Relay Determination Method and Apparatus

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a relay decision method and apparatus, and relates to the field of wireless communication technology. [Solution] A relay decision strategy for a terminal device is determined based on status information of the terminal device, and a relay terminal device for the terminal device is determined based on the determined relay decision strategy, so that the terminal device can determine different relay decision strategies and determine different relay terminal devices depending on differences in status, thereby improving the communication performance of the terminal device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of mobile communications, and particularly to a relay determination method and apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Relay technology means that instead of directly communicating with a network device, a terminal device realizes communication with the network device through the relay of another terminal device. Through relay technology, the coverage of a wireless network can be extended, communication blind spots can be removed or reduced, and a higher link capacity can be obtained. Here, the terminal device connected to the network device through another terminal device is called a remote terminal device, and the terminal device providing the relay function is called a relay terminal device.

[0003] In related technologies, in order to ensure the continuity of services when a remote terminal device moves between different cells, the remote terminal device usually selects a relay terminal device through its serving cell. When the remote terminal device is in a disconnected state, the continuity of services is not required. At this time, the relay terminal device is still selected by its serving cell, and the communication performance deteriorates.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] An embodiment of the first aspect of the present disclosure provides a relay determination method, which is executed by a terminal device. The method includes: determining a relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the state information of the terminal device; and determining a relay terminal device of the terminal device based on the relay determination strategy.

[0005] Optionally, based on the status information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay decision strategy of the terminal device is, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, determining the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, determining the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria includes the step of preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0006] Optionally, based on the status information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay decision strategy of the terminal device is, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is connected to a network device via a relay device, determining the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is a remote terminal device, determining the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria includes the step of preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0007] Optionally, based on the status information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay decision strategy of the terminal device includes, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is not connected to a network device via a relay device, determining the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0008] Optionally, based on the status information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay decision strategy of the terminal device is: in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, determining the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, determining the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and a second priority criterion, where the second priority criterion represents preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0009] Optionally, based on the status information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay decision strategy of the terminal device includes, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in an idle state, determining the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0010] Optionally, based on the status information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay decision strategy of the terminal device is: in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, determining the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, determining the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and a first priority criterion, where the first priority criterion represents preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0011] Optionally, the relay determination strategy is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria. Based on the relay determination strategy, the step of determining the relay terminal device of the terminal device includes: obtaining candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria; in response to the presence of a target candidate terminal device in the candidate terminal devices whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device, determining the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or, in response to the absence of a target candidate terminal device in the candidate terminal devices whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device, designating any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0012] Optionally, the relay determination strategy is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the second priority criteria. Based on the relay determination strategy, the step of determining the relay terminal device of the terminal device includes: obtaining candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria; in response to the presence of a target candidate terminal device in the candidate terminal devices whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device, determining the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or, in response to the absence of a target candidate terminal device in the candidate terminal devices whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device, designating any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0013] Optionally, the specified criteria include at least one of the following: the quality of the sidelink radio channel between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold; the public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0014] Optionally, the method is executed in the access layer by the terminal device, or the method is executed in a non-access layer by the terminal device based on the transfer information of the access layer, where the transfer information includes at least one of the state information, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0015] An embodiment of the second aspect of the present disclosure provides a relay determination device, which is executed by a terminal device. The device includes a processing unit for determining a relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the state information of the terminal device. The processing unit further determines a relay terminal device of the terminal device based on the relay determination strategy.

[0016] Optionally, specifically, in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, the processing unit determines the relay determination strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or, in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, the processing unit uses the relay determination strategy to determine that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria represents preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0017] Optionally, specifically, in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is connected to a network device via a relay device, the processing unit determines the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or, in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is a remote terminal device, the processing unit determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and a first priority criterion, where the first priority criterion indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0018] Optionally, specifically, in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is not connected to a network device via a relay device, the processing unit determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0019] Optionally, specifically, in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, the processing unit determines the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or, in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, the processing unit determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and a second priority criterion, where the second priority criterion indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0020] Optionally, specifically, in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an idle state, the processing unit determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0021] Optionally, specifically, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, the processing unit determines the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or, in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, the processing unit determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0022] Optionally, specifically, the processing unit obtains candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria, and in response to the existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determines the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or, in response to the non - existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determines any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0023] Optionally, specifically, the processing unit obtains candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria, and in response to the existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determines the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or, in response to the non - existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determines any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0024] Optionally, the specified criterion includes at least one of the following: the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, and the public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0025] Optionally, the processing unit executes the determination process of the relay terminal device in the access stratum, or the processing unit executes the determination process of the relay terminal device in the non-access stratum based on the transfer information in the access stratum, where the transfer information includes at least one of the status information, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0026] An embodiment of the third aspect of the present disclosure provides a relay determination apparatus, which includes a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor. The processor is used to execute the method described in the embodiment of the first aspect by executing the code instructions.

[0027] An embodiment of the fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a communication device, which includes a processor, a transceiver, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory. The processor realizes the method described in the embodiment of the first aspect by executing the computer program.

[0028] An embodiment of the fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which instructions are stored. When the instructions are executed, the method described in the embodiment of the first aspect is realized.

Advantages of the Invention

[0029] The relay determination method and apparatus provided by embodiments of the present disclosure determine the relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the state information of the terminal device, and determine the relay terminal device of the terminal device based on the determined relay determination strategy. Thereby, the terminal device can select different relay determination strategies based on the difference in state, determine different relay terminal devices, improve the communication link quality, and improve the communication performance of the terminal device.

[0030] Additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be given in part from the following description, some will become apparent from the following description, or will be understood by practicing the present disclosure.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0031] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent and easier to understand from the description of the embodiments in combination with the following drawings.

Figure 1

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Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0032] Here, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail, and the examples thereof are shown in the drawings. In the following description, when it relates to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numerals in different drawings represent the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments that conform to the embodiments of the present invention. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods that conform to some aspects of the embodiments of the present invention, which are described in detail in the appended claims.

[0033] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and do not limit the embodiments of the present disclosure. Unless otherwise clearly indicated in the context, the singular forms "a" and "the" used in the embodiments of the present disclosure and the appended claims also include the plural forms. Note that the term "and / or" used in this specification refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more of the related and listed items.

[0034] Note that in the embodiments of the present disclosure, various information may be described using terms such as first, second, third, etc., but it should be understood that this information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, unless departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first information may also be called the second information, and similarly, the second information may also be called the first information. Depending on the context, the term "in the case of" used here can be interpreted as "when...", "when... then...", or "in response to determining...".

[0035] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail. The examples of the above embodiments are shown in the drawings, and the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements from beginning to end, or represent elements having the same or similar functions. Hereinafter, the embodiments described with reference to the drawings are exemplary and are used to explain the present disclosure and should not be understood as limiting the present disclosure.

[0036] In the related art, when a connection failure occurs in connecting to the link of a remote terminal device or the remote terminal device receives a signaling display instruction, it is necessary to select another appropriate relay terminal device again to restore the connection with the network device. The communication link between the remote terminal device and the relay terminal device is called a sidelink. In order to ensure the continuity of services when the remote terminal device moves between different cells, the remote terminal device selects the relay terminal device based on the serving cell to which it belongs. When the remote terminal device is in a disconnected state, the continuity of services is not required. At this time, since the relay terminal device is still selected based on the serving cell to which the remote terminal device belongs, it is difficult to ensure the link quality from the remote terminal device to the network device, and the communication performance deteriorates.

[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a relay determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. Here, the relay determination method of the embodiment of the present disclosure is executed by a terminal device. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application is an entity on the user side for transmitting and receiving signals, such as a mobile phone. The terminal device may be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal device (MT), etc. The terminal device may be an automobile equipped with a communication function, a smart car, a mobile phone, a wearable device, a pad, a personal computer equipped with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device in smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in smart city, a wireless terminal device in smart home, etc.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 1, the relay determination method includes the following steps 101 to 102.

[0039] In step 101, based on the state information of the terminal device, a relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined.

[0040] Here, the state information of the terminal device indicates the state of the terminal device, which may be any one of the connected state, inactive state, idle state, during Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconstruction or RRC recovery. The terminal device sends and receives different RRC messages based on the protocol to enter different states.

[0041] In a 5G (5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology) NR (New Radio) system, the inactive state is introduced. In the inactive state, both the terminal device side and the network device side retain the access stratum (AS) context and security information. The terminal device can quickly enter the connected state through the RRC recovery process.

[0042] In some embodiments, the relay determination strategy may be a strategy in which the terminal device selects based on at least one of the serving cell it belongs to, the RAN (Radio Access Network) area where the serving cell is located, the radio channel quality, and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell.

[0043] In step 102, based on the relay determination strategy, the relay terminal device of the terminal device is determined.

[0044] Based on the determined relay determination strategy, a terminal device that meets the conditions is selected from the terminal devices as the relay terminal device.

[0045] Note that in some embodiments, the terminal device can execute the relay determination method shown in each embodiment in the access stratum (AS), and in some embodiments, the terminal device can execute the relay determination method shown in each embodiment in the non-access stratum (NAS).

[0046] In addition, when the relay determination method is executed in the NAS layer, the terminal device executes the method based on the information transmitted in the AS layer. Here, the transmitted information may include at least one of the status information of the terminal device, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0047] In this embodiment, based on the status information of the terminal device, the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined, and based on the determined relay determination strategy, the relay terminal device of the terminal device is determined. As a result, the terminal device can select different relay determination strategies based on different states, determine different relay terminal devices, improve the communication link quality, and improve the communication performance of the terminal device.

[0048] FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of another relay determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is executed by a terminal device.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 2, the relay determination method includes the following steps 201 to 203.

[0050] In step 201, in response to the status information that the terminal device is in a connected state, the status information that the terminal device is in a connected state and is connected to a network device via a relay device, or the status information that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction / recovery, the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined to be that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0051] In the first possible embodiment, the terminal device is in a connected state, and the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined to be that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0052] In a second possible embodiment, the terminal device is in a connected state and is connected to the network device via the relay device, and the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device coincides with the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0053] In a third possible embodiment, the terminal device is in the process of RRC reconstruction, and the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device coincides with the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0054] In a fourth possible embodiment, the terminal device is in the process of RRC recovery, and the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device coincides with the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0055] Optionally, the specified criteria include at least one of the following: the wireless channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, and the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device coincides with the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0056] Optionally, the wireless channel quality between the relay terminal device and the terminal device includes the Sidelink Discovery Reference Signal Receiving Power (SD-RSRP) or the Sidelink Reference Signal Receiving Power (SL-RSRP).

[0057] Optionally, different threshold values may be set based on different measurement types of the sidelink radio channel quality, or different threshold values may be set according to different needs of the terminal device. Based on different requirements for the channel quality, a predetermined threshold value may be set to -95dBm, -90dBm, or -85dBm, etc., according to different needs.

[0058] In step 202, obtain a terminal device that matches the serving cell of the terminal device and use it as the candidate terminal device.

[0059] Optionally, by obtaining the serving cell identifiers of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device, determine whether the serving cells of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device match.

[0060] In step 203, use the candidate terminal device that meets the specified criteria as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0061] In the first possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold value, the relay determination device may calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the candidate terminal device and the terminal device, and use the candidate terminal device with a radio channel quality higher than the predetermined threshold value as the relay terminal device.

[0062] Optionally, arrange the candidate terminal devices based on the calculated radio channel quality, and use the candidate terminal device with the highest radio channel quality as the relay terminal device.

[0063] In the second possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device, and use the candidate terminal device whose serving cell PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0064] In the third possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the candidate terminal device and the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device, and use as the relay terminal device a candidate terminal device whose radio channel quality is higher than the predetermined threshold and whose serving cell's PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0065] Note that the above steps are not restricted by the priority of step implementation. In this embodiment, it is also possible to obtain a terminal device that meets the specified criterion as the candidate terminal device and use as the relay terminal device a candidate terminal device that matches the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0066] Note that in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiment at the AS layer, and in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiment at the NAS layer.

[0067] Also, when executing the relay determination method at the NAS layer, the terminal device executes the method based on the information transmitted at the AS layer. Here, the transmitted information may include at least one of the state information of the terminal device, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0068] In this embodiment, in response to the status information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and is connected to a network device via a relay device, or the status information indicating that the terminal device is in the process of RRC reconstruction / recovery, determine the relay decision strategy of the terminal device such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria. Based on the determined relay decision strategy, determine the relay terminal device of the terminal device. Thereby, the terminal device can select a terminal device with a matching serving cell and good channel quality as the relay terminal device, ensuring service continuity, improving the communication link quality, and improving the communication performance of the terminal device.

[0069] FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of another relay determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure and is executed by a terminal device.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 3, the relay determination method includes the following steps 301 to 305.

[0071] In step 301, in response to the status information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and is connected to a network device via a relay device, or the status information indicating that the terminal device is in the process of RRC reconstruction / recovery, determine the relay decision strategy of the terminal device such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criterion.

[0072] Here, the first priority criterion means preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0073] In a first possible embodiment, the terminal device is in a connected state, and determine the relay decision strategy of the terminal device such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criterion.

[0074] In the second possible embodiment, the terminal device is in a connected state and is connected to the network device via the relay device, and it is determined that the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria.

[0075] In the third possible embodiment, the terminal device is in the process of RRC reconstruction, and it is determined that the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria.

[0076] In the fourth possible embodiment, the terminal device is in the process of RRC recovery, and it is determined that the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria.

[0077] Optionally, the specified criteria include at least one of the following: the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0078] Optionally, the radio channel quality between the relay terminal device and the terminal device includes the sidelink discovery reference signal received power SD-RSRP or the sidelink reference signal received power SL-RSRP.

[0079] Optionally, different thresholds may be set based on different measurement types of the radio channel quality of the sidelink, or different thresholds may be set according to different needs of the terminal device. Based on different requirements for the channel quality, the predetermined threshold may be set to -95dBm, -90dBm or -85dBm, etc. according to different needs.

[0080] In step 302, obtain candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria.

[0081] In the first possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the terminal device and the terminal device, and use the terminal device with a radio channel quality higher than the predetermined threshold as the candidate terminal device.

[0082] In the second possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the terminal device, and use the terminal device whose serving cell PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device as the candidate terminal device.

[0083] In the third possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the terminal device and the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the terminal device, and use the terminal device with a radio channel quality higher than the predetermined threshold and whose serving cell PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device as the candidate terminal device.

[0084] In step 303, determine whether there is a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device. If so, execute step 304; if not, execute step 305.

[0085] Optionally, by obtaining the serving cell identifiers of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device, determine whether the serving cells of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device match.

[0086] In step 304, determine the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0087] In step 305, use any one of the candidate terminal devices determined in step 302 as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0088] Note that in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiment at the AS layer, and in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiment at the NAS layer.

[0089] Also, when executing the relay determination method at the NAS layer, the terminal device executes the method based on the information transmitted at the AS layer. Here, the transmitted information may include at least one of the status information of the terminal device, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0090] In this embodiment, in response to the status information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, the status information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and is connected to the network device via the relay device, or the status information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in the process of RRC reconstruction / recovery, determine the relay determination strategy of the terminal device such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, obtain the candidate terminal device that meets the specified criteria, and determine whether there is a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device. If it exists, determine the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device; if it does not exist, use any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device. Thereby, the terminal device preferentially selects a terminal device with good channel quality and having a matching serving cell as the relay terminal device, ensures service continuity, improves the flexibility of relay determination, improves the communication link quality, and improves the communication performance of the terminal device.

[0091] Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of another relay determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, and is executed by a terminal device.

[0092] As shown in Figure 4, the relay determination method includes the following steps 401 to 403.

[0093] In step 401, in response to the status information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, determine that the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is that the serving cell of the relay terminal device is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0094] Optionally, the specified criteria include at least one of: the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold; and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0095] Optionally, the radio channel quality between the relay terminal device and the terminal device includes the sidelink discovery reference signal received power SD-RSRP or the sidelink reference signal received power SL-RSRP.

[0096] Optionally, different thresholds may be set based on different measurement types of the sidelink radio channel quality, or different thresholds may be set according to different needs of the terminal device. Based on different requirements for channel quality, the predetermined threshold may be set to -95dBm, -90dBm or -85dBm, etc. according to different needs.

[0097] In step 402, obtain a terminal device located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device and use it as a candidate terminal device.

[0098] Optionally, the RAN area of the serving cell is determined by obtaining the cell list carried in the RRC release message.

[0099] In step 403, a candidate terminal device that meets the specified criteria is set as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0100] In the first possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the candidate terminal device and the terminal device, and use the candidate terminal device with a radio channel quality higher than the predetermined threshold as the relay terminal device.

[0101] Optionally, sort the candidate terminal devices based on the calculated radio channel quality, and use the candidate terminal device with the highest radio channel quality as the relay terminal device.

[0102] In the second possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device, and use the candidate terminal device whose serving cell's PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0103] In a third possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the candidate terminal device and the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device, and use as the relay terminal device a candidate terminal device whose radio channel quality is higher than the predetermined threshold and whose serving cell's PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0104] Note that the priority order of the execution of the steps is not restricted. In this embodiment, it is also possible to obtain a terminal device that meets the specified criterion as the candidate terminal device and use as the relay terminal device a candidate terminal device that matches the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0105] Note that in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiment at the AS layer, and in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiment at the NAS layer.

[0106] Also, when executing the relay determination method at the NAS layer, the terminal device executes the method based on the information transmitted at the AS layer. Here, the transmitted information may include at least one of the status information of the terminal device, the serving cells of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0107] In this embodiment, in response to the status information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria. Based on the determined relay determination strategy, the relay terminal device of the terminal device is determined. Thereby, the terminal device can select a terminal device whose serving cell is located in the same RAN area and has good channel quality as the relay terminal device. Since a report is not required when the terminal device in the inactive state moves between cells in the RAN area, not only is the continuity of the service ensured, but also the communication link quality is ensured, improving the communication performance of the terminal device.

[0108] FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of another relay determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, and is executed by a terminal device.

[0109] As shown in FIG. 5, the relay determination method includes the following steps 501 to 505.

[0110] In step 501, in response to the status information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the second priority criteria.

[0111] Here, the second priority criterion indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0112] Optionally, the specified criteria include at least one of the following: the radio channel quality of the side link between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0113] Optionally, the radio channel quality between the relay terminal device and the terminal device includes the sidelink discovery reference signal received power SD-RSRP or the sidelink reference signal received power SL-RSRP.

[0114] Optionally, different threshold values may be set based on different measurement types of the sidelink radio channel quality, or different threshold values may be set according to different needs of the terminal device. Based on different requirements for the channel quality, a predetermined threshold value may be set to -95dBm, -90dBm or -85dBm, etc. according to different needs.

[0115] In step 502, a candidate terminal device that meets the specified criteria is obtained.

[0116] In the first possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold value, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the terminal device and the terminal device, and use the terminal device with a radio channel quality higher than the predetermined threshold value as the candidate terminal device.

[0117] In the second possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the terminal device, and use the terminal device whose serving cell PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device as the candidate terminal device.

[0118] In a third possible embodiment, when the specified criteria are that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the terminal device and the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device and the terminal device, and use the terminal device whose radio channel quality is higher than the predetermined threshold and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device as the candidate terminal device.

[0119] In step 503, determine whether there is a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device. If so, execute step 504; if not, execute step 505.

[0120] Optionally, determine the RAN area of the serving cell by obtaining the cell list carried in the RRC release message.

[0121] Optionally, determine whether the serving cells of the terminal device and the candidate terminal device are located in the same RAN area according to the serving cell identifier.

[0122] In step 504, determine the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0123] In step 505, use any one of the candidate terminal devices determined in step 502 as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0124] Note that in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiments at the AS layer, and in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiments at the NAS layer.

[0125] Also, when the relay determination method is executed in the NAS layer, the terminal device executes the method based on the information transmitted in the AS layer. Here, the transmitted information may include at least one of the state information of the terminal device, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0126] In this embodiment, in response to the state information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the relay terminal device satisfies the specified criteria and the second priority criteria. A candidate terminal device that satisfies the specified criteria is obtained, and it is determined whether there is a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device. If it exists, the target candidate terminal device is determined as the relay terminal device of the terminal device. If it does not exist, any one of the determined candidate terminal devices is used as the relay terminal device of the terminal device. Thereby, the terminal device in the inactive state preferentially selects a terminal device with good channel quality and having the same RAN area where the serving cell is located as the relay terminal device, ensuring service continuity, enhancing the flexibility of determining the relay, improving the communication link quality, and improving the communication performance of the terminal device.

[0127] FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of another relay determination method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure and is executed by a terminal device.

[0128] As shown in FIG. 6, the relay determination method includes the following steps 601 to 602.

[0129] In step 601, in response to the state information of the terminal device indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and not connected to the network device via the relay device, or the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an idle state, the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the relay terminal device satisfies the specified criteria.

[0130] In the first possible embodiment, the terminal device is in a connected state and not connected to the network device via the relay device, and the relay decision strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device coincides with the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0131] In the second possible embodiment, the terminal device is in an idle state, and the relay decision strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0132] Optionally, the specified criteria include at least one of: the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold; and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device coincides with the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0133] Optionally, the radio channel quality between the relay terminal device and the terminal device includes the sidelink discovery reference signal received power SD-RSRP or the sidelink reference signal received power SL-RSRP.

[0134] Optionally, different thresholds may be set based on different measurement types of the sidelink radio channel quality, or different thresholds may be set according to different needs of the terminal device. Based on different requirements for the channel quality, the predetermined threshold may be set to -95dBm, -90dBm or -85dBm, etc. according to different needs.

[0135] In step 602, the terminal device that meets the specified criteria is used as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0136] In the first possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the terminal devices, and use the terminal device with a radio channel quality higher than the predetermined threshold as the relay terminal device.

[0137] Optionally, arrange the terminal devices based on the calculated radio channel quality, and select the terminal device with the highest radio channel quality as the relay terminal device.

[0138] In the second possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the terminal device, and use the terminal device whose serving cell's PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0139] In the third possible embodiment, when the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold and the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device, calculate the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the terminal devices, obtain the PLMN identifiers of the serving cells of the terminal device and the terminal device, and use the terminal device whose radio channel quality is higher than the predetermined threshold and whose serving cell's PLMN identifier matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0140] Note that in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiment at the AS layer, and in some embodiments, the terminal device may execute the relay determination method shown in the embodiment at the NAS layer.

[0141] Also, when executing the relay determination method in the NAS layer, the terminal device executes the method based on the information transmitted in the AS layer. Here, the transmitted information may include at least one of the state information of the terminal device, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0142] In this embodiment, in response to the state information of the terminal device that the terminal device is in a connected state and not connected to the network device via the relay device, or the state information that the terminal device is in an idle state, the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is determined such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, and the terminal device that meets the specified criteria is set as the relay terminal device of the terminal device. Thereby, the terminal device can remove the restriction that the serving cells must match, use a terminal device with better radio channel quality as the relay terminal device, improve the flexibility of determining the relay, improve the communication link quality, and improve the communication performance of the terminal device.

[0143] Corresponding to the data transmission method provided by the above several embodiments, the present disclosure further provides a relay determination device. Since the relay determination device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure corresponds to the method provided by the above several embodiments, the embodiments of the relay determination method are applicable to the relay determination device provided by this embodiment, and detailed descriptions are omitted in this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the relay determination device provided by the present disclosure.

[0144] FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the relay determination device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, and the device is executed by a terminal device.

[0145] As shown in FIG. 7, the relay determination device 700 includes a processing unit 710. Here, the processing unit 710 determines the relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the state information of the terminal device, and the processing unit 710 further determines the relay terminal device of the terminal device based on the relay determination strategy.

[0146] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, specifically in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0147] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, specifically in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is connected to a network device via a relay device, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is a remote terminal device, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0148] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, specifically in response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is not connected to a network device via a relay device, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0149] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, specifically in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the second priority criteria, where the second priority criteria indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0150] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, specifically in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an idle state, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria.

[0151] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, specifically in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device coincides with the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or in response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, the processing unit 710 determines the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell coincides with the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device.

[0152] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, specifically, the processing unit 710 obtains candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria, and in response to the existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determines the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or, in response to the non-existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, sets any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0153] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, specifically, the processing unit 710 obtains candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria, and in response to the existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determines the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or, in response to the non-existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, sets any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device.

[0154] As one implementation of an embodiment of the present disclosure, the specified criteria include at least one of the following: the quality of the sidelink radio channel between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, and the public land mobile network PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0155] As one implementation of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the processing unit 710 executes the determination process of the relay terminal device in the access layer, or the processing unit executes the determination process of the relay terminal device in the non-access layer based on the transfer information of the access layer, where the transfer information includes at least one of the state information, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device.

[0156] The relay determination device of this embodiment can determine the relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the state information of the terminal device, and determine the relay terminal device of the terminal device based on the determined relay determination strategy. Thereby, the terminal device can select different relay determination strategies based on the differences in states, determine different relay terminal devices, improve the communication link quality, and improve the communication performance of the terminal device.

[0157] To implement the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present disclosure further provide another relay determination device, which includes a processor and an interface circuit. The interface circuit is used to receive code instructions and send them to the processor. The processor is used to execute the methods shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 6 by executing the code instructions.

[0158] To implement the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, and when the instructions are executed, the methods shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 6 are implemented.

[0159] To implement the above embodiments, the present disclosure further provides a computer program product, and when it is executed by a computer, the computer is caused to execute the methods shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 6 of the present disclosure.

[0160] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a communication device 800 provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the communication device 800 may be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast user device, a message transceiver, a game console, a tablet terminal, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, or the like.

[0161] Referring to FIG. 8, the communication device 800 may include one or more of a processing component 802, a memory 804, a power component 806, a multimedia component 808, an audio component 810, an input / output (I / O) interface 812, a sensor component 814, and a communication component 816.

[0162] The processing component 802 generally controls the overall operations of the communication device 800, such as operations related to display, telephone calls, data communication, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing component 802 may include one or more processors 820 for executing instructions to complete all or some of the steps of the above methods. Also, to facilitate interaction with other components, the processing component 802 may include one or more modules. For example, the processing component 802 may include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component 808 and the processing component 802.

[0163] Memory 804 is configured to store various types of data such as instructions of any application program or method, contact data, phone book data, messages, photos, videos, etc. that are operated on the communication device 800 to support operations on the communication device 800. The memory 804 may be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disk, optical disk, or a combination thereof.

[0164] Power component 806 provides power for various components of the communication device 800. The power component 806 can include a power management system, at least one power source, and components related to the generation, management, and distribution of power for the other communication device 800.

[0165] The multimedia component 808 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the communication device 800 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen can include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). When the screen includes a touch panel, the screen can be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from the user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches, slides, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor detects not only the boundaries of the touch or slide operation but also the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 808 includes one front camera and / or one back camera. When the communication device 800 is in an operation mode such as a shooting mode or a video mode, the front camera and / or the back camera can receive external multimedia data. Each front camera and back camera may be a fixed optical lens system or may have a focal length and an optical zooming ability.

[0166] The audio component 810 is configured to output and / or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 810 includes one microphone (MIC). When the communication device 800 is in an operation mode such as a calling mode, a recording mode, or a voice recognition mode, the microphone is configured to receive external audio signals. The received audio signals can be further stored in the memory 804 or transmitted via the communication component 816. In some embodiments, the audio component 810 further includes one speaker for outputting audio signals.

[0167] The I / O interface 812 provides an interface between the processing component 802 and the peripheral interface module, and the peripheral interface module may be, for example, a keyboard, a click wheel, buttons, etc. These buttons can include, but are not limited to, a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

[0168] The sensor component 814 includes at least one or a plurality of sensors to provide state evaluation in various aspects for the communication device 800. For example, the sensor component 814 can detect the on / off state of the communication device 800 and the relative positioning of components. For example, the components are the display and keypad of the communication device 800, and the sensor component 814 can also detect position changes of the communication device 800 or components of the communication device 800, whether there is user contact with the communication device 800, the orientation or acceleration / deceleration of the communication device 800, and temperature changes of the communication device 800. The sensor component 814 can also include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearby objects in the absence of any physical contact. The sensor component 814 can further include an optical sensor such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor component 814 may also further include an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

[0169] The communication component 816 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the communication device 800 and other devices. The communication device 800 can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G, or 3G, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 816 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 816 further includes a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, in the NFC module, it may be implemented based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT: registered trademark) technology, and other technologies.

[0170] In an exemplary embodiment, the communication device 800 may be implemented by an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a digital signal processing device (DSPD), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a controller, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or other electronic components to execute the method shown in any one of FIGS. 1-8 above.

[0171] In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions, such as a memory 804 containing instructions, is further provided, and the instructions may be executed by a processor 820 of the communication device 800 to complete the above method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, a random access memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, or an optical data storage device.

[0172] After considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein, those skilled in the art can easily conceive of other embodiments of the present invention. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present invention, which include the general principles of the present invention and the common general knowledge in the art not disclosed in this disclosure or the commonly used technical means. The specification and examples are to be regarded as merely illustrative, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are pointed out by the following claims.

[0173] It should be noted that this disclosure is not limited to the exact structure described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

[0174] To implement the above embodiments, the embodiments of this disclosure further provide a communication device, which may be a network device or a terminal device, and may also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the network device to implement the above method, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the terminal device to implement the above method. The device may be used to implement the method described in any one of the above method embodiments. For specific reference, please refer to the description in the above method embodiments.

[0175] Here, the communication device may include one or more processors. The processor may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processor. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processor may be used to control a communication device (such as a baseband, a baseband chip, a terminal device, a terminal device chip, a DU, or a CU, etc.), execute a computer program, and process the data of the computer program.

[0176] Optionally, the communication device may further include one or more memories capable of storing a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to cause the communication device to execute the method described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, data may be stored in the memory. The communication device and the memory may be installed independently or integrated together.

[0177] Optionally, the communication device may further include a transceiver and an antenna. The transceiver may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., and is used to implement the transceiver function. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiving device or a receiving circuit, etc., and is used to implement the receiving function. The transmitter may be referred to as a transmitting device or a transmitting circuit, etc., and is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0178] Optionally, the communication device may include one or more interface circuits. The interface circuit is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor. The processor executes the code instructions to cause the communication device to implement the method described in any one of the above method embodiments.

[0179] In one implementation form, the processor may include a transceiver for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, or an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated together. The above transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit can be used for reading and writing code / data, or the above transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit can be used for signal transmission or communication.

[0180] In one implementation, a computer program may be stored in the processor, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the communication device can execute the method described in any of the above method embodiments. The computer program may be embedded in the processor, and in this case, the processor may be implemented by hardware.

[0181] In one implementation, the communication device may include a circuit, and the circuit can implement the functions of transmitting, receiving, or communicating in the method embodiments described above. The processor and transceiver described in this disclosure can be integrated into an IC (integrated circuit), analog IC, RFIC (radio frequency integrated circuit), mixed-signal IC, ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), PCB (printed circuit board), electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can be manufactured by various IC process technologies, such as CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor), NMOS (nMetal-oxide-semiconductor), PMOS (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor), BJT (bipolar junction transistor), BiCMOS (bipolar CMOS), SiGe (silicon germanium), GaAs (gallium arsenide), etc.

[0182] The communication device in the description of the above embodiments may be a network device or a terminal device, but the scope of the communication device described in this disclosure is not limited thereto. The communication device may be an independent device or a part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be as follows. (1) An independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem, (2)A set having one or more ICs, optionally, the IC set may include a storage component for storing data and computer programs. (3)ASICs, such as modems (4)Modules that can be incorporated into other devices (5)Receivers, terminal devices, intelligent terminal devices, cellular phones, wireless devices, handhelds, mobile units, in-vehicle devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc. (6)Others.

[0183] When the communication device is a chip or a chip system, the chip may include a processor and an interface. Here, the number of processors may be one or more, and the number of interfaces may be more than one.

[0184] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory, and the memory is used to store the necessary computer programs and data.

[0185] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the various illustrative logical blocks and steps listed in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be realized by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Whether such functions are realized by hardware or by software depends on the specific application and the overall design requirements of the system. Those skilled in the art can realize the above functions in various ways for each specific application, but such realizations should not be understood as exceeding the protection scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0186] After considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein, those skilled in the art can easily envision other embodiments of the present invention. This disclosure attempts to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present invention, and these variations, uses, or adaptations include the general principles of the present invention and the common general knowledge in the art or the commonly used technical means not disclosed in this disclosure. The specification and examples are to be regarded as merely illustrative, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are pointed out by the following claims.

[0187] In addition, using the various forms of processes shown above, the steps can be rearranged, added, or deleted again. For example, each step described in the embodiments of this disclosure may be executed in parallel, sequentially, or in a different order as long as the desired results of the technical solutions disclosed in the present invention can be achieved, and it is not limited in this specification.

[0188] The above specific embodiments do not limit the protection scope of the present invention. As can be understood by those skilled in the art, various modifications, combinations, partial combinations, and substitutions can be made according to design requirements and other factors. Modifications, equivalent replacements, and improvements within the spirit and principles of the present invention should all be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0189] In addition, this disclosure is not limited to the exact structure described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A relay determination method, wherein the method is executed by a terminal device, and the method includes: determining a relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the status information of the terminal device; and determining a relay terminal device of the terminal device based on the relay determination strategy, wherein the relay determination strategy includes that the relay terminal device meets a specified criterion, wherein the specified criterion includes that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, and the public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device and includes at least one of the above; wherein the status information of the terminal device includes that the terminal device is in radio resource control (RRC) recovery. A relay determination method characterized by the above.

2. The step of determining the relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the status information of the terminal device includes: responding to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, determining the relay determination strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criterion, or responding to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, determining the relay determination strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criterion and a first priority criterion, where the first priority criterion indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device. The relay determination method according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. The step of determining the relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the status information of the terminal device includes: responding to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is connected to a network device via a relay device, determining the relay determination strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criterion, or In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is a remote terminal device, determining the relay determination strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device. The relay determination method according to claim 1, characterized in that.

4. Based on the state information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is not connected to the network device via a relay device, determining the relay determination strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria. The relay determination method according to claim 1, characterized in that.

5. Based on the state information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, determining the relay determination strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device is located in the same radio access network (RAN) area as the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, determining the relay determination strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the second priority criteria, where the second priority criteria indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device. The relay determination method according to claim 1, characterized in that.

6. Based on the state information of the terminal device, the step of determining the relay determination strategy of the terminal device is In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an idle state, determining the relay determination strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria. The relay determination method according to claim 1, characterized in that.

7. The step of determining the relay decision strategy of the terminal device based on the status information of the terminal device is as follows: In response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in the process of radio resource control (RRC) reconstruction or RRC recovery, determining the relay decision strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria, or In response to the status information indicating that the terminal device is in the process of RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, determining the relay decision strategy such that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria, where the first priority criteria indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device. This step is included. The relay decision method according to claim 1, characterized in that.

8. The relay decision strategy is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the first priority criteria. Based on the relay decision strategy, the step of determining the relay terminal device of the terminal device is as follows: Obtaining candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria, and In response to the existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determining the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or In response to the non-existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, selecting any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device. This step is included. The relay decision method according to claim 2, characterized in that.

9. The relay decision strategy is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criteria and the second priority criteria. Based on the relay decision strategy, the step of determining the relay terminal device of the terminal device is as follows: Obtaining candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criteria, and In response to the presence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determining the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or in response to the absence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, taking any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, including the step of The relay determination method according to claim 5, characterized in that

10. The method is executed by the access layer by the terminal device, or the method is executed by the non-access layer by the terminal device based on the transfer information of the access layer, and the transfer information includes at least one of the state information, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device. The relay determination method according to any one of claims 2 to 9, characterized in that

11. A relay determination device, the device is applied to a terminal device, and the device includes a processing unit for determining a relay determination strategy of the terminal device based on the state information of the terminal device, the processing unit further determines a relay terminal device of the terminal device based on the relay determination strategy, the relay determination strategy includes that the relay terminal device meets a specified criterion, the specified criterion is that the radio channel quality of the sidelink between the relay terminal device and the terminal device is higher than a predetermined threshold, and that the public land mobile network (PLMN) identifier of the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the PLMN identifier of the serving cell of the terminal device including at least one of them, the state information of the terminal device includes that the terminal device is in radio resource control (RRC) recovery, The relay determination device is characterized in that

12. The processing unit in response to the state information that the terminal device is in a connected state, determines the relay determination strategy such that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criterion, or In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the relay terminal device satisfies the specified criteria and the first priority criterion, where the first priority criterion indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device. The relay decision device according to claim 11, characterized in that.

13. The processing unit is In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is connected to the network device via a relay device, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device satisfies the specified criteria, or In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is a remote terminal device, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the relay terminal device satisfies the specified criteria and the first priority criterion, where the first priority criterion indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device. The relay decision device according to claim 11, characterized in that.

14. The processing unit is In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in a connected state and the terminal device is not connected to the network device via a relay device, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the relay terminal device satisfies the specified criteria. The relay decision device according to claim 11, characterized in that.

15. The processing unit is In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the serving cell of the relay terminal device is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device satisfies the specified criteria, or In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an inactive state, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the relay terminal device meets a specified criterion and a second priority criterion, where the second priority criterion indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device. The relay decision device according to claim 11, characterized in that.

16. The processing unit is In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in an idle state, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criterion. The relay decision device according to claim 11, characterized in that.

17. The processing unit is In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the serving cell of the relay terminal device matches the serving cell of the terminal device and the relay terminal device meets the specified criterion, or In response to the state information indicating that the terminal device is in RRC reconstruction or RRC recovery, determining that the relay decision strategy is that the relay terminal device meets the specified criterion and a first priority criterion, where the first priority criterion indicates preferentially selecting a terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device as the relay terminal device. The relay decision device according to claim 11, characterized in that.

18. The processing unit is Obtaining candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criterion, In response to the existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determining the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or In response to the non-existence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell matches the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, designating any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device. The relay decision device according to claim 12, characterized in that.

19. The processing unit is Obtaining candidate terminal devices that meet the specified criterion, In response to the presence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, determining the target candidate terminal device as the relay terminal device of the terminal device, or In response to the non - presence of a target candidate terminal device whose corresponding serving cell is located in the same RAN area as the serving cell of the terminal device among the candidate terminal devices, designating any one of the candidate terminal devices as the relay terminal device of the terminal device The relay determination device according to claim 15.

20. The processing unit executes the process of determining the relay terminal device at the access layer, Or the processing unit executes the process of determining the relay terminal device at the non - access layer based on the transfer information of the access layer, and the transfer information includes at least one of the state information, the serving cell of each terminal device, and the serving cell list of each terminal device. The relay determination device according to any one of claims 12 to 19, characterized in that.

21. A relay determination device, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, The interface circuit is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor, The processor is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 by executing the code instructions. The relay determination device, characterized in that.

22. A communication device, comprising a processor, a transceiver, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory, and the processor realizes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 by executing the computer program. The communication device, characterized in that.

23. A computer - readable storage medium storing instructions, and when the instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is realized. The computer - readable storage medium, characterized in that.

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