Method executed by user equipment, and user equipment

Abstract

The present invention provides a method executed by a user equipment (UE), and a UE. The method executed by a UE is executed in the process of performing communication between the UE and a base station on the basis of a multi-path communication mode, and comprises: the UE receives from the base station an RRC reconfiguration message carrying configuration information of an indirect path, the configuration information at least comprising a UE identifier of a target UE for the indirect path; when the UE does not establish a connection with the target UE, the UE starts to establish a connection with the target UE; and the UE sends an NR sidelink (SL) UE information message to the base station, wherein in the NR SL UE information message, the UE sets information in a cell SL-Destination Identity as the UE identifier of the target UE. Therefore, in a multi-path working mode, the UE can enable the base station to clearly report address information associated with an SL BSR MAC CE, so that resource allocation can be appropriately performed in a network, thereby improving the utilization efficiency of resources.

Description

Method performed by user equipment and user equipment Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more particularly, to a method executed by a user equipment and corresponding user equipment. Background Art

[0002] Within a cell covered by a base station, a user equipment (UE) can communicate directly with the base station. This communication connection is called a direct connection (or link). The UE can also communicate with the base station through a relay UE (or relay UE). This connection is called an indirect connection (or link). When communicating with the base station through a relay UE, the UE is called a remote UE.

[0003] Remote UE can work in a mode with only indirect connection, which can be called a single path communication mode. In addition, in order to improve the uplink and downlink transmission rates and throughput of the UE, the UE can also work in direct connection and indirect connection modes at the same time. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a parallel working mode (multi-path) of direct connection and indirect connection, that is, a multi-path communication mode. As shown in Figure 1, in this working mode, since the UE and the base station communicate through different paths, it can also be called a multi-path (multi-path) communication mode.

[0004] In Figure 1, wireless communication is generally used between the remote UE and the base station, as well as between the relay UE and the base station, such as 5G NR or LTE. Communication between the remote UE and the relay UE can be based on sidelink communication, Wi-Fi communication based on hotspot coverage, or wired connection.

[0005] The UE can report the size of the buffered data to the base station through the SL BSR MAC CE, so that the base station can schedule / allocate appropriate SL resources to the UE for transmission to the relay UE on the indirect path.

[0006] The existing SL BSR MAC CE includes a Destination Index, which indicates the address associated with the BSR in the current SL BSR MAC CE. The base station can generate an address list based on the address information previously reported by the UE to determine the corresponding address. Therefore, when the UE operates in a multipath mode, how can the base station determine the address information associated with the reported SL BSR MAC CE be solved?

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method and user equipment executed by a user equipment, which can enable the base station to clearly report the address information associated with the SL BSR MAC CE in a multi-path working mode, thereby appropriately allocating resources in the network and improving resource utilization efficiency.

[0009] According to the present invention, a method executed by a user equipment UE is provided, which is executed during communication between the UE and a base station based on a multi-path communication mode, including: the UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message carrying configuration information of an indirect path from the base station, and the configuration information includes at least a UE identifier of a target UE for the indirect path; the UE starts to establish a connection with the target UE without establishing a connection with the target UE; the UE sends an NR side link UE information message to the base station, and in the NR side link UE information message, the UE sets the information in the information element sl-DestinationIdentity to the UE identifier of the target UE.

[0010] In the above method, the information element sl-DestinationIdentity may be included in any one of the information element sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay, the information element sl-TxResourceReqList, and the newly defined information element sl-TxResourceReqIndirect for the indirect path.

[0011] In the above method, it may also be that when the side link buffer status report SL BSR is triggered, the UE sends a SL BSR MAC CE to the base station, and the Destination Index contained in the SL BSR MAC CE corresponds to the address information in the information elements sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay, sl-TxResourceReqList and sl-TxResourceReqIndirect.

[0012] In the above method, the UE may also trigger the SL BSR in any of the following circumstances: the MAC entity of the UE can obtain the SL data of any logical channel in the logical channel group associated with a certain address; the timer used to control the retransmission of the SL BSR MAC CE times out, and at least one logical channel still contains SL data to be sent; the timer used to control the periodic transmission of the SL BSR MAC CE times out.

[0013] In the above method, the UE may also generate the SL BSR MAC CE when obtaining a UL-SCH resource for new transmission and the UL-SCH resource can accommodate the SL BSR MAC CE.

[0014] In the above method, the UE may also call or instruct or execute a multiplexing and combining process to generate the SL BSR MAC CE.

[0015] In the above method, the UE may also generate one or more SL BSR MAC CEs according to the address to be reported and the size of the available UL-SCH resources.

[0016] In the above method, it may also be that, when the address associated with the generated SL-BSR MAC CE is the target UE, the UE sets the Destination Index in the SL BSR MAC CE to a special value.

[0017] In the above method, the UE may also send the SL BSR MAC CE on available UL-SCH resources.

[0018] Furthermore, according to the present invention, a user equipment is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions execute the method when executed by the processor.

[0019] Effects of the Invention

[0020] According to the present invention, the base station can clearly report the address information associated with the SL BSR MAC CE in a multi-path working mode, thereby appropriately allocating resources in the network and improving resource utilization efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a multi-path communication method in which direct connection and indirect connection operate in parallel (multi-path).

[0022] FIG2 is a schematic diagram showing UE-to-Network relay.

[0023] FIG3 is a flowchart showing a method executed by a user equipment UE according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] FIG4 is a flowchart showing a method executed by a user equipment UE according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] FIG5 is a simplified structural block diagram of a user equipment involved in the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described below. In addition, for the sake of simplicity, detailed descriptions of known technologies that are not directly related to the present invention are omitted to prevent confusion in understanding the present invention.

[0027] Before the detailed description, the following explanations are given for several terms mentioned in the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the terms involved in the present invention have the following meanings.

[0028] UE: User Equipment;

[0029] NR: New Radio, the next generation of wireless technology;

[0030] LTE: Long Term Evolution, long-term evolution technology;

[0031] eLTE: Enhanced Long Term Evolution, enhanced long-term evolution technology;

[0032] RRC: Radio Resource Control, radio resource control (layer);

[0033] MAC: Medium Access Control, media access control (layer);

[0034] MAC CE: MAC Control Element, MAC control element;

[0035] SDAP: Service Data Adaptation Protocol, business data adaptation protocol;

[0036] SRAP: Sidelink Relay Adaptation Protocol, sidelink relay adaptation protocol;

[0037] RLC: Radio Link Control, wireless link layer control;

[0038] PDCP: Packet Data Convergence Protocol, packet data convergence protocol;

[0039] ADAPT: Adaptation layer, sidelink communication adaptation layer;

[0040] PHY: physical layer, physical layer;

[0041] RB: radio bearer, wireless bearer;

[0042] DRB: Data Radio Bearer, data radio bearer;

[0043] SRB: Signaling Radio Bearer, signaling radio bearer;

[0044] PDU: Protocol Data Unit, protocol data unit;

[0045] SDU: Service Data Unit, service data unit;

[0046] V2X: Vehicle-to-Everything, Internet of Vehicles;

[0047] NAS Non-Access-Stratum, non-access layer;

[0048] SL BSR Sidelink Buffer Status Report Sidelink Buffer Status Report

[0049] UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel Uplink Shared Channel

[0050] IE Information Element

[0051] In the present invention, network, base station and RAN can be used interchangeably. The network can be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, a New Radio Access Technology (New RAT, NR) network, an enhanced Long Term Evolution (eLTE) network, or other networks defined in subsequent evolution versions of 3GPP.

[0052] In the present invention, the user equipment UE may refer to the NR device supporting the NR Sidelink relay function described in the background technology, or may refer to an NR device supporting the NR sidelink relay architecture, or may refer to other types of NR devices or LTE devices.

[0053] In the present invention, sidelink and PC5 can be used interchangeably, and RLC channel, RLC entity, and RLC bearer can be used interchangeably. In this article, PC5 is used for relay operation and can therefore also be replaced by relay.

[0054] Hereinafter, a description is given of related technologies of the present invention.

[0055] Single path and multi-path communication

[0056] A remote UE communicates with a base station through a relay UE. This connection is called an indirect connection (or link) or indirect connection. A remote UE can operate in an indirect connection-only mode, which is called a single-path communication method. In this case, the relay UE's primary serving cell (Pcell) serves as the primary serving cell (Pcell) of the remote UE.

[0057] As shown in Figure 1, the UE and the base station can also communicate simultaneously through direct connection and indirect connection. The UE can be configured to work in direct connection and indirect connection communication modes at the same time. Such communication mode can be called multi-path (multiple paths, MP) communication. Among them, the directly connected path can be called a direct path (direct path), and the direct path can use the Uu interface for communication; the indirect connection path can be called a relay path (relay path) or an indirect path (indirect path). On the indirect path, the remote UE communicates with the base station through the relay UE, and the relay UE and the base station can communicate using the Uu interface, and the remote UE and the relay UE can use other connection modes such as PC5 connection or WIFI connection for communication.

[0058] The path corresponding to the direct connection is called a direct path, and the path corresponding to the indirect connection is called an indirect path. In the case of multiple paths, the serving cell corresponding to the direct path is the primary serving cell.

[0059] It should be noted that a UE can also communicate directly with a base station. This is called a direct connection and is also a single-path operation mode. A UE can operate exclusively in direct connection mode. In this mode, since there is no relay UE, such a UE cannot be called a remote UE. In this case, the UE's primary serving cell is the serving cell with which the UE establishes an RRC connection.

[0060] As can be seen, remote UE is relative to relay UE. Remote UE exists only in single-path or multi-path scenarios with relay UE. In single-path scenarios without relay UE, such as direct connection, UE cannot be remote UE.

[0061] Path addition

[0062] In order to change the communication mode of the UE from a single connection (direct) connection to a multi-path (direct connection and indirect connection) communication mode, the base station needs to provide configuration information to the UE. Based on this configuration information, the UE can establish a non-direct connection path for transmission. Such configuration information can be referred to as configuration information for adding a connection path (path addition). The operations performed by the UE after receiving the configuration information for adding a connection path (path addition) can be considered as operations associated with adding a connection path, and such operations may include one or more of the following operations:

[0063] Operation 1: The UE initiates establishment of a connection with the relay UE. Here, taking establishment of a PC5 connection as an example, after receiving the configuration information for adding the connection path, the UE establishes the PC5 connection with the relay UE.

[0064] Operation 2: The UE indicates to the relay UE that the cause value (or trigger value) of the connection establishment is relay, or indicates that the cause value is relay for indirect path.

[0065] Operation 3: Upon or after receiving the path addition configuration information, the UE may also start a timer to manage the path addition process (referred to as T-path add). When the timer expires, the path addition process is considered to have failed. The UE may initiate a failure report, generate information to notify the base station of the path addition failure, and send it to the base station.

[0066] The configuration information for adding a connection path (path addition) can also be configured through path switching or path change. For example, if the UE is currently in a single-connection (direct) communication mode, and then the UE receives configuration information from the base station, in which the UE is instructed to perform a path switch or path change, when the UE is in a single-connection (direct connection) mode, or if the UE is not configured for an indirect connection, when the UE receives such configuration information for path switching or path change, it can be considered that the base station has added an indirect path for the UE, that is, added an indirect connection path. Alternatively, the indication indicating the path change further indicates whether the UE should switch to the indicated indirect path or add an indirect connection path to the existing direct connection, thereby configuring the UE to operate in a multi-connection mode. Therefore, the configuration information for adding an indirect connection path in this article can be independent configuration information, or it can reuse existing path change configuration information, both of which can achieve the same effect. These configuration information can be carried in an RRC reconfiguration message and sent from the base station to the UE.

[0067] In this document, direct connection and direct path can be used interchangeably; indirect connection, indirect connection, relay path and indirect path can be used interchangeably.

[0068] In this document, "working in multipath mode" and "configured with multipath" are interchangeable.

[0069] In this article, multi-path communication can also be replaced by multi-connection (multiple connections, multi-link, multiple links) communication.

[0070] Near field communication between UEs (UE to UE communication, U2U communication)

[0071] UEs can be wirelessly connected to each other through near-field communication to achieve data or signaling transmission. The near-field communication method mentioned in this article mainly refers to the sidelink connection, and can also be a WIFI connection, or other connection methods. The reference point based on the sidelink connection between UEs is called PC5, so the sidelink-based connection between UEs can be called PC5 connection. In this article, sidelink connection (SL link) can be replaced with PC5 connection (PC5 link). Such a PC5 connection can be identified by a pair of Layer-2 IDs, usually including a source layer 2 identifier (Source Layer-2 ID) and a destination layer 2 identifier (Destination Layer-2 ID). Such a PC5 connection can be simply referred to as a (Destination) PC5 connection, sidelink connection, etc. for or corresponding to a certain destination.

[0072] UE-to-Network relay (U2N relay)

[0073] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating UE-to-network relay. As shown in Figure 2, the remote UE is on the left, the relay UE is in the middle, and the network is on the right. The remote UE and relay UE can be connected via the aforementioned PC5 interface, Wi-Fi, or other connection methods. This article uses the PC5 connection as an example. The relay UE and network can be connected via the Uu interface. The relay UE relays and forwards signaling and data between the remote UE and the network / base station.

[0074] Uu interface

[0075] The wireless communication interface between the UE and the base station. The UE can communicate with the eNB using E-UTRAN over the Uu interface. The UE can also communicate with the gNB using NR over the Uu interface.

[0076] SL BSR MAC CE

[0077] The SL BSR MAC CE is a buffer report of the SL link sent by the UE to the base station via the Uu interface. The SL BSR MAC CE contains at least the following fields:

[0078] - Destination Index: This field identifies the address to which the reported SLBSR belongs or the address information associated with the reported SL BSR. The value starts at 0 and is assigned a value from low to high according to the order of the SL address information in the sl-TxResourceReqList, sl-TxResourceReqListDisc, and sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay cells. For example, a Destination Index value of 0 corresponds to the SL address information ranked first in the sl-TxResourceReqList cell; a Destination Index value of 1 corresponds to the SL address information ranked second in the sl-TxResourceReqList cell, and so on. If the UE does not report the information element sl-TxResourceReqList and the information element sl-TxResourceReqListDisc, and only reports the information element sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay, then when the Destination Index value is 0, it corresponds to the SL address information arranged in the first position by the information element sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay; when the Destination Index value is 1, it corresponds to the SL address information arranged in the second position by the information element sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay, and so on.

[0079] - Logical Channel Group Identity (LCG ID): The LCG to which the reported SL BSR belongs.

[0080] - Buffer Size: Indicates the total amount of data that can be obtained

[0081] In an embodiment of the present invention, a processing method performed by a UE during communication between the UE and a base station based on a multipath communication manner is provided, including:

[0082] Step 1: The UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message carrying configuration information of an indirect path from the base station, where the configuration information includes at least a UE identifier of a target UE for the indirect path;

[0083] Step 2: The UE initiates the establishment of a connection with the target UE when the UE has not yet established a connection with the target UE;

[0084] Step 3: The UE sends an NR side link UE information message to the base station. In the NR side link UE information message, the UE sets the information in the sl-DestinationIdentity element to the UE identifier of the target UE.

[0085] According to the above processing method, the base station can clearly report the address information associated with the SL BSR MAC CE in a multi-path working mode, thereby appropriately allocating resources in the network and improving resource utilization efficiency.

[0086] The following specific embodiments are given to illustrate the treatment method of the present invention. In addition, the following embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0087] Example 1

[0088] The following is a detailed description of the embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG3 is a flow chart showing a method performed by a user equipment UE according to the embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG3 , the embodiment 1 may include the following steps:

[0089] Step 101: The UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message from the base station, in which the UE is instructed to add a connection path. The base station may indicate this by carrying configuration information of the indirect path in the reconfiguration message (for example, contained in the information element sl-IndirectPathAddChange). The configuration information includes at least the UE identity (target Relay UE-Identity) of the target UE for the indirect path, where the UE identity can be represented by address information (destination). The target UE here is a relay UE, and the configuration information may also include configuration information of the physical layer / MAC layer / SL RLC channel or radio bearer, etc.

[0090] Step 102: After receiving the RRC reconfiguration message, the UE may initiate a connection with the relay UE. For example, in this example, after receiving the configuration information for adding a connection path, the UE establishes a PC5 link with the target relay UE. If the UE has already established a connection with the relay UE before receiving the RRC configuration message, this step can be skipped.

[0091] Step 103: After the UE is configured with the aforementioned indirect path configuration information, that is, the sl-IndirectPathAddChange information element is configured, the UE sends a NR sidelink UE information message (SidelinkUEInformationNR Message) to the base station. In this message, the UE sets the information in the sl-DestinationIdentity information element to the target Relay UE-Identity received in step 101.

[0092] The information element sl-DestinationIdentity may be the sl-DestinationIdentity contained in the existing information element sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay, or the sl-DestinationIdentity contained in the existing information element sl-TxResourceReqList. Alternatively, a new information element sl-TxResourceReqIndirect may be defined for an indirect path, and the information element sl-DestinationIdentity may be included in this information element. The UE may include the information element sl-TxResourceReqIndirect in the NR sidelink UE information (SidelinkUEInformationNR Message) message sent to the base station, and then set the information in the information element sl-DestinationIdentity contained in the sl-TxResourceReqIndirect to the target Relay UE-Identity received in step 101, or may set it to other identification information corresponding to the Relay UE.

[0093] Step 104: As a supplement, when the SL BSR is triggered, the UE may send a SL BSR MAC CE to the base station. The Destination Index included in the SL BSR MAC CE corresponds to the address information in the information elements sl-TxResourceReqList, sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay, and sl-TxResourceReqIndirect. Since the aforementioned target RelayUE-Identity may be included in one of the above information elements, the base station can confirm whether the reported SL BSR MAC CE is associated with the relay UE based on the Destination Index.

[0094] Example 2

[0095] Step 201: The UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message from the base station, in which the UE is instructed to add a connection path. The base station may indicate this by carrying configuration information of the indirect path in the reconfiguration message (for example, contained in the information element sl-IndirectPathAddChange). The configuration information includes at least the UE identity (target Relay UE-Identity) of the target UE for the indirect path, where the UE identity can be represented by address information (destination). The target UE here is a relay UE, and the configuration information may also include configuration information of the physical layer / MAC layer / SL RLC channel or radio bearer, etc.

[0096] Step 202: After receiving the RRC reconfiguration message, the UE may initiate a connection with the relay UE. For example, in this example, after receiving the configuration information for adding a connection path, the UE establishes a PC5 link with the target relay UE. If the UE has already established a connection with the relay UE before receiving the RRC configuration information, this step can be skipped.

[0097] Step 203: On the UE side, a SL BSR is triggered. The UE may trigger a SL BSR in the following situations:

[0098] In case 1, the UE's MAC entity can obtain the SL data for any logical channel in the logical channel group associated with a certain address (SL data for a logical channel which belongs to an LCG of a Destination. becomes available to the MAC entity):

[0099] The logical channel to which such SL data belongs has a higher priority than the logical channels to which other available SL data belongs;

[0100] Or there is no SL data available for this address before.

[0101] Case 2: The sl-retxBSR-Timer timer expires and at least one logical channel still contains SL data to be sent. This timer is used to control the retransmission of the SL BSR MAC CE. When the UE obtains uplink resources to send the SL BSR MAC CE, the UE starts or restarts this timer.

[0102] Case 3: The sl-periodicBSR-Timer timer has expired. This timer is used to control the periodic transmission of the SL BSR MAC CE. When the UE obtains uplink resources to send the SL BSR MAC CE, the UE starts or restarts this timer.

[0103] In the above case or other cases, the UE triggers a SL BSR.

[0104] When the UE obtains UL-SCH resources for a new transmission and the UL-SCH resources can accommodate the SL BSR MAC CE, the UE invokes or instructs or performs a multiplexing and combining process to generate the SL BSR MAC CE. The generated SL BSR MAC CE may be one or more, depending on the number of addresses associated with the SL BSRs to be reported and the size of the available UL-SCH resources.

[0105] In the generated SL-BSR MAC CE, in one case, if the address associated with the MAC CE is the address of a relay UE, that is, the relay UE on the indirect path configured by the UE in step 202, then the UE can set the Destination Index in the SL BSR MAC CE to a special value:

[0106] For example, if the value of the Destination Index is represented by 5 bits, the UE may set the Destination Index value to '11111' to indicate that the SL BSR MAC CE is associated with the aforementioned relay UE. That is, after the UE is configured with the aforementioned indirect path configuration information, that is, when the UE is configured with the information element sl-IndirectPathAddChange, if the generated SL BSR MAC CE is associated with the UE identity or UE address (Destination) of the target UE for the indirect path in the configuration information, the UE sets the Destination Index value in the SL BSR MAC CE to '11111'.

[0107] In other cases, for example, if the UE is not configured with an indirect path, or the generated SL BSRMAC CE is not associated with the relay UE of the indirect path, the value of Destination Index corresponds to the address information in the information elements sl-TxResourceReqList and sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay.

[0108] The UE then sends the above SL BSR MAC CE on the available UL-SCH resources.

[0109] As a supplement, after receiving the aforementioned SL BSR MAC CE, if the Destination Index value is '11111', the base station can confirm that the reported SL BSR MAC CE is associated with the relay UE.

[0110] FIG5 is a simplified structural block diagram of a user equipment involved in the present invention.

[0111] As shown in Figure 5, the user equipment 500 includes at least a processor 501 and a memory 502. The processor 501 may include, for example, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an embedded processor, etc. The memory 502 may include, for example, a volatile memory (such as a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), a non-volatile memory (such as a flash memory), or other memory systems. The memory 502 stores program instructions. When executed by the processor 501, the instructions may perform one or more steps of the UE processing method disclosed herein.

[0112] The method and related apparatus of the present disclosure have been described above in conjunction with preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the methods described above are merely exemplary and that the various embodiments described above can be combined with one another unless conflicts arise. The method of the present disclosure is not limited to the steps and sequence described above.

[0113] The user equipment shown above may include more modules, for example, modules that can be developed or will be developed in the future and can be used for a base station, MME, or UE, etc. The various identifiers shown above are merely exemplary and not restrictive, and the present disclosure is not limited to the specific information elements used as examples of these identifiers. Those skilled in the art may make many changes and modifications based on the teachings of the illustrated embodiments.

[0114] It should be understood that the above embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented through software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. For example, the various components within the base station and user equipment in the above embodiments can be implemented through a variety of devices, including but not limited to: analog circuit devices, digital circuit devices, digital signal processing (DSP) circuits, programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (CPLDs), and the like.

[0115] In addition, the program running on the device according to the present invention can be a program that controls the central processing unit (CPU) to enable the computer to implement the functions of the embodiments of the present invention. The program or the information processed by the program can be temporarily stored in a volatile memory (such as a random access memory RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), a non-volatile memory (such as a flash memory), or other memory systems.

[0116] The program for realizing each embodiment of the present invention function can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Can realize corresponding function by making a computer system read the program recorded on the recording medium and executing these programs. So-called "computer system" herein can be the computer system embedded in the device, can include operating system or hardware (such as peripheral device). "Computer-readable recording medium" can be a semiconductor recording medium, an optical recording medium, a magnetic recording medium, a short-term dynamic storage program recording medium or any other recording medium that is computer-readable.

[0117] The various features or functional modules of the devices used in the above embodiments can be implemented or executed by circuits (e.g., single-chip or multi-chip integrated circuits). The circuits designed to perform the functions described in this specification may include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination of the above devices. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any existing processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The above circuits may be digital circuits or analog circuits. In the event that new integrated circuit technologies have emerged to replace existing integrated circuits due to advances in semiconductor technology, one or more embodiments of the present invention may also be implemented using these new integrated circuit technologies.

[0118] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Although various examples of the embodiments have been described, the present invention is not limited thereto. Fixed or non-mobile electronic devices installed indoors or outdoors can be used as terminal devices or communication devices, such as AV equipment, kitchen equipment, cleaning equipment, air conditioners, office equipment, vending machines, and other household appliances.

[0119] As described above, embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the specific structure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the present invention also includes any design changes that do not deviate from the main purpose of the present invention. In addition, various modifications can be made to the present invention within the scope of the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, components with the same effect described in the above embodiments can be replaced with each other.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment UE, performed during a communication process between the UE and a base station based on a multipath communication mode, comprising: The UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message carrying configuration information of an indirect path from a base station, where the configuration information at least includes a UE identifier of a target UE for the indirect path; The UE, when not having established a connection with the target UE, initiates establishing a connection with the target UE; The UE sends an NR side link UE information message to the base station, in which the UE sets the information in the information element sl-DestinationIdentity to the UE identifier of the target UE.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The information element sl-DestinationIdentity is included in any one of the information element sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay, the information element sl-TxResourceReqList, and the newly defined information element sl-TxResourceReqIndirect for an indirect path.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: When the side link buffer status report SL BSR is triggered, the UE sends a SL BSR MAC CE to the base station, and the Destination Index included in the SL BSR MAC CE corresponds to the address information in the information elements sl-TxResourceReqListCommRelay, sl-TxResourceReqList and sl-TxResourceReqIndirect.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The UE triggers a SL BSR in any of the following situations: The MAC entity of the UE can obtain the SL data of any logical channel in the logical channel group associated with a certain address; The timer for controlling the retransmission of the SL BSR MAC CE expires and at least one logical channel still contains SL data to be sent; The timer used to control the periodic transmission of the SL BSR MAC CE expires.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The UE generates a SL BSR MAC CE when obtaining a UL-SCH resource for new transmission and the UL-SCH resource can accommodate the SL BSR MAC CE.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The UE invokes or instructs or performs a multiplexing and combining process to generate a SL BSR MAC CE.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The UE generates one or more SL BSR MAC CEs according to the address to be reported and the size of available UL-SCH resources.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein: In a case where the address associated with the generated SL-BSR MAC CE is the target UE, the UE sets the Destination Index in the SL BSR MAC CE to a special value.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The UE sends the SL BSR MAC CE on available UL-SCH resources.

10. A user equipment, comprising: processor; as well as Memory, which stores instructions, Wherein, the above instructions, when executed by the above processor, execute the method described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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