Relay communication method, terminal device, and network device

Abstract

The present application relates to a relay communication method, a terminal device, and a network device. The relay communication method comprises: a terminal device receives a near-field communication rule, the near-field communication rule comprising an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC. The present application can realize multi-hop relay communication by means of a plurality of relay UEs.

Description

Relay communication method, terminal device and network device Technical Field

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

[0002] In related technologies, when a remote user equipment (UE) needs to communicate with a network but cannot directly access the network, it can discover and select a relay UE and communicate with the network through this relay UE. Alternatively, when a UE needs to communicate with another UE but cannot directly communicate in close proximity, it can discover and select a relay UE and communicate with the other UE through this relay UE. However, existing relay communication can only be implemented through a single relay UE. How to implement multi-hop relay communication through multiple relay UEs is a technical problem that needs to be solved.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a relay communication method, a terminal device, and a network device, which can realize multi-hop relay communication through multiple relay UEs.

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

[0006] The terminal device receives a short distance communication rule, where the short distance communication rule includes an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

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

[0008] The network device sends a short distance communication rule to the terminal device, where the short distance communication rule includes an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

[0009] An embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including:

[0010] The first transceiver module is configured to receive a short distance communication rule, where the short distance communication rule includes an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

[0011] An embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including:

[0012] The second transceiver module is used to send a short distance communication rule to the terminal device, where the short distance communication rule includes a relay service code RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

[0013] An embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the terminal device performs the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0014] An embodiment of the present application provides a network device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory to enable the network device to perform the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0015] An embodiment of the present application provides a chip for implementing the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0016] Specifically, the chip includes: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0017] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a device, the device executes the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0018] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0019] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned relay communication method.

[0020] Using the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device receives short-range communication rules, which include multi-hop relay authorization information, and can authorize the multi-hop relay capability of the terminal device, thereby realizing multi-hop relay communication. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the 5G network system architecture.

[0022] Figure 2 is a second schematic diagram of the 5G network system architecture.

[0023] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an architecture model for implementing relay communication using a UE-to-network relay device (UE-to-Network Relay).

[0024] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an architecture model for implementing relay communication using a UE-to-UE relay device (UE-to-UE Relay).

[0025] FIG5 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method 500 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0026] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of an architecture model using multi-hop relay between a remote UE and a core network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0027] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of an architecture model using multi-hop relay between two UEs according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0028] FIG8 is an implementation flow chart of the first embodiment of the present application.

[0029] FIG9 is a flowchart of the implementation of the second embodiment of the present application.

[0030] FIG10 is a flowchart of the implementation of the third embodiment of the present application.

[0031] FIG11 is a flowchart of the implementation of the fourth embodiment of the present application.

[0032] FIG12 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0033] FIG13 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] FIG14 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 1400 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] FIG15 is a schematic block diagram of a network device 1500 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0036] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0037] FIG17 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 1700 according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0039] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) system, New Radio (NR) system, NR system evolution system, LTE on unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) system, NR on unlicensed spectrum (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, NR-U) system, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Fifth Generation (5G) system or other communication systems.

[0040] Generally speaking, traditional communication systems support a limited number of connections and are easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, mobile communication systems will not only support traditional communications, but will also support, for example, device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, etc. The embodiments of the present application can also be applied to these communication systems.

[0041] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a dual connectivity (DC) scenario, and a standalone (SA) networking scenario.

[0042] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum can also be considered as a shared spectrum; or, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to an authorized spectrum, wherein the authorized spectrum can also be considered as an unshared spectrum.

[0043] The embodiments of the present application describe various embodiments in conjunction with network devices and terminal devices, wherein the terminal device may also be referred to as user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc.

[0044] The terminal device can be a station (STAION, ST) in a WLAN, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next-generation communication system such as an NR network, or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network, etc.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (for example, on an airplane, balloon, and satellite, etc.).

[0046] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home, etc.

[0047] As an example and not a limitation, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices may also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that are intelligently designed and developed using wearable technology for daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not only hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Broadly speaking, wearable smart devices include those that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device may be a device for communicating with a mobile device. The network device may be an access point (AP) in a WLAN, an evolved base station (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or a relay station or access point, or a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and a network device (gNB) in an NR network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network or a network device in an NTN network, etc.

[0049] As an example and not a limitation, in an embodiment of the present application, the network device may have a mobile feature, for example, the network device may be a mobile device. Alternatively, the network device may be a satellite or a balloon station. For example, the satellite may be a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, etc. Optionally, the network device may also be a base station set up in a location such as land or water.

[0050] In an embodiment of the present application, the network device can provide services for a cell, and the terminal device communicates with the network device through the transmission resources used by the cell (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources). The cell can be a cell corresponding to the network device (for example, a base station). The cell can belong to a macro base station or a base station corresponding to a small cell. The small cells here may include: metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present application, the network equipment may include access network equipment and core network equipment. The access network equipment may be an evolutionary base station (evolutional node B, referred to as eNB or e-NodeB) macro base station, micro base station (also known as "small base station"), pico base station, access point (AP), transmission point (TP) or new generation Node B (gNodeB) in a long-term evolution (LTE) system, a next-generation (mobile communication system) (next radio, NR) system or an authorized auxiliary access long-term evolution (LAA-LTE) system.

[0052] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, devices having communication functions in the network / system may be referred to as communication devices. Communication devices may include network devices and terminal devices having communication functions. The network devices and terminal devices may be specific devices in the embodiments of the present application and will not be described in detail here. Communication devices may also include other devices in the communication system, such as network controllers, mobility management entities, and other network entities, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0053] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" is simply a description of an association between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0054] It should be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association. For example, "A indicates B" can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can be obtained through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C; it can also mean that there is an association between A and B.

[0055] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or an association relationship between the two, or a relationship between indication and being indicated, configuration and being configured, etc.

[0056] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0057] The embodiments of the present application are applicable to mobile networks, that is, cellular networks. The following implementation manner will be described using a 5G network as an example. However, the embodiments of the present application are not limited to 5G networks and can also be used in future mobile networks, such as 6G networks. The 5G network system architecture diagram is shown in Figures 1 and 2. As shown in Figure 1, the core network network elements are connected to each other through agreed interfaces. As shown in Figure 2, the core network network elements interact by calling the services provided by the network elements. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the interface method or service call mode used between the network elements. Among them, the UE establishes an access layer connection with the AN through the Uu port, exchanges access layer messages and wireless data transmission, and the UE establishes a non-access layer (NAS) connection with the AMF through the N1 port, and exchanges NAS messages. AMF is the mobility management function in the core network, and SMF is the session management function in the core network. In addition to performing mobility management on the UE, the AMF is also responsible for forwarding session management-related messages between the UE and the SMF. PCF is the policy management function in the core network, responsible for formulating policies related to mobility management, session management, billing, etc. for the UE. The UPF is a user plane function in the core network. It transmits data with the external data network through the N6 interface and with the AN through the N3 interface. After the UE accesses the 5G network through the Uu port, it establishes a PDU session for data transmission under the control of the SMF.

[0058] A UE with Prose (Proximity-based Services) capability can also directly communicate with another UE with Prose capability through the PC5 interface.

[0059] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture model for relay communication using a UE-to-network relay. As shown in Figure 3, when a UE can connect to an external data network via a 5G network and also has Prose capability, this UE can act as a relay UE. Another remote UE with Prose capability can establish a direct connection with the relay UE via the PC5 interface and interact with the external network through a PDU session established between the relay UE and the 5G network. This relay UE is connected to the operator network and can be called a UE-to-network relay.

[0060] Figure 4 illustrates an architectural model for relay communication using a UE-to-UE relay. As shown in Figure 4, when two Prose-capable UEs are far apart and cannot communicate directly via the PC5 interface, they can use a Prose-capable relay UE to relay the communication. As shown in Figure 4, the relay UE (Relay UE) can communicate directly with UE-1 via the PC5 interface, and can also communicate directly with UE-2 via the PC5 interface. UE-1 and UE-2 can then interact with each other through the relay UE. This relay UE is referred to as a UE-to-UE relay.

[0061] Figures 3 and 4 above show examples of single-hop relay, that is, a remote UE establishes communication with the network through a relay UE, or two UEs establish communication through a relay UE. However, in some cases, communication cannot be established through a single-hop relay. For example, in a scenario where a UE establishes relay communication with a network, when there is no relay UE that can communicate with both the remote UE and the network, it may be necessary to go through multiple relay UEs before the remote UE can communicate with the network. However, current technology does not support the remote UE communicating with the network through a multi-hop relay UE. For another example, in a scenario where relay communication is established between two UEs, when there is no relay UE that can be close to both UE1 and UE2, it may be necessary to go through multiple relay UEs before UE1 can communicate with UE2. However, current technology does not support UE1 discovering UE2 through a multi-hop relay UE, or communicating with UE2 through a multi-hop relay UE.

[0062] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a relay communication method 500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The method can optionally be applied to the systems shown in FIG1-4, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following contents.

[0063] S510: The terminal device receives a short distance communication rule, where the short distance communication rule includes a relay service code (RSC) and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

[0064] Among them, RSC represents the relay service that can be provided.

[0065] In one example, the short-range communication rule includes an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

[0066] In one example, the short-range communication rule includes multiple RSCs and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to each RSC in some or all of the multiple RSCs.

[0067] The terminal device may receive the short-range communication rules from the core network element. For example, the PCF directly sends the short-range communication rules to the terminal device, or the PCF forwards the short-range communication rules to the terminal device via the AMF.

[0068] In some implementations, the multi-hop relay authorization information includes at least one of the following:

[0069] Whether to allow multi-hop relay;

[0070] The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays.

[0071] The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relay may represent the maximum number of relay nodes that the relay service represented by the corresponding RSC is allowed to pass through.

[0072] The relay communication method proposed in the embodiment of the present application can support multi-hop relay between a remote UE and a network, and / or support multi-hop relay between two UEs.

[0073] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an architecture model using multi-hop relays between a remote UE and a core network element in an embodiment of the present application. The remote UE and the core network element can be connected through multiple relays. As shown in Figure 6, the relay UE is connected to the operator network. For the sake of distinction, the relay UE connected to the operator network will be referred to as the first relay UE below; the remote UE accesses the operator network through one or more intermediate relays and the first relay UE; one or more intermediate relays are located between the remote UE and the first relay UE. The intermediate relay is a new relay proposed in an embodiment of the present application, which will be introduced in detail below. In the example of Figure 6, there is an intermediate relay between the remote UE and the first relay UE.

[0074] In some implementations, the intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and the first relay UE respectively. In this case, there is an intermediate relay between the remote UE and the first relay UE.

[0075] In some embodiments, an intermediate relay is connected to a remote UE and another intermediate relay respectively; or, an intermediate relay is connected to two other intermediate relays respectively; or, an intermediate relay is connected to another intermediate relay and a first relay UE respectively. In this case, there are multiple intermediate relays between the remote UE and the first relay UE.

[0076] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an architecture model using multi-hop relay between two UEs in an embodiment of the present application. Two endpoint UEs (such as UE-1 and UE-2 in Figure 7) can be connected through multiple relay UEs. For ease of distinction, the relay UE located between the two endpoint UEs will be referred to as the second relay UE below; the endpoint UE is connected to another endpoint UE through multiple second relay UEs.

[0077] In some implementations, the second relay UE is connected to the endpoint UE and another second relay UE respectively; or, the second relay UE is connected to two other second relay UEs respectively.

[0078] In the scenario shown in Figure 6, the aforementioned short-range communication rules can also authorize a UE as a remote UE, or authorize a UE as an intermediate relay, or authorize a UE as a first relay UE. In the scenario shown in Figure 7, the aforementioned short-range communication rules can also authorize a UE as an endpoint UE, or authorize a UE as a second relay UE. After the UE is authorized, the multi-hop relay discovery process can be used to obtain relay information, thereby establishing a connection via the multi-hop relay. The following specific embodiments are introduced for the scenarios shown in Figures 6 and 7 respectively.

[0079] Example 1:

[0080] Figure 8 is a flowchart of the implementation of the first embodiment of the present application. This embodiment can be applied to the scenario shown in Figure 6, that is, the scenario where the remote UE communicates with the network through multiple relay UEs.

[0081] In some examples, a core network element (e.g., PCF) configures short-range communication rules for a UE. The short-range communication rules may authorize a UE as a remote UE, a UE as a first relay UE (also known as a relay between the UE and the network, UE-to-Network Relay), or a UE as an intermediate relay (also known as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay).

[0082] The method of authorizing a UE to act as an intermediate relay according to the short-range communication rules includes, for example, at least one of the following:

[0083] Directly indicate that the UE is authorized to act as an intermediate relay;

[0084] The UE is authorized as a remote UE and is also authorized as a first relay UE.

[0085] The short-range communication rules include one or more RSCs and the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to each RSC. RSC represents the relay service that can be provided.

[0086] The multi-hop relay authorization information includes, for example, at least one of the following:

[0087] Whether to allow multi-hop relay;

[0088] The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays.

[0089] After completing the authorization of the remote UE and the relay UE (including the first relay UE and the intermediate relay), the remote UE obtains the information of the relay UE through the multi-hop relay discovery process, thereby accessing the network through the multi-hop relay. The discovery of the multi-hop relay includes two discovery methods: Model A and Model B, which correspond to the two discovery methods included in the dotted box in Figure 8. The two methods are two parallel options, and the remote UE can use any discovery method. As shown in Figure 8, at least some of the following steps are included:

[0090] Step 801: A core network element, such as the PCF, configures short-range communication rules for the UE. This can be a direct message or forwarded to the UE via another network element, such as the AMF. The configuration of the UE-to-Network Relay is step 801a, the configuration of the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay is step 801b, and the configuration of the Remote UE is step 801c. Steps 801a, 801b, and 801c are not sequential. Specifically:

[0091] In step 801a, the core network element sends a short distance communication rule to the UE, authorizing the UE to be a UE-to-Network Relay. The short distance communication rule includes one or more relay service codes RSC and multi-hop relay information corresponding to each RSC.

[0092] In step 801b, the core network element sends a short distance communication rule to the UE, authorizing the UE as a Remote UE. The short distance communication rule includes one or more relay service codes RSC and multi-hop relay information corresponding to each RSC.

[0093] In step 801c, the core network element sends the short distance communication rules to the UE, authorizing the UE to serve as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay.

[0094] In step 801c, the short-range communication rule may directly indicate that the UE is authorized as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay. The short-range communication rule includes one or more relay service codes (RSCs) and multi-hop relay information corresponding to each RSC.

[0095] Alternatively, the short-range communication rules may include both information authorizing the UE to act as a Remote UE and information authorizing the UE to act as a UE-to-Network Relay. This means that granting the UE two identities authorizes the UE to act as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay. The short-range communication rules include one or more Relay Service Codes (RSCs) and the multi-hop relay information corresponding to each RSC.

[0096] The discovery method of mode A includes the following steps 802 to 803:

[0097] Step 802: The UE acting as a UE-to-Network Relay sends a discovery announcement message, which carries an RSC, announcing that it can provide relay services between the UE and the network for the RSC (UE-to-Network Relay service). The discovery announcement message may be a broadcast message. The discovery announcement message may carry a first relay hop number, which is the current relay hop number information (or referred to as the relay hop number that has occurred), and the value of the current relay hop number information may be 1. Alternatively, if the discovery announcement message does not carry the current relay hop number information, it can be understood that the current relay hop number is the initial default value. For example, the initial default value of the current relay hop number = 1, which means that the UE is the first relay UE connected to the network. The specific values ​​are not specified in this application. The specific values ​​appearing in this embodiment and subsequent embodiments are examples and are not intended to limit this application.

[0098] Step 803: The UE acting as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives a discovery announcement message. This discovery announcement message carries the RSC and / or the first relay hop count, where the first relay hop count is the current relay hop count. This discovery announcement message may be received from the UE-to-Network Relay or from another intermediate UE-to-Network Relay. In other words, there may be multiple intermediate UE-to-Network Relays between the UE and the network.

[0099] The intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines whether it can continue to send discovery announcement messages as the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay based on the RSC and / or current relay hop count in the received discovery announcement message, as well as the RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information authorized in step 801c. In the case of determining to continue sending the discovery announcement message, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay updates or determines the current relay hop count carried in the discovery announcement message, and continues to send the discovery announcement message, and the sent discovery announcement message carries the RSC and the current relay hop count. In one example, the current relay hop count carried in the sent discovery announcement message is equal to the current relay hop count carried in the received discovery announcement message (or the default value of the current relay hop count) + 1.

[0100] For example, if the discovery announcement message received by the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay from the UE-to-Network Relay carries RSC 1, the discovery announcement message does not carry the current relay hop count, indicating that the default value of the current relay hop count = 1; and, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives RSC 1 and the maximum number of multi-hop relay hops allowed corresponding to the RSC 1 = 3 in step 801c of the authorization process; based on this information, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines that the maximum number of multi-hop relay hops allowed corresponding to RSC 1 is greater than the initial default value of the relay hop count, therefore, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay can continue to send discovery announcement messages as the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay, and the current relay hop count carried in the discovery announcement message = 2 (that is, the default value of the current relay hop count + 1).

[0101] For example, if the discovery announcement message received by the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay from other intermediate UE-to-Network Relay carries RSC 1, and the current relay hop number corresponding to RSC 1 = 2; and the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives RSC 1 and the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop number corresponding to RSC 1 = 3 in step 801c of the authorization process; based on this information, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines that the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop number corresponding to RSC 1 is greater than the current relay hop number, therefore, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay can continue to send discovery announcement messages as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay, and the current relay hop number carried in the discovery announcement message = 3 (that is, the current relay hop number carried in the received discovery announcement message + 1).

[0102] If the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines that the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to the RSC is less than or equal to the current relay hop count corresponding to the RSC in the received discovery announcement message, it will no longer send the discovery announcement message.

[0103] The Remote UE can receive discovery announcement messages from multiple devices. The Remote UE obtains the relay services supported by the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay (through the RSC identifier) ​​based on the received discovery announcement messages. The Remote UE can also determine how many relays it needs to pass through between itself and the network based on the current relay hop count, so as to select an appropriate relay to access the network, for example, giving priority to relays with fewer current relay hop counts.

[0104] The discovery method of mode B includes the following steps 804 to 807:

[0105] Step 804: The Remote UE sends a discovery request message carrying the RSC, indicating that the UE-to-Network Relay service of the RSC is required. The discovery request message may be a broadcast message.

[0106] Step 805: The UE acting as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives a discovery request message. The discovery request message may be received from the Remote UE and does not carry the current relay hop count (in this case, the current relay hop count is, for example, 0 by default); the discovery request message may also be received from other intermediate UE-to-Network Relays and carry the current relay hop count. That is, there may be multiple intermediate UE-to-Network Relays between the UE and the network. The intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines whether it can continue to send the discovery request message as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay based on the RSC and / or current relay hop count in the received discovery request message, as well as the authorized RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information in step 801c. If it is determined to continue sending the discovery request message, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay updates or determines the current relay hop count carried in the discovery request message, and continues to send the discovery request message, with the sent discovery request message carrying the RSC and the current relay hop count. In one example, the current relay hop count carried in the sent discovery request message is equal to the current relay hop count carried in the received discovery request message (or the default value of the current relay hop count) + 1.

[0107] The specific manner in which the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines whether to continue sending the discovery request message can refer to the example in the above step 803 and will not be repeated here.

[0108] Step 806: The UE-to-Network Relay receives a discovery request message from the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay. Based on the RSC and / or current relay hop count in the received discovery request message, as well as the authorized RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information in step 801a, it determines whether it can provide services as a UE-to-Network Relay. If so, it determines the final relay hop count. For example, the final relay hop count can be equal to the current relay hop count carried in the discovery request message + 1, representing the number of relays including the UE-to-Network Relay. The UE-to-Network Relay returns a discovery response message to the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay, which carries the RSC and the final relay hop count.

[0109] For example, the received discovery request message carries RSC 1, and the current relay hop number corresponding to RSC 1 = 2, and the maximum number of multi-hop relay hops allowed corresponding to RSC 1 = 3; based on this information, the UE-to-Network Relay determines that the maximum number of multi-hop relay hops allowed corresponding to RSC 1 is greater than the current relay hop number. Therefore, the UE-to-Network Relay can provide services as a UE-to-Network Relay and return a discovery response message to the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay. The final relay hop number carried in the discovery response message = 3 (that is, the current relay hop number carried in the received discovery request message + 1).

[0110] If the UE-to-Network Relay determines that the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to the RSC is less than or equal to the current relay hop count corresponding to the RSC in the received discovery announcement message, the discovery request message is ignored.

[0111] Step 807: The Intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives a Discovery Response message, which may be received from the UE-to-Network Relay or from another Intermediate UE-to-Network Relay. The Discovery Response message carries the RSC and the final relay hop count. The Intermediate UE-to-Network Relay sends a Discovery Response message to the previous Intermediate UE-to-Network Relay or to the Remote UE, carrying the RSC and the final relay hop count.

[0112] The Remote UE obtains the relay services supported by the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay (through the RSC identifier) ​​based on the received discovery response message. It can also obtain the number of relays required between itself and the network through the final relay hop count, so as to select an appropriate relay to access the network, for example, giving priority to relays with fewer final relay hops.

[0113] Example 2:

[0114] Figure 9 is a flowchart of the implementation of the second embodiment of the present application. This embodiment can be applied to the scenario shown in Figure 6, that is, the scenario where the remote UE communicates with the network through multiple relay UEs.

[0115] In this embodiment, the authorization method for each UE is the same as that in the first embodiment. After completing the authorization of the remote UE and the relay UE (including the first relay UE and the intermediate relay), the remote UE obtains the information of the relay UE through the discovery process of the multi-hop relay, thereby accessing the network through the multi-hop relay. The discovery of the multi-hop relay includes two discovery methods, Model A and Model B, which correspond to the two discovery methods included in the dotted box in Figure 9. The two methods are two parallel options, and the remote UE can use any one of the discovery methods. As shown in Figure 9, at least part of the following steps is included:

[0116] Step 901: The core network element configures short-range communication rules for the UE, which may refer to step 801 of the first embodiment.

[0117] The discovery method of mode A includes the following steps 902 to 903:

[0118] Step 902: The UE acting as a UE-to-Network Relay sends a discovery announcement message, which carries an RSC, announcing that it can provide UE-to-Network Relay services for the RSC. The discovery announcement message can be a broadcast message. The discovery announcement message can carry a first relay hop count, which is the remaining relay hop count information. The UE-to-Network Relay sets the remaining relay hop count to the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count in step 901a - 1. The discovery announcement message may not carry the remaining relay hop count information. In this case, the default initial value of the remaining relay hop count = the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count in step 901a - 1.

[0119] Step 903: The UE acting as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives a discovery announcement message. This discovery announcement message carries the RSC and / or the first relay hop count, which is the number of remaining relay hops. This discovery announcement message may be received from the UE-to-Network Relay or from another intermediate UE-to-Network Relay. In other words, there may be multiple intermediate UE-to-Network Relays between the UE and the network.

[0120] The intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines whether it can continue to send the discovery announcement message as the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay based on the remaining relay hops in the received discovery announcement message. In the case of determining to continue sending the discovery announcement message, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay updates or determines the remaining relay hops carried in the discovery announcement message, and continues to send the discovery announcement message, and the sent discovery announcement message carries the RSC and the remaining relay hops. In one example, the current relay hops carried in the sent discovery announcement message are equal to the remaining relay hops carried in the received discovery announcement message (or the default initial value of the remaining relay hops) - 1.

[0121] For example, if the discovery announcement message received by the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay carries RSC 1 and the remaining relay hops corresponding to RSC 1, the remaining relay hops = 2; and, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives RSC 1 and the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to RSC 1 in step 901c of the authorization process, and the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to RSC 1 includes information allowing multi-hop relay; based on this information, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines that it can continue to send discovery announcement messages as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay, and the remaining relay hops carried in the discovery announcement message = 1 (that is, the remaining relay hops carried in the received discovery announcement message - 1).

[0122] If the number of remaining relay hops carried in the discovery announcement message received by the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay is equal to 0, the discovery announcement message will no longer be sent. Alternatively, if the discovery announcement message received by the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay carries RSC 1 and the corresponding number of remaining relay hops, and the remaining number of relay hops is greater than 0, but the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay does not receive the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to RSC 1 in step 901c (or receives the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to RSC 1, but the multi-hop relay authorization information includes information that multi-hop relay is not allowed), the discovery announcement message will no longer be sent.

[0123] The Remote UE can receive discovery announcement messages from multiple devices. The Remote UE obtains the relay services supported by the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay (through the RSC identifier) ​​based on the received discovery announcement messages. The Remote UE can also determine how many relays it needs to pass through between itself and the network through the remaining relay hops, and thus select an appropriate relay to access the network, for example, giving priority to relays with a larger number of remaining relay hops.

[0124] The discovery method of mode B includes the following steps 904 to 907:

[0125] Step 904: The Remote UE sends a discovery request message carrying the RSC, indicating that the UE-to-Network Relay service of the RSC is required. The discovery request message may be a broadcast message.

[0126] Step 905: The UE acting as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives a discovery request message. The discovery request message may be received from the Remote UE and does not carry the remaining relay hop count (in this case, for example, the default remaining relay hop count is the maximum relay hop count obtained in step 901c); the discovery request message may also be received from other intermediate UE-to-Network Relays and carry the remaining relay hop count. That is, there may be multiple intermediate UE-to-Network Relays between the UE and the network. The intermediate UE-to-Network Relay can determine whether it can continue to send the discovery request message as an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay based on the remaining relay hop count in the received discovery request message. If it is determined to continue sending the discovery request message, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay updates or determines the remaining relay hop count carried in the discovery request message, and continues to send the discovery request message. The sent discovery request message carries the RSC and the remaining relay hop count. In one example, the remaining relay hop count carried in the sent discovery request message is equal to the remaining relay hop count carried in the received discovery request message (or a default value of the remaining relay hop count) - 1.

[0127] The specific manner in which the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay determines whether to continue sending the discovery request message can refer to the example in step 903 of this embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0128] Step 906: The UE-to-Network Relay receives a discovery request message from an intermediate UE-to-Network Relay. Based on the number of remaining relay hops in the received discovery request message, the UE-to-Network Relay determines that it can provide services as a UE-to-Network Relay. It then determines the final relay hop count. In one example, the final relay hop count = the maximum number of multi-hop relay hops allowed - the number of remaining relay hops + 1.

[0129] For example, if the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to the RSC configured in step 901a is 4, and the remaining relay hop count in the received discovery request message is 3, this means that after passing through one intermediate UE-to-Network Relay and the UE-to-Network Relay itself, a total of two relays are required for the UE to connect to the network. In this case, 2 is used as the final relay hop count, representing the number of relays including the UE-to-Network Relay. The UE-to-Network Relay returns a discovery response message to the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay, which carries the RSC and the final relay hop count.

[0130] Step 907: This step can refer to step 807 in the first embodiment and will not be described again here.

[0131] Example 3:

[0132] Figure 10 is a flowchart of the implementation of the third embodiment of the present application. This embodiment can be applied to the scenario shown in Figure 7, that is, the scenario where UE1 communicates with UE2 via a multi-hop relay UE.

[0133] In some examples, a core network element (e.g., PCF) configures short-range communication rules for a UE. The short-range communication rules may authorize a UE to be an end UE or a second relay UE (or UE-to-UE relay).

[0134] The short-range communication rules include one or more RSCs and the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to each RSC. RSC represents the relay service that can be provided.

[0135] The multi-hop relay authorization information includes, for example, at least one of the following:

[0136] Whether to allow multi-hop relay;

[0137] The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays.

[0138] After completing the authorization of the End UE and the second relay UE, the End UE obtains the multi-hop relay information through the multi-hop relay discovery process, thereby communicating with the other End UE through the multi-hop relay. Multi-hop relay discovery includes two discovery methods: Model A and Model B. The two discovery methods correspond to the dotted boxes in Figure 10. The two methods are two parallel options, and the remote UE can use either discovery method. As shown in Figure 10, at least some of the following steps are included:

[0139] Step 1001: A core network element, such as a PCF, configures short-range communication rules for the UE. This can be done by sending a message directly or forwarding it to the UE via another network element, such as an AMF. The configuration for the End UE is step 1001a, and the configuration for the UE-to-UE Relay is step 1001b. Steps 1001a and 1001b are not sequential. Specifically:

[0140] In step 1001a, the core network element sends a short-range communication rule to the UE, authorizing the UE as an endpoint UE to communicate with another End UE through the UE-to-UE Relay. The short-range communication rule includes one or more relay service codes RSC and the multi-hop relay information corresponding to each RSC.

[0141] In step 1001b, the core network element sends a short distance communication rule to the UE, authorizing the UE to provide UE-2-UE Relay service. The short distance communication rule includes one or more relay service codes RSC and multi-hop relay information corresponding to each RSC.

[0142] The discovery method of mode A includes the following steps 1002 to 1004:

[0143] Step 1002: UE2 sends a discovery announcement message, which carries RSC and UE2 information. The discovery announcement message may be a broadcast message.

[0144] Steps 1003-1004: The UE acting as a UE-to-UE Relay receives a discovery announcement message, which may be received from UE2 or from another UE-to-UE Relay. That is, there may be multiple UE-to-UE Relays between UE1 and UE2. The discovery announcement message includes RSC and UE2 information. If received from UE2, it does not carry relay hop count information. In this case, for example, the default relay hop count is 0. If received from another UE-to-UE Relay, it may also carry a first relay hop count, which is the current relay hop count information (or the relay hop count that has occurred).

[0145] The UE-to-UE Relay determines whether it can continue to send the discovery announcement message as the UE-to-UE Relay based on the RSC and / or current relay hop count in the received discovery announcement message, as well as the RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information authorized in step 1001b. In the case of determining to continue sending the discovery announcement message, the UE-to-UE Relay updates or determines the current relay hop count carried in the discovery announcement message, and continues to send the discovery announcement message, which also carries the RSC and UE2 information. In one example, the current relay hop count carried in the sent discovery announcement message is equal to the current relay hop count carried in the received discovery announcement message (or the default value of the current relay hop count) + 1.

[0146] For example, if the discovery announcement message received by the UE-to-UE Relay from UE2 carries RSC 1, the discovery announcement message does not carry the current relay hop count, indicating that the initial default value of the current relay hop count = 0; and, the intermediate UE-to-UE Relay receives RSC 1 and the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to the RSC 1 = 3 in step 1001b of the authorization process; based on this information, the UE-to-UE Relay determines that the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to RSC 1 is greater than the default value of the current relay hop count, so the UE-to-UE Relay can continue to send discovery announcement messages as a UE-to-UE Relay, and the current relay hop count carried in the discovery announcement message = 1 (that is, the default value of the current relay hop count + 1).

[0147] For example, if the discovery announcement message received by the UE-to-UE Relay from other UE-to-UE Relays carries RSC 1, and the current relay hop number corresponding to RSC 1 = 2; and the UE-to-UE Relay receives RSC 1 and the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop number corresponding to RSC 1 = 4 in step 1001b of the authorization process; based on this information, the UE-to-UE Relay determines that the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop number corresponding to RSC 1 is greater than the current relay hop number, therefore, the UE-to-UE Relay can continue to send discovery announcement messages as a UE-to-UE Relay, and the current relay hop number carried in the discovery announcement message = 3 (that is, the current relay hop number carried in the received discovery announcement message + 1).

[0148] If the UE-2-UE Relay determines that the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to the RSC is less than or equal to the current relay hop count corresponding to the RSC in the received discovery announcement message, the discovery announcement message is no longer sent.

[0149] UE1 can receive discovery announcement messages from multiple devices. UE1 obtains the relay service supported by UE-to-UE Relay (through RSC identifier) ​​based on the received discovery announcement message. It can also determine how many relays it needs to pass through with UE2 through the current number of relay hops, and thus select a suitable relay for UE2 communication, for example, giving priority to the relay with fewer current relay hops.

[0150] The discovery method of mode B includes the following steps 1005 to 1010:

[0151] Step 1005: UE1 sends a discovery request message, which carries RSC and UE1 information. The discovery request message may be a broadcast message.

[0152] Steps 1006-1007: The UE acting as a UE-to-UE Relay receives a discovery request message, which may be received from UE1 or from another UE-to-UE Relay. That is, there may be multiple UE-to-UE Relays between UE1 and UE2. The discovery announcement message includes RSC and UE1 information. If it is received from UE1, it does not carry relay hop count information. In this case, for example, the current relay hop count is set to 0 by default. If it is received from another UE-to-UE Relay, it also carries the current relay hop count. The UE-to-UE Relay determines whether it can continue to send discovery request messages as a UE-to-UE Relay based on the RSC and / or current relay hop count in the received discovery request message, as well as the authorized RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information in step 1001b. If it is determined to continue sending the discovery request message, the UE-to-UE Relay updates or determines the current relay hop count carried in the discovery request message and continues to send the discovery request message. The sent discovery request message carries the RSC and the current relay hop count, as well as the RSC and UE1 information. In one example, the current relay hop count carried in the sent discovery request message is equal to the current relay hop count (or the default value of the current relay hop count) carried in the received discovery request message + 1.

[0153] The specific manner in which the UE-to-UE Relay determines whether to continue sending the discovery request message can refer to the examples in steps 1003-1004 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0154] Step 1008: After receiving the Discovery Request message, UE2 can send a Discovery Response message to respond to the UE-to-UE Relay. This message includes the RSC, UE1 information, UE2 information, and the final relay hop count. The final relay hop count is the current relay hop count in the Discovery Request message received by the UE.

[0155] Steps 1009-1010: The UE-to-UE Relay receives a discovery response message, which may be received from the UE-to-UE Relay or from UE2. The UE-to-UE Relay sends a discovery response message to the previous UE-to-UE Relay or to UE1, which carries the RSC, UE1 information, UE2 information, and the final relay hop count.

[0156] UE1 obtains UE-to-UE Relay information based on the received discovery response message, and obtains the number of relays required between itself and UE2 through the final relay hop count, thereby selecting an appropriate relay access network, for example, giving priority to relays with fewer final relay hop counts.

[0157] Example 4:

[0158] Figure 11 is a flowchart of the implementation of the fourth embodiment of the present application. This embodiment can be applied to the scenario shown in Figure 7, that is, the scenario where UE1 communicates with UE2 via a multi-hop relay UE.

[0159] In this embodiment, the authorization method for each UE is the same as that in Example 3. After completing the authorization of the endpoint UE and the second relay UE (i.e., UE-to-UE Relay), the endpoint UE obtains the information of the relay UE through the discovery process of the multi-hop relay, thereby communicating with another endpoint UE through the multi-hop relay. The discovery of the multi-hop relay includes two discovery methods, Model A and Model B, which correspond to the two discovery methods in the dotted box in Figure 11. The two methods are two parallel options, and the endpoint UE can adopt any one of the discovery methods. As shown in Figure 11, at least part of the following steps is included:

[0160] Step 1101: The core network element configures short-range communication rules for the UE, which may refer to step 1001 of the third embodiment.

[0161] The discovery method of mode A includes the following steps 1102 to 1104:

[0162] Step 1102: UE2 sends a discovery message, which carries RSC and UE2 information. The discovery discovery message may be a broadcast message.

[0163] Steps 1103-1104: The UE acting as a UE-to-UE Relay receives a discovery announcement message. This discovery announcement message may be received from UE2 or from another UE-to-UE Relay. In other words, there may be multiple UE-to-UE Relays between UE1 and UE2. This discovery announcement message includes the RSC and UE2 information. If received from UE2, it does not carry information about the number of remaining relay hops. In this case, for example, the number of remaining relay hops is defaulted to the maximum number of multi-hop relay hops allowed obtained in step 1101b. If received from another UE-to-UE Relay, it also carries information about the number of remaining relay hops.

[0164] The UE-to-UE Relay determines whether it can continue to send discovery announcement messages as a UE-to-UE Relay based on the RSC and / or remaining relay hops in the received discovery announcement message, as well as the RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information authorized in step 1101b. In the case of determining to continue sending the discovery announcement message, the UE-to-UE Relay updates or determines the remaining relay hops carried in the discovery announcement message, and continues to send the discovery announcement message, which also carries the RSC and UE2 information. In one example, the remaining relay hops carried in the sent discovery announcement message are equal to the remaining relay hops carried in the received discovery announcement message (or the default value of the remaining relay hops) - 1.

[0165] For example, if the discovery announcement message received by the UE-to-UE Relay carries RSC 1 and the remaining relay hops corresponding to RSC 1, the remaining relay hops = 2; and, the intermediate UE-to-Network Relay receives RSC 1 and the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to RSC 1 in step 1101b of the authorization process, and the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to RSC 1 includes information allowing multi-hop relay; based on this information, the UE-to-UE Relay determines that it can continue to send discovery announcement messages as a UE-to-UE Relay, and the remaining relay hops carried in the discovery announcement message = 1 (that is, the remaining relay hops carried in the received discovery announcement message - 1).

[0166] If the number of remaining relay hops carried in the discovery announcement message received by the UE-to-UE Relay is equal to 0, the discovery announcement message will no longer be sent. Alternatively, if the discovery announcement message received by the UE-to-UE Relay carries RSC 1 and the corresponding number of remaining relay hops, and the remaining number of relay hops is greater than 0, but the UE-to-UE Relay does not receive the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to RSC 1 in step 1101b (or receives the multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to RSC 1, but the multi-hop relay authorization information includes information that multi-hop relay is not allowed), the discovery announcement message will no longer be sent.

[0167] UE1 can receive discovery announcement messages from multiple devices. UE 1 obtains the relay services (through RSC identifiers) supported by UE-to-UE Relay and information about the peer UE2 based on the received discovery announcement messages. UE 1 can also determine how many relays are needed between itself and UE2 through the remaining relay hops (for example, equal to the maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays minus the remaining relay hops), thereby selecting a suitable relay to communicate with UE2, for example, giving priority to relays with more remaining hops.

[0168] The discovery method of mode B includes the following steps 1105 to 1110:

[0169] How to discover Model B:

[0170] Step 1105: UE1 sends a discovery request message, which carries the RSC and UE1 information. The discovery request message may be a broadcast message.

[0171] Steps 1106-1107: The UE acting as a UE-to-UE Relay receives a discovery request message, which may be received from UE1 or from another UE-to-UE Relay. That is, there may be multiple UE-to-UE Relays between UE1 and UE2. The discovery request message includes RSC and UE1 information. If it is received from UE1, it does not carry relay hop count information. In this case, for example, the default remaining relay hop count is the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count obtained in step 1101b; if it is received from another UE-to-UE Relay, it also carries the remaining relay hop count. The UE-to-UE Relay can determine whether it can continue to send discovery request messages as a UE-to-UE Relay based on the remaining relay hop count in the received discovery request message. If it is determined to continue sending the discovery request message, the UE-to-UE Relay updates or determines the remaining relay hops carried in the discovery request message and continues to send the discovery request message. The sent discovery request message carries the RSC and UE1 information and the remaining relay hops. In one example, the remaining relay hops carried in the sent discovery request message are equal to the remaining relay hops carried in the received discovery request message (or the default value of the remaining relay hops) - 1.

[0172] The specific manner in which the UE-to-UE Relay determines whether to continue sending the discovery request message can refer to the examples in steps 1103-1104 of this embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0173] Step 1108: After receiving the Discovery Request message, UE2 can send a Discovery Response message in response to the UE-to-UE Relay. This message includes the RSC, UE1 information, UE2 information, and the final relay hop count. For example, if the RSC configured in step 1101a corresponds to a maximum multi-hop relay hop count of 4, and the remaining relay hop count in the received Discovery Request message is 1, this means that a total of three relays are required for the UE to connect to the network via three intermediate UE-to-Network Relays. Therefore, 3 is used as the final relay hop count, representing the total number of relays required between UE1 and UE2.

[0174] Steps 1109-1110: This step can refer to steps 1009-1010 in Example 3 and will not be repeated here.

[0175] The embodiments of the present application solve the problem of how to discover relay UEs and obtain the number of relay hops when communication between a UE and a network requires multiple relay UEs, or when communication between two UEs requires multiple relay UEs, so that the UE can select a suitable relay UE to access the network or communicate with the opposite UE.

[0176] In summary of the above embodiments, in some implementations, the relay communication method proposed in this application may further include:

[0177] The terminal device receives a discovery announcement message or a discovery application message, where the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message carries the RSC and / or the first relay hop count;

[0178] The terminal device determines whether to continue sending the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message based on the content carried by the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message and the multi-hop relay authorization information.

[0179] The terminal device may be a terminal device authorized as an intermediate relay, a first relay UE or a second relay UE.

[0180] In one example, when it is determined to continue sending the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message, the terminal device updates or determines the first relay hop count carried by the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message, and continues to send the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message.

[0181] The first relay hop count may include at least one of the following:

[0182] The number of relay hops that have occurred;

[0183] Remaining relay hops.

[0184] In one example, the terminal device also receives a discovery response message, where the discovery response message carries the RSC and the final relay hop count; and the terminal device sends the discovery response message.

[0185] In summary of the above embodiments, in some implementations, the relay communication method proposed in this application may further include:

[0186] The terminal device receives a discovery announcement message from one or more first terminals, where the discovery announcement message carries an RSC supported by the first terminal and a first relay hop count corresponding to the RSC;

[0187] The terminal device selects the first terminal according to the content carried by the one or more discovery announcement messages.

[0188] The terminal device may be a terminal device authorized as a remote UE or an endpoint UE.

[0189] In one example, the first terminal includes at least one of an intermediate relay, a first relay UE, and a second relay UE. For example, if the terminal device is authorized as a remote UE, the terminal device can receive a discovery announcement message from the intermediate relay and / or the first relay UE; for another example, if the terminal device is authorized as an endpoint UE, the terminal device can receive a discovery announcement message from the second relay UE.

[0190] The first relay hop count may include at least one of the following:

[0191] The number of relay hops that have occurred;

[0192] Remaining relay hops.

[0193] In one example, the terminal device selects the first terminal based on content carried by one or more discovery announcement messages, including:

[0194] In the case where the first relay hop count includes the relay hop count that has occurred, the terminal device selects the first terminal with the least relay hop count that has occurred; and / or,

[0195] In the case that the first relay hop count includes the remaining relay hop count, the terminal device selects the first terminal with the largest remaining relay hop count.

[0196] In one example, the terminal device further includes receiving a discovery response message from one or more first terminals, the discovery response message carrying an RSC supported by the first terminal and a final relay hop count corresponding to the RSC; and the terminal device selecting the first terminal based on the content carried in the one or more discovery response messages. For example, the terminal device may select the first terminal with the fewest final relay hop count.

[0197] Based on the above embodiments, when the terminal device is a terminal device authorized as a first relay UE or an endpoint UE, in some embodiments, the relay communication method proposed in the present application may also include: the terminal device sends a discovery declaration message, which carries the RSC and / or the first relay hop count.

[0198] Alternatively, in some embodiments, the relay communication method proposed in this application may further include:

[0199] The terminal device receives the discovery request message, which carries the RSC and the first relay hop count;

[0200] The terminal device determines the final relay hop count based on the first relay hop count carried in the discovery request message;

[0201] The terminal device sends a discovery response message, which carries the RSC and the final relay hop count.

[0202] The first relay hop count may include at least one of the following:

[0203] The number of relay hops that have occurred;

[0204] Remaining relay hops.

[0205] In some embodiments, the number of relay hops that have occurred (or the current number of relay hops) includes: the number of intermediate relays and first relay UEs that the discovery announcement message or discovery request message has passed through, or the number of second relay UEs that the discovery announcement message or discovery request message has passed through. The former corresponds to the scenario shown in Figure 6, that is, the scenario where the remote UE communicates with the network through multiple relay UEs; the latter corresponds to the scenario shown in Figure 7, that is, the scenario where two UEs communicate through multi-hop relay UEs.

[0206] In some implementations, the remaining relay hop count includes the difference between the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to the RSC and the number of relay hops that have occurred.

[0207] In some implementations, the final relay hop count includes: the number of intermediate relays traversed by the discovery request message upon reaching the first relay UE plus 1, or the number of second relay UEs traversed by the discovery request message upon reaching the endpoint UE. The former corresponds to the scenario shown in FIG6 , where the remote UE communicates with the network via multiple relay UEs; the latter corresponds to the scenario shown in FIG7 , where two UEs communicate via multiple relay UEs.

[0208] This embodiment of the present application also provides a relay communication method. FIG12 is a schematic flowchart of a relay communication method 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application. This method can optionally be applied to the systems shown in FIG1-6, but is not limited thereto. The method includes at least part of the following content.

[0209] S1210: The network device sends a short distance communication rule to the terminal device. The short distance communication rule includes an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

[0210] The relay communication method proposed in the embodiment of the present application sends short-range communication rules to the terminal device through the network device, which can authorize the multi-hop relay capability of the terminal device, thereby solving the problem of how to discover the relay UE and obtain the number of relay hops when the UE and the network device need to communicate through multiple relay UEs, or when two UEs need to communicate through multiple relay UEs, thereby supporting multi-hop relay between the remote UE and the network device, and / or supporting multi-hop relay between two UEs.

[0211] In some implementations, the multi-hop relay authorization information includes at least one of the following:

[0212] Whether to allow multi-hop relay;

[0213] The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays.

[0214] In some embodiments, the short-range communication rules authorize the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay.

[0215] In some embodiments, the short-range communication rules authorize the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay, including:

[0216] The short distance communication rule authorizes the terminal device as a remote UE and authorizes the terminal device as a first relay UE.

[0217] In some implementations, one or more intermediate relays are located between the remote UE and the first relay UE.

[0218] In some embodiments, the intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and the first relay UE respectively; or,

[0219] The intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and another intermediate relay respectively; or,

[0220] The intermediate relay is connected to two other intermediate relays respectively; or,

[0221] The intermediate relay is connected to another intermediate relay and the first relay UE respectively.

[0222] In some implementations, the remote UE accesses the operator network through one or more intermediate relays and a first relay UE.

[0223] In some implementations, the first relay UE is connected to an operator network.

[0224] In some embodiments, the short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to be a second relay UE.

[0225] In some implementations, a plurality of second relay UEs are located between two endpoint UEs.

[0226] In some implementations, the second relay UE is connected to the endpoint UE and another second relay UE respectively; or,

[0227] The second relay UE is connected to two other second relay UEs respectively.

[0228] In some embodiments, the short range communication rules authorize the terminal device to be an endpoint UE.

[0229] In some implementations, an endpoint UE is connected to another endpoint UE via multiple second relay UEs.

[0230] For specific examples of the network device execution method 1200 of this embodiment, please refer to the above-mentioned method 500 and the relevant descriptions of network devices such as core network elements in embodiments one to four. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0231] FIG13 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 1300 may include:

[0232] The first transceiver module 1310 is configured to receive a short distance communication rule, where the short distance communication rule includes an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

[0233] In some implementations, the multi-hop relay authorization information includes at least one of the following:

[0234] Whether to allow multi-hop relay;

[0235] The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays.

[0236] In some embodiments, the short-range communication rules authorize the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay.

[0237] In some embodiments, the short-range communication rules authorize the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay, including:

[0238] The short distance communication rule authorizes the terminal device as a remote UE and authorizes the terminal device as a first relay UE.

[0239] In some embodiments, the short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to be a second relay UE.

[0240] The first transceiver module 1310 is further configured to receive a discovery announcement message or a discovery application message, where the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message carries the RSC and / or the first relay hop count.

[0241] FIG14 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 1400 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG14 , the terminal device 1400 further includes:

[0242] The first processing module 1420 is configured to determine whether to continue sending the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message according to the content carried in the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message and the multi-hop relay authorization information.

[0243] In some embodiments, the first processing module 1420 is further used to update or determine the first relay hop count carried by the discovery announcement message or discovery application message when it is determined to continue sending the discovery announcement message or discovery application message, and continue sending the discovery announcement message or discovery application message.

[0244] In some implementations, the first transceiver module 1310 is further configured to receive a discovery response message, the discovery response message carrying the RSC and the final relay hop count; and send the discovery response message.

[0245] In some embodiments, the short range communication rules authorize the terminal device to be a remote UE or an endpoint UE.

[0246] In some embodiments, the first transceiver module 1310 is further configured to receive a discovery announcement message from one or more first terminals, where the discovery announcement message carries an RSC supported by the first terminal and a first relay hop count corresponding to the RSC;

[0247] The first processing module 1420 is configured to select a first terminal according to content carried in one or more discovery announcement messages.

[0248] In some embodiments, the first processing module 1420 is configured to select a first terminal having the least number of relay hops that have occurred when the first number of relay hops includes the number of relay hops that have occurred; and / or

[0249] In a case where the first relay hop count includes the remaining relay hop count, the first terminal having the largest remaining relay hop count is selected.

[0250] In some embodiments, the first transceiver module 1310 is further configured to receive a discovery response message from one or more first terminals, where the discovery response message carries the RSC supported by the first terminal and the final relay hop count corresponding to the RSC;

[0251] The first processing module 1420 is further configured to select a first terminal according to content carried in one or more discovery response messages.

[0252] In some implementations, the first processing module 1420 is configured to select a first terminal with the least number of final relay hops.

[0253] In some embodiments, the first terminal includes at least one of an intermediate relay, a first relay UE, and a second relay UE.

[0254] In some embodiments, the short distance communication rule authorizes the terminal device to be a first relay UE or an endpoint UE.

[0255] The first transceiver module 1310 is further configured to send a discovery announcement message, where the discovery announcement message carries the RSC and / or the first relay hop count.

[0256] In some embodiments, the first transceiver module 1310 is further configured to receive a discovery request message, where the discovery request message carries the RSC and the first relay hop count;

[0257] The first processing module 1420 is further configured to determine a final relay hop count based on the first relay hop count carried in the discovery request message;

[0258] The first transceiver module 1310 is further configured to send a discovery response message, where the discovery response message carries the RSC and the final relay hop count.

[0259] In some implementations, the first relay hop count includes at least one of the following:

[0260] The number of relay hops that have occurred;

[0261] Remaining relay hops.

[0262] In some implementations, the number of relay hops that have occurred is the number of intermediate relays and first relay UEs that the discovery announcement message or discovery request message passes through, or the number of second relay UEs that the discovery announcement message or discovery request message passes through.

[0263] In some implementations, the remaining relay hop count includes the difference between the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to the RSC and the number of relay hops that have occurred.

[0264] In some implementations, the final relay hop count is the number of intermediate relays that the discovery request message passes through when reaching the first relay UE plus 1, or the number of second relay UEs that the discovery request message passes through when reaching the endpoint UE.

[0265] In some implementations, one or more intermediate relays are located between the remote UE and the first relay UE.

[0266] In some embodiments, the intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and the first relay UE respectively; or,

[0267] The intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and another intermediate relay respectively; or,

[0268] The intermediate relay is connected to two other intermediate relays respectively; or,

[0269] The intermediate relay is connected to another intermediate relay and the first relay UE respectively.

[0270] In some implementations, the remote UE accesses the operator network through one or more intermediate relays and a first relay UE.

[0271] In some implementations, the first relay UE is connected to an operator network.

[0272] In some implementations, a plurality of second relay UEs are located between two endpoint UEs.

[0273] In some embodiments,

[0274] The second relay UE is connected to the endpoint UE and another second relay UE respectively; or,

[0275] The second relay UE is connected to two other second relay UEs respectively.

[0276] In some implementations, an endpoint UE is connected to another endpoint UE via multiple second relay UEs.

[0277] The terminal devices 1300 and 1400 of the embodiments of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the terminal devices in the aforementioned method embodiments. The processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects corresponding to the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the terminal devices 1300 and 1400 can be found in the corresponding descriptions in the aforementioned method embodiments, which will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) in the terminal devices 1300 and 1400 of the application embodiments can be implemented by different modules (sub-modules, units or components, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0278] FIG15 is a schematic block diagram of a network device 1500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The network device 1500 may include:

[0279] The second transceiver module 1510 is configured to send a short distance communication rule to the terminal device, where the short distance communication rule includes an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

[0280] In some implementations, the multi-hop relay authorization information includes at least one of the following:

[0281] Whether to allow multi-hop relay;

[0282] The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays.

[0283] In some embodiments, the short-range communication rules authorize the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay.

[0284] In some embodiments, the short-range communication rules authorize the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay, including:

[0285] The short distance communication rule authorizes the terminal device as a remote UE and authorizes the terminal device as a first relay UE.

[0286] In some implementations, one or more intermediate relays are located between the remote UE and the first relay UE.

[0287] In some embodiments, the intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and the first relay UE respectively; or,

[0288] The intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and another intermediate relay respectively; or,

[0289] The intermediate relay is connected to two other intermediate relays respectively; or,

[0290] The intermediate relay is connected to another intermediate relay and the first relay UE respectively.

[0291] In some implementations, the remote UE accesses the operator network through one or more intermediate relays and a first relay UE.

[0292] In some implementations, the first relay UE is connected to an operator network.

[0293] In some embodiments, the short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to be a second relay UE.

[0294] In some implementations, a plurality of second relay UEs are located between two endpoint UEs.

[0295] In some implementations, the second relay UE is connected to the endpoint UE and another second relay UE respectively; or,

[0296] The second relay UE is connected to two other second relay UEs respectively.

[0297] In some embodiments, the short range communication rules authorize the terminal device to be an endpoint UE.

[0298] In some implementations, an endpoint UE is connected to another endpoint UE via multiple second relay UEs.

[0299] The network device 1500 of the embodiment of the present application can implement the corresponding functions of the network device in the aforementioned method embodiment. The corresponding processes, functions, implementation methods and beneficial effects of each module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) in the network device 1500 can be found in the corresponding description in the above method embodiment, and will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the functions described in the various modules (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) in the network device 1500 of the embodiment of the application can be implemented by different modules (sub-module, unit or component, etc.) or by the same module (sub-module, unit or component, etc.).

[0300] Figure 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1600 includes a processor 1610, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to enable the communication device 1600 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0301] In one embodiment, the communication device 1600 may further include a memory 1620. The processor 1610 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1620 to enable the communication device 1600 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0302] The memory 1620 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1610 , or may be integrated into the processor 1610 .

[0303] In one embodiment, the communication device 1600 may further include a transceiver 1630 , and the processor 1610 may control the transceiver 1630 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, the transceiver 1630 may send information or data to other devices, or receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0304] The transceiver 1630 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1630 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0305] In one embodiment, the communication device 1600 may be a network device of an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1600 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0306] In one embodiment, the communication device 1600 may be a terminal device of an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 600 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in each method of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0307] 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip 1700 according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1700 includes a processor 1710, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0308] In one embodiment, the chip 1700 may further include a memory 1720. The processor 1710 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1720 to implement the method executed by the terminal device or the network device in the embodiment of the present application.

[0309] The memory 1720 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1710 , or may be integrated into the processor 1710 .

[0310] In one embodiment, the chip 1700 may further include an input interface 1730. The processor 1710 may control the input interface 1730 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0311] In one embodiment, the chip 1700 may further include an output interface 1740. The processor 1710 may control the output interface 1740 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0312] In one embodiment, the chip can be applied to the network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0313] In one embodiment, the chip can be applied to the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0314] The chips used in the network device and the terminal device may be the same chip or different chips.

[0315] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0316] The processor mentioned above may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor mentioned above may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0317] The memory mentioned above may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM).

[0318] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0319] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function in accordance with the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, computer, server or data center by wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0320] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0321] 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.

[0322] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any modifications or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A relay communication method, comprising: The terminal device receives a short distance communication rule, where the short distance communication rule includes a relay service code RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The multi-hop relay authorization information includes at least one of the following: Whether to allow multi-hop relay; The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The short-range communication rule authorizing the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay includes: The short distance communication rule authorizes the terminal device to be a remote user equipment UE, and authorizes the terminal device to be a first relay UE.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to be a second relay UE.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: The terminal device receives a discovery announcement message or a discovery application message, where the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message carries the RSC and / or the first relay hop count; The terminal device determines whether to continue sending the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message based on the content carried by the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message and the multi-hop relay authorization information.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: In the case of determining to continue sending the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message, the terminal device updates or determines the first relay hop number carried by the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message, and continues to send the discovery announcement message or the discovery application message.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising: The terminal device receives a discovery response message, where the discovery response message carries the RSC and the final relay hop count; The terminal device sends the discovery response message.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to be a remote UE or an endpoint UE.

10. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 9, further comprising: The terminal device receives a discovery announcement message from one or more first terminals, where the discovery announcement message carries an RSC supported by the first terminal and a first relay hop count corresponding to the RSC; The terminal device selects the first terminal according to the content carried by the one or more discovery announcement messages.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The terminal device selecting a first terminal according to content carried by the one or more discovery announcement messages includes: In a case where the first number of relay hops includes the number of relay hops that have occurred, the terminal device selects the first terminal with the least number of relay hops that have occurred; and / or, In a case where the first relay hop count includes the remaining relay hop count, the terminal device selects the first terminal with the largest remaining relay hop count.

12. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 9, further comprising: The terminal device receives a discovery response message from one or more first terminals, where the discovery response message carries an RSC supported by the first terminal and a final relay hop count corresponding to the RSC; The terminal device selects the first terminal according to the content carried by the one or more discovery response messages.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The terminal device selecting the first terminal according to content carried by the one or more discovery response messages includes: The terminal device selects the first terminal with the least number of final relay hops.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein: The first terminal includes at least one of an intermediate relay, a first relay UE, and a second relay UE.

15. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to be a first relay UE or an endpoint UE.

16. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 15, further comprising, The terminal device sends a discovery announcement message, where the discovery announcement message carries the RSC and / or the first relay hop count.

17. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 15, further comprising, The terminal device receives a discovery application message, where the discovery application message carries the RSC and the first relay hop count; The terminal device determines the final relay hop count according to the first relay hop count carried in the discovery application message; The terminal device sends a discovery response message, where the discovery response message carries the RSC and the final relay hop count.

18. The method according to any one of claims 6-8, 10-11, 16-17, wherein: The first relay hop count includes at least one of the following: The number of relay hops that have occurred; Remaining relay hops.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The number of relay hops that have occurred is the number of intermediate relays and first relay UEs that the discovery announcement message or discovery application message passes through, or the number of second relay UEs that the discovery announcement message or discovery application message passes through.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein The remaining relay hop count includes the difference between the maximum allowed multi-hop relay hop count corresponding to the RSC and the relay hop count that has occurred.

21. The method of claim 8, 12, 13 or 17, wherein: The final relay hop count is the number of intermediate relays that the discovery request message passes through when reaching the first relay UE plus 1, or the number of second relay UEs that the discovery request message passes through when reaching the endpoint UE.

22. The method of claim 3, 4 or 14, wherein: One or more of the intermediate relays are located between the remote UE and the first relay UE.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and the first relay UE respectively; or, The intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and another intermediate relay respectively; or, The intermediate relay is connected to two other intermediate relays respectively; or, The intermediate relay is connected to another intermediate relay and the first relay UE respectively.

24. The method of claim 4, 9, 22 or 23, wherein: The remote UE accesses the operator network through one or more intermediate relays and a first relay UE.

25. The method of claim 4, 14, 15, 22, 23 or 24, wherein The first relay UE is connected to an operator network.

26. The method according to claim 5 or 14, wherein The plurality of second relay UEs are located between the two endpoint UEs.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein The second relay UE is connected to the endpoint UE and another second relay UE respectively; or, The second relay UE is connected to two other second relay UEs respectively.

28. The method of claim 9, 15, 26 or 27, wherein The endpoint UE is connected to another endpoint UE through multiple second relay UEs.

29. A relay communication method, comprising: The network device sends a short distance communication rule to the terminal device, where the short distance communication rule includes a relay service code RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein The multi-hop relay authorization information includes at least one of the following: Whether to allow multi-hop relay; The maximum number of hops allowed for multi-hop relays.

31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, wherein The short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein The short-range communication rule authorizing the terminal device to act as an intermediate relay includes: The short distance communication rule authorizes the terminal device to be a remote UE and authorizes the terminal device to be a first relay UE.

33. The method according to claim 31 or 32, wherein One or more of the intermediate relays are located between the remote UE and the first relay UE.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein The intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and the first relay UE respectively; or, The intermediate relay is connected to the remote UE and another intermediate relay respectively; or, The intermediate relay is connected to two other intermediate relays respectively; or, The intermediate relay is connected to another intermediate relay and the first relay UE respectively.

35. The method according to claim 32 or 33, wherein The remote UE accesses the operator network through one or more intermediate relays and a first relay UE.

36. The method according to any one of claims 32 to 35, wherein: The first relay UE is connected to an operator network.

37. The method according to claim 29 or 30, wherein The short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to be a second relay UE.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein: The plurality of second relay UEs are located between the two endpoint UEs.

39. The method according to claim 38, wherein The second relay UE is connected to the endpoint UE and another second relay UE respectively; or, The second relay UE is connected to two other second relay UEs respectively.

40. The method according to claim 29 or 30, wherein The short distance communication rules authorize the terminal device to be an endpoint UE.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein The endpoint UE is connected to another endpoint UE through multiple second relay UEs.

42. A terminal device comprising: The first transceiver module is configured to receive a short distance communication rule, where the short distance communication rule includes an RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

43. A network device comprising: The second transceiver module is used to send short-range communication rules to the terminal device, where the short-range communication rules include RSC and multi-hop relay authorization information corresponding to the RSC.

44. A terminal device comprising: A transceiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory so that the terminal device executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 28.

45. A network device comprising: A transceiver, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory so that the network device performs the method as described in any one of claims 29 to 41.

46. A chip comprising: A processor, configured to call and execute a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 28 or 29 to 41.

47. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when executed by a device, causes the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 28 or 29 to 41.

48. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 28 or 29 to 41.

49. A computer program causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 28 or 29 to 41.

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