Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which are used for providing a relay service for an AIOT terminal by means of a relay apparatus, so as to improve the signal coverage of the terminal in an AIOT scenario. The method comprises: a relay apparatus sending first information to a core network apparatus, wherein the first information is used for requesting that a relay service is provided for an AIOT terminal, and / or is used for indicating that the relay apparatus supports the provision of the relay service for the AIOT terminal; an access network apparatus being capable of receiving third information from the core network apparatus, so as to indicate that the relay apparatus provides the relay service for the AIOT terminal; and the relay apparatus also being capable of receiving from the access network apparatus configuration information of the relay service. On the basis of the method, a relay apparatus can obtain from an access network apparatus configuration information required for providing a relay service for an AIOT terminal, so as to support that the relay apparatus provides the relay service for the AIOT terminal.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on September 26, 2023, with application number 202311260406.9 and invention name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of mobile communication technologies, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] With the increasing adoption of fifth-generation (5G) mobile communications, new radio (NR) communications, machine-type communications (MTC), and the internet of things (IoT), the number of connected IoT devices is growing daily. Consequently, the industry is increasingly demanding lower costs and power consumption for IoT devices. During the fourth-generation (4G) mobile communications era, 3GPP introduced the narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) system to reduce the cost and power consumption of IoT devices. However, NB-IoT terminals require external power, such as batteries or an external power supply, and they have the ability to generate local high-frequency local oscillator carriers. Therefore, these terminals can only consume milliwatts of power, and further energy consumption reduction is needed. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology offers a promising low-power technology, capable of supporting microwatts, and therefore offers promising application prospects.

[0005] Given the low-power advantages of RFID communication technology, the 5G-based ambient IoT (AIOT) has emerged. AIOT terminals, known as AIOT terminals, utilize low-precision, low-power, medium- and low-frequency ring oscillators to meet ultra-low power requirements, or even support receiving downlink signals without a local oscillator. Improving coverage through relays in AIOT scenarios remains a technical challenge.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for providing relay services for AIOT terminals through a relay device, thereby improving the signal coverage of terminals in AIOT scenarios.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be implemented by a first communication device. The first communication device can be a relay device, or a component in a relay device, for example, a relay device. Among them, the components in the present application may include, for example, at least one of a chip, a chip system, a processor, a transceiver, a processing unit, or a transceiver unit. The relay device can be a terminal device or a network device for providing relay services, which is not specifically limited. Taking the execution subject as a relay device as an example, the method can be implemented by the following steps: the relay device sends a first message to the core network device, the first information is used to request, indicate or indicate the provision of relay services for AIOT terminals, and / or the first information is used to indicate that the relay device supports the provision of relay services for AIOT terminals; the relay device receives configuration information of the relay service from the access network device.

[0009] Based on the first aspect, the relay device may send first information to the core network device to request or indicate support for providing relay services for AIOT terminals, so that the access network device can provide the relay device with configuration information required to provide relay services for AIOT terminals according to the instructions of the core network network element, thereby providing a relay transmission solution suitable for AIOT terminals. Therefore, the relay device can provide relay services for AIOT terminals based on this configuration information, thereby improving the relay communication performance of terminals in AIOT scenarios.

[0010] In addition, as an alternative implementation method, the first information may not explicitly indicate a request or support for providing relay services for AIOT terminals. For example, the first information indicates support for providing relay services. At this time, the core network equipment may default to the relay device supporting the provision of relay services for AIOT terminals, so as to provide the relay device with the configuration information required for the relay service of the AIOT terminal through the method shown in this application.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the configuration information includes one or more of the following: a relay identifier of the relay service; the first area information, used to indicate the area to which the cell where the relay device is located belongs; the second area information, used to indicate the area to which the cell where the AIOT terminal is located belongs; and an identifier set of AIOT devices. The relay identifier can be used to associate the relay device and the AIOT terminal. The first area information can be used by the relay device to determine whether an area change has occurred, and the second area information can be used by the AIOT terminal to determine whether to send an area change. The identifier set of AIOT devices can be used by the relay device to assign an identifier to the AIOT terminal. For example, the relay device can send the identifier of the AIOT terminal to the AIOT terminal, and the identifier is included in the identifier set.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the relay device may further send second area information to the AIOT terminal. The second area information may be used by the relay device to identify whether an area change occurs.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the configuration information includes a system message and transmission configuration information of the system message, and the relay device may further send the system message to the AIOT terminal according to the transmission configuration information of the system message.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the relay device may also receive data from the AIOT terminal and send a first message to the access network device, the first message being carried on a signaling radio bearer and including the data. Therefore, when uplink data is present, the relay device may forward the AIOT terminal's uplink data to the base station via control signaling. Compared to carrying AIOT terminal data via data signaling, using control signaling can reduce the complexity of the communication protocol to accommodate the capabilities of the AIOT terminal.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the first message further includes an identifier of the AIOT terminal.

[0016] In a possible implementation manner, the data is included in a container of the first message.

[0017] In a possible implementation manner, the data includes a non-access stratum (NAS) data packet.

[0018] In a possible implementation manner, the first message is an RRC message.

[0019] In a possible implementation manner, the relay device receives an RRC message from the AIOT terminal, and the data is carried in the RRC message.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the configuration information is carried in a broadcast message or a unicast message; if the configuration information is carried in a broadcast message, the broadcast message may further include third area information for indicating the area information of the cell where the first terminal is located. When the configuration information is sent via a broadcast message, for example, when the configuration information in the broadcast message includes first area information and / or second area information, the broadcast message may further include third area information. The third area information can be used by other terminals (such as other AIOT terminals or ordinary terminals) to identify whether to send an area change. Therefore, the broadcast message can carry the area information of multiple and / or multiple devices.

[0021] In one possible implementation, if it is determined that the area in which the relay device is located has changed, the relay device sends second information to the access network device and / or the core network device, where the second information indicates the area change. The second information may be a tracking area update request, or a field within the request, so that the area information of the relay device is updated through a tracking area update process, thereby improving the efficiency and reliability of area information updates.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the relay device may also receive a second message from the access network device, the second message being used to page the second terminal; the relay device then sends a third message to the AIOT terminal, the third message being used to page the AIOT terminal. Based on this implementation, when paging an AIOT terminal, the base station may page the relay device, and then the relay device may page the AIOT terminal in a step-by-step manner.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the third message includes a first indication that the relay device provides relay services for the AIOT terminal. Based on this implementation, when the relay device pages the AIOT terminal, it can indicate to the AIOT terminal that the relay device is a relay device rather than a base station. Therefore, the AIOT terminal can use the relay solution described in this application for subsequent transmissions. The transmission method of the AIOT terminal may differ depending on whether a relay is present or not.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the second message is a unicast message, and / or the third message is a unicast message. The step-by-step paging can be performed using unicast messages to reduce the overhead of the paging process.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the relay device is connected to the AIOT terminal via a first access technology, and the relay device is connected to the access network device via a second access technology, where the first access technology and the second access technology are different access technologies. For example, the AIOT terminal and the relay device use AIOT access technology, such as an AIOT transmission method; and the relay device and the base station use NR access technology, such as an access technology for 5G or future 6G mobile communications in an enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) scenario. AIOT access technology and NR access technology may belong to different radio access technologies (RATs), and the two may have at least different modulation and coding methods, underlying transmission methods, or sub-carrier spacing (SCS).

[0026] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be implemented by a second communication device. In the present application, the second communication device may be an access network device. The access network device may be an access network device or a component in an access network device. The access network device is, for example, a base station. Taking the execution subject as an access network device as an example, the method may be implemented by the following steps: the access network device receives third information from the core network device, the third information being used to indicate that a relay service is provided by a relay device for an AIOT terminal; and the access network device sends configuration information of the relay service to the relay device.

[0027] The beneficial effects of the second aspect and its various possible implementations can refer to the beneficial effects of the first aspect and its corresponding possible implementations, and the repeated parts will be omitted.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the access network device may also receive a first message from the relay device, where the first message is carried on a signaling radio bearer and includes the data; and the access network device sends the data of the AIOT terminal to the core network device.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the first message includes an identifier of the AIOT terminal.

[0030] In a possible implementation manner, the data is included in a container of the first message.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the data includes a NAS data packet.

[0032] In a possible implementation manner, the first message is an RRC message.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the configuration information includes one or more of the following: a relay identifier of the relay service; the first area information, used to indicate the area to which the cell where the relay device is located belongs; the second area information, used to indicate the area to which the cell where the AIOT terminal is located belongs; an identifier set of AIOT devices, wherein the identifier set may include the identifier of the AIOT terminal.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the configuration information is carried in a broadcast message or a unicast message; if the configuration information is carried in a broadcast message, the broadcast message may further include third area information, which is used to indicate the area information of the cell where the third terminal is located.

[0035] In a possible implementation manner, the access network device receives second information from the relay device, where the second information is used to indicate that an area change has occurred.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the access network device may also receive a fourth message from the core network device, where the fourth message is used to page the AIOT terminal; the access network device may also send a second message to the relay device, where the second message is used to page the AIOT terminal.

[0037] In a possible implementation manner, the second message is a unicast message.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the fourth message includes at least one of the following information: a relay identifier for the relay service; first area information indicating the area of ​​the cell where the relay device is located; and second area information indicating the area of ​​the cell where the AIOT terminal is located. Therefore, the base station can determine the relay device providing the relay service for the AIOT terminal to be paged based on the relay identifier, first area information, or second area information carried in the fourth message.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the access network device sends the configuration information of the relay service to the core network device, and the configuration information of the relay service may include at least one of the relay identifier, the first area information, and the second area information; or, the access network device receives the configuration information of the relay service from the core network device, and the configuration information of the relay service includes at least one of the relay identifier, the first area information, and the second area information.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the relay device and the AIOT terminal are connected via a first access technology, and the relay device and the access network device are connected via a second access technology, and the first access technology and the second access technology are different access technologies.

[0041] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method may be implemented by a core network device. The core network device is, for example, a core network element or a component within a core network element. The core network element is, for example, an AMF. Taking the core network device as an example, the method may be implemented by the following steps: the core network device receives first information from a relay device, the first information indicating that the relay device provides a relay service for an AIOT terminal and / or indicating that the relay device supports providing a relay service for an AIOT terminal; and the core network device sends third information to an access network device, the third information indicating that the relay device provides a relay service for the AIOT terminal.

[0042] The beneficial effects of the third aspect and its various possible implementations can refer to the beneficial effects of the first aspect and its corresponding possible implementations, and the repeated parts will be omitted.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the core network device may also send a fourth message to the access network device, and the fourth message is used to page the AIOT terminal; wherein the fourth message may include at least one of the following information: the relay identifier of the relay service; the first area information, used to indicate the area to which the cell where the relay device is located belongs; and the second area information, used to indicate the area to which the cell where the AIOT terminal is located belongs.

[0044] Based on the relay identifier, the first area information or the second area information, the base station can determine the relay device serving the AIOT terminal to be paged, and thus can send a unicast message to the relay device to enable the relay device to page the AIOT terminal. Therefore, the base station does not need to page the relay device through a broadcast paging message, and then the relay device pages the AIOT terminal, which can reduce the paging overhead.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the core network device may also receive configuration information of the relay service from the access network device, where the configuration information of the relay service includes at least one of the relay identifier, the first area information, and the second area information; or, the core network device may also send configuration information of the relay service to the access network device, where the configuration information of the relay service includes at least one of the relay identifier, the first area information, and the second area information.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the relay device and the AIOT terminal are connected via a first access technology, and the relay device and the access network device are connected via a second access technology, and the first access technology and the second access technology are different access technologies.

[0047] In a fourth aspect, a communications device is provided. The device can implement the method described in any possible implementation of any of the first to third aspects. The device has the functions of the relay device, access network device, and core network device described above. The device may be, for example, a terminal device, a functional module in a terminal device, a network device, or a functional module in a network device.

[0048] In an optional implementation, the device may include a module corresponding to the method / operation / step / action described in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first aspect to the third aspect, and the module may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a hardware circuit combined with software. In an optional implementation, the device includes a processing unit (sometimes also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (sometimes also referred to as a transceiver module, a communication module, etc.). The transceiver unit can implement a sending function and a receiving function. When the transceiver unit implements the sending function, it can be called a sending unit (sometimes also referred to as a sending module). When the transceiver unit implements the receiving function, it can be called a receiving unit (sometimes also referred to as a receiving module). The sending unit and the receiving unit can be the same functional module, which is called a transceiver unit, and the functional module can implement a sending function and a receiving function; or, the sending unit and the receiving unit can be different functional modules, and the transceiver unit is a general term for these functional modules.

[0049] Exemplarily, when the apparatus is used to execute the method described in any one of the first to third aspects, the apparatus may include a communication unit and a processing unit.

[0050] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, comprising a processor for executing a computer program (or computer executable instructions) stored in a memory. When the computer program (or computer executable instructions) is executed, the device executes the method described in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first to the third aspect.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the processor and memory are integrated;

[0052] In another possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

[0053] The communication device also includes a communication interface, which is used for the communication device to communicate with other devices, such as sending or receiving data and / or signals. Exemplarily, the communication interface can be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module or other type of communication interface.

[0054] In the sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which is used to store computer programs or instructions. When the computer-readable storage medium is executed, the method described in any possible implementation of any aspect from the first to the third aspect and the method shown in any possible implementation thereof are implemented.

[0055] According to a seventh aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects to be implemented.

[0056] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device for executing the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to third aspects above.

[0057] In the ninth aspect, a chip system is provided, which includes a logic circuit (or it can be understood that the chip system includes a processor, and the processor may include a logic circuit, etc.), and may also include an input and output interface. The input and output interface can be used to input messages and can also be used to output messages. The input and output interfaces can be the same interface, that is, the same interface can implement both the sending function and the receiving function; or, the input and output interfaces include an input interface and an output interface, the input interface is used to implement the receiving function, that is, for receiving messages; the output interface is used to implement the sending function, that is, for sending messages. The logic circuit can be used to perform the operations other than the sending and receiving functions in the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to fourth aspects above; the logic circuit can also be used to transmit messages to the input and output interface, or receive messages from other communication devices from the input and output interface. The chip system can be used to implement the method described in any possible implementation of any one of the first to fourth aspects above. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0058] Optionally, the chip system may further include a memory, which may be used to store instructions, and the logic circuit may call the instructions stored in the memory to implement corresponding functions.

[0059] In the tenth aspect, a communication method is provided, and the communication system may include the method implemented by the relay device as shown in the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, the method implemented by the access network device as shown in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the method implemented by the core network device as shown in the third aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0060] In an eleventh aspect, a communication system is provided, which may include a relay device, an access network device, and a core network device. The relay device may be used to implement the method of the first aspect and any possible implementation thereof, the access network device may be used to implement the method of the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof, and the core network device may be used to implement the method of the third aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0061] The technical effects brought about by the above fourth to eleventh aspects can be found in the description of the corresponding solutions in the above first to third aspects, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a communication process between an AIOT terminal and a reader / writer provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG3 is a SL relay protocol stack architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG4 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG5 is a relay protocol stack architecture for an AIOT scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG6 is a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus. The method and apparatus are based on the same inventive concept. Since the method and apparatus solve similar problems, the implementation of the apparatus and method can refer to each other, and the repetitive parts will not be repeated.

[0072] In the description of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are used solely for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order. It should be noted that this application does not limit the order of appearance of "first," "second," etc. For example, "second" may appear before "first," and this is not a limitation in this application.

[0073] In the description of this application, "at least one (kind)" refers to one (kind) or more (kinds), and more (kinds) refers to two (kinds) or more than two (kinds). "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple. In the description of this application, " / " means "or", for example, a / b means a or b.

[0074] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system used in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system includes an access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system may also include the Internet 300. The radio access network (RAN) 100 may include at least one RAN node (such as 110a and 110b in Figure 1) and may also include at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in Figure 1). The terminal is connected to a radio access network device (or simply referred to as an access network device) via wireless communication, and the radio access network device is connected to the core network via wireless or wired communication. The core network device and the radio access network device may be independent and different physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the radio access network device may be integrated into the same physical device, or a physical device may integrate some of the functions of the core network device and some of the functions of the radio access network device. Terminals and radio access network devices may be connected to each other via wired or wireless communication. FIG1 is only a schematic diagram. It is understood that, in addition to the access network equipment, the communication system may also include other network equipment, such as wireless relay equipment and wireless backhaul equipment, which are not shown in FIG1 .

[0075] In this application, a network device is a network-side device with transceiver functions. For example, a network device may be a device in a RAN that provides priority and / or wireless communication functions for a terminal device, referred to as a RAN device. The RAN may be an access network in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example, 4G, 5G, or a future-oriented sixth generation (6G) mobile communication network. The RAN may also be an open access network (open RAN, O-RAN or ORAN), a cloud radio access network (CRAN), or a communication network of two or more of the above networks. RAN equipment can be a base station in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) or Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) communication system, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a transmission reception point (TRP), a next-generation nodeB (gNB) in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a next-generation base station in a sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, a long-range radio (LoRa) system, or a connected vehicle system. RAN equipment can also be a module or unit that performs some of the functions of a base station, such as a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU). The CU here completes the functions of the base station's radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the base station's radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer, and can also complete part of the physical layer or all of the physical layer. For detailed descriptions of the above protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).The CU and DU can be set up separately, or they can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH). In different systems, CU, DU, or RU may have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, and RU may also be called O-RU. Any of the CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU, and RU in this application may be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module. The radio access network device may be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 1), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 1), a relay node, a donor node, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the radio access network device. For the convenience of description, network equipment can be used as an abbreviation of wireless access network equipment, and base station can be used as an example of wireless access network equipment.

[0076] It is understood that the access network device may include one or more of CU, DU, and AAU. In addition, the CU may be classified as a network device in the access network or as a network device in the core network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

[0077] A terminal is a device with wireless transceiver capabilities that can send signals to or receive signals from a base station. A terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, smart home, etc. A terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable device, vehicle, aircraft, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0078] It is understood that the terminal in this application can be a device with a backscatter transmission function, such as an AIOT terminal, which can also be called a tag or AIOT tag or a terminal in an AIOT scenario or a tag in an AIOT scenario. The AIOT terminal can be a terminal device that supports RFID technology.

[0079] The types of AIOT terminals can be classified based on whether they use backscatter-based communication methods. For example, terminals can be divided into three types: active terminals, passive terminals, and semi-active terminals. The types of tags can be divided into active tags, passive tags, and semi-passive tags. Among them, passive tags and semi-passive tags use a reflection-based communication method; active tags use a technology that actively generates carrier waves, that is, they communicate non-reflection-based. AIOT terminals can also be called AIOT devices, that is, in order to distinguish them from 5G terminals, they can also be called devices.

[0080] In addition, AIOT terminals can also be classified based on the ability to store energy and the ability not to store energy, or based on the ability of a combination of the two. For example, the terminal in this application can also be device A, device B or device C. Among them, device A refers to a device without energy storage and without independent signal generation, for example, it can be a device with backscatter transmission that specifically has this characteristic. Device B can be a device with energy storage but without independent signal generation, for example, it can be a device with backscatter transmission that specifically has this characteristic, wherein the use of stored energy can include amplification of reflected signals. Device C can be a device with energy storage and independent signal generation, for example, an active wireless radio frequency (RF) component for transmission.

[0081] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0082] In this application, the base station sends a downlink (DL) signal or downlink information to the terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal sends an uplink (UL) signal or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel.

[0083] It is understood that the roles of base stations and terminals in this application can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 1 can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j that access the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station; however, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, that is, communication between 110a and 120i is conducted via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also be conducted via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with base station functions, and 120a-120j in Figure 1 can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functions.

[0084] In this application, base stations are used as an example of access network devices. Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0085] In this application, network equipment may also include CN equipment. Core network elements may include mobility management elements, which are mainly used for mobility management and access management. In a 5G communication system, the access management element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF), which mainly performs functions such as mobility management, access authentication or authorization.

[0086] In future communication systems, such as 6G communication systems, the mobility management network element may still use the name it uses in the 5G communication system, or may have other names, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The functions of the above network elements or devices may be completed by an independent network element or by multiple network elements. In actual deployment, the network elements in the core network may be deployed on the same or different physical devices.

[0087] It is understood that the mobility management network element can be a network element in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualized function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). Optionally, the above network element or function can be implemented by a single device, or by multiple devices, or as a functional module within a single device, and this is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0088] In this application, AMF is used as an example of a mobility management network element or a core network element.

[0089] With the increasing adoption of 5G NR MTC technology and IoT communications, the number of connected IoT devices is growing daily. Consequently, the industry is increasingly demanding lower costs and power consumption for IoT devices. During the 4G era, 3GPP introduced the NB-IoT system to reduce the cost and power consumption of IoT devices. However, NB-IoT terminals require external power, such as batteries or an external power supply. Furthermore, NB-IoT terminals have the ability to generate local high-frequency local oscillator carrier waves. Therefore, these terminals can only consume milliwatts of power, requiring further reduction in energy consumption. RFID technology offers a promising low-power technology reference, supporting microwatt-level power consumption and thus possessing promising application prospects. In this application, the terminal can use a low-precision, low-power medium- and low-frequency ring oscillator, or even a completely local oscillator-free downlink signal receiver. For example, when the terminal is operating, the communication energy and carrier wave are supplied by the reader / writer, and communication is based on a reflected carrier wave. The reader / writer can be a handheld or fixed device that reads tag information and can optionally also be used to write information to the terminal. This application does not limit the form of the reader / writer; it can be a base station, terminal, relay node, or integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. For example, when the reader / writer is a terminal, communication between the terminal and the reader / writer can be considered as transmission between terminals. For another example, when the reader / writer is a base station, communication between the terminal and the reader / writer is via the Uu interface, i.e., air interface communication. The terminal can be located within the coverage provided by the reader / writer.

[0090] As shown in Figure 2, the reader transmits the carrier shown by the solid line through the antenna, and the terminal modulates the carrier sent by the reader and reflects the signal shown by the dotted line to transmit information. The process in which the reader triggers multiple terminals to complete the report is called the inventory process. The terminal can decide whether to access the reader based on the inventory flag. The inventory flag can be implemented by software or hardware capacitors. For example, the inventory flag can be a flag containing two states, and the two states are B or 0 and 1, without specific limitation. Any terminal can contain at least one inventory flag, and the terminal can determine whether to respond to the reader based on the inventory flag. For example, the reader can choose to access the network with the inventory flag A or the inventory flag B. In addition, optionally, the present application can also be applied to a communication scenario where a reader / writer and an excitation source (helper) exist at the same time, wherein the terminal has only an uplink (or downlink) connection with the reader / writer (such as a base station), and the terminal has only a downlink (or uplink) connection with the excitation source (such as another terminal), that is, the terminal transmits uplink and downlink data through the reader / writer and the excitation source respectively.

[0091] In addition, the LTE network introduced the 3GPP sidelink (SL) as a direct communication method between two terminals, in which there is no need for signal relay between the terminals through the base station. In 5G NR, with the support of new SL functions, SL provides low latency, high reliability and high throughput for communication between devices. Using SL for wireless relay can provide a reliable and efficient way to forward services. SL relay has evolved from layer 3 (layer 3, L3) proximity services (ProSe) UE to network (UE-to-network) relay to layer 2 (layer 2, L2) UE to network relay, in order to forward services between remote UEs and base stations at the adaptation layer (adaptation layer) between the radio link control (RLC) layer and the PDCP layer.

[0092] As shown in Figure 3, the 5G SL relay architecture provides a protocol stack for relay communications from the terminal to the network. In uplink transmission, a data packet is sent by the remote UE and mapped to a bearer between the remote UE and the relay UE for transmission. The relay UE then maps the data packet to a bearer directly between the relay UE and the base station for transmission, ultimately transmitting the data to the base station and the core network. A bearer here can be understood as a quality of service (QoS) guarantee for air interface transmission. A certain bearer corresponds to a certain QoS requirement, and the relay UE and base station can transmit according to the QoS requirement corresponding to the bearer.

[0093] In downlink transmission, the downlink data packet is received by the relay UE and sent to the remote UE. During the transmission process, the data packet is first mapped to the bearer between the base station and the relay UE for transmission. Then, the relay UE maps the data packet to the bearer between the remote UE and the relay UE and sends it to the remote UE. Based on the protocol stack in Figure 3, it can be seen that there is an adaptation layer (PC5 adaptation) between the remote UE and the relay UE. The main purpose of this adaptation layer is to map the data packets sent or received by the remote UE between the bearer between the remote UE and the relay and the bearer between the relay UE and the base station. When data transmission to AIOT terminals is carried out through the relay, the existence of the adaptation layer will cause the protocol stack architecture to be incompatible with the capabilities of the AIOT terminals. For example, the AIOT terminals may not support the functions of the adaptation layer. Therefore, the existing 5G SL protocol stack architecture cannot be fully used in the AIOT scenario. Therefore, how to implement a relay solution suitable for AIOT terminals is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

[0094] The present application provides a communication method, which can be implemented by a first communication device, a second communication device, and a third communication device. Among them, the first communication device in various embodiments of the present application can be a communication device that provides relay services for AIOT terminals, such as a relay device. The second communication device in various embodiments of the present application can be a communication device for providing network access for the relay device, such as a base station. The third communication device in various embodiments of the present application can be a communication device used by the core network to perform access and mobility management on the terminal and / or relay device, such as an AMF.

[0095] According to this method, when a relay device provides relay services for AIOT terminals, the relay device requests the core network to provide relay services for AIOT terminals, or indicates that it supports providing relay services for AIOT terminals. The core network device then indicates to the access network that the relay service provided by the relay device is for AIOT terminals, allowing the access network to provide the relay device with relay configuration information that is compatible with AIOT devices. Because the relay service for AIOT terminals cannot use the same relay service configuration as for general terminals, the access network device can provide separate configuration information for the relay device to adapt the relay service for AIOT terminals. This allows the AIOT terminal to transmit data through the relay service provided by the relay device, thereby improving the transmission performance of the AIOT terminal.

[0096] It is understood that a relay device can be a communication device used to provide relay services for AIOT, or a component thereof, such as a chip, processor, or transceiver module. The relay device can also be replaced by a relay device, an intermediate node, or an intermediate device. As an example, the relay device can take the form of a terminal or an IAB node. That is, the relay service in this application includes relay services provided by a relay device acting as a terminal to an AIOT terminal, and also includes IAB services provided by a network device acting as an IAB node or other network device to an AIOT terminal. Furthermore, this application does not limit the relay device to other forms. An AIOT terminal can refer to a terminal in an AIOT scenario and can be referred to by other names in practice, which is not specifically limited in this application. An AIOT terminal can be replaced by an ultra-low-power IoT terminal or other device or apparatus that performs AIOT services. An AIOT terminal can include device A, device B, or device C described in this application. The method is described below with reference to Figure 4. Furthermore, in this application, an access network device can be an access network device or a component thereof, such as a chip, processor, or transceiver module. For example, the access network equipment may be a base station, CU, DU, RU, AAU, RRU, BBU, or RRH. The core network device may be a core network element, or may be a component of a core network element such as a chip, processor, or transceiver module. For example, the core network element may be an AMF.

[0097] In Figure 4, a base station is used as an example of an access network device, and an AMF is used as an example of a core network device for illustration. It is understood that in actual implementation, the actions of the base station shown in Figure 4 can also be performed by other access network devices other than the base station.

[0098] As shown in FIG4 , the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may include the following steps:

[0099] S101: The relay device sends first information to the AMF.

[0100] The first information may be used to request, instruct, or indicate that a relay service is provided for an AIOT terminal. Alternatively, the first information may be used to request, instruct, or indicate that a relay service is provided for a terminal. Alternatively, the first information may be used to indicate that a relay service is provided for a terminal. Alternatively, the first information may be used to indicate that a relay service is provided for a terminal. Furthermore, the first information may be used to indicate that a relay service is provided for a terminal, which may include an AIOT terminal, a NR terminal, or other terminal.

[0101] It is understood that a relay device can be used to provide relay services for one or more AIOT terminals, and this application does not specifically limit this. Therefore, it is understood that the first information is used to indicate the provision of relay services for AIOT terminals. The AIOT terminals here refer to AIOT terminals in general and may not be specific to one or more AIOT terminals.

[0102] As an example of S101, the relay device may send a registration request, where the registration request may be used to request registration of the relay device with the AMF. The registration request may include the first information. The registration request may be sent by the relay device to the AMF via the base station.

[0103] Optionally, the first information may be a field in the registration request, or one or more bits in a field in the registration request. For example, the value of a specific field in the registration request may be used to indicate whether the relay device requests, indicates, or indicates that a relay service is provided for the AIOT field; for example, when the value of the field is 0, it may indicate that the relay device provides a relay service for a general UE, and when the value is 1, it may indicate that the relay device requests that a relay service be provided for the AIOT field. In addition, the first information may also be a field, identifier, or information in a specific format, and the specific format may be used to indicate that the relay device requests that a service be provided for the AIOT field.

[0104] In a possible embodiment, the relay device can initiate access to the base station as a terminal, and after accessing the base station, the relay device can also send a registration request containing the first information to the AMF through the base station.

[0105] As another example of S101, the first information may also be carried in messages other than the registration request. For example, after registering with the network, the relay device may send a first signaling to the base station and / or AMF. The first signaling may include the first information. In this case, the first information may be used to indicate that the relay device supports providing relay services for AIOT terminals.

[0106] Similar to the registration request, the first information can be a field in the first signaling, or one or more bits in a field in the first signaling.

[0107] Optionally, the first signaling may be an RRC message. For example, the first signaling may be message 5 (MSG5). Specifically, the first signaling may be an RRC setup complete message. Accordingly, after receiving the RRC setup complete message including the first information, the base station may send the first information to the AMF. Optionally, the first information may be carried in an initial UE message sent by the base station to the AMF.

[0108] Alternatively, the first information may be information such as the relay device identifier in the registration request, which can be used by the AMF to query whether the relay device supports providing relay services for AIOT terminals. If the query result indicates that the relay device supports providing relay services for AIOT terminals, S102 may be executed. In other words, when information such as the relay device identifier is used as the first information, the relay device identifier and other information can be used to implicitly indicate whether the relay device supports providing relay services for AIOT terminals.

[0109] As an alternative implementation method, the first information may not explicitly indicate a request or support for providing relay services for AIOT terminals. For example, the first information indicates support for providing relay services. In this case, the core network device may default to the relay device supporting the provision of relay services for AIOT terminals, so as to provide the relay device with the configuration information required for the relay service of the AIOT terminal through the method shown in this application.

[0110] S102: The AMF sends third information to the base station, where the third information is used to instruct the relay device to provide relay service for the AIOT terminal.

[0111] In addition, the function of the third information can also be described as: used to indicate that the relay device has confirmed or passed authentication. For example, the third information can be an indication of IAB authorized authentication or an indication of AIOT relay authentication passing.

[0112] Optionally, S102 may be executed after the AMF determines that the relay device has passed authentication.

[0113] Authentication can mean that the AMF confirms that the relay device is registered with the AMF as a terminal. Alternatively, authentication can be understood as the AMF confirming that the relay device has the capability to provide relay services. Furthermore, authentication can also mean that the AMF allows the relay device to provide relay services for the AIOT terminal, or in other words, the AMF confirms that the relay device has the capability to provide relay services for the AIOT terminal.

[0114] Optionally, after determining that the relay device has passed authentication, the AMF may also send a registration response message or a registration acceptance message to the relay device to indicate or confirm that the relay device has passed authentication. The third information may be carried in the same message sent by the AMF to the base station as the registration response message or registration acceptance message to save signaling overhead. Furthermore, it is not excluded that the third information may be carried in a different message from the registration response message or registration acceptance message sent by the AMF to the base station.

[0115] Optionally, in S102, the AMF may carry the third information in the initial context establishment request message sent to the base station.

[0116] S103: The base station sends configuration information to the relay device, where the configuration information is used by the relay device to provide relay services for the AIOT terminal.

[0117] Correspondingly, the relay device can receive configuration information from the base station and provide relay services for the AIOT terminal through the configuration information. Since the relay service of the AIOT terminal is different from the relay service of the general terminal, for example, the capabilities of the AIOT terminal are different from those of the ordinary terminal in the relay service, a relay device that supports providing relay services for the AIOT terminal is introduced in the process of Figure 4 to provide relay services for the AIOT terminal. In addition, based on S103, the base station can configure the relay device with configuration information of the relay service applicable to the AIOT terminal, so that the relay device can provide relay services for the AIOT terminal based on the configuration information, thereby improving the network coverage capability in the AIOT scenario through the relay service provided by the relay device, thereby improving the relay communication performance of the AIOT terminal.

[0118] Optionally, the configuration information in S103 may include one or more of the relay identifier of the relay service provided by the relay device to the AIOT terminal, the first area information, the second area information, the identifier set of the AIOT device, the system message provided to the AIOT terminal, or the transmission method of the system message.

[0119] The following describes the possible contents of the configuration information.

[0120] (1) A relay identifier may be an identifier associated with a relay device and / or an AIOT terminal, representing the relay service provided by the relay device to the AIOT device. For example, the relay identifier may be the identifier of the relay device itself, or may be identification information such as a cell identifier provided by the relay device to the AIOT terminal.

[0121] (2) The first area information can be used to indicate the area to which the cell where the relay device is located belongs, or in other words, the first area information is the area information of the relay device, or the first area information is used for the relay device to determine the current area to which it belongs. For example, the first area information can be the area information of the cell where the relay device is located, and the area information can be the cell identifier, the identifier of the base station to which the cell belongs, the TRP identifier, the CU identifier, the DU identifier, the RRU identifier, the AAU identifier, or the tracking area identifier (TAI) or the tracking area code. Among them, the TAI or the tracking area code can be used to indicate the tracking area code to which the cell indicated by the cell identifier field belongs. For another example, the first area information can also be geographic area information, such as an area represented by latitude and longitude information and / or distance information. The first area information can be sent by unicast signaling from the base station to the relay device, or by a system message sent by the base station to the relay device. For example, the first area information is carried in the system information block (SIB) 1 sent by the base station to the relay device.

[0122] Optionally, each time the relay device accesses the base station, it can report its own first area information so as to align the area information with the base station. Alternatively, when the relay device finds that the first area information contained in the system message is different from the first area information it has saved, it can send an access to the base station to update the first area information. For example, the relay device can initiate a tracking area update (TAU) process to update the TA. Specifically, when the relay determines that the area to which it belongs has changed, it sends a registration request message to the core network and instructs the TA to be updated. The core network receives the message and determines the current first area of ​​the relay in combination with the network device that receives the message, and saves it.

[0123] Optionally, after the AIOT terminal accesses the relay device, the relay device may provide the AIOT terminal with information about the first area, so that the AIOT terminal learns the service area of ​​the relay to which the terminal belongs.

[0124] (3) The second area information can be used to indicate the area to which the cell where the AIOT terminal is located belongs, or in other words, the second area information is the area information of the AIOT device, or the first area information is used by the AIOT terminal to determine the current area to which it belongs. For example, the second area information can be the area information of the cell where the relay device is located or the relay device itself, such as the cell identifier, the identifier of the base station to which the cell belongs, the TRP identifier, the CU identifier, the DU identifier, the RRU identifier, the AAU identifier, or TAI information. For another example, the second area information can be geographic area information. It is understandable that in some scenarios, the first area information and the second area information can be the same area information, for example, the relay device and the AIOT terminal are in the same area.

[0125] The AIOT terminal can initiate a TAU process to the base station or AMF to update the area information of the AIOT terminal. For example, when the AIOT terminal changes the area within the same base station, it can only send a TAU request to the base station and receive updated area information from the base station. For another example, when the AIOT terminal changes the area across base stations, it can send a TAU request to the AMF and receive updated area information from the AMF. Among them, the way in which the AIOT terminal sends a TAU request to the base station or AMF can refer to the way in which the AIOT terminal sends data to the base station or AMF in this application, that is, the TAU request can be used as a kind of uplink data of the AIOT terminal.

[0126] Optionally, if the configuration information does not include the second area information, the second area information may also be configured to the relay device through the network management device.

[0127] (4) The AIOT device identification set includes one or more AIOT device identifications. The relay device can assign an identification to the AIOT terminal from the set, and the AIOT terminal can be subsequently identified by the identification.

[0128] (5) System information, also known as system information, may include cell-level configuration parameters. For example, system information includes the master information block (MIB) and SIB1.

[0129] (6) Transmission configuration information corresponding to the system message can be used to indicate information such as the transmission period and transmission resources of the system message. The relay device can send the system message contained in the configuration information to the AIOT device based on the transmission configuration information. Therefore, the relay device can be used to send the system message, so that the AIOT terminal can transmit data to the relay device based on the system message.

[0130] Optionally, the configuration information may also include the uplink and downlink transmission resources used by the relay device to provide relay transmission for the AIOT terminal, which can refer to the relay configuration of a general terminal. Exemplarily, the uplink and downlink transmission resources may include one or more of the transmission resources for the AIOT terminal to send data and / or information to the relay device, the transmission resources for the relay device to send data and / or information to the AIOT terminal, the transmission resources for the relay device to send data and / or information of the AIOT terminal to the base station, and the transmission resources for the base station to send data and / or information of the AIOT terminal to the relay device. It can be understood that the uplink and downlink transmission resources can be configured periodically or aperiodically.

[0131] Among them, under periodic configuration, the transmission resources between the relay device and the base station can be spaced at fixed periods, so the relay device only transmits relay data with the base station according to a certain period, that is, only sends the uplink data or information of the AIOT terminal to the base station according to a certain period, and / or, receives the downlink data or information of the AIOT terminal from the base station according to a certain period. When periodic configuration is adopted, or when the relay device is configured to perform only periodic relay services, the relay device can enter the Uu air interface idle state or inactive state during the non-transmission period of the relay service to reduce power consumption, that is, only enter the connected state from the idle state or inactive state when the period of the relay service arrives, and transmit with the base station.

[0132] Optionally, the configuration information may also include a configuration for the relay device to provide a continuous wave, carrier, or wireless charging carrier to the AIOT terminal. Accordingly, the relay device can send or provide a continuous wave, carrier, or wireless charging carrier to the AIOT terminal according to the configuration to support the AIOT terminal to transmit data through the reflection of the continuous wave, carrier, or wireless charging carrier sent by the relay device, or to provide energy to a terminal without energy. Specifically, the configuration may include at least one of the following information: the power, frequency, period, duration, start time, and end time of the continuous wave, carrier, or wireless charging carrier sent by the relay device to the AIOT terminal.

[0133] In addition, the configuration information may also include power configuration, where the power configuration may be used to configure power parameters of the relay device in the relay service.

[0134] It can be understood that the above configuration information includes configuration information applicable to the relay service of the AIOT terminal, which is used to support the relay device to provide relay services to the AIOT terminal. For example, in the above configuration information, the relay identifier, first area information, second area information, the set of identifiers of the AIOT device, the system message, the transmission configuration information corresponding to the system message, and one or more configuration information of the relay device for providing continuous wave, carrier or wireless charging carrier to the AIOT terminal are configuration information that distinguishes the relay service of the AIOT terminal from the relay service of the ordinary terminal.

[0135] Optionally, part or all of the configuration information described above may be sent via an RRC reconfiguration message or a system message, or part of the content of the RRC reconfiguration message may be sent via a system message and part via dedicated signaling. For example, the configuration information may be included as part or all of the fields of the RRC reconfiguration message. Accordingly, after obtaining or adopting the configuration indicated by the configuration information, the relay device may send an RRC reconfiguration completion indication to the base station to indicate that it has accepted or adopted the configuration information.

[0136] When the access network device uses a broadcast message to send configuration information, such as sending the first area information and / or the second area information through a broadcast message, the broadcast message may also include third area information. The third area information can be used by ordinary terminals to determine the area information of the cell to which they belong. For example, ordinary terminals refer to non-AIOT terminals or non-relay devices or terminals that support human-to-human communication (such as eMBB terminals).

[0137] It is understood that the configuration information may be obtained each time the relay device accesses a base station. For example, the relay device may obtain different configuration information when accessing a base station in different areas.

[0138] In addition, it can also be understood that the above configuration information can be allocated by the base station, or allocated by the AMF and provided to the base station. Among them, if allocated by the base station or configured by the network management, the base station can provide the AMF with configuration information such as the relay identifier, the first area information or the second area information. For example, during the establishment of the interface between the base station and the AMF, or during the establishment of the connection between the AIOT terminal and the core network, the base station sends the configuration information of the relay service to the AMF. The configuration information may include at least one of the relay identifier, the first area information and the second area information associated with the relay service between the relay device and the AIOT terminal, so that the base station and the AMF are uniformly configured, which facilitates the subsequent paging of the AIOT terminal by the AMF through relevant configuration information. For another example, after the AIOT terminal accesses the base station, the base station can send the first area information of the relay device connected to the AIOT terminal to the AMF. When the AMF sends a paging message, it can send the first area information to the base station together, or it can carry the first area information in the paging message, so that the base station sends the paging to the relay device belonging to the area represented by the first area information according to the first area information. After receiving the paging message, the relay device can send the paging message to the corresponding AIOT terminal. Because the AMF can determine that the cell and / or base station that reports the first area information through the signaling based on the received first area information is the cell and / or base station accessed by the relay device, when the AMF subsequently sends a paging message to the first area information, it can send the paging message to the cell and / or base station corresponding to the reported first area information so that the relay device can obtain the paging message.

[0139] Similarly, if the AMF allocates configuration information such as the relay identifier, first area information or second area information, the AMF may save at least one of the relay identifier, first area information and second area information associated with the relay service between the relay device and the AIOT terminal.

[0140] It can be understood that in each embodiment of the present application, the access technology for the relay device to access the base station is the access technology of the Uu air interface, such as the access technology for the NR terminal to access the base station, and the access technology for the AIOT terminal to access the relay device is a relay access technology such as AIOT access technology or SL access technology, that is, the access technology between the relay device and the AIOT terminal is different from the access technology between the relay device and the base station. Among them, the AIOT access technology may belong to a type of NR, but the underlying transmission mode of the AIOT access technology and the NR terminal access technology is different, which can be specifically reflected in at least one aspect such as the coding mode, modulation mode, waveform design, and whether the data transmission has a preamble code.

[0141] It is understood that in the process of FIG4 , the base station may send the configuration information in S103 via unicast or broadcast. For example, when sending the configuration information via unicast, the configuration information may be carried in a unicast message sent by the base station to the relay device; or, for another example, when sending the configuration information via broadcast, the configuration information may be carried in a broadcast message sent by the base station.

[0142] If the configuration information is sent in unicast mode, it indicates that the configuration information is the configuration information of the relay service corresponding to one or more AIOT terminals of the relay device, and does not include configuration information related to other relay devices or terminals. As an example, the configuration information obtained by the relay device each time it accesses the base station can be sent in unicast mode.

[0143] In addition, the configuration information may be sent using a combination of unicast messages and broadcast messages. The broadcast message may also include configurations of other relay devices and / or terminals, such as the aforementioned third area information. Exemplarily, the broadcast message may be sent periodically and may carry area information of the relay device and / or AIOT terminal, which is used by the relay device and / or AIOT terminal to identify whether a region change has occurred. Configuration information other than the area information of the relay device and / or AIOT terminal may be sent via unicast messages.

[0144] Considering the mobility of relay devices, which may result in area changes due to movement, the present application also provides an area update solution for relay devices. For example, the relay device obtains configuration information based on a broadcast message or a single-wave message from a base station, and obtains the area information contained in the configuration information. If the relay device determines that the area information is different from the area information previously received, and the newly received first area information is different from the first area information stored by the relay device, then the relay device can identify that a area change has occurred.

[0145] Taking the first area information as TA information (such as TAI) as an example, if the relay device determines that an area change has occurred, the relay device can initiate a TAU process and enable the base station or AMF to obtain updated area information based on the TAU process. For example, referring to the introduction in this application, the relay device can initiate a TAU process to the AMF when the area information changes, and the AMF can determine the current TA area of ​​the terminal by receiving the TA update signaling from the base station or cell.

[0146] Similarly, the AIOT terminal can also identify whether a region change has occurred based on its own stored second region information (which can come from the relay device or base station) and the new second region information broadcast by the base station. If a region change is sent, a region update can be performed. Referring to the introduction in this application, the AIOT terminal can initiate a TAU process to the base station or AMF when the region information changes to request an update of the region information.

[0147] Optionally, in various embodiments of the present application, the base station and / or AMF may allocate identification information between the base station and the AMF for the AIOT terminal, which is used to identify the AIOT terminal at the NG-AP interface. For example, the identification information between the base station and the AMF is the NG interface application layer signaling protocol (NG application protocol, NGAP). For example, the base station may allocate a RAN UE NGAP ID for the AIOT terminal, and the AMF may allocate an AMF UE NGAP ID for the AIOT terminal. The NG interface is the interface between the base station and the AMF. The base station and the AMF determine the terminal or identify the middle age segment based on the identification. For example, the RAN UE NGAP ID and the AMF UE NGAP ID may be allocated for the same AIOT terminal, that is, the RAN UE NGAP ID and the AMF UE NGAP ID correspond to the AIOT identifier of the same AIOT. Therefore, if there is downlink data transmission from the AIOT terminal, the AMF may also send the downlink data to the base station, and the base station will then send the data to the AIOT terminal via a relay. That is, the base station needs to store the association between the relay identifier and the AIOT terminal. The AIOT terminal can be replaced with another terminal.

[0148] For example, the base station can save the correspondence between the relay information and the AIOT identifier. The relay information may include the relay identifier or the area identifier covered by the relay device, such as the first area information. When the base station receives a message from the AMF, the base station can determine the AIOT terminal associated with the message based on the RAN UE NGAP ID carried in the message, and then find the corresponding relay device based on the association between the relay information and the AIOT identifier, and send the message sent by the AMF to the corresponding relay device. For example, the message sent by the AMF may be a message sent to the AIOT terminal or a message for paging the AIOT terminal, such as the NGAP signaling associated with the AIOT terminal, that is, the signaling carries the RAN UE NGAP ID.

[0149] Similarly, when the base station sends a message to the AMF, it can also carry the AMF UE NGAP ID assigned by the AMF to the AIOT terminal, which is used by the AMF to determine which AIOT terminal the message comes from, or to determine which AIOT terminal the message is related to.

[0150] As an example, if the paging message is used to page a group of terminals, when the relay terminal sends uplink data of multiple AIOT terminals to the base station, the relay device can send the data of multiple AIOT terminals together to the base station, and the base station sends the data together to the core network device. Optionally, the data of multiple AIOT terminals can be transmitted from the relay to the base station, and from the base station to the core network device through multiple messages. When the data of multiple AIOT terminals are sent to the core network device together, the base station can transmit the data list to the core network device through a non-AIOT terminal-associated NGAP signaling to indicate that the message is associated with multiple AIOT terminals. At this time, there can be a new identifier to identify the service or corresponding transmission corresponding to the group of AIOT terminals, or to indicate that the NGAP signaling is not dedicated to a certain AIOT terminal, but corresponds to multiple AIOT terminals.

[0151] The transmission process of the AIOT terminal is described below. In this application, the transmission process of the AIOT terminal includes uplink transmission and / or downlink transmission of information such as data, instruction information, or configuration information of the AIOT terminal. The following description uses the data transmission process of the AIOT terminal as an example, and the information transmission process can be implemented with reference to it.

[0152] Based on the configuration information, the relay device can obtain the AIOT terminal's transmission resource information and indicate the transmission resources to the AIOT terminal, allowing the AIOT terminal to send data to the relay device using the transmission resources. Furthermore, the relay device can also send the AIOT terminal's data to the base station based on the resources between the relay device and the base station indicated in the configuration information. The following mainly describes the uplink data transmission process of the AIOT terminal; the downlink data transmission process can be implemented similarly.

[0153] In the present application, the data of the AIOT terminal may include the electronic product code (EPC) of the AIOT terminal.

[0154] Optionally, after receiving the data from the AIOT terminal, the relay device may forward the data to the base station via a first message. The first message may be carried on a signaling radio bearer (SRB). The data may be included in a container of the first message, and / or the data may also be included in the first message as a NAS data packet. For example, the first message may be an RRC message. Therefore, when the AIOT terminal sends uplink data to the base station via the relay device, the uplink data may be sent to the relay device via an RRC message, and then the relay device sends the uplink data of the AIOT terminal to the base station via an RRC message.

[0155] The first message may include a NAS data packet and an AIOT identifier. The AIOT identifier may be a random number. For example, the AIOT identifier is a relay identifier sent by the base station to the relay device via the configuration information in S103 and provided by the relay device to the AIOT device. In another example, the AIOT identifier is an identifier assigned by the relay device to the AIOT terminal. In another example, the AIOT identifier may be an identifier generated by the AIOT terminal itself.

[0156] As an example, the first message may carry an AIOT identifier and a NAS data packet. Optionally, the first message may also include indication information that indicates that the NAS data needs to be forwarded to the AMF. The NAS data packet may include uplink data of the AIOT terminal.

[0157] As another example, the first message may carry an AIOT identifier and an RRC container, wherein the RRC container may include a NAS data packet. The NAS data packet may include uplink data of the AIOT terminal.

[0158] As another example, the first message may carry an AIOT identifier and an RRC field. The RRC field may be a field or an information element (IE), which may include data or uplink indication information.

[0159] Specifically, if the AIOT terminal supports RRC connection-related processes, one way is that the AIOT sends an RRC connection request, and after the relay device receives the RRC connection request, it sends a message to the base station according to the RRC connection request. The message sent by the relay device may include the temporary identification information and / or RRC connection request of the AIOT, and the way to carry the RRC connection request may be to carry the complete message of the RRC connection request received from the AIOT terminal or to carry the content contained in the RRC connection request. After receiving the message, the network device may reply to the AIOT terminal with an RRC connection establishment message. Specifically, the RRC connection establishment may be sent to the AIOT terminal through the relay device, such as sending a message containing the AIOT identifier and the RRC establishment request to the relay device, wherein the message may carry the complete message of the RRC establishment request or contain the content of the RRC establishment request. After receiving the message, if the message contains a complete message of the RRC establishment request, the AIOT terminal can directly send the RRC establishment message to the AIOT terminal; or, if the message contains the RRC establishment request field and other content, the relay device can construct a new RRC connection establishment message based on the content of the RRC establishment request and send the new RRC connection establishment message to the AIOT terminal. In addition, the transmission method of the uplink and downlink messages involved in this application can be implemented with reference to the method herein.

[0160] As another example, the first message may be message 5. For example, after the AIOT terminal completes the RRC connection establishment process with the relay device, when the AIOT terminal sends message 5 containing data or uplink indication information to the relay device, the relay device sends message 5 or the fields contained in message 5 to the base station via a message. The message may include the AIOT identifier and information about message 5. After receiving the message, the base station sends an initial UE message to the AMF. The initial UE message may include some or all of the information obtained from message 5, such as data. In addition, the method for sending the uplink message involved in this application can be implemented with reference to the method herein.

[0161] As another example, if the AIOT terminal does not support RRC connection, after the AIOT terminal accesses the network side, the AIOT terminal can send uplink data or signaling to the relay device through the RLC layer, PDCP layer, MAC layer or PHY layer. Accordingly, the relay device can send the data or signaling to the base station through an RRC message. Specifically, the RRC message may also include the identifier or address information of the AIOT terminal. The base station may also establish a connection between the base station and the AMF for the AIOT terminal. For example, when transmitting the message of the AIOT terminal, the base station may allocate the interface identification information between the base station and the AMF, such as the RAN UE NGAP ID, to the AIOT terminal.

[0162] In a possible embodiment, as shown in FIG5 , an AIOT relay protocol stack architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown. Among them, the peer protocol stack between the relay node and the AIOT terminal may include a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an RRC layer, and optionally may also include an RLC layer and / or a PDCP layer. Optionally, the protocol stack architecture between the AIOT terminal and the relay device may also not have an RRC layer. For example, the MAC layer in FIG5 is replaced by an RLC layer and / or a PDCP layer. In other words, the peer protocol stack between the relay node and the AIOT terminal may not include an adaptation layer. In summary, the existing 5G SL protocol stack architecture is highly complex. If the AIOT terminal in the current AIOT scenario directly uses it, the cost is relatively high. The relatively simplified protocol stack structure shown in FIG5 is conducive to adapting to the capabilities of the AIOT terminal. It can be understood that the relay device in the present application supports the protocol stack architecture shown in FIG5 , and therefore supports providing relay services for the AIOT terminal.

[0163] Based on the protocol stack shown in Figure 5, AIOT terminal data can be encapsulated in any of the following ways:

[0164] Method 1: When the AIOT terminal supports the NAS layer and the RRC layer, if the data of the AIOT terminal is transmitted based on NAS, the data can be included in the RRC message, and the AIOT terminal can complete data transmission with the base station and the core network through the RRC layer forwarding function of the relay device.

[0165] Method 2: When the AIOT terminal does not support the RRC layer but supports the NAS layer, the data of the AIOT terminal can be encapsulated in a NAS data packet and carried by the MAC layer or other layers to realize transmission between the AIOT terminal and the relay device.

[0166] Method 3: When the AIOT terminal does not support the RRC layer or the NAS layer, the data of the AIOT terminal can be carried in other protocol layers similar to the NAS layer and transmitted through the MAC or other protocol layers; alternatively, the data can also be carried directly through the MAC layer.

[0167] Optionally, the data of the AIOT terminal may include an identifier of the AIOT terminal, such as an AIOT identifier, for identifying the AIOT terminal to which the data belongs.

[0168] As an example of downlink transmission, a downlink message sent from a base station to a relay device may carry at least one of an AIOT identifier, a NAS packet, and an RRC field. After the message is sent from the base station to the relay device, the relay device can identify the AIOT terminal to which the message belongs based on the AIOT identifier and forward the message, or some or all of the content contained in the message, which may include a NAS packet, to the AIOT terminal.

[0169] As shown in FIG5 , the relay layer or routing layer between the AIOT terminal and the relay device can be located at the RRC layer, without introducing a new layer as routing.

[0170] Optionally, the relay device can map the content of the message (such as an RRC message) received from the AIOT terminal or base station to a separate bearer based on the AIOT identifier carried in the message, and send it to the AIOT terminal or base station to meet the QoS requirements. For example, the relay device sends an RRC message through a separate bearer, which contains part or all of the content of the RRC message received from the relay device.

[0171] The relay's RRC can be carried by a new SRB, that is, an SRB different from the existing SRB0 to SRB3. This allows the base station and relay to perform corresponding scheduling and meet specific QoS requirements. For example, the new SRB can have a higher priority.

[0172] It can be understood that the uplink transmission of the AIOT terminal can include the AIOT identifier, and the transmission method can be implemented with reference to the downlink transmission, which will not be repeated here.

[0173] In various embodiments of the present application, when the transmission of an AIOT terminal is completed, the relay device may send a transmission completion indication or an indication message for releasing the AIOT terminal to the base station. Accordingly, the base station may send a transmission completion indication or an indication message for releasing the AIOT terminal to the AMF. Optionally, the transmission completion indication or the indication message for releasing the AIOT terminal may include the first region information of the relay node, a relay identifier, or an identifier of the relay device, to indicate that the relay device has completed the relay transmission. In addition, the first region information of the relay node, the relay identifier, or the identifier of the relay device used to indicate the completion of the relay transmission may also be carried in other messages or information other than the transmission completion indication or the indication message for releasing the AIOT terminal sent by the AMF, and this is not specifically limited by the present application. Optionally, the base station may send the second region information to which the AIOT terminal belongs to the AMF when sending the transmission completion indication or the indication message for releasing the AIOT terminal to the core network device, or before sending the indication, so that the AMF can store the second region information. The AIOT terminal may enter an idle state or an inactive state after completing the transmission. Therefore, when subsequent downlink data arrives, the AMF can page the AIOT terminal through the stored first area information and / or second area information, so that the AIOT terminal accesses the network. The following will describe the process of downlink data transmission.

[0174] In addition, after configuring or determining the configuration information in S103, the base station may also send the relay service information of the relay device to the AMF, so that the AMF can save the relay range information of the relay device, so as to perform operations such as paging of the AIOT terminal according to the relay range information. For example, the relay range information sent by the base station to the AMF includes one or more of the relay identifier, first area information, second area information, relay device identifier, and AIOT terminal identifier in the configuration information, which is used to indicate that the relay device provides relay service for the AIOT terminal, so that the base station and the AMF can unify the relevant configurations. Alternatively, the AMF may send the configuration of the relay device to the base station before S103, and the configuration information in S103 may be determined based on the configuration. For example, the configuration of the relay device may include one or more of the relay identifier, first area information, and second area information, that is, part of the content in the configuration information sent by the base station to the relay device may be configured by the AMF, so that the base station and the AMF can unify the relevant configurations.

[0175] Optionally, when AIOT data transmission is completed, the base station may trigger the relay device to release the terminal, the base station may request the core network to release the terminal, or the core network may instruct the base station to release the terminal. The base station sends a release indication to the relay device. After receiving the indication that the AIOT terminal has been released, the relay device may send a release completion indication to the base station or core network; or, after receiving the indication that the AIOT terminal has been released, the base station may send a release completion indication to the core network. After receiving the release indication, the relay device may release the AIOT terminal. The release indication may also have other names, such as an end of transmission indication. Optionally, when AIOT data transmission is completed, the relay device may request the base station or core network to release the terminal.

[0176] Optionally, when the AIOT terminal is in a state where there is no transmission connection with the network side, or when the AIOT terminal is in an idle or inactive state, when downlink data arrives, the AMF can send a paging message to the base station to page the AIOT terminal to access the network. As shown in Figure 6, in S301, when there is downlink data of the AIOT terminal, the AMF can initiate paging of the AIOT terminal. Optionally, in S301, the AMF can determine the base station associated with the AIOT terminal based on the stored second area information of the AIOT terminal, and send a paging message (which may be referred to as a fourth message) for paging the AIOT terminal to the base station, which may include the identifier of the AIOT terminal and / or the second area information of the AIOT terminal. Optionally, the paging message may also include information about the relay device, such as one or more of the relay identifier, the relay device identifier, or the first area information. Optionally, when the AMF determines the location of the AIOT terminal, it can determine the cell where the AIOT terminal is located or the coverage area of ​​the relay device where it is located based on the first area information and / or the second area information. Optionally, the AMF can also determine the location of the AIOT terminal based on the cell information to which the relay device belongs.

[0177] The relay identifier, first area information, and / or second area information stored by the AMF may be those stored in the AMF when the AIOT terminal last connected or during the last data transmission process, for example, obtained by the AMF from a message from a relay device or a base station. In addition, at least one of the relay identifier, first area information, and second area information stored by the AMF may also be the content of the configuration information provided by the base station to the AMF after the configuration information of the relay service is configured, or may be stored after the AMF configures the configuration information.

[0178] As shown in Figure 6, the base station can receive the fourth message and determine the relay device that serves the AIOT terminal based on the relay device information (such as the relay identifier). In addition, the base station can also determine the relay device that provides relay services for the AIOT terminal in the area based on the second area information in the paging message. In addition, the base station can also query the relay device that provides relay services for the AIOT terminal based on the identifier of the AIOT terminal included in the paging message.

[0179] In S302, the base station may send a second message to the relay device for paging the AIOT terminal. The unicast message may include information about the AIOT terminal, such as an identifier of the AIOT terminal and / or information about the second region of the AIOT terminal. Optionally, the second message may be a unicast message, or may be a paging message to the AIOT terminal. After receiving the second message, the relay device may send another paging message to the AIOT terminal, and include the paging content or identifier of the AIOT terminal in the paging message sent by the base station in the paging message sent by the relay device to the AIOT terminal, thereby implementing paging of the AIOT terminal.

[0180] In S303, after receiving the second message, the relay node can select an appropriate time to send a paging message (which may be referred to as a third message) to the AIOT terminal according to the paging timing of the AIOT terminal or based on predefined rules. Accordingly, the paged AIOT terminal can initiate random access, and after completing random access, data transmission can be performed. For example, the AIOT terminal can send uplink data after accessing the network. Among them, the paging timing of the AIOT terminal can be calculated based on the paging cycle of the AIOT terminal, and its acquisition method does not belong to the limited content of this application.

[0181] Optionally, the third message is a unicast message sent by the relay device to the AIOT terminal.

[0182] In addition, the third message may also include a first indication indicating that the relay device provides relay services for the AIOT terminal. Subsequently, the AIOT terminal can obtain relay services through the relay device, i.e., transmit to the base station through the relay device. The first indication can be used to indicate that the relay device is a relay device rather than a base station, such as when the first device includes information such as a relay identifier. For example, the first indication can reuse existing fields or information in the paging message.

[0183] Based on the same concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device. The communication device may include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the functions shown in the above method. Those skilled in the art should easily appreciate that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this application, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0184] Figures 7 through 9 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided in embodiments of the present application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the relay device, access network device, or core network device in the aforementioned method embodiments, thereby also achieving the beneficial effects of the aforementioned method embodiments. For details and technical effects related to the relay device, access network device, or core network device, please refer to the description of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0185] As shown in Figure 7, communication device 700 includes a processing unit 710 and a communication unit 720. Communication unit 720 can implement corresponding communication functions, and processing unit 710 is used to process data. Communication unit 720 can also be a transceiver unit or an input / output interface. Communication device 700 can be used to implement the functions implemented by the relay device, access network device, or core network device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 4 or 6 above.

[0186] For example, when implementing the relay device function in the embodiment shown in FIG4 , the communication unit 720 may be used to send the first information. Furthermore, the communication unit 720 may also be used to receive configuration information for the relay service. The communication unit 720 may also be used to relay transmissions to the AIOT terminal according to the protocol stack shown in FIG5 .

[0187] When implementing the functions of the base station in the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the communication unit 720 can be used to receive the third information and send the configuration information of the relay service to the relay device. The communication unit 720 can also be used to perform relay transmission of the AIOT terminal according to the protocol stack shown in Figure 5.

[0188] When implementing the AMF function in the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the communication unit 720 may be configured to receive the first information and send the third information to the base station.

[0189] The meanings of the above technologies can be found in the description of the method embodiment section and will not be repeated here.

[0190] It is understood that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0191] As shown in FIG8 , a communication device 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application is configured to implement the communication method provided in the present application. The communication device 800 may be a communication device that implements the communication method, a component within a communication device, or a device capable of being used in conjunction with the communication device. The communication device 800 may be a relay device, an access network device, or a core network device. Specifically, the communication device 800 may be a system-on-chip (SoC) or a chip. In the embodiment of the present application, the SoC may consist of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete components. The communication device 800 includes at least one processor 820 configured to implement the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The communication device 800 may also include an input / output interface 810, which may include an input interface and / or an output interface. In the embodiment of the present application, the input / output interface 810 may be configured to communicate with other devices via a transmission medium, and its functions may include sending and / or receiving. For example, when the communication device 800 is a chip, transmission to other chips or devices may be performed via the input / output interface 810. The processor 820 may be configured to implement the method described in the above method embodiment.

[0192] Exemplarily, the processor 820 may be used to execute actions executed by the processing unit 710 , and the input / output interface 810 may be used to execute actions executed by the communication unit 720 , which will not be described in detail.

[0193] Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include at least one memory 830 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 830 is coupled to the processor 820. Coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units, or modules. The processor 820 may operate in conjunction with the memory 830. The processor 820 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 830. At least one of the at least one memory may be integrated with the processor.

[0194] In an embodiment of the present application, the memory 830 may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), or may be a volatile memory, such as a random-access memory (RAM). A memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application may also be a circuit or any other device that can implement a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0195] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor 820 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0196] As shown in Figure 9, a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to implement the communication method provided in the present application. The communication device 900 can be a communication device that applies the communication method shown in the embodiment of the present application, or it can be a component in a communication device, or it can be a device that can be used in combination with a communication device. The communication device 900 can be a relay device, an access network device, or a core network device. Among them, the communication device 900 can be a chip system or a chip. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or it can include a chip and other discrete devices. Part or all of the communication methods provided in the above embodiments can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the communication device 900 may include: an input interface circuit 901, a logic circuit 902, and an output interface circuit 903.

[0197] Optionally, taking the device being used to implement the function of the receiving end as an example, the input interface circuit 901 can be used to execute the above-mentioned receiving action performed by the communication unit 720, the output interface circuit 903 can be used to execute the above-mentioned sending action performed by the communication unit 720, and the logic circuit 902 can be used to execute the above-mentioned action performed by the processing unit 710, which will not be repeated.

[0198] Optionally, the communication device 900 may be a chip or an integrated circuit during specific implementation.

[0199] Part or all of the operations and functions performed by the communication device described in the above method embodiments of the present application can be completed using a chip or an integrated circuit.

[0200] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the above method embodiment.

[0201] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above method embodiment.

[0202] An embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which may include a relay device, an access network device, and a core network device, for implementing the method shown in Figure 4 or Figure 6.

[0203] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0204] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. 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 one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, an SSD).

[0205] Note: A portion of this patent application contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner reserves all rights reserved except for copies of the materials in the patent file or patent record in the Patent Office.

[0206] The access network device, first core network element, or second core network element in each of the above-mentioned apparatus embodiments corresponds to the corresponding modules or units performing the corresponding steps. For example, the communication unit (transceiver) performs the receiving or sending steps in the method embodiments, while other steps besides sending and receiving may be performed by the processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific units can be referred to in the corresponding method embodiments. There may be one or more processors.

[0207] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are used to refer to computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components can communicate, for example, via local and / or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component across a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems via signals).

[0208] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0209] 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.

[0210] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0211] Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0212] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0213] The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first communication device sends first information to the core network device, where the first information is used to request to provide a relay service for the AIOT terminal, and / or the first information is used to indicate that the first communication device supports providing a relay service for the AIOT terminal; The first communication device receives configuration information of the relay service from an access network device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The configuration information includes one or more of the following: The relay identifier of the relay service; The first area information is used to indicate the area to which the cell where the first communication device is located belongs; The second area information is used to indicate the area to which the cell where the AIOT terminal is located belongs; A collection of AIOT device identities.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first communication device sends the identifier of the AIOT terminal to the AIOT terminal, where the identifier of the AIOT terminal is included in the identifier set.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first communication device sends the second area information to the AIOT terminal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The configuration information includes a system message and transmission configuration information of the system message; The method further comprises: The first communication device sends the system message to the AIOT terminal according to the transmission configuration information of the system message.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The first communication device receives data from the AIOT terminal; The first communication device sends a first message to the access network device, where the first message is carried on a signaling radio bearer, and the first message includes the data.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first message also includes an identifier of the AIOT terminal.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The data is contained in a container of the first message.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The configuration information is carried in a broadcast message or a unicast message; If the configuration information is carried in a broadcast message, the broadcast message further includes third area information, which is used to indicate the area information of the cell where the first terminal is located.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: If it is determined that the area where the first communication device is located has changed, the first communication device sends second information to the access network device and / or the core network device, where the second information is used to indicate that the area has changed.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The first communication device receives a second message from the access network device, where the second message is used to page the second terminal; The first communication device sends a third message to the AIOT terminal, where the third message is used to page the AIOT terminal.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The third message includes a first indication, where the first indication is used to indicate that the first communication device provides a relay service for the AIOT terminal.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The second message is a unicast message, and / or the third message is a unicast message.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The second communication device receives third information from the core network device, where the third information is used to instruct the relay device to provide a relay service for the AIOT terminal; The second communication device sends configuration information of the relay service to the relay device.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second communication device receives a first message from the relay device, where the first message is carried in a signaling radio bearer and includes the data; The second communication device sends the data of the AIOT terminal to the core network device.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first message includes an identifier of the AIOT terminal.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The data is contained in a container of the first message.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, characterized in that: The configuration information includes one or more of the following: The relay identifier of the relay service; The first area information is used to indicate the area to which the cell where the relay device is located belongs; The second area information is used to indicate the area to which the cell where the AIOT terminal is located belongs; An identification set of AIOT devices, wherein the identification set includes the identification of the AIOT terminal.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, characterized in that: The configuration information is carried in a broadcast message or a unicast message; If the configuration information is carried in a broadcast message, the broadcast message further includes third area information, which is used to indicate the area information of the cell where the third terminal is located.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein: The method further comprises: The second communication device receives second information from the relay device, where the second information is used to indicate that an area change has occurred.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The second communication device receives a fourth message from the core network device, where the fourth message is used to page the AIOT terminal; The second communication device sends a second message to the relay device, where the second message is used to page the AIOT terminal.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The second message is a unicast message.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that The fourth message includes at least one of the following information: The relay identifier of the relay service; The first area information is used to indicate the area to which the cell where the relay device is located belongs; The second area information is used to indicate the area to which the cell where the AIOT terminal is located belongs.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein: The method further comprises: The second communication device sends the configuration information of the relay service to the core network device; or, The second communication device receives configuration information of the relay service from the core network device; The configuration information of the relay service includes at least one of the relay identifier, the first area information and the second area information.

25. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The third communication device receives first information from the relay device, where the first information is used to indicate that the relay device provides a relay service for the AIOT terminal, and / or the first information is used to indicate that the relay device supports providing a relay service for the AIOT terminal; The third communication device sends third information to the access network device, where the third information is used to instruct the relay device to provide a relay service for the AIOT terminal.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein: The method further comprises: The third communication device sends a fourth message to the access network device, where the fourth message is used to page the AIOT terminal; The fourth message includes at least one of the following information: The relay identifier of the relay service; The first area information is used to indicate the area to which the cell where the relay device is located belongs; The second area information is used to indicate the area to which the cell where the AIOT terminal is located belongs.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein: The method further comprises: The third communication device receives the configuration information of the relay service from the access network device; or, The third communication device sends the configuration information of the relay service to the access network device; The configuration information of the relay service includes at least one of the relay identifier, the first area information and the second area information.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, or comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 14 to 24, or comprises a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 25 to 27.

29. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor configured to execute a computer program or an instruction to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

30. The device according to claim 29, characterized in that The device further comprises a memory and / or a transceiver, wherein the memory is used to store the computer program or instructions, and the transceiver is used for the device to communicate.

31. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or an instruction. When the computer program or the instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27 is implemented.

32. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a computer program or an instruction, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

33. A chip, characterized in that: The chip is coupled to a memory, and the chip reads a computer program stored in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

34. A communication system, characterized in that: The invention comprises a communication device for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13 and a communication device for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 24.

35. The communication system according to claim 34, characterized in that It also includes a communication device for executing the method as described in any one of claims 25-27.

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