Radio link management method, device, system, and storage medium

Abstract

A radio link management method, a device, a system, and a storage medium. The method comprises: a first cell determines that the communication connection needs to be disconnected from a first relay device, and sends first instruction information to a second cell, wherein the first instruction information is used for instructing to release an indirect communication link of a remote device served by the first relay device, the first cell is a serving cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is a serving cell of the remote device.

Description

Wireless link management method, device, system and storage medium Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a wireless link management method, device, system and storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In third-generation mobile communications, user equipment (UE) can communicate directly with a base station. The communication link between them is called a direct link. The UE can also communicate with the base station through a relay UE (referred to as a relay device). The communication link between them is called an indirect link. When a UE communicates with a base station through a relay device, the UE is also called a remote UE, or remote device for short.

[0003] To improve the efficiency and reliability of data transmission, remote devices can maintain a connection with the base station through multiple communication links at the same time. This function is called multipath connection. In this case, the remote device and the relay device must be in a connected state to support the above-mentioned multipath connection. The multipath connection can include the above-mentioned direct communication link and indirect communication link. However, in practice, it has been found that when the relay device needs to exit the connection, for example, when relay switching is required, the remote device is not aware of the above situation, resulting in the base station being unable to release the multiple communication links of the remote device in advance.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a wireless link management method, device, system and storage medium, which can avoid technical problems existing in related technologies such as the inability to release multiple communication links of the remote device in advance because the remote device is not aware that the first relay device needs to exit the connection.

[0006] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a radio link management method is provided, the method comprising:

[0007] The first cell determines that it needs to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device, and sends a first indication message to the second cell, where the first indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device served by the first relay device. The first cell is the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is the service cell of the remote device.

[0008] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0009] receiving second indication information sent by the second cell, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links; and / or,

[0010] receiving third indication information sent by the first relay device, the third indication information including at least one of the following: a device identifier of the remote device, a cell identifier of the second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links;

[0011] Wherein, the multiple communication links include at least the indirect communication link.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first indication information or the second indication information includes a device identifier of the remote device and / or a device identifier of the first relay device.

[0013] In some embodiments, determining that the communication connection with the first relay device needs to be disconnected includes at least one of the following:

[0014] The first cell needs to perform relay handover on the first relay device;

[0015] The first cell needs to release the radio resource control RRC connection between the first cell and the first relay device;

[0016] The first cell needs to switch the connection state between the first cell and the first relay device to a non-connection state.

[0017] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0018] Receive fourth indication information sent by the second cell, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the indirect communication link has been released.

[0019] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0020] Based on the fourth indication information, perform at least one of the following corresponding operations:

[0021] Perform relay switching on the first relay device to switch the first relay device to a second relay device;

[0022] releasing a radio resource control (RRC) connection between the first cell and the first relay device;

[0023] Switch the connection state between the first cell and the first relay device to a non-connection state.

[0024] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a radio link management method is provided, the method comprising:

[0025] The second cell receives first indication information sent by the first cell, where the first indication information is used to instruct to release an indirect communication link of a remote device served by the first relay device, the first cell being a serving cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being a serving cell of the remote device;

[0026] Based on the first indication information, the indirect communication link of the remote device is released.

[0027] In some embodiments, releasing the indirect communication link of the remote device based on the first indication information includes:

[0028] A fifth indication message is sent to the remote device, where the fifth indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, or to indicate the switching of the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs through a second relay device, where the second relay device is the relay device after the relay switching of the first relay device.

[0029] In some embodiments, the fifth indication information is carried in radio resource control RRC reconfiguration signaling.

[0030] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0031] Send fourth indication information to the first cell, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the indirect communication link has been released.

[0032] According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a radio link management method is provided, the method comprising:

[0033] The remote device receives the fifth indication information sent by the second cell, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, or to indicate the switching of the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs through the second relay device. The second relay device is the relay device after the relay switching of the first relay device, the first cell is the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is the service cell of the remote device.

[0034] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0035] Based on the fifth indication information, releasing the indirect communication link of the remote device; or,

[0036] Based on the fifth indication information, the indirect communication link is switched to a link in which the remote device communicates with the base station to which the first cell belongs through the second relay device.

[0037] In some embodiments, releasing the indirect communication link of the remote device includes:

[0038] The communication connection between the remote device and the first relay device is released to release the indirect communication link of the remote device.

[0039] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0040] receiving link configuration information sent by the second cell, where the link configuration information includes multiple communication links configured by the remote device, and the multiple communication links include at least the indirect communication link;

[0041] Based on the link configuration information, sixth indication information is sent to the first relay device, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links.

[0042] According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a radio link management method is provided, the method comprising:

[0043] The first relay device sends third indication information to the first cell, and the third indication information includes at least one of the following: a device identifier of a remote device served by the first relay device, a cell identifier of a second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, the first cell being a service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being a service cell of the remote device.

[0044] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0045] Receive sixth indication information sent by the remote device, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links.

[0046] According to a fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first cell device is provided, including:

[0047] The transceiver module is configured to determine that it is necessary to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device and send a first indication message to the second cell, wherein the first indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device served by the first relay device, the first cell being the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being the service cell of the remote device.

[0048] According to a sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a second cell device is provided, including:

[0049] a transceiver module configured to receive first indication information sent by a first cell, the first indication information being used to instruct to release an indirect communication link of a remote device served by a first relay device, the first cell being a serving cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being a serving cell of the remote device;

[0050] The processing module is configured to release the indirect communication link of the remote device based on the first indication information.

[0051] According to a seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a remote device is provided, including:

[0052] The transceiver module is configured to receive fifth indication information sent by the second cell, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, or to indicate the switching of the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs through the second relay device, the second relay device being a relay device after relay switching of the first relay device, the indirect communication link being a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs through the first relay device, the first cell being the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being the service cell of the remote device.

[0053] According to an eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a first relay device, including:

[0054] The transceiver module is configured to send third indication information to the first cell, where the third indication information includes at least one of the following: a device identifier of a remote device served by the first relay device, a cell identifier of a second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, wherein the first cell is a service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is a service cell of the remote device.

[0055] For the contents not introduced or described in the embodiments of the present disclosure, please refer to the relevant introduction in the embodiments described in the first aspect above, and will not be repeated here.

[0056] According to a ninth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, including:

[0057] processor;

[0058] a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

[0059] The processor is configured to execute the steps of the wireless link management method provided in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present disclosure.

[0060] According to the tenth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer program instructions are stored. When the computer program instructions are executed by a processor, the steps of the wireless link management method provided in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present disclosure are implemented.

[0061] According to an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication system, including:

[0062] A first cell, wherein the first cell performs the method provided in the first aspect above;

[0063] The second cell executes the method provided in the second aspect above.

[0064] In some embodiments, the communication system may further include a remote device and / or a first relay device, wherein the remote device executes the method provided in the third aspect above, and the first relay device executes the method provided in the fourth aspect above.

[0065] The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may include the following beneficial effects: the first cell determines that it needs to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device, and sends a first indication message to the second cell, wherein the first indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device served by the first relay device, the first cell being the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being the service cell of the remote device. In this way, when the first relay device needs to disconnect / exit the communication connection with the first cell, the first indication message can be used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, thereby avoiding technical problems existing in related technologies such as the inability to release multiple communication links of the remote device in advance because the remote device is not aware that the first relay device needs to exit the connection, thereby facilitating the improvement of the convenience and practicality of wireless link management.

[0066] It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0067] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

[0068] Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0069] Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control plane protocol stack of a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0070] Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0071] Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart showing a method for managing a wireless link according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0072] Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a flow chart of releasing a communication link according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0073] Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart showing another radio link management method according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0074] Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart showing another radio link management method according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0075] Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart showing another radio link management method according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0076] Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart showing another radio link management method according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0077] Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a first cell device according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0078] Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram showing a second cell device according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0079] Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a remote device according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0080] Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a first relay device according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0081] Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram showing a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0082] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an exemplary embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0083] The present disclosure provides a wireless link management method, device, system, and storage medium. In some embodiments, the terms "wireless link management method," "information processing method," and "communication method" are interchangeable; the terms "wireless link management device," "information processing device," and "communication device" are interchangeable; and the terms "information processing system" and "communication system" are interchangeable.

[0084] The embodiments of the present disclosure are not exhaustive and are merely illustrative of some embodiments, and are not intended to be a specific limitation on the scope of protection of the present disclosure. In the absence of contradiction, each step in a certain embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be arbitrarily combined. For example, a solution after removing some steps in a certain embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily exchanged. In addition, the optional implementation methods in a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily combined; in addition, the embodiments can be arbitrarily combined. For example, some or all steps of different embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementation methods of other embodiments.

[0085] In each embodiment of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified or provided for by logic, the terms and / or descriptions between the embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form a new embodiment based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0086] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0087] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, elements expressed in the singular, such as "a", "an", "the", "above", "said", "the", "the", etc., may mean "one and only one", or "one or more", "at least one", etc. For example, when using articles such as "a", "an", "the" in English in translation, the noun following the article may be understood as a singular expression or a plural expression.

[0088] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, “plurality” refers to two or more.

[0089] In some embodiments, the terms "at least one," "one or more," "a plurality of," "multiple," etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0090] In some embodiments, descriptions such as "at least one of A and B," "A and / or B," "A in one case, B in another case," or "in response to one case A, in response to another case B" may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (A is executed independently of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed independently of A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed); and in some embodiments, A and B (both A and B are executed). The above is also applicable when there are more branches such as A, B, and C.

[0091] In some embodiments, "A or B" and other descriptions may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (A is executed independently of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed independently of A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed). The above is also applicable when there are more branches such as A, B, C, etc.

[0092] The prefixes such as "first" and "second" in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to distinguish different description objects and do not constitute any restriction on the position, order, priority, quantity or content of the description objects. For the statement of the description object, please refer to the description in the context of the claims or embodiments, and no unnecessary restriction should be constituted due to the use of prefixes. For example, if the description object is a "field", the ordinal number before the "field" in the "first field" and the "second field" does not limit the position or order between the "fields". "First" and "second" do not limit whether the "fields" they modify are in the same message, nor do they limit the order of the "first field" and the "second field". For another example, if the description object is a "level", the ordinal number before the "level" in the "first level" and the "second level" does not limit the priority between the "levels". For another example, the number of description objects is not limited by the ordinal number and can be one or more. Taking "first device" as an example, the number of "devices" can be one or more. In addition, the objects modified by different prefixes can be the same or different. For example, if the description object is "device", then the "first device" and the "second device" can be the same device or different devices, and their types can be the same or different; for another example, if the description object is "information", then the "first information" and the "second information" can be the same information or different information, and their contents can be the same or different.

[0093] In some embodiments, “including A,” “comprising A,” “used to indicate A,” and “carrying A” can be interpreted as directly carrying A or indirectly indicating A.

[0094] In some embodiments, terms such as "in response to...", "in response to determining...", "in the case of...", "at the time of...", "when...", "if...", "if...", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0095] In some embodiments, terms such as "greater than", "greater than or equal to", "not less than", "more than", "more than or equal to", "not less than", "higher than", "higher than or equal to", "not less than", and "above" can be replaced with each other, and terms such as "less than", "less than or equal to", "not greater than", "less than", "less than or equal to", "not more than", "lower than", "lower than or equal to", "not higher than", and "below" can be replaced with each other.

[0096] In some embodiments, devices and equipment can be interpreted as physical or virtual, and their names are not limited to the names recorded in the embodiments. In some cases, they can also be understood as "equipment", "device", "circuit", "network element", "node", "function", "unit", "section", "system", "network", "chip", "chip system", "entity", "subject", etc.

[0097] In some embodiments, "network" can be interpreted as devices included in the network, such as access network equipment, core network equipment, etc.

[0098] In some embodiments, "access network device (AN device)" may also be referred to as "radio access network device (RAN device)", "base station (BS)", "radio base station", "fixed station", and in some embodiments may also be understood as "node", "access point", "transmission point (TP)", "reception point (RP)", "transmission and / or reception point (TRP)" "panel", "antenna panel", "antenna array", "cell", "macro cell", "small cell", "femto cell", "pico cell", "sector", "cell group", "serving cell", "carrier", "component carrier", "bandwidth part (BWP)", etc.

[0099] In some embodiments, "terminal" or "terminal device" may be referred to as "user equipment (UE)", "user terminal" "mobile station (MS)", "mobile terminal (MT)", subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, etc.

[0100] In some embodiments, obtaining data, information, etc. may comply with the laws and regulations of the country where the data is obtained.

[0101] In some embodiments, data, information, etc. may be obtained with the user's consent.

[0102] In addition, each element, each row, or each column in the table of the embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the combination of any elements, any rows, and any columns can also be implemented as an independent embodiment.

[0103] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced sidelink communication to support direct communication between user devices. User devices communicate directly over the PC-5 interface. Depending on the relationship between the transmitting and receiving user devices, this sidelink supports three data transmission modes: unicast, multicast, and broadcast.

[0104] User equipment can communicate with the base station not directly but through the relay of another user equipment. Among them, the user equipment that the base station is not directly connected to can be called a remote device (remote UE), and the device that provides relay services can be called a relay device (relay UE). The remote device and the relay device communicate via link unicast, and this communication architecture is called U2N (UE to NW) relay. In this scenario, even if the remote device cannot receive the base station signal, it can maintain communication with the base station (i.e., the network side) through the relay device, which can expand the coverage of the network.

[0105] In practical applications, the link through which a user device communicates directly with a base station is called a direct communication link, while the link through which a user device communicates with a base station via a relay device is called an indirect communication link. To improve the efficiency and reliability of data transmission, a remote device can simultaneously communicate with the base station via multiple communication paths (referred to as multiple communication links). These multiple communication links include the direct communication links and indirect communication links described above. The base station can determine which communication link to use for carrying traffic based on the measurement results reported by the remote device. These bearers include signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs). The signaling bearer is used to transmit control signaling, such as but not limited to radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration signaling. The RRC reconfiguration signaling can be used to indicate the configuration and release of the multiple communication links described above, depending on the actual situation. The data bearer is used to transmit communication data, etc. When a relay device needs to disconnect, for example, when the relay device needs to perform a handover or release an RRC connection, the base station should release the multiple communication link configuration of the remote device in advance and retain the direct communication link of the remote device. However, in practice, it is found that the remote device is not aware that the relay device needs to be disconnected, so the base station cannot release the multi-communication link configuration of the remote device in advance.

[0106] To solve the above problems, the present disclosure provides a wireless link management method, device, system and storage medium. Please refer to Figure 1, which is a structural diagram of a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment. The system shown in Figure 1 may include: a remote device 100, a relay device 200 and a base station 300. The present disclosure does not limit the number of the above-mentioned remote devices 100, relay devices 200 and base stations 300. The figure shows one of each as an example, but it does not constitute a limitation. For example, the base station 300 corresponding to the remote device 100 and the base station 300 corresponding to the relay device may be the same or different. It can be determined according to the actual communication situation and is not limited by the present disclosure. There may also be multiple relay devices 200. For example, in a scenario where relay switching is required, the number of relay devices 200 may include at least two, etc.

[0107] The remote device 100 of the present disclosure refers to a user device that does not communicate with the base station 300. It can communicate with the base station 300 through a relay device 200. The relay device 200 communicates directly with the base station. The remote device 100 and the relay device 200 can communicate via a direct link, which includes but is not limited to wireless links such as device-to-device (D2D) links, wireless fidelity (WiFi) links, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) links. The remote device 100 may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a smartphone (e.g., an Android phone, an iOS phone, etc.), a tablet computer, a PDA, a laptop computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, a smart bracelet, etc.), a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, 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 a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, and a wireless terminal device in a smart home. The remote device 100 may also be a station (ST) in a wireless local area network (WLAN).

[0108] The relay device 200 and the base station 300 can communicate through some air interface technology, which includes but is not limited to the existing 2G (such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)), 3G (such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA)), 4G (such as Long Term Evolution Requency Division Duplex (LTE FDD), LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD)), 5G and future communication systems, etc., and the future communication systems include but are not limited to the sixth generation mobile communication system (6th generation, 6G) and satellite communication system, etc.

[0109] The relay device 200 may be a mobile station, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user apparatus, etc. The terminal device may be a wireless access point (WAP) in a WLAN, a personal digital assistant (PAD), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device linked to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a mobile station in a 5G network, or a terminal device in a future communication system, etc.

[0110] The base station 300 can be a device for communicating with a user equipment (such as the above-mentioned remote device 100 or the relay device 200). The base station 300 can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, a base station (node ​​B, NB) in WCDMA, an evolved base station (evolved node B, eNB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a home base station, an access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (TP) or a transmission and reception point (TRP), etc.; it can also be a gNB in ​​a new radio (NR) system, etc., which is not limited in this disclosure.

[0111] The base station 300 of the present disclosure may have one or more cells, which have resources for communicating with user equipment (such as the above-mentioned remote device 100 or relay device 200). The cells may have separate, overlapping or partially overlapping coverage areas. Each cell can be identified / distinguished by a physical cell identifier (PCI) to identify the cell to the user equipment. The above-mentioned remote device 100 and the above-mentioned relay device 200 of the present disclosure may reside in different cells to achieve corresponding communications. For the convenience of description, the present disclosure hereinafter may refer to the cell in which the above-mentioned relay device 200 currently resides (i.e., the service cell of the relay device 200) as the first cell, and the cell in which the above-mentioned remote device 100 currently resides (i.e., the service cell of the remote device 100) as the second cell.

[0112] It can be understood that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present disclosure is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of the system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0113] The following embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1, or a portion of the entities, but are not limited thereto. The entities shown in Figure 1 are illustrative only. The communication system may include all or part of the entities shown in Figure 1, or may include other entities outside of Figure 1. The number and form of the entities are arbitrary, and the entities may be physical or virtual. The connection relationship between the entities is illustrative only. The entities may be connected or disconnected, and the connection may be in any manner, either directly or indirectly, and may be wired or wireless.

[0114] The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), future radio access (FRA), new radio access technology (RAT), new radio (NR), new radio access (NX), future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) networks, Device-to-Device (D2D) systems, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) systems, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), systems utilizing other communication methods, and next-generation systems based on and extending these methods. Furthermore, multiple systems may be combined (for example, a combination of LTE or LTE-A with 5G).

[0115] Please refer to FIG2 , which is a schematic diagram of a control plane protocol stack of the above communication system according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG2 specifically shows the control plane protocol stacks of the remote device 100 , the relay device 200 and the base station 300 .

[0116] After the remote device 100 selects a relay device 200 to provide relay services for itself, it will establish a PC5-RRC connection with the relay device 200 so as to communicate with the network through the relay device 200. The remote device 100 can establish an air interface RRC connection with the network through the relay device 200 for data transmission between the remote device 100 and the network. The remote device 100 will encapsulate messages such as air interface RRC connection establishment, reconstruction, and recovery to the network in PC5 messages / data and send them to the relay device 200. The PC5 message is carried on the PC5RLC (Radio Link Control) channel and delivered downward layer by layer through the PC5-MAC (Media Access Control) and PC5-PHY (Physical layer). After receiving the message, relay device 200 passes it upward layer by layer via PC5-PHY and PC5-MAC. Relay device 200 uses the mapping relationship between PC5 RLC channels and Uu RLC channels to locate the Uu RLC channel that carries the message, encapsulates the message in a Uu message / data, and sends it to the network. Accordingly, base station 300 encapsulates the network's reply RRC message in a Uu message / data and sends it to relay device 200. Relay device 200 uses the mapping relationship between PC5 RLC channels and Uu RLC channels to locate the PC5 RLC channel that carries the message, encapsulates the message in a PC5 message / data, and sends it to remote device 100. When remote device 100 initiates RRC connection establishment, reestablishment, and recovery processes with the network, the Uu RLC / MAC and PC5 RLC / MAC processes are also required to ensure that data transmission is correct when needed and that data transmission is stopped promptly when not needed. Conversely, the network can also release or suspend the air interface RRC connection to the remote device 100 through the relay device 200. In these processes, the Uu RLC / MAC and PC5 RLC / MAC also need to be processed accordingly.

[0117] In this way, the remote device 100 and the relay device 200 can correctly process PC5 RLC / MAC and Uu RLC / MAC in the air interface RRC connection-related processes between the remote device 100 and the base station 300, thereby correctly setting the RLC and MAC layer variables in the air interface RRC connection reestablishment, suspension, release and other processes and promptly clearing data that no longer needs to be transmitted, ensuring the correctness of data transmission and avoiding process abnormalities.

[0118] Please also refer to Figure 3, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a user device according to an exemplary embodiment. The user device shown in Figure 3 may include components such as a radio frequency (RF) circuit 310, a memory 320, an input unit 330, a display unit 340, a sensor 350, an audio circuit 360, a wireless fidelity (WiFi) module 370, a processor 380, and a power supply 390. Those skilled in the art will understand that the device structure shown in Figure 3 does not limit the user device and may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0119] The following is a detailed introduction to the various components of the user equipment with reference to FIG3 :

[0120] The RF circuit 310 can be used to receive and send signals during information transmission or calls. In particular, it receives downlink information from the base station and sends it to the processor 380 for processing. In addition, it sends the designed uplink data to the base station. Generally, the RF circuit 310 includes but is not limited to an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier (LNA), a duplexer, etc. In addition, the RF circuit 310 can also communicate with the network and other devices through wireless link management. The above-mentioned wireless link management can use any communication standard or protocol, including but not limited to Global System of Mobile communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), email, Short Messaging Service (SMS), etc.

[0121] The memory 320 can be used to store software programs and modules. The processor 380 executes the various functional applications and data processing of the user device by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory 320. The memory 320 may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store an operating system, at least one application required for a function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.); the data storage area may store data created based on the use of the user device (such as audio data, a phone book, etc.). In addition, the memory 320 may include a high-speed random access memory and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device.

[0122] The input unit 330 can be used to receive input digital or character information, and to generate key signal input related to the user settings and function control of the user device. Specifically, the input unit 330 may include a touch panel 331 and other input devices 332. The touch panel 331, also known as a touch screen, can collect user touch operations on or near it (such as operations performed by the user using any suitable object or accessory such as a finger, stylus, etc. on or near the touch panel 331) and drive the corresponding connection device according to a pre-set program. Optionally, the touch panel 331 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. Among them, the touch detection device detects the user's touch direction and detects the signal caused by the touch operation, and transmits the signal to the touch controller; the touch controller receives the touch information from the touch detection device and converts it into touch point coordinates, which are then sent to the processor 380, and can receive commands sent by the processor 380 and execute them. In addition, the touch panel 331 can be implemented using various types such as resistive, capacitive, infrared and surface acoustic wave. In addition to the touch panel 331, the input unit 330 may further include other input devices 332. Specifically, the other input devices 332 may include, but are not limited to, one or more of a physical keyboard, function keys (such as volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and a joystick.

[0123] The display unit 340 can be used to display information input by the user or information provided to the user and various menus of the user device. The display unit 340 may include a display panel 341. Optionally, the display panel 341 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), etc. Further, the touch panel 331 may cover the display panel 341. When the touch panel 331 detects a touch operation on or near it, it is transmitted to the processor 380 to determine the type of touch event. Subsequently, the processor 380 provides a corresponding visual output on the display panel 341 according to the type of touch event. Although in Figure 3, the touch panel 331 and the display panel 341 are used as two independent components to implement the input and output functions of the user device, in some embodiments, the touch panel 331 and the display panel 341 can be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the user device.

[0124] The user device may also include at least one sensor 350, such as a light sensor, a motion sensor, and other sensors. Specifically, the light sensor may include an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor, wherein the ambient light sensor may adjust the brightness of the display panel 341 according to the brightness of the ambient light, and the proximity sensor may turn off the display panel 341 and / or the backlight when the user device is moved to the ear. As a type of motion sensor, the accelerometer sensor can detect the magnitude of acceleration in all directions (generally three axes), and can detect the magnitude and direction of gravity when stationary. It can be used for applications that identify the posture of the user device (such as horizontal and vertical screen switching, related games, magnetometer posture calibration), vibration recognition related functions (such as pedometer, tapping), etc.; as for other sensors that the user device can also be configured with, such as gyroscopes, barometers, hygrometers, thermometers, infrared sensors, etc., they will not be described here.

[0125] Audio circuit 360, speaker 361, and microphone 362 provide an audio interface between the user and the user device. Audio circuit 360 converts received audio data into electrical signals and transmits them to speaker 361, which then converts them into sound signals for output. Microphone 362, on the other hand, converts collected sound signals into electrical signals, which are then received by audio circuit 360 and converted into audio data. The audio data is then processed by processor 380 and transmitted to, for example, another user device via RF circuit 310, or the audio data is output to memory 320 for further processing.

[0126] WiFi is a short-range wireless transmission technology. User devices, through WiFi module 370, can help users send and receive emails, browse web pages, and access streaming media, providing users with wireless broadband Internet access. Although FIG3 shows WiFi module 370, it is understood that it is not a required component of the user device and can be omitted as needed without changing the essence of the invention.

[0127] Processor 380 is the control center of the user device. It connects all parts of the user device using various interfaces and lines. By running or executing software programs and / or modules stored in memory 320 and accessing data stored in memory 320, it performs various user device functions and processes data, thereby providing overall monitoring of the user device. Optionally, processor 380 may include one or more processing units. Preferably, processor 380 integrates an application processor and a modem processor. The application processor primarily handles the operating system, user interface, and application programs, while the modem processor primarily handles radio link management. It is understood that the modem processor may not be integrated into processor 380.

[0128] The user device also includes a power supply 390 (such as a battery) for supplying power to various components. Preferably, the power supply can be logically connected to the processor 380 via a power management system, thereby enabling the power management system to manage charging, discharging, and power consumption. Although not shown, the user device may also include components such as a camera and a Bluetooth module, which will not be described in detail here.

[0129] Based on the above embodiment, please refer to Figure 4, which is a flow chart of a wireless link management method according to an exemplary embodiment. The method shown in Figure 4 is applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1, and the method may include the following implementation steps:

[0130] S401: A first cell determines that a communication connection with a first relay device needs to be disconnected, and sends first indication information to a second cell. The first indication information is used to instruct the second cell to release an indirect communication link for a remote device served by the first relay device. The indirect communication link is a link by which the remote device communicates with a base station to which the first cell belongs through the first relay device. The first cell is the serving cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is the serving cell of the remote device. Accordingly, the second cell receives the first indication information.

[0131] The above-mentioned first cell in the present disclosure refers to the service cell where the first relay device is located / resides, and the above-mentioned second cell refers to the service cell where the remote device is located / resides. The base stations to which the above-mentioned first cell and the above-mentioned second cell belong may be the same or different, and may be determined according to the actual communication situation, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The above-mentioned first relay device refers to a device that can provide relay services for remote devices. For the introduction of the relay device, please refer to the relevant introduction in the embodiment described in Figure 1 above, and will not be repeated here. The above-mentioned indirect communication link refers to a link for the remote device to communicate through the first relay device and the base station to which the first cell where the first relay device is located belongs (that is, the base station to which the first cell belongs); and the link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the second cell where it is located belongs (that is, the base station to which the second cell belongs) can be called a direct communication link.

[0132] The present disclosure does not limit the specific implementation of the above-mentioned determination that the first cell needs to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device. For example, it may include but is not limited to any one or a combination of multiple of the following situations: due to reasons such as deterioration of the channel environment, the first cell needs to perform relay switching on the above-mentioned first relay device to switch the above-mentioned first relay device to the second relay device; the first cell needs to release the RRC connection between the first cell and the above-mentioned first relay device; the first cell needs to switch the connection state between the first cell and the first relay device to a non-connected state.

[0133] Among them, the above-mentioned second relay device refers to other devices that can provide relay services for remote devices. The second relay device and the first relay device can be located in the same cell (i.e., the first cell), or in different cells (for example, they can be located in a third cell different from the above-mentioned first cell and second cell, etc.). It can be determined according to the actual communication situation, and the present disclosure does not make too many restrictions on this. Generally, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the above-mentioned first relay device and the above-mentioned second relay device are both located in the same cell, that is, located in the above-mentioned first cell. The connection state between the above-mentioned first cell and the above-mentioned first relay device may include a connected state (connected) and a non-connected state (inconnected). When the above-mentioned connection state is in the connected state, it means that the first relay device and the first cell (i.e., the network corresponding to the first cell) have established an RRC connection, and the first relay device can communicate with the first cell. When the first cell releases the RRC connection between itself and the first relay device, the first relay device and the first cell cannot communicate with each other, that is, the communication connection is disconnected. Conversely, when the above-mentioned connection state is in the non-connected state, it means that the first relay device cannot currently communicate with the first cell.

[0134] The first cell of the present disclosure may send first indication information to the second cell when determining that it is necessary to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device. In practical applications, the first indication information is used to instruct the second cell to release the indirect communication link of the remote device. The first indication information may include, but is not limited to, any one or more of the following information: a device identifier of the remote device, a device identifier of the first relay device, a link identifier of the indirect communication link, or other custom information. The device identifier of the remote device is used to identify / distinguish the remote device, and may include, but is not limited to, for example, a Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) of the remote device, a link identifier of the remote device (i.e., an identifier of the communication link between the remote device and the first relay device), or other information used to identify the identity of the remote device. The device identifier of the first relay device is used to identify / distinguish the first relay device, and may include, but is not limited to, for example, a link identifier of the first relay device (e.g., an identifier of the communication link between the first relay device and the remote device), or other information used to identify the identity of the first relay device.

[0135] S402. The second cell releases the indirect communication link of the remote device based on the first indication information.

[0136] The present disclosure does not limit the specific implementation method of the above-mentioned release of the indirect communication link of the remote device. For example, in one example, the second cell can directly respond to the above-mentioned first indication information and delete the resources of the above-mentioned indirect communication link configured on the network side to realize the release of the above-mentioned indirect communication link.

[0137] In another example, see FIG5 , which is a schematic diagram of a process flow for releasing a communication link according to an exemplary embodiment. The process shown in FIG5 is applied to the communication system shown in FIG1 , and the process may include the following implementation steps:

[0138] S501: A second cell sends fifth indication information to a remote device. The fifth indication information is used to instruct the release of an indirect communication link with the remote device, or to instruct the switching of the indirect communication link to a link in which the remote device communicates with a base station to which the first cell belongs via a second relay device. The second relay device is a relay device after relay switching of the first relay device. Accordingly, the remote device receives the fifth indication information.

[0139] The above-mentioned fifth indication information disclosed in the present invention can be used to instruct the remote device to release the above-mentioned indirect communication link, or to instruct the remote device to switch the above-mentioned indirect communication link to a target communication link, where the target communication link refers to a link through which the remote device communicates with the base station to which the first cell belongs through a second relay device. The second relay device may refer to other relay devices after the above-mentioned first relay device performs relay switching. The second relay device and the first relay device may belong to / be located in the same cell, namely the above-mentioned first cell.

[0140] The present disclosure does not limit the type of the fifth indication information. For example, the fifth indication information may be an RRC reconfiguration message. In a specific implementation, the present disclosure may carry the fifth indication information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling and send it.

[0141] S502. The remote device releases the indirect communication link of the remote device based on the fifth indication information, or switches the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs through the second relay device.

[0142] After receiving the fifth indication information, the remote device may release the indirect communication link or switch the indirect communication link to the target communication link according to the fifth indication information. This disclosure does not limit the specific implementation of how the remote device releases the indirect communication link. For example, in one example, the remote device may locally delete the information about the indirect communication link so that the indirect communication link is no longer used for subsequent communications, thereby achieving the purpose of releasing the indirect communication link.

[0143] In another example, the remote device may release the indirect communication link by releasing the communication link between the remote device and the first relay device, for example, releasing the D2D link between the remote device and the first relay device.

[0144] In some embodiments, after releasing the indirect communication link or switching the indirect communication link, the remote device may return a corresponding response message to the second cell, indicating that the terminal device has released the indirect communication link. Accordingly, after receiving the response message, the second cell may determine that the indirect communication link has been released.

[0145] By implementing the embodiments of the present disclosure, a first cell determines that it needs to disconnect the communication connection with a first relay device, and sends a first indication message to a second cell, where the first indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of a remote device served by the first relay device. The first cell is the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is the service cell of the remote device. In this way, when the first relay device needs to disconnect / exit the communication connection with the first cell, the first indication message can be used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, thereby avoiding technical problems existing in related technologies such as the inability to release multiple communication links of the remote device in advance because the remote device is not aware that the first relay device needs to exit the connection, thereby improving the convenience and practicality of wireless link management.

[0146] In some embodiments, before the first cell sends the first indication information to the second cell, it is necessary to determine whether the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, which include at least the above-mentioned indirect communication link, and optionally may also include the above-mentioned direct communication link. The introduction of the indirect communication link and the direct communication link can refer to the relevant introduction in the embodiment described in Figure 4 above, and will not be repeated here. The following describes an embodiment of determining that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links. Please refer to Figure 6, which is a flow chart of another wireless link management method according to an exemplary embodiment. The method shown in Figure 6 is applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1, and the method may include the following implementation steps:

[0147] S601. The second cell sends second indication information to the first cell, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, and the multiple communication links at least include the indirect communication link.

[0148] S602. The first cell receives the second indication information sent by the second cell.

[0149] The present disclosure does not limit the implementation method for sending the above-mentioned second indication information. For example, in one example, since the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, the remote device can send the second indication information to the first cell through the second cell. In another example, since the second cell has configured link configuration information of multiple communication links for the remote device, the second cell can directly send the second indication information to the first cell. The second indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, and the multiple communication links include at least the above-mentioned indirect communication link. Accordingly, after receiving the above-mentioned second indication information, the first cell can determine / know that the remote device has been configured with multiple communication links, and can continue to execute subsequent steps, such as sending the above-mentioned first indication information to the second cell to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, etc.

[0150] In practical applications, the second indication information may include, but is not limited to, any one or a combination of the following information: a device identifier of the remote device, a device identifier of the first relay device, link identifiers of multiple communication links, or other custom information. For details about the device identifier of the remote device and the device identifier of the first relay device, please refer to the relevant description of the embodiment described in FIG. 4 , and will not be repeated here.

[0151] Please refer to Figure 7, which is a flow chart of another wireless link management method according to an exemplary embodiment. The method shown in Figure 7 is applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1, and the method may include the following implementation steps:

[0152] S701. The first relay device sends third indication information to the first cell, where the third indication information includes at least one of the following: a device identifier of the remote device, a cell identifier of the second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, where the multiple communication links include at least the indirect communication link.

[0153] S702. The first cell receives the third indication information sent by the first relay device.

[0154] The first relay device may send the third indication information to the first cell. Accordingly, after receiving the third indication information, the first cell may determine or learn, based on the specific content of the third indication information, that the remote device has been configured with multiple communication links.

[0155] In actual applications, the above-mentioned third indication information may include but is not limited to any one or more of the following information: the device identifier of the remote device, the cell identifier of the second cell, indication information or other custom information used to determine that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, etc. The indication information can be directly used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links. For example, the indication information may include the link identifier of each communication link in the multiple communication links, etc., which is not limited in this disclosure.

[0156] It should be noted that the embodiments described in Figures 6 and 7 above can be implemented separately or combined in one implementation according to actual circumstances, and this disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, this disclosure can combine the embodiments described in Figures 6 and 7 to determine whether the first cell has learned in advance that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links.

[0157] In some embodiments, before sending the third indication information to the first cell, the first relay device has determined / learned that the remote device it serves is configured with multiple communication links. FIG8 is a flow chart illustrating another method for managing wireless links according to an exemplary embodiment. The method shown in FIG8 is applied to the communication system shown in FIG1 , and the method may include the following implementation steps:

[0158] S801. A remote device receives link configuration information sent by a second cell, where the link configuration information at least includes multiple communication links configured by the remote device.

[0159] The second cell can send link configuration information to the remote device based on actual needs. For example, the second cell can periodically send the link configuration information to the remote device. This link configuration information can include multiple communication links configured by the remote device. In actual applications, for example, this information can include, but is not limited to, link identifiers of each of the multiple communication links and the link resources where each link resides. Accordingly, the remote device can receive the link configuration information.

[0160] S802: The remote device sends sixth indication information to the first relay device based on the link configuration information, wherein the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links. Correspondingly, the first relay device receives the sixth indication information.

[0161] After the remote device determines that it is configured with multiple communication links, it can send sixth indication information to the first relay device to indicate / inform the remote device that multiple communication links are configured. Accordingly, after receiving the sixth indication information, the first relay device can determine / know that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links.

[0162] In practical applications, the sixth indication information may include, but is not limited to, any one or a combination of multiple items of the following information: link identifiers of multiple communication links, a device identifier of a remote device, or other custom information.

[0163] In some embodiments, after the second cell determines that the indirect communication link has been released, some subsequent operations may be performed. For example, see Figure 9, which is a flowchart of another radio link management method according to an exemplary embodiment. The method shown in Figure 9 is applied to the communication system shown in Figure 1, and the method may include the following implementation steps:

[0164] S901: After determining that the indirect communication link has been released, the second cell sends fourth indication information to the first cell, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the indirect communication link has been released. Correspondingly, the first cell receives the fourth indication information.

[0165] After determining that the release of the indirect communication link is complete, the second cell may send fourth indication information to the first cell, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate / inform the first cell that the release of the indirect communication link is complete.

[0166] S902. The first cell performs at least one of the following operations based on the fourth indication information: performs relay switching on the first relay device to switch the first relay device to a second relay device; releases the radio resource control RRC connection between the first cell and the first relay device; switches the connection state between the first cell and the first relay device to a non-connected state.

[0167] After receiving the fourth indication information, the first cell may determine that the indirect communication link to the remote device has been released. Furthermore, optionally, the first cell may perform at least one of the following corresponding operations based on actual needs: relaying the first relay device, specifically switching the first relay device to the second relay device; releasing the RRC connection between the first cell and the first relay device, specifically releasing some network resources occupied by the RRC connection; switching the connection state between the first cell and the first relay device to a non-connected state to prohibit the first cell and the first relay device from communicating with each other, etc.

[0168] By implementing the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the first cell determines that it needs to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device, it sends a first indication message to the second cell, where the first indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device served by the first relay device, where the indirect communication link is a link for the remote device to communicate through the first relay device and the base station to which the first cell belongs, the first cell being the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being the service cell of the remote device. In this way, when the first relay device needs to disconnect / exit the communication connection with the first cell, the first indication message can be used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, thereby avoiding technical problems existing in related technologies such as the inability to release multiple communication links of the remote device in advance because the remote device is not aware that the first relay device needs to exit the connection, thereby improving the convenience and practicality of wireless link management.

[0169] In an example embodiment, the present disclosure further provides a communication system, which may include a first cell 1000 and a second cell 2000. Optionally, the communication system may further include a remote device 3000 and / or a first relay device 4000. The first cell 1000 may execute the radio link management method for the first cell described in the aforementioned embodiment of the present disclosure; the second cell 2000 may execute the radio link management method for the second cell described in the aforementioned embodiment of the present disclosure; the remote device 3000 may execute the radio link management method for the remote device described in the aforementioned embodiment of the present disclosure; and the first relay device 4000 may execute the radio link management method for the first relay device described in the aforementioned embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0170] FIG10 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a first cell device according to an exemplary embodiment. The first cell device shown in FIG10 is applied to a first cell 1000 and may include a transceiver module 1002, wherein:

[0171] The transceiver module 1002 is configured to determine that it is necessary to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device, and send a first indication message to the second cell, wherein the first indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device served by the first relay device, the first cell being the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being the service cell of the remote device.

[0172] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to:

[0173] receiving second indication information sent by the second cell, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links; and / or,

[0174] receiving third indication information sent by the first relay device, the third indication information including at least one of the following: a device identifier of the remote device, a cell identifier of the second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links;

[0175] Wherein, the multiple communication links include at least the indirect communication link.

[0176] In some embodiments, the first indication information or the second indication information includes a device identifier of the remote device and / or a device identifier of the first relay device.

[0177] In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes a processing module 1004, wherein the processing module 1004 is configured to:

[0178] When at least one of the following is detected, determining that the first cell needs to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device:

[0179] The first cell needs to perform relay handover on the first relay device;

[0180] The first cell needs to release the radio resource control RRC connection between the first cell and the first relay device;

[0181] The first cell needs to switch the connection state between the first cell and the first relay device to a non-connection state.

[0182] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to receive fourth indication information sent by the second cell, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the indirect communication link has been released.

[0183] In some embodiments, the processing module 1004 is further configured to:

[0184] Based on the fourth indication information, perform at least one of the following corresponding operations:

[0185] Perform relay switching on the first relay device to switch the first relay device to a second relay device;

[0186] releasing a radio resource control (RRC) connection between the first cell and the first relay device;

[0187] Switch the connection state between the first cell and the first relay device to a non-connection state.

[0188] FIG11 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a second cell device according to an exemplary embodiment. The second cell device shown in FIG11 can be applied to a second cell 2000 and can include a transceiver module 2002 and a processing module 2004, wherein:

[0189] The transceiver module 2002 is configured to receive first indication information sent by a first cell, where the first indication information is used to instruct to release an indirect communication link of a remote device served by the first relay device, and the second cell is a serving cell of the remote device;

[0190] The processing module 2004 is configured to release the indirect communication link of the remote device based on the first indication information.

[0191] In some embodiments, the processing module 2004 is configured to control the transceiver module 2002 to send a fifth indication message to the remote device, and the fifth indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, or to indicate the switching of the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs through a second relay device, and the second relay device is a relay device after the relay switching of the first relay device.

[0192] In some embodiments, the fifth indication information is carried in radio resource control RRC reconfiguration signaling.

[0193] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 2002 is further configured to send fourth indication information to the first cell, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the indirect communication link has been released.

[0194] FIG12 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a remote device according to an exemplary embodiment. The remote device 3000 shown in FIG12 may include a transceiver module 3002, wherein:

[0195] The transceiver module 3002 is configured to receive fifth indication information sent by the second cell, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, or to indicate the switching of the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs through the second relay device. The second relay device is a relay device after the relay switching of the first relay device, the first cell is the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is the service cell of the remote device.

[0196] In some embodiments, the remote device further includes a processing module 3004, and the processing module 3004 is configured to:

[0197] Based on the fifth indication information, releasing the indirect communication link of the remote device; or,

[0198] Based on the fifth indication information, the indirect communication link is switched to a link in which the remote device communicates with the base station to which the first cell belongs through the second relay device.

[0199] In some embodiments, the processing module 3004 is configured to:

[0200] The communication connection between the remote device and the first relay device is released to release the indirect communication link of the remote device.

[0201] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 3002 is further configured to:

[0202] receiving link configuration information sent by the second cell, where the link configuration information includes multiple communication links configured by the remote device, and the multiple communication links include at least the indirect communication link;

[0203] Based on the link configuration information, sixth indication information is sent to the first relay device, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links.

[0204] Please refer to Figure 13, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first relay device according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in Figure 13, the first relay device 4000 may include a transceiver module 4002, wherein:

[0205] The transceiver module 4002 is configured to send third indication information to the first cell, and the third indication information includes at least one of the following: a device identifier of a remote device served by the first relay device, a cell identifier of a second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, the first cell being a service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being a service cell of the remote device.

[0206] In some embodiments, before sending the third indication information to the first cell, the transceiver module 4002 is further configured to receive sixth indication information sent by the remote device, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links.

[0207] Regarding the apparatus in the above embodiment, the specific manner in which each module performs operations has been described in detail in the embodiment of the method, and will not be elaborated here.

[0208] 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment. The communication device 400 may be a first cell 1000, a second cell 2000, a remote device 3000, or a first relay device 4000 in a communication system.

[0209] 14 , the communication apparatus 400 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 4002 , a memory 4004 , and a communication component 4006 .

[0210] The processing component 4002 can be used to control the overall operation of the communication device 400, such as operations associated with display, phone calls, data communications, camera operation, and recording operations. The processing component 4002 can include one or more processors 4020 to execute instructions to complete all or part of the steps of the wireless link management method described above. In addition, the processing component 4002 can include one or more modules to facilitate interaction between the processing component 4002 and other components. For example, the processing component 4002 can include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component and the processing component 4002.

[0211] The memory 4004 is configured to store various types of data to support operations on the communication device 400. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the communication device 400, contact data, phone book data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. The memory 4004 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device, or a combination thereof, 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, or optical disk.

[0212] The communication component 4006 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the communication device 400 and other devices. The communication device 400 can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, NB-IOT, eMTC, etc., or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 4006 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 4006 also includes a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module can be implemented based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology and other technologies.

[0213] In an exemplary embodiment, the communication device 400 can be implemented by one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other electronic components to perform the above-mentioned wireless link management method.

[0214] The communication device 400 may be an independent electronic device or a part of an independent electronic device. For example, in one embodiment, the electronic device may be an integrated circuit (IC) or a chip, wherein the integrated circuit may be a single IC or a collection of multiple ICs; the chip may include but is not limited to the following types: GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), CPU (Central Processing Unit), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), DSP (Digital Signal Processor), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), SOC (System on Chip, SoC), etc. The above-mentioned integrated circuit or chip can be used to execute executable instructions (or codes) to implement the above-mentioned wireless link management method. The executable instructions may be stored in the integrated circuit or chip, or may be obtained from other devices or equipment. For example, the integrated circuit or chip includes a processor, a memory, and an interface for communicating with other devices. The executable instruction can be stored in the processor, and when the executable instruction is executed by the processor, the above-mentioned wireless link management method is implemented; alternatively, the integrated circuit or chip can receive the executable instruction through the interface and transmit it to the processor for execution to implement the above-mentioned wireless link management method.

[0215] In an exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the wireless link management method provided by the present disclosure. For example, the computer-readable storage medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions, for example, the aforementioned memory 4004 including instructions, which may be executed by the processor 4020 of the communication device 400 to perform the aforementioned wireless link management 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, an optical data storage device, and the like.

[0216] Please refer to Figure 15 for a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip according to an exemplary embodiment. If the communication device 400 can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to the schematic diagram of the structure of the chip 500 shown in Figure 15, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0217] The chip 500 includes one or more processors 501 , and the chip 500 is configured to execute any of the above methods.

[0218] In some embodiments, chip 500 further includes one or more interface circuits 502. Optionally, interface circuit 502 is connected to memory 503. Interface circuit 502 can be used to receive signals from memory 503 or other devices, and interface circuit 502 can be used to send signals to memory 503 or other devices. For example, interface circuit 502 can read instructions stored in memory 503 and send the instructions to processor 501.

[0219] In some embodiments, the interface circuit 502 executes at least one of the communication steps such as sending and / or receiving in the above method (for example, step 401, step 501, step 601, step 602, step 701, step 702, etc., but not limited to these), and the processor 501 executes at least one of the other steps (for example, step 402, step 502, etc.).

[0220] In some embodiments, terms such as interface circuit, interface, transceiver pin, and transceiver may be used interchangeably.

[0221] In some embodiments, the chip 500 further includes one or more memories 503 for storing instructions. Alternatively, all or part of the memories 503 may be located outside the chip 500 .

[0222] In another exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon. When the instructions are executed on the communication device 400, the communication device 400 executes any of the above methods. Optionally, the storage medium is an electronic storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, but is not limited thereto and may also be a storage medium readable by other devices. Optionally, the storage medium may be a non-transitory storage medium, but is not limited thereto and may also be a transient storage medium.

[0223] In another exemplary embodiment, a computer program product is further provided. The computer program product includes a computer program that can be executed by a programmable device, and the computer program has a code portion for executing the above-mentioned radio link management method when executed by the programmable device.

[0224] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and practicing the present disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure that follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The description and examples are to be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

[0225] It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the exact structures that have been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A wireless link management method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The first cell determines that it needs to disconnect the communication connection with the first relay device, and sends a first indication message to the second cell, wherein the first indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device served by the first relay device, the first cell is the service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is the service cell of the remote device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving second indication information sent by the second cell, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links; and / or, receiving third indication information sent by the first relay device, wherein the third indication information includes at least one of the following: a device identifier of the remote device, a cell identifier of the second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links; Wherein, the multiple communication links at least include the indirect communication link.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first indication information or the second indication information includes a device identifier of the remote device and / or a device identifier of the first relay device.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The determining that the communication connection with the first relay device needs to be disconnected includes at least one of the following: The first cell needs to perform relay switching on the first relay device; The first cell needs to release the radio resource control RRC connection between the first cell and the first relay device; The first cell needs to switch the connection state between the first cell and the first relay device to a non-connection state.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive fourth indication information sent by the second cell, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the indirect communication link has been released.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: Based on the fourth indication information, perform at least one of the following corresponding operations: Perform relay switching on the first relay device to switch the first relay device to a second relay device; releasing a radio resource control RRC connection between the first cell and the first relay device; The connection state between the first cell and the first relay device is switched to a non-connection state.

7. A wireless link management method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The second cell receives first indication information sent by the first cell, where the first indication information is used to instruct to release an indirect communication link of a remote device served by the first relay device, the first cell is a serving cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is a serving cell of the remote device; Based on the first indication information, the indirect communication link of the remote device is released.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The releasing the indirect communication link of the remote device based on the first indication information includes: A fifth indication message is sent to the remote device, wherein the fifth indication message is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, or to indicate the switching of the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs via a second relay device, wherein the second relay device is a relay device after relay switching of the first relay device.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The fifth indication information is carried in radio resource control RRC reconfiguration signaling.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Send fourth indication information to the first cell, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the indirect communication link has been released.

11. A wireless link management method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The remote device receives the fifth indication information sent by the second cell, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, or to indicate the switching of the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs through the second relay device, the second relay device is a relay device after relay switching of the first relay device, the first cell is a service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is a service cell of the remote device.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The method further comprises: Based on the fifth indication information, releasing the indirect communication link of the remote device; or, Based on the fifth indication information, the indirect communication link is switched to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs via the second relay device.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The releasing the indirect communication link of the remote device comprises: The communication connection between the remote device and the first relay device is released to release the indirect communication link of the remote device.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving link configuration information sent by the second cell, wherein the link configuration information includes multiple communication links configured by the remote device, and the multiple communication links at least include the indirect communication link; Based on the link configuration information, sixth indication information is sent to the first relay device, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links.

15. A wireless link management method, characterized in that: The method comprises: The first relay device sends third indication information to the first cell, and the third indication information includes at least one of the following: a device identifier of a remote device served by the first relay device, a cell identifier of a second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, the first cell being a service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell being a service cell of the remote device.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive sixth indication information sent by the remote device, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links.

17. A first cell device, characterized in that: include: The transceiver module is configured to determine that the communication connection with the first relay device needs to be disconnected, and send first indication information to the second cell, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the release of the remote cell served by the first relay device. An indirect communication link between a remote device and the first relay device, wherein the first cell is a service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is a service cell of the remote device.

18. A second cell device, characterized in that: include: The transceiver module is configured to receive first indication information sent by a first cell, where the first indication information is used to indicate to release an indirect communication link of a remote device served by a first relay device, where the first cell is a serving cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is a serving cell of the remote device; The processing module is configured to release the indirect communication link of the remote device based on the first indication information.

19. A remote device, characterized in that: include: The transceiver module is configured to receive fifth indication information sent by the second cell, wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate the release of the indirect communication link of the remote device, or to indicate the switching of the indirect communication link to a link for the remote device to communicate with the base station to which the first cell belongs via the second relay device, wherein the second relay device is a relay device after relay switching of the first relay device, the first cell is a service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is a service cell of the remote device.

20. A first relay device, characterized in that: include: The transceiver module is configured to send third indication information to the first cell, and the third indication information includes at least one of the following: a device identifier of a remote device served by the first relay device, a cell identifier of a second cell, and information indicating that the remote device is configured with multiple communication links, the first cell is a service cell of the first relay device, and the second cell is a service cell of the remote device.

21. A communication device, characterized in that: include: processor; a memory for storing processor-executable instructions; The processor is configured to execute the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 6; or, the processor is configured to execute the steps of the method described in any one of claims 7 to 10; or, the processor is configured to execute the steps of the method described in any one of claims 11 to 14; or, the processor is configured to execute the steps of the method described in claim 15 or 16.

22. A computer-readable storage medium having computer program instructions stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 6 are implemented, or when the computer program instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 7 to 10 are implemented, or when the computer program instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 11 to 14 are implemented, or when the computer program instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in claim 15 or 16 are implemented.

23. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A first cell, wherein the first cell performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6; A second cell, wherein the second cell performs the method according to any one of claims 7 to 10.

24. The system according to claim 23, characterized in that The system further includes a remote device and / or a first relay device, wherein the remote device executes the method according to any one of claims 11-14, and the first relay device executes the method according to claim 15 or 16.

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