User to user multi-hop communication method, apparatus, and system, and user equipment

Abstract

The present application relates to a user-to-user multi-hop communication method, apparatus, and system, and a user equipment. The method comprises: receiving a request message, the request message comprising proximity service information; when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of a UE-to-UE relay UE, sending a next-hop request message; and receiving a response message and sending a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message, the destination address of the next-hop response message being a source address identifier of the request message. According to the method, a U2U multi-hop relay networking solution can be provided.

Description

Terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, device, system and user equipment

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on March 20, 2024, with application number 2024103222178, and application name “Terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, device, system and user equipment”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, device, system, and user equipment. Background Art

[0003] ProSe (Proximity Service) is a Sidelink-based D2D (Device-to-Device) service technology that allows direct discovery and communication between UEs (User Equipment), and allows UEs to communicate with the network or another UE through a relay.

[0004] The existing 3GPP specifications define a reference architecture for single-hop U2U (User to User) communications. However, there is currently a lack of solutions for multi-hop UE-to-UE relay networking.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, device, system and user equipment to address the above technical problems.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, applied to a UE-to-UE relay UE, the method comprising:

[0008] receiving a request message, wherein the request message includes proximity service information;

[0009] If the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE, sending a next hop request message;

[0010] A response message is received, and a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message is sent, where the destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0011] In one embodiment, the request message further includes a hop count, and sending the next hop request message includes:

[0012] In the case that the number of hops does not reach the preset number of hops, a next hop request message is sent, where the number of hops in the next hop request message is the sum of the number of hops in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a first preset number.

[0013] In one embodiment, the request message further includes a lifetime, and sending the next hop request message includes:

[0014] In the case that the lifetime does not reach the preset lifetime, a next hop request message is sent, wherein the lifetime in the next hop request message is the difference between the lifetime in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a second preset number.

[0015] In one embodiment, when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE, sending the next hop request message includes:

[0016] In a case where there is a target UE among the neighboring UEs of the UE-to-UE relay UE, a next hop request message is sent to the target UE, and the preset proximity service information corresponding to the target UE matches the proximity service information.

[0017] In one embodiment, the request message includes a user information identifier of the target UE, and the method further includes:

[0018] Matching the user information identifier of each of the neighboring UEs with the user information identifier of the target UE;

[0019] In a case where there is a target neighboring UE whose user information identifier matches the user information identifier of the target UE, the target neighboring UE is used as the target UE.

[0020] In one embodiment, when the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the same request message for proximity service information sent by different UEs, sending the next hop request message includes:

[0021] Determining, from each of the UEs that sends the request message, a previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE;

[0022] Sending a next-hop request message based on the request message of the previous-hop UE.

[0023] In one embodiment, determining, from each UE that sends a request message, a previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE includes:

[0024] The previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength of each UE that sends the request message and / or the minimum hop number principle.

[0025] In one of the embodiments, the minimum hop number principle is to use the UE corresponding to the request message with the minimum hop number among the request messages sent by each UE as the previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE.

[0026] In one of the embodiments, the next hop request message also includes the user information identifier of the UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0027] In a second aspect, the present application further provides a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, applied to a source UE, the method comprising:

[0028] sending a request message, the request message including proximity service information, so that the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE;

[0029] Receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the source UE using the source address identifier of the request message.

[0030] In a third aspect, the present application further provides a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, applied to a target UE, the method comprising:

[0031] receiving a request message, wherein the request message includes proximity service information;

[0032] In a case where the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, a response message is sent in response to the request message, where the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0033] In one embodiment, when the target UE receives the same request message for proximity service information sent by different UE-to-UE relay UEs, sending a response message in response to the request message includes:

[0034] Determine, from each of the UE-to-UE relay UEs that sends the request message, a previous-hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the target UE;

[0035] In response to the request message from the previous-hop UE to UE relay UE, a response message is sent to the previous-hop UE to UE relay UE.

[0036] In one embodiment, determining the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the target UE from each UE-to-UE relay UE that sends the request message includes:

[0037] The previous hop UE to UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength and / or the minimum hop number principle of each UE to UE relay UE that sends the request message.

[0038] In one of the embodiments, the response message also includes the user information identifier of the target UE.

[0039] In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication system, comprising a source UE, at least one UE-to-UE relay UE and a target UE, wherein:

[0040] The source UE is configured to send a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information;

[0041] The UE-to-UE relay UE is configured to receive a request message sent by a previous hop UE of the UE-to-UE relay UE, and send a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE;

[0042] The target end UE is used to receive a request message sent by the previous hop UE to UE relay UE of the target end UE, and when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target end UE, in response to the request message, send a response message to the previous hop UE to UE relay UE, where the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message sent by the previous hop UE to UE relay UE.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, the present application further provides a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device, which is applied to UE-to-UE relay UE, and the device includes:

[0044] A first receiving module is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information;

[0045] a sending module, configured to send a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE to UE relay UE;

[0046] The second receiving module is configured to receive a response message and send a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message, where the destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0047] In one embodiment, the request message further includes a hop count, and the sending module is further configured to:

[0048] In the case that the number of hops does not reach the preset number of hops, a next hop request message is sent, where the number of hops in the next hop request message is the sum of the number of hops in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a first preset number.

[0049] In one embodiment, the request message also includes a lifetime, and the sending module is further configured to:

[0050] In the case that the lifetime does not reach the preset lifetime, a next hop request message is sent, wherein the lifetime in the next hop request message is the difference between the lifetime in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a second preset number.

[0051] In one embodiment, the sending module is further configured to:

[0052] In a case where there is a target UE among the neighboring UEs of the UE-to-UE relay UE, a next hop request message is sent to the target UE, and the preset proximity service information corresponding to the target UE matches the proximity service information.

[0053] In one embodiment, the request message includes a user information identifier of the target UE, and the apparatus further includes:

[0054] The matching module is used to match the user information identifier of each of the neighboring UEs with the user information identifier of the target UE, and if there is a target neighboring UE whose user information identifier matches the user information identifier of the target UE, use the target neighboring UE as the target UE.

[0055] In one embodiment, when the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the same request message for proximity service information sent by different UEs, the sending module is further configured to:

[0056] Determining, from each of the UEs that sends the request message, a previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE;

[0057] Sending a next-hop request message based on the request message of the previous-hop UE.

[0058] In one embodiment, the sending module is further configured to:

[0059] The previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength of each UE that sends the request message and / or the minimum hop number principle.

[0060] In one of the embodiments, the minimum hop number principle is to use the UE corresponding to the request message with the minimum hop number among the request messages sent by each UE as the previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE.

[0061] In one of the embodiments, the next hop request message also includes the user information identifier of the UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0062] In a sixth aspect, the present application further provides a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device, applied to a source UE, the device comprising:

[0063] a sending module, configured to send a request message, the request message including proximity service information, so that a UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE;

[0064] The receiving module is used to receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the source UE through the source address identifier of the request message.

[0065] In a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device, applied to a target UE, the device comprising:

[0066] A receiving module, configured to receive a request message, wherein the request message includes proximity service information;

[0067] The sending module is configured to send a response message in response to the request message when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, wherein the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0068] In one embodiment, when the target UE receives the same request message for proximity service information sent by different UE-to-UE relay UEs, the sending module is further configured to:

[0069] Determine, from each of the UE-to-UE relay UEs that sends the request message, a previous-hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the target UE;

[0070] In response to the request message from the previous-hop UE to UE relay UE, a response message is sent to the previous-hop UE to UE relay UE.

[0071] In one embodiment, the sending module is further configured to:

[0072] The previous hop UE to UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength and / or the minimum hop number principle of each UE to UE relay UE that sends the request message.

[0073] In one of the embodiments, the response message also includes the user information identifier of the target UE.

[0074] In an eighth aspect, the present application further provides a UE, comprising a receiver, a processor, and a transmitter;

[0075] The receiver is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information;

[0076] The processor is configured to control the transmitter to send a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE;

[0077] The receiver is further configured to receive a response message;

[0078] The transmitter is further configured to send a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message, wherein the destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0079] In a ninth aspect, the present application further provides a UE, comprising a receiver and a transmitter;

[0080] The transmitter is configured to send a request message, the request message including proximity service information, so that the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE;

[0081] The receiver is used to receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the source end UE through the source address identifier of the request message.

[0082] In a tenth aspect, the present application further provides a UE, comprising a receiver, a processor, and a transmitter;

[0083] The receiver is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information;

[0084] The processor is configured to control the transmitter to send a response message in response to the request message when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, where the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0085] In an eleventh aspect, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program implements any of the above methods when executed by a processor.

[0086] In a twelfth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, any of the above methods is implemented.

[0087] The above-mentioned terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, device, system and user equipment carry proximity service information in the request message of multi-hop U2U communication. After receiving the request message, each hop UE sends a next-hop request message if the proximity service information matches the service it can provide. At the same time, the source address identifier of the request message is recorded. When the request message arrives at the target UE and the target UE sends a response message in response to the request message, the UE on the request message transmission path receives the response message of the target UE in response to the request message, and sends the response message back to the source UE through the recorded source address identifier, thereby forming a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication path. Subsequently, the source UE and the target UE can interact through this path to complete the networking process of the multi-hop UE to UE relay. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0088] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an application environment of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method according to an embodiment;

[0089] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method according to an embodiment;

[0090] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of simultaneously receiving multiple identical request messages in one embodiment;

[0091] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method according to an embodiment;

[0092] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method according to an embodiment;

[0093] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication system according to an embodiment;

[0094] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication apparatus according to an embodiment;

[0095] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication apparatus according to an embodiment;

[0096] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication apparatus according to an embodiment;

[0097] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a UE according to an embodiment;

[0098] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a UE according to an embodiment;

[0099] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a UE in an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0100] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of this application more clear, the following further describes this application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0101] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG1 , an application environment diagram of a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method is shown. When a source UE (also known as a discoverer UE) requires a target UE (also known as a discoveree UE) to provide services, the source UE sends a request message. There may be multiple UE-to-UE relay UEs (also known as U2U relay UEs, UEs dedicated to providing relay services, and when UEs are mentioned individually below, the source UE, target UE, and UE-to-UE relay UE are collectively referred to) that receive the request message. Each UE-to-UE relay UE continues to send request messages, subject to certain conditions, until the sent request message reaches the target UE that can provide the service. The target UE returns a response message via a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path composed of each UE-to-UE relay UE. The source UE and the target UE subsequently interact via this terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path. Communication between the source UE, the UE-to-UE relay UE, and the target UE is performed via the PC5 interface.

[0102] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG2 , a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method is provided. This embodiment uses the method applied to the UE-to-UE relay UE in FIG1 as an example, and includes the following steps:

[0103] Step 202: Receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information.

[0104] In this embodiment of the present application, the request message received by the UE-to-UE relay UE may be sent by the source UE or another UE-to-UE relay UE. The request message carries proximity service information. The proximity service information is used to identify the service that the source UE requires from the target UE. For example, the proximity service information may be a proximity service code (Relay Service Code) for the service.

[0105] Step 204: If the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE, a next hop request message is sent.

[0106] In the embodiment of the present application, there is preset proximity service information in the UE-to-UE relay UE, and there may be multiple preset service proximity service information. Each preset proximity service information represents a relay service that the UE-to-UE relay UE can provide.

[0107] The UE-to-UE relay UE compares the proximity service information in the request message with its own preset proximity service information. When the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information, the UE-to-UE relay UE can provide relay service for the request message. The UE-to-UE relay UE generates a next hop request message based on the request message and sends the next hop request message. The way of sending the next hop request message can be to send the next hop request message to a specific UE or to broadcast the next hop request message. The next hop request message can be a request message or can be obtained by modifying part of the information carried in the request message. For example, the UE-to-UE relay UE can obtain the next hop request message by adding its own user information identifier to the request message. When the request message carries the hop count (the hop count is the number of UEs that the request message passes through), the UE-to-UE relay UE can obtain the next hop request message by adding 1 to the hop count.

[0108] In the case that the proximity service information does not match any proximity service information in the UE-to-UE relay UE, the UE-to-UE relay UE may ignore the request message and not send the request message.

[0109] Step 206: Receive the response message, and send a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message. The destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0110] In an embodiment of the present application, the response message received by the UE-to-UE relay UE may be sent by the target UE, or it may be sent by other UE-to-UE relay UEs. The UE-to-UE relay UE determines the request message corresponding to the response message and determines the source address identifier of the request message. The source address identifier is the source address of the request message, that is, the address selected by the UE that sends the request message to the UE-to-UE relay UE (the previous hop UE of the UE-to-UE relay UE) to communicate with the UE-to-UE relay UE. Exemplarily, the source address identifier may be a source layer 2 identifier (source Layer-2 ID, Layer-2 is also called the data link layer, which is a structure in the communication protocol corresponding to the PC5 interface used by the proximity service). The UE-to-UE relay UE can send the next hop response message corresponding to the response message to the source address identifier, so that the response message can reach the previous hop UE and finally reach the source UE. In this way, the path for the response message to return to the source UE is exactly the same as the path for the request message to reach the target UE, and a specific terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication path can be formed between the source UE and the target UE.

[0111] The UE-to-UE relay UE can record the source address identifier of each request message it processes (processing refers to the UE-to-UE relay UE sending the next-hop request message corresponding to the request message), as well as information that can be used to identify the request message, such as the proximity service information carried in the request message, the user information identifier of the source UE carried in the request message (if any), and the user information identifiers of all UEs through which the request message passes (if any). After receiving a response message, the UE-to-UE relay UE can determine which request message the response message corresponds to based on the corresponding information carried in the response message. For example, if the request message carries proximity service information and the user information identifier of the source UE, and the response message also carries proximity service information and the user information identifier of the source UE, after receiving the response message, the UE-to-UE relay UE can match the proximity service information with the proximity service information in the response message, and the request message whose user information identifier of the source UE also matches the user information identifier of the source UE in the response message, as the request message corresponding to the response message. The UE-to-UE relay UE can then obtain the source address identifier corresponding to the request message and use the source address identifier as the destination address of the next-hop response message.

[0112] The next hop response message can be a response message, or it can be obtained by modifying part of the information carried in the response message. For example, a UE-to-UE relay UE can obtain the next hop response message by deleting its own user information identifier in the response message. The embodiment of the present application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0113] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application carries neighboring service information in the request message of the multi-hop U2U communication. After receiving the request message, each hop UE sends a next-hop request message if the neighboring service information matches the service it can provide. At the same time, the source address identifier of the request message is recorded. When the request message arrives at the target UE and the target UE sends a response message in response to the request message, the UE on the request message transmission path receives the response message of the target UE in response to the request message, and sends the response message back to the source UE through the recorded source address identifier, thereby forming a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication path. Subsequently, the source UE and the target UE can interact through this path to complete the networking process of the multi-hop UE to UE relay.

[0114] In one embodiment, the request message also includes a hop count. In step 204, sending the next hop request message includes:

[0115] When the number of hops does not reach the preset number of hops, a next hop request message is sent, where the number of hops in the next hop request message is the sum of the number of hops in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and the first preset number.

[0116] In an embodiment of the present application, the request message carries a hop count, which is used to represent the number of UEs that the request message passes through. To prevent the request message from being forwarded cyclically in the network, thereby consuming network resources, a preset hop count, such as 3 or 5, can be pre-set. The larger the preset hop count, the larger the search range for the target UE, and the more likely the source UE is to search for a target UE that can provide services for itself, but at the same time, the network load will also increase. Those skilled in the art can set the value of the preset hop count based on actual needs.

[0117] Every time the request message passes through a UE, the UE passing through adds a first preset number to the number of hops in the request message. The first preset number can be 1 or any other value. Exemplarily, the first preset number corresponding to each UE can be different. For example, the first preset number can be inversely proportional to the signal of the UE's communication interface, the UE's load, etc., so as to reduce the probability that the terminal multi-hops to the multi-hop path through a UE with a weak signal or a large load. If the number of hops in the request message has reached the preset number of hops (reached means that the number of hops in the request message is greater than or equal to the preset number of hops), the UE to UE relay UE that receives the request message will no longer send the next hop request message of the request message. If the number of hops in the request message does not reach the preset number of hops (not reached means that the number of hops in the request message is less than the preset number of hops), the UE to UE relay UE that receives the request message sends the next hop request message of the request message.

[0118] The preset number of hops can be pre-stored in each UE or carried in the request message. In one embodiment, each service has a corresponding preset number of hops, and the correspondence between the proximity service information of the service and the preset number of hops can be pre-set. When sending a request message, the source UE can obtain the preset number of hops corresponding to the service based on the proximity service information of the service it requires, and carry the preset number of hops in the request message for sending; or the request message may not carry the preset number of hops, but the preset number of hops corresponding to each preset proximity service information of the UE is pre-stored in each UE. After receiving the request message and determining that the proximity service information in the request message matches one of its own preset proximity service information, the UE to UE relay UE needs to process the request message and determines the preset number of hops corresponding to the matched preset proximity service information. If the number of hops in the request message does not reach the preset number of hops, the UE to UE relay UE sends a next hop request message for the request message.

[0119] In another embodiment, each UE-to-UE relay UE has a corresponding preset number of hops. The preset number of hops corresponding to the UE-to-UE relay UE is positively correlated with the current ability of the UE-to-UE relay UE to process request messages. The ability to process request messages can be determined based on parameters such as the current PC5 interface signal strength of the UE-to-UE relay UE and the current load of the UE-to-UE relay UE. For example, it is positively correlated with the PC5 interface signal strength and negatively correlated with the current load. This allows the UE-to-UE relay UE with a stronger ability to process request messages to send more next-hop request messages, while the UE-to-UE relay UE with a weaker ability to process request messages to send fewer next-hop request messages, thereby reducing the load of some UE-to-UE relay UEs and improving the quality of the established terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication path.

[0120] When the source UE sends a request message, the hop count in the request message can be set to 0, 1 or any integer. After receiving the request message, the UE-to-UE relay UE sends a next-hop request message whose hop count is the sum of the hop count in the request message and the first preset number. The response message sent by the target UE in response to the request message may also include the hop count, so that the source UE knows the distance between itself and the target UE. The hop count can be the hop count in the request message received by the target UE (that is, the target UE is also regarded as a UE when calculating the hop count), or it can be the sum of the hop count in the request message received by the target UE and the first preset number (that is, the target UE is not regarded as a UE when calculating the hop count). The embodiments of the present application do not make specific restrictions on this.

[0121] In one embodiment, the request message also includes a lifetime, and sending the next hop request message includes:

[0122] When the lifetime does not reach the preset lifetime, a next hop request message is sent, where the lifetime in the next hop request message is the difference between the lifetime in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and the second preset number.

[0123] In an embodiment of the present application, the request message carries a lifetime, which is used to characterize the number of UEs that the request message is allowed to pass through. In order to prevent the request message from being cyclically forwarded in the network, resulting in consumption of network resources, a preset lifetime can be set in advance. Every time the request message passes through a UE, the UE passing through subtracts a second preset number from the lifetime in the request message. The second preset number can be 1 or any other value. If the lifetime in the request message received by the UE does not reach the preset lifetime (that is, greater than the preset lifetime), the UE processes the request message and sends a next-hop request message; if the lifetime in the received request message reaches the preset lifetime (that is, less than or equal to the preset lifetime), the UE does not process the request message. For the specific limitation on the lifetime, please refer to the limitation on the number of hops, which will not be repeated here in the embodiment of the present application.

[0124] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application carries the hop count or lifetime in the request message. The UE-to-UE relay UE that receives the request message sends a next-hop request message if the hop count / lifetime does not reach a preset hop count / lifetime, or does not send a next-hop request message if the hop count reaches the preset hop count / lifetime reaches the lifetime. This can avoid the problem of request messages being endlessly forwarded by each UE-to-UE relay UE, forming a routing loop and causing a heavy network load.

[0125] In one embodiment, when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE, sending the next hop request message includes:

[0126] In the case that there is a target UE among the neighboring UEs of the UE-to-UE relay UE, a next hop request message is sent to the target UE, and the preset proximity service information corresponding to the target UE matches the proximity service information.

[0127] In the embodiment of the present application, a neighboring UE is a UE that can directly communicate with a UE-to-UE relay UE and does not belong to a UE-to-UE relay UE. The target UE is a UE whose preset neighboring service information in the neighboring UE matches the neighboring service information, that is, a UE that can provide the services required by the source UE. The UE-to-UE relay UE can determine whether there is a target UE among its own neighboring UEs. If so, it sends a next-hop request message to the target UE; if not, it sends a next-hop request message in the manner defined in the aforementioned embodiment, thereby avoiding the situation where the target UE already exists among the neighboring UEs of the UE-to-UE relay UE, but because there are other UE-to-UE relay UEs that receive the next-hop request message when the next-hop request message is sent, the other UE-to-UE relays continue to forward the request message even when the target UE has already sent a response message, thereby wasting network resources.

[0128] Exemplarily, a UE-to-UE relay UE may pre-store the preset proximity service information of all its neighboring UEs, and after receiving a request message, determine whether there is any target UE whose preset proximity service information matches the proximity service information based on the proximity service information in the request message. If so, the next hop request message is sent to the target UE. The UE-to-UE relay UE may also, after receiving a request message, broadcast a query message based on the proximity service information in the request message, instructing the neighboring UE that received the query message to reply with a response message (hereinafter referred to as the first response message to distinguish it from the response message sent by the target UE) to the target UE if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the neighboring UE. When the UE-to-UE relay receives the first response message, it will use the neighboring UE that sent the first response message as the target UE, or when it does not receive any first response message, it will determine that there is no target UE among the neighboring UEs and send a next hop request message.

[0129] In one embodiment, the request message includes a user information identifier of the target UE, and the method further includes:

[0130] Matching the user information identifiers of each neighboring UE with the user information identifier of the target UE;

[0131] In the case that there is a target neighboring UE whose user information identifier matches the user information identifier of the target UE, the target neighboring UE is used as the target UE.

[0132] In the embodiment of the present application, the source UE may carry the user information identifier (User Info ID) of the target UE in the request message, that is, the source UE may specify a specific target UE to provide services for it.

[0133] The UE-to-UE relay UE may pre-store the user information identifiers of all its neighboring UEs, and after receiving the request message, determine whether there is a target UE specified by the source UE among its neighboring UEs based on the user information identifier of the target UE in the request message. If so, the target UE is used as the target UE, and the next hop request message is sent to the target UE. The UE-to-UE relay UE may also, after receiving the request message, broadcast a query message based on the user information identifier of the target UE in the request message, instructing the neighboring UE that received the query message to reply with a response message (hereinafter referred to as the second response message to distinguish it from other response messages) to the target UE if the user information identifier of the target UE matches the user information identifier of the neighboring UE. When the UE-to-UE relay receives the second response message, it uses the neighboring UE that sent the second response message as the target UE, or when it does not receive any second response message, it determines that there is no target UE among the neighboring UEs and sends a next hop request message.

[0134] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application determines whether a target UE exists among the neighboring UEs of a UE-to-UE relay UE. If a target UE exists, a next-hop request message is sent to the target UE; if a target UE does not exist, a next-hop request message is sent. If a target UE exists among the neighboring UEs of a UE-to-UE relay UE that can provide services to a source UE, the target UE can be directly instructed to provide services to the source UE without sending a request message to other UE-to-UE relay UEs to allow other UE-to-UE relay UEs to continue searching for the target UE.

[0135] In one embodiment, when a UE-to-UE relay UE receives a request message for the same proximity service information sent by different UEs, sending a next hop request message includes:

[0136] Determine the previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE from each UE that sends the request message;

[0137] Send a next-hop request message based on the request message from the previous-hop UE.

[0138] In an embodiment of the present application, a situation may arise where the same UE-to-UE relay UE receives the same request message sent by different UEs based on a request message from the same source UE. Referring to Figure 3, if UE A simultaneously sends a next-hop request message to UE B and UE C, and UE B, after receiving the request message sent by UE A, chooses to send a next-hop request message to UE C, then UE C will receive request messages from both UE A and UE B simultaneously. If a UE-to-UE relay UE receives the same request message, the UE-to-UE relay UE may choose to process only one of the request messages. In one embodiment, if a UE-to-UE relay UE receives the same request message simultaneously, it may choose to process only one of the request messages. "Simultaneously" may mean within a preset time period. That is, within a preset time period after a UE-to-UE relay UE receives a request message, if the UE-to-UE relay UE receives another request message identical to the request message, then the UE-to-UE relay UE may be deemed to have received the same request message simultaneously. The preset time length may be pre-written into each UE, or may be determined in real time by each UE based on the current load, and this embodiment of the present application does not impose any specific limitation on this.

[0139] Since the probability that different source UEs request the same service at the same time and the request messages requesting the same service arrive at a specific UE-to-UE relay at the same time is low, when the UE-to-UE relay UE receives multiple request messages with the same proximity service information at the same time, the UE-to-UE relay UE can regard these request messages as the same request messages. When other information is carried in the request message, a more accurate judgment can be made on whether the two request messages are the same. For example, when the request message also carries the user information identifier of the source UE, the UE-to-UE relay UE can regard the request messages with the same user information identifier of the source UE and the same proximity service information received at the same time as the same request messages. When the request message carries the user information identifier of the source UE and the user information identifier of the target UE, the UE-to-UE relay UE can regard the request messages with the same user information identifier of the source UE, the same user information identifier of the target UE, and the same proximity service information received at the same time as the same request messages.

[0140] The UE-to-UE relay UE determines which UE among the UEs that simultaneously send the same request message to be used as its previous-hop UE, and processes the request message sent by the previous-hop UE. The UE-to-UE relay UE may randomly select the previous-hop UE from among the UEs, or select it based on a preset rule, such as selecting the UE that sends the request message it receives first as the previous-hop UE, etc., which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0141] In one embodiment, determining, from each UE that sends a request message, a previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE includes:

[0142] The previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength of each UE that sends the request message and / or the minimum hop number principle.

[0143] In this embodiment of the present application, the UE-to-UE relay UE detects the PC5 interface signal strength of each UE to which it sends a request message, and obtains the hop count contained in each request message. The UE-to-UE relay UE can determine the previous hop UE based on the PC5 interface signal strength and the hop count, so that the communication quality of the ultimately established terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path meets the requirements.

[0144] The higher the signal strength of the PC5 interface of each UE in the terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path, the better the communication quality of the terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path. At the same time, the fewer UEs the terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path passes through (the smaller the number of hops), the lower the probability of data loss and other problems during communication, and the better the communication quality of the terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path. In one embodiment, the minimum hop principle means that the UE corresponding to the request message with the smallest hop number among the request messages sent by each UE is used as the previous hop UE of the UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0145] The UE-to-UE relay UE can use the UE with the best PC5 interface signal strength as the previous hop UE, or can use the UE with the smallest number of hops among the UEs whose PC5 interface signal strength is greater than a certain threshold as the previous hop UE, or can use the UE with the best PC5 interface signal strength among the UEs whose hop number is less than a certain threshold as the previous hop UE. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific limitations on this.

[0146] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application determines the previous hop UE from each UE that sends the request message and processes the request message sent by the previous hop UE when multiple identical request messages are received simultaneously. This can avoid the situation where a UE-to-UE relay UE repeatedly processes the same request message sent by a source UE.

[0147] In one embodiment, the next hop request message further includes a user information identifier of the UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0148] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the request message, the UE-to-UE relay UE adds its own user information identifier to the request message, obtains the next hop request message, and sends the next hop request message so that each UE that receives the request message can determine its own previous hop UE.

[0149] A UE-to-UE relay UE can delete the user information identifier of the previous hop UE (when the previous hop UE is also a UE-to-UE relay UE) when adding its own user information identifier. That is, the request message always only contains the user information identifier of the UE-to-UE relay UE that has most recently processed the request message. A UE-to-UE relay UE may not delete the user information identifier of the previous hop UE. In this case, a terminal-to-terminal relay list (UE to UE Relay List) will be included in the request message, which records the user information identifiers of all UE-to-UE relay UEs that the request message passes through. In this way, after receiving the request message, the target UE can determine the terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path from the source UE to the target UE based on the terminal-to-terminal relay list.

[0150] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application adds the user information identifier of the UE-to-UE relay UE in the request message, so that each UE that receives the request message can determine its own previous hop UE.

[0151] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG4 , a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method is provided. This embodiment uses the method applied to the source UE in FIG1 as an example for illustration, and includes the following steps:

[0152] Step 402: Send a request message, the request message including proximity service information, so that the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0153] Step 404: Receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the source UE using the source address identifier of the request message.

[0154] In an embodiment of the present application, when a source UE requests a target UE to provide a service, it sends a request message. The request message carries proximity service information, which is used to identify the service required by the source UE. In one embodiment, the request message may also carry the user information identifier of the target UE, that is, the source UE can specify a specific target UE to provide the service for the source UE. In another embodiment, the request message also carries the user information identifier of the source UE itself.

[0155] The source UE may send a request message by broadcasting the request message or by sending the request message to a specific UE-to-UE relay UE. The UE-to-UE relay UE that receives the request message sends a next-hop request message corresponding to the request message when the proximity service information matches the preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE, until the request message reaches the target UE and the target UE returns a response message. Each hop UE stores the source layer 2 identifier of the request message it receives, and when returning a response message, each hop UE uses the source layer 2 identifier of the request message as the destination address of the response message, so that the response message can be returned to the source UE along the path along which the request message arrives at the target UE.

[0156] In one embodiment, the request message also carries a hop count. When each hop UE sends a next-hop request message after receiving the request message, the hop count in the next-hop request message is set to the hop count in the received request message + 1. In one embodiment, the hop count in the request message sent by the source UE is 0, so that the hop count in the request message received by the target UE represents the number of UE-to-UE relay UEs that the request message passes through before reaching the target UE.

[0157] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application carries neighboring service information in the request message of the multi-hop U2U communication. After receiving the request message, each hop UE sends a next-hop request message if the neighboring service information matches the service it can provide. At the same time, the source address identifier of the request message is recorded. When the request message arrives at the target UE and the target UE sends a response message in response to the request message, the UE on the request message transmission path receives the response message of the target UE in response to the request message, and sends the response message back to the source UE through the recorded source address identifier, thereby forming a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication path. Subsequently, the source UE and the target UE can interact through this path to complete the networking process of the multi-hop UE to UE relay.

[0158] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG5 , a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method is provided. This embodiment uses the method applied to the target UE in FIG1 as an example for illustration, and includes the following steps:

[0159] Step 502: Receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information.

[0160] Step 504: If the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, a response message is sent in response to the request message, and the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0161] In an embodiment of the present application, the target UE stores preset proximity service information. The preset proximity service information may include multiple items, each of which represents a service that the target UE can provide. The target UE receives a request message that includes proximity service information. The target UE matches the proximity service information in the request message with its own preset proximity service information. If the proximity service information matches any of the preset proximity service information, the target UE sends a response message in response to the request message. If the proximity service information does not match any of the preset proximity service information, the target UE does not respond to the request message.

[0162] When the target UE sends a response message, it uses the source address of the request message, i.e., the sending address selected by the UE-to-UE relay UE when sending the request message to the target UE via the PC5 port, as the destination address of the response message. After receiving the response message, each UE-to-UE relay UE also uses the source address of the request message corresponding to the response message as the destination address used when sending the next-hop response message to the UE-to-UE relay UE, so that the response message can return to the source UE along the path taken by the request message to reach the target UE.

[0163] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application carries neighboring service information in the request message of the multi-hop U2U communication. After receiving the request message, each hop UE sends a next-hop request message if the neighboring service information matches the service it can provide. At the same time, the source address identifier of the request message is recorded. When the request message arrives at the target UE and the target UE sends a response message in response to the request message, the UE on the request message transmission path receives the response message of the target UE in response to the request message, and sends the response message back to the source UE through the recorded source address identifier, thereby forming a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication path. Subsequently, the source UE and the target UE can interact through this path to complete the networking process of the multi-hop UE to UE relay.

[0164] In one embodiment, when the target UE receives the same request message for proximity service information sent by different UE-to-UE relay UEs, sending a response message in response to the request message includes:

[0165] Determine the previous hop UE to UE relay UE of the target UE from each UE to UE relay UE that sends the request message;

[0166] In response to the request message from the previous hop UE to the UE relay UE, a response message is sent to the previous hop UE to the UE relay UE.

[0167] In an embodiment of the present application, there may be a situation where the target UE receives the same request message sent by different UE-to-UE relay UEs based on the request message of the same source UE. In this case, the target UE can choose to respond to only one of the request messages. In one embodiment, when the target UE receives the same request message at the same time, it only responds to one of the request messages. For the definition of "simultaneously" and "the same request message", please refer to the description of the aforementioned embodiment, and the embodiments of the present application will not be repeated here. The target UE can randomly select the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE from each UE-to-UE relay UE, or select based on a preset rule: for example, the UE-to-UE relay UE that sent the request message it received first is used as the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not make specific restrictions on this.

[0168] In one embodiment, determining the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the target UE from each UE-to-UE relay UE that sends the request message includes:

[0169] The previous hop UE to UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength and / or the minimum hop number principle of each UE to UE relay UE that sends the request message.

[0170] In the embodiment of the present application, the target UE detects the PC5 interface signal strength from each UE to which a request message is sent to the UE relay UE, and obtains the hop count contained in each request message. The target UE can determine the previous hop UE based on the PC5 interface signal strength and the hop count, so that the communication quality of the ultimately established terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path meets the requirements. The specific method for determining the previous hop UE to the UE relay UE can be found in the description of the previous embodiment, and will not be repeated in this embodiment of the present application.

[0171] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, when multiple identical request messages are received simultaneously, determines the previous hop UE-to-UE-relay UE from each UE-to-UE-relay UE that sent the request message, and responds to the request message sent by the previous hop UE-to-UE-relay UE. This can prevent the target UE from repeatedly responding to the same request message sent by a source UE.

[0172] In one embodiment, the response message also includes the user information identifier of the target UE.

[0173] In an embodiment of the present application, the target UE adds its own user information identifier in the response message, so that after the response message reaches the source UE, the source UE can determine which target UE is providing service to the source UE.

[0174] In one embodiment, the response message may include the user information identifiers of all UE-to-UE relay UEs that the request message passed through, as well as the user information identifier of the target UE. The user information identifiers of each UE-to-UE relay UE and the user information identifier of the target UE constitute a terminal-to-terminal relay list. Upon receiving the response message, the source UE can obtain the terminal-to-terminal multi-hop path from the source UE to the target UE based on the terminal-to-terminal relay list.

[0175] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application adds the user information identifier of the target UE in the request message, so that the source UE can know the identity of the target UE.

[0176] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication system is provided, including a source UE, at least one UE-to-UE relay UE and a target UE, wherein the source UE is used to send a request message, the request message including proximity service information; the UE-to-UE relay UE is used to receive a request message sent by a previous-hop UE of the UE-to-UE relay UE, and send a next-hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE; the target UE is used to receive a request message sent by the previous-hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the target UE, and send a response message to the previous-hop UE-to-UE relay UE in response to the request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, where the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message sent by the previous-hop UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0177] In an embodiment of the present application, the source UE sends a request message when it needs to request the target UE to provide a service. The request message carries proximity service information, which is used to characterize the service required by the source UE. The source UE can send the request message by broadcasting. After receiving the request message, the UE-to-UE relay UE determines whether it can provide relay service for the request message based on whether its own preset proximity service information matches the proximity service information in the request message. If the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information, the UE-to-UE relay UE continues to send the request message of the source UE through the next hop request message. The next hop request message may arrive at the target UE or at another UE-to-UE relay UE. If it arrives at another UE-to-UE relay UE, the other UE-to-UE relay UE repeats the above process.

[0178] After receiving the request message, the target UE determines whether it can provide services to the source UE based on whether its preset proximity service information matches the proximity service information in the request message. If the proximity service information matches any of the preset proximity service information, the target UE sends a response message in response to the request message. The target UE sends the response message to the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE using the source address identifier of the request message. Each hop UE-to-UE relay UE also sends the next hop response message to the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the UE-to-UE relay UE using the source address identifier of the request message it received, until the response message reaches the source UE.

[0179] Among them, the specific limitations on the request message can be found in the description of the aforementioned embodiment, and the embodiments of this application will not be repeated here.

[0180] It should be understood that, although the various steps in the flowcharts involved in the various embodiments described above are displayed in sequence according to the instructions of the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in sequence in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise specified herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and these steps can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least a portion of the steps in the flowcharts involved in the various embodiments described above can include multiple steps or multiple stages, and these steps or stages are not necessarily executed and completed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and the execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily to be carried out in sequence, but can be executed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least a portion of steps or stages in other steps.

[0181] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device for implementing the terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method involved above. The implementation solution provided by this device is similar to the implementation solution described in the above method. Therefore, the specific limitations in one or more terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device embodiments provided below can be found in the above-mentioned limitations on the terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, and will not be repeated here.

[0182] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG7 , a device 700 for terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication is provided, comprising: a first receiving module 702 , a sending module 704 , and a second receiving module 706 , wherein:

[0183] The first receiving module 702 is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information;

[0184] The sending module 704 is configured to send a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE to UE relay UE;

[0185] The second receiving module 706 is configured to receive a response message, and send a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message, where the destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0186] The terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application carries proximity service information in the request message of multi-hop U2U communication. After receiving the request message, each hop UE sends a next-hop request message if the proximity service information matches the service it can provide. At the same time, the source address identifier of the request message is recorded. When the request message arrives at the target UE and the target UE sends a response message in response to the request message, the UE on the request message transmission path receives the response message of the target UE in response to the request message, and sends the response message back to the source UE through the recorded source address identifier, thereby forming a terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication path. Subsequently, the source UE and the target UE can interact through this path to complete the networking process of the multi-hop UE to UE relay.

[0187] In one embodiment, the request message further includes a hop count, and the sending module 704 is further configured to:

[0188] In the case that the number of hops does not reach the preset number of hops, a next hop request message is sent, where the number of hops in the next hop request message is the sum of the number of hops in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a first preset number.

[0189] In one embodiment, the request message also includes a lifetime, and the sending module 704 is further configured to:

[0190] In the case that the lifetime does not reach the preset lifetime, a next hop request message is sent, wherein the lifetime in the next hop request message is the difference between the lifetime in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a second preset number.

[0191] In one embodiment, the sending module 704 is further configured to:

[0192] In a case where there is a target UE among the neighboring UEs of the UE-to-UE relay UE, a next hop request message is sent to the target UE, and the preset proximity service information corresponding to the target UE matches the proximity service information.

[0193] In one embodiment, the request message includes a user information identifier of the target UE, and the apparatus further includes:

[0194] The matching module is used to match the user information identifier of each of the neighboring UEs with the user information identifier of the target UE, and if there is a target neighboring UE whose user information identifier matches the user information identifier of the target UE, use the target neighboring UE as the target UE.

[0195] In one embodiment, when the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the same request message for proximity service information sent by different UEs, the sending module 704 is further configured to:

[0196] Determining, from each of the UEs that sends the request message, a previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE;

[0197] Sending a next-hop request message based on the request message of the previous-hop UE.

[0198] In one embodiment, the sending module 704 is further configured to:

[0199] The previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength of each UE that sends the request message and / or the minimum hop number principle.

[0200] In one of the embodiments, the minimum hop number principle is to use the UE corresponding to the request message with the minimum hop number among the request messages sent by each UE as the previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE.

[0201] In one of the embodiments, the next hop request message also includes the user information identifier of the UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0202] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG8 , a device 800 for terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication is provided, including: a sending module 802 and a receiving module 804 , wherein:

[0203] The sending module 802 is configured to send a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information, so that the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE;

[0204] The receiving module 804 is configured to receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the source UE using the source address identifier of the request message.

[0205] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG9 , a device 900 for terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication is provided, including: a receiving module 902 and a sending module 904 , wherein:

[0206] The receiving module 902 is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information;

[0207] The sending module 904 is configured to send a response message in response to the request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, wherein the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0208] Each module in the above-mentioned apparatus may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, or a combination thereof. Each module may be embedded in or independent of a processor in a computer device in the form of hardware, or may be stored in a memory in the computer device in the form of software, so that the processor can call and execute the operations corresponding to each module.

[0209] In one embodiment, a UE is provided. Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the UE provided in an embodiment of the present application. The UE 1000 shown in Figure 10 includes: at least one processor 1001, a memory 1002, at least one network interface 1004 and a user interface 1003. The various components in the terminal device 1000 are coupled together through a bus system 1005. It can be understood that the bus system 1005 is used to achieve connection and communication between these components. In addition to the data bus, the bus system 1005 also includes a power bus, a control bus and a status signal bus. However, for the sake of clarity, various buses are labeled as bus systems 1005 in Figure 10. In addition, in an embodiment of the present invention, a transceiver 1006 is also included. The transceiver can be multiple components, that is, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices on a transmission medium.

[0210] The user interface 1003 may include a display, a keyboard, or a pointing device (eg, a mouse, a trackball, a touchpad, or a touch screen).

[0211] It is understood that the memory 1002 in the embodiment of the present invention can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can 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 can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory 1002 of the systems and methods described in the embodiments of the present invention is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0212] In some embodiments, the memory 1002 stores the following elements, executable modules or data structures, or a subset thereof, or an extended set thereof: an operating system 10021 and application programs 10022 .

[0213] The operating system 10021 includes various system programs, such as a framework layer, a core library layer, and a driver layer, for implementing various basic services and handling hardware-based tasks. Application programs 10022 include various application programs, such as a media player and a browser, for implementing various application services. Programs implementing the methods of the embodiments of the present invention may be included in application programs 10022.

[0214] In the embodiment of the present invention, by calling a program or instruction stored in the memory 1002, specifically, a program or instruction stored in the application 10022, the receiver is configured to receive a request message, the request message including proximity service information;

[0215] The processor 1001 is configured to control the transmitter to send a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE;

[0216] The receiver is further configured to receive a response message;

[0217] The transmitter is further configured to send a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message, wherein the destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0218] It is understood that the embodiments described in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or a combination thereof. For hardware implementation, the processing unit can be implemented in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), general-purpose processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units for performing the functions described in this application, or a combination thereof.

[0219] For software implementation, the techniques described in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described in the embodiments of the present invention. The software code can be stored in a memory and executed by the processor 1001. The memory can be implemented in the processor 1001 or external to the processor 1001.

[0220] In one of the embodiments, the request message also includes a hop count, and the processor 1001 is further used to control the transmitter to send a next hop request message when the hop count does not reach a preset hop count, and the hop count in the next hop request message is the sum of the hop count in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a first preset number.

[0221] In one of the embodiments, the request message also includes a lifetime, and the processor 1001 is further used to send a next-hop request message when the lifetime does not reach a preset lifetime, and the lifetime in the next-hop request message is the difference between the lifetime in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a second preset number.

[0222] In one of the embodiments, the processor 1001 is further configured to control the transmitter to send a next hop request message to the target UE when there is a target UE among the neighboring UEs of the UE-to-UE relay UE, and the preset neighboring service information corresponding to the target UE matches the neighboring service information.

[0223] In one of the embodiments, the request message includes a user information identifier of the target UE, and the processor 1001 is further used to match the user information identifier of each of the neighboring UEs with the user information identifier of the target UE; in the case where there is a target neighboring UE whose user information identifier matches the user information identifier of the target UE, the target neighboring UE is used as the target UE.

[0224] In one of the embodiments, when the UE-to-UE relay UE receives a request message for the same proximity service information sent by different UEs, the processor 1001 is further used to determine the previous hop UE of the UE-to-UE relay UE from each of the UEs that sent the request message; and based on the request message of the previous hop UE, control the transmitter to send a next hop request message.

[0225] In one embodiment, the processor 1001 is further configured to determine the previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE according to the PC5 interface signal strength and / or the minimum hop number principle of each UE that sends the request message.

[0226] In one of the embodiments, the minimum hop number principle is to use the UE corresponding to the request message with the minimum hop number among the request messages sent by each UE as the previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE.

[0227] In one of the embodiments, the next hop request message also includes the user information identifier of the UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0228] In one embodiment, a UE is provided. FIG11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the UE provided in the embodiment of the present application. The specific definition of the UE can be found in the description of the above embodiment, and the embodiment of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0229] In this embodiment of the present invention, the transmitter is configured to send a request message, the request message including proximity service information, so that a UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE;

[0230] The receiver is used to receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the source end UE through the source address identifier of the request message.

[0231] In one embodiment, a UE is provided. FIG12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the UE provided in the embodiment of the present application. The specific definition of the UE can be found in the description of the above embodiment, and the embodiment of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0232] In an embodiment of the present invention, the receiver is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information;

[0233] The processor 1201 is configured to control the transmitter to send a response message in response to the request message when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, where the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

[0234] In one of the embodiments, when the target UE receives the same request message for the proximity service information sent by different UE-to-UE relay UEs, the processor 1201 is further used to determine the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the target UE from each of the UE-to-UE relay UEs that sent the request message; and in response to the request message from the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE, control the transmitter to send a response message to the previous hop UE-to-UE relay UE.

[0235] In one embodiment, the processor 1201 is further configured to determine the previous hop UE to UE relay UE based on the PC5 interface signal strength and / or minimum hop number principle of each UE to UE relay UE that sends the request message.

[0236] In one of the embodiments, the response message also includes the user information identifier of the target UE.

[0237] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments are implemented.

[0238] In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, which implements the steps in the above method embodiments when executed by a processor.

[0239] It should be noted that the user information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data used for analysis, stored data, displayed data, etc.) involved in this application are all information and data authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties.

[0240] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program, and the computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. Among them, any reference to memory, database or other media used in the embodiments provided in this application may include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory may include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical memory, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), magnetic random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), phase change memory (PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory may include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory, etc. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM can be in various forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The database involved in the various embodiments provided herein may include at least one of a relational database and a non-relational database. Non-relational databases may include, but are not limited to, distributed databases based on blockchains. The processor involved in the various embodiments provided herein may be, but are not limited to, a general-purpose processor, a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic unit, a data processing logic unit based on quantum computing, and the like.

[0241] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0242] The above-described embodiments merely represent several implementation methods of the present application. While the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present application. It should be noted that a person of ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, and these modifications and improvements fall within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, applied to UE-to-UE relay UE, the method comprising: receiving a request message, wherein the request message includes proximity service information; If the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE, sending a next hop request message; A response message is received, and a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message is sent, where the destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The request message also includes a hop count, and the sending of the next hop request message includes: In the case that the number of hops does not reach the preset number of hops, a next hop request message is sent, where the number of hops in the next hop request message is the sum of the number of hops in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a first preset number.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The request message also includes a lifetime, and the sending of the next hop request message includes: In the case that the lifetime does not reach the preset lifetime, a next hop request message is sent, wherein the lifetime in the next hop request message is the difference between the lifetime in the request message received by the UE to UE relay UE and a second preset number.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The sending a next hop request message when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE includes: In a case where there is a target UE among the neighboring UEs of the UE-to-UE relay UE, a next hop request message is sent to the target UE, and the preset proximity service information corresponding to the target UE matches the proximity service information.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The request message includes a user information identifier of the target UE, and the method further includes: Matching the user information identifier of each of the neighboring UEs with the user information identifier of the target UE; In a case where there is a target neighboring UE whose user information identifier matches the user information identifier of the target UE, the target neighboring UE is used as the target UE.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein In a case where the UE-to-UE relay UE receives request messages for the same proximity service information sent by different UEs, the sending of the next hop request message includes: Determining, from each of the UEs that sends the request message, a previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE; Sending a next-hop request message based on the request message of the previous-hop UE.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The determining, from each of the UEs that sends the request message, a previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE, includes: The previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength of each UE that sends the request message and / or the minimum hop number principle.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The minimum hop number principle is to use the UE corresponding to the request message with the minimum hop number among the request messages sent by the UEs as the previous hop UE from the UE to the UE relay UE.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein The next hop request message also includes the user information identifier of the UE-to-UE relay UE.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein The sending a next hop request message when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE includes: Comparing the proximity service information in the request message with the preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE itself; providing a relay service for the request message when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information; A next-hop request message is generated based on the request message, and the next-hop request message is sent.

11. A terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, applied to a source UE, the method comprising: sending a request message, the request message including proximity service information, so that the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE; Receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the source UE using the source address identifier of the request message.

12. A terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication method, applied to a target UE, the method comprising: receiving a request message, wherein the request message includes proximity service information; In a case where the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, a response message is sent in response to the request message, where the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: In a case where the target UE receives the same request message for the proximity service information sent by different UE-to-UE relay UEs, the sending a response message in response to the request message includes: Determine, from each of the UE-to-UE relay UEs that sends the request message, a previous-hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the target UE; In response to the request message from the previous-hop UE to UE relay UE, a response message is sent to the previous-hop UE to UE relay UE.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein The determining, from each of the UE-to-UE relay UEs that sends the request message, a previous-hop UE-to-UE relay UE of the target UE, includes: The previous hop UE to UE relay UE is determined according to the PC5 interface signal strength and / or the minimum hop number principle of each UE to UE relay UE that sends the request message.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein The response message also includes the user information identifier of the target UE.

16. A terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication system, comprising a source UE, at least one UE-to-UE relay UE, and a target UE, wherein: The source UE is configured to send a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information; The UE-to-UE relay UE is configured to receive a request message sent by a previous hop UE of the UE-to-UE relay UE, and send a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE; The target end UE is used to receive a request message sent by the previous hop UE to UE relay UE of the target end UE, and when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target end UE, in response to the request message, send a response message to the previous hop UE to UE relay UE, where the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message sent by the previous hop UE to UE relay UE.

17. A terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device, applied to UE-to-UE relay UE, the device comprising: A first receiving module is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information; A sending module is used to match the proximity service information with any preset proximity service information of the UE to UE relay UE In this case, a next hop request message is sent; The second receiving module is configured to receive a response message and send a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message, where the destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

18. A terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device, applied to a source UE, the device comprising: a sending module, configured to send a request message, the request message including proximity service information, so that a UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE; The receiving module is used to receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the source UE through the source address identifier of the request message.

19. A terminal-to-terminal multi-hop communication device, applied to a target UE, the device comprising: A receiving module, configured to receive a request message, wherein the request message includes proximity service information; The sending module is configured to send a response message in response to the request message when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the target UE, wherein the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

20. A UE comprising a receiver, a processor, and a transmitter; The receiver is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information; The processor is configured to control the transmitter to send a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE; The receiver is further configured to receive a response message; The transmitter is further configured to send a next-hop response message corresponding to the response message, wherein the destination address of the next-hop response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

21. A UE comprising a receiver and a transmitter; The transmitter is configured to send a request message, the request message including proximity service information, so that the UE-to-UE relay UE receives the request message and sends a next hop request message if the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE-to-UE relay UE; The receiver is used to receive a response message sent by the UE-to-UE relay UE to the UE using the source address identifier of the request message.

22. A UE comprising a receiver, a processor, and a transmitter; The receiver is configured to receive a request message, where the request message includes proximity service information; The processor is configured to control the transmitter to send a response message in response to the request message when the proximity service information matches any preset proximity service information of the UE, where the destination address of the response message is the source address identifier of the request message.

23. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented.

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