Multi-hop relay method, apparatus, and system

Abstract

The present application provides a multi-hop relay method, apparatus, and system. The method comprises: receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating that a network connection anomaly occurs between a first terminal device and a first network device, and the first terminal device communicates with the first network device by means of a second terminal device; and sending second indication information to a third terminal device, wherein the third terminal device communicates with the first network device by means of the first terminal device, and the second indication information is used for indicating that a network connection anomaly occurs between the first terminal device and the first network device; or sending third indication information to the third terminal device, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating re-establishment of a network connection between the first terminal device and the second network device.

Description

Multi-hop relay method, device and system

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on October 31, 2023, with application number 202311439047.3 and application name “Methods, devices and systems for multi-hop relaying”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a method, device, and system for multi-hop relay. Background Art

[0003] In communication systems, such as fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication systems, inter-device communication allows user equipment (UE) to communicate directly through sidelinks (SL), for example, device-to-device (D2D) communication and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication.

[0004] With technological advancements, the addition of relay UEs between UEs is being considered to improve network and user system performance, enhance coverage, and increase capacity. For example, operators can deploy a relay UE, which can have enhanced capabilities, such as more receive and transmit antennas. Remote UEs can then communicate with network devices through the relay UE's collaboration. The remote UE and relay UE communicate via a sidelink interface called PC5. The relay UE connects directly to the network device, communicating via the Uu port.

[0005] In a multi-hop relay scenario, multiple relay terminal devices can be used to relay UEs, further enhancing network coverage and providing relaying for remote UEs. This means that information transmission is accomplished through multiple relay nodes on a link. Multi-hop can be understood as multiple forwardings, and the remote UE communicates with network devices through multiple forwardings of the multi-hop relay. In a multi-hop relay scenario, when a link between the remote UE and the network device experiences a network connection anomaly, there are multiple possible scenarios. For example, it could be the link between the relays or the link between the relay and the network device. When a link anomaly occurs, how to quickly restore communication between the remote UE and the network device is an urgent issue.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a multi-hop relay method, apparatus, and system for rapidly restoring communication between a remote UE and a network device.

[0008] In a first aspect, a multi-hop relay method is provided. The method can be executed by a first terminal device, or by a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the first terminal device, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description is based on an example of execution by the first terminal device.

[0009] The method may include: receiving first indication information sent by a second terminal device, the first indication information is used to indicate that a network connection abnormality occurs between the second terminal device and the first network device, and the first terminal device communicates with the first network device through the second terminal device; sending second indication information or third indication information to a third terminal device, the third terminal device communicates with the first network device through the first terminal device, the second indication information is used to indicate that a network connection abnormality occurs between the first terminal device and the first network device, and the third indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection.

[0010] Through the above scheme, after the relay terminal device receives the indication information of the network failure exception, it can indicate to the next-hop terminal device that a network failure exception has occurred or its own network status, so that the next-hop UE can perform subsequent re-establishment or relay UE reselection / cell selection. Through this hop-by-hop indication method, long-term service interruption can be avoided.

[0011] It should be understood that a network connection abnormality between the first terminal device and the first network device can be understood as a wireless link failure or an RRC connection failure between the first terminal device and the first network device, or the first terminal device re-establishing the RRC connection or reselecting the cell.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information or the second indication information is carried in RRC layer signaling, SRAP layer signaling, or MAC layer signaling.

[0013] Through the above solution, SRAP layer signaling or MAC layer signaling is applied to indicate network connection abnormality, thereby avoiding the parsing and regeneration of RRC signaling, and improving the information forwarding efficiency of hop-by-hop indication.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information and the second indication information are the same indication information.

[0015] Through the above solution, the relay terminal device directly forwards the first indication information to the next-hop terminal device after receiving it, thereby improving the forwarding efficiency of the hop-by-hop indication.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving identification information related to the first indication information sent by the second terminal device, where the identification information related to the first indication information is used to indicate that the first indication information indicates that a network connection abnormality occurs between the second terminal device and the first network device.

[0017] In a possible implementation manner, sending the second indication information to the third terminal device includes: sending the second indication information to the third terminal device according to identification information related to the first indication information.

[0018] With the above solution, it is determined that a network connection abnormality has occurred through identification information related to the first indication information, thereby eliminating the need to parse the first indication information and improving the forwarding efficiency of hop-by-hop indications.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the third indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection with the second network device, including: the third indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish RRC or reselect the cell with the second network device.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: releasing the connection with the second terminal device.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving indication information for releasing a second connection from a third terminal device, where the second connection is a network connection between the first terminal device and the third terminal device; and changing the identifier and / or system message request information of the paging message corresponding to the third terminal device and the terminal device communicating with the first network device through the third terminal device.

[0022] In a second aspect, a multi-hop relay method is provided. The method can be executed by a first terminal device, or by a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the first terminal device, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description is based on an example of execution by the first terminal device.

[0023] The method may include: receiving a first configuration; determining that a network connection abnormality occurs in a first link between the first network device; and re-establishing a network connection with the second network device through a second link according to the first configuration, wherein the first configuration is used for the first terminal device to re-establish a network connection through the second link.

[0024] With the above solution, after the terminal device determines that a network connection anomaly has occurred, the pre-configured redundancy configuration can be applied to re-establish the network connection, thereby reducing the duration of service interruption.

[0025] It should be understood that the first terminal device determines that a network connection abnormality occurs in the first link between the first terminal device and the network device, including: the first terminal device monitors that a network connection abnormality occurs in the first link between the first terminal device and the network device; or the first terminal device receives indication information indicating that a network connection abnormality occurs in the first link.

[0026] In a possible implementation, re-establishing the network connection with the second network device through the second link includes: re-establishing the network connection with the second network device through the second terminal device.

[0027] It should be understood that the first network device and the second network device may be the same network device or different network devices.

[0028] It should be understood that the second link includes a link between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and also includes a link between the second terminal device and the second network device.

[0029] In a possible implementation manner, receiving the first configuration includes: receiving the first configuration sent by a network device.

[0030] Through the above solution, the network device configures redundant configuration for the terminal device in advance, so that after the terminal device determines that a network connection abnormality has occurred, the pre-configured redundant configuration can be applied to re-establish the network connection, reducing the duration of service interruption.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the first configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, a first identifier, and an identifier of the first terminal device, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration.

[0032] Through the above solution, the redundant configuration configured by the network device includes its own identification and the identification of the terminal device to which the redundant configuration is applied, as well as the identification of the corresponding candidate terminal device, so that the terminal device can apply the redundant configuration according to the identification.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending fourth indication information to the second terminal device, the fourth indication information being used to instruct the second terminal device to apply the first relay configuration, the first relay configuration being used for the first terminal device to relay communication with the second network device through the second terminal device.

[0034] With the above solution, after the terminal device determines that a network connection anomaly occurs, it can apply the pre-configured redundant configuration to determine the relay terminal device and re-establish the network connection through the relay terminal device, thereby reducing the duration of service interruption.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the fourth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

[0037] Through the above scheme, the relay configuration configured by the network device includes its own identification, the identification of the redundant configuration corresponding to the relay configuration, the identification of the terminal device applying the relay configuration, and the identification of the terminal device applying the redundant configuration, so that the terminal device can apply the relay configuration according to the identification.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: sending fifth indication information to the third terminal device, the fifth indication information is used to instruct the third terminal device to apply the second configuration, the second configuration is used to re-establish the network connection between the third terminal device and the network device through a third link, the third link includes the communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device, and the second link.

[0039] Through the above solution, the network device configures redundant configurations for multiple terminal devices, so that after the terminal device determines that a network connection abnormality has occurred, it can instruct the subordinate terminal devices to also apply the corresponding redundant configuration, thereby reducing the service interruption duration.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the fifth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the third terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the first configuration also includes one or more of the following: a relay configuration for a third terminal device to communicate through the first terminal device and the network device; an identifier of the third terminal device; a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the second configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of a third terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the third link includes a communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device, and the second link.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the first terminal device determining that signal quality between the first terminal device and the second terminal device meets a first condition.

[0045] Through the above scheme, if the first terminal device determines that the signal quality between it and the second terminal device meets the first condition, the redundant configuration can be applied; if the first condition is not met, other redundant configurations that meet the conditions can be applied, thereby improving the success rate of network connection re-establishment and reducing the service interruption duration.

[0046] In a third aspect, a multi-hop relay method is provided. The method can be executed by a second terminal device, or by a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the second terminal device, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description is based on an example of execution by the second terminal device.

[0047] The method may include: receiving a first relay configuration; receiving fourth indication information sent by a first terminal device, the fourth indication information being used to indicate application of the first relay configuration, the first relay configuration being used for the first terminal device to relay communication with a second network device via a second terminal device.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration.

[0049] In a possible implementation, the fourth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration.

[0050] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: sending sixth indication information to the fourth terminal device, the sixth indication information is used to instruct the fourth terminal device to apply the second relay configuration, and the second relay configuration is used for the first terminal device and / or the second terminal device to relay communication with the second network device through the fourth terminal device.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the second relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the fourth terminal device, and a third identifier, where the third identifier is used to identify the second relay configuration.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the sixth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the fourth terminal device, and a third identifier, wherein the third identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration and / or the second relay configuration.

[0053] In a fourth aspect, a multi-hop relay method is provided. The method can be executed by a network device, or by a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the network device, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description is based on an example of execution by a terminal device.

[0054] The method may include: receiving information of candidate relay terminal devices sent by a first terminal device, the candidate relay terminal devices including a second terminal device; determining a first configuration, the first configuration being used to re-establish a network connection through the second terminal device after a network connection abnormality occurs between the first terminal device and the network device; and sending the first configuration to the first terminal device.

[0055] The method can also be understood as: receiving information of candidate relay terminal devices sent by the first terminal device through the first link, the candidate relay terminal devices including the second terminal device; determining a first configuration, the first configuration being used to re-establish the network connection through the second link after a network connection abnormality occurs on the first link between the first terminal device and the network device; and sending the first configuration to the first terminal device through the first link.

[0056] In one possible implementation, a network device receives information about candidate relay terminal devices sent by a first terminal device from a first network device, where the candidate relay terminal devices include a second terminal device; determines a first configuration, where the first configuration is used to re-establish a network connection through the second terminal device after a network connection anomaly occurs between the first terminal device and the network device; and sends the first configuration to the first network device, for the first network device to send to the first terminal device. Optionally, the network device receives a target relay terminal device from the first network device, including the second terminal device, where the target relay terminal device is determined by the first network device based on the information about the candidate relay terminal devices sent by the first terminal device. In one possible implementation, determining the first configuration includes: determining the first configuration based on at least one of the following information: information about the candidate relay terminal devices, and communication capabilities of the first terminal device.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the first configuration includes at least one of the following information: identification information of the second terminal device, the first identification, and identification information of the first terminal device, wherein the first identification is used to identify the first configuration.

[0058] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: determining a first relay configuration; and sending the first relay configuration to the second terminal device, where the first relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to perform relay communication with the second network device through the second terminal device.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

[0060] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: determining a second configuration, where the second configuration is used for the third terminal device to re-establish a network connection through the first terminal device; and sending the second configuration to the third terminal device.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the second configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of a third terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the first configuration further includes a relay configuration for the third terminal device to communicate with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0063] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: determining a second relay configuration, the second relay configuration being used for the first terminal device and / or the second terminal device to perform relay communication with the network device via a fourth terminal device; and sending the second relay configuration to the fourth terminal device.

[0064] In a possible implementation, the second relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the fourth terminal device, and a third identifier, where the third identifier is used to identify the second relay configuration.

[0065] The beneficial effects of each implementation method in the third and fourth aspects can be referred to the second aspect.

[0066] In a fifth aspect, a multi-hop relay method is provided. The method can be executed by a first terminal device, or can also be executed by a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the first terminal device, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description is based on an example of execution by the first terminal device.

[0067] The method may include: determining that a network connection abnormality occurs with a network device; sending seventh indication information to a second terminal device, the seventh indication information being used to instruct the second terminal device to re-establish a first connection, where the first connection is a network connection between the second terminal device and the network device through the first terminal device.

[0068] Through the above solution, when the connected terminal device determines that a network connection abnormality has occurred, it will trigger re-establishment.

[0069] Optionally, an indication message is sent to the subordinate terminal device to instruct the subordinate terminal device to maintain connection with the first terminal device and communicate with the network device, which can avoid sending the indication message hop by hop and reduce the service interruption duration.

[0070] It should be understood that the first terminal device determines that a network connection abnormality occurs between it and the network device, including: the first terminal device monitors that a network connection abnormality occurs between it and the network device; or the first terminal device receives indication information indicating that a network connection abnormality occurs.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: sending a first message to the network device, the first message is used to instruct the re-establishment of the network connection; receiving a second message sent by the network device, the second message includes a first configuration, the first configuration is used for the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection with the network device, the first configuration includes a relay configuration, the relay configuration is used for the second terminal device to communicate with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0072] In a possible implementation, the first message includes a first association relationship, where the first association relationship is a connection relationship between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0073] Optionally, the first association relationship includes an identifier of the second terminal device.

[0074] With this solution, network devices can maintain the context of relay terminals, including information and configurations of connected terminals. When a relay terminal triggers a reestablishment, connected terminals maintain their connections to the relay terminal and reestablish the connection together. This avoids sending indication information hop by hop and reduces service interruption duration.

[0075] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending eighth indication information to the network device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device supports configuring relay configuration for the second terminal device during the re-establishment of the network connection.

[0076] In a sixth aspect, a multi-hop relay method is provided. The method can be executed by a second terminal device, or can also be executed by a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the second terminal device, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description is based on an example of execution by the second terminal device.

[0077] The method may include: receiving seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is used to instruct the second terminal device to re-establish a first connection, where the first connection is a network connection between the second terminal device and the network device through the first terminal device.

[0078] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a second message to the network device, the second message being used to instruct the re-establishment of the first connection; and receiving a second configuration sent by the network device, the second configuration being used for the second terminal device to re-establish the first connection with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0079] In a possible implementation, the second message includes a first association relationship, where the first association relationship is a connection relationship between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0080] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending eighth indication information to the network device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate a first association relationship, and the first association relationship is used to indicate a connection relationship between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0081] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: re-establishing the first connection, and the second terminal device maintains the connection with the first terminal device.

[0082] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending ninth indication information to the first terminal device, where the ninth indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to maintain a network connection with the second terminal device when re-establishing a network connection with the network device.

[0083] In a seventh aspect, a multi-hop relay method is provided, which can be executed by a network device, or can also be executed by a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the network device, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description is based on an example of execution by a network device.

[0084] The method may include: receiving eighth indication information, the eighth indication information being used to indicate that the first terminal device supports configuring relay configuration for the second terminal device during the re-establishment of the network connection; and re-establishing the network connection with the second terminal device and the first terminal device based on the first association relationship and the eighth indication information.

[0085] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a first association relationship, where the first association relationship is used to indicate a connection relationship between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the first association relationship includes an identifier of the second terminal device.

[0086] In a possible implementation, the re-establishing of the network connection between the second terminal device and the first terminal device includes: re-establishing the network connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device through the first terminal device.

[0087] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: receiving a first message, the first message being used to instruct the re-establishment of a network connection; determining a first configuration based on a first association relationship; sending the first configuration, the first configuration being used for the first terminal device to re-establish a network connection with the network device, the first configuration also including a relay configuration, the relay configuration being used for the second terminal device to re-establish a network connection through the first terminal device and the network device.

[0088] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second message, the second message being used to instruct the re-establishment of the first connection; determining a second configuration based on the first association relationship; and sending a second configuration, the second configuration being used for the second terminal device to re-establish the first connection with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0089] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal device or a module (such as a chip or circuit) of a terminal device. The device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to receive first indication information sent by a second terminal device, the first indication information being used to indicate that a network connection abnormality has occurred between the second terminal device and the first network device, and the first terminal device communicates with the first network device through the second terminal device; the transceiver unit is further configured to send second indication information to a third terminal device, the third terminal device communicates with the first network device through the first terminal device, the second indication information being used to indicate that a network connection abnormality has occurred between the first terminal device and the first network device; or the transceiver unit is configured to send third indication information to the third terminal device, the third indication information being used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection.

[0090] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information or the second indication information is carried in RRC layer signaling, SRAP layer signaling, or MAC layer signaling.

[0091] In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information and the second indication information are the same indication information.

[0092] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to receive identification information related to the first indication information sent by the second terminal device, and the identification information related to the first indication information is used to indicate that the first indication information indicates that a network connection abnormality occurs between the second terminal device and the first network device.

[0093] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is configured to send the second indication information to the third terminal device according to identification information related to the first indication information.

[0094] In one possible implementation, the third indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection with the second network device, including: the third indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish RRC or reselect the cell with the second network device.

[0095] In a possible implementation, the apparatus further includes: a processing unit, configured to control the apparatus to release a connection with the second terminal device.

[0096] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to receive indication information from the third terminal device to release the second connection, where the second connection is a network connection between the first terminal device and the third terminal device; the processing unit is also used to change the identifier and / or system message request information of the paging message corresponding to the third terminal device and the terminal device communicating with the first network device through the third terminal device.

[0097] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal device or a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the terminal device. The device includes: a transceiver unit configured to receive a first configuration; determine that a network connection anomaly occurs on a first link with a first network device; and a processing unit configured to re-establish a network connection with the second network device via a second link based on the first configuration, wherein the first configuration is configured for the first terminal device to re-establish a network connection via the second link.

[0098] In a possible implementation, re-establishing the network connection with the second network device through the second link includes: re-establishing the network connection with the second network device through the second terminal device.

[0099] In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first configuration sent by the network device.

[0100] In a possible implementation, the first configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, a first identifier, and an identifier of the first terminal device, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration.

[0101] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to send fourth indication information to the second terminal device, and the fourth indication information is used to instruct the second terminal device to apply the first relay configuration, and the first relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to relay communication with the second network device through the second terminal device.

[0102] In a possible implementation, the fourth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

[0103] In a possible implementation, the first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

[0104] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to send fifth indication information to the third terminal device, and the fifth indication information is used to instruct the third terminal device to apply the second configuration. The second configuration is used to re-establish the network connection between the third terminal device and the network device through the third link. The third link includes the communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device, and the second link.

[0105] In a possible implementation, the fifth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the third terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0106] In one possible implementation, the first configuration also includes one or more of the following: a relay configuration for a third terminal device to communicate through the first terminal device and the network device; an identifier of the third terminal device; a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0107] In a possible implementation, the second configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of a third terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0108] In a possible implementation, the third link includes a communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device, and the second link.

[0109] In a possible implementation, the processing unit is further configured to determine whether the signal quality between the terminal device and the second terminal device satisfies a first condition.

[0110] In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal device or a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of a terminal device. The device includes: a transceiver unit configured to receive a first relay configuration; the transceiver unit is further configured to receive fourth indication information sent by the first terminal device, the fourth indication information being configured to indicate application of the first relay configuration, the first relay configuration being configured to enable the first terminal device to perform relay communication with a second network device via a second terminal device.

[0111] In a possible implementation, the first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration.

[0112] In a possible implementation, the fourth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration.

[0113] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to send sixth indication information to the fourth terminal device, and the sixth indication information is used to instruct the fourth terminal device to apply the second relay configuration, and the second relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to relay communication with the second network device through the fourth terminal device.

[0114] In a possible implementation, the second relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the fourth terminal device, and a third identifier, where the third identifier is used to identify the second relay configuration.

[0115] In a possible implementation, the sixth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the fourth terminal device, and a third identifier, wherein the third identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration and / or the second relay configuration.

[0116] In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a network device or a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of a network device. The device includes: a transceiver unit configured to receive information about candidate relay terminal devices sent by a first terminal device, the candidate relay terminal devices including a second terminal device; a processing unit configured to determine a first configuration, the first configuration being configured to re-establish a network connection through the second terminal device after a network connection anomaly occurs between the first terminal device and the network device; and the transceiver unit further configured to send the first configuration to the first terminal device.

[0117] In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to determine the first configuration according to at least one of the following information: information of the candidate relay terminal device, and communication capability of the first terminal device.

[0118] In a possible implementation, the first configuration includes at least one of the following information: identification information of the second terminal device, the first identification, and identification information of the first terminal device, wherein the first identification is used to identify the first configuration.

[0119] In one possible implementation, the processing unit is further used to determine a first relay configuration; the transceiver unit is further used to send the first relay configuration to the second terminal device, and the first relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to relay communication with the second network device through the second terminal device.

[0120] In a possible implementation, the first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

[0121] In a possible implementation, the processing unit is further configured to determine a second configuration, where the second configuration is used for the third terminal device to re-establish a network connection through the first terminal device; and the transceiver unit is further configured to send the second configuration to the third terminal device.

[0122] In a possible implementation, the second configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of a third terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0123] In a possible implementation, the first configuration further includes a relay configuration for the third terminal device to communicate with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0124] In one possible implementation, the processing unit is further used to determine a second relay configuration, which is used for the second terminal device to relay communication with the network device through the fourth terminal device; the transceiver unit is further used to send the second relay configuration to the fourth terminal device.

[0125] In a possible implementation, the second relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the fourth terminal device, and a third identifier, where the third identifier is used to identify the second relay configuration.

[0126] In a twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal device or a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the terminal device. The device includes: a processing unit, configured to determine that a network connection anomaly occurs with a network device; and a transceiver unit, configured to send seventh indication information to a second terminal device, the seventh indication information being configured to instruct the second terminal device to re-establish a first connection, where the first connection is a network connection between the second terminal device and the network device through the first terminal device.

[0127] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to send a first message to the network device, and the first message is used to instruct the re-establishment of the network connection; the device also includes a transceiver unit, which is used to receive a second message sent by the network device, and the second message includes a first configuration, and the first configuration is used to re-establish the network connection between the first terminal device and the network device, and the first configuration includes a relay configuration, and the relay configuration is used for the second terminal device to communicate with the network device through the first terminal device and the network device.

[0128] In a possible implementation, the first message includes a first association relationship, where the first association relationship is a connection relationship between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0129] Optionally, the first association relationship includes an identifier of the second terminal device.

[0130] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to send eighth indication information to the network device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device supports configuring relay configuration for the second terminal device during the re-establishment of the network connection.

[0131] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a terminal device or a module (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the terminal device. The device includes: a transceiver unit configured to receive seventh indication information, where the seventh indication information is configured to instruct a second terminal device to re-establish a first connection, where the first connection is a network connection between the second terminal device and a network device via the first terminal device.

[0132] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to send a second message to the network device, where the second message is used to instruct the re-establishment of the first connection; the transceiver unit is also used to receive a second configuration sent by the network device, where the second configuration is used for the second terminal device to re-establish the first connection with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0133] In a possible implementation, the second message includes a first association relationship, where the first association relationship is a connection relationship between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0134] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further used to send eighth indication information to the network device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate a first association relationship, and the first association relationship is used to indicate a connection relationship between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0135] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to re-establish the first connection, and the second terminal device maintains the connection with the first terminal device.

[0136] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to send ninth indication information to the first terminal device, where the ninth indication information is configured to instruct the first terminal device to maintain a network connection with the second terminal device when re-establishing a network connection with the network device;

[0137] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication device is provided, which may be a network device or a module (such as a chip or circuit) of the network device. The device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a first association relationship, the first association relationship being used to indicate a connection relationship between a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the first association relationship including an identifier of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit is further configured to receive eighth indication information, the eighth indication information being used to indicate that the first terminal device supports configuring a relay configuration for the second terminal device during the re-establishment of the network connection; the transceiver unit is further configured to re-establish the network connection with the second terminal device and the first terminal device based on the first association relationship and the eighth indication information.

[0138] In a possible implementation, re-establishing the network connection with the second terminal device and the first terminal device includes: re-establishing the network connection with the second terminal device through the first terminal device.

[0139] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to receive a first message, which is used to instruct the re-establishment of the network connection; determine the first configuration based on the first association relationship; the transceiver unit is also used to send the first configuration, which is used for the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection with the network device, and the first configuration also includes a relay configuration, which is used for the second terminal device to re-establish the network connection through the first terminal device and the network device.

[0140] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is also used to receive a second message, which is used to instruct the re-establishment of the first connection; determine a second configuration based on the first association relationship; and send the second configuration, which is used for the second terminal device to re-establish the first connection with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0141] In a fifteenth aspect, a wireless communication device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0142] In the sixteenth aspect, a wireless communication device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0143] In the seventeenth aspect, a wireless communication device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0144] In the eighteenth aspect, a wireless communication device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0145] In the nineteenth aspect, a wireless communication device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0146] In the twentieth aspect, a wireless communication device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0147] In aspect 21, a wireless communication device is provided, comprising modules or units for executing the method in aspect 7 or any possible implementation of aspect 7.

[0148] In aspect 22, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor coupled to a memory, and configured to perform the method of any one of aspects 1 to 6, and any possible implementation of each of the above aspects. In one possible implementation, the communication device further comprises a memory. In one possible implementation, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor coupled to the communication interface. In one possible implementation, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor coupled to the communication interface.

[0149] In one implementation, the communication device is a terminal device. When the communication device is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. In one possible implementation, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. In one possible implementation, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0150] In another implementation, the communication device is a network device. When the communication device is a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. In one possible implementation, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. In another possible implementation, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0151] In another implementation, the communication device is a data collection application function network element. When the communication device is a data collection application function network element, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. In one possible implementation, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. In another possible implementation, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0152] In another implementation, the communication device is an event user application function network element. When the communication device is a data collection application function network element, the communication interface may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. In one possible implementation, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. In another possible implementation, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0153] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a chip system. When the communication device is a chip or a chip system, the communication interface can be an input / output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processor can also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0154] In a twenty-third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal via the input circuit and transmit a signal via the output circuit, so that the method of any one of aspects 1 to 7, and any possible implementation of any of the above aspects, is implemented.

[0155] In a specific implementation, the communication device may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, or various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, output to a transmitter and transmitted by the transmitter. The input circuit and the output circuit may be different circuits or the same circuit, in which case the circuit functions as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0156] In a twenty-fourth aspect, a processing device is provided, comprising a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory and receive signals via a receiver and transmit signals via a transmitter to execute the method of any one of aspects 1 to 7, and any possible implementation of any of the above aspects.

[0157] In a possible implementation, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0158] In a possible implementation, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0159] In the specific implementation process, the memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or can be set on different chips. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of memory and the setting method of the memory and the processor.

[0160] It should be understood that related data interaction processes, such as sending indication information, can be the process of outputting indication information from the processor, and receiving capability information can be the process of receiving input capability information from the processor. Specifically, the output data of the processing can be output to the transmitter, and the input data received by the processor can come from the receiver. The transmitter and receiver can be collectively referred to as a transceiver.

[0161] The processor in the above aspects can be a chip, which can be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor, which is implemented by reading the software code stored in the memory. The memory can be integrated in the processor or located outside the processor and exist independently.

[0162] In aspect 25, a computer program product is provided, which includes: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which, when the computer program is run, enables the computer to execute any aspect from aspect 1 to aspect 7, as well as any possible implementation method of the above aspects.

[0163] In aspect twenty-six, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions) which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute any one of aspects one to seven above, as well as any possible implementation of each of the aspects above.

[0164] In aspect twenty-seven, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor, which is used to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip system executes the methods in any of the above-mentioned aspects one to seven and their possible implementation methods.

[0165] In one possible implementation, the chip system further includes a memory for storing computer programs.

[0166] Among them, the chip system may include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0167] In aspect 28, a multi-hop relay system is provided, comprising at least one of the aforementioned first terminal device, second terminal device and network device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0168] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an example of a communication system to which the present application is applied.

[0169] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an example of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0170] FIG3 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-hop relay method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0171] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an example of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0172] FIG5 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-hop relay method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0173] FIG6 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-hop relay method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0174] FIG7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0175] FIG8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0176] FIG9 is a schematic block diagram of a chip system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0177] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0178] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), wireless fidelity (WIFI), device to device (D2D) communication system, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, machine to machine communication (M2M) system, machine type communication (MTC) system, Internet of Things (IoT) communication system, non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, fifth generation mobile communication system (5G) system, sixth generation mobile communication system (6G) or new radio (NR) system or future wireless communication systems.

[0179] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a schematic structural diagram of a communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the present application is first briefly described in conjunction with Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, the communication system 100 may include three terminal devices, such as the terminal device 111, the terminal device 112, and the terminal device 113 shown in Figure 1. The communication system 100 may also include at least one network device, such as the network device 121 shown in Figure 1.

[0180] Among them, terminal device 113 can communicate with network device 121 through terminal device 112 and terminal device 111. That is, the data sent by terminal device 113 to network device 121 needs to pass through three paths: the first path is between terminal device 113 and terminal device 112, the second path is between terminal device 112 and terminal device 111, and the third path is between terminal device 111 and network device 121.

[0181] Terminal device 112 and terminal device 111 can assist terminal device 111 in transferring data to terminal device 113, thereby improving coverage and increasing communication distance. Terminal device 111 communicates with network device 121, thereby enabling communication between terminal device 113 and network device 121.

[0182] Among them, the terminal device 111 and the terminal device 112, as an example, can be referred to as relay terminal devices (relay UEs), and the terminal device 113 can be referred to as remote terminal devices (remote UEs). The relay UE can cooperate with the remote UE to transmit data. The remote UE and the relay UE can communicate directly, for example, via a SL connection, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or a wired connection, and the SL supports unicast, multicast, or broadcast communication. Through the relay of the relay UE, the remote UE and the base station communicate data. The number of relay UEs between the remote UE and the base station is not limited, and the specific number will be limited in the embodiments.

[0183] For the above system, one possible understanding is that the base station coverage signal at the remote terminal device is poor or is outside the base station coverage range, and coverage enhancement can be achieved through the relay terminal device.

[0184] Another possible understanding is that the relay terminal device has stronger capabilities. For example, the relay terminal device is configured with more receiving antennas and transmitting antennas, thereby improving system capacity.

[0185] It should be understood that FIG1 is only a simplified schematic diagram for ease of understanding, and the communication system may further include other network devices or other terminal devices, which are not shown in FIG1 .

[0186] It should also be understood that Figure 1 is only one application scenario of the embodiment of the present application, and the present application does not limit the scenario in which the method is applied. The embodiments shown below are only for ease of understanding and explanation, and the method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail using the interaction between a network device and a terminal device in a relay communication scenario as an example.

[0187] The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device. The terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0188] Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grids, smart furniture, smart offices, smart wearables, smart transportation, and smart cities. Terminals can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver capabilities, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home appliances, and more. Furthermore, terminal devices can also be end devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) system. The IoT is a crucial component of future information technology development. Its main technical feature is connecting objects to the network through communication technologies, thereby realizing intelligent networks that interconnect humans and machines, and things and things.

[0189] It should be understood that this application does not limit the specific form of the terminal device.

[0190] The network device in the embodiment of the present application can also be a device for communicating with a terminal device. The network device can be a base station (base transceiver station, BTS) in a global system of mobile communication (GSM) system or code division multiple access (CDMA), or a base station (nodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, or an evolved base station (evolved nodeB, eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the communication device can be a relay station, an access point, an on-board device, a wearable device, a communication device in a 5G network, or a communication device in a future evolved PLMN network, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

[0191] It should be understood that the network device in the wireless communication system can be any device with wireless transceiver functions. The device includes but is not limited to: evolved node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), road side unit (RSU), node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved node B, or home node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP) in wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, transmission point (TP) or transmission and reception point (TRP), etc. It can also be a gNB or transmission point (TRP or TP) in a 5G (such as NR) system, or one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system. The network device can also be a network-side device that provides communication services or communication control for terminal devices in the Internet of Vehicles.

[0192] Alternatively, the network equipment may also be multiple radio access network (RAN) nodes that constitute a gNB or transmission point. Multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminals in achieving wireless access, and different RAN nodes implement part of the functions of the base station. For example, the RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU). The CU and DU can be set separately or 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).

[0193] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in the ORAN system, CU may also be called O-CU (Open CU), DU may also be called O-DU, CU-CP may also be called O-CU-CP, CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called O-RU. For the convenience of description, this application uses CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0194] The network device provides communication services for the terminal devices in the cell. The terminal devices in the cell communicate with the network device through the transmission resources allocated by the network device (for example, frequency domain resources, time domain resources, etc.). The cell may belong to a macro base station (for example, a macro eNB or a macro gNB, etc.).

[0195] As shown in FIG1 , in a multi-hop relay scenario, terminal device 113 communicates with network device 121 through the relays of multiple terminal devices. The following network connection anomalies may occur on the link between terminal device 113 and network device 121:

[0196] An abnormality occurs in the link between terminal devices, for example, an abnormality occurs in the link between terminal devices 111 and 112.

[0197] An abnormality occurs in the link between the terminal device and the network device, for example, an abnormality occurs in the link between the terminal device 111 and the network device 121.

[0198] For example, if terminal device 113 is a remote UE, terminal devices 111 and 112 are relay UEs, and the link between the terminal devices is a sidelink, the following network connection anomalies may occur in the link between the remote UE and the network device:

[0199] 1. PC5 RLF occurs between the remote UE and the relay UE.

[0200] 2. PC5 RLF occurs between relay UEs

[0201] 3. Uu RLF occurs between the relay UE and the network device.

[0202] 4. RRC connection interruption / RRC configuration failure occurs between the relay UE and the network device.

[0203] 5. The relay UE re-establishes the RRC connection with the network device.

[0204] 6. The relay UE reselects the cell.

[0205] Other types of network connection anomalies may occur between terminal devices and between terminal devices and network devices, which are not limited here.

[0206] The present application provides a variety of multi-hop relay methods that can quickly restore communication between a terminal device and a network device when a network connection anomaly occurs in a link (or path) in the link that forwards information through multi-hop nodes between the terminal device and the network device.

[0207] It should be understood that the description of the specific scenarios in the embodiments of the present application is only an example. In addition to being applicable to the application scenarios described above, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to application scenarios with similar problems.

[0208] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality of" or "a plurality of" means two or more. In addition, "at least one" can be replaced by "one or more".

[0209] The ordinal numbers "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the size, content, order, timing, priority, or importance of the multiple objects. For example, the first indication information and the second indication information can be the same information or different information, and such names do not indicate differences in the content, size, application scenario, sender / receiver, priority, or importance of the two messages. In addition, the numbering of the steps in the various embodiments introduced in this application is only for distinguishing different steps and is not used to limit the order of the steps.

[0210] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application can be applied to wireless communications between communication devices. Wireless communications between communication devices may include: wireless communications between network devices and terminals, wireless communications between network devices, and wireless communications between terminals. In the embodiments of this application, the term "wireless communications" may also be referred to as "communication," which may also be described as "data transmission," "information transmission," or "transmission."

[0211] It should be understood that the names of all nodes and messages in this application are merely names set for the convenience of description in this application. The names in the actual network may be different. This application should not be understood as limiting the names of various nodes and messages. On the contrary, any name with the same or similar function as the node or message used in this application is regarded as a method or equivalent replacement of this application, and is within the scope of protection of this application. No further details will be given below.

[0212] In this application, "sending information to...(terminal)" can be understood as the destination of the information being the terminal, and can include directly or indirectly sending information to the terminal. "Receiving information from...(terminal)" can be understood as the source of the information being the terminal, and can include directly or indirectly receiving information from the terminal. The information may undergo necessary processing between the source and destination of the information, such as format changes, but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in this application can be understood similarly and will not be repeated here.

[0213] The following describes in detail various communication methods provided in the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0214] It should be understood that the step numbers in the embodiments of the present application are for illustration only and do not limit the order in which the steps occur.

[0215] For ease of understanding and explanation, the following describes the communication method of the embodiment of the present application by taking the interaction between the terminal device and the network device as an example, but this should not constitute any limitation on the execution subject of the communication method of the embodiment of the present application. For example, the method performed by the terminal device can also be performed by a module (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) of the terminal device, and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module or software that can realize all or part of the terminal device function. The method performed by the network device can also be performed by a module (such as a circuit, a chip or a chip system, etc.) of the network device, and can also be implemented by a logical node, a logical module or software that can realize all or part of the network device function.

[0216] FIG3 illustrates a multi-hop relay method 300 provided by the present application, which includes at least a portion of the method shown in FIG3 . A first terminal device, a second terminal device, and a third terminal device are all terminal devices in a multi-hop relay scenario, wherein the first terminal device communicates with a network device via the second terminal device, and the third terminal device communicates with the network device via the first terminal device. In other words, the first terminal device is the next-hop terminal device of the second terminal device, and the third terminal device is the next-hop terminal device of the first terminal device.

[0217] Optionally, the second terminal device also communicates with the network device through its own previous-hop terminal device, and at least one terminal device communicates with the network device through a third terminal device. Optionally, at least one other terminal device communicates with the network device through any one of the first terminal device, the second terminal device, and the third terminal device.

[0218] S310: The second terminal device determines that a network connection failure occurs.

[0219] For example, the second terminal device determines that an abnormality occurs in the link between the second terminal device and the network device, or an abnormality occurs in the link between the second network device and its previous-hop terminal device.

[0220] S320, the second terminal device sends indication information to the next-hop terminal device of the multi-hop relay.

[0221] It should be understood that the second terminal device is a terminal device in the multi-hop relay system, and at least one terminal device is connected to the second terminal device, or at least one terminal device communicates with the network device through the second terminal device.

[0222] After determining that a network connection abnormality has occurred, the second terminal device notifies its subordinate terminal devices (including the first terminal device) that a network connection abnormality has occurred.

[0223] Optionally, the second terminal device sends first indication information to the first terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a network connection abnormality has occurred between the second terminal device and the network device.

[0224] Optionally, after the second terminal device determines that a network connection abnormality has occurred, it can re-establish the network connection and send indication information indicating the network connection status of the second terminal device to the first terminal device, such as instructing the second terminal device to re-establish the network connection.

[0225] It should be understood that before the network connection abnormality occurs, the first terminal device communicates with the network device through the second terminal device.

[0226] S330, the first terminal device sends indication information to the next-hop terminal device of the multi-hop relay.

[0227] After receiving the first instruction information or the instruction information instructing the second terminal device to re-establish the network connection, the first terminal device determines that a network connection anomaly has occurred. In this case, the first terminal device can take similar actions as the second terminal device. In other words, the first terminal device notifies other terminal devices under its control that a network connection anomaly has occurred.

[0228] If the third terminal device communicates with the network device through the first terminal device, the first terminal device may send indication information to the third terminal device after receiving indication information from the second terminal device.

[0229] Optionally, the first terminal device sends second indication information to the third terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that a network connection abnormality has occurred between the first terminal device and the network device.

[0230] Optionally, the first terminal device may re-establish the network connection and send a third indication message to the third terminal device, where the third indication message is used to indicate the network connection status of the first terminal device, such as instructing the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection.

[0231] Optionally, the first terminal device may release the connection with the second terminal device.

[0232] After sending the above-mentioned instruction information to the third terminal device, the first terminal device may receive an instruction information from the third terminal device to release the second connection, where the second connection is the network connection between the first terminal device and the third terminal device. In this case, the first terminal device needs to change the identifier and / or system message request information of the paging message corresponding to the third terminal device and the terminal device that communicates with the network device through the third terminal device.

[0233] S340, the third terminal device sends indication information to the next-hop terminal device of the multi-hop relay.

[0234] Similar to step S330, the third terminal device may send an indication message to the next-hop terminal device (if it is the fourth terminal device) of the multi-hop relay, thereby indicating that a network connection anomaly has occurred or the network status of the third terminal device has occurred. It should be understood that step S340 is an optional step. If the third terminal device is also connected to a next-hop terminal device, or if the third terminal device also provides relay services for the fourth terminal device, the third terminal device may send an indication message to its next-hop terminal device.

[0235] FIG2 shows a multi-hop relay scenario provided by the present application. As shown in FIG2 , remote UE 2 is connected to a network device via three relay UEs. The method 300 provided by the present application will be described below in conjunction with this scenario and FIG3 .

[0236] As shown in Figure 2, assuming that relay UE1 is an example of the second terminal device in method 300, relay UE2 is an example of the first terminal device, relay UE3 is an example of the third terminal device, and remote UE2 is an example of the fourth terminal device. For example, the connection between the terminals is a sidelink connection.

[0237] When a network connection abnormality occurs to relay UE1 (including RLF of relay UE1, such as Uu RLF occurs between relay UE1 and the network device, and relay UE1 detects Uu RLF), relay UE1 sends an indication to the subordinate UEs (including remote UE and the terminal that continues to serve as relay UE).

[0238] The method of the present application is described in detail below by taking the occurrence of Uu RLF between relay UE1 and the network device as an example.

[0239] As shown in step S310 of Figure 3, if a network connection abnormality (such as Uu RLF) occurs in the relay UE1 connected to the base station, an indication message may be sent to the subordinate UEs connected via the sidelink (such as the remote UE1 and relay UE2 in Figure 2) to indicate the occurrence of Uu RLF or the occurrence of a network connection failure / abnormality.

[0240] Specifically, as shown in step S320 of FIG3 , relay UE1 sends first indication information to remote UE1 and relay UE2. The first indication information is used to indicate that a network connection abnormality occurs between relay UE1 and the network device, so that the UE under relay UE1 can reselect a relay or Uu connection network.

[0241] After receiving the first indication, remote UE1 determines that it is not acting as a relay. If remote UE1 is in a connected state, it triggers an RRC re-establishment. If remote UE1 is in an idle or inactive state, it decides to maintain the connection with relay UE1 or release the connection with relay UE1 and reselect a relay UE or select a cell to camp on an appropriate relay UE or cell.

[0242] For the relay UE2 (ie, an example of the first terminal device) that receives the first indication information, the UE is also a relay terminal and provides relay services for the UEs connected thereto.

[0243] As shown in step S330 in Figure 3, after relay UE2 receives the first indication information, it determines that it is still connected to a UE (such as relay UE3), and then continues to send a second indication information to the next-hop connected UE, such as relay UE3, to indicate that a network connection abnormality has occurred between relay UE1 and the network device.

[0244] Specifically, the first indication information or the second indication information may indicate that a Uu RLF occurs, or indicates that an RLF occurs, or indicates that the current link is unavailable.

[0245] Relay UE3 receives the second indication information or the third indication information and determines that there is a UE connected to it, such as remote UE2 in Figure 2. As shown in step S340 in Figure 3, relay UE3 continues to generate indication information to indicate that a network connection abnormality has occurred to relay UE3.

[0246] The following uses several examples to introduce the specific indication methods of the indication information.

[0247] Optionally, the first indication information may be carried in a PC5 RRC message (such as a NotificationMessageSidelink message), indicating that a network connection abnormality occurs.

[0248] For example, relay UE1 generates a PC5 RRC message as the first indication information, which is used to indicate to relay UE2 that a Uu RLF occurs.

[0249] After receiving the PC5 RRC message, relay UE2 parses the PC5 RRC message and regenerates a PC5 RRC message to be sent to relay UE3. Optionally, the PC5 RRC message may carry an indication of a network connection anomaly, such as a failure type indication: Uu RLF, radio link failure, or RRC connection failure. Optionally, when a handover or cell reselection occurs on the relay UE, the relay UE indicates the handover or cell reselection.

[0250] Optionally, relay UE2 may also experience PC5 RLF, in which case relay UE2 sends indication information to the directly connected subordinate relay UE / remote UE, indicating the occurrence of PC5 RLF, for example, using a PC5 RRC message to send the first indication information. Optionally, the message includes a failure type indication of PC5 RLF.

[0251] Similarly, after receiving the first indication information, the subordinate UE (such as relay UE3 in the figure) parses the PC5 RRC message carrying the first indication information, if it has a next-hop UE, and sends an indication information to the next-hop UE (such as remote UE2) to indicate the link failure. If remote UE2 does not have a next-hop UE, after receiving the indication information, remote UE2 behaves in the same way as remote UE1 described above.

[0252] As described above, the existing PC5 RRC message can be used to carry the indication of a network connection anomaly. However, upon receiving the indication, the relay UE at the intermediate hop first parses the message and regenerates the PC5 RRC message to indicate the next hop UE. This parsing, regeneration, and forwarding approach may cause the remote UE at the end to take a long time to receive the indication of a network connection anomaly, resulting in a longer interruption for the remote UE.

[0253] Optionally, in order to improve forwarding efficiency, a bottom layer transparent forwarding method may be applied, for example, SL MAC CE / SRAP control PDU may be applied to indicate link failure.

[0254] In the bottom layer transparent forwarding method, relay UE2 receives the first indication information (such as SL MAC CE or control PDU) and identification information related to the first indication information sent by relay UE1. Based on the identification information related to the first indication information (such as the LCID carried in the MAC CE or the PDU type indication in the SRAP control PDU), it determines that the first indication information is an indication of a network connection abnormality and forwards the first indication information to the next hop UE. For SL MAC CE, the UE forwards it at the MAC layer; for SRAP control PDU, the UE forwards it at the SRAP layer.

[0255] In this case, the first indication information and the second indication information may be the same indication information.

[0256] Optionally, a relay UE (e.g., relay UE1) that detects a network connection anomaly can still use the existing PC5 RRC message to indicate the network connection anomaly to the next-hop UE. The next-hop UE receives and parses the PC5 RRC message, generates a SL MAC CE or SRAP control PDU, and sends it to the next-hop for forwarding. The SL MAC CE or SRAP control PDU includes an indication of the network connection anomaly and identification information related to the first indication information.

[0257] It should be understood that the first indication information or the second indication information is carried in RRC layer signaling or SRAP layer signaling or MAC layer signaling.

[0258] For the relay UE, when indicating to the next-hop UE that a Uu RLF or PC5 RLF has occurred, if the next-hop UE to which the current UE is connected is in the RRC idle state or inactive state, when the connected next-hop UE releases the connection with the current UE, the current UE also needs to update the corresponding information of the RRC idle state or inactive state UE, mainly including information related to paging and system message request information.

[0259] To facilitate understanding, let's first explain how a UE in RRC Idle or Inactive state performs paging and obtains system messages when accessing a relay UE. First, the base station broadcasts a paging message or system message to UEs within the cell, and the UE receives the paging message or system message on the configured time-frequency resources. In a relay scenario, communication between the remote UE and the base station occurs via the relay UE, which forwards the paging message or system message. Therefore, the UE needs to send its paging-related ID information (S-TMSI in RRC Idle state, I-RNTI in Inactive state) to its relay UE and indicate to its relay UE the system messages it wishes to receive. Therefore, the UE needs to indicate this ID information and the requested system message type (such as SIB2, SIB12, etc.) to its previous-hop relay. For multi-hop relays, each relay UE obtains this information for all connected RRC Idle and Inactive UEs (via multi-hop relaying). If the relay UE is in RRC idle state or inactive state, and the previous hop of the relay UE is still a relay, the relay UE needs to send its ID information, system message request information and related information of the connected RRC idle state and inactive state UEs to its previous hop relay.

[0260] Therefore, for relay UE2, when relay UE2 receives an instruction from next-hop relay UE3 to release the connection between relay UE2 and relay UE3 (i.e., an example of a second connection), it is necessary to change the paging message identifier and / or system message request information corresponding to relay UE3 and remote UE2. If the next-hop relay UE3 maintains a connection with its own PC5, it is not necessary to release the information.

[0261] In the above method, when a network connection anomaly occurs on relay UE1, it sends indication information to its subordinate relay UEs, indicating the network connection anomaly. After receiving the first indication information, relay UE2 continues to send indication information to its subordinate UEs, indicating the network connection anomaly. In this method, the indication information is sent hop by hop.

[0262] In another possible implementation, after receiving the first indication information, the relay UE2 may not indicate to the subordinate UE that the network connection abnormality has occurred, but may indicate to the next hop that the current relay UE2 has re-established the network connection.

[0263] Specifically, after receiving the first indication information sent by relay UE1, relay UE2 re-establishes the network connection, so relay UE2 sends third indication information to relay UE3, where the third indication information is used to instruct relay UE2 to re-establish the network connection with the network device.

[0264] The following is a detailed introduction to this method.

[0265] In one implementation, the relay UE2 is an RRC IDLE / INACTVIE UE, and the relay UE2 may choose to maintain the PC5 connection between the current hop UE and the previous hop UE or release the connection.

[0266] If relay UE2 chooses to release the PC5 connection with the previous hop UE (relay UE1), it will trigger the re-establishment of the network connection, that is, the reselection of the relay UE or the cell selection. At this time, relay UE2 will indicate the re-establishment of the network connection to its next hop UE, for example, by indicating the third indication information through a PC5-RRC message.

[0267] If relay UE2 maintains a PC5 connection with its previous hop, relay UE1, it will not indicate the next-hop UE. This means that relay UE3, the next-hop, will not be aware of any link changes to relay UE2's previous hop, relay UE1. In this case, relay UE3 maintains its PC5 connection with relay UE2, the previous hop, and waits for relay UE2 to restore its connection to the network. It then sends a system message, SIB1, to relay UE3, indicating relay UE2's serving cell. Relay UE3 will continue to access the network through relay UE2.

[0268] In another implementation, if relay UE2 is an RRC-connected UE, relay UE2 will re-establish the RRC connection. If relay UE2 is still connected to a next-hop UE, it will indicate to the next-hop UE that an RRC connection re-establishment has occurred. Next-hop relay UE3, based on the re-establishment indication, will then decide on subsequent actions. These actions include: if relay UE3 is in the RRC-connected state, re-establishing the connection; if relay UE3 is in the RRC-idle / inactive state, maintaining the connection with relay UE2 or reselecting the relay UE or selecting a cell.

[0269] In the above method, the relay UE no longer forwards the Uu RLF or PC5 RLF indication, but instead makes subsequent indications based on the current behavior, such as instructing the current UE to reestablish or relay UE reselection, thereby instructing the next-hop UE to perform subsequent reestablishment or relay UE reselection / cell selection, thereby avoiding long service interruption.

[0270] FIG5 shows a multi-hop relay method 500 provided by the present application. The method 500 includes at least part of the method shown in FIG5 .

[0271] In this method, the network device configures a redundant configuration for the terminal device in the connected state, which is used to trigger the application of the redundant configuration to quickly access the network when a network connection abnormality occurs, thereby reducing the service interruption duration caused by the network connection abnormality.

[0272] Specifically, for a terminal device in a connected state, the base station will configure a redundant configuration (or backup configuration) for the terminal device, which can take effect when the current network connection of the terminal device is unavailable. For example, if the first terminal device is in a connected state, when the first terminal device determines that a network connection anomaly has occurred (such as receiving the first indication information or the second indication information sent by the previous hop terminal device, or detecting a network connection anomaly), the first terminal device can apply the redundant configuration to quickly restore the connection with the network.

[0273] The following is a detailed description with reference to Figure 5.

[0274] S510 (optional step): The first terminal device reports the candidate relay terminal device to the network device.

[0275] In one implementation, the network device is a plurality of RAN nodes, such as a CU and a DU, and the first terminal device reports the candidate relay terminal device to the DU, and the DU reports the candidate relay terminal device to the CU.

[0276] Optionally, the first terminal device triggers measurement reporting and reports a candidate target relay terminal device or target cell. Optionally, the first terminal device performs measurement reporting based on the measurement configuration of the base station.

[0277] Thus, the network device configures a redundant configuration (such as the first configuration) based on the candidate target relay terminal device or the first terminal device of the target cell, or the network device configures a redundant configuration based on the capability support of the first terminal device. The redundant configuration can support the first terminal device to access the candidate target cell or access the network through the candidate target relay after sending a network connection exception.

[0278] At the same time, the network device configures a relay configuration for the candidate terminal device reported by the first terminal device, such as configuring the first relay configuration for the second terminal device.

[0279] Optionally, the first terminal device may also report its own capability information to indicate support for configuring the redundant configuration. The network device may configure a measurement configuration or a redundant configuration for the first terminal device based on the capability information.

[0280] Optionally, similar to the above process, other terminal devices under the first terminal device also report candidate target relay terminal devices or target cells to the network device, so that the network device also configures redundant configurations for other terminal devices under it, such as configuring the second configuration for the third terminal device.

[0281] S520: The network device sends the configured redundant configuration to the first terminal device. At the same time, the network device may also send the corresponding redundant configuration to terminal devices related to the first terminal device.

[0282] In one implementation, the network device is a plurality of RAN nodes, such as a CU and a DU, and the CU sends the configured redundant configuration to the DU, and the DU sends the configured redundant configuration to the first terminal device and terminal devices related to the first terminal device.

[0283] In one possible implementation, the network device configures the first configuration of the first terminal device, so that the first terminal device accesses the network device through the target relay terminal device according to the redundant configuration. For example, the second terminal device in Figure 5 is the target relay terminal device, and the first terminal device accesses the network device through the second terminal device based on the first configuration. In this case, the network device also needs to configure the first relay configuration of the second terminal device, and the first relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to relay communication with the network device through the second terminal device. Optionally, the network device also configures redundant configurations for other terminal devices under the first terminal device, such as configuring the second configuration for the third terminal device, and the second configuration is used for the third terminal device to re-establish a network connection through the first terminal device.

[0284] Correspondingly, the network device sends the first configuration to the first terminal device, sends the first relay configuration to the second terminal device, and sends the second configuration to the third terminal device.

[0285] In one possible implementation, the target relay terminal device is on a different network device, referred to as network device 2. When the network device determines that the target relay terminal device is located on network device 2, the network device sends redundant configuration request information to network device 2. The redundant configuration request information includes context information of the first terminal device and measurement report information of the second terminal device, for example, including one or more of the following: configuration information of the first terminal device under the network device, identification information of the second terminal device, and link measurement information of the second terminal device. The link measurement information of the second terminal device may include the link signal quality between the second terminal device and the network device, or the link signal quality between the second terminal device and its relay device. Network device 2 determines the configuration information of the first terminal device and the second terminal device on network device 2, and sends it to the network device via redundant configuration reply information.

[0286] In another possible implementation, when the network device sends redundant configuration request information to network device 2, it also indicates the context configuration of the third terminal device. Network device 2 determines the configuration information of the third terminal device in network device 2 and sends it to the network device through redundant configuration reply information.

[0287] S530: The first terminal device determines that a network connection abnormality occurs.

[0288] Specifically, the first terminal device may detect a network connection abnormality, or receive indication information indicating a network connection abnormality in method 300.

[0289] S540: The first terminal device applies a first configuration, where the first configuration is used for the first terminal device to re-establish a network connection with the network device (or network device 2) through the second terminal device.

[0290] S550: The first terminal device instructs the second terminal device to apply a first relay configuration, where the first relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to perform relay communication with the network device through the second terminal device.

[0291] It should be understood that in order for the first terminal device to successfully re-establish the network connection through the second terminal device, not only does the first terminal device need to apply the first configuration, but the first terminal device also needs to instruct the second terminal device to apply the first relay configuration corresponding to the first configuration.

[0292] Optionally, the first configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, the first identifier, and an identifier of the first terminal device, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration. The first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and the first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

[0293] Optionally, the first terminal device sends fourth indication information to the second terminal device, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the second terminal device to apply the first relay configuration. The fourth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the second terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

[0294] After receiving the fourth indication information, the second terminal device can apply the first relay configuration according to the first identifier therein.

[0295] S560: The first terminal device instructs the third terminal device to apply the second configuration. (This is an optional step. Alternatively, the third terminal device may be directly notified of a network connection anomaly, i.e., the aforementioned solution is applied. Whether the instruction to apply the configuration or to indicate a network connection anomaly occurs depends on the implementation of the terminal device (i.e., the first terminal device).

[0296] After determining that a network connection anomaly occurs, the first terminal device may inform other subordinate terminal devices to apply a redundant configuration, such as informing the third terminal device to apply the second configuration.

[0297] Optionally, the first terminal device sends fifth indication information to the third terminal device, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct the third terminal device to apply the second configuration, where the second configuration is used for the third terminal device to re-establish a network connection between the first terminal device and the network device. The first configuration also includes a relay configuration for the third terminal device to communicate with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0298] It should be understood that in order for the third terminal device to successfully re-establish the network connection through the first terminal device, not only does the first terminal device need to apply the first configuration, but the first terminal device also needs to instruct the third terminal device to apply the second configuration corresponding to the first configuration.

[0299] Optionally, the fifth indication information includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of the third terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, where the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0300] Optionally, the first configuration further includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of a third terminal device and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0301] Optionally, the second configuration includes at least one of the following information: an identifier of a third terminal device, an identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

[0302] After receiving the fifth indication information, the third terminal device can apply the second configuration according to the second identifier therein.

[0303] FIG4 shows another multi-hop relay scenario provided by the present application. The method 500 provided by the present application is described below in conjunction with this scenario and FIG5 .

[0304] As shown in FIG4 , assuming that relay UE2 is an example of the first terminal device in method 500 , relay UE4 is an example of the second terminal device, and remote UE1 is an example of the third terminal device.

[0305] As shown in Figure 4, the link between relay UE2 and the first network device via relay UE1 is called the first link, and the link between relay UE2 and the second network device via relay UE4 is called the second link. It should be understood that the first network device and the second network device can be the same network device or different network devices.

[0306] First, as shown in step S510, relay UE2 triggers measurement reporting via the first link, reporting candidate target relays or target cells (the candidate target relays and candidate cells refer to the target relays and target cells indicated in the redundant configuration). The network device then configures a redundant configuration for relay UE2. This redundant configuration enables relay UE2 to access the candidate target cell via the second link or access the network via the candidate target relay.

[0307] Optionally, the network device configures a redundancy configuration for relay UE2 based on the report from the UE and the capability support of the UE.

[0308] Taking relay UE2 (ie, an example of the first terminal device) as an example, as shown in step S520-1, the network device configures redundant configuration #3 (ie, an example of the first configuration) for relay UE2 and sends it to relay UE2, and relay UE2 receives the redundant configuration #3.

[0309] Optionally, redundant configuration #3 includes an identifier of candidate target relay UE4 (i.e., an example of the second terminal device), at least one of the first identifier and the identifier of relay UE2, where the first identifier is used to identify redundant configuration #3. Redundant configuration #3 also includes the PC5 RLC channel configuration applied after relay UE2 accesses relay UE4, the adaptation layer mapping relationship configuration, and the like.

[0310] As shown in step S530, when relay UE2 detects a network connection abnormality or receives the first indication information or the second indication information from relay UE1 (indicating sending a network connection abnormality or re-establishing a network connection), as shown in step S540, relay UE2 can trigger the application of redundant configuration #3 and re-establish the network connection with the second network device through the second link according to redundant configuration #3.

[0311] It should be understood that re-establishing the network connection with the second network device through the second link may also be understood as re-establishing the network connection with the second network device through the relay UE4.

[0312] Corresponding to the redundant configuration #3 of relay UE2, in order to allow relay UE2 to quickly access the base station through relay UE4, as shown in step S520-2, the base station also needs to configure relay configuration #1 (i.e., an example of the first relay configuration) corresponding to the redundant configuration #3 of relay UE2 on the relay UE4 side and send it to relay UE4.

[0313] Relay configuration #1 may include at least one of the following information: the identifier of relay UE2 (the identifier of relay UE2 may be a temporary identifier assigned by the base station), the identifier of relay UE4, and a first identifier. For relay UE2, the first identifier is used to identify redundant configuration #3, and for relay UE4, the first identifier is used to identify relay configuration #1, and relay configuration #1 corresponds to redundant configuration #3. Relay configuration #1 also includes the PC5 relay RLC channel configuration between relay UE4 and relay UE2, the Uu relay RLC channel configuration between relay UE4 and the base station, and the adaptation layer mapping relationship configuration.

[0314] Optionally, the base station may configure multiple sets of redundant configurations for the UE and arrange them in order of priority.

[0315] For example, the base station may configure redundancy configurations #5 and #6 for remote UE2, configure redundancy configurations #3 and #4 for relay UE2, and configure redundancy configurations #1 and #2 for relay UE1.

[0316] Taking relay UE2 as an example, in addition to redundant configuration #3, the base station can also configure redundant configuration #4 for relay UE2, which corresponds to relay UE5. In one possible scenario, redundant configuration #3 can also configure conditions for the application of the current redundant configuration, such as the sidelink measurement result between relay UE2 and relay UE4 exceeding a certain threshold. Therefore, when the distance between relay UE4 and relay UE2 changes, causing the signal quality between relay UE4 and relay UE2 to deteriorate, relay UE2 will prioritize the application of redundant configuration #4, thereby accessing the base station through relay UE5. Furthermore, if redundant configuration #4 is configured with application conditions and these conditions are not currently met, relay UE2 will re-establish its network connection because there are no other configurations other than redundant configurations #3 and #4. Alternatively, the base station can configure the link signal quality between relay UE2 and the candidate relay corresponding to the redundant configuration as a trigger condition. If the link quality between the UE and the candidate relay is poor, for example, below the configured threshold, the corresponding redundant configuration will also not be triggered.

[0317] Corresponding to redundant configuration #4, corresponding relay configurations need to be configured for relay UE4 and relay UE5, which are recorded as relay configuration #2 and relay configuration #3. Relay configuration #2 and relay configuration #3 need to carry the identifier of relay UE2, or be used to identify the identifier of redundant configuration #4 corresponding to relay configuration #2 and relay configuration #3.

[0318] In one possible implementation, if relay UE2 triggers the application of redundant configuration #3, as shown in step S550, it is also necessary to instruct relay UE4 to trigger the application of relay configuration #1. The indication information (i.e., an example of the fourth indication information) may include at least one of the following information: the identifier of relay UE2, the identifier of relay UE4, the first identifier and the first relay identifier, where the first identifier is used to identify redundant configuration #3, and the first relay identifier is used to identify relay configuration #1.

[0319] If relay UE2 triggers the application of redundancy configuration #4, i.e., accesses the base station through relay UE5, relay UE2 also needs to trigger relay UE5 and relay UE4 to apply the corresponding relay configuration. Specifically, after relay UE2 and relay UE5 establish a connection, relay UE2 sends an instruction message to relay UE5, instructing relay UE5 to trigger the corresponding relay configuration #2. Relay UE5 then sends an instruction message to relay UE4, including relay UE2's identifier, instructing relay UE4 to trigger the application of relay configuration #3.

[0320] It should be understood that the base station may update the redundant configuration on the UE side based on the measurement report of the UE, for example, add a new redundant configuration or delete the original redundant configuration.

[0321] Optionally, if the UE enters the IDLE / INACTVIE state from the CONNECTED state, the UE will release the configured redundant configuration. Correspondingly, the base station needs to update the relay configuration on the relay UE side.

[0322] In the above method, the base station configures a redundant configuration for the connected UE, so that when the UE detects RLF or receives a network connection abnormality indication from the previous hop relay UE, it directly applies the redundant configuration to access the network, thereby reducing the service interruption duration of the UE.

[0323] However, in a multi-hop relay system, when a UE applies a redundant configuration to access the network, other subordinate UEs may not be able to access the network in a timely manner. To overcome this problem, a redundant configuration can be provided for a group of UEs (including the UE and the UE communicating through the relay of the UE). When the UE detects the occurrence of RLF or receives an indication of the occurrence of RLF, the group of UEs can all take effect the redundant configuration and quickly access the network, thereby reducing the service interruption duration caused by the occurrence of RLF.

[0324] As shown in Figure 4.

[0325] In a possible implementation, relay UE2 and remote UE1 are considered as a group of UEs. The base station may select a target cell or target relay UE for relay UE2 based on the measurement report of relay UE2, and configure redundancy configurations for relay UE2 and remote UE1 respectively.

[0326] When relay UE2 (i.e., an example of the first terminal device) detects that a network connection abnormality occurs, relay UE2 may decide to apply a redundant configuration (such as the first configuration). For example, the redundant configuration of relay UE2 may include a target cell identifier or a target relay identifier (such as the identifier of relay UE4, indicating that relay UE2 accesses the network through relay UE4) and may also include a PC5 relay RLC channel configuration between relay UE2 and remote UE1, as well as a relay configuration for providing relay for remote UE1 and remote UE1. The relay configuration may include identification information of remote UE1 and / or remote UE1, a mapping relationship between the end-to-end radio bearer of remote UE1 and / or remote UE1 and the PC5 relay RLC channel and / or Uu relay RLC channel, wherein the PC5 relay RLC channel is a PC5 RLC bearer between relay UE2 and remote UE1 and / or remote UE1, and the Uu relay RLC channel is an RLC bearer between relay UE2 and a base station.

[0327] After deciding to apply the redundant configuration, relay UE2 also needs to instruct the connected remote UE1 to apply the redundant configuration (i.e., an example of the second configuration), as shown in step S560. Specifically, the instruction can be made by sending a PC5-RRC message (i.e., an example of the fifth indication information) to remote UE1, and the message includes the identification information of the redundant configuration (i.e., an example of the second identification) to instruct remote UE1 to trigger the application of the corresponding redundant configuration. The PC5-RRC message also includes the identification of the relay UE2 and the identification of the remote UE1.

[0328] In another possible implementation, relay UE1, remote UE2 and relay UE2 are a group of UEs. When relay UE1 detects that a network connection abnormality occurs, relay UE1 may decide to apply a redundant configuration. For example, the redundant configuration of relay UE1 may include a target cell identifier or a target relay identifier (such as the identifier of relay UE4, indicating that relay UE1 accesses the network through relay UE4) and may also include a PC5 relay RLC channel configuration between relay UE1 and relay UE2 / remote UE2, as well as a relay configuration for providing relaying for remote UE1, relay UE2 and remote UE2. The relay configuration may include identification information of remote UE1 / relay UE2 / remote UE2, a mapping relationship between the end-to-end radio bearer of remote UE1 / relay UE2 / remote UE2 and the PC5 relay RLC channel / Uu relay RLC channel, wherein the PC5 relay RLC channel is a PC5 RLC bearer between relay UE1 and remote UE1 / relay UE2 / remote UE2, and the Uu relay RLC channel is an RLC bearer between relay UE1 and a base station.

[0329] After relay UE1 decides to apply the redundant configuration, it also needs to instruct the connected relay UE2 and remote UE2 to apply the corresponding redundant configuration. Specifically, the indication can be made through a PC5-RRC message, and the message includes the identification information of the redundant configuration to instruct relay UE2 and remote UE2 to trigger the application of the corresponding redundant configuration. Among them, the redundant configuration of remote UE2 may include the PC5 relay RLC channel configuration of the remote UE, the end-to-end bearer configuration between the remote UE and the base station, and the adaptation layer configuration of the remote UE, including the mapping relationship between the end-to-end radio bearer identifier and the PC5 relay RLC channel.

[0330] In another possible implementation, remote UE1 is in connected state and also configured with redundancy configuration. After relay UE2 receives indication information from relay UE1 and triggers application of redundancy configuration, it also needs to send indication information to remote UE1 to instruct remote UE1 to apply the corresponding redundancy configuration.

[0331] In one possible implementation, the base station configures a redundancy configuration trigger condition for the UE, indicating whether the corresponding redundancy configuration is available. For example, the signal quality of the target relay and target cell indicated by the redundancy configuration meets certain requirements. If the requirements are met, the corresponding redundancy configuration can be triggered to be applied when an RLF occurs. Otherwise, the redundancy configuration becomes invalid.

[0332] Specifically, the UE may sequentially check whether the triggering conditions are met according to the priority order of the multiple redundant configurations configured by the base station. If all the redundant configurations do not meet the configured triggering conditions, the UE will trigger re-establishment.

[0333] In a possible implementation, as the remote UE and the relay UE move, the redundancy configuration also needs to be updated.

[0334] In method 300 shown in FIG3 , upon receiving an indication from the previous-hop terminal device indicating a network connection anomaly, the terminal device will continue to indicate its next-hop terminal device, allowing the subsequent terminal devices to reselect a relay or Uu connection network, thereby avoiding service interruption for terminal device E. Because this method 300 requires sending indications hop by hop, it may result in a prolonged service interruption.

[0335] Figure 6 shows a multi-hop relay method 600 provided by the present application, which includes at least part of the method shown in Figure 6. This can avoid sending indication information hop by hop and reduce the service interruption duration of the terminal.

[0336] This method targets connected devices. When a connected device determines a network connection anomaly occurs, it triggers a re-establishment. If the device is connected to multiple connected devices, it must send instructions to each of them. Upon receiving the instructions, each of them will similarly re-establish the connection. This method requires the base station to maintain the device's context, including information and configuration about its connected devices.

[0337] The following is a detailed description with reference to Figure 6.

[0338] S610 (optional step): The first terminal device reports capability information to the network device.

[0339] For example, the first terminal device sends eighth indication information to the network device, where the eighth indication information is used to indicate that the first terminal device supports configuring relay configuration for the subordinate second terminal device during the re-establishment of the network connection.

[0340] Optionally, the second terminal device and the third terminal device subordinate to the second terminal device may also report indication information to indicate that they are capable of re-establishing the network connection with other terminal devices.

[0341] Optionally, the network device associates a context for the terminal device based on the acquired capability information of the terminal device.

[0342] Optionally, the first terminal device maintains the connection relationship between the first terminal device and the subordinate second terminal device, and related relay configuration.

[0343] In one implementation, the network device is a plurality of RAN nodes, such as a CU and a DU, and the first terminal device reports the capability information to the DU, and the DU sends the capability information to the CU.

[0344] S620: The first terminal device determines that a network connection abnormality occurs.

[0345] Specifically, the first terminal device may detect a network connection abnormality, or receive indication information indicating a network connection abnormality in method 300.

[0346] S630: The first terminal device instructs the subordinate second terminal device to re-establish the first connection. (This step is optional and may not be instructed.)

[0347] The first connection is a network connection between the second terminal device and the network device through the first terminal device.

[0348] Optionally, in step S640, the second terminal device may further instruct a subordinate third terminal device to re-establish a third connection, where the third connection is a network connection between the third terminal device and the network device via the second terminal device and the first terminal device.

[0349] S650: The first terminal device sends a first message to the network device, indicating that a network connection abnormality has occurred or that a network connection has been re-established.

[0350] Optionally, the first message includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate that when configuring the first terminal device, the relay configuration is also configured for the terminal device to which the first terminal device is connected, or the indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device and the connected terminal device to maintain connection.

[0351] Optionally, the first message includes an association relationship between the second terminal device and the first terminal device, thereby informing the network device that the first terminal device is about to re-establish a network connection with the second terminal device.

[0352] Optionally, the second terminal device sends a second message to the network device, thereby instructing the re-establishment of the first connection.

[0353] The network device configures configuration information for re-establishing the network connection for each terminal device based on the connection relationship and the maintained context information of each terminal device.

[0354] In one implementation, the network device is a plurality of RAN nodes, such as a CU and a DU, and the first terminal device sends the first message to the DU, and the DU sends the first message to the CU.

[0355] S660: The network device sends a first configuration to the first terminal device.

[0356] The first configuration is used for re-establishing a network connection between the first terminal device and the network device. The first configuration includes a relay configuration, and the relay configuration is used for the second terminal device to communicate with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0357] At the same time, the network device sends a second configuration to the second terminal device, where the second configuration is used for the second terminal device to re-establish the first connection with the network device through the first terminal device.

[0358] Optionally, the network device further sends a third configuration to the third terminal device, where the third terminal device is used to communicate with the network device through the second terminal device and the first terminal device.

[0359] In one implementation, the network device is a plurality of RAN nodes, such as a CU and a DU, and the CU sends configuration information corresponding to each terminal device to the DU, and the DU sends the corresponding configuration information to each terminal device.

[0360] The method 600 provided in this application is introduced below in conjunction with the scenario shown in FIG4 and FIG6 .

[0361] As shown in FIG4 , assuming that relay UE1 is an example of the first terminal device in method 600 , relay UE2 is an example of the second terminal device, and remote UE1 is an example of the third terminal device.

[0362] First, a connected UE (e.g., remote UE1) can report service terminal requirement indication information, such as a low interruption duration requirement. Based on this indication information, the network device maintains the connection relationship between the connected UE and its relay (remote UE1's relays include relay UE2 and relay UE1). It also sends a confirmation indication to remote UE1. Based on these requirements, if the relay UE of the connected UE is re-established, the base station can re-establish the connected UE together with the relay and maintain the connection between the connected UE and its relay.

[0363] In this case, remote UE1 needs to instruct its relay UEs, including relay UE2, to not trigger the release of the connection between relay UE2 and remote UE1 and not to send re-establishment indication information when re-establishment occurs. Similarly, after receiving this instruction, relay UE2 sends indication information to relay UE1, instructing relay UE1 to maintain the connection with relay UE2 and not to send any more indication information when re-establishment occurs.

[0364] As shown in step S610, relay UE1 first needs to report capability information (i.e., an example of the eighth indication information) to the network device, thereby informing the network device that relay UE1 supports not releasing the connection with the subordinate UE during re-establishment and directly configuring the relay. Optionally, the capability information also includes capability information of the subordinate UEs of relay UE1.

[0365] As shown in step S620, when relay UE1 determines that the network connection is abnormal (e.g., detecting a Uu RLF), it triggers the re-establishment of the network connection. First, as shown in step S630, it sends seventh indication information to relay UE2. The seventh indication information is used to instruct relay UE1 to re-establish the first connection, where the first connection is the network connection between relay UE2 and the network device through relay UE1.

[0366] Optionally, if remote UE1 also re-establishes the network connection together with relay UE1 and relay UE2, after relay UE2 receives the seventh indication information, as shown in step S640, it sends indication information for re-establishing the third connection to remote UE1, where the third connection is the network connection between remote UE1 and the network device through relay UE2 and relay UE1.

[0367] Optionally, if remote UE2 also re-establishes the network connection with relay UE1, relay UE1 may further send instruction information for re-establishing a fourth connection to remote UE2, where the fourth connection is the network connection between remote UE2 and the network device via relay UE1.

[0368] The relay UE1 triggers the re-establishment of the network connection, further comprising: the relay UE1 sending a first message to the network device, the first message being used to instruct the re-establishment of the network connection. Optionally, the relay UE1 may indicate the re-establishment of the network connection via a cause value in an RRC re-establishment request message, or via an RRC message after the re-establishment is complete, such as a UEAssistantInforamtion message.

[0369] In one possible implementation, as shown in step S650, the first message includes a first association relationship, where the first association relationship is a connection relationship between relay UE1 and relay UE2. Optionally, the first association relationship also includes a connection relationship between relay UE1, relay UE2, and remote UE1. Optionally, the first association relationship also includes a connection relationship between relay UE1 and remote UE2.

[0370] In another possible implementation, relay UE2 may send a second message to the network device, where the second message is used to re-establish the first connection. Optionally, the second message may include the first association relationship.

[0371] After receiving the first association relationship, the network device may perform configuration based on the associated UE information (including remote UE1, relay UE2, and remote UE2) in the context, and send the configuration information to the associated UE.

[0372] Specifically, as shown in step S660, the network device sends a first configuration and a relay configuration to relay UE1. The first configuration is used for relay UE1 to re-establish a network connection with the network device, and the relay configuration is used for relay UE2 to re-establish a network connection with the network device via relay UE1. The network device may also send a second configuration to relay UE2. The second configuration is used for relay UE2 to re-establish a network connection with the network device via relay UE1.

[0373] Optionally, the network device may further send corresponding configuration information (such as the third configuration) and / or configuration information corresponding to remote UE1 to relay UE2, so that relay UE2 and / or remote UE1 may re-establish the network connection together with relay UE1.

[0374] Through the above method, relay UE1 will maintain the connection with the underlying UEs, including the connection with relay UE2 and remote UE2, and maintain the configuration on the PC5 connection, including the PC5 relay RLC channel configuration.

[0375] After obtaining the connection relationship between UEs indicated by the UE, the network device obtains the UE configuration based on the connection relationship between UEs maintained in the context, including the relay configuration of the relay UE, the relay configuration of the remote UE, and the underlying configuration (PC5 relay RLC channel configuration). Based on this configuration information, the base station will configure the relay for relay UE1, and the connection between UEs can reuse this configuration.

[0376] If a relay UE is re-established through a new relay UE, there may be a local ID conflict between the original relay UE configuration and the new relay UE. Therefore, the base station can configure a local ID update for the new relay UE, or configure local ID translation for the relay UE to forward the remote UE's RRC reconfiguration message. In the latter case, the base station can configure a {new local ID, old local ID} mapping for the relay UE based on the configuration in the UE context.

[0377] The base station maintains the connection relationship between the UE in the connected state and the relay of the UE and the relay-related configuration. When the relay is re-established based on RLF triggering, the base station will reuse the configuration between the UE and the relay UE in the context, so that after the relay UE completes the re-establishment, the UE can also restore the connection with the network, thereby reducing the terminal time of the UE.

[0378] Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 900 includes a transceiver unit 910 and a processing unit 920. The transceiver unit 910 can communicate with the outside world, and the processing unit 920 is used to process data. The transceiver unit 910 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0379] In a possible implementation, the apparatus 900 may further include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions and / or data, and the processing unit 920 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit.

[0380] The device 900 can be used to execute the actions performed by the network device in the above method embodiment. In this case, the device 900 can be a network device, or a component that can be configured in a network device. The transceiver unit 910 is used to execute the transceiver-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 920 is used to execute the processing-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0381] Alternatively, the device 900 can be used to execute the actions performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment. In this case, the device 900 can be a terminal device or a component that can be configured on the terminal device. The transceiver unit 910 is used to execute the transceiver-related operations on the terminal device side in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 920 is used to execute the processing-related operations on the terminal device side in the above method embodiment.

[0382] It should also be understood that the device 900 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combined logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art will understand that the device 900 can be specifically a network device or terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiment and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the network device or terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, or the device 900 can be specifically a network device or terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiment and can be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the network device or terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. To avoid repetition, it will not be described here.

[0383] The apparatus 900 of each of the above-mentioned solutions has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the network device or terminal device in the above-mentioned method. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementations. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the transmitting unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor to respectively perform the transceiver operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

[0384] In addition, the transceiver unit 910 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

[0385] It should be noted that the apparatus in FIG7 may be a network element or device in the aforementioned embodiment, or may be a chip or chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. This is not limited here.

[0386] As shown in Figure 8, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1000. The communication device 1000 includes a processor 1010, which is coupled to a memory 1020. The memory 1020 is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The processor 1010 is used to execute the computer programs or instructions and / or data stored in the memory 1020, so that the method in the above method embodiment is executed.

[0387] In a possible implementation, the communication device 1000 includes one or more processors 1010 .

[0388] In a possible implementation, as shown in FIG8 , the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1020 .

[0389] In a possible implementation, the communication device 1000 may include one or more memories 1020 .

[0390] In a possible implementation, the memory 1020 may be integrated with the processor 1010 or separately provided, or the processor 1020 may be outside the communication device 1000 .

[0391] In one possible implementation, as shown in Figure 8, the wireless communication device 1000 may further include a transceiver 1030, which is configured to receive and / or transmit signals. For example, the processor 1010 is configured to control the transceiver 1030 to receive and / or transmit signals.

[0392] As a solution, the communication device 1000 is used to implement the operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0393] For example, the processor 1010 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiment, and the transceiver 1030 is used to implement the sending and receiving-related operations performed by the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0394] As another solution, the communication device 1000 is used to implement the operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0395] For example, the processor 1010 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment, and the transceiver 1030 is used to implement the sending and receiving-related operations performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0396] As shown in FIG9 , an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system 1100 . The chip system 1100 (or also referred to as a processing system) includes a logic circuit 1110 and an input / output interface 1120 .

[0397] Logic circuit 1110 may be a processing circuit within chip system 1100. Logic circuit 1110 may be coupled to a storage unit and invoke instructions within the storage unit, enabling chip system 1100 to implement the methods and functions of various embodiments of the present application. Input / output interface 1120 may be an input / output circuit within chip system 1100, outputting information processed by chip system 1100 or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into chip system 1100 for processing.

[0398] As a solution, the chip system 1100 is used to implement the operations performed by the network device or terminal device in the above various method embodiments.

[0399] For example, the logic circuit 1110 is used to implement the processing-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiment; the input / output interface 1120 is used to implement the sending and / or receiving-related operations of the network device in the above method embodiment.

[0400] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the terminal device or the method executed by the satellite in the above method embodiment are stored.

[0401] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method executed by the terminal device, or the method executed by the network device, or the method executed by the application layer network element in the above method embodiment.

[0402] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method executed by a network device, or the method executed by a terminal device, or the method executed by an application layer network element in the above method embodiment.

[0403] An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes one or more of the network devices or terminal devices in the above embodiments.

[0404] The explanation and beneficial effects of the relevant contents in any of the wireless communication devices provided above may refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0405] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal device or network device may include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or a Windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0406] The embodiments of the present application do not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application; as long as it is capable of communicating according to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, it is sufficient. For example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may be a terminal device or a satellite, or a functional module in the terminal device or satellite that is capable of calling and executing the program.

[0407] Various aspects or features of the embodiments of the present application may be implemented as methods, apparatus, or articles of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. As used herein, the term "article of manufacture" may encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, a computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.).

[0408] The various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0409] It should be understood that the processor mentioned 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, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0410] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM may include the following forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0411] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0412] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0413] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0414] 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.

[0415] In the several embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present 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 the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, 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.

[0416] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the 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.

[0417] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0418] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0419] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A multi-hop relay method, characterized in that: Applied to a first terminal device, the method includes: receiving first indication information sent by a second terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate that a network connection abnormality occurs between the second terminal device and a first network device, and the first terminal device communicates with the first network device through the second terminal device; Sending a second indication message or a third indication message to a third terminal device, wherein the third terminal device communicates with the first network device through the first terminal device, wherein the second indication message is used to indicate that a network connection abnormality occurs between the first terminal device and the first network device, and the third indication message is used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive identification information related to the first indication information sent by the second terminal device, where the identification information related to the first indication information is used to indicate that the first indication information indicates that a network connection abnormality occurs between the second terminal device and the first network device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The sending the second indication information to the third terminal device includes: The second indication information is sent to the third terminal device according to identification information related to the first indication information.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The third indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection, including: the third indication information is used to instruct the first terminal device to re-establish RRC or reselect a cell.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving instruction information for releasing a second connection from the third terminal device, where the second connection is a network connection between the first terminal device and the third terminal device; Change the identifier and / or system message request information of the paging message corresponding to the third terminal device and the terminal device that communicates with the first network device through the third terminal device.

6. A multi-hop relay method, characterized in that: Applied to a first terminal device, the method includes: receiving a first configuration; Determining that a network connection abnormality occurs on a first link between the first network device; According to the first configuration, the network connection is re-established with the second network device via the second link, and the first configuration is used for the first terminal device to re-establish the network connection via the second link.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The re-establishing of the network connection with the second network device through the second link includes: Re-establish the network connection with the second network device through the second terminal device.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: The first configuration includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the second terminal device, the first identifier and the identifier of the first terminal device, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send fourth indication information to the second terminal device, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the second terminal device to apply a first relay configuration, where the first relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to perform relay communication with the second network device through the second terminal device.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The fourth indication information includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the second terminal device, the identifier of the first terminal device and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

11. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send fifth indication information to a third terminal device, wherein the fifth indication information is used to instruct the third terminal device to apply a second configuration, wherein the second configuration is used to re-establish a network connection between the third terminal device and the network device via a third link, wherein the third link includes a communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device, and the second link.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The fifth indication information includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the third terminal device, the identifier of the first terminal device, and a second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: The first configuration also includes one or more of the following: Relay configuration for the third terminal device to communicate with the network device via the first terminal device; The identifier of the third terminal device; A second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

14. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determine whether the signal quality between the second terminal device and the second terminal device meets the first condition.

15. A multi-hop relay method, characterized in that: Applied to a second terminal device, the method includes: receiving a first relay configuration; Receive fourth indication information sent by the first terminal device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate application of a first relay configuration, where the first relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to perform relay communication with a second network device via the second terminal device.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the second terminal device, the identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The fourth indication information includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the second terminal device, the identifier of the first terminal device, and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: Send sixth indication information to a fourth terminal device, wherein the sixth indication information is used to instruct the fourth terminal device to apply a second relay configuration, and the second relay configuration is used for the first terminal device and / or the second terminal device to perform relay communication with a second network device through the fourth terminal device.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The sixth indication information includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the second terminal device, the identifier of the fourth terminal device, and a third identifier, wherein the third identifier is used to identify the first relay configuration and / or the second relay configuration.

20. A multi-hop relay method, characterized in that: Applied to a network device, the method comprises: Receiving information of candidate relay terminal devices sent by the first terminal device, where the candidate relay terminal devices include the second terminal device; Determine a first configuration, where the first configuration is used to re-establish a network connection through a second terminal device after a network connection abnormality occurs between the first terminal device and the network device; Send the first configuration to the first terminal device.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The determining of the first configuration includes: The first configuration is determined according to at least one of the following information: information of the candidate relay terminal device, and communication capability of the first terminal device.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The first configuration includes at least one of the following information: The identification information of the second terminal device, the first identification and the identification information of the first terminal device, wherein the first identification is used to identify the first configuration.

23. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 22, characterized in that The method further comprises: determining a first relay configuration; The first relay configuration is sent to the second terminal device, where the first relay configuration is used for the first terminal device to perform relay communication with the second network device through the second terminal device.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The first relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the second terminal device, the identifier of the first terminal device and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the first relay configuration.

25. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determine a second configuration, where the second configuration is used for a third terminal device to re-establish a network connection through the first terminal device; Send the second configuration to the third terminal device.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The second configuration includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the third terminal device, the identifier of the first terminal device and the second identifier, wherein the second identifier is used to identify the first configuration and / or the second configuration.

27. The method according to any one of claims 25 or 26, characterized in that The first configuration also includes a relay configuration for a third terminal device to communicate through the first terminal device and the network device.

28. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determine a second relay configuration, where the second relay configuration is used for the first terminal device and / or the second terminal device to perform relay communication with a network device via a fourth terminal device; Send the second relay configuration to the fourth terminal device.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The second relay configuration includes at least one of the following information: The identifier of the second terminal device, the identifier of the fourth terminal device and a third identifier, wherein the third identifier is used to identify the second relay configuration.

30. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A unit for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 5; or, a unit for implementing the method of any one of claims 6 to 14; or, a unit for implementing the method of any one of claims 15 to 19; or, a unit for implementing the method of any one of claims 20 to 29.

31. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed, Execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or Execute the method according to any one of claims 6 to 14, or Execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 19, or Perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 29.

32. A chip system, characterized in that: comprising: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, Execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5; or Performing the method according to any one of claims 6 to 14; or Performing the method according to any one of claims 15 to 19; or Perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 29.

33. A communication system, characterized in that: It includes a first terminal device, a second terminal device and a network device, the first terminal device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 6 to 14, the second terminal device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 15 to 19, and the network device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 20 to 29.

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