 and S520 can refer to the relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments 200-400, and will not be further described here to avoid repetition.

[0080] S530: if the target timer times out and / or if the number of PC5 connections initiated by the remote UE exceeds a first value but does not successfully establish a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, determine that the switching result is unsuccessful, and perform a predetermined operation, where the predetermined operation includes at least one of the following (1)-(3):

[0081] (1) The remote UE initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure.

[0082] (2) The remote UE initiates a route switching failure reporting process and reports information related to the route switching failure.

[0083] Here, the remote UE reporting information related to the failure to the base station means that during the communication path switching process, the remote UE can still maintain its connection with the original base station, for example, the remote UE does not disconnect the connection with the original base station (e.g., constituting a DAPS-Dual Active Protocol Stack bearer) during the communication path switching process, or the base station initiating the path conversion at this time is one of the base stations of the remote UE (e.g., a Master Cell Group (MCG) or a Secondary Cell Group (SCG)), and another base station (e.g., an SCG or an MCG) is connected to the remote UE at the same time, and can report to another base station.

[0084] The information related to the path switching failure may include, but is not limited to, an identity (ID) corresponding to the first relay UE that has failed in the switching, a cause of the switching failure, etc.

[0085] (3) The remote UE initiates a relay UE reselection process and / or establishes a PC5 connection with the reselected second relay UE.

[0086] Optionally, the second relay UE is any one of the following (3a)-(3b):

[0087] (3a) Obtained by the remote UE performing relay UE reselection. For example, the remote UE may perform relay reselection based on a relay reselection process.

[0088] (3b) Obtained according to an instruction of the reconfiguration message, where the second relay UE or the third relay UE is another relay UE other than the first relay UE among a plurality of relay UEs indicated by the reconfiguration message.

[0089] As can be understood, the second relay UEs obtained based on the above (3a) and (3b) may be the same or different, and are not limited here.

[0090] Exemplarily, in this embodiment, the remote UE may always attempt to establish a connection with a new relay UE (i.e., the above-mentioned second relay UE) before the target timer times out and / or the number of PC5 connections exceeds N (i.e., a first numerical value), where the first numerical value may be stipulated by a protocol or configured by a base station, and may be determined based on the number of relay UEs indicated by the reconfiguration message, and is not limited thereto.

[0091] In addition to the above-mentioned implementation methods, as a possible implementation method, when the target timer has not timed out and the remote UE has not successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, and / or when the number of PC5 connections initiated by the remote UE has not exceeded a first value and the remote UE has not successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, the remote UE may perform at least one of the following (1)-(2).

[0092] (1) The remote UE initiates an RRC connection reestablishment process.

[0093] (2) The remote UE initiates a relay UE reselection process and / or establishes a PC5 connection with the reselected third relay UE.

[0094] Here, the third relay UE may be any one of the following (2a) or (2b).

[0095] (2a) Obtained by the remote UE performing relay UE reselection.

[0096] (2b) Obtained according to an instruction of the reconfiguration message, where the third relay UE is another relay UE other than the first relay UE among a plurality of relay UEs indicated by the reconfiguration message.

[0097] It should be understood that the implementation process of this implementation method can refer to the implementation process of S530 described above, for example, the relevant description of the third relay UE can refer to the description of the second relay UE described above, and in order to avoid repetition of description, no further description will be given here.

[0098] In this embodiment, the remote UE may determine whether to perform a subsequent switching operation, for example, whether to initiate an RRC connection reestablishment process, whether to initiate a relay UE reselection process, etc., based on whether the target timer has timed out and / or whether the number of PC5 connections has exceeded a predetermined value, thereby further ensuring the reliable progress of the switching flow and improving the performance of the wireless communication system.

[0099] In addition, the above-mentioned method embodiments 200-500 according to the present embodiment may be applied to L2 architecture or L3 architecture, where the feature of L2 architecture is that the relay UE does not have a complete protocol stack for the data relayed by it, i.e., except for the basic Layer 2 (L2) transmission protocol stack of Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC) and Physical (PHY), there is no corresponding protocol stack such as RRC, Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), etc., and only RLC bearer is used to carry and transmit the data of the remote UE.

[0100] The feature of the L3 architecture is that the relay UE has a complete protocol stack, i.e., in addition to the basic L2 transmission protocol stack of RLC, MAC and PHY, it also has protocol stacks such as RRC, SDAP, PDCP (just to name a few, not all of them are necessarily present), which are used to carry and transmit data from the remote UE.

[0101] It should be noted that in the communication path switching method according to the embodiment of the present application, the execution body may be a communication path switching device, or a control module for executing the communication path switching method in the communication path switching device. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication path switching device according to the embodiment of the present application is described by taking the execution of the communication path switching method by the communication path switching device as an example.

[0102] As shown in FIG. 6, it is a block structure schematic diagram of a communication path switching device 600 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application, the device 600 including: a receiving module 610 for receiving a reconfiguration message, where the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, where the first path includes that the remote UE is directly connected to a first base station, and the second path includes that the remote UE is connected to a second base station via a first relay UE; and a switching module 620 for starting a target timer in the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, where the target timer is used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first path to the second path.

[0103] Optionally, the target timer includes one of a dedicated timer for the remote UE to be switched from the first route to the second route and a designated timer to be adopted when the remote UE is switched from the first route to a third route, where the third route includes the remote UE being directly connected to a third base station.

[0104] Optionally, the switching module 620 is used for starting the target timer when receiving the reconfiguration message, and switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message.

[0105] Optionally, the switching module 620 is further used to stop the target timer when at least one of the following is satisfied: the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, the remote UE successfully sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the fourth base station, and the first relay UE successfully completes a random access process to a fifth base station.

[0106] Optionally, the switching module 620 is further used for pausing the target timer when starting to establish a PC5 connection with a first relay UE, and for continuing to run the target timer when the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with the first relay UE.

[0107] Optionally, the switching module 620 is used for starting the target timer when the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with a first relay UE based on the reconfiguration message, and for switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message.

[0108] Optionally, the switching module 620 is further used for stopping the target timer when at least one of the following is satisfied: the remote UE successfully sends an RRC reconfiguration message to a fourth base station; and the first relay UE successfully completes a random access process to a fifth base station.

[0109] Alternatively, when the reconfiguration message indicates that there is at least one relay UE, the first relay UE is any one of the at least one relay UE.

[0110] Optionally, the switching module 620 is further used to determine that the remote UE has successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE when the reconfiguration message indicates that there are multiple relay UEs and the remote UE can successfully establish a PC5 connection with at least one relay UE among the multiple relay UEs.

[0111] Optionally, the PC5 connection includes a PC5-S connection and / or a PC5-RRC connection.

[0112] Optionally, the switching module 620 is further used for successfully sending the RRC reconfiguration message to the fourth base station via the first relay UE.

[0113] Optionally, the switching module 620 is further used to determine that the switching result is unsuccessful when the target timer times out and / or when the number of PC5 connections initiated by the remote UE exceeds a first value but does not successfully establish a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, and perform at least one of the following: the remote UE initiates an RRC connection reestablishment process; the remote UE initiates a switching failure reporting process and reports information related to a path switching failure; and the remote UE initiates a relay UE reselection process and / or makes a PC5 connection with a reselected second relay UE.

[0114] Optionally, the switching module 620 is further used to perform at least one of: when the target timer has not timed out and the remote UE has not successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, and / or when the number of PC5 connections initiated by the remote UE has not exceeded a first numerical value and the remote UE has not successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, the remote UE initiates an RRC connection reestablishment process, and the remote UE initiates a relay UE reselection process and / or makes a PC5 connection with a reselected third relay UE.

[0115] Alternatively, the second relay UE or the third relay UE is one of those obtained by the remote UE performing relay UE reselection and those obtained by an indication of the reconfiguration message, where the second relay UE or the third relay UE is another relay UE excluding the first relay UE among a plurality of relay UEs indicated by the reconfiguration message.

[0116] Optionally, the switching module 620 is further used for selecting a first relay UE from the multiple relay UEs when multiple relay UEs are indicated in the reconfiguration message.

[0117] In an embodiment of the present application, when the remote UE receives a reconfiguration message and switches from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, the remote UE starts a target timer, so that the remote UE can clarify the result of the communication path switching and further ensure the smooth execution of the communication path switching flow.

[0118] The communication path switching device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device, a device or electronic device having an operating system, or a component, integrated circuit, or chip in a terminal. The device or electronic device may be a mobile terminal or a non-mobile terminal. Exemplarily, the mobile terminal may include, but is not limited to, the types of terminals 11 listed above, and the non-mobile terminal may be a server, a network attached storage (NAS), a personal computer (PC), a television (TV), a deposit payment machine, or a self-service machine, and the embodiment of the present application is not specifically limited thereto.

[0119] The communication path switching device according to the embodiment of the present application can realize each process realized by the method embodiments of Figures 2 to 5 and achieve the same technical effects, and will not be further described here to avoid repetition of description.

[0120] The embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal, comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled to the processor, and the processor is used to run programs or instructions to realize the methods described in the above method embodiments 200-500. The embodiment of the terminal corresponds to the above method embodiment on the terminal side, and the implementation processes and realization methods of the above method embodiment can be applied to the embodiment of the terminal, and the same technical effects can be achieved. Specifically, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal for realizing the embodiment of the present application.

[0121] The terminal 700 includes at least some of the following components, but is not limited to: a radio frequency unit 701, a network module 702, an audio output unit 703, an input unit 704, a sensor 705, a display unit 706, a user input unit 707, an interface unit 708, a memory 709, and a processor 710.

[0122] As can be understood by those skilled in the art, the terminal 700 may further include a power source (e.g., a battery) for powering each component, and the power source may be logically connected to the processor 710 by a power management system, so that the power management system can realize functions such as charge / discharge management and power consumption management. The terminal structure shown in Figure 7 does not constitute a limitation on the terminal, and the terminal may include more or less components than the number of components shown, or a combination of some components, or a different arrangement of components, and will not be further described here.

[0123] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the input unit 704 may include a graphics processor (Graphics Processing Unit, GPU) 7041 and a microphone 7042, and the graphics processor 7041 processes image data of still or video images obtained by an image capture device (e.g., a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 706 may include a display panel 7061, and the display panel 7061 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, and the like. The user input unit 707 includes a touch panel 7071 and other input devices 7072. The touch panel 7071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 7071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. The other input devices 7072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (e.g., volume control buttons, switch buttons, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and a control lever, which will not be described further herein.

[0124] In the embodiment of the present application, the radio frequency unit 701 receives downlink data from the network side device, and then causes the processor 710 to process the data, and transmits uplink data to the network side device. In general, the radio frequency unit 701 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, etc.

[0125] The memory 709 may be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 709 may mainly include a program or instruction storage area and a data storage area, where the program or instruction storage area can store an operating system, an application program or instruction required for at least one function (e.g., a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.), etc. The memory 709 may include a high-speed random access memory or a non-volatile memory, where the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. For example, the memory 709 may be at least one magnetic disk memory device, a flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state memory device.

[0126] The processor 710 may include one or more processing units. Optionally, the processor 710 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor, where the application processor mainly processes an operating system, a user interface, and application programs or instructions, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication, such as a baseband processor. As can be understood, the modem processor does not have to be integrated into the processor 710.

[0127] Here, the processor 710 is used for receiving a reconfiguration message, where the reconfiguration message is used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first route to a second route, where the first route includes the remote UE being directly connected to a first base station, and the second route includes the remote UE being connected to a second base station via a first relay UE, and for starting a target timer in the process of switching from the first route to the second route based on the reconfiguration message, where the target timer is used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first route to the second route.

[0128] Optionally, the target timer includes one of a dedicated timer for the remote UE to be switched from the first route to the second route and a designated timer to be adopted when the remote UE is switched from the first route to a third route, where the third route includes the remote UE being directly connected to a third base station.

[0129] Optionally, the processor 710 is used for starting the target timer when the reconfiguration message is received, and for switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message.

[0130] Optionally, the processor 710 is further configured to stop the target timer when at least one of the following is satisfied: the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with the first relay UE; the remote UE successfully sends an RRC reconfiguration message to a fourth base station; and the first relay UE successfully completes a random access process to a fifth base station.

[0131] Optionally, the processor 710 is further used for pausing the target timer when the remote UE starts establishing a PC5 connection with a first relay UE, and for continuing to run the target timer when the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with the first relay UE.

[0132] Optionally, the processor 710 is used for starting the target timer when the remote UE successfully establishes a PC5 connection with a first relay UE based on the reconfiguration message, and for switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message.

[0133] Optionally, the processor 710 is further configured to stop the target timer when at least one of the following is satisfied: the remote UE successfully sends an RRC reconfiguration message to a fourth base station; and the first relay UE successfully completes a random access process to a fifth base station.

[0134] Alternatively, when the reconfiguration message indicates that there is at least one relay UE, the first relay UE is any one of the at least one relay UE.

[0135] Optionally, the processor 710 is further used to determine that the remote UE has successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE when the reconfiguration message indicates that there are multiple relay UEs and the remote UE can successfully establish a PC5 connection with at least one of the multiple relay UEs.

[0136] Optionally, the PC5 connection includes a PC5-S connection and / or a PC5-RRC connection.

[0137] Optionally, the processor 710 is further configured for successfully transmitting the RRC reconfiguration message to the fourth base station via the first relay UE.

[0138] Optionally, the processor 710 is further used to determine that the switching result is unsuccessful when the target timer times out and / or when the number of PC5 connections initiated by the remote UE exceeds a first value but does not successfully establish a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, and to perform at least one of the following: the remote UE initiating an RRC connection reestablishment process; the remote UE initiating a switching failure reporting process and reporting information related to a path switching failure; and the remote UE initiating a relay UE reselection process and / or making a PC5 connection with a reselected second relay UE.

[0139] Optionally, the processor 710 is further configured to perform at least one of: the remote UE initiating an RRC connection reestablishment process, the remote UE initiating a relay UE reselection process, and / or the remote UE making a PC5 connection with a reselected third relay UE, when the target timer has not timed out and the remote UE has not successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE and / or when the number of PC5 connections initiated by the remote UE has not exceeded a first numerical value and the remote UE has not successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE.

[0140] Alternatively, the second relay UE or the third relay UE is one of those obtained by the remote UE performing relay UE reselection and those obtained by an indication of the reconfiguration message, where the second relay UE or the third relay UE is another relay UE excluding the first relay UE among a plurality of relay UEs indicated by the reconfiguration message.

[0141] Optionally, the processor 710 is further adapted for selecting a first relay UE from the plurality of relay UEs when a plurality of relay UEs are indicated in the reconfiguration message.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present application, in the process of receiving a reconfiguration message and switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, a target timer is started so that the remote UE can clarify the result of the communication path switching and further ensure the smooth execution of the communication path switching flow.

[0143] The embodiments of the present application further provide a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored, and when the program or instruction is executed by a processor, each process of the embodiment of the communication path switching method can be realized and the same technical effect can be achieved. In order to avoid repetition, no further description will be given here.

[0144] Wherein, the processor is the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0145] The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled to the processor, the processor is used to run a program or instruction to realize each process of the embodiment of the above-mentioned communication path switching method, and can achieve the same technical effect. In order to avoid repetition, no further description will be given here.

[0146] It should be understood that the chips referred to in the embodiments of the present application may be referred to as system level chips, system chips, chip systems, or systems on chips.

[0147] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes a processor, a memory, and a program or instruction stored in the memory and operable on the processor, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the process of the embodiment of the communication path switching method can be realized and the same technical effect can be achieved. In order to avoid repetition, no further description will be given here.

[0148] It should be explained that in this specification, the terms "comprise", "include", or any other variants thereof are intended to cover the non-exclusive "comprise", whereby a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a set of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. In the absence of further limitations, an element limited by the phrase "comprises a" does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes this element. It should be pointed out that the scope of the method and apparatus in the embodiments of this application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, but may include performing functions in an essentially simultaneous manner or in reverse order based on the functions involved, for example, the described method can be performed in a different order than described, and various steps can be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with reference to some examples can be combined in other examples.

[0149] From the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the methods of the above embodiments can be realized in the form of software and a necessary general-purpose hardware platform. Of course, they can also be realized in hardware, but in many cases the former is a more preferred embodiment. In light of this understanding, the technical proposal of the present application may be substantially or the part that contributes to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a computer software product, which is stored in a storage medium (e.g., ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes some instructions for causing a terminal (which may be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0150] The above describes the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above specific embodiments. The above specific embodiments are merely illustrative and not limiting. Those skilled in the art can take the suggestions of this application and make many forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims of this application, all of which belong to the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A method for switching a communication path performed by a remote UE, comprising: receiving a reconfiguration message, the reconfiguration message being used to instruct the remote UE to switch from a first path to a second path, the first path including the remote UE being directly connected to a first base station, and the second path including the remote UE being connected to a second base station via a first relay UE; starting a target timer when the reconfiguration message is received, and switching from the first route to the second route based on the reconfiguration message, the target timer being used to determine a switching result when the remote UE is switched from the first route to the second route; After switching from the first pathway to the second pathway, the method further comprises: The method for switching communication paths further includes stopping the target timer when the remote UE successfully sends an RRC reconfiguration message to a fourth base station.

2. The target timer a timer dedicated to the remote UE being switched from the first path to the second path; and a designated timer employed when switching from the first path to a third path, wherein the third path includes the remote UE being directly connected to a third base station.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein if the reconfiguration message indicates that there is at least one relay UE, the first relay UE is any one of the at least one relay UE.

4. The remote UE successfully sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the fourth base station; The method of claim 1 , comprising: the remote UE successfully sending the RRC reconfiguration message to the fourth base station via the first relay UE.

5. In the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, after starting a target timer, the method further comprises: determining that the switchover result is unsuccessful if the target timer times out and / or if the number of PC5 connections initiated by the remote UE exceeds a first value but does not successfully establish a PC5 connection with the first relay UE; and the remote UE initiating an RRC connection reestablishment process; The remote UE initiates a route switching failure reporting process and reports information related to the route switching failure; 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the remote UE performing at least one of initiating a relay UE reselection process and / or making a PC5 connection with the reselected second relay UE.

6. In the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, after starting a target timer, the method further comprises: If the target timer has not timed out and the remote UE has not successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, and / or if the number of PC5 connections initiated by the remote UE has not exceeded a first value and the remote UE has not successfully established a PC5 connection with the first relay UE, the remote UE initiating an RRC connection reestablishment process; The method of claim 1 , further comprising the remote UE performing at least one of: initiating a relay UE reselection process and / or making a PC5 connection with a reselected third relay UE.

7. The second relay UE or the third relay UE, The remote UE performs a relay UE reselection, and the remote UE performs a relay UE reselection. and the second relay UE or the third relay UE is any one of the relay UEs indicated by the reconfiguration message, wherein the second relay UE or the third relay UE is another relay UE excluding the first relay UE among the multiple relay UEs indicated by the reconfiguration message.

8. In the process of switching from the first path to the second path based on the reconfiguration message, before starting a target timer, the method further comprises: The method of claim 1 , further comprising: if multiple relay UEs are indicated in the reconfiguration message, selecting a first relay UE from the multiple relay UEs.

9. A terminal comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and operable on the processor, the program or instructions implementing the steps of the communication path switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 when executed by the processor.

10. A readable storage medium having a program or instructions stored thereon, the program or instructions being executed by a processor to implement the steps of the communication path switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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