Relay communication method, and device

Abstract

The present application relates to a relay communication method, and a device. The method comprises: a first communication device receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating multi-hop relay capability information of a second communication device. In the embodiments of the present application, multi-hop relay communication can be better supported on the basis of multi-hop relay capability information of a communication device, thereby improving communication reliability and a communication range.

Description

Relay communication method and device Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a relay communication method and device. Background Art

[0002] With the development of wireless communication technology, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced relays. Terminals can connect to the network through relays, such as a User Equipment (UE) to Network (U2N) relay. Different terminals, such as a source terminal and a destination terminal, can also connect through relays, such as a User Equipment to User Equipment (UE to UE, U2U) relay. Communication based on relays can extend communication distance and improve communication reliability.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a relay communication method and device, which can improve communication reliability and communication range.

[0005] The present invention provides a relay communication method, including:

[0006] The first communication device receives first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

[0007] The present invention provides a relay communication method, including:

[0008] The second communication device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

[0009] The present invention provides a relay communication method, including:

[0010] The first communication device sends multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform a multi-hop relay related operation.

[0011] The present invention provides a relay communication method, including:

[0012] The second communication device receives multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform a multi-hop relay related operation.

[0013] An embodiment of the present application provides a first communication device, including:

[0014] The receiving unit is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

[0015] An embodiment of the present application provides a second communication device, including:

[0016] The sending unit is used to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

[0017] An embodiment of the present application provides a first communication device, including:

[0018] The sending unit is configured to send multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform a multi-hop relay related operation.

[0019] An embodiment of the present application provides a second communication device, including:

[0020] The receiving unit is configured to receive multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform a multi-hop relay related operation.

[0021] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory to enable the communication device to perform the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0022] The embodiment of the present application provides a chip for implementing the above-mentioned relay communication method. Specifically, the chip includes: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0023] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a device, the device executes the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0024] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0025] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0026] The embodiments of the present application can better support multi-hop relay communication based on the multi-hop relay capability information of the communication device, thereby improving communication reliability and communication range. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0028] FIG2 a is a schematic diagram of 3GPP transmission mode 3. FIG.

[0029] FIG2 b is a schematic diagram of 3GPP transmission mode 4.

[0030] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of UE-to-UE relay.

[0031] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a process of establishing a UE-to-UE relay connection.

[0032] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a UE architecture in a UE-to-UE relay.

[0033] FIG6 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] FIG7 a , FIG7 b and FIG7 c are schematic flow charts of information interaction between devices.

[0035] FIG7 d is a schematic diagram of the relationship between devices.

[0036] FIG8 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0037] FIG9 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0038] FIG10 a , FIG10 b and FIG10 c are schematic flow charts of information interaction between devices.

[0039] FIG11 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0040] FIG12 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0041] FIG13 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0042] FIG14 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0043] FIG15 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0044] FIG16 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0045] FIG17 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0046] 18a to 18f are schematic flow charts of examples in a multi-hop relay link.

[0047] FIG19 is a schematic block diagram of a first communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0048] FIG20 is a schematic block diagram of a second communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0049] FIG21 is a schematic block diagram of a first communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0050] FIG22 is a schematic block diagram of a second communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0051] Figure 23 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] Figure 24 is a schematic block diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0053] Figure 25 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0055] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) system, New Radio (NR) system, NR system evolution system, LTE on unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) system, NR on unlicensed spectrum (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, NR-U) system, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Fifth Generation (5G) system or other communication systems.

[0056] Generally speaking, traditional communication systems support a limited number of connections and are easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, mobile communication systems will not only support traditional communications, but will also support, for example, device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, etc. The embodiments of the present application can also be applied to these communication systems.

[0057] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a dual connectivity (DC) scenario, and a standalone (SA) networking scenario.

[0058] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum can also be considered as a shared spectrum; or, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to an authorized spectrum, wherein the authorized spectrum can also be considered as an unshared spectrum.

[0059] The embodiments of the present application describe various embodiments in conjunction with network devices and terminal devices, wherein the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc.

[0060] The terminal device can be a station (STAION, ST) in a WLAN, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next-generation communication system such as an NR network, or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, etc.

[0061] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons and satellites, etc.).

[0062] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc.

[0063] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be a device for communicating with a mobile device. The network device may be an access point (AP) in a WLAN, an evolved base station (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a network device (gNB) in an NR network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network or a network device in an NTN network, etc.

[0065] As an example and not a limitation, in an embodiment of the present application, the network device may have a mobile feature, for example, the network device may be a mobile device. Alternatively, the network device may be a satellite or a balloon station. For example, the satellite may be a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, etc. Optionally, the network device may also be a base station set up in a location such as land or water.

[0066] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device can provide services for a cell, and the terminal device communicates with the network device through the transmission resources used by the cell (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources). The cell can be a cell corresponding to the network device (for example, a base station). The cell can belong to a macro base station or a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cells here may include: metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0067] FIG1 exemplarily illustrates a communication system 100. The communication system includes a network device 110 and two terminal devices 120. In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may include multiple network devices 110, and each network device 110 may include a different number of terminal devices 120 within its coverage area, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0068] In one embodiment, the communication system 100 may further include other network entities such as a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0069] Among them, the network equipment may include access network equipment and core network equipment. That is, the wireless communication system also includes multiple core networks for communicating with the access network equipment. The access network equipment can be an evolutionary base station (evolutional node B, abbreviated as eNB or e-NodeB) macro base station, micro base station (also called "small base station"), pico base station, access point (AP), transmission point (TP) or new generation base station (new generation Node B, gNodeB), etc. in a long-term evolution (LTE) system, a next-generation (mobile communication system) (next radio, NR) system or an authorized auxiliary access long-term evolution (LAA-LTE) system.

[0070] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, a device having a communication function in a network / system may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system shown in Figure 1 as an example, the communication device may include a network device and a terminal device having a communication function. The network device and the terminal device may be specific devices in the embodiments of the present application and will not be described in detail here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system, such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, and other network entities, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0071] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" is simply a description of an association between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0072] It should be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association. For example, "A indicates B" can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can be obtained through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C; it can also mean that there is an association between A and B.

[0073] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or an association relationship between the two, or a relationship between indication and being indicated, configuration and being configured, etc.

[0074] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0075] 1. Long Term Evolution (LTE) Device to Device (D2D) / V2X

[0076] Device-to-device communication is a sidelink (SL) transmission technology based on D2D. Unlike traditional cellular systems where communication data is received or sent through base stations, the Internet of Vehicles system uses direct terminal-to-terminal communication, resulting in higher spectrum efficiency and lower transmission latency.

[0077] 3GPP includes two transmission modes: Mode 3 and Mode 4.

[0078] Mode 3: As shown in Figure 2a, the terminal's transmission resources are allocated by the base station, and the terminal transmits data on the sidelink based on the allocated resources. The base station can allocate resources for a single transmission or for semi-static transmission.

[0079] Mode 4: As shown in Figure 2b, the vehicle terminal selects a resource in the resource pool for data transmission.

[0080] In 3GPP, D2D includes different phases:

[0081] (1) Proximity-based Service (ProSe): In Rel-12 / 13, device-to-device communication is studied for ProSe scenarios, mainly targeting public safety services.

[0082] In proximity services, by configuring the location of resource pools in the time domain, for example, the resource pools are discontinuous in the time domain, the UE can transmit / receive data discontinuously on the sidelink, thereby achieving power saving.

[0083] (2) Internet of Vehicles: In Rel-14 / 15, the Internet of Vehicles system was studied for vehicle-to-vehicle communication scenarios, mainly for relatively high-speed vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-person communication services;

[0084] In V2X, since the on-board system has continuous power supply, power efficiency is not the main issue, but the delay of data transmission is the main issue. Therefore, the system design requires the terminal equipment to perform continuous transmission and reception.

[0085] (3) Wearable devices, further enhanced device-to-device (FeD2D): In Rel-14, this topic studies the scenario of wearable devices accessing the network through mobile phones, mainly targeting scenarios with low mobile speed and low power access.

[0086] In FeD2D, during the pre-research phase, 3GPP concluded that a base station could configure the discontinuous reception (DRX) parameters of a remote terminal through a relay terminal. However, because the topic did not enter the standardization phase, the specific details of how to perform DRX configuration have not been finalized.

[0087] NR V2X

[0088] Based on LTE V2X, NR V2X is not limited to broadcast scenarios, but has been further expanded to unicast and multicast scenarios, and the application of V2X is studied in these scenarios.

[0089] Similar to LTE V2X, NR V2X also includes two resource authorization modes: Mode-1 and Mode-2. Furthermore, a user may be in a mixed mode, that is, they can use Mode-1 to acquire resources and Mode-2 to acquire resources at the same time. The resource acquisition is indicated by the sidelink grant, that is, the sidelink grant indicates the time-frequency position of the corresponding Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) and Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) resources.

[0090] Unlike LTE V2X, in addition to the feedback-free, UE-initiated Hybrid Automatic Repeat-reQuest (HARQ) retransmission, NR V2X introduces feedback-based HARQ retransmission, which is not limited to unicast communication but also includes multicast communication.

[0091] 3. Side-by-side UE-2-UE relay technology

[0092] As shown in Figure 3, in Rel-17 ProSe, 3GPP includes a U2U (UE-to-UE) relay function based on Layer 2 and Layer 3 relays. That is, the source UE connects to the target UE through the relay UE, and the relay UE transfers data between the source UE and the target UE.

[0093] Figure 4 shows the specific connection establishment steps. The source UE, relay UE, and target UE discover each other through discovery messages or Direct Communication Request (DCR) messages. The relay UE can help the source UE forward discovery messages or DCR messages. After discovering each other, the source UE and target UE select a relay and establish a connection with the appropriate relay. The relay then acts as a relay to establish an end-to-end direct communication interface (PC5) connection.

[0094] 3GPP Rel-17 includes Layer 2 end-to-end relay. As shown in Figure 5, the adaptation layer (e.g., the Sidelink Relay Adaptation Protocol (SRAP) layer) is placed above the control plane and user plane Radio Link Control (RLC) sublayers between the relay UE and the source UE / target UE. The PC5 Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) / Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) and Radio Resource Control (RRC) terminate between the source terminal and the target. The RLC, Medium Access Control (MAC), and Physical layer (PHY) terminate in each link (i.e., the link between the source terminal and the relay terminal and the link between the relay terminal and the target). There is currently no conclusion on whether the adaptation layer is also supported at the PC5 interface between the source UE and the relay UE.

[0095] An example of L2UE to UE relay is as follows:

[0096] (1) The adaptation layer of the relay terminal supports sidelink bearer mapping between access PC5 RLC channels. For sidelink relay services, different end-to-end bearers, such as signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs), of the same remote UE and / or different remote UEs can be mapped N:1 and multiplexed on a single PC5 RLC channel.

[0097] (2) The adaptation layer is used to support terminal identification for sideline services (multiplexing data from multiple terminals). The terminal PC5 radio bearer and terminal identification information are included in the adaptation layer so that the target can associate received data packets with a specific PDCP entity associated with the source terminal's radio bearer.

[0098] 4. UE to network relay

[0099] The remote terminal performs measurement reporting, and includes information such as the relay terminal identifier, serving cell identifier, and reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement results in the measurement reporting information. When the remote terminal performs a link switch from a non-direct path to a direct path, for the serving relay terminal, SL-RSRP can be used to perform measurements on the side link. When the remote terminal performs a link switch from a direct path to a non-direct path, Sidelink Discovery (SD)-RSRP can be used to perform measurements on the side link. In addition, when performing measurement reporting, two new measurement reporting triggering events are defined for terminal-to-network relay switching. Event 1 When the link quality of the serving relay terminal is lower than the configured threshold value, and optionally, the link quality of the adjacent cell is higher than the configured threshold value, the remote terminal performs measurement reporting. Event 2 When the link quality of the serving cell is lower than the configured threshold value, and optionally, the link quality of the relay terminal is higher than the configured threshold value, the remote terminal performs measurement reporting. In addition, a new timer is introduced to assist the remote terminal in performing a direct-to-indirect link handover. When the remote terminal receives an RRC reconfiguration message indicating a direct-to-indirect link handover, it starts the timer. When the timer expires, the remote terminal performs an RRC re-establishment.

[0100] Related U2U / U2N relaying is primarily used in single-hop scenarios, for example, from a source UE via a relay UE to a target UE or gNB. Embodiments of the present application can further enhance coverage through multi-hop relaying. For example, from a source UE via relay UE1, relay UE 2, and so on, to a target UE or gNB.

[0101] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The method can optionally be applied to the systems shown in FIG1 to FIG5 , but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following contents.

[0102] S610: A first communication device receives first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of a second communication device.

[0103] In an embodiment of the present application, in a wireless communication scenario, a multi-hop relay link may include two or more relay terminals. The role of the relay in the multi-hop relay link in the embodiment of the present application may be a terminal. The wireless communication scenario in the embodiment of the present application may include a scenario that supports sideline communication. The first communication device may be a relay terminal or an end terminal in the multi-hop relay link. The second communication device may be a network device or an end terminal in the multi-hop relay link. The end terminal may be located at the edge of the multi-hop relay link and may also be referred to as a remote terminal, edge terminal, etc. The end terminal may include a source terminal and / or a target terminal. The multi-hop relay link may be a U2U relay link or a U2N relay link. For example, in a U2U relay link, the first communication device may be a source terminal, a relay terminal, or a target terminal. In a U2N relay link, the first communication device may be a remote terminal or a relay terminal. The first communication device may obtain the multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device based on the received first indication information.

[0104] As shown in FIG. 7 a , if the first communication device is an end terminal, the end terminal may receive first indication information from other relay terminals.

[0105] As shown in FIG7 b , if the first communication device is a relay terminal, the relay terminal may receive the first indication information from other relay terminals or network devices.

[0106] As shown in Figure 7c, if the first communication device is a relay terminal and the second communication device is a target terminal, the relay terminal can receive the first indication information from other relay terminals or the target terminal. In addition, if the first communication device is a source terminal and the second communication device is a target terminal, the source terminal can receive the first indication information from other relay terminals.

[0107] In the embodiment of the present application, based on the multi-hop relay capability information of the communication device, multi-hop relay communication can be better supported, thereby improving communication reliability and communication range.

[0108] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0109] Whether multi-hop relay is supported;

[0110] Hop count requirements;

[0111] Signal quality requirements;

[0112] The correspondence between the number of hops and signal quality requirements.

[0113] In the embodiment of the present application, one or more of the multi-hop relay capability information in the above examples may be carried by the same message or by different messages. The one or more of the above information may be combined or used separately.

[0114] For example, if the first indication information indicates that the network supports multi-hop relay, the terminal device that receives the first indication information may access the network as a relay terminal or communicate with the network with the help of other relay terminals. If the first indication information indicates that the network does not support multi-hop relay, the terminal device that receives the first indication information may not access the network through more than one relay terminal or communicate with the network with the help of more than one other relay terminals, or it may not be able to access the network as a multi-hop relay terminal.

[0115] For another example, if the first indication information indicates that the network hop count requirement is no more than 3, other quality requirements, including the SL RSRP, must meet a set threshold. A comparison can be made to see whether the actual hop count exceeds the hop count requirement. If the actual hop count is less than or equal to the hop count requirement, the hop count requirement is met. A comparison can also be made to see whether the measured SL RSRP exceeds a set threshold. If the SL RSRP is greater than or equal to the set threshold, the signal quality requirement is met.

[0116] For another example, if the correspondence between hop counts and signal quality requirements includes: hop 1 corresponds to quality requirement A, and hop 2 corresponds to quality requirement B, the first communications device may search for the signal quality requirement corresponding to the current hop count based on the current hop count, the correspondence between hop counts and signal quality requirements, and the current hop count of itself or a directly connected terminal. Based on the signal quality requirement, the first communications device may determine whether the signal quality of the current hop count of the first communications device meets the quality requirement.

[0117] In one embodiment, the hop count requirement includes at least one of the following: a maximum hop count supported; a maximum hop count supported for different services; and a maximum hop count supported for different service priorities.

[0118] For example, if the first indication information indicates that the maximum number of hops supported by the network is 3, then the number of hops corresponding to the first communication device is less than or equal to 3, which satisfies the hop number requirement; however, it does not meet the hop number requirement if it is greater than 3. For another example, if the first indication information indicates that the maximum number of hops supported for service 1 is 4, then the number of hops corresponding to the first communication device is less than or equal to 4, which satisfies the hop number requirement; however, it does not meet the hop number requirement if it is greater than 4. For another example, if the first indication information indicates that the maximum number of hops supported for service priority 1 is 5, then the number of hops corresponding to the first communication device is less than or equal to 5, which satisfies the hop number requirement; however, it does not meet the hop number requirement if it is greater than 5.

[0119] In one embodiment, the signal quality requirement includes at least one of the following: an air interface (Uu) RSRP condition; a Uu RSRP threshold; a SL RSRP condition; a SL RSRP threshold; a Uu reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) condition; a Uu RSRQ threshold; a SL RSRQ condition; a SL RSRQ threshold. In an embodiment of the present application, channel quality-related measurement quantities may include RSRP, RSRQ, and the like. Different types of measurement quantities may have corresponding thresholds and / or conditions. In some scenarios, a condition may include a threshold. For example, a certain SL RSRP condition includes that the SL RSRP is greater than the SL RSRP threshold.

[0120] In one embodiment, the first indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a broadcast message, an RRC message. For example, the broadcast message may include a system message such as a system information block (SIB).

[0121] FIG8 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 800 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may include:

[0122] S810: The first communication device receives first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device. Please refer to the relevant description of S610.

[0123] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG8 , the method further includes:

[0124] S820: The first communication device receives second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the second communication device.

[0125] In one embodiment, the first directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the second communication device via a direct or indirect communication link. As shown in Figure 7d, an example of the relationship between the devices is as follows. In some scenarios, the first communication device can connect to the network device via the first directly connected terminal or directly to the network device. In some scenarios, the first communication device can connect to the end terminal via the second directly connected terminal or directly to the end terminal. In some scenarios, the first communication device can be an end terminal.

[0126] In the embodiments of the present application, the number of hops can be counted in various ways, for example, starting from 0 for the first hop from a certain end terminal or network device and increasing by 1 each time; or starting from 10 and increasing by 10 each time. Other counting methods are also possible and are not specifically limited.

[0127] For example, as shown in Figure 7a, the first communication device is an end terminal, such as a source terminal, and the second communication device is a network device or a target terminal. The second indication information received by the first communication device from the first directly connected terminal can indicate the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the network device, assuming it is 2. If the maximum number of hops supported by the second communication device is 3, it can be determined that the number of hops indicated by the second indication information meets the hop number requirement. The number of hops corresponding to the first communication device can also be calculated based on the number of hops indicated by the second indication information. For example, if the number of hops indicated by the second indication information is 2, the number of hops between the first communication device and the second communication device can be 3. If the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the second communication device or the number of hops between the first communication device and the second communication device meets the hop number requirement and / or the quality requirement corresponding to the hop number, the end terminal can access the second communication device via the first directly connected terminal and / or other relays.

[0128] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0129] S830: When the first communication device meets the hop count requirement and / or the signal quality requirement, the first communication device sends the first indication information and / or the third indication information.

[0130] In one embodiment, the third indication information is used to indicate an associated hop count of the first communication device, where the associated hop count of the first communication device includes at least one of the following: the hop count between the first communication device and the second communication device, and the maximum hop count supported by the second communication device. For example, the hop count associated with the first communication device includes the hop count between the first communication device and the second communication device, and may also include the hop count between the first communication device and the second device plus 1, and may also include the maximum hop count M supported by the second communication device.

[0131] For example, as shown in Figure 7b, the first communication device is a relay terminal, and the second communication device is a network device or a target terminal. The second indication information received by the first communication device from the first directly connected terminal may indicate the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the network device, assuming it is 1. If the maximum number of hops supported by the second communication device is 3, it can be determined that the number of hops indicated by the second indication information meets the hop requirement. The number of hops between the first communication device and the second communication device can also be calculated based on the number of hops indicated by the second indication information. For example, if the number of hops indicated by the second indication information is 1, the number of hops between the first communication device and the second communication device can be 2, which meets the hop requirement. If the link quality between the first communication device and the first directly connected terminal meets the quality requirement corresponding to the hop number, the first communication device (relay terminal) can send the first indication information and / or the third indication information to the second directly connected terminal (end terminal or other relay terminal). The second directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the second communication device through a direct or indirect communication link.

[0132] For example, as shown in Figure 7c, the first communication device is a relay terminal, and the first communication device is directly connected to the second communication device. The first indication information received by the first communication device from the second communication device can indicate the capability information of the second communication device. If the maximum number of hops supported by the second communication device is 3, it can be determined that the number of hops 1 between the first communication device and the second communication device meets the hop requirement. If the number of hops or the quality requirement corresponding to the number of hops is met between the first communication device and the second communication device, the first communication device (relay terminal) can send the first indication information and / or the third indication information to the second directly connected terminal (end terminal or other relay terminal).

[0133] In one embodiment, the second indication information or the third indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a discovery message, a PC5 radio access control PC5-RRC message, a PC5 signaling (PC5-Signalling PC5-S) message, a broadcast-sent network configuration message, and a broadcast-forwarded network configuration message.

[0134] FIG9 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 900 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may include one or more features of the above method. In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0135] S910. The first communication device sends fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the first communication device and an end terminal.

[0136] As shown in FIG10a , the fourth indication information sent by the first communication device (end terminal) to the first directly connected terminal indicates that the number of hops between the first communication device and the end terminal is 0. The first directly connected terminal can calculate that the number of hops between itself and the end terminal is 1.

[0137] As shown in FIG10b , the fourth indication information sent by the first communication device (relay terminal) to the first directly connected terminal indicates that the number of hops between the first communication device and the end terminal is 1. The first directly connected terminal can calculate that the number of hops between itself and the end terminal is 2.

[0138] As shown in FIG10c , the first communication device (relay terminal) may also send fourth indication information to the second communication device, indicating that the number of hops between the first communication device and the end terminal is 2. The second communication device may calculate that the number of hops between itself and the end terminal is 3.

[0139] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0140] S920: The first communications device receives a first reply message in response to the fourth indication message. The device that receives the fourth indication message, such as the first directly connected terminal or the second communications device, may determine whether the first communications device or the second directly connected terminal meets hop count requirements, quality requirements, and other information based on the number of hops indicated in the fourth indication message. Therefore, the first reply message may include information on whether the first communications device meets the hop count requirements, quality requirements, and other information. The following description uses the hop count requirement as an example; the principles underlying the signal quality requirement corresponding to the hop count are similar.

[0141] As shown in Figure 10a, a first communication device (end terminal) receives a first reply message sent by a first directly connected terminal. Assume that the number of hops between the end terminal and the first directly connected terminal is 1, and the maximum number of hops supported by the second communication device is 3. If the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the second communication device is 2, the first reply message indicates that the first communication device meets the hop count requirement. If the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the second communication device is 3, the first reply message indicates that the first communication device does not meet the hop count requirement.

[0142] As shown in Figure 10b, the first communication device (relay terminal) receives a first reply message sent by the first directly connected terminal. Assume that the number of hops between the end terminal and the first directly connected terminal is 2, and the maximum number of hops supported by the second communication device is 3. If the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the second communication device is 1, the first reply message indicates that the first communication device meets the hop count requirement (the second directly connected terminal also meets the hop count requirement). If the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the second communication device is greater than 1, the first reply message indicates that the first communication device does not meet the hop count requirement.

[0143] As shown in Figure 10c, a first communication device (relay terminal) receives a first reply message sent by a second communication device. Assume that the number of hops between the end terminal and the first communication device is 2, and the maximum number of hops supported by the second communication device is 3. If the number of hops between the first and second communication devices is 1, the first reply message indicates that the first communication device meets the hop count requirement. If the number of hops between the first and second communication devices is greater than 1, the first reply message indicates that the first communication device does not meet the hop count requirement.

[0144] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0145] S930: The first communication device sends second reply information to the second directly connected terminal based on the first reply message.

[0146] In one embodiment, the second directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the terminal through a direct or indirect communication link. The second reply information can be used to inform the second directly connected terminal whether the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop count requirement and / or signal quality requirement. If the first reply information indicates that the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop count requirement and / or signal quality requirement, the second reply information can indicate that the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop count requirement and / or signal quality requirement. Otherwise, the second reply information can indicate that the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal does not meet the hop count requirement and / or signal quality requirement.

[0147] As shown in FIG10b , after receiving the first reply information sent by the first directly connected terminal, the first communication device (relay terminal) may send second reply information to the second directly connected terminal (end terminal) based on the first reply information.

[0148] As shown in FIG10c , after the first communication device (relay terminal) receives the first reply information sent by the second communication device, it may send second reply information to the second directly connected terminal (relay terminal) based on the first reply information.

[0149] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0150] S940: The first communication device accesses the second communication device based on the first reply information. In some scenarios, the first communication device may be an end terminal. As shown in FIG10a , the first communication device (end terminal) may access the second communication device (network device) via multiple relay terminals based on the first reply information.

[0151] FIG11 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 1100 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may include one or more features of the above method. In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0152] S1110. The first communication device receives fifth indication information of the second directly connected terminal, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal.

[0153] In one embodiment, the second directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the terminal through a direct or indirect communication link.

[0154] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0155] S1120. The first communication device determines whether the number of hops between the first communication device and / or the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal meets the hop requirement, and / or whether the link quality corresponding to the number of hops between the first communication device and / or the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal meets the signal quality requirement.

[0156] In this embodiment of the present application, the first communications device may determine, based on the fifth indication information, whether the number of hops between the first communications device and / or the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal meets the hop requirement. For example, the first communications device may determine whether the number of hops N between the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal is less than the hop requirement M. For another example, the first communications device may determine whether the number of hops N+1 between itself and the end terminal is less than the hop requirement M.

[0157] As shown in Figure 10b, the first communication device (relay terminal) determines, based on the fifth indication information, that the number of hops between the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal is 0, and the number of hops between the first communication device and the end terminal is 1. Assume that the maximum number of hops supported by the second communication device is 3. If the number of hops between the first communication device and the second communication device is 2, the first reply information indicates that the first communication device meets the hop number requirement. If the number of hops between the first communication device and the second communication device is greater than 2, the first reply information indicates that the first communication device does not meet the hop number requirement.

[0158] As shown in Figure 10c, the hop count between the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal obtained by the first communication device (relay terminal) based on the fifth indication information is 1, and the hop count between the first communication device and the end terminal is 2. Assume that the maximum hop count supported by the second communication device is 3. If the hop count between the first communication device and the second communication device is 1, the first reply information includes a statement that the first communication device meets the hop count requirement. If the hop count between the first communication device and the second communication device is greater than 1, the first reply information includes a statement that the first communication device does not meet the hop count requirement.

[0159] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0160] S1130: When the first communication device is within the coverage of the network device and meets the hop requirement and / or meets the signal quality requirement, the first communication device sends a third reply message to the second directly connected terminal in response to the fifth indication information. The third reply message can be used to inform the second directly connected terminal whether the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop requirement and / or signal quality requirement. If the first communication device determines that the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop requirement and / or signal quality requirement based on the fifth indication information, the third reply message can indicate that the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop requirement and / or signal quality requirement. Otherwise, the third reply message can indicate that the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal does not meet the hop requirement and / or signal quality requirement.

[0161] As shown in Figure 10c, after receiving the fifth indication information sent by the second directly connected terminal (relay terminal), the first communication device (relay terminal) within the coverage area of ​​the network device can return a third reply information to the second directly connected terminal (relay terminal). The second directly connected terminal (relay terminal) can continue to forward the third reply information to other relay terminals in the direction of the end terminal.

[0162] As shown in FIG10b , after the first communication device (relay terminal) that is not within the coverage of the network device receives the fifth indication information sent by the second directly connected terminal (end terminal), it can also return the third reply information to the second directly connected terminal (end terminal).

[0163] In one embodiment, it further includes:

[0164] S1140: When the first communication device is out of coverage of the network device and meets the hop count requirement and / or the signal quality requirement, the first communication device sends sixth indication information to the first directly connected terminal.

[0165] As shown in Figure 10b, the first communication device (relay terminal) that is not within the coverage of the network device determines that the first communication device and / or the second directly connected terminal meet the hop requirement and / or meet the signal quality requirement based on the fifth indication information, and can send the sixth indication information to the first directly connected terminal.

[0166] In one embodiment, the sixth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the first communication device and the end terminal, wherein the first directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the end terminal through a direct or indirect communication link.

[0167] As shown in Figure 10c, the first communication device (relay terminal) within the coverage of the network device determines that the first communication device and / or the second directly connected terminal meet the hop requirement and / or meet the signal quality requirement based on the fifth indication information, and can also send the sixth indication information to the second communication terminal, such as the network device.

[0168] In one implementation, the fifth indication information or the sixth indication information is further used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

[0169] In one implementation, the fifth indication information or the sixth indication information is carried by a discovery message or a direct communication request (DCR) message.

[0170] In the embodiment of the present application, the sixth indication information has similar functions to the fourth indication information, and can be referred to in the relevant description. The first communication device may receive a reply message from the first directly connected terminal to the sixth indication information, which has similar functions to the first reply message, and can be referred to in the relevant description.

[0171] In one embodiment, the first communication device is a relay terminal, and the second communication device is a network device, see Figure 7b and Figure 7c.

[0172] In one implementation, the first communication device is an end terminal, and the second communication device is a network device, see FIG. 7 a .

[0173] In one embodiment, the end terminal is outside the coverage of the network device, and one or more relay terminals are between the end terminal and the network device.

[0174] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0175] S1150: If the first communication device meets the hop count requirement and / or the signal quality requirement, the first communication device selects a multi-hop relay path that the first communication device needs to traverse to access the second communication device via one or more relay terminals. For example, as shown in FIG10a , the first communication device, such as an end terminal, accesses the second communication device via two relay terminals, namely, the first communication terminal and the first directly connected terminal.

[0176] FIG12 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 1200 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method can optionally be applied to the systems shown in FIG1 to FIG5 , but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following contents.

[0177] S1210. The second communication device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

[0178] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0179] Whether multi-hop relay is supported; hop count requirements; signal quality requirements; the correspondence between hop count and signal quality requirements.

[0180] In one embodiment, the hop count requirement includes at least one of the following: a maximum hop count supported; a maximum hop count supported for different services; and a maximum hop count supported for different service priorities.

[0181] In one embodiment, the signal quality requirement includes at least one of the following: Uu RSRP condition; Uu RSRP threshold; SL RSRP condition; SL RSRP threshold; Uu RSRQ condition; Uu RSRQ threshold; SL RSRQ condition; SL RSRQ threshold.

[0182] In one implementation, the first indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a broadcast message, an RRC message.

[0183] In one embodiment, the first communication device is a relay terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

[0184] In one implementation, the first communication device is an end terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

[0185] In one embodiment, the end terminal is outside the coverage of the network device, and one or more relay terminals are between the end terminal and the network device.

[0186] For a specific example of the second communication device executing the method 1200 of this embodiment, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions about the second communication device in the above methods 600, 800, 900, and 1000, which will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0187] FIG13 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 1300 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method can optionally be applied to the systems shown in FIG1 to FIG5 , but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following contents.

[0188] S1310. The first communication device sends multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay related operations.

[0189] In an embodiment of the present application, in a wireless communication scenario, a multi-hop relay link may include two or more relay terminals. The role of the relay in the multi-hop relay link of the embodiment of the present application may be a terminal. The wireless communication scenario of the embodiment of the present application may include a scenario that supports sideline communication. The first communication device may be a relay terminal or an end terminal in the multi-hop relay link. The second communication device may be a network device or an end terminal in the multi-hop relay link. For example, the second communication device may be a network device serving as an endpoint in a U2N relay link, or a network device communicating with a terminal device in a U2U relay link.

[0190] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay related information includes registration request information, which is used to instruct the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay authentication of the first communication device based on the registration request information. In this embodiment of the application, the registration request information can also be called authentication request information, verification request information, etc.

[0191] In one embodiment, the registration request information includes the relay role and / or relay capability of the first communication device to be authenticated. The relay role may indicate the role of the first communication device in a multi-hop relay link, such as an end terminal or relay terminal. The relay capability may indicate whether the first communication device supports multi-hop relaying, multi-hop U2U relaying, multi-hop U2N relaying, the maximum number of hops supported by the relay, etc.

[0192] In one embodiment, the relay role and / or relay capability to be authenticated of the first communication device includes at least one of the following:

[0193] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as an end terminal;

[0194] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as an end terminal;

[0195] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as a relay terminal;

[0196] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as a relay terminal;

[0197] The maximum number of hops supported by the first communication device for multi-hop U2U relay;

[0198] The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops of a multi-hop U2N relay.

[0199] In one embodiment, the information used for multi-hop relay authentication includes contract information, where the contract information includes the relay role and / or relay capability subscribed to by the first communication device. For example, if the second communication device receiving the registration request information is an AMF, the AMF may obtain the contract information from the Unified Data Management (UDM).

[0200] In one embodiment, the relay role and / or relay capability subscribed by the first communication device includes at least one of the following:

[0201] The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay;

[0202] The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay;

[0203] The first communication device is contracted to be a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay;

[0204] The first communication device is contracted to be a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay;

[0205] the maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay contracted by the first communication device;

[0206] The maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2N relay subscribed by the first communication device.

[0207] In an embodiment of the present application, after the first communication device sends the registration request information to the second communication device, the second communication device can compare the contract information and the registration request information to perform multi-hop relay authentication and obtain a multi-hop relay authentication result. If the contract information and the registration request information are consistent, the authentication is successful. If the contract information and the registration request information are inconsistent, the authentication fails. For example, if the first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay in the contract information, and the first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as an end terminal in the registration request information, the authentication is successful. For another example, if the first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay in the contract information, and the first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as an end terminal in the registration request information, the authentication fails. For another example, if the maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay contracted by the first communication device in the contract information is 5, and the maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay supported by the first communication device in the registration request information is 3, the authentication is successful. For another example, if the maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay subscribed by the first communication device in the contract information is 5, and the maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay supported by the first communication device in the registration request information is 6, the authentication fails.

[0208] Figure 14 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 1400 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may include one or more features of the above-described method 1300. In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay-related information includes a multi-hop relay service request, which is used to request a multi-hop relay service.

[0209] In one implementation, S1310, the first communication device sending multi-hop relay related information includes: S1410, the first communication device sending a multi-hop relay service request.

[0210] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay service request is carried by at least one of the following: the first message of the random access process (such as MSG1 or MSGA); RRC establishment message; RRC recovery message; RRC reconstruction message; sideline terminal information; terminal assistance information; measurement report message.

[0211] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay service request includes at least one of the following:

[0212] The reason value for connection establishment, used to indicate that a connection is established for multi-hop relay service; a multi-hop relay request indication; a layer 2 identifier of one or more terminals on the multi-hop relay path; the total number of hops experienced by the multi-hop relay path; the number of hops associated with one or more terminals on the multi-hop relay path; the service of the end terminal; the service priority of the end terminal; the service type of the end terminal; the Quality of Service (QoS) configuration of the end terminal; and the signal quality of one or more hops on the multi-hop relay path.

[0213] In one embodiment, the method further includes: S1420, the first communication device receives first reply information for the multi-hop relay service request.

[0214] In one embodiment, the first reply information is used for at least one of the following:

[0215] Indicates successful authorization; indicates the transmission of multi-hop relay services; indicates authorization failure; indicates disconnection of the multi-hop relay service connection; configuration information for multi-hop relay service transmission.

[0216] In the embodiment of the present application, after the first communication device sends a multi-hop relay service request to the second communication device, the second communication device may execute the corresponding multi-hop relay service and return first reply information according to the execution result.

[0217] In one embodiment, the first reply message is carried by at least one of the following: the second message of the random access process (e.g., MSG2 or MSGB); a response message to the RRC establishment message; a response message to the RRC recovery message; a response message to the RRC reconstruction message; or an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0218] In one implementation, the method further includes: S1430, the first communication device accessing the second communication device or sending second reply information based on the first reply information.

[0219] In one embodiment, the second reply information is used for at least one of the following:

[0220] Transmit multi-hop relay service data; disconnect multi-hop relay service connection; establish multi-hop relay service connection; configuration information of multi-hop relay service transmission.

[0221] In one embodiment, the second reply information is carried by at least one of the following: a discovery message, a PC5-RRC message, or a PC5-S message.

[0222] In one implementation, the multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay report.

[0223] In one implementation, the multi-hop relay report is carried by at least one of the following: an RRC message, a measurement report message.

[0224] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay report carries at least one of the following:

[0225] Layer 2 identification of one or more relays on a multi-hop relay path;

[0226] QoS configuration of end terminals;

[0227] The split QoS configuration of the hop;

[0228] Signal quality of one or more hops on a multi-hop relay path.

[0229] FIG15 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 1500 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method can optionally be applied to the systems shown in FIG1 to FIG5 , but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following contents.

[0230] S1510: The second communication device receives multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay related operations.

[0231] 16 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 1600 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may include one or more features of the above method 1600. In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay related information includes registration request information.

[0232] In one implementation, S1510, the second communication device receives multi-hop relay related information, including: S1610, the second communication device receives registration request information.

[0233] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0234] S1620: The second communication device performs multi-hop relay authentication on the first communication device based on the registration request information.

[0235] In one implementation, the registration request information includes the relay role and / or relay capability of the first communication device to be authenticated.

[0236] In one embodiment, the relay role and / or relay capability to be authenticated of the first communication device includes at least one of the following:

[0237] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as an end terminal;

[0238] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as an end terminal;

[0239] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as a relay terminal;

[0240] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as a relay terminal;

[0241] The maximum number of hops supported by the first communication device for multi-hop U2U relay;

[0242] The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops of a multi-hop U2N relay.

[0243] In one embodiment, the information used for multi-hop relay authentication includes subscription information, and the subscription information includes the relay role and / or relay capability that the first communication device has subscribed to.

[0244] In one embodiment, the relay role and / or relay capability subscribed by the first communication device includes at least one of the following:

[0245] The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay;

[0246] The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay;

[0247] The first communication device is contracted to be a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay;

[0248] The first communication device is contracted to be a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay;

[0249] the maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay contracted by the first communication device;

[0250] The maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2N relay subscribed by the first communication device.

[0251] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0252] S1630: If authentication is successful, the second communication device sends authentication result information to the third communication device. The second communication device and the third communication device may be network devices. For example, the second communication device may be an AMF, and the third communication device may be a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN). For another example, the second communication device may be a source base station (S-gNB), and the third communication device may be a target base station (T-gNB).

[0253] In one embodiment, the authentication result information includes at least one of the following:

[0254] Whether the first communication device supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as an end terminal;

[0255] The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops / supportable number of hops for a multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as an end terminal;

[0256] Whether the first communication device supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as a relay terminal;

[0257] The first communication device, as a relay terminal, supports a maximum number of hops / supportable number of hops for multi-hop U2U / U2N relay.

[0258] In one embodiment, when a handover occurs, the authentication result information is carried in an Xn message from the source network device to the target network device.

[0259] In one embodiment, the Xn message further includes the hop count and / or split QoS configuration of the first communication device at the source network device.

[0260] 17 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 1700 according to another embodiment of the present application. The method may include one or more features of the above methods 1500 and 1600. In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay service request.

[0261] In one implementation, S1510, the second communication device receives multi-hop relay related information, including: S1710, the second communication device receives a multi-hop relay service request.

[0262] In one embodiment, the method further includes: the second communication terminal executing a multi-hop relay service based on the multi-hop relay service request.

[0263] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay service request is carried by at least one of the following: a first message of a random access process; an RRC establishment message; an RRC recovery message; an RRC reconstruction message; sideline terminal information; terminal assistance information; or a measurement report message.

[0264] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay service request includes at least one of the following:

[0265] The reason value for connection establishment, used to indicate that a connection is established for multi-hop relay service; a multi-hop relay request indication; a layer 2 identifier of one or more terminals on the multi-hop relay path; the total number of hops experienced by the multi-hop relay path; the number of hops associated with one or more terminals on the multi-hop relay path; the service of the end terminal; the service priority of the end terminal; the service type of the end terminal; the QoS configuration of the end terminal; and the signal quality of one or more hops on the multi-hop relay path.

[0266] In one embodiment, the second communication terminal performs the multi-hop relay service based on the multi-hop relay service request, including:

[0267] S1720. The second communication device sends first reply information in response to the multi-hop relay service request.

[0268] In one embodiment, the first reply information is used for at least one of the following: indicating authorization success; indicating transmission of multi-hop relay service; indicating authorization failure; indicating disconnection of multi-hop relay service connection; configuration information of multi-hop relay service transmission.

[0269] In one embodiment, the first reply message is carried by at least one of the following: a second message of the random access process; a response message of the RRC establishment message; a response message of the RRC recovery message; a response message of the RRC reconstruction message; or an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0270] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0271] S1730. The second communication device receives an access request initiated by the first communication device based on the first reply information. For example, if the first reply information indicates successful multi-hop relay authorization or transmission of a multi-hop relay service, the first communication device may initiate an access request based on the first reply information. After receiving the access request, the second communication device may establish a connection with the first communication device.

[0272] In one embodiment, in step S1720, the second communication device sends first reply information in response to the multi-hop relay service request, including:

[0273] The second communication device performs at least one of the following on the terminal in the first state:

[0274] In a first case, indicating authorization success and / or performing multi-hop relay service transmission to one or more terminals in the first state on the multi-hop relay link;

[0275] In the second case, indicating authorization failure and / or disconnecting the multi-hop relay service connection to one or more terminals in the first state on the multi-hop relay link;

[0276] The terminal in the first state includes at least one of the following: a terminal that has established a PC5 unicast connection, a terminal that has completed a discovery process, and a terminal that has completed a PC5-S process;

[0277] The first situation includes at least one of the following: network authorization, network provision of multi-hop configuration, and network acceptance of the multi-hop relay service request;

[0278] The second situation includes at least one of the following: the network is not authorized, the network does not provide multi-hop configuration, and the network does not accept the multi-hop relay service request.

[0279] For example, for terminals that have established PC5 unicast connections, completed the discovery process, and completed the PC5-S process, when the network authorizes, the network provides multi-hop configuration, and the network accepts the multi-hop relay service request, a first reply message is sent to one or more terminals in the first state on the multi-hop relay link to indicate successful authorization and / or multi-hop relay service transmission.

[0280] For another example, for a terminal that has established a PC5 unicast connection, a terminal that has completed the discovery process, or a terminal that has completed the PC5-S process, if the network does not authorize, the network does not provide a multi-hop configuration, or the network does not accept the multi-hop relay service request, a first reply message is sent to one or more terminals in the first state on the multi-hop relay link to indicate authorization failure and / or disconnection of the multi-hop relay service connection.

[0281] In one embodiment, in step S1720, the second communication device sends first reply information in response to the multi-hop relay service request, including:

[0282] The second communication device performs at least one of the following on the terminal in the second state:

[0283] In the first case, the first reply information replied to one or more terminals in the second state on the multi-hop relay link may include at least one of a discovery response, a direct communication accept (DCA), and a report before sending a DCR;

[0284] In the second case, do not reply to the message;

[0285] The terminal in the second state includes at least one of the following: a terminal that has not established a PC5 unicast connection, a terminal that has not completed the discovery process, and a terminal that has not completed the PC5-S process;

[0286] The first situation includes at least one of the following: network authorization, network provision of multi-hop configuration, and network acceptance of the multi-hop relay service request;

[0287] The second situation includes at least one of the following: the network is not authorized, the network does not provide multi-hop configuration, and the network does not accept the multi-hop relay service request.

[0288] For example, for terminals that have not established a PC5 unicast connection, terminals that have not completed the discovery process, and terminals that have not completed the PC5-S process, if the network authorizes, the network provides multi-hop configuration, and the network accepts the multi-hop relay service request, the first reply information that the second communication device replies to one or more second-state terminals on the multi-hop relay link may include a discovery response, DCA, or a report before sending DCR.

[0289] For example, for terminals that have not established PC5 unicast connections, terminals that have not completed the discovery process, and terminals that have not completed the PC5-S process, if the network is not authorized, the network does not provide multi-hop configuration, and the network does not accept the multi-hop relay service request, the second communication device does not send the first reply information.

[0290] In one implementation, the multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay report.

[0291] In one implementation, the multi-hop relay report is carried by at least one of the following: an RRC message, a measurement report message.

[0292] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay report carries at least one of the following:

[0293] Layer 2 identification of one or more relays on a multi-hop relay path;

[0294] QoS configuration of end terminals;

[0295] The split QoS configuration of the hop;

[0296] Signal quality of one or more hops on a multi-hop relay path.

[0297] For specific examples of the second communication device executing methods 1500, 1600, and 1700 of this embodiment, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of the second communication device in the above methods 1300 and 1400, which will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0298] The relay communication method of the embodiment of the present application can be used to enhance network control in sidelink multi-hop relay technology, and can provide a multi-hop relay network control mechanism based on the existing single-hop relay. The following are several specific examples of the network control mechanism.

[0299] Example 1: Network Capability Indication

[0300] 1. The network indicates whether it supports multi-hop relay.

[0301] 1. The indication may be a broadcast (cell-specific) message, such as an indication in a SIB message; and / or an RRC message (UE-specific). If both methods are supported, the UE-specific message has a higher priority.

[0302] 2. The indication may indicate whether multi-hop relay is supported, such as whether Layer 2 (L2) multi-hop (MH) U2N, L3 MH U2N, L2 MH U2U, or L3 MH U2U is enabled (enable) or disabled (disable).

[0303] 3. The indication may also indicate the maximum number of hops N supported and / or the signal quality requirement corresponding to the number of hops, such as Uu RSRP condition, Uu RSRP threshold, SL RSRP condition, SL RSRP threshold, etc. An example of the correspondence between the number of hops and the signal quality requirement is as follows:

[0304] For example, for the first hop in the U2N relay (Hop_1 (hop_n-1) in the U2N relay): Uu RSRP>minimum threshold 1, and / or Uu RSRP<maximum threshold 2.

[0305] For example, the mth hop (Hop_m (m>=1 / m) in U2U relay and U2N relay<n-1)in U2U relay and U2N relay):SL RSRP> The minimum threshold is 3.

[0306] 4. The indication may also indicate the maximum number of hops N specifically supported for different services / service priorities. For example, the maximum number of hops corresponding to a service may be indicated in the following table:

[0307] Business 1: 4; Business 2: 3.

[0308] Example 2: UE executes relay process (such as discovery process) according to network capability indication

[0309] 1. Model-A, see Figure 18a.

[0310] 1. The relay node (relay UE3) closest to the network / within the network coverage receives network (network, NW) capability indication (capability indication) information (indication information content as described above) and / or RSRP threshold configuration (RSRP threshold config) sent by the network.

[0311] 2. If the relay UE (relay UE3) determines that the network RSRP criteria (conditions) and the hop count requirements are met (and the upper layer triggers the sending of a discovery message), it may broadcast a discovery message (model A) and indicate the current network hop count (e.g., the current node hop count (hop level of current note)) and the network maximum hop count (max level restrict) in the discovery message. An example of a network RSRP condition includes: Uu signal RSRP > Threshold 1 (or plus or minus an offset) and / or Uu signal RSRP < Threshold 2 (or plus or minus an offset).

[0312] And / or, the relay UE may also send network RSRP threshold configuration (threshold config) such as RSRP threshold limit parameters to other UEs, which may be sent via discovery information, unicast (PC5-RRC) information, PC5-S information, or broadcast (forwarded) network configuration (system message) information.

[0313] 3. After other UEs (UEs outside the network coverage, such as relay UE1 or relay UE2 (relay UE1 / 2)) receive the discovery message, if the upper layer triggers the sending of the discovery message and the relay UE determines that the hop count requirement and / or RSRP criteria (for example, Uu signal RSRP and / or PC5 signal RSRP) are met, the discovery message can be broadcast (model A).

[0314] (1) The hop count / RSRP criterion requirement may be a network configuration received from the relay UE 3, a pre-configuration of the UE, or a restriction derived from certain rules, such as service mapping (upper layer configuration);

[0315] (2) The current number of network hops and the maximum number of hops limited by the network can be indicated in the discovery message; and / or the network RSRP threshold limit parameter can be sent to other UEs. The parameter can be sent through discovery information, or unicast (PC5-RRC) information, or PC5-S information, or broadcast (forwarded) network configuration (system message) information, etc.

[0316] 4. The final hop node (e.g., remote UE, source UE, or relay node that has reached the maximum hop limit) handles the situation as follows:

[0317] (1) If the remote node is reached within the maximum hop limit, the remote UE determines that the RSRP criterion (derived from the relay, pre-configured, or a certain rule) is met and further selects to access the network through the MH path;

[0318] (2) If the maximum hop limit has been reached, the relay UE will no longer send discovery messages.

[0319] 2. Model-B / DCR based, see Figure 18b.

[0320] 1. The remote UE is triggered by upper layers to send a discovery message (Model B), and the discovery message indicates the current hop level (or hop number) and / or hop limit. The current hop level can be referred to as the current node hop level (hop level of current note), for example, the number of hops between the discovered node and the remote UE. In this example, the current node hop level between the remote UE and relay UE1 (relay UE1) is 1.

[0321] 2. After other UEs (UEs outside the network coverage, such as relay UE1 / 2) receive the discovery message, if the relay UE determines that the hop count requirement (and the upper layer triggers the sending of discovery) and / or RSRP criteria (Uu signal RSRP and / or PC5 signal RSRP) are met, it sends a discovery message (model B).

[0322] (1) The hop count / RSRP criterion requirement may be pre-configured or determined based on certain rules, such as a hop count limit specified by service mapping (upper layer configuration) or indicated by a remote UE, or a network configuration received from relay UE3;

[0323] (2) Indicate the current network hop count and the maximum hop count limited by the remote terminal in the discovery message.

[0324] 3. The relay node closest to the network / within the network coverage (eg, relay UE3) receives the network capability indication information (as described above, including NW capability indication and / or RSRP threshold configuration) and discovery information sent by other relay UEs.

[0325] (1) If the relay UE determines that the network RSRP criteria (Uu signal RSRP > threshold 1 (or plus or minus offset) and / or Uu signal RSRP < threshold 2 (or plus or minus offset)) and hop count requirements (network hop count requirements and / or remote hop count requirements) are met (and the upper layer triggers the sending of discovery), it replies to the discovery message.

[0326] (2) If the relay UE determines that the network hop limit is exceeded, it will not reply to the received discovery message.

[0327] Example 3: Network authentication, see Figure 18c.

[0328] 1. The UE sends a registration request message to the network (AMF). The registration request message includes at least one of the following:

[0329] UE as (L2 / 3) remote UE supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay;

[0330] UE as (L2 / 3) relay UE supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay;

[0331] Maximum number of hops for (L2 / 3) multi-hop U2U / U2N relays supported by the UE.

[0332] 2. The AMF may obtain the UE's subscription information from the UDM. The subscription information may also be contract information or registration information, specifically including at least one of the following:

[0333] The UE registers (or subscribes) as a remote UE in a multi-hop (L2 / 3) U2U / U2N relay;

[0334] The UE registers (or subscribes) as a remote UE in a multi-hop (L2 / 3) U2U / U2N relay;

[0335] The maximum number of hops / supported number of hops of the multi-hop U2U / U2N relay to which the UE is registered (or subscribed).

[0336] 3. The AMF determines whether the UE is successfully authenticated for the multi-hop relay service based on the UE registration request information and subscription information. For example, the AMF determines whether the UE is authorized to use the MH relay service. If so, the authentication is successful. If successful, the AMF sends authentication result information, such as an authentication success indication, to the NG-RAN, including at least one of the following:

[0337] Whether the UE supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as a (L2 / 3) remote UE;

[0338] The maximum number of hops / supportable number of hops supported by the UE as a (L2 / 3) remote UE for multi-hop U2U / U2N relay;

[0339] Whether the UE supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as a (L2 / 3) relay UE;

[0340] The UE as a (L2 / 3) relay supports the maximum number of hops / supportable number of hops for multi-hop U2U / U2N relay.

[0341] Referring to Figure 18d, if HO (handover) occurs, the source gNB (S-gNB) carries multi-hop related information in the Xn message to the target gNB (T-gNB).

[0342] 4. The relevant information carried in the Xn message may include at least one of the following:

[0343] The authentication result information (e.g. authorization info) sent by the AMF to the NG-RAN;

[0344] Number of hops at the source gNB;

[0345] Split-QoS configuration.

[0346] Example 4: The network determines whether to allow access to the multi-hop relay based on the number of hops, see Figure 18e.

[0347] 1. The UE sends a multi-hop (MH) relay service request to the network. The UE can be the UE closest to the network (such as relay UE3), a remote UE, and / or any relay UE. The closest to the network can be understood as having the fewest hops to the network.

[0348] 2. The multi-hop relay service request (hereinafter referred to as MH request) may have a corresponding reply method:

[0349] 2-1 If the UE that sends the service request has established a PC5 unicast connection, has completed the discovery process and / or has completed the PC5-S process;

[0350] (1) If the network authorizes / provides MH configuration / accepts the MH request, it indicates the authorization success to other UEs on the MH link (or only to the remote UE) and / or directly performs MH relay service transmission;

[0351] (2) If the network does not authorize / provide MH configuration / does not accept the MH request, it indicates the authorization failure to other UEs on the MH link (or only to the remote UE) and / or disconnects the MH relay connection.

[0352] 2-2. If the UE that sends the service request does not have a PC5 unicast connection established, it reports before replying to the discovery response (discovery respond), DCA, and sending the DCR:

[0353] (1) If the network authorizes / provides the MH configuration / accepts the MH request, it replies with a discovery response, DCA, or sends a pre-DCR report;

[0354] (2) If the network does not authorize / provide the MH configuration / does not accept the MH request, it will not reply with a discovery response, DCA, or send a pre-DCR report.

[0355] 2-3. The signaling related to the above service request can be carried in at least one of the following:

[0356] (1) Random Access Channel (RACH): MSG1, the network responds with rejection or acceptance in MSG2;

[0357] (2) In an RRC setup, resume, or re-establishment message, the network indicates acceptance or rejection in the corresponding RRC response information.

[0358] (3) In the Sidelink UE Information (SUI), UE Assistance Information (UAI), and Measurement Report (measurement report) messages (for connected UEs), the network carries acceptance or rejection information in the RRC transfer profile (Reconfig), such as the relevant MH relay configuration information or directly indicates acceptance or rejection.

[0359] 2-4. The service request signaling may carry at least one of the following:

[0360] (1) If the request message is RRC setup / resume / re-establishment, it may carry the connection establishment cause value to indicate the connection establishment for MH relay service;

[0361] (2) MH request instructions;

[0362] (3) L2 IDs of all UEs on the MH path (sorted by hop count) or adjacent UE L2 IDs;

[0363] (4) The number of hops experienced by the MH or the number of hops where the UE is located;

[0364] (5) Remote UE service / service priority / service type / QoS configuration;

[0365] (6) The signal quality of each hop of the MH relay or the signal quality of the current hop.

[0366] Example 5: UE reports multi-hop relay information, see Figure 18f.

[0367] 1. UE reports multi-hop relay related information

[0368] 1. The UE is a connected UE, which can be at least one of the UE closest to the network (such as UE3 in the figure), a remote UE, and any relay UE.

[0369] (1) The remote UE indication may be at least one of a multi-hop remote UE (MH remote UE), an L2 / L3 indication, a hop number indication, and a hop number;

[0370] (2) The relay UE indication may be at least one of a multi-hop relay UE (MH relay UE), an L2 / L3 indication, a hop number indication, and a hop-number (from the UE to the network).

[0371] 2. The report is carried in RRC signaling, such as SUI, UAI or measurement report message.

[0372] 3. The reporting signaling may carry (in addition to the above UE-related instructions):

[0373] (1) At least one of the L2 IDs of all UEs on the MH path (sorted by hop count), neighboring UEs, the L2 ID of the parent UE, and the L2 ID of the remote UE;

[0374] (2) QoS configuration of remote UE;

[0375] (3) Split QoS configuration of the hop;

[0376] (4) RSRP measurement value of the signal quality on each hop of the MH relay or the signal quality of the current hop.

[0377] 2. The network provides UE with MH relay related configuration based on the report

[0378] 1. The configuration may include at least one of the following:

[0379] (1) Split-QoS configuration for each hop;

[0380] (2) Bearer to RLC channel mapping configuration;

[0381] (3)UE ID configuration;

[0382] (4) Resource allocation;

[0383] (5) Handover (HO) configuration: the network adds or removes relay UEs based on signal quality and other configurations.

[0384] FIG19 is a schematic block diagram of a first communication device 1900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The first communication device 1900 may include:

[0385] The receiving unit 1901 is configured to receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of a second communication device.

[0386] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0387] Whether multi-hop relay is supported; hop count requirements; signal quality requirements; the correspondence between hop count and signal quality requirements.

[0388] In one embodiment, the hop count requirement includes at least one of the following: a maximum hop count supported; a maximum hop count supported for different services; and a maximum hop count supported for different service priorities.

[0389] In one embodiment, the signal quality requirement includes at least one of the following: Uu RSRP condition; Uu RSRP threshold; SL RSRP condition; SL RSRP threshold; Uu RSRQ condition; Uu RSRQ threshold; SL RSRQ condition; SL RSRQ threshold.

[0390] In one implementation, the first indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a broadcast message, an RRC message.

[0391] In one embodiment, the receiving unit 1901 is also used to receive second indication information, which is used to indicate the number of hops between the first directly connected terminal and the second communication device, wherein the first directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the second communication device through a direct or non-direct communication link.

[0392] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG19 , the device further includes:

[0393] Sending unit 1902 is used to send the first indication information and / or the third indication information when the first communication device meets the hop number requirement and / or the signal quality requirement, and the third indication information is used to indicate the associated hop number of the first communication device, and the associated hop number of the first communication device includes at least one of the following: the number of hops between the first communication device and the second communication device, and the maximum number of hops supported by the second communication device.

[0394] In one embodiment, the second indication information or the third indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a discovery message, a PC5 radio access control PC5-RRC message, a PC5 signaling PC5-S message, a broadcasted network configuration message, or a broadcast forwarded network configuration message.

[0395] In one implementation, the sending unit 1902 is further configured to send fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the first communication device and the end terminal.

[0396] In one implementation, the receiving unit 1901 is further configured to receive first reply information in response to the fourth indication information.

[0397] In one embodiment, the sending unit 1902 is further configured to send second reply information to a second directly connected terminal based on the first reply message, wherein the second directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the terminal via a direct or indirect communication link. The second reply information is used to inform the second directly connected terminal whether the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop count requirement and / or signal quality requirement.

[0398] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0399] The processing unit 1903 is configured to enable the first communication device to access the second communication device based on the first reply information. The first communication device may be an end terminal.

[0400] In one embodiment, the receiving unit 1901 is also used to receive fifth indication information of the second directly connected terminal, and the fifth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal, wherein the second directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the end terminal through a direct or non-direct communication link.

[0401] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1903 is also used to determine whether the number of hops between the first communication device and / or the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal meets the hop requirement, and / or whether the link quality corresponding to the number of hops between the first communication device and / or the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal meets the signal quality requirement.

[0402] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1903 is further configured to, when the first communication device is within the coverage of the network device and meets the hop count requirement and / or meets the signal quality requirement, send, by the first communication device, third reply information to the second directly connected terminal in response to the fifth indication information. The third reply information is used to inform the second directly connected terminal whether the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop count requirement and / or signal quality requirement.

[0403] In one embodiment, the sending unit 1902 is also used to send sixth indication information to the first directly connected terminal when the first communication device is not within the coverage of the network device and meets the hop count requirement and / or meets the signal quality requirement. The sixth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the first communication device and the end terminal, wherein the first directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the end terminal through a direct or non-direct communication link.

[0404] In one implementation, the fifth indication information or the sixth indication information is further used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

[0405] In one implementation, the fifth indication information or the sixth indication information is carried by a discovery message or a direct communication request (DCR) message.

[0406] In one embodiment, the first communication device is a relay terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

[0407] In one implementation, the first communication device is an end terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

[0408] In one embodiment, the end terminal is outside the coverage of the network device, and one or more relay terminals are between the end terminal and the network device.

[0409] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1903 is also used to select a multi-hop relay path that needs to be traversed through one or more relay terminals to access the second communication device when the first communication device, such as an end terminal, meets the hop count requirement and / or the signal quality requirement.

[0410] The first communication device 1900 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the first communication device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects corresponding to the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the first communication device 1900 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the first communication device 1900 of the embodiment of the application can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0411] FIG20 is a schematic block diagram of a second communication device 2000 according to an embodiment of the present application. The second communication device 2000 may include:

[0412] The sending unit 2001 is configured to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

[0413] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0414] Whether multi-hop relay is supported; hop count requirements; signal quality requirements; the correspondence between hop count and signal quality requirements.

[0415] In one embodiment, the hop count requirement includes at least one of the following: a maximum hop count supported; a maximum hop count supported for different services; and a maximum hop count supported for different service priorities.

[0416] In one embodiment, the signal quality requirement includes at least one of the following: Uu RSRP condition; Uu RSRP threshold; SL RSRP condition; SL RSRP threshold; Uu RSRQ condition; Uu RSRQ threshold; SL RSRQ condition; SL RSRQ threshold.

[0417] In one implementation, the first indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a broadcast message, an RRC message.

[0418] In one embodiment, the first communication device is a relay terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

[0419] In one implementation, the first communication device is an end terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

[0420] In one embodiment, the end terminal is outside the coverage of the network device, and one or more relay terminals are between the end terminal and the network device.

[0421] The second communication device 2000 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the second communication device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects corresponding to the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the second communication device 2000 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the second communication device 2000 of the embodiment of the application can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0422] FIG21 is a schematic block diagram of a first communication device 2100 according to an embodiment of the present application. The first communication device 2100 may include:

[0423] The sending unit 2101 is configured to send multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform a multi-hop relay related operation.

[0424] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay related information includes registration request information, and the registration request information is used to instruct the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay authentication of the first communication device based on the registration request information.

[0425] In one embodiment, the registration request information includes the relay role and / or relay capability of the first communication device to be authenticated.

[0426] In one embodiment, the relay role and / or relay capability to be authenticated of the first communication device includes at least one of the following:

[0427] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as an end terminal;

[0428] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as an end terminal;

[0429] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as a relay terminal;

[0430] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as a relay terminal;

[0431] The maximum number of hops supported by the first communication device for multi-hop U2U relay;

[0432] The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops of a multi-hop U2N relay.

[0433] In one embodiment, the information used for multi-hop relay authentication includes subscription information, and the subscription information includes the relay role and / or relay capability that the first communication device has subscribed to.

[0434] In one embodiment, the relay role and / or relay capability subscribed by the first communication device includes at least one of the following:

[0435] The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay;

[0436] The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay;

[0437] The first communication device is contracted to be a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay;

[0438] The first communication device is contracted to be a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay;

[0439] the maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay contracted by the first communication device;

[0440] The maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2N relay subscribed by the first communication device.

[0441] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay service request, and the multi-hop relay service request is used to request a multi-hop relay service.

[0442] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay service request is carried by at least one of the following: a first message of a random access process; an RRC establishment message; an RRC recovery message; an RRC reconstruction message; sideline terminal information; terminal assistance information; or a measurement report message.

[0443] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay service request includes at least one of the following:

[0444] Connection establishment reason value, used to indicate that a connection is established for multi-hop relay services;

[0445] Multi-hop relay request indication; Layer 2 identification of one or more terminals on the multi-hop relay path; total number of hops traversed by the multi-hop relay path; number of hops associated with one or more terminals on the multi-hop relay path; service of the end terminal; service priority of the end terminal; service type of the end terminal; QoS configuration of the end terminal; signal quality of one or more hops on the multi-hop relay path.

[0446] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0447] The receiving unit 2102 is configured to receive first reply information for the multi-hop relay service request.

[0448] In one embodiment, the first reply information is used for at least one of the following: indicating authorization success; indicating transmission of multi-hop relay service; indicating authorization failure; indicating disconnection of multi-hop relay service connection; configuration information of multi-hop relay service transmission.

[0449] In one embodiment, the first reply message is carried by at least one of the following: a second message of the random access process; a response message of the RRC establishment message; a response message of the RRC recovery message; a response message of the RRC reconstruction message; or an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0450] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0451] The processing unit 2103 is configured to access the second communication device or send second reply information based on the first reply information.

[0452] In one embodiment, the second reply information is used for at least one of the following:

[0453] Transmit multi-hop relay service data; disconnect multi-hop relay service connection; establish multi-hop relay service connection; configuration information of multi-hop relay service transmission.

[0454] In one embodiment, the second reply information is carried by at least one of the following: a discovery message, a PC5-RRC message, or a PC5-S message.

[0455] In one implementation, the multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay report.

[0456] In one implementation, the multi-hop relay report is carried by at least one of the following: an RRC message, a measurement report message.

[0457] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay report carries at least one of the following:

[0458] Layer 2 identification of one or more relays on a multi-hop relay path; QoS configuration of the end terminal; split QoS configuration of the hop; signal quality of one or more hops on the multi-hop relay path.

[0459] The first communication device 2100 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the first communication device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects corresponding to the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the first communication device 2100 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the first communication device 2100 of the application embodiment can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0460] FIG22 is a schematic block diagram of a second communication device 2200 according to an embodiment of the present application. The second communication device 2200 may include:

[0461] The receiving unit 2201 is configured to receive multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform a multi-hop relay related operation.

[0462] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0463] The processing unit 2202 is configured to perform multi-hop relay authentication of the first communication device based on the registration request information.

[0464] In one implementation, the registration request information includes the relay role and / or relay capability of the first communication device to be authenticated.

[0465] In one embodiment, the relay role and / or relay capability to be authenticated of the first communication device includes at least one of the following:

[0466] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as an end terminal;

[0467] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as an end terminal;

[0468] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as a relay terminal;

[0469] The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as a relay terminal;

[0470] The maximum number of hops supported by the first communication device for multi-hop U2U relay;

[0471] The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops of a multi-hop U2N relay.

[0472] In one embodiment, the information used for multi-hop relay authentication includes subscription information, and the subscription information includes the relay role and / or relay capability that the first communication device has subscribed to.

[0473] In one embodiment, the relay role and / or relay capability subscribed by the first communication device includes at least one of the following:

[0474] The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay;

[0475] The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay;

[0476] The first communication device is contracted to be a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay;

[0477] The first communication device is contracted to be a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay;

[0478] the maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay contracted by the first communication device;

[0479] The maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2N relay subscribed by the first communication device.

[0480] In one embodiment, the device further comprises:

[0481] The sending unit 2203 is configured to send authentication result information to the third communication device if the authentication is successful.

[0482] In one embodiment, the authentication result information includes at least one of the following:

[0483] Whether the first communication device supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as an end terminal;

[0484] The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops / supportable number of hops for a multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as an end terminal;

[0485] Whether the first communication device supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as a relay terminal;

[0486] The first communication device, as a relay terminal, supports a maximum number of hops / supportable number of hops for multi-hop U2U / U2N relay.

[0487] In one embodiment, when a handover occurs, the authentication result information is carried in an Xn message from the source network device to the target network device.

[0488] In one embodiment, the Xn message further includes the hop count and / or split QoS configuration of the first communication device at the source network device.

[0489] In one implementation, the multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay service request, and the processing unit 2202 is further configured to execute a multi-hop relay service based on the multi-hop relay service request.

[0490] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay service request is carried by at least one of the following: a first message of a random access process; an RRC establishment message; an RRC recovery message; an RRC reconstruction message; sideline terminal information; terminal assistance information; or a measurement report message.

[0491] In one embodiment, the multi-hop relay service request includes at least one of the following:

[0492] The reason value for connection establishment, used to indicate that a connection is established for multi-hop relay service; a multi-hop relay request indication; a layer 2 identifier of one or more terminals on the multi-hop relay path; the total number of hops experienced by the multi-hop relay path; the number of hops associated with one or more terminals on the multi-hop relay path; the service of the end terminal; the service priority of the end terminal; the service type of the end terminal; the QoS configuration of the end terminal; and the signal quality of one or more hops on the multi-hop relay path.

[0493] In one implementation, the sending unit 2203 is further configured to send first reply information in response to the multi-hop relay service request.

[0494] In one embodiment, the first reply information is used for at least one of the following: indicating authorization success; indicating transmission of a multi-hop relay service; indicating authorization failure; indicating disconnection of a multi-hop relay service connection; and configuration information of multi-hop relay service transmission.

[0495] In one embodiment, the first reply message is carried by at least one of the following: a second message of the random access process; a response message of the RRC establishment message; a response message of the RRC recovery message; a response message of the RRC reconstruction message; or an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0496] In one embodiment, the receiving unit is further configured to receive an access request initiated by the first communication device based on the first reply information.

[0497] In one embodiment, the sending unit is further configured for the second communication device to perform at least one of the following on the terminal in the first state:

[0498] In a first case, indicating authorization success and / or performing multi-hop relay service transmission to one or more terminals in the first state on the multi-hop relay link;

[0499] In the second case, indicating authorization failure and / or disconnecting the multi-hop relay service connection to one or more terminals in the first state on the multi-hop relay link;

[0500] The terminal in the first state includes at least one of the following: a terminal that has established a PC5 unicast connection, a terminal that has completed a discovery process, and a terminal that has completed a PC5-S process;

[0501] The first situation includes at least one of the following: network authorization, network provision of multi-hop configuration, and network acceptance of the multi-hop relay service request;

[0502] The second situation includes at least one of the following: the network is not authorized, the network does not provide multi-hop configuration, and the network does not accept the multi-hop relay service request.

[0503] Sending first reply information for the multi-hop relay service request, the sending unit is further configured for the second communication device to perform at least one of the following on the terminal in the second state:

[0504] In the first case, replying at least one of a discovery response, a DCA, and a pre-DCR report to one or more terminals in the second state on the multi-hop relay link;

[0505] In the second case, do not reply to the message;

[0506] The terminal in the second state includes at least one of the following: a terminal that has not established a PC5 unicast connection, a terminal that has not completed the discovery process, and a terminal that has not completed the PC5-S process;

[0507] The first situation includes at least one of the following: network authorization, network provision of multi-hop configuration, and network acceptance of the multi-hop relay service request;

[0508] The second situation includes at least one of the following: the network is not authorized, the network does not provide multi-hop configuration, and the network does not accept the multi-hop relay service request.

[0509] First reply information for the multi-hop relay service request is sent, where the multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay report.

[0510] First reply information for the multi-hop relay service request is sent, where the multi-hop relay report is carried by at least one of the following: an RRC message and a measurement report message.

[0511] Sending a first reply message for the multi-hop relay service request, where the multi-hop relay report carries at least one of the following:

[0512] Layer 2 identification of one or more relays on a multi-hop relay path; QoS configuration of the end terminal; split QoS configuration of the hop; signal quality of one or more hops on the multi-hop relay path.

[0513] The second communication device 2200 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the second communication device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects corresponding to the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the second communication device 2200 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the second communication device 2200 of the embodiment of the application can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0514] Figure 23 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 2300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 2300 includes a processor 2310, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to enable the communication device 2300 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0515] In one embodiment, the communication device 2300 may further include a memory 2320. The processor 2310 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 2320 to enable the communication device 2300 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0516] The memory 2320 may be a separate device independent of the processor 2310 or may be integrated into the processor 2310 .

[0517] In one embodiment, the communication device 2300 may further include a transceiver 2330 , and the processor 2310 may control the transceiver 2330 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, the transceiver 2330 may send information or data to other devices, or receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0518] The transceiver 2330 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 2330 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0519] In one embodiment, the communication device 2300 may be the first communication device of the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 2300 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the first communication device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0520] In one embodiment, the communication device 2300 may be the second communication device of the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 2300 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the second communication device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0521] 24 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 2400 according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 2400 includes a processor 2410, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0522] In one embodiment, the chip 2400 may further include a memory 2420. The processor 2410 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 2420 to implement the method executed by the first communication device or the second communication device in the embodiment of the present application.

[0523] The memory 2420 may be a separate device independent of the processor 2410 or may be integrated into the processor 2410 .

[0524] In one embodiment, the chip 2400 may further include an input interface 2430. The processor 2410 may control the input interface 2430 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0525] In one embodiment, the chip 2400 may further include an output interface 2440. The processor 2410 may control the output interface 2440 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0526] In one embodiment, the chip can be applied to the first communication device in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the first communication device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0527] In one embodiment, the chip can be applied to the second communication device in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the second communication device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0528] The chips used in the first communication device and the second communication device may be the same chip or different chips.

[0529] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0530] The processor mentioned above may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor mentioned above may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0531] The memory mentioned above may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM).

[0532] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0533] Figure 25 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 2500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system 2500 includes a first communication device 2510 and a second communication device 2520. In one embodiment, the first communication device 2510 is used to receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device. The second communication device 2520 is used to send the first indication information. In one embodiment, the first communication device 2510 is used to send multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay related operations. The second communication device 2520 is used to receive multi-hop relay related information. The first communication device 2510 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the first communication device in the above method, and the second communication device 2520 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the second communication device in the above method. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

[0534] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function in accordance with the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, computer, server or data center by wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0535] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0536] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0537] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any modifications or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A relay communication method, comprising: The first communication device receives first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The multi-hop relay capability information includes at least one of the following: Whether to support multi-hop relay; Hop count requirements; Signal quality requirements; The correspondence between the number of hops and signal quality requirements.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The hop count requirement includes at least one of the following: the maximum hop count supported; the maximum hop count supported for different services; the maximum hop count supported for different service priorities.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The signal quality requirement includes at least one of the following: air interface reference signal received power Uu RSRP condition; Uu RSRP threshold; side reference signal received power SL RSRP condition; SL RSRP threshold; air interface reference signal received quality Uu RSRQ condition; Uu RSRQ threshold; side reference signal received quality SL RSRQ condition; SL RSRQ threshold.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: Also includes: The first communication device receives second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between a first directly connected terminal and the second communication device, wherein the first directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the second communication device through a direct or indirect communication link.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein: The method further comprises: When the first communication device meets the hop number requirement and / or the signal quality requirement, the first communication device sends the first indication information and / or third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate the associated hop number of the first communication device, and the associated hop number of the first communication device includes at least one of the following: the hop number between the first communication device and the second communication device, and the maximum hop number supported by the second communication device.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The third indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a discovery message, a PC5 wireless access control PC5-RRC message, a PC5 signaling PC5-S message, a network configuration message sent by broadcast, and a network configuration message forwarded by broadcast.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The first indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a broadcast message, a radio resource control RRC message.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The method further comprises: The first communication device sends fourth indication information, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the first communication device and an end terminal.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The method further comprises: The first communication device receives first reply information in response to the fourth indication information.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The method further comprises: The first communication device sends second reply information to the second directly connected terminal based on the first reply message, wherein the second directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the terminal through a direct or indirect communication link, and the second reply information is used to inform the second directly connected terminal whether the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop requirement and / or signal quality requirement.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The method further comprises: The first communication device accesses the second communication device based on the first reply information, and the first communication device is an end terminal.

13. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: The method further comprises: The first communication device receives fifth indication information of a second directly connected terminal, wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal, wherein the second directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the end terminal through a direct or indirect communication link.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The method further comprises: The first communication device determines whether the number of hops between the first communication device and / or the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal meets the hop requirement, and / or whether the link quality corresponding to the number of hops between the first communication device and / or the second directly connected terminal and the end terminal meets the signal quality requirement.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein: The method further comprises: When the first communication device is within the coverage of the network device and meets the hop requirement and / or meets the signal quality requirement, the first communication device sends a third reply message to the second directly connected terminal in response to the fifth indication information, and the third reply message is used to inform the second directly connected terminal whether the first communication device or the second directly connected terminal meets the hop requirement and / or the signal quality requirement. Quality requirements.

16. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein: Also includes: When the first communication device is not within the coverage of the network device and meets the hop requirement and / or meets the signal quality requirement, the first communication device sends sixth indication information to the first directly connected terminal, and the sixth indication information is used to indicate the number of hops between the first communication device and the end terminal, wherein the first directly connected terminal has a direct communication link with the first communication device and can access the end terminal through a direct or indirect communication link.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the fifth indication information or the sixth indication information is further used to indicate the multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein: The fifth indication information or the sixth indication information is carried by a discovery message or a direct communication request DCR message.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, 13 to 18, wherein: The first communication device is a relay terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, 9, 10, 12, wherein: The first communication device is an end terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The end terminal is outside the coverage of the network device, and there are one or more relay terminals between the end terminal and the network device.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein: The method further comprises: When the first communication device meets the hop count requirement and / or the signal quality requirement, the first communication device selects to access the second communication device via a multi-hop relay path that needs to be traversed by one or more relay terminals to reach the second communication device.

23. A relay communication method, comprising: The second communication device sends first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The multi-hop relay capability information includes at least one of the following: Whether to support multi-hop relay; Hop count requirements; Signal quality requirements; The correspondence between the number of hops and signal quality requirements.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein: The hop count requirement includes at least one of the following: the maximum hop count supported; the maximum hop count supported for different services; the maximum hop count supported for different service priorities.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein: The signal quality requirement includes at least one of the following: Uu RSRP condition; Uu RSRP threshold; SL RSRP condition; SL RSRP threshold; Uu RSRQ condition; Uu RSRQ threshold; SL RSRQ condition; SL RSRQ threshold.

27. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 26, wherein: The first indication information is carried by at least one of the following: a broadcast message, an RRC message.

28. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 27, wherein: The first communication device is a relay terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

29. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 27, wherein: The first communication device is an end terminal, and the second communication device is a network device.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: The end terminal is outside the coverage of the network device, and there are one or more relay terminals between the end terminal and the network device.

31. A relay communication method, comprising: The first communication device sends multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay related operations.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein: The multi-hop relay related information includes registration request information, and the registration request information is used to instruct the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay authentication of the first communication device based on the registration request information.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein: The registration request information includes the relay role and / or relay capability of the first communication device to be authenticated.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein: The relay role and / or relay capability to be authenticated by the first communication device includes at least one of the following: The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as an end terminal; The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as an end terminal; The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as a relay terminal; The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as a relay terminal; The maximum number of hops supported by the first communication device for multi-hop U2U relay; The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops of a multi-hop U2N relay.

35. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 34, wherein: The information used for multi-hop relay authentication includes contract information, and the contract information includes the relay role and / or relay capability that the first communication device has subscribed to.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein: The relay role and / or relay capability subscribed by the first communication device includes at least one of the following: The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay; The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay; The first communication device signs up as a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay; The first communication device signs up as a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay; The maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay contracted by the first communication device; The maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2N relay subscribed by the first communication device.

37. The method of claim 31, wherein: The multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay service request, and the multi-hop relay service request is used to request a multi-hop relay service.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein: The multi-hop relay service request is carried by at least one of the following: The first message of the random access procedure; RRC establishment message; RRC recovery message; RRC re-establishment message; Sideline terminal information; Terminal auxiliary information; Measurement report message.

39. The method according to claim 37 or 38, wherein: The multi-hop relay service request includes at least one of the following: The connection establishment reason value is used to indicate that a connection is established for multi-hop relay services; Multi-hop relay request indication; Layer 2 identification of one or more terminals on a multi-hop relay path; The total number of hops experienced by the multi-hop relay path; The number of hops associated with one or more terminals on a multi-hop relay path; Terminal services; Service priority of the terminal; The service type of the terminal; QoS configuration of end terminals; Signal quality of one or more hops on a multi-hop relay path.

40. The method according to any one of claims 37 to 39, wherein: The method further comprises: The first communication device receives first reply information for the multi-hop relay service request.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein: The first reply information is used for at least one of the following: Indicates that the authorization was successful; Indicates the transmission of multi-hop relay services; Indicates that authorization failed; Indicates that the multi-hop relay service connection is disconnected; Configuration information for multi-hop relay service transmission.

42. The method according to claim 40 or 41, wherein: The first reply message is carried by at least one of the following: A second message of the random access procedure; A response message to the RRC setup message; A response message to the RRC recovery message; A response message to the RRC reestablishment message; RRC reconfiguration message.

43. A method according to any one of claims 40 to 42, wherein: The method further comprises: The first communication device accesses the second communication device or sends second reply information based on the first reply information.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein: The second reply information is used for at least one of the following: Transmit multi-hop relay service data; Disconnect the multi-hop relay service connection; Establish multi-hop relay service connection; Configuration information for multi-hop relay service transmission.

45. The method according to claim 43 or 44, wherein: The second reply information is carried by at least one of the following: a discovery message, a PC5-RRC message, or a PC5-S message.

46. ​​The method of claim 31, wherein: The multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay report.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein: The multi-hop relay report is carried by at least one of the following: an RRC message and a measurement report message.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein: The multi-hop relay report carries at least one of the following: The layer 2 identifier of one or more relays on a multi-hop relay path; QoS configuration of end terminals; The split QoS configuration of the hop; Signal quality of one or more hops on a multi-hop relay path.

49. A relay communication method, comprising: The second communication device receives multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay related operations.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein: The multi-hop relay related information includes registration request information, and the method further includes: The second communication device performs multi-hop relay authentication of the first communication device based on the registration request information.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein: The registration request information includes the relay role and / or relay capability of the first communication device to be authenticated.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein: The relay role and / or relay capability to be authenticated by the first communication device includes at least one of the following: The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as an end terminal; The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as an end terminal; The first communication device supports multi-hop U2U relay as a relay terminal; The first communication device supports multi-hop U2N relay as a relay terminal; The maximum number of hops supported by the first communication device for multi-hop U2U relay; The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops of a multi-hop U2N relay.

53. The method according to any one of claims 50 to 52, wherein: The information used for multi-hop relay authentication includes contract information, and the contract information includes the relay role and / or relay capability that the first communication device has subscribed to.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein: The relay role and / or relay capability subscribed by the first communication device includes at least one of the following: The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay; The first communication device is contracted as an end terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay; The first communication device signs up as a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2U relay; The first communication device signs up as a relay terminal in a multi-hop U2N relay; The maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2U relay contracted by the first communication device; The maximum number of hops of the multi-hop U2N relay subscribed by the first communication device.

55. The method according to any one of claims 50 to 54, wherein: The method further comprises: When the authentication is successful, the second communication device sends authentication result information to the third communication device.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein: The authentication result information includes at least one of the following: Whether the first communication device supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as an end terminal; The first communication device supports a maximum number of hops / supportable number of hops for a multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as an end terminal; Whether the first communication device supports multi-hop U2U / U2N relay as a relay terminal; The first communication device, as a relay terminal, supports the maximum number of hops / supportable number of hops of multi-hop U2U / U2N relay.

57. The method of claim 55 or 56, wherein: In the event of a handover, the authentication result information is carried in an Xn message from the source network device to the target network device.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein: The Xn message also includes the hop count and / or split QoS configuration of the first communication device at the source network device.

59. The method of claim 49, wherein: The multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay service request, and the method further includes: The second communication terminal performs a multi-hop relay service based on the multi-hop relay service request.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein: The multi-hop relay service request is carried by at least one of the following: The first message of the random access procedure; RRC establishment message; RRC recovery message; RRC re-establishment message; Sideline terminal information; Terminal auxiliary information; Measurement report message.

61. The method of claim 59 or 60, wherein: The multi-hop relay service request includes at least one of the following: The connection establishment reason value is used to indicate that a connection is established for multi-hop relay services; Multi-hop relay request indication; Layer 2 identification of one or more terminals on a multi-hop relay path; The total number of hops experienced by the multi-hop relay path; The number of hops associated with one or more terminals on a multi-hop relay path; Terminal services; Service priority of the terminal; The service type of the terminal; QoS configuration of end terminals; Signal quality of one or more hops on a multi-hop relay path.

62. The method according to any one of claims 59 to 61, wherein: The second communication terminal performs the multi-hop relay service based on the multi-hop relay service request, including: The second communication device sends first reply information in response to the multi-hop relay service request.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein: The first reply information is used for at least one of the following: Indicates that the authorization was successful; Indicates the transmission of multi-hop relay services; Indicates that authorization failed; Indicates that the multi-hop relay service connection is disconnected; Configuration information for multi-hop relay service transmission.

64. The method of claim 62 or 63, wherein: The first reply message is carried by at least one of the following: A second message of the random access procedure; A response message to the RRC setup message; A response message to the RRC recovery message; A response message to the RRC reestablishment message; RRC reconfiguration message.

65. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 64, wherein: The method further comprises: The second communication device receives an access request initiated by the first communication device based on the first reply information.

66. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 65, wherein: The second communication device sends first reply information for the multi-hop relay service request, including: The second communication device performs at least one of the following on the terminal in the first state: In a first case, indicating authorization success and / or performing multi-hop relay service transmission to one or more terminals in a first state on a multi-hop relay link; In a second case, indicating authorization failure and / or disconnecting the multi-hop relay service connection to one or more terminals in the first state on the multi-hop relay link; The terminal in the first state includes at least one of the following: a terminal that has established a PC5 unicast connection, a terminal that has completed the discovery process, and a terminal that has completed the PC5-S process; The first situation includes at least one of the following: network authorization, network provision of multi-hop configuration, network acceptance of the multi-hop relay service request; The second situation includes at least one of the following: the network is not authorized, the network does not provide multi-hop configuration, and the network does not accept the multi-hop relay service request.

67. The method according to any one of claims 62 to 66, wherein: The second communication device sends first reply information for the multi-hop relay service request, including: The second communication device performs at least one of the following on the terminal in the second state: In the first case, reply at least one of a discovery response, a DCA, and a report before sending a DCR to one or more terminals in the second state on the multi-hop relay link; In the second case, do not reply to the message; The terminal in the second state includes at least one of the following: a terminal that has not established a PC5 unicast connection, a terminal that has not completed the discovery process, and a terminal that has not completed the PC5-S process; The first situation includes at least one of the following: network authorization, network provision of multi-hop configuration, network acceptance of the multi-hop relay service request; The second situation includes at least one of the following: the network is not authorized, the network does not provide multi-hop configuration, and the network does not accept the multi-hop relay service request.

68. The method of claim 49, wherein: The multi-hop relay related information includes a multi-hop relay report.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein: The multi-hop relay report is carried by at least one of the following: an RRC message and a measurement report message.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein: The multi-hop relay report carries at least one of the following: The layer 2 identifier of one or more relays on a multi-hop relay path; QoS configuration of end terminals; The split QoS configuration of the hop; Signal quality of one or more hops on a multi-hop relay path.

71. A first communication device, comprising: The receiving unit is used to receive first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

72. A second communication device, comprising: A sending unit is used to send first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate multi-hop relay capability information of the second communication device.

73. A first communication device, comprising: The sending unit is used to send multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay related operations.

74. A second communication device, comprising: The receiving unit is used to receive multi-hop relay related information, where the multi-hop relay related information is used to request the second communication device to perform multi-hop relay related operations.

75. A communication device comprising: A transceiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory so that the communication device performs the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22, any one of 23 to 30, any one of 31 to 48, or any one of 49 to 70.

76. A chip, comprising: A processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory so that a device equipped with the chip executes a method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22, any one of 23 to 30, any one of 31 to 48, or any one of 49 to 70.

77. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when executed by a device, causes the device to perform a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 22, any one of 23 to 30, any one of 31 to 48 or any one of 49 to 70.

78. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions which cause a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 22, any one of 23 to 30, any one of 31 to 48 or any one of 49 to 70.

79. A computer program causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 22, any one of 23 to 30, any one of 31 to 48 or any one of 49 to 70.

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