Method for triggering discovery and terminal device

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for triggering discovery, a terminal device, and a network device, the method being applied to a first terminal, and including: a step of sending a discovery wake-up request to a network device, the discovery wake-up request being for requesting the network device to trigger a second terminal to initiate a discovery process, the second terminal and the first terminal having a contract binding relationship; and a step of initiating the discovery process upon receiving a reply message sent from the network device, the reply message being for identifying that the second terminal is initiating the discovery process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of communications, and particularly to a method for triggering discovery, a terminal device, and a network device.

Background Art

[0002] Currently, the discovery activation process between devices is blind. Taking the relay technology in a wireless communication system as an example, the relay technology adds one or more relay nodes responsible for one or multiple transfers of wireless signals between a base station and a terminal, that is, the wireless signal cannot reach the terminal unless it is multi-hopped. The wireless relay technology can not only be used for expanding cell coverage and complementing cell coverage dead spots, but also increasing cell capacity through spatial resource multiplexing. For indoor coverage, the relay technology can also play a role in overcoming transmission loss and improving indoor coverage quality. Taking a simple two-hop relay as an example, wireless relay splits one base station-terminal link into two links, namely a base station-relay station link and a relay station-terminal link, which may result in replacing one low-quality link with two high-quality links, and obtaining a larger link capacity and better coverage.

[0003] Currently, what is supported in Long Term Evolution (LTE) or New Radio (NR) is UE-To-Network relay, that is, one end of the relay machine is connected to the UE, and the other end is connected to the network side. The terminal connected to the relay machine may be called a Remote UE, and the terminal acting as the relay machine may be called a Relay UE. There are the following two methods for relay discovery.

[0004] As shown in FIG. 1, for the method 1, regarding the services in a certain vicinity, if the Relay UE desires that the nearby UE establish a UE-To-Network relay connection through itself, the Relay UE broadcasts a discovery message and declares that it is a Relay UE and can realize the UE-To-Network relay of the service.

[0005] For the method 2, regarding the services in a certain vicinity, if the Remote UE desires to establish a UE-To-Network relay connection through the nearby Relay UE, the Remote UE broadcasts a discovery message for discovering the nearby Relay UE. If the nearby Relay UE approves and authorizes the establishment of the UE-To-Network relay connection, it returns discovery response information to the Remote UE. As shown in FIG. 2, Relay UE1 and Relay UE3 approve the establishment of the UE-To-Network relay connection with the Remote UE.

[0006] As can be seen from the discovery activation processes in the above two methods, the current discovery activation process is blind, especially among devices with a contractual binding relationship. In order for devices with a contractual binding relationship to establish a relay communication connection, one device may always broadcast a discovery message or monitor the discovery message to discover another device, which clearly increases the power consumption of the device.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] The objective of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a method, a terminal device, and a network device for triggering discovery in order to solve the problem of increased power consumption of devices caused by continuously broadcasting or monitoring discovery messages between devices.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present invention are realized as follows.

[0009] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for triggering a discovery applied to a first terminal. The method includes: sending a discovery wake-up request to a network device, where the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger a second terminal to start a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; and upon receiving a reply message sent from the network device, starting the discovery process, where the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal has started the discovery process.

[0010] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for triggering a discovery applied to a second terminal. The method includes: receiving a discovery activation instruction sent from a network device, where the discovery activation instruction is generated based on a discovery wake-up request sent from a first terminal by the network device, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; and starting a discovery process based on the discovery activation instruction.

[0011] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for triggering a discovery applied to a network device. The method includes receiving a discovery wake-up request transmitted from a first terminal, where the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger a second terminal to start a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; transmitting a discovery start command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request; and after the second terminal starts the discovery process based on the discovery start command, transmitting a reply message to the first terminal, where the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal is starting the discovery process.

[0012] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal device including a first transmission module for transmitting a discovery wake-up request to a network device, where the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger a second terminal to start a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; and a first start module for starting the discovery process when receiving a reply message transmitted from the network device, where the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal is starting the discovery process.

[0013] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal device including a second reception module for receiving a discovery start command transmitted from a network device, where the discovery start command is generated by the network device based on a discovery wake-up request transmitted from a first terminal, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; and a second start module for starting a discovery process based on the discovery start command.

[0014] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network device including a fourth receiving module configured to receive a discovery wake-up request transmitted from a first terminal, where the discovery wake-up request is used to request a network device to trigger a second terminal to initiate a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; a second transmitting module configured to transmit a discovery activation command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request; and a third transmitting module configured to transmit a reply message to the first terminal after the second terminal initiates the discovery process based on the discovery activation command, where the reply message is used to identify that the second terminal is initiating the discovery process.

[0015] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal device including a memory storing computer program instructions and a processor configured to implement a method for triggering the discovery described in the first aspect or the second aspect when the computer program instructions are executed thereon.

[0016] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network device including a memory storing computer program instructions and a processor configured to implement a method for triggering the discovery described in the third aspect when the computer program instructions are executed thereon.

[0017] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute a method for triggering the discovery described in the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect.

Advantages of the Invention

[0018] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to a network device, and requests the network device to trigger the activation of a discovery process by a second terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal. The network device sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal activates the discovery process based on the sent discovery activation command. Thereafter, the network device sends a reply message to the first terminal for identifying that the second terminal is activating the discovery process, and triggers the first terminal to activate the discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contractual binding relationship can activate the discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing the discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminals is significantly reduced.

Brief Description of the Drawings

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] In order to more clearly explain the technical solution means in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, in the above, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art are briefly described. Naturally, the drawings in the above description are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be conceived from these drawings without creative effort.

[0021] In the following, while referring to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, the technical solution means in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described. Naturally, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0022] The technical solution means of the present invention can be applied to various communication systems, such as Global System of Mobile communication (GSM (registered trademark)) for mobile communication, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA (registered trademark)), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) / Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), NR (New Radio), etc.

[0023] A user equipment (UE) may also be referred to as a mobile terminal, a mobile terminal device, etc., and can communicate with one or more core networks through a radio access network (RAN). The user equipment may be a terminal device such as a mobile phone (or called a "cellular" phone) and a computer having a terminal device. For example, it may be a portable, mobile, handheld, computer-integrated or in-vehicle mobile device that exchanges language and / or data with a radio access network.

[0024] The network device may be a core network element on the network side, such as an access and mobility management function (AMF), a policy control function (PCF), etc. The network device may also be a base station. For example, it may be a base transceiver station (BTS) in GSM (registered trademark) or CDMA, a NodeB in WCDMA (registered trademark), an evolved Node B (eNB or e-NodeB) and a 5G base station (gNB) in LTE. It is not limited in the present invention.

[0025] In the following, with reference to the drawings, the technical solutions provided in each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a method for triggering discovery in an embodiment of the present invention. The method can be executed by an electronic device such as a terminal device or a network device. In other words, the method can be executed by software or hardware installed in the terminal device or the network device. The method in FIG. 3 is applied to a first terminal, a second terminal and a network device and may include the following steps.

[0027] In S302, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the network device, and the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger the second terminal to start the discovery process.

[0028] The first terminal and the second terminal have a contractual binding relationship. The contractual binding configuration information may include one or more of the following information: the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, the binding group identification information corresponding to the contractual binding relationship, the capability information of the first terminal (such as the presence or absence of a relay function), the capability information of the second terminal (such as the presence or absence of a relay function), dedicated authentication information, default configuration information (configuration of the default discovery mode, configuration of the terminal as the default relay device, etc.). The identification information of the terminal has uniqueness. For example, it is the Media Access Control (MAC) address of the terminal, the communication number, etc. The binding group identification information may be assigned by the network device and can uniquely identify the binding group having the contractual binding relationship.

[0029] The contractual binding configuration information may be pre-configured in the first terminal and / or the second terminal, or may be configured by the network device and sent to the first terminal and / or the second terminal before triggering the discovery. For example, before receiving the discovery wake-up request sent from the first terminal, the network device sends the contractual binding configuration information pre-configured in the first terminal. Or, before sending the discovery start command to the second terminal, the network device sends the contractual binding configuration information to the second terminal.

[0030] For example, the first terminal is a mobile phone and the second terminal is a smart watch. At the time of contracting, the mobile phone is associated with the smart watch by its corresponding mobile phone number, thereby establishing a contractual binding relationship between the mobile phone and the smart watch.

[0031] The discovery wake-up request may include one or more of the following information: identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, discovery activation time, discovery duration, dedicated authentication information, etc. Among them, the discovery mode may be any mode shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2. The dedicated authentication information is for the first terminal and the second terminal to authenticate and recognize each other in the discovery process.

[0032] In S304, the network device receives the discovery wake-up request, and based on the discovery wake-up request, sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal.

[0033] The discovery activation command may include one or more of the following information: discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, discovery activation time, discovery duration, dedicated authentication information, etc.

[0034] In this step, if the discovery wake-up request includes the identification information of the second terminal, the discovery activation command is sent to the second terminal corresponding to the identification information.

[0035] If the discovery wake-up request does not include the identification information of the second terminal, the network device may send the discovery activation command to the terminal having a contract binding relationship with the first terminal. Optionally, the network device may determine the second terminal having a contract binding relationship with the first terminal based on the identification information of the first terminal and / or the binding group identification information included in the discovery wake-up request, and further send the discovery activation command to the determined second terminal. Optionally, the network device may send the discovery activation command to the default terminal device based on the contract binding configuration information.

[0036] In S306, the second terminal receives the discovery activation command and, based on the discovery activation command, starts the discovery process.

[0037] In S308, the network device sends a reply message to the first terminal, and the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal is starting the discovery process.

[0038] The reply message may include one or more of information such as a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0039] In S310, the first terminal activates a discovery process based on a reply message transmitted from the received network device.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal transmits a discovery wake-up request to the network device, and requests the network device to trigger the second terminal having a contract binding relationship with the first terminal to activate a discovery process. The network device transmits a discovery activation command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal activates a discovery process based on the transmitted discovery activation command. Thereafter, the network device transmits a reply message for identifying that the second terminal is activating a discovery process to the first terminal, and triggers the first terminal to activate a discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contract binding relationship can activate a discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminal is significantly reduced.

[0041] In one embodiment, if the discovery wake-up request does not include a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the network device determines a pre-configured default discovery mode as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process before transmitting a discovery activation command to the second terminal, and may transmit a discovery activation command including the determined discovery mode to the second terminal.

[0042] In one embodiment, when executing S306, the second terminal activates a discovery process based on the information included in the discovery activation command. Specifically, it is as follows. When the discovery activation command includes a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the second terminal activates the discovery process in the discovery mode included in the discovery activation command. If the discovery activation command includes a discovery activation time, the second terminal starts the discovery process at the discovery activation time included in the discovery activation command. If the discovery activation command includes a discovery duration, the second terminal starts the discovery process and continues the discovery process for the discovery duration included in the discovery activation command. If the discovery activation command includes dedicated authentication information, the second terminal starts the discovery process and authenticates and authorizes the first terminal based on the dedicated authentication information included in the discovery activation command in the discovery process.

[0043] In one embodiment, if the discovery activation command does not include a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the second terminal may determine the pre-configured default discovery mode as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, and further start the discovery process in the determined discovery mode.

[0044] In one embodiment, after starting the discovery process, the second terminal may send a discovery activation confirmation message to the network device. The discovery activation confirmation message is for identifying that the second terminal is starting the discovery process. The discovery activation confirmation message may include one or more of information such as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication information.

[0045] After receiving the discovery activation confirmation message sent from the second terminal, the network device generates a reply message based on the discovery activation confirmation message, sends the reply message to the first terminal, and triggers the first terminal to start the discovery process. The reply message may include one or more of information such as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication information.

[0046] In one embodiment, after the second terminal starts the discovery process, it may not need to send a discovery start confirmation message to the network device. In this case, when the network device knows that the second terminal has started the discovery process, it may directly generate a reply message, send the reply message to the first terminal, and trigger the first terminal to start the discovery process. The reply message may include one or more of information such as a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery start time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication and certification information.

[0047] In one embodiment, when executing S310, the first terminal starts the discovery process based on the information included in the reply message. Specifically, it is as follows. When the reply message includes a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the first terminal starts the discovery process in the discovery mode included in the reply message. When the reply message includes a discovery start time, the first terminal starts the discovery process at the discovery start time included in the reply message. When the reply message includes a discovery duration, the first terminal starts the discovery process and continues the discovery process for the discovery duration included in the reply message. When the reply message includes dedicated authentication and certification information, the first terminal starts the discovery process and authenticates and certifies the second terminal based on the dedicated authentication and certification information included in the reply message in the discovery process.

[0048] In one embodiment, contract binding configuration information is pre-configured in the first terminal or in the Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) card of the first terminal.

[0049] In one embodiment, before the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the network device, it may receive contract binding configuration information configured and sent by the network device. If the contract binding configuration information is pre-configured in the first terminal or in the USIM card of the first terminal, the contract binding configuration information configured by the network device can be preferably used.

[0050] In one embodiment, the contract binding configuration information is pre-configured in the second terminal or in the USIM card of the second terminal.

[0051] In one embodiment, before the second terminal receives a discovery activation instruction sent from the network device, it may receive contract binding configuration information configured and sent by the network device. If the contract binding configuration information is pre-configured in the second terminal or in the USIM card of the second terminal, the contract binding configuration information configured by the network device can be preferably used.

[0052] In the above embodiment, the contract binding configuration information includes the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, and the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship. Further, the contract binding configuration information may further include one or more of information such as the capability information of the first terminal, the capability information of the second terminal, dedicated authentication information, and default configuration information.

[0053] In one embodiment, before the network device sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal, it may first confirm that the second terminal is in a connected state. If it is confirmed that the second terminal is in an idle state, the network device may send a first paging message containing the discovery activation command to the second terminal. The first paging message is for triggering the second terminal to convert from the current idle state to a connected state and start a discovery process based on the discovery activation command. Alternatively, the network device may first send a second paging message to the network terminal. The second paging message is for triggering the second terminal to convert from the current idle state to a connected state. Thereafter, the network device sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal.

[0054] In one embodiment, the discovery wake-up request includes the identification information of the first terminal and the identification information of the second terminal. Before the network device sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal, it may determine whether the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship based on the identification information of the first terminal and the identification information of the second terminal. When it is determined that the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship, a discovery activation command is sent to the second terminal, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the command transmission.

[0055] The method for triggering discovery provided by the present invention will be described in detail below with some specific embodiments.

[0056] Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for triggering a discovery in a specific example of the present invention. The method of Figure 4 is applied to a first terminal, a second terminal, and a network device. The first terminal requests the network device, by means of a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message, to trigger the second terminal to start a discovery process. The responsibility for the second terminal to start the discovery process lies with the AMF of the network device. In addition to the AMF, the PCF of the network device or other core network elements may also be responsible for the second terminal to start the discovery process (not shown in the flowchart of Figure 4). In this embodiment, the second terminal is in a connected state. Specifically, it may include the following steps.

[0057] In S401, establish a contract binding relationship between the first terminal and the second terminal, and configure contract binding configuration information.

[0058] The contract binding configuration information includes the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, and the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship. In addition to the above information, the contract binding configuration information may include one or more of the following information: the capability information of the first terminal (such as the presence or absence of a relay function), the capability information of the second terminal (such as the presence or absence of a relay function), dedicated authentication information, default configuration information (configuration of the default discovery mode, configuration of the terminal as the default relay, etc.).

[0059] The contract binding configuration information may be pre-configured in the first terminal and / or the second terminal, or may be configured by the network device and transmitted to the first terminal and / or the second terminal before triggering the discovery. For example, before receiving a discovery wake-up request transmitted from the first terminal, the network device transmits the contract binding configuration information pre-configured in the first terminal. Or, before transmitting a discovery start command to the second terminal, the network device transmits the contract binding configuration information to the second terminal.

[0060] In S402, the first terminal transmits a discovery wake-up request to the network device by means of a NAS message. The discovery wake-up request is for requesting the AMF to trigger the second terminal to start a discovery process.

[0061] The discovery wake-up request may include one or more of the following information: identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, discovery activation time, discovery duration, dedicated authentication information, etc.

[0062] In S403, when the AMF receives the discovery wake-up request, it authenticates the first terminal and the second terminal based on the contract binding configuration information.

[0063] In this step, the authentication of the first terminal and the second terminal may include verifying the existence of the contract binding relationship between the first terminal and the second terminal.

[0064] In S404, when the authentication is successful, the AMF sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal.

[0065] In this embodiment, the discovery activation command includes the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process. Further, the discovery activation command may further include one or more of the following information: discovery activation time, discovery duration, dedicated authentication information, etc.

[0066] When executing this step, the network device may send the discovery activation command to the second terminal corresponding to the identification information based on the identification information of the second terminal included in the discovery wake-up request.

[0067] In one embodiment, if the discovery wake-up request does not contain the identification information of the second terminal, the network device may send a discovery activation command to a terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal. Alternatively, the network device may determine a second terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal based on the identification information of the first terminal and / or the binding group identification information included in the discovery wake-up request, and further send the discovery activation command to the determined second terminal. Alternatively, the network device may send a discovery activation command to a default terminal device based on the contractual binding configuration information. For example, if the contractual binding configuration information includes the configuration of a default relay device, the network device may send a discovery activation command to the default relay device.

[0068] In one embodiment, if the authentication is not successful, the network device may reject the transmission of the discovery activation command to the second terminal.

[0069] In S405, when the second terminal receives the discovery activation command, it starts a discovery process based on the discovery mode included in the discovery activation command. That is, it starts a discovery process corresponding to the discovery mode.

[0070] In S406, the second terminal sends a discovery activation confirmation message to the AMF.

[0071] The discovery activation confirmation message is for identifying that the second terminal has started a discovery process.

[0072] In S407, the AMF sends a reply message to the first terminal based on the discovery activation confirmation message.

[0073] The discovery activation confirmation message may include one or more of information such as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information. The reply message may include one or more of information such as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0074] In S408, when the first terminal receives a reply message, it activates a discovery process corresponding to the discovery mode.

[0075] In this embodiment, the discovery mode may be included in one or more of a discovery wake-up request, a discovery activation command, a discovery activation confirmation message, and a reply message.

[0076] As can be seen from this embodiment, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the AMF of the network device by means of an NAS message, and requests the AMF to trigger the second terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal to activate the discovery process. The AMF sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal activates the discovery process based on the sent discovery activation command. Then, the AMF sends a reply message to the first terminal to identify that the second terminal is activating the discovery process, and triggers the first terminal to activate the discovery process. As can be seen from these, by means of the technical solution, terminals having a contractual binding relationship can activate the discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing the discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminal is significantly reduced.

[0077] FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method for triggering discovery in another specific example of the present invention. The method in FIG. 5 is applied to a first terminal, a second terminal, and a network device. The first terminal requests the network device by means of an NAS message to trigger the second terminal to activate the discovery process, and the activation of the discovery process by the second terminal is the responsibility of the AMF of the network device. Also, in addition to the AMF, the PCF of the network device or other core network elements may be responsible for activating the discovery process by the second terminal (not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5). In this embodiment, the second terminal is in an idle state. Specifically, the following steps may be included.

[0078] In S501, a contractual binding relationship between the first terminal and the second terminal is established, and contractual binding configuration information is configured.

[0079] Since the contract binding configuration information has been described in detail in the above embodiments, the description thereof will be omitted here.

[0080] In S502, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the network device by means of an NAS message, and the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the AMF to trigger the second terminal to start the discovery process.

[0081] The discovery wake-up request may include one or more of the information such as the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery start time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication authentication information.

[0082] In S503, when the AMF receives the discovery wake-up request, it authenticates the first terminal and the second terminal based on the contract binding configuration information.

[0083] In this step, the authentication of the first terminal and the second terminal may include an examination of the existence of the contract binding relationship between the first terminal and the second terminal.

[0084] In S504, when the authentication is successful, the AMF sends a paging message including a discovery start command to the second terminal.

[0085] In this embodiment, the discovery start command includes the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process. Further, the discovery start command may further include one or more of the information such as the discovery start time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication authentication information. The discovery mode included in the discovery start command may be the discovery mode included in the discovery wake-up request, or may be determined by the network device. The network device may determine the default discovery mode configured in the contract binding configuration information as the discovery mode corresponding to this discovery process and carry it in the discovery start command.

[0086] In one embodiment, if the authentication is not successful, the network device may reject sending a discovery activation command to the second terminal.

[0087] In S505, when the second terminal receives a paging message, it converts from the idle state to the connected state based on the paging message, and starts a discovery process corresponding to the activation discovery mode based on the discovery activation command included in the paging message.

[0088] In one embodiment, if the discovery activation command does not include a discovery mode, the second terminal may determine the default discovery mode configured in the subscription binding configuration information as the discovery mode corresponding to this discovery process.

[0089] In S506, the second terminal sends a discovery activation confirmation message to the AMF.

[0090] The discovery activation confirmation message is for identifying that the second terminal has started a discovery process.

[0091] In S507, the AMF sends a reply message to the first terminal based on the discovery activation confirmation message.

[0092] The discovery activation confirmation message may include one or more of the information such as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication certification information. The reply message may include one or more of the information such as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication certification information.

[0093] In S508, when the first terminal receives the reply message, it starts a discovery process corresponding to the discovery mode.

[0094] In this embodiment, the discovery mode may be included in one or more of the discovery wake-up request, the discovery activation command, the discovery activation confirmation message, and the reply message.

[0095] As can be seen from this embodiment, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the AMF of the network device by means of an NAS message, and requests the AMF to trigger the second terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal to start the discovery process. The AMF sends a paging message containing a discovery start command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal converts to a connected state based on the paging message and starts the discovery process. Thereafter, the AMF sends a reply message for identifying that the second terminal has started the discovery process to the first terminal, triggering the first terminal to start the discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contractual binding relationship can start the discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing the discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminal is significantly reduced.

[0096] FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a method for triggering discovery in still another specific example of the present invention. The method of FIG. 6 is applied to a first terminal, a second terminal, and a network device. The first terminal requests the network device by means of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to trigger the second terminal to start the discovery process, and the second terminal starting the discovery process is responsible for by the Radio Access Network (RAN) of the network device. Specifically, it may include the following steps.

[0097] In S601, a contractual binding relationship between the first terminal and the second terminal is established, and contractual binding configuration information is configured.

[0098] Since the contractual binding configuration information has been described in detail in the above embodiment, the description is omitted here.

[0099] In S602, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the RAN by means of an RRC message, and the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the RAN to trigger the second terminal to start the discovery process.

[0100] The discovery wake-up request may include one or more of the following information: identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, discovery activation time, discovery duration, dedicated authentication information, etc.

[0101] In S603, when the RAN receives the discovery wake-up request, it requests the AMF to authenticate the first terminal and the second terminal by means of an access network (AN) message and approve the discovery wake-up request of the first terminal.

[0102] In S604, the AMF authenticates the first terminal and the second terminal based on the contract binding configuration information.

[0103] In this step, the authentication of the first terminal and the second terminal may include verifying the existence of the contract binding relationship between the first terminal and the second terminal.

[0104] In S605, when the authentication is successful, the AMF notifies the RAN of the authentication success message.

[0105] In S606, the RAN sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal.

[0106] In this embodiment, the discovery activation command includes a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process. Further, the discovery activation command may further include one or more of the following information: discovery activation time, discovery duration, dedicated authentication information, etc. The discovery mode included in the discovery activation command may be the same as the discovery mode included in the discovery wake-up request, or may be determined by the network device. The network device may determine the default discovery mode configured in the contract binding configuration information as the discovery mode corresponding to this discovery process and carry it in the discovery activation command.

[0107] In one embodiment, if the authentication is not successful, the network device may reject sending a discovery activation command to the second terminal.

[0108] In S607, when the second terminal receives the discovery activation command, it activates a discovery process corresponding to the discovery mode based on the discovery activation command.

[0109] In one embodiment, if the discovery mode is not included in the discovery activation command, the second terminal may determine the default discovery mode configured in the contract binding configuration information as the discovery mode corresponding to this discovery process.

[0110] In S608, the second terminal sends a discovery activation confirmation message to the RAN.

[0111] The discovery activation confirmation message is for identifying that the second terminal has activated the discovery process.

[0112] In S609, the RAN sends a reply message to the first terminal based on the discovery activation confirmation message.

[0113] The discovery activation confirmation message may include one or more of information such as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication information. The reply message may include one or more of information such as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication information.

[0114] In S610, when the first terminal receives the reply message, it activates a discovery process corresponding to the discovery mode.

[0115] In this embodiment, the discovery mode may be included in one or more of the discovery wake-up request, the discovery activation command, the discovery activation confirmation message, and the reply message.

[0116] As can be seen from this embodiment, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the RAN of the network device by means of an RRC message, and requests the RAN to trigger the second terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal to start a discovery process. When the RAN successfully authenticates the first terminal and the second terminal by the AMF, the RAN sends a discovery start command to the second terminal, and the second terminal starts a discovery process based on the discovery start command. Then, the RAN sends a reply message for identifying that the second terminal is starting a discovery process to the first terminal, and triggers the first terminal to start a discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contractual binding relationship can start a discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminal is greatly reduced.

[0117] As described above, specific embodiments of the present specification have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the operations or steps recited in the claims may be performed in an order different from the order in the embodiments and still achieve the desired results. Also, the processes shown in the drawings do not necessarily require the specific order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired results. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing may also be possible or advantageous.

[0118] FIG. 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7, the terminal device includes a first transmission module 710 for sending a discovery wake-up request to a network device, where the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger a second terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal to start a discovery process, and the first transmission module where the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship, and a first activation module 720 for activating a discovery process when receiving a reply message sent from the network device, where the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal is starting a discovery process.

[0119] In one embodiment, the discovery wake-up request includes at least one of the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery start time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication information.

[0120] In one embodiment, the reply message includes at least one of the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery start time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication information. The first activation module 720 further When the discovery mode is included in the reply message, start the discovery process in the discovery mode. When the discovery start time is included in the reply message, start the discovery process at the discovery start time. When the discovery duration is included in the reply message, start the discovery process and continue the discovery process for the discovery duration. And When the dedicated authentication information is included in the reply message, start the discovery process and use it to authenticate and verify the second terminal based on the dedicated authentication information in the discovery process.

[0121] In one embodiment, the contract binding configuration information is pre-configured in the first terminal or in the universal subscriber identification module USIM card of the first terminal. The contract binding configuration information includes the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, and the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship.

[0122] In one embodiment, the contract binding configuration information further includes at least one of the capability information of the first terminal, the capability information of the second terminal, the dedicated authentication information, and the default configuration information.

[0123] In one embodiment, the terminal device Before sending the discovery wake-up request to the network device, further includes a first receiving module for receiving the contract binding configuration information configured and sent by the network device.

[0124] The terminal device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the terminal device in the embodiment of the above method. To avoid duplication, the description is omitted here.

[0125] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal requests the network device to send a discovery wake-up request to the network device, and trigger the second terminal having a contract binding relationship with the first terminal to start the discovery process. The network device sends a discovery start command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal starts the discovery process based on the sent discovery start command. Then, the network device sends a reply message for identifying that the second terminal is starting the discovery process to the first terminal, and triggers the first terminal to start the discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, the terminals having a contract binding relationship can start the discovery process by the trigger of one terminal without blindly continuing the discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminal is greatly reduced.

[0126] FIG. 8 is a structural schematic diagram of a terminal device provided in another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, the terminal device may include a second receiving module 810 for receiving a discovery start command sent from a network device, where the discovery start command is generated by the network device based on a discovery wake-up request sent from a first terminal, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contract binding relationship, and a second starting module 820 for starting a discovery process based on the discovery start command.

[0127] In one embodiment, the discovery wake-up request includes at least one of identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery start time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0128] In one embodiment, the discovery activation instruction includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information. The second activation module 820 further When the discovery mode is included in the discovery activation instruction, the discovery process is activated in the discovery mode. When the discovery activation time is included in the discovery activation instruction, the discovery process is activated at the discovery activation time. When the discovery duration is included in the discovery activation instruction, the discovery process is activated and continued for the discovery duration. And When the dedicated authentication information is included in the discovery activation instruction, the discovery process is activated and used to authenticate and verify the first terminal based on the dedicated authentication information in the discovery process.

[0129] In one embodiment, the terminal device When the discovery mode is not included in the discovery activation instruction, it further includes a first determination module for determining the pre-configured default discovery mode as the discovery mode.

[0130] In one embodiment, the terminal device After activating the discovery process, it further includes a first transmission module for transmitting a discovery activation confirmation message to the network device. The discovery activation confirmation message is for identifying that the second terminal is activating the discovery process. The discovery activation confirmation message includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0131] In one embodiment, the contract binding configuration information is pre-configured in the second terminal or in the universal subscriber identification module USIM card of the second terminal. The contract binding configuration information includes the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, and the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship.

[0132] In one embodiment, the contract binding configuration information further includes at least one of the capability information of the first terminal, the capability information of the second terminal, the dedicated authentication information, and the default configuration information.

[0133] In one embodiment, the terminal device further includes a third receiving module for receiving contract binding configuration information configured and transmitted by the network device before receiving a discovery activation command transmitted from the network device.

[0134] The terminal device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the terminal device in the embodiment of the above method. To avoid duplication, the description is omitted here.

[0135] In the embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the network device, and requests the network device to trigger the second terminal having a contract binding relationship with the first terminal to start a discovery process. The network device sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal starts a discovery process based on the transmitted discovery activation command. Then, the network device sends a reply message for identifying that the second terminal is starting a discovery process to the first terminal to trigger the first terminal to start a discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contract binding relationship can start a discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing the discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminal is greatly reduced.

[0136] FIG. 9 is a structural schematic diagram of a network device provided in another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 9, the network device includes a fourth receiving module 910 for receiving a discovery wake-up request transmitted from the first terminal, where the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger the second terminal to start a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contract binding relationship, and A second transmission module 920 for sending a discovery activation command to a second terminal based on a discovery wake-up request; After the second terminal activates a discovery process based on the discovery activation command, a third transmission module 930 for sending a reply message to the first terminal, where the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal is activating the discovery process. It may include a third transmission module.

[0137] In one embodiment, the discovery wake-up request includes at least one of the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery activation time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication information.

[0138] In one embodiment, the second transmission module 920 further When the identification information of the second terminal is included in the discovery wake-up request, it is used to send a discovery activation command to the second terminal corresponding to the identification information.

[0139] In one embodiment, the second transmission module 920 further When the identification information of the second terminal is not included in the discovery wake-up request, it is used to send a discovery activation command to a terminal having a contract binding relationship with the first terminal.

[0140] In one embodiment, the network device When the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process is not included in the discovery wake-up request, it further includes a second determination module for determining a pre-configured default discovery mode as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process before sending a discovery activation command to the second terminal. The third transmission module 930 is further used to send a discovery activation command including the determined discovery mode to the second terminal.

[0141] In one embodiment, the discovery activation instruction includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0142] In one embodiment, the network device further includes a fifth receiving module for receiving a discovery activation confirmation message transmitted from the second terminal before transmitting a reply message to the first terminal.

[0143] In one embodiment, the discovery activation confirmation message includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0144] In one embodiment, the second transmission module 920 further is used to transmit a first paging message including a discovery activation instruction to the second terminal when the second terminal is in an idle state. The first paging message is for triggering the second terminal to convert from the current idle state to a connected state and start a discovery process based on the discovery activation instruction.

[0145] In one embodiment, the network device further includes a fourth transmission module for transmitting a second paging message to the second terminal before transmitting a discovery activation instruction to the second terminal when the second terminal is in an idle state. The second paging message is for triggering the second terminal to convert from the current idle state to a connected state.

[0146] In one embodiment, the network device further includes a third determination module for determining that the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship based on the identification information of the first terminal and the identification information of the second terminal before transmitting a discovery activation instruction to the second terminal when the discovery wake-up request includes the identification information of the first terminal and the identification information of the second terminal.

[0147] In one embodiment, the network device further includes a fifth transmission module for transmitting pre-configured contract binding configuration information to a first terminal before receiving a discovery wake-up request transmitted from the first terminal, and for transmitting the contract binding configuration information to a second terminal before transmitting a discovery activation command to the second terminal. The contract binding configuration information includes identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, and binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship.

[0148] In one embodiment, the contract binding configuration information further includes at least one of the capability information of the first terminal, the capability information of the second terminal, dedicated authentication information, and default configuration information.

[0149] The network device provided in the embodiments of the present invention can implement each process implemented by the network device in the embodiments of the above method. To avoid duplication, the description is omitted here.

[0150] In the embodiments of the present invention, it is required that the first terminal transmits a discovery wake-up request to the network device to trigger the second terminal having a contract binding relationship with the first terminal to start a discovery process. The network device transmits a discovery activation command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal starts a discovery process based on the transmitted discovery activation command. Then, the network device transmits a reply message for identifying that the second terminal is starting a discovery process to the first terminal to trigger the first terminal to start a discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contract binding relationship can start a discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing the discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminals is significantly reduced.

[0151] FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device 1000 shown in FIG. 10 includes at least one processor 1001, a memory 1002, at least one network interface 1004, and a user interface 1003. Each component in the terminal device 1000 is coupled by a bus system 1005. It is understood that the bus system 1005 is for realizing connection communication between these components. In addition to including a data bus, the bus system 1005 also includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus. However, for the sake of clarity in the description, in FIG. 10, all various buses are denoted as the bus system 1005.

[0152] The user interface 1003 may include a display, a keyboard, or a pointing device, for example, a mouse, a trackball, a touch pad, or a touch screen, etc.

[0153] The memory 1002 in the embodiments of the present invention may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. It is understood that the non-volatile memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a Random Access Memory (RAM) and is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, for example, many forms of RAM such as Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), Double DataRate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and DirectRambus RAM (DRRAM) can be used. The memory 1002 according to the systems and methods described in the embodiments of the present invention is intended to include these memories and any other suitable memories, but not be limited thereto.

[0154] In some embodiments, the memory 1002 stores elements such as an operating system 10021 and an application 10022 as executable modules or data structures, or subsets thereof, or supersets thereof.

[0155] The operating system 10021 includes various system programs, such as a framework layer, a core library layer, a driver layer, etc., and is used to realize various basic services and process hardware-based tasks. The application 10022 includes various applications, such as a media player, a browser, etc., and is used to realize various application services. The program for realizing the method of the embodiment of the present invention may be included in the application 10022.

[0156] In an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal device 1000 further includes a computer program stored in the memory 1009 and executable on the processor 1001. When the computer program is executed by the processor 1001, sending a discovery wake-up request to a network device, where the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger a second terminal to start a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; when receiving a reply message sent from the network device, starting the discovery process, where the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal has started the discovery process.

[0157] The method disclosed in the above embodiments of the present invention can be applied to the processor 1001 or can be implemented by the processor 1001. The processor 1001 can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor 1001 or the instructions in the form of software. The above processor 1001 can 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 devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. Each method, step and logic block diagram disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any general processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed based on the embodiments of the present invention can be executed and accomplished by a hardware decoding processor, or can be directly embodied by combining the hardware and software modules in the decoding processor to execute and accomplish. The software module can be located in a computer-readable storage medium commonly used in this field, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The computer-readable storage medium is located in the memory 1002, and the processor 1001 reads the information in the memory 1002 and cooperates with its hardware to accomplish the steps of the above method. Specifically, a computer program that realizes each step of the embodiment of the method that triggers the above discovery when executed by the processor 1001 is stored in the computer-readable storage medium.

[0158] It can be understood that these embodiments described in the embodiments of the present invention can be realized by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or a combination thereof. For realization by hardware, the processing unit can be realized in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), general processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units for executing the functions described in the present invention, or a combination thereof.

[0159] For realization by software, the technology described in the embodiments of the present invention can be realized by modules (for example, processes, functions, etc.) for executing the functions described in the embodiments of the present invention. The software code can be stored in a memory and executed by a processor. The memory can be realized inside or outside the processor.

[0160] Optionally, the discovery wake-up request includes at least one of the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery start time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication authentication information.

[0161] Optionally, the reply message includes at least one of the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery start time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication authentication information. When the computer program is executed by the processor 1001, If the discovery mode is included in the reply message, starting the discovery process in the discovery mode; If the discovery activation time is included in the reply message, starting the discovery process at the discovery activation time; If the discovery duration is included in the reply message, starting the discovery process and continuing the discovery process for the discovery duration; If the dedicated authentication certification information is included in the reply message, starting the discovery process and authenticating and certifying the second terminal based on the dedicated authentication certification information in the discovery process can also be realized.

[0162] Optionally, contract binding configuration information is pre-configured in the first terminal or in the universal subscriber identification module USIM card of the first terminal, and the contract binding configuration information includes identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, and binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship.

[0163] Optionally, the contract binding configuration information further includes at least one of the capability information of the first terminal, the capability information of the second terminal, dedicated authentication certification information, and default configuration information.

[0164] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1001, Before sending a discovery wake-up request to the network device, receiving the contract binding configuration information configured and sent by the network device can also be realized.

[0165] The terminal device 1000 can realize each process and effect realized by the terminal device in the above embodiment, and for the sake of avoiding repetition, the description is omitted here.

[0166] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to a network device, and requests the network device to trigger the second terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal to start a discovery process. The network device sends a discovery start command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal starts a discovery process based on the sent discovery start command. Then, the network device sends a reply message for identifying that the second terminal is starting a discovery process to the first terminal, and triggers the first terminal to start a discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contractual binding relationship can start a discovery process triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing the discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminals is significantly reduced.

[0167] FIG. 11 is a structural schematic diagram of a terminal device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The terminal device 1100 shown in FIG. 11 includes at least one processor 1101, a memory 1102, at least one network interface 1104, and a user interface 1103. Each component in the terminal device 1100 is coupled by a bus system 1105. It is understood that the bus system 1105 is for realizing connection communication between these components. In addition to including a data bus, the bus system 1105 also includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus. However, for the sake of clarity in the description, in FIG. 11, all various buses are denoted as the bus system 1105.

[0168] The user interface 1103 may include a display, a keyboard, or a pointing device, for example, a mouse, a trackball, a touch pad, or a touch screen.

[0169] The memory 1102 in the embodiments of the present invention may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be a ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, or flash memory. The volatile memory may be a RAM and is used as an external cache. According to an illustrative description that is not intended to be limiting, many forms of RAM such as SRAM, DRAM, SDRAM, DDRSDRAM, ESDRAM, SLDRAM, and DRRAM can be used. The memory 1102 according to the systems and methods described in the embodiments of the present invention is intended to include these memories and any other suitable memories, but is not limited thereto.

[0170] In some embodiments, the memory 1102 stores elements such as an operating system 11021 and an application 11022 as executable modules or data structures, or subsets thereof, or supersets thereof.

[0171] The operating system 11021 includes various system programs, such as a framework layer, a core library layer, a driver layer, etc., and is used to implement various basic services and process hardware-based tasks. The application 11022 includes various applications, such as a media player and a browser, etc., and is used to implement various application services. The program for implementing the method of the embodiments of the present invention may be included in the application 11022.

[0172] In the embodiments of the present invention, the terminal device 1100 further includes a computer program stored in the memory 1109 and executable on the processor 1101, and when the computer program is executed by the processor 1101, Receiving a discovery activation command sent from a network device, where the discovery activation command is generated based on a discovery wake-up request sent from a first terminal by the network device, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; Activating a discovery process based on the discovery activation command.

[0173] The method disclosed in the above embodiments of the present invention can be applied to a processor 1101 or can be realized by a processor 1101. The processor 1101 can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor 1101 or the instructions in the form of software. The above processor 1101 can be a general processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. Each method, step and logical block diagram disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention can be realized or executed. The general processor can be a microprocessor or any general processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed based on the embodiments of the present invention can be executed and accomplished by a hardware decoding processor, or can be directly embodied by combining the hardware and software modules in the decoding processor to execute and accomplish. The software module can be located in a computer-readable storage medium commonly used in this field, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, register, etc. The computer-readable storage medium is located in the memory 1102, and the processor 1101 reads the information in the memory 1102 and cooperates with its hardware to execute the steps of the above method. Specifically, a computer program for realizing each step of the embodiment of the method for triggering the above discovery when executed by the processor 1101 is stored in the computer-readable storage medium.

[0174] It can be understood that these examples described in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or a combination thereof. For implementation by hardware, the processing unit can be implemented in one or more ASICs, DSPs, DSPDs, PLDs, FPGAs, general-purpose processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units for executing the functions described in the present invention, or a combination thereof.

[0175] For implementation by software, the techniques described in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by modules (such as processes, functions, etc.) for executing the functions described in the embodiments of the present invention. The software code can be stored in a memory and executed by a processor. The memory can be implemented inside the processor or outside the processor.

[0176] Optionally, the discovery wake-up request includes at least one of the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, the binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship, the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery start time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication authentication information.

[0177] Optionally, the discovery start command includes at least one of the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, the discovery start time, the discovery duration, and the dedicated authentication authentication information. When the computer program is executed by the processor 1101, when the discovery mode is included in the discovery start command, the step of starting the discovery process in the discovery mode; when the discovery start time is included in the discovery start command, the step of starting the discovery process at the discovery start time; when the discovery duration is included in the discovery start command, the step of starting the discovery process and continuing the discovery process for the discovery duration; When the dedicated authentication information is included in the discovery activation command, the discovery process can also be started, and in the discovery process, the first terminal can be authenticated and verified based on the dedicated authentication information.

[0178] Optionally, the discovery activation command includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information. When the computer program is executed by the processor 1101, Before the step of starting the discovery process, when the discovery mode is not included in the discovery activation command, it is also possible to implement the step of determining a pre-configured default discovery mode as the discovery mode.

[0179] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1101, After the step of starting the discovery process, it is also possible to implement the step of sending a discovery activation confirmation message to the network device. The discovery activation confirmation message is used to identify that the second terminal has started the discovery process, and the discovery activation confirmation message includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0180] Optionally, contract binding configuration information is pre-configured in the second terminal or in the universal subscriber identity module USIM card of the second terminal. The contract binding configuration information includes identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, and binding group identification information corresponding to the contract binding relationship.

[0181] Optionally, the contract binding configuration information further includes at least one of the capability information of the first terminal, the capability information of the second terminal, dedicated authentication information, and default configuration information.

[0182] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1101, Before receiving the discovery activation command sent from the network device, it is also possible to implement the step of receiving the contract binding configuration information configured and sent by the network device.

[0183] The terminal device 1100 can implement each process and effect realized by the terminal device in the above embodiment, and in order to avoid duplication, the description is omitted here.

[0184] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to the network device, and requests the network device to trigger the second terminal having a contract binding relationship with the first terminal to start a discovery process. The network device sends a discovery activation command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal starts a discovery process based on the sent discovery activation command. Then, the network device sends a reply message for identifying that the second terminal is starting a discovery process to the first terminal to trigger the first terminal to start a discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contract binding relationship can start a discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminal is significantly reduced.

[0185] Referring to FIG. 12, FIG. 12 is a structural diagram of a network device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, which realizes the details of a method for triggering discovery executed by the network device in the above embodiment and can achieve the same effect. As shown in FIG. 12, the network device 1200 includes a processor 1201, a transceiver 1202, a memory 1203, a user interface 1204, and a bus interface. In an embodiment of the present invention, the network device 1200 further includes a computer program stored in the memory 1203 and executable on the processor 1201. When the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, Receiving a discovery wake-up request transmitted from a first terminal, wherein the discovery wake-up request is for requesting a network device to trigger a second terminal to initiate a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; Transmitting a discovery activation command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request; After the second terminal initiates the discovery process based on the discovery activation command, transmitting a reply message to the first terminal, wherein the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal is initiating the discovery process.

[0186] In FIG. 12, the bus architecture may include any number of buses and bridges interconnected with each other. Specifically, it integrally connects various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 1201 and a memory represented by memory 1203. The bus architecture can further integrally connect various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, etc. Since these are all well-known in the art, they will not be further described in this specification. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1202 may be a plurality of components, that is, it includes a transmitter and a receiver, and provides a unit for communicating with various other devices via a transmission medium. For different user devices, the user interface 1204 may be an interface capable of realizing external and internal connections of a desired device, and the devices it connects include, but are not limited to, a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a control lever, etc.

[0187] The processor 1201 is responsible for the management of the bus architecture and normal processing, and the memory 1203 can store data used when the processor 1201 executes operations.

[0188] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first terminal sends a discovery wake-up request to a network device, and requests the network device to trigger a second terminal having a contractual binding relationship with the first terminal to start a discovery process. The network device sends a discovery start command to the second terminal based on the discovery wake-up request, and the second terminal starts the discovery process based on the sent discovery start command. Thereafter, the network device sends a reply message for identifying that the second terminal has started the discovery process to the first terminal, and triggers the first terminal to start the discovery process. As can be seen from these, by the technical solution, terminals having a contractual binding relationship can start the discovery process by being triggered by one terminal without blindly continuing the discovery, so that the power consumption of the terminals is significantly reduced.

[0189] Optionally, the discovery wake-up request includes at least one of identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, binding group identification information corresponding to the contractual binding relationship, a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery start time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0190] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, when the identification information of the second terminal is included in the discovery wake-up request, the step of sending the discovery start command to the second terminal corresponding to the identification information can also be realized.

[0191] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, when the identification information of the second terminal is not included in the discovery wake-up request, the step of sending the discovery start command to a terminal having the contractual binding relationship with the first terminal can also be realized.

[0192] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, Before sending the discovery activation command to the second terminal, if the discovery wake-up request does not include a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, determining a pre-configured default discovery mode as the discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process; Sending the discovery activation command including the determined discovery mode to the second terminal. It is also possible to implement.

[0193] Optionally, the discovery activation command includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0194] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, Before sending a reply message to the first terminal, receiving a discovery activation confirmation message sent from the second terminal can also be realized.

[0195] Optionally, the discovery activation confirmation message includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

[0196] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, When the second terminal is in an idle state, it is also possible to implement sending a first paging message including the discovery activation command to the second terminal. The first paging message is for triggering the second terminal to convert from the current idle state to a connected state and start the discovery process based on the discovery activation command.

[0197] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, Before sending a discovery activation command to the second terminal, if the second terminal is in an idle state, it is also possible to implement the step of sending a second paging message to the second terminal, and the second paging message is for triggering the second terminal to convert from the current idle state to a connected state.

[0198] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, Before sending a discovery activation command to the second terminal, if the discovery wake-up request includes the identification information of the first terminal and the identification information of the second terminal, it is also possible to implement the step of determining that the second terminal and the first terminal have the contractual binding relationship based on the identification information of the first terminal and the identification information of the second terminal.

[0199] Optionally, when the computer program is executed by the processor 1201, Before receiving a discovery wake-up request sent from the first terminal, it is also possible to implement the step of sending pre-configured contractual binding configuration information to the first terminal, and before sending a discovery activation command to the second terminal, sending the contractual binding configuration information to the second terminal, The contractual binding configuration information includes the identification information of the first terminal, the identification information of the second terminal, and binding group identification information corresponding to the contractual binding relationship.

[0200] Optionally, the contractual binding configuration information further includes at least one of the capability information of the first terminal, the capability information of the second terminal, dedicated authentication and certification information, and default configuration information.

[0201] Preferably, the embodiment of the present invention includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor. When the computer program is executed by the processor, it further provides a terminal device that realizes each process of the embodiment of the method for triggering a discovery executed by the above terminal device, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid duplication, the description is omitted here.

[0202] Preferably, an embodiment of the present invention includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor. When the computer program is executed by the processor, it further provides a network device that realizes each process of the method embodiment for triggering the discovery executed by the above network device, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid duplication, the description is omitted here.

[0203] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that realizes each process of the method embodiment for triggering the above discovery when executed by a processor, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid duplication, the description is omitted here. The computer-readable storage medium is, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or the like.

[0204] It should be noted that in this specification, the term "including", "consisting of" or any other variation thereof is intended to include non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article or device. Unless otherwise specified, the element limited by the phrase "including one..." does not exclude the further existence of another same element in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0205] From the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the method of the above embodiments can be realized in the form of a combination of software and the necessary common hardware platform. Of course, it may also be realized by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a more preferred embodiment. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be implemented in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk), and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a terminal (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, air conditioner, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0206] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiments. The above specific embodiments are merely exemplary and not restrictive. Based on the inspiration of the present invention, many forms that those skilled in the art can achieve without departing from the spirit of the present invention and the protection scope of the claims all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

[0207] Cross-reference to related applications This application claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202010002061.7 filed in China on January 2, 2020, and all of its contents are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A method for triggering a discovery executed by a first terminal, comprising: sending a discovery wake-up request to a network device, wherein the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger a second terminal to initiate a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship; upon receiving a reply message sent from the network device, initiating the discovery process, wherein the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal has initiated the discovery process; contractual binding configuration information is pre-configured in the first terminal or in a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) card of the first terminal, and the contractual binding configuration information includes identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, and binding group identification information corresponding to the contractual binding relationship; the contractual binding configuration information further includes dedicated authentication information, and the dedicated authentication information is used for the first terminal and the second terminal to authenticate and verify each other in the discovery process; before the step of sending the discovery wake-up request to the network device, the method for triggering the discovery further includes: receiving the contractual binding configuration information configured and sent by the network device; A method for triggering a discovery.

2. The method for triggering a discovery according to Claim 1, wherein the discovery wake-up request includes at least one of identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, binding group identification information corresponding to the contractual binding relationship, a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information.

3. The reply message includes at least one of a discovery mode corresponding to the discovery process, a discovery activation time, a discovery duration, and dedicated authentication information, and the step of initiating the discovery process includes: when the discovery mode is included in the reply message, initiating the discovery process in the discovery mode; when the discovery activation time is included in the reply message, initiating the discovery process at the discovery activation time; If the discovery duration is included in the reply message, starting the discovery process and continuing the discovery process for the discovery duration; If the dedicated authentication information is included in the reply message, starting the discovery process and authenticating and verifying the second terminal based on the dedicated authentication information in the discovery process, the method for triggering discovery according to claim 1.

4. A terminal device, A first transmission module for transmitting a discovery wake-up request to a network device, where the discovery wake-up request is for requesting the network device to trigger the second terminal to start a discovery process, and the second terminal and the first terminal have a contractual binding relationship, the first transmission module; A first activation module for activating the discovery process when receiving a reply message transmitted from the network device, where the reply message is for identifying that the second terminal has started the discovery process, the first activation module; Contractual binding configuration information is pre-configured in the first terminal or in the universal subscriber identification module USIM card of the first terminal, and the contractual binding configuration information includes identification information of the first terminal, identification information of the second terminal, and binding group identification information corresponding to the contractual binding relationship; The contractual binding configuration information further includes dedicated authentication information, and the dedicated authentication information is used for the first terminal and the second terminal to authenticate and verify each other in the discovery process; The terminal device, Further includes a first receiving module for receiving the contractual binding configuration information configured and transmitted by the network device before the step of transmitting the discovery wake-up request to the network device; Terminal device.

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