Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method, apparatus and system. The method comprises: generating a first message, wherein the first message is used for instructing a first node and a second node to establish a first link; and sending the first message, wherein the first message comprises first indication information and second indication information which are used for indicating a first node type of the first node and a second node type of the second node; the second indication information is used for indicating a start moment at which the first node and the second node establish the first link; the first link is a first unicast link or a first multicast link; and a sending node, the first node and the second node are in a time synchronization state. In the technical solution, a link is instructed to be established between nodes in a time synchronization scenario, so that it can be ensured that a first message sent by a sending node is received by a receiving node in a timely manner, thereby quickly establishing links and improving user experience.

Description

A communication method, apparatus and system

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410737601.4, filed on June 6, 2024, and entitled "A communication method, apparatus and system", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication, and more particularly, to a communication method, apparatus and system. BACKGROUND

[0003] Electronic devices can communicate with each other through wireless short-range communication technology to achieve information sharing and wireless transmission of services. With the development of the Internet of Things, new application scenarios such as smart cars, smart homes, smart terminals and smart manufacturing that can realize multi-device interconnection have emerged, and a new generation of short-range access technology (e.g., sparklink alliance access technology) has emerged accordingly. For example, the sparklink alliance access technology includes, but is not limited to, sparklink basic (SLB) access technology or sparklink low energy (SLE) access technology.

[0004] Electronic devices can establish a connection with a peer device through SLE access technology to process corresponding services, and the message transmission mode between devices includes broadcast, unicast and groupcast, wherein the establishment of unicast and groupcast both depends on broadcast. However, the time-frequency information of the broadcast end and the access end may not be synchronized, resulting in a long link establishment time and affecting user experience.

[0005] Therefore, how to realize fast link establishment is a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a communication method, apparatus and system, which can reduce the time of link establishment between nodes and realize fast link establishment.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a sending node. In the absence of special description, the "sending node" in the present application can refer to the sending node itself (e.g., a management node device, a terminal node device, etc.), a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the sending node, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the sending node. For ease of description, the following description takes the sending node as an example.

[0008] The method comprises: generating a first message, the first message being used to instruct a first node and a second node to establish a first link; and sending the first message; wherein the first message comprises first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate a first node type of the first node and a second node type of the second node, and the second indication information being used to indicate a starting time at which the first node and the second node establish the first link; if the first link is a first unicast link, the first node type is a grant (G) node or a terminal (T) node, and the second node type is a G node or a T node; if the first link is a first groupcast link, the first node type is a group leader node or a group member node, and the second node type is a group leader node or a group member node; and the sending node, the first node, and the second node are in a time synchronization state.

[0009] Based on the above technical solution, in a time synchronization scenario, the first message sent by the sending node can be ensured to be received by the receiving nodes (for example, the first node and the second node) in time, so that the receiving nodes cannot receive the first message in a short time due to the unsynchronized time-frequency information of the nodes, and the time for establishing the link is long or even the link establishment fails based on the indication content of the first message.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, if the first link is a first unicast link, the first indication information is used to indicate the first node type of the first node and the second node type of the second node, which comprises: the first indication information is used to indicate a first type of the first link, and the first type indicates that the first node and the second node are both T nodes; or the first indication information comprises first information and second information, the first information is used to indicate a second type of the first link, the second type indicates that one of the first node and the second node is a G node and the other is a T node, and the second information indicates that the first node is a G node and the second node is a T node, or the first node is a T node and the second node is a G node.

[0011] Based on the above technical solution, when the first indication information is used to indicate the first type of the first link, it is indicated that the first node and the second node are both T nodes, so that no additional indication of the types of the first node and the second node is needed.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, if the first link is a first unicast link, the first message is further used to instruct the first node and a third node to establish a second link, and the second link is a second unicast link.

[0013] Based on the technical solution, the first message can indicate the establishment of multiple unicast links at the same time, thereby reducing signaling overhead and time overhead, realizing parallel establishment of links, and improving link establishment efficiency.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, if the first link is a first multicast link, the first message is used to indicate that the first node and the second node establish the first link, and the first message is further used to indicate that the first node, the second node and a third node establish the first link, the first indication information is further used to indicate a third node type of the third node, and the second indication information is further used to indicate a starting time for the first node and the third node to establish the third link, the third node type being a group leader node or a group member node.

[0015] Based on the technical solution, the establishment of a multicast link can be indicated by one message, the signaling overhead can be reduced while the link establishment efficiency is improved, and the flexibility of link establishment indication is improved.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate the first node type, the second node type and the third node type, including: the first indication information is used to indicate that the first time is the earliest time among the first time, a second time and a third time, wherein the first time is a time at which the first node transmits a packet on the first multicast link, the second time is a time at which the second node transmits a packet on the first multicast link, and the third time is a time at which the third node transmits a packet on the first multicast link.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first message is further used to indicate that the second node, a fourth node and a fifth node establish a second multicast link.

[0018] Based on the technical solution, the first message can indicate the establishment of multiple multicast links at the same time, thereby reducing signaling overhead, realizing parallel establishment of links, and improving link establishment efficiency.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the second indication information is used to indicate a starting time for the first node and the second node to establish the first link, and the second indication information is further used to indicate an interval between a reference time and the starting time, wherein the reference time is a time at which the sending node transmits the first message, and the starting time is a time at which the first node or the second node transmits a packet.

[0020] Based on the technical solution, multiple specific times can be indicated at one time according to a limited time interval, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0021] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, if the first link is a first groupcast link, the first message further includes third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate a number of nodes participating in establishment of the first groupcast link.

[0022] With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first node is the same as the sending node.

[0023] Based on the above technical solution, the sending node can also participate in establishment of the link, and the flexibility of link establishment indication is improved.

[0024] The second aspect provides a communication method, which can be executed by a second node. In the absence of special description, the "second node" in the present application can refer to the second node itself (for example, a management node device, a terminal node device, etc.), a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the second node, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the second node. For ease of description, the following describes an example in which the second node executes.

[0025] The method includes: receiving a first message from a sending node, the first message being used to indicate a first node and a second node to establish a first link; and establishing the first link with the first node according to the first message; wherein the first message includes first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate a first node type of the first node and a second node type of the second node, and the second indication information being used to indicate a starting time at which the first node and the second node establish the first link; if the first link is a first unicast link, the first node type is a G node or a T node, and the second node type is a G node or a T node; if the first link is a first groupcast link, the first node type is a group leader node or a group member node, and the second node type is a group leader node or a group member node; and the sending node, the first node, and the second node are in a time synchronization state.

[0026] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, if the first link is a first unicast link, the first indication information is used to indicate a first node type of the first node and a second node type of the second node, and the method further includes: the first indication information is used to indicate a first type of the first link, the first type indicating that the first node and the second node are both T nodes; or the first indication information includes first information and second information, the first information is used to indicate a second type of the first link, the second type indicating that one of the first node and the second node is a G node and the other is a T node, and the second information indicates that the first node is a G node and the second node is a T node or the first node is a T node and the second node is a G node.

[0027] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, if the first link is a first unicast link, the first message is further used to indicate that the first node and a third node establish a second link, and the second link is a second unicast link.

[0028] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, if the first link is a first groupcast link, the first message is used to indicate that the first node and the second node establish the first link, and the method further includes: the first message is used to indicate that the first node, the second node and a third node establish the first link, the first indication information is further used to indicate a third node type of the third node, the second indication information is further used to indicate a starting time of the third node and the first node to establish the third link, and the third node type is a group leader node or a group member node; and the establishing the first link with the first node according to the first message further includes: establishing the first link with the first node and the third node according to the first message.

[0029] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information is used to indicate the first node type, the second node type and the third node type, and the method further includes: the first indication information is used to indicate that a first time is an earliest time among the first time, a second time and a third time, wherein the first time is a time at which the first node transmits a packet on the first groupcast link, the second time is a time at which the second node transmits a packet on the first groupcast link, and the third time is a time at which the third node transmits a packet on the first groupcast link.

[0030] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first message is further used to indicate that the second node, a fourth node and a fifth node establish a second groupcast link.

[0031] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the first node and the second node establish the first link, and the method further includes: the second indication information is used to indicate an interval between a reference time and the starting time, wherein the reference time is a time at which the sending node sends the first message, and the starting time is a time at which the first node or the second node sends a packet.

[0032] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, if the first link is a first multicast link, the first message further includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate a number of nodes participating in establishment of the first multicast link.

[0033] The method shown in the above second aspect and possible designs thereof has the technical effects as described in the first aspect and possible designs thereof.

[0034] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a third node. In the absence of special description, the "third node" in the present application can refer to the third node itself (for example, a management node device, a terminal node device, etc.), a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the third node, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the third node. For ease of description, the following describes an example in which the third node executes.

[0035] The method includes: receiving a first message from a sending node; the first message is used to indicate that a first node and a second node establish a first link, and the first node and a third node establish a second link, the first link being a first unicast link, and the second link being a second unicast link; or the first message is used to indicate that the first node, the second node, and the third node establish a first link, the first link being a first multicast link; establishing, according to the first message, the second link with the first node; or establishing the first link with the first node and the second node; and the sending node, the first node, the second node, and the third node are in a time synchronization state.

[0036] The method shown in the above third aspect and possible designs thereof has the technical effects as described in the first aspect and possible designs thereof.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be performed by a sending node. In the present application, the "sending node" can refer to the sending node itself (e.g., a management node device, a terminal node device, etc.), a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the sending node, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the sending node, unless otherwise specified. For ease of description, the following description takes the sending node as an example.

[0038] The method comprises: generating a first message, the first message being used to instruct a first node and a second node to establish a first unicast link; and sending the first message; the first message comprising first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the first link is a first type link or a second type link, the first type link indicating that one of the first node and the second node is a G node and the other is a T node, and the second type link indicating that both the first node and the second node are T nodes; the second indication information being used to indicate a starting time at which the first node and the second node establish the first link; the sending node, the first node, and the second node being in a time synchronization state.

[0039] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, when the first link is the first type link, the first message further comprises third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the first node is the G node and the second node is the T node, or the first node is the T node and the second node is the G node.

[0040] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first message is further used to instruct the first node to establish a second unicast link with a third node, and the sending node, the first node, the second node, and the third node are in a time synchronization state.

[0041] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first message is further used to instruct the first node to establish a groupcast link with a second node and a fourth node, and the sending node, the first node, the second node, and the fourth node are in a time synchronization state.

[0042] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the second indication information is used to indicate the starting time at which the first node and the second node establish the first link, and the second indication information is further used to indicate an interval between a reference time and the starting time, wherein the reference time is a time at which the sending node sends the first message, and the starting time is a time at which the first node or the second node sends a packet.

[0043] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the nodes in the time synchronization state belong to the same multicast link, and the sending node is a group head node.

[0044] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first node is the same as the sending node.

[0045] The technical effects of the method shown in the fourth aspect and possible designs thereof can refer to the technical effects in the first aspect and possible designs thereof.

[0046] The fifth aspect provides a communication method, which can be executed by a sending node. In the absence of special description, the "sending node" in the present application can refer to the sending node itself (for example, a management node device, a terminal node device, etc.), a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the sending node, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the sending node. For the convenience of description, the following description takes the sending node as an example.

[0047] The method comprises: generating a first message, the first message being used to instruct a first node, a second node and a third node to establish a first multicast link, the first node being a group head node; sending the first message; the first message comprising first indication information, second indication information and third indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that a first time is the earliest time among the first time, a second time and a third time, the first time being a time at which the first node sends a packet on the first multicast link, the second time being a time at which the second node sends a packet on the first multicast link, and the third time being a time at which the third node sends a packet on the first multicast link; the second indication information being used to indicate a start time at which the first node, the second node and the third node establish the first multicast link; and the third indication information being used to indicate a number of nodes participating in the establishment of the first multicast link; the sending node, the first node, the second node and the third node being in a time synchronization state.

[0048] With reference to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the first message is further used to instruct the first node and the third node to establish a unicast link.

[0049] With reference to the fifth aspect, in some implementations of the fifth aspect, the first message is further used to instruct the first node, the second node and a fourth node to establish a second multicast link, the sending node, the first node, the second node and the fourth node being in a time synchronization state.

[0050] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, in conjunction with the fifth aspect, the second indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the first node, the second node and the third node establish the first link, and the second indication information is used to indicate an interval between a reference time and the starting time, wherein the reference time is a time at which the sending node sends the first message, and the starting time is a time at which the first node sends the packet.

[0051] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, in conjunction with the fifth aspect, the nodes in the time synchronization state belong to a same multicast link, and the sending node is a group leader node.

[0052] In some implementations of the fifth aspect, in conjunction with the fifth aspect, the first node is the same as the sending node.

[0053] The technical effects of the method shown in the fifth aspect and possible designs thereof can refer to the technical effects in the first aspect and possible designs thereof.

[0054] A sixth aspect provides a communication method, which can be executed by a first node. In the absence of special description, the first node in the present application can refer to the first node itself (for example, a management node device, a terminal node device, etc.), a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first node, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the first node. For ease of description, the following describes the execution of the sending node as an example.

[0055] The method comprises: receiving a second message from a sending node through a third multicast link, the second message being used to indicate keeping alive or canceling keeping alive of a link; and in response to the second message, keeping alive or canceling keeping alive of the third multicast link and a sixth link, the sixth link being a link between the sending node and the first node, the third multicast link being a multicast link between the sending node, the first node and the second node, the sending node being a group leader node, and the first node and the second node being group member nodes.

[0056] Based on the above technical solution, through the multicast link that has been established, a message is sent to batch implement keeping alive or canceling keeping alive of other links between the group member nodes and the group leader node, thereby reducing the signaling indication overhead and power consumption and improving the efficiency of keeping alive or canceling keeping alive.

[0057] With reference to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, the member nodes of the third multicast link further include a third node, a fourth multicast link further exists between the sending node, the first node and the third node, the sending node is a group leader node, and the first node and the third node are group member nodes; and the method further includes: in response to the second message, performing keep-alive or canceling keep-alive on the third multicast link and the fourth multicast link.

[0058] The seventh aspect provides a communication apparatus, which has the functions of the first aspect, the second aspect or the third aspect, for example, the communication apparatus includes modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of the first aspect, the second aspect or the third aspect. The modules or units or means can be implemented in software, or in hardware, or in a combination of software and hardware.

[0059] In an implementation, the transceiver unit can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface; and the processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0060] In another implementation, the transceiver unit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit on the chip, chip system or circuit; and the processing unit can be at least one processor, processing circuit or logic circuit.

[0061] Exemplarily, the communication apparatus is a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the sending node, and the communication apparatus includes:

[0062] The processing unit is configured to generate a first message, the first message being used to instruct the first node and the second node to establish a first link.

[0063] The transceiver unit is configured to send the first message.

[0064] Exemplarily, the communication apparatus is a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the second node, and the communication apparatus includes:

[0065] The transceiver unit is configured to receive the first message from the sending node, the first message being used to instruct the first node and the second node to establish a first link.

[0066] The processing unit is configured to establish the first link with the first node according to the first message.

[0067] Exemplarily, the communication apparatus is a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the third node, and the communication apparatus includes:

[0068] a transceiving unit, configured to receive a first message from a sending node; the first message is used to instruct a first node and a second node to establish a first link, the first node and a third node to establish a second link, or the first node, the second node and the third node to establish the first link, the first link being a first unicast link, the second link being a second unicast link.

[0069] a processing unit, configured to establish the second link with the first node, or the first link with the first node and the second node, according to the first message.

[0070] In an implementation manner, the transceiving unit can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface; and the processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiving circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0071] In another implementation manner, the transceiving unit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or a related circuit on the chip, the chip system or the circuit; and the processing unit can be at least one processor, a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0072] Exemplarily, the communication apparatus is a component (for example, a chip or a circuit) of the sending node, and the communication apparatus includes:

[0073] a processing unit, configured to generate a first message, the first message being used to instruct a first node and a second node to establish a first unicast link.

[0074] a transceiving unit, configured to send the first message.

[0075] In an implementation manner, the transceiving unit can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface; and the processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiving circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0076] In another implementation manner, the transceiving unit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or a related circuit on the chip, the chip system or the circuit; and the processing unit can be at least one processor, a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0077] In an implementation form, the transceiving unit can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface; the processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiving circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0078] In another implementation form, the transceiving unit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuitry on the chip, chip system or circuit; the processing unit can be at least one processor, a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0079] Exemplarily, the communication apparatus is a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) of the first node as described above, the communication apparatus comprises:

[0080] a processing unit configured to generate a first message, the first message being used to instruct a first node, a second node and a third node to establish a first multicast link, the first node being a group leader node.

[0081] a transceiving unit configured to transmit the first message.

[0082] In a tenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided with the functions of the sixth aspect described above, for example, the communication apparatus comprises modules or units or means corresponding to the operations of the sixth aspect described above, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. For example, the processing unit and the transceiving unit.

[0083] In an implementation form, the transceiving unit can be a transceiver, or an input / output interface; the processing unit can be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiving circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0084] In another implementation form, the transceiving unit can be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuitry on the chip, chip system or circuit; the processing unit can be at least one processor, a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0085] Exemplarily, the communication apparatus is a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) of the first node as described above, the communication apparatus comprises:

[0086] a processing unit configured to, in response to the second message, keep alive or cancel keeping alive the third multicast link and a sixth link.

[0087] a transceiving unit configured to receive a second message from the sending node through the third multicast link, the second message being used to instruct to keep alive or cancel keeping alive a link.

[0088] In an eleventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including a processor coupled with a memory for storing a computer program, the processor configured to execute the computer program to cause the communication apparatus to perform the method according to any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or the third aspect; or to perform the method according to any possible implementation of the fourth aspect; or to perform the method according to any possible implementation of the fifth aspect; or to perform the method according to any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0089] In a twelfth aspect, a computer readable storage medium storing program code for execution by an apparatus is provided, the program code comprising instructions for performing the method according to any implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or the third aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the fourth aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the fifth aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0090] In a thirteenth aspect, a chip is provided, including a processor and a communication interface, the processor configured to read instructions stored on a memory through the communication interface, and perform the method according to any implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or the third aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the fourth aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the fifth aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0091] Optionally, as an implementation, the chip further includes a memory, the memory storing a computer program or instructions, the processor configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored on the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor is configured to perform the method according to any implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or the third aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the fourth aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the fifth aspect; or the method according to any implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0092] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which comprises a transmitting node configured to perform the method provided in the first aspect, a second node configured to perform the method provided in the second aspect, and a third node configured to perform the method provided in the third aspect; or, comprises a transmitting node configured to perform the method provided in the fourth aspect; or, comprises a transmitting node configured to perform the method provided in the fifth aspect; or, comprises a first node configured to perform the method provided in the sixth aspect.

[0093] In a fifteenth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions which, when the computer program product is executed on a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method provided in any one of the implementations of the first aspect, the second aspect or the third aspect; or, the method provided in any one of the implementations of the fourth aspect; or, the method provided in any one of the implementations of the fifth aspect; or, the method provided in any one of the implementations of the sixth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0094] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system suitable for use with embodiments of the application.

[0095] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless short range communication protocol architecture suitable for use with embodiments of the application.

[0096] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a method 300 for establishing a multicast based on star flash SLE technology.

[0097] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multicast method 400 suitable for use with embodiments of the application.

[0098] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a data transmission for a bidirectional multicast suitable for use with embodiments of the application.

[0099] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 600 suitable for use with embodiments of the application.

[0100] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 700 suitable for use with embodiments of the application.

[0101] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a flow 800 corresponding to the communication method 700 of embodiments of the application.

[0102] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 900 suitable for use with embodiments of the application.

[0103] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a flow 1000 corresponding to the communication method 900 of embodiments of the application.

[0104] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1100 suitable for use with embodiments of the application.

[0105] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a flow 1200 of a communication method 1100 corresponding to embodiments of the application.

[0106] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1300 suitable for use in embodiments of the application.

[0107] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a flow 1400 of the communication method 1300 corresponding to embodiments of the application.

[0108] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1500 suitable for use in embodiments of the application.

[0109] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 1600 suitable for use in embodiments of the application.

[0110] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication apparatus 1700 suitable for use in embodiments of the application.

[0111] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip system 1800 suitable for use in embodiments of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0112] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0113] The technical solutions provided in the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a 5th generation (5G) (or new radio (NR)) system, a beyond 5G (B5G) mobile communication system, a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, an LTE time division duplex (TDD) system, etc. The technical solutions provided in the present application can also be applied to future communication networks. The technical solutions provided in the present application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and internet of things (IoT) communication systems or other communication systems. In addition, the technical solutions provided in the present application support short distance communication.

[0114] Exemplarily, short-range communication can realize communication between electronic devices with a small distance. The mainstream access technologies in current short-range communication include wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology, Bluetooth technology, ZigBee technology and the like. With the development of the Internet of Things, new application scenarios such as smart cars, smart homes, smart terminals and smart manufacturing have emerged, and a new generation of short-range access technologies has emerged. Taking the sparklink alliance access technology as an example, it includes but is not limited to: sparklink basic (SLB) access technology, sparklink low energy (SLE) access technology. The SLB access technology can support transmission of large-bandwidth services such as screen projection, virtual reality (VR) and vehicle-mounted communication, and the SLE access technology can support transmission of small-bandwidth, low-rate and low-power services such as audio playback, keyboard, mouse and electronic pen. For convenience of description, the SLB access technology can be referred to as SLB and the SLE access technology can be referred to as SLE in the following embodiments. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the access technology mentioned in the following description refers to short-range access technology.

[0115] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application support the related standards of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), such as Bluetooth 2.x, Bluetooth 3.x, Bluetooth 4.x, or Bluetooth 5.x (for example, Bluetooth 5.0, Bluetooth 5.1, Bluetooth 5.2, Bluetooth 5.3 or Bluetooth 5.4) and the like. The present application can also support sparklink standard protocols, such as “Sparklink Wireless Communication System Low Power Technology Requirements and Test Methods” T_XS10002-2022 (V1.0.0), T_XS10002-2023 (V1.1.0) related standards.

[0116] The above communication system applicable to the present application is only illustrative, and the communication system applicable to the present application is not limited thereto. Herein, the following will not be described in detail.

[0117] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0118] As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system 100 includes a first device (for example, a first device 110) and at least one second device (for example, a second device 120, 121). The first device and each second device can establish a connection through short-range access technology to communicate. It should be understood that the communication system shown in FIG. 1 is only illustrative, and the communication system 100 can also include other devices (such as a base station and the like), and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0119] In the embodiments of the present application, the first device or the second device can be any device with wireless transceiving function, including but not limited to a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a smart phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a drone device, a device in Internet of Things or Internet of Vehicles, other devices connected to a wireless modem, and the like.

[0120] The first device or the second device can also be a device in virtual reality (VR), a device in augmented reality (AR), a device in industrial control (such as smart manufacturing), a device in self driving, a device in remote medical, a device in smart grid, a device in smart city, a device in smart home, and the like.

[0121] The first device or the second device can also be a personal portable device, a computer external device, and various household or industrial electrical devices, including but not limited to a smart phone, a smart screen, a smart air conditioner, a smart alarm clock, a sweeping robot, a smart sound box (such as an artificial intelligence (AI) sound box, a high fidelity (HiFi) sound box), a smart sensor, a television, a wireless earphone, a VR headset, a tablet computer, a display, a camera, a handheld computer, a laptop computer, a vehicle-mounted computer, a vehicle-mounted terminal (such as a microphone, a loudspeaker, and the like), a projector, a printer, a keyboard, a mouse, an electronic book, a smart wristband, a smart watch, smart glasses, a smart car, a smart lathe, a smart monitoring device, and the like.

[0122] By way of example, and not limitation, the communication system 100 includes a first device 110, a second device 120, and a second device 121, where the first device 110 is a mobile phone, the second device 120 is a smart speaker, and the second device 121 is a headset. It should be understood that any number of first devices and second devices can be included in the communication system 100, and the first devices and second devices can be in any form of a device described above. For example, the schemes of the present application are applicable to data communication between a first device and one or more second devices, and are also applicable to data communication between a first device and a first device, and data communication between a second device and a second device. The embodiments of the present application do not make any limitation on the number and type of the first devices and the second devices included in the communication system 100.

[0123] The first device and the second device can include a transmitter, a receiver, a memory, and a processor, etc., where the transmitter and the receiver are respectively used for transmitting and receiving a packet structure, the memory is used for storing signaling information and storing preset values agreed in advance, etc., and the processor is used for parsing the signaling information and processing related data, etc.

[0124] It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the first device and the second device can support at least one short-range access technology, such as SLE access technology. In the embodiments of the present application, the first device can be a grant node, and the second device can be a terminal node. In the present application, the names of the devices are not limited, as long as the corresponding functions can be implemented.

[0125] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless short-range communication protocol architecture suitable for the embodiments of the present application.

[0126] The protocol architecture can be applied to any electronic device that can implement short-range communication, for example, can be applied to the first device and the second device in the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1.

[0127] As shown in FIG. 2, the protocol architecture 200 includes, but is not limited to, a host and a controller. The host is an upper layer protocol of the controller, and the host includes a basic application layer 230 and a basic service layer 220. The controller, which can also be referred to as an access layer 210, is the bottom layer of the protocol architecture.

[0128] Referring to FIG. 2, the protocol architecture 200 can include, from bottom to top, the access layer 210, the basic service layer 220, and the basic application layer 230. In the following, the access layer 210, the basic service layer 220, and the basic application layer 230 are described in detail, respectively.

[0129] The access layer 210 is mainly responsible for processing of the underlying logical link, such as establishment, reconfiguration, deletion, etc. of the logical link, to undertake the service requirements (such as reliable data, real-time data, etc.) of the underlying service layer 220, wherein the logical link is used to transmit services between two electronic devices. The access layer 210 can support multiple access technologies, including but not limited to the access technologies of the SLB short-range wireless communication system, the access technologies of the SLE short-range wireless communication system, and other access technologies, such as the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, other future Starlink access technologies, etc. In the embodiments of the present application, only the SLB and SLE access technologies are taken as examples to briefly introduce the architecture of the access layer 210.

[0130] As shown in FIG. 2, the access layer 210 can further include a data link layer and a physical layer. The data link layer is used to implement resource management, access control, data segmentation, concatenation, reordering, etc. to ensure reliable data transmission. The physical layer uses a transmission medium to provide a physical connection for the data link layer to realize transparent transmission of a bit stream. In some embodiments, the data link layer can include a link control layer and a medium access layer. The link control layer is mainly based on the link established between nodes to interact with the link control protocol (LCP) on the control link, and performs functions such as physical / logical link management, control of device behavior, etc. The medium access layer is responsible for wireless resource allocation and provides data transmission services for the link control layer. Each sub-layer in the access layer 210 respectively implements its own function to support the access layer 210.

[0131] In the embodiments of the present application, for an electronic device supporting two access technologies such as SLB and SLE, the access layer thereof can implement SLB access and SLE access through different modules, or can implement SLB access and SLE access through the same module, which is not limited herein. The SLB access technology is mainly responsible for transmission of large-bandwidth, high-rate, high-power services (such as video playing services), and the SLE access technology is mainly responsible for transmission of small-bandwidth, low-rate, low-power services (such as audio playing services). It can be understood that the names of the two Starlink access technologies introduced above are only exemplary, and should not be understood as a limitation on the embodiments of the present application. In other embodiments or in future architectures, SLB and SLE can also use other names.

[0132] A logical channel (LC) is established in the access layer 210, which is the basis for the establishment of a transmission channel (TC) in the underlying service layer 220. After the logical channel is successfully established, the transmission channel in the underlying service layer 220 can be used. The logical channel can map multiple transmission channels. In order to distinguish the logical channel, a logical channel identification (LCID) is defined to uniquely identify the logical channel.

[0133] The underlying service layer 220 is a protocol layer between the access layer 210 and the underlying application layer 230, and includes multiple functional units, which are service-unbound and implement general functional processes. Specifically, the underlying service layer 220 can be responsible for the creation, addition, deletion, and release of transmission channels, as well as the control of logical links (such as the selection of access technologies) to meet the service requirements (such as traffic, rate, sound quality, and resolution) of the underlying application layer 230. The design goal of the underlying service layer 220 is to be compatible with multiple access layer technologies, such as the SLB and SLE access technologies described above, and to retain the ability to be compatible with more access technologies in the future.

[0134] The underlying service layer 220 can include multiple modules or functional units that achieve the above design goals, including but not limited to: a device discovery module, a service management module, a connection management module, a quality of service (QoS) management module, a security management module, a measurement management module, a multi-domain coordination module, a 5G fusion module, and a transmission and control adaptation module.

[0135] The device discovery module is used to discover devices without connecting to the devices. Specifically, the device discovery module is used to broadcast the capabilities of the device itself and scan for peer devices that meet the service requirements.

[0136] The service management module is used to discover and operate services on the device. Specifically, the service management module is used to define a data structure to provide control instructions and small data transmission for the service function set of the underlying application layer.

[0137] The connection management module is used to manage the transmission channel, including creating, adding, deleting, and releasing the transmission channel. Specifically, the connection management module is used to apply for a transmission channel by the underlying application layer according to the business identifier (BID) and the Qos capability of the service to transmit the data stream, manage the establishment and release of the transmission channel for the service, and maintain the mapping relationship between the transmission channel and the logical link, etc. This will be described in detail later, and will not be described here.

[0138] The QoS management module is configured to manage and negotiate the QoS of transmission. Specifically, the QoS management module is configured to manage the Qos request static table of the service, and negotiate the Qos with the peer device.

[0139] The security management module is configured to establish a secure connection for the underlying service layer.

[0140] The measurement management module is configured to configure the underlying measurement and scheduling for power control and the like.

[0141] The multi-domain coordination module is configured to realize information interaction between domains (subnets) in a multi-domain scenario, and realize interference avoidance and load balancing between multiple domains.

[0142] The 5G fusion module is configured to establish a channel with a cellular 5G remote management capability, and realize a device with a cellular 5G remote control function through an authentication and authentication mechanism.

[0143] The transmission and control adaptation module is configured to transmit data, and realize functions such as segmentation and recombination, flow control, shunting and aggregation of data on the transmission channel.

[0144] The transmission channel (TC) is established in the underlying service layer 220, and is configured to transmit data in the service plane and data in the control plane. In order to distinguish the transmission channel, a transmission channel identification (TCID) is defined to uniquely identify the transmission channel. The transmission channel can be mapped to multiple ports (ports) on the upper side, and can be mapped to the same logical channel on the lower side.

[0145] On the one hand, the transmission of the underlying service layer 220 can be divided into control plane transmission and service plane transmission. Accordingly, the transmission channel of the underlying service layer 220 can include a control channel and a service channel, wherein the control channel is configured to transmit data in the control plane, and the service channel is configured to transmit data in the service plane. The establishment of the control channel is the basis for the establishment of the service channel between electronic devices.

[0146] On the other hand, according to whether the transmission channel is established by default, the transmission channel in the underlying service layer 220 can include a default transmission channel and a non-default transmission channel. The default transmission channel is generally automatically established after the underlying logical link is established. The non-default transmission channel is established according to the demand when there is a service demand.

[0147] The base application layer 230 is mainly responsible for meeting different service requirements of the upper application (APP) and completing data routing to the base service layer 220. According to different classifications of services, the base application layer 230 can include a plurality of different service function sets (also referred to as service modules or service frameworks). Different service function sets contain classified data processing of services.

[0148] For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the application layer 230 can include a base communication framework, a general perception framework, a general audio framework, a general audio framework, a general data framework, a vehicle control framework, and the like. Among them, the base communication framework contains processing of communication data; the general perception framework contains processing of perception data; the general audio framework contains processing of audio data, such as codec processing; the general video framework contains processing of video data; the general data framework contains processing of file data, such as encryption and compression; and the vehicle control framework contains processing of vehicle data. Different service function sets can be distinguished by business identification (BID).

[0149] The channel in the base application layer 230 is a port, which can meet the service requirements of the application on the upper side and implement mapping of a plurality of ports to the same transmission channel on the lower side.

[0150] In order to realize complete transmission of services, the channels of different layers in the protocol architecture 200 have a mapping relationship. Specifically, the ports in the base application layer 230 have a mapping relationship with the transmission channels in the base service layer 220, wherein a plurality of ports can be mapped to the same transmission channel. The transmission channels in the base service layer 220 have a mapping relationship with the logical channels in the access layer 210, wherein a plurality of transmission channels can be mapped to the same logical channel. One logical channel corresponds to one access technology. When there is service data to be transmitted, the base application layer 230 transmits data from the port to the base service layer 220 through a data flow, and the base service layer 220 selects one or more transmission channels for transmission. Since the transmission channels have a mapping relationship with the logical channels, correspondingly, the access layer 210 continues to transmit using the corresponding logical channel after receiving the data.

[0151] It should be understood that the network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. It is known to those skilled in the art that, with the evolution of network architecture and the appearance of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0152] For the convenience of understanding the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, some terms or concepts that can be involved in the embodiments of the present application are simply described. It should be noted that the names appearing in the following description are functional descriptions, and only represent the functions of the devices, and the specific names of the present application are not limited, and can be extended to other systems in the future.

[0153] 1. Grant node and terminal node

[0154] The grant node refers to a node that sends data scheduling information of a wireless short-range communication system, and the grant node can also be referred to as a G node. The terminal node refers to a node that receives data scheduling information of a wireless short-range communication system and sends data according to the data scheduling information, and the terminal node can be referred to as a T node. In the present application, the names thereof are not limited, and the corresponding functions can be implemented. For the convenience of description, the grant node is referred to as a G node and the terminal node is referred to as a T node hereinafter.

[0155] 2. Discoverer and discovered

[0156] The discoverer refers to a device that discovers surrounding devices by scanning on a specified channel, and the discovered refers to a device that is discovered by surrounding devices through broadcasting.

[0157] 3. Asynchronous data link and synchronous data link

[0158] The asynchronous data link is used for reliable transmission between the G node and the T node of the system, and between two T nodes. In the asynchronous data link, after a sending node sends a data packet, if no feedback information of the data packet from the opposite node is received, the sending node continuously retransmits the data packet.

[0159] The synchronous data link is used for non-reliable transmission between the G node and the T node of the system, and between two T nodes. In the synchronous data link, after a sending node sends a data packet, if no feedback information of the data packet from the opposite node is received within a certain time, the sending node discards the data packet.

[0160] 4. Broadcast, unicast and multicast

[0161] Broadcast, unicast and multicast (or multi-cast) are ways of data (or message) transmission between devices.

[0162] Broadcast is a one-to-all communication mode between nodes, in which a sending node sends a message to all possible receivers in the network. That is, an intermediate node duplicates and forwards a received broadcast message to every interface except the interface through which the message arrived. The broadcast processing flow is simple and does not need to select a path, and therefore, broadcast is usually used for network management and diagnosis. A broadcast link is a link that implements one-to-all transmission of data.

[0163] It should be noted that, since the basic broadcast frame is sent on a broadcast channel, and the broadcast channel is a public frequency band, there can be problems of channel congestion and interference, resulting in packet loss.

[0164] In addition, in the broadcast mode, the two nodes can discover each other only when they are on the same frequency band and broadcast and monitor, respectively, at the same or similar time. Therefore, if the time-frequency information of the broadcast end and the access end is not synchronized (for example, the frequency bands are the same but the time windows are different; or the frequency bands are different but the time windows are the same; or both the frequency bands and the time windows are different), the two nodes can not discover each other.

[0165] Unicast is a one-to-one communication mode between nodes, in which a sending node selects a transmission path according to a destination address contained in a message, and transmits a unicast message to a specified destination. In the process of unicast transmission, an intermediate node only forwards the received data and does not duplicate it. Therefore, unicast does not cause data redundancy, is relatively efficient, and does not waste network bandwidth. A unicast link is a link that implements one-to-one transmission of data.

[0166] Multicast is a one-to-many communication mode between nodes, which allows one or more sending nodes to send the same message to multiple receiving nodes. A sending node sends a message to a specific multicast address, which does not belong to a specific receiving node, but belongs to a group of receiving nodes. A multicast link is a link that implements one-to-many transmission of data. In the transmission of one sending node to multiple receiving nodes, the one sending node is the group leader node of the one-to-many transmission, and the multiple receiving nodes are the group member nodes of the one-to-many transmission.

[0167] The establishment of multicast takes the establishment of an asynchronous multicast link as a completion flag. On the asynchronous multicast link, operations such as multicast data transmission, multicast parameter interaction request / response, multicast parameter update request / indication, and disconnection of the multicast link can be performed.

[0168] Correspondingly, in the basic service layer 220 shown in FIG. 2, the service channel can include a unicast service channel, a multicast service channel and a broadcast service channel. The broadcast service channel is a service channel for transmitting broadcast service, can implement connectionless transmission, has no feedback at the bottom layer, and needs to be transmitted multiple times to guarantee reliability. The unicast service channel is a service channel for transmitting unicast service, can implement one-to-one (point-to-point) transmission. The multicast service channel is a service channel for transmitting multicast service, can implement one-to-many (point-to-group) transmission, has feedback at the bottom layer, and has certain bottom-layer reliability.

[0169] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a method 300 for establishing a multicast based on a star flash SLE technology.

[0170] The method 300 is described in detail below by taking the interaction between a group leader node and a group member node as an example. The group leader node and the group member node both support a short-distance wireless access technology, and can support the protocol architecture 200 shown in FIG. 2, such as an SLE access technology.

[0171] S301: The group leader node and the group member node establish a connection-state asynchronous link.

[0172] Specifically, the connection-state asynchronous link is a link for one-to-one transmission between the group leader node and the group member node.

[0173] It should be noted that the connection-state asynchronous data link between the group leader node and the group member node is established through broadcasting. For a specific manner of establishing the connection-state asynchronous data link based on broadcasting, reference can be made to related contents in the prior art, which will not be described herein again.

[0174] S302: The group leader node sends a message A to the group member node; correspondingly, the group member node receives the message A from the group leader node.

[0175] Specifically, the message A is used to instruct the group leader node and the group member node to establish an asynchronous multicast link, and the fields carried by the message A include but are not limited to at least one of the following:

[0176] (1) Multicast period: used to indicate a multicast time period and / or a multicast event group period. One multicast event group can include at least one multicast event.

[0177] (2) In-event interval: used to indicate a time offset amount of signaling and / or data interaction between the group leader node and the group member node within the same event group.

[0178] (3) Inter-event interval: used to indicate a time offset amount of signaling and / or data interaction between the group leader node and the group member node between adjacent two events of the same event group.

[0179] It should be understood that the names of the above fields are only used to indicate the corresponding functions, and the specific names of the above fields are not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0180] S303: The group leader node and the group member node establish an asynchronous multicast link.

[0181] Specifically, the group leader node and the group member node are configured according to the message A, determine the timing of establishing the asynchronous multicast link, and establish the asynchronous multicast link at the corresponding time offset moment through signaling interaction. For the specific process of establishing the asynchronous multicast link based on the connected state asynchronous link, reference can be made to the related content in the prior art, which will not be repeated here.

[0182] It should be understood that the multicast link can also include other group member nodes, and each group member node can join the multicast link by repeating the above steps S301 to S303. In addition, the group leader node can also establish a different multicast link with at least one other group member node, which is not limited by the present application.

[0183] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multicast method 400 suitable for the embodiments of the present application.

[0184] As shown in FIG. 4, according to the transmission direction and feedback direction of data, the multicast can be divided into three categories:

[0185] (1) Unidirectional multicast

[0186] As shown in (a) of FIG. 4, the unidirectional multicast can realize the unidirectional multicast transmission of data from one node to multiple nodes through the time resource configuration of events and event groups. The group leader node sends data to multiple group member nodes and receives feedback from the multiple group member nodes. The group leader node determines to send a new data packet or retransmit an old data packet according to the feedback from the multiple group member nodes. For example, an acknowledge character (ACK) is used to indicate that a group member node has successfully received data and confirms that the received data is correct; a negative acknowledgment (NACK) is used to indicate that a group member node finds an error when receiving a data packet and cannot accept the data packet.

[0187] (2) Bidirectional multicast

[0188] As shown in (b) of FIG. 4, the bidirectional multicast can realize the bidirectional multicast transmission of data from one node to multiple nodes through the time resource configuration of events and event groups. On the basis of the unidirectional multicast, the group leader node can also receive data sent by the multiple group member nodes and feedback the ACK and / or NACK information of the multiple group member nodes in one data packet. The group member nodes determine to send a new data packet or retransmit an old data packet according to the feedback information sent by the group leader node. As for the bidirectional multicast, it will be described below in combination with FIG. 5, which will not be described in detail here.

[0189] (3) Feedback Multicast

[0190] As shown in (c) of FIG. 4, feedback multicast can realize feedback multicast transmission from one node to multiple nodes through time resource configuration of events and event groups. Different from unidirectional multicast and bidirectional multicast, the group leader node only receives data sent by multiple member nodes and feeds back ACK and / or NACK information of multiple member nodes in one data packet. The member nodes determine whether to send a new data packet or retransmit an old data packet according to the feedback information sent by the group leader node.

[0191] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of data transmission of bidirectional multicast suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0192] Multicast data transmission between the group leader node and the member nodes can include multiple event groups (for example, event group #1 and event group #2), and each event group can further include multiple events (for example, event #1 and event #2). FIG. 5 illustrates data transmission between the group leader node and three member nodes. As shown in FIG. 5, the group leader node can send multicast data to the member nodes at the start time of each event group and feed back the reception of the multicast data sent by each member node last time, and each member node monitors and receives the multicast data and the feedback sent by the group leader node at the time. For example, the group leader node sends multicast data and feedback of the reception of the multicast data last time to member node 1 (corresponding to node 1 event #1 in FIG. 5), member node 2 (corresponding to node 2 event #1 in FIG. 5) and member node 3 (corresponding to node 3 event #1 in FIG. 5) at the start time, and member nodes 1 to 3 receive the multicast data from the group leader node.

[0193] The group leader node and the member nodes determine the feedback and multicast data sending time of each member node for the current event according to the configuration information (for example, intra-event interval) when the multicast is established, and the group leader node monitors and receives the multicast data and feedback information sent by different nodes at the corresponding time. For example, member node 1 determines the feedback of the data reception and the multicast data sending time to the group leader node in node 1 event #1 according to the intra-node 1 event interval indicated in the configuration information, and the group leader node receives the feedback and data from member node 1 at the corresponding time; member node 2 determines the feedback of the data reception and the multicast data sending time to the group leader node in node 2 event #1 according to the intra-node 2 event interval indicated in the configuration information, and the group leader node receives the feedback and data from member node 2 at the corresponding time; and member node 3 determines the feedback of the data reception and the multicast data sending time to the group leader node in node 3 event #1 according to the intra-node 3 event interval indicated in the configuration information, and the group leader node receives the feedback and data from member node 3 at the corresponding time.

[0194] The group leader node and the group member nodes determine the starting time of the next event in the same event group according to the configuration information (for example, the inter-event interval) when the multicast is established, the group leader node sends the multicast data to the group member nodes at the time, and feeds back the reception of the multicast data sent by each group member node last time, and each group member node monitors and receives the multicast data and the feedback sent by the group leader node at the time. For example, the group leader node determines the starting time of node 1 event #2 according to the node 1 inter-event interval indicated in the configuration information, sends new multicast data to group member node 1 at the corresponding time, and feeds back the reception of the data from group member node 1 in node 1 event #1; the group leader node determines the starting time of node 2 event #2 according to the node 2 inter-event interval indicated in the configuration information, sends new multicast data to group member node 2 at the corresponding time, and feeds back the reception of the data from group member node 2 in node 2 event #1; the group leader node determines the starting time of node 3 event #2 according to the node 3 inter-event interval indicated in the configuration information, sends new multicast data to group member node 3 at the corresponding time, and feeds back the reception of the data from group member node 3 in node 3 event #1.

[0195] The interaction between the group leader node and each group member node in event group #2 is similar to that in event group #1, and details are not repeated here.

[0196] 5、Keepalive mechanism

[0197] The keepalive mechanism refers to that both parties of a link regularly or irregularly send messages according to the agreed time in the absence of business flow, and determine whether the link parties exist and the current link is valid according to the reply of the messages, and perform time synchronization operation. If one party of the link does not receive any information from the opposite party within a certain time, it may be determined that the link has been disconnected, thereby triggering the disconnection operation.

[0198] 6、Time synchronization state

[0199] The time synchronization state means that the local clocks (time stamps) of the plurality of devices (or nodes) are equal at the same time, or the time deviation between the local clocks of the plurality of devices (or nodes) is kept within an acceptable error range, and the acceptable error range means that the error does not affect the normal communication function and business development between the devices.

[0200] In a possible way, the device can rely on a time synchronization mechanism of the Starlink SLE access layer itself to achieve time synchronization with other devices. For example, in Starlink SLE, each node involved in a multicast, broadcast and / or unicast link can be in a time synchronization state. For a specific process of achieving a time synchronization state between devices, reference can be made to related descriptions in the prior art, which are not limited in the present application.

[0201] Based on the communication system shown in FIG. 1, the data transmission manner between devices (nodes) can include broadcast, unicast and multicast, wherein the establishment of unicast and multicast links both relies on broadcast. However, the time-frequency information of the broadcast end and the access end can be unsynchronized, thereby leading to a long time of link establishment and affecting user experience.

[0202] Therefore, how to achieve fast link establishment is a problem to be solved.

[0203] Therefore, how to achieve fast link establishment is a problem to be solved.

[0204] The technical solutions provided by the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0205] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 600 suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0206] It should be understood that FIG. 6 shows steps or operations of the communication method, but these steps or operations are only examples, and embodiments of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of each operation in FIG. 6.

[0207] It should be understood that the embodiments shown below do not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, as long as the execution subject can communicate according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application by running a program in which the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is recorded. For example, the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be a sending node (which can be a terminal device) and a receiving node (which can be a terminal device), or a functional module in the sending node or the receiving node that can call and execute the program.

[0208] In the following, without loss of generality, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail by taking the interaction between a sending node and at least one receiving node as an example. The sending node and the receiving node both support short-range wireless access technology, such as SLE access technology, and both support the protocol architecture 200 shown in FIG. 2.

[0209] It should be noted that the nodes (such as the sending node and the receiving node (for example, the first node, the second node and the third node, etc.)) involved in the method 600 are in a time synchronization state, and the definition of time synchronization can refer to the content in the foregoing term part and the related description in the prior art, which will not be repeated here.

[0210] Indicating the establishment of a link between nodes in a time synchronization scenario can ensure that the first message sent by the sending node is timely received by the receiving node (for example, the first node and the second node), thereby avoiding the situation that the receiving node cannot receive the first message in a short time due to the unsynchronized time-frequency information of the nodes, and making a response based on the indication content of the first message, thereby leading to a long time of establishing a link or even a failure of establishing a link.

[0211] S601: generating a first message, the first message being used to indicate the first node and the second node to establish a first link.

[0212] The first message includes first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate a first node type of the first node and a second node type of the second node, and the second indication information being used to indicate a start time of the first node and the second node to establish the first link.

[0213] It should be understood that the start time can be directly indicated by the second indication information, or can be indirectly determined by calculation or the like according to the content of the second indication information, which is not limited in the present application.

[0214] For example, the second indication information is used to indicate an interval between a reference time and the start time, wherein the reference time is the time when the sending node sends the first message, and the start time is the time when the first node or the second node sends a packet.

[0215] For example, the second indication information can be an “event group start offset time slot”, which is used to indicate the start time of the establishment of a new link, that is, the start time point of the first packet interaction in the new link. The description of the “event group start offset time slot” will be described below in combination with Table 2, which will not be described in detail here.

[0216] In this case, a plurality of specific times can be indicated at a time according to a limited time interval, thereby reducing the signaling overhead.

[0217] The specific process of the method 600 can further include the following specific implementation manners according to different first messages:

[0218] In a possible implementation, the first link is a first unicast link, the first node type is a G node or a T node, and the second node type is a G node or a T node.

[0219] The first indication information can be used to indicate the first node type of the first node and the second node type of the second node, and can include:

[0220] The first indication information is used to indicate the first type of the first link, and the first type indicates that the first node and the second node are both T nodes; or the first indication information includes first information and second information, the first information is used to indicate the second type of the first link, the second type indicates that one of the first node and the second node is a G node and the other is a T node, and the second information indicates that the first node is a G node and the second node is a T node or the first node is a T node and the second node is a G node.

[0221] For example, the type of the new link can be indicated by "GT link type". For example, 0 can be used to indicate a GT link, and 1 can be used to indicate a TT link.

[0222] Further, the type of the node involved in the new link can be indicated by "GT role indication".

[0223] Optionally, when the new link is a TT link, the field is ignored.

[0224] Optionally, when the new link is a GT link, 0 can be used to indicate that the node type is not indicated, and the node type can be determined by negotiation of the nodes; 1 indicates that the first sending device is a G node; and 2 indicates that the first sending device is a T node.

[0225] Optionally, the GT role indication can also be used to indicate other reserved contents, which are not limited in the present application.

[0226] In this case, when the first indication information is used to indicate the first type of the first link, it is indicated that the first node and the second node are both T nodes, so that additional indication of the types of the first node and the second node is not needed.

[0227] The method 600 can further include the step S602a of sending the first message by the sending node to the first node and the second node, and correspondingly, the first node and the second node receive the first message.

[0228] In response to the step S602a, the method 600 can further include the step S603a of establishing the first link by the first node and the second node according to the first message.

[0229] Optionally, the first message is further used to instruct the first node and a third node to establish a second link, and the second link is a second unicast link.

[0230] In this case, the first message can instruct to establish multiple unicast links at the same time, thereby reducing signaling overhead and time overhead, realizing parallel establishment of links, and improving link establishment efficiency.

[0231] In another possible implementation, the first link is a first groupcast link, the first node type is a group leader node or a group member node, and the second node type is a group leader node or a group member node.

[0232] It should be noted that the first message used to instruct the first node and the second node to establish the first link can further include:

[0233] The first message is used to instruct the first node, the second node, and a third node to establish the first link, the first indication information is further used to indicate a third node type of the third node, and the second indication information is further used to indicate a starting time for the third node to establish the third link, and the third node type is a group leader node or a group member node.

[0234] In this case, the establishment of the groupcast link can be instructed by one message, the signaling overhead can be reduced while the link establishment efficiency is improved, and the flexibility of link establishment indication is improved.

[0235] The first indication information is used to indicate the first node type, the second node type, and the third node type, and includes:

[0236] The first indication information is used to indicate that the first time is the earliest time among the first time, a second time, and a third time, wherein the first time is a time at which the first node transmits a packet on the first groupcast link, the second time is a time at which the second node transmits a packet on the first groupcast link, and the third time is a time at which the third node transmits a packet on the first groupcast link.

[0237] For example, a "first-member-intra-interval" can be used to indicate the time at which the group leader node (the first node) in the first groupcast link transmits a packet on the first groupcast link, and multiple "later-member-intra-intervals" can be used to indicate the time at which the group member nodes (the second node and the third node) in the first groupcast link transmit a packet on the first groupcast link. The "first-member-intra-interval" and the "later-member-intra-interval" will be described below in combination with Table 4, and will not be described here in detail.

[0238] Optionally, the first message can further comprise third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate a number of nodes participating in establishment of the first multicast link.

[0239] For example, the third indication information can be "multicast member number", which is used to indicate a number of members in a new multicast, including a group leader node and group member nodes. The description of "multicast member number" will be described below in combination with Table 4, and thus is not described here in detail.

[0240] The method 600 can further comprise step S602b: the sending node sends a first message to the first node, the second node and the third node; correspondingly, the first node, the second node and the third node receive the first message.

[0241] In response to step S602b, the method 600 can further comprise step S603b: the first node, the second node and the third node establish a first link according to the first message.

[0242] Optionally, the first message is further used to indicate that the second node, the fourth node and the fifth node establish a second multicast link.

[0243] In this case, the first message can indicate establishment of multiple multicast links at the same time, which can reduce signaling overhead, realize parallel establishment of links, and improve link establishment efficiency.

[0244] It should be noted that in the method 600, the sending node and the first node can be the same node, or can be different nodes, which are not limited by the present application. That is, the sending node can indicate other time-synchronized nodes to establish a link, or can be used to indicate itself and other time-synchronized nodes to establish a link.

[0245] For example, in a multicast scenario, the sending node can be a group leader node. The sending node can indicate multiple group member nodes to establish unicast and / or multicast links based on the multicast link in which the sending node is located, or can indicate itself and at least one group member node to establish unicast and / or multicast links based on the multicast link in which the sending node is located.

[0246] In this case, the sending node can also participate in the establishment of the link, which improves the flexibility of link establishment indication.

[0247] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 700 suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0248] For ease of understanding, the method 700 is described based on a unicast link establishment process in a multicast scenario.

[0249] The node G, the node T1, the node T2, and the node T3 belong to a multicast link #1, the node G is a group leader node, and the node T1, the node T2, and the node T3 are group member nodes. The group leader node instructs the establishment of a unicast link #1 between the group member nodes (for example, between the node T2 and the node T3). The group leader node can be a G node, and the group member node can be a T node. The G node and the T node both support a short-range wireless access technology, and can support a protocol architecture 200 as shown in FIG. 2, for example, an SLE access technology.

[0250] The method 700 includes the following steps:

[0251] S701: The G node generates a message B.

[0252] Specifically, the message B is used to instruct the node T2 and the node T3 to establish a unicast link #1.

[0253] It should be noted that the message B can be an example of a first message in the communication method 600 as shown in FIG. 6, and the unicast link #1 can be an example of a first link in the communication method 600 as shown in FIG. 6.

[0254] In addition, the message B can also be referred to as link establishment instruction information. The specific name of the message B is not limited in the present application.

[0255] For example, the message B carries the fields shown in Table 1 below, but is not limited to at least one of the fields.

[0256] Table 1

[0257] It should be noted that the specific content and specific indication method indicated by the above fields can refer to the description in Table 2.

[0258] Table 2

[0259] It should be understood that the names of the above fields are only used to indicate the corresponding functions, and the specific names of the above fields and the specific representation forms of the indicated content are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0260] Optionally, the message B can be represented in the form of an index.

[0261] For example, the message B is an N-bit sequence, N is an integer greater than 1, Ni bits in the N bits are used to indicate a field with a serial number i shown in Table 1, Ni bits are the signaling bit width corresponding to the field with the serial number i, and i is a positive integer.

[0262] For example, 48 bits of the N bits indicate a pre- media access layer identification, 48 bits of the N bits indicate a post- media access layer identification, 3 bits of the N bits indicate a pre- media access layer identification type, 3 bits of the N bits indicate a post- media access layer identification type, and so on.

[0263] S702: The node G sends the message B; correspondingly, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 receive the message B from the node G.

[0264] Specifically, the node G sends the message B on the multicast link #1; correspondingly, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 receive the message B from the node G on the multicast link #1.

[0265] It should be understood that after receiving the message B on the multicast link #1, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can parse the message B to obtain the specific content indicated by the message B.

[0266] Optionally, the node T2 determines to establish a unicast link with the node T3 according to the message B.

[0267] Optionally, the node T3 determines to establish a unicast link with the node T2 according to the message B.

[0268] Optionally, since the message B is used to indicate that the node T2 and the node T3 establish a unicast link #1, the node T1 does not need to respond to the message B. That is, after parsing the message B, the node T1 determines that the content of the message is irrelevant to itself, and then ignores the message B.

[0269] S703: The node T2 sends feedback information #1 to the node G; correspondingly, the node G receives the feedback information #1 from the node T2.

[0270] Specifically, the feedback information #1 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the node T2 to the message B. The feedback information #1 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #1 based on the sending time of the node T2 in the multicast link #1.

[0271] Optionally, the feedback information #1 can be a signaling rejection indication, and the node T2 can feed back the message B to the node G through the signaling rejection indication to inform the node G to agree to establish a unicast link.

[0272] For example, the data type index of the signaling rejection indication can be 0x0003, and when the numerical value content is set to 0, it means that the signaling is accepted.

[0273] S704: The node T3 sends feedback information #2 to the node G; correspondingly, the node G receives the feedback information #2 from the node T3.

[0274] Specifically, the feedback information #2 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the message B from the node T3. The feedback information #2 is sent to the node G on the groupcast link #1 based on a sending time of the node T3 on the groupcast link #1.

[0275] Optionally, the feedback information #2 can be a signaling rejected indication. The node T3 can feed back the message B to the node G through the signaling rejected indication, to inform the node G to agree to establish the unicast link.

[0276] For example, the data type index of the signaling rejected indication can be 0x0003, and when the numerical value content is set to 0, it means that the signaling is accepted.

[0277] It should be noted that the present application does not limit the specific execution time of steps S703 and S704. For example, S703 and S704 can be located in the same groupcast period of the groupcast link #1, or S703 and S704 can be located in different groupcast periods of the groupcast link #1.

[0278] S705: The node T2 and the node T3 establish the unicast link #1.

[0279] Specifically, the node T2 and the node T3 establish the unicast link #1 according to the message B.

[0280] It should be understood that the process of establishing a unicast link between two nodes can refer to the related content about unicast link establishment in the prior art, and the present application does not limit this.

[0281] Optionally, after the node T2 and the node T3 establish the unicast link #1, the node T2 and the node T3 can perform data transmission on the unicast link #1.

[0282] It should be noted that the unicast link #1 and the groupcast link #1 can exist at the same time, that is, while the node T2 and the node T3 perform data transmission on the unicast link #1, the node G, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can also perform data transmission on the groupcast link #1.

[0283] Optionally, the node T2 can also send feedback information #3 to the node G, which is used to indicate whether the link establishment and data transmission between the node T2 and the node T3 are successful. The feedback information #3 is sent to the node G on the groupcast link #1 based on a sending time of the node T2 on the groupcast link #1.

[0284] Optionally, the node T3 can also send feedback information #4 to the node G, which is used to indicate whether the link establishment and data transmission between the node T2 and the node T3 are successful. The feedback information #4 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #1 based on the sending time of the node T3 on the multicast link #1.

[0285] It should be noted that the present application does not limit the specific sending time of the feedback information #3 and the feedback information #4. For example, the feedback information #3 and the feedback information #4 can be sent by the node T2 and the node T3 in the same multicast period of the multicast link #1; or, the feedback information #3 and the feedback information #4 can be sent by the node T2 and the node T3 in different multicast periods of the multicast link #1.

[0286] In addition, the multicast link #1 in the method 700 can also involve more group member nodes and be applied to the establishment of more unicast links, which are not limited by the present application.

[0287] Optionally, the message B can also be used to indicate the establishment of multiple unicast links, and the message B can include multiple N-bit sequences (or at least multiple N-bit sequences in the same radio frame). Each N-bit sequence can be used to indicate that multiple nodes in the multicast link #1 establish unicast links. That is, the node G can simultaneously initiate the establishment of multiple GT links or TT links.

[0288] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a flow 800 of a communication method 700 corresponding to an embodiment of the present application.

[0289] For ease of understanding, how the group leader node G instructs the group member nodes T2 and T3 to establish unicast links based on the multicast link #1 will be further described in conjunction with FIG. 8. The group leader node can be a G node, and the group member node can be a T node, which are not limited by the present application. The G node and the T node both support short-range wireless access technology and can support the protocol architecture 200 shown in FIG. 2, such as SLE access technology.

[0290] Specifically, the node G, the node T1, the node T2, and the node T3 belong to the multicast link #1, the node G is a group leader node, and the nodes T1, T2, and T3 are group member nodes. The group leader node and the group member nodes interact with each other in signaling and / or data at the corresponding time of each multicast period on the multicast link #1 according to the information determined when establishing the multicast link #1 (as shown in the multicast period #1 in FIG. 8).

[0291] In the multicast cycle #2, the node G instructs the member nodes to establish the unicast link #1 between the node T2 and the node T3. Specifically, the node G sends a message B to all the member nodes at the beginning of the multicast cycle #2, which is used to instruct the node T2 and the node T3 to establish the unicast link. The member nodes receive the message B at the beginning of the multicast cycle #2 and respectively parse the content of the message B.

[0292] It should be noted that the specific fields carried by the message B can refer to the fields carried by the message B in step S701 in FIG. 7, which will not be repeated herein.

[0293] Optionally, the message B can be represented in the form of an index.

[0294] Since the content indicated by the message B is irrelevant to the node T1, the node T1 does not respond to the content of the message B after parsing the message B.

[0295] The node T2 determines to establish the unicast link with the node T3 according to the message B, and sends a response message (i.e., feedback information #1) of the node T2 to the message B to the node G. The feedback information #1 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #1 based on the sending occasion of the node T2 on the multicast link #1.

[0296] The node T3 determines to establish the unicast link with the node T2 according to the message B, and sends a response message (i.e., feedback information #2) of the node T3 to the message B to the node G. The feedback information #2 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #1 based on the sending occasion of the node T3 on the multicast link #1.

[0297] The specific content of the feedback information #1 and the feedback information #2 can refer to the related description of the feedback information #1 and the feedback information #2 in steps S703 and S704 in FIG. 7, which will not be repeated herein.

[0298] In the multicast cycle #2, the node T2 and the node T3 establish the unicast link #1 on the corresponding frequency point at the corresponding occasion (determined according to the event group start offset time slot in the message B) according to the content of the message B. The specific establishment process of the unicast link can refer to the related description in the prior art, which will not be repeated herein.

[0299] In the process of establishing the unicast link #1 by the node T2 and the node T3 and performing data transmission on the unicast link #1, the node G, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can still perform data transmission on the multicast link #1. As shown in the figure, in the multicast cycle #2 and the multicast cycle #3, the node G, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 still perform data transmission based on the multicast link #1, and the node T2 and the node T3 can also perform data transmission based on the newly established unicast link #1.

[0300] In a future multicast event (e.g., multicast cycle #4), node T2 can send feedback information #3 to node G based on its feedback time in multicast link #1, the feedback information #3 indicating whether the link and data transmission between node T2 and node T3 is successful. Node T3 can also send feedback information #4 to node G based on its feedback time in multicast link #1, the feedback information #4 indicating whether the link and data transmission between node T2 and node T3 is successful.

[0301] The specific content of feedback information #3 and feedback information #4 can refer to the related description of feedback information #3 and feedback information #4 in step S705 of FIG. 7, which will not be repeated here.

[0302] In multicast cycle #5, node G, node T1, node T2 and node T3 can continue to perform data transmission based on multicast link #1, and node T2 and node T3 can also perform data transmission based on unicast link #1.

[0303] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 900 suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0304] For ease of understanding, the method 900 is described based on the multicast link establishment process in a multicast scenario.

[0305] Wherein, node G, node T1, node T2, node T3 and node T4 belong to multicast link #2, node G is the group leader node, and node T1, node T2, node T3 and node T4 are group member nodes. The group leader node instructs the establishment of multicast link #3 between the group member nodes (e.g., between node T1, node T2 and node T3). The group leader node can be a G node, and the group member node can be a T node, which is not limited by the present application. Both the G node and the T node support short-range wireless access technology, which can support the protocol architecture 200 shown in FIG. 2, such as SLE access technology.

[0306] The method 900 includes the following steps:

[0307] S901: The G node generates a message C.

[0308] Specifically, the message C is used to instruct node T1, node T2 and node T3 to establish multicast link #3.

[0309] It should be noted that the message C can be an example of the first message in the communication method 600 shown in FIG. 6, and the multicast link #3 can be an example of the first link in the communication method 600 shown in FIG. 6.

[0310] Exemplarily, the fields carried by the message C include, but are not limited to, at least one of the fields shown in Table 3 below:

[0311] Table 3

[0312] It should be noted that the specific content and specific indication manner indicated by the above fields can refer to the description in Table 4.

[0313] Table 4

[0314] It should be understood that the names of the above fields are only used to indicate the corresponding functions, and the specific names of the above fields and the specific representation forms of the indicated content are not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0315] It should be noted that in the above Table 3 and Table 4, the leader node (for example, node T1) of the newly created multicast link #3 is indicated by the related field of the “first member”, and the value of the “first member event internal interval” corresponding to the leader node is 0.

[0316] In addition, since the multicast link includes a plurality of member nodes, the content of the fields related to the “late member” (for example, the fields with serial numbers greater than or equal to 25 in Table 3) in the above Table 3 and Table 4 can be repeated multiple groups, and the number of repetitions corresponds to the number of member nodes. Each group of fields related to the “late member” is used to indicate the case of one member node in the multicast link #3, and each late member (i.e., member node) in the multicast link #3 has a different “late member event internal interval” value.

[0317] Optionally, the message C can be represented in the form of an index.

[0318] Exemplarily, the message C is a sequence of M bits, M is an integer greater than 1, Mi bits in the M bits are used to indicate the field with serial number i shown in Table 3, Mi bits are the signaling bit width corresponding to the field with serial number i, and i is a positive integer.

[0319] For example, 8 bits in the M bits indicate the event group set identifier, 8 bits in the M bits indicate the event group identifier, 16 bits in the M bits indicate the event group start offset time slot, and 16 bits in the M bits indicate the event group period, and so on.

[0320] S902: The node G sends the message C; correspondingly, the node T1, the node T2, the node T3, and the node T4 receive the message C from the node G.

[0321] Specifically, the node G sends the message C on the multicast link #2; correspondingly, the node T1, the node T2, the node T3 and the node T4 receive the message C from the node G on the multicast link #2.

[0322] It should be understood that after receiving the message C on the multicast link #2, the nodes T1-T4 can parse the message C to obtain the specific content indicated by the message C.

[0323] Optionally, the node T1 determines to establish the multicast link #3 with the node T2 and the node T3 according to the message C.

[0324] Optionally, the node T2 determines to establish the multicast link #3 with the node T1 and the node T3 according to the message C.

[0325] Optionally, the node T3 determines to establish the multicast link #3 with the node T1 and the node T2 according to the message C.

[0326] Optionally, since the message C is used to instruct the nodes T1-T3 to establish the multicast link #3, the node T4 does not need to respond to the message C. That is, after parsing the message C, the node T4 determines that the content of the message C is irrelevant to itself, and then ignores the message C.

[0327] S903: The node T1 sends feedback information #5 to the node G; correspondingly, the node G receives the feedback information #5 from the node T1.

[0328] Specifically, the feedback information #5 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the node T1 to the message C. The feedback information #5 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #2 based on the sending time of the node T1 on the multicast link #2.

[0329] Optionally, the feedback information #5 can be a signaling rejection indication. The node T1 can feed back the message C by using the signaling rejection indication to inform the node G to agree to establish the multicast link.

[0330] For example, the data type index of the signaling rejection indication can be 0x0003, and when the numerical value content is set to 0, it means that the signaling is accepted.

[0331] S904: The node T2 sends feedback information #6 to the node G; correspondingly, the node G receives the feedback information #6 from the node T2.

[0332] Specifically, the feedback information #6 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the node T2 to the message C. The feedback information #6 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #2 based on the sending time of the node T2 on the multicast link #2.

[0333] Optionally, the feedback information #6 can be a signaling rejection indication, and the node T2 can feed back the message C to the node G through the signaling rejection indication to inform the node G to agree to multicast link establishment.

[0334] For example, the data type index of the signaling rejection indication can be 0x0003, and when the numerical content is set to 0, it means signaling acceptance.

[0335] S905: The node T3 sends feedback information #7 to the node G; correspondingly, the node G receives the feedback information #7 from the node T3.

[0336] Specifically, the feedback information #7 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the node T3 to the message C. The feedback information #7 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #2 based on the sending time of the node T3 on the multicast link #2.

[0337] Optionally, the feedback information #7 can be a signaling rejection indication, and the node T3 can feed back the message C to the node G through the signaling rejection indication to inform the node G to agree to multicast link establishment.

[0338] For example, the data type index of the signaling rejection indication can be 0x0003, and when the numerical content is set to 0, it means signaling acceptance.

[0339] It should be noted that the specific execution time of steps S903 to S905 is not limited in the present application. For example, S903-S905 can be located in the same multicast period of the multicast link #2; or S903-S905 can also be located in different multicast periods of the multicast link #2.

[0340] S906: The node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 establish a multicast link #3.

[0341] Specifically, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 establish the multicast link #3 according to the message C.

[0342] It should be understood that the process of establishing a multicast link between multiple nodes can refer to the related content about multicast link establishment in the prior art, and the present application does not limit this.

[0343] Optionally, after the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 establish the multicast link #3, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can perform data transmission on the multicast link #3.

[0344] It should be noted that the multicast link #3 and the multicast link #2 can exist at the same time, that is, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 perform data transmission on the multicast link #3, and the node G, the node T1, the node T2, the node T3 and the node T4 can also perform data transmission on the multicast link #2.

[0345] Optionally, the node T1 can also send feedback information #8 to the node G, the feedback information #8 being used to indicate whether the link and data transmission among the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 are successful. The feedback information #8 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #2 based on the sending occasion of the node T1 in the multicast link #2.

[0346] Optionally, the node T2 can also send feedback information #9 to the node G, the feedback information #9 being used to indicate whether the link and data transmission among the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 are successful. The feedback information #9 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #2 based on the sending occasion of the node T2 in the multicast link #2.

[0347] Optionally, the node T3 can also send feedback information #10 to the node G, the feedback information #10 being used to indicate whether the link and data transmission among the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 are successful. The feedback information #4 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #2 based on the sending occasion of the node T3 in the multicast link #2.

[0348] It should be noted that the specific sending occasion of the feedback information #8-10 is not limited in the present application, for example, the feedback information #8-10 can be sent by the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 in the same multicast period of the multicast link #2; or, the feedback information #8-10 can also be sent by the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 in different multicast periods of the multicast link #2.

[0349] In addition, the multicast link #2 in the method 900 can also involve more group member nodes, and the method 900 can also be applied to the establishment of more multicast links, which are not limited in the present application.

[0350] Optionally, the message C can also be used to indicate the establishment of multiple multicast links, and the message C can include multiple M-bit sequences (or at least multiple M-bit sequences in the same radio frame), wherein each M-bit sequence can be used to indicate the multicast link establishment of multiple nodes in the multicast link #2. That is, the node G can simultaneously initiate the establishment of multiple multicast links.

[0351] It should be noted that the group leader node can also indicate the establishment of at least one new multicast link between itself and other group member nodes according to the fields shown in Table 3 and Table 4. For example, the group leader node G indicates the establishment of the multicast link #4 between itself and the group member nodes T1, T2 based on the multicast link #2, and the specific process can be similar to the method 900, which is not described herein.

[0352] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a flow 1000 corresponding to the communication method 900 of the embodiments of the present application.

[0353] For the convenience of understanding, the group leader node G how to instruct the group member nodes T1, T2 and T3 to establish the groupcast link based on the groupcast link #1 is further explained in combination with FIG. 8. The group leader node can be the G node, and the group member node can be the T node, which are not limited by the present application, and the G node and the T node both support the short distance wireless access technology, and can support the protocol architecture 200 as shown in FIG. 2, such as the SLE access technology.

[0354] Specifically, the node G, the node T1, the node T2, the node T3 and the node T4 belong to the groupcast link #2, the node G is the group leader node, and the node T1, the node T2, the node T3 and the node T4 are the group member nodes. The group leader node and the group member node interact in signaling and / or data at the corresponding time of each groupcast period on the groupcast link #2 according to the information determined when the groupcast link #2 is established (as shown in the groupcast period #1 in FIG. 10).

[0355] In the groupcast period #2, the group member nodes (between the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3) are instructed by the node G to establish the groupcast link #3. Specifically, the node G sends a message C to all group member nodes at the starting time of the groupcast period #2, and the message C is used to instruct the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 to establish the groupcast link #3. The group member nodes receive the message C at the starting time of the groupcast period #2, and respectively parse the content of the message C.

[0356] It should be noted that the specific fields carried by the message C can refer to the fields carried by the message C in step S901 in FIG. 9, which are not repeated here.

[0357] Optionally, the message C can be represented in the form of an index.

[0358] Since the content indicated by the message C is irrelevant to the node T4, the node T4 does not respond to the content of the message C after parsing the message C.

[0359] The node T1 determines to establish the groupcast link with the node T2 and the node T3 according to the message C, and sends a response message (i.e., feedback information #5) of the T1 node to the node G in response to the message C. The feedback information #5 is sent to the node G on the groupcast link #2 based on the sending occasion of the node T1 in the groupcast link #2.

[0360] The node T2 determines to establish the groupcast link with the node T1 and the node T3 according to the message C, and sends a response message (i.e., feedback information #6) of the T2 node to the node G in response to the message C. The feedback information #6 is sent to the node G on the groupcast link #2 based on the sending occasion of the node T2 in the groupcast link #2.

[0361] Node T3 determines to establish multicast link with node Tl and node T2 according to message C, and sends response message (i.e. feedback information #7) of node T3 to message C to node G. The feedback information #7 is sent to node G on multicast link #2 based on the sending time of node T3 on multicast link #2.

[0362] The specific content of feedback information #5-7 can refer to the related description of feedback information #5-7 in steps S903-S905 in FIG. 9, which will not be repeated here.

[0363] In multicast period #2, node Tl, node T2 and node T3 establish multicast link #3 on corresponding frequency according to the content of message C at corresponding time (determined according to event group start offset time slot in message C). The specific establishment process of multicast link can refer to the related description in the prior art, which will not be repeated here.

[0364] In the process of establishing multicast link #3 by node Tl, node T2 and node T3 and carrying out data transmission on multicast link #3, node G, node Tl, node T2, node T3 and node T4 can still carry out data transmission on multicast link #2. As shown in the figure, in multicast period #2 and multicast period #3, node G, node Tl, node T2, node T3 and node T4 still carry out data transmission based on multicast link #2, and node Tl, node T2 and node T3 can also carry out data transmission based on newly established multicast link #3.

[0365] And in a multicast event (such as multicast period #4) in the future, node Tl can send feedback information #8 to node G based on the feedback time of node Tl on multicast link #2, and the feedback information #8 is used to indicate whether the establishment of link and data transmission among node Tl, node T2 and node T3 is successful. Node T2 can send feedback information #9 to node G based on the feedback time of node T2 on multicast link #2, and the feedback information #9 is used to indicate whether the establishment of link and data transmission among node Tl, node T2 and node T3 is successful. Node T3 can also send feedback information #10 to node G based on the feedback time of node T3 on multicast link #2, and the feedback information #10 is used to indicate whether the establishment of link and data transmission among node Tl, node T2 and node T3 is successful.

[0366] The specific content of feedback information #8-10 can refer to the related description of feedback information #8-10 in step S906 in FIG. 9, which will not be repeated here.

[0367] In the multicast cycle #5, the node G, the node T1, the node T2, the node T3 and the node T4 can continue data transmission based on the multicast link #2, and the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can also perform data transmission based on the multicast link #3.

[0368] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1100 suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0369] For ease of understanding, the method 1100 is described based on a unicast link establishment process in a multicast scenario.

[0370] The node G, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 belong to the multicast link #1, the node G is a group leader node, and the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 are group member nodes. The group leader node is instructed to establish unicast links between the group leader node and the plurality of group member nodes (for example, the node G and the node T2 establish a unicast link #2, and the node G and the node T3 establish a unicast link #3). The group leader node can be a G node, and the group member node can be a T node, which are not limited in the present application. The G node and the T node both support short-range wireless access technology, and can support the protocol architecture 200 as shown in FIG. 2, such as SLE access technology.

[0371] The method 1100 includes the following steps:

[0372] S1101: The G node generates a message D.

[0373] Specifically, the message D is used to instruct the node G and the node T2 to establish the unicast link #2, and the node G and the node T3 to establish the unicast link #3.

[0374] It should be noted that the message D can be an example of the first message in the communication method 600 as shown in FIG. 6, and the unicast link #2 can be an example of the first link in the communication method 600 as shown in FIG. 6.

[0375] For example, the fields carried by the message D can include but are not limited to at least one of the fields shown in Table 1 and Table 2, which are not repeated herein. It should be understood that the field names shown in Table 1 and Table 2 are only used to indicate the corresponding functions, and the specific names of the above-mentioned fields and the specific representation forms of the indicated contents are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0376] In addition, since the message D is used to instruct the group leader node of the multicast link #1 to establish unicast links with the plurality of group member nodes respectively, at least one of the “first media access layer identifier” or the “second media access layer identifier” in the fields shown in Table 1 is the group leader node G.

[0377] Optionally, the message D can be represented in the form of an index.

[0378] For example, Ni bits of the N bits are used to indicate the field with the sequence number i shown in Table 1, and the Ni bits are the signaling bit width corresponding to the field with the sequence number i, where i is a positive integer.

[0379] For example, 48 bits of the N bits are used to indicate the pre-issued media access layer identifier, 48 bits of the N bits are used to indicate the post-issued media access layer identifier, 3 bits of the N bits are used to indicate the pre-issued media access layer identifier type, 3 bits of the N bits are used to indicate the post-issued media access layer identifier type, and so on.

[0380] It should be noted that, since the message D is used to indicate the establishment of multiple unicast links, the message D includes multiple N-bit sequences (or at least multiple N-bit sequences can be included in the same radio frame), and each N-bit sequence can be used to indicate the unicast link establishment of multiple nodes in the groupcast link #1. For example, N bits in the message D are used to indicate the establishment of a unicast link #2 between the node G and the node T2, and N bits are used to indicate the establishment of a unicast link #3 between the node G and the node T3.

[0381] S1102: The node G sends the message D; correspondingly, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 receive the message D from the node G.

[0382] Specifically, the node G sends the message D on the groupcast link #1; correspondingly, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 receive the message D from the node G on the groupcast link #1.

[0383] It should be understood that, after receiving the message D on the groupcast link #1, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can parse the message D to obtain the specific content indicated by the message D.

[0384] Optionally, the node T2 determines to establish a unicast link #2 with the node G according to the message D.

[0385] Optionally, the node T3 determines to establish a unicast link #3 with the node G according to the message D.

[0386] Optionally, since the message D is used to indicate the establishment of a unicast link #2 between the node G and the node T2, and the establishment of a unicast link #3 between the node G and the node T3, the node T1 does not need to respond to the message D. That is, after parsing the message D, the node T1 determines that the message content is irrelevant to itself, and then ignores the message D.

[0387] S1103: The node T2 sends feedback information #11 to the node G; correspondingly, the node G receives the feedback information #11 from the node T2.

[0388] Specifically, the feedback information #11 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the node T2 to the message D. The feedback information #11 is sent to the node G on the groupcast link #1 based on a sending occasion of the node T2 in the groupcast link #1.

[0389] Optionally, the feedback information #11 can be a signaling rejected indication, by which the node T2 feeds back the message D to the node G to inform that the node G agrees to establish the unicast link.

[0390] For example, a data type index of the signaling rejected indication can be 0x0003, and when a numerical content is set as 0, it means signaling acceptance.

[0391] S1104: The node T3 sends feedback information #12 to the node G; correspondingly, the node G receives the feedback information #12 from the node T3.

[0392] Specifically, the feedback information #12 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the node T3 to the message D. The feedback information #12 is sent to the node G on the groupcast link #1 based on a sending occasion of the node T3 in the groupcast link #1.

[0393] Optionally, the feedback information #12 can be a signaling rejected indication, by which the node T3 feeds back the message D to the node G to inform that the node G agrees to establish the unicast link.

[0394] For example, a data type index of the signaling rejected indication can be 0x0003, and when a numerical content is set as 0, it means signaling acceptance.

[0395] It should be noted that the present application does not limit the specific execution time of the steps S1103 and S1104. For example, S1103 and S1104 can be located in the same groupcast period of the groupcast link #1; or S1103 and S1104 can also be located in different groupcast periods of the groupcast link #1.

[0396] S1105: The node G and the node T2 establish a unicast link #2.

[0397] Specifically, the node G and the node T2 establish the unicast link #2 according to the message D.

[0398] It should be understood that the process of establishing a unicast link between two nodes can refer to the related content about unicast link establishment in the prior art, and the present application does not limit this.

[0399] Optionally, after the node G and the node T2 establish the unicast link #2, the node G and the node T2 can perform data transmission on the unicast link #2.

[0400] It should be noted that the unicast link #2 and the multicast link #1 can exist simultaneously, that is, the node G and the node T2 perform data transmission on the unicast link #2, and the node G, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can also perform data transmission on the multicast link #1.

[0401] Optionally, the node T2 can also send feedback information #13 to the node G, and the feedback information #13 is used to indicate whether the link and data transmission between the node G and the node T2 are successful. The feedback information #13 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #1 based on the sending opportunity of the node T2 in the multicast link #1.

[0402] S1106: The node G and the node T3 establish a unicast link #3.

[0403] Specifically, the node G and the node T3 establish the unicast link #3 according to the message D.

[0404] It should be understood that the process of establishing a unicast link between two nodes can refer to the related content about the establishment of a unicast link in the prior art, and the present application does not limit this.

[0405] Optionally, after the node G and the node T3 establish the unicast link #3, the node G and the node T3 can perform data transmission on the unicast link #3.

[0406] It should be noted that the unicast link #3, the unicast link #2 and the multicast link #1 can exist simultaneously, that is, the node G and the node T2 perform data transmission on the unicast link #2, the node G and the node T3 perform data transmission on the unicast link #3, and the node G, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can also perform data transmission on the multicast link #1.

[0407] Optionally, the node T3 can also send feedback information #14 to the node G, and the feedback information #14 is used to indicate whether the link and data transmission between the node G and the node T3 are successful. The feedback information #14 is sent to the node G on the multicast link #1 based on the sending opportunity of the node T3 in the multicast link #1.

[0408] It should be noted that the present application does not limit the specific sending opportunity of the feedback information #13 and the feedback information #14, for example, the feedback information #13 and the feedback information #14 can be sent by the node T2 and the node T3 in the same multicast period of the multicast link #1; or, the feedback information #13 and the feedback information #14 can also be sent by the node T2 and the node T3 in different multicast periods of the multicast link #1.

[0409] In addition, the multicast link #1 in the method 1100 can also involve more group member nodes, and the method 900 can also be applied to the establishment of more unicast links, and the present application does not limit this.

[0410] Optionally, message D can also be used to indicate the establishment of unicast links in which more group leader nodes participate, and correspondingly, a plurality of N-bit sequences (or at least a plurality of N-bit sequences in the same radio frame) can also be included in message D, where each N-bit sequence can be used to indicate the establishment of unicast links by a plurality of nodes in groupcast link #1. That is, node G can simultaneously initiate the establishment of a plurality of GT links.

[0411] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of flow 1200 of communication method 1100 corresponding to an embodiment of the present application.

[0412] For ease of understanding, how the group leader node G establishes unicast links between the group leader node and a plurality of member nodes based on groupcast link #1 will be further described in conjunction with FIG. 12. The group leader node can be node G, and the member nodes can be nodes T, which are not limited by the present application. Both the G node and the T node support short-range wireless access technology and can support the protocol architecture 200 shown in FIG. 2, such as SLE access technology.

[0413] Specifically, node G, node T1, node T2, and node T3 belong to groupcast link #1, node G is the group leader node, and nodes T1, T2, and T3 are the member nodes. The group leader node and the member nodes interact in signaling and / or data at the corresponding time of each groupcast period on groupcast link #1 according to the information determined when establishing groupcast link #1 (as shown in groupcast period #1 in FIG. 12).

[0414] In groupcast period #2, node G indicates the establishment of unicast link #2 between node G and node T2 and the establishment of unicast link #3 between node G and node T3. Specifically, the group leader node G sends message D to all member nodes at the start time of groupcast period #2, which is used to indicate the establishment of unicast link #2 between node G and node T2 and the establishment of unicast link #3 between node G and node T3. The member nodes receive message D at the start time of groupcast period #2 and respectively parse the content of message D.

[0415] It should be noted that the specific fields carried by message D can refer to the fields carried by message D in step S1101 in FIG. 11, which will not be described herein.

[0416] Optionally, message D can be represented in the form of an index.

[0417] Since the content indicated by message D is irrelevant to node T1, node T1 does not respond to the content of message D after parsing message D.

[0418] Node T2 determines to establish a unicast link #2 with node G according to message D, and sends a response message (i.e. feedback information #11) of node T2 to message D to node G. The feedback information #11 is sent to node G on the multicast link #1 based on the transmission timing of node T2 in the multicast link #1.

[0419] Node T3 determines to establish a unicast link #3 with node G according to message D, and sends a response message (i.e. feedback information #12) of node T3 to message D to node G. The feedback information #12 is sent to node G on the multicast link #1 based on the transmission timing of node T3 in the multicast link #1.

[0420] The specific content of the feedback information #11 and the feedback information #12 can refer to the related description of the feedback information #11 and the feedback information #12 in steps S1103 and S1104 in FIG. 11, which will not be repeated here.

[0421] In the multicast period #2, node T2 establishes a unicast link #2 with node G on the new link hopping sequence 1 according to the content of message D at the corresponding timing (determined according to the event group start offset time slot and the post-member event internal interval in message D). Node T3 establishes a unicast link #3 with node G on the new link hopping sequence 2 according to the content of message D at the corresponding timing (determined according to the event group start offset time slot and the post-member event internal interval in message D). The specific establishment process of the unicast link can refer to the related description in the prior art, which will not be repeated here.

[0422] In the process of establishing and data transmission of the unicast link #2 and / or the unicast link #3, node G, node T1, node T2 and node T3 can still perform data transmission on the multicast link #1. As shown in the figure, in the multicast period #2 and the multicast period #3, node G, node T1, node T2 and node T3 still perform data transmission based on the multicast link #1, and node G and node T2 can also perform data transmission based on the newly established unicast link #2, and node G and node T3 can also perform data transmission based on the newly established unicast link #3.

[0423] And in a multicast event (such as the multicast period #3) after the establishment of the unicast link #2, node T2 can send feedback information #13 to node G based on the feedback timing of node T2 in the multicast link #1, and the feedback information #13 is used to indicate whether the link establishment and data transmission between node G and node T2 are successful. In a multicast event (such as the multicast period #4) after the establishment of the unicast link #3, node T3 can send feedback information #14 to node G based on the feedback timing of node T3 in the multicast link #1, and the feedback information #14 is used to indicate whether the link establishment and data transmission between node G and node T3 are successful.

[0424] The specific content of the feedback information #13 and the feedback information #14 can refer to the related description of the feedback information #13 in step S1105 and the feedback information #14 in step S1106 in FIG. 11, which will not be repeated here.

[0425] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to establishing a single form of link (for example, as shown in the method 700, the group leader node instructs the group member nodes to establish at least one unicast link; or, as shown in the method 900, the group leader node instructs the group member nodes (or the group leader node and the group member nodes) to establish at least one multicast link; or, as shown in the method 1100, the group leader node instructs to establish multiple unicast links between itself and the group member nodes, respectively) based on the established multicast link, and can also include a combination of any two or more of the above methods. For example, the group leader node can instruct the group member nodes to establish a unicast link and a multicast link at the same time, and the form and specific number of the newly established link are not limited in the present application.

[0426] It should be further noted that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to establishing a new link based on the established multicast link, but can also establish a new link based on other time synchronization scenarios.

[0427] For example, the non-link state broadcast and the link state broadcast supported by the Starlink SLE both have time synchronization and one-to-many transmission capabilities. Therefore, the method 700, the method 800 and the method 900 can also be implemented based on the non-link state broadcast or the link state broadcast, or can also be implemented based on a broadcast network composed of the non-link state broadcast and the link state broadcast, which is not limited in the present application. When the broadcast message is sent, the sending node sends the control plane information shown in Table 1 and Table 2 or Table 3 and Table 4, which is used to instruct the establishment of multicast links or unicast links between the receiving nodes.

[0428] It should be noted that when the method 700, the method 800 and / or the method 900 are implemented based on the link state broadcast and / or the non-link state broadcast, the receiving node does not send feedback information in response to the build link instruction information and feedback information in response to the data transmission of the build link and / or the newly established link to the sending node.

[0429] It should be further noted that when the method 700, the method 800 and / or the method 900 are implemented based on the non-link state broadcast, the sending node needs to determine the member information of the broadcast network in advance. The way for the sending node to determine the member information of the broadcast network can refer to the related content in the prior art, which is not limited in the present application.

[0430] Optionally, the broadcast sending node can instruct the broadcast receiving nodes to establish at least one unicast link therebetween; or can also instruct the broadcast receiving nodes (or the broadcast sending node and the broadcast receiving nodes) to establish at least one multicast link therebetween; or can also instruct itself and the broadcast receiving nodes to establish a plurality of unicast links therebetween respectively; or can also comprise a combination of any two or more of the above methods, which is not limited in the present application.

[0431] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1300 suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0432] For ease of understanding, the method 1300 is described below by way of example with the broadcast sending node instructing the broadcast receiving nodes to establish a unicast link therebetween.

[0433] Wherein, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 have all joined the broadcast network of the node G, the node G is a broadcast sending node, and the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 are broadcast receiving nodes. The broadcast receiving nodes periodically monitor broadcast messages on the broadcast network. The node G, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 all support short distance wireless access technology, and can support the protocol architecture 200 as shown in FIG. 2, such as SLE access technology.

[0434] The method 1300 comprises the following steps:

[0435] S1301: The node G generates a message E.

[0436] Specifically, the message E is used to instruct the node T2 and the node T3 to establish a unicast link #4.

[0437] It should be noted that the message E can be an example of the first message in the communication method 600 as shown in FIG. 6, and the unicast link #4 can be an example of the first link in the communication method 600 as shown in FIG. 6.

[0438] In addition, the message E can also be referred to as link establishment instruction information, and the specific name of the message E is not limited in the present application.

[0439] Exemplarily, the fields carried by the message E can include but are not limited to at least one of the fields shown in Table 1 and Table 2, which are not repeated herein. It should be understood that the field names shown in Table 1 and Table 2 are only used to indicate the corresponding functions, and the specific names of the above fields and the specific representation forms of the indicated contents are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0440] Optionally, the message E can be represented in the form of an index.

[0441] For example, 48 bits of the N bits indicate a pre-issued media access layer identifier, 48 bits of the N bits indicate a post-issued media access layer identifier, 3 bits of the N bits indicate a type of the pre-issued media access layer identifier, 3 bits of the N bits indicate a type of the post-issued media access layer identifier, and so on.

[0442] For example, 48 bits of the N bits indicate a pre-issued media access layer identifier, 48 bits of the N bits indicate a post-issued media access layer identifier, 3 bits of the N bits indicate a type of the pre-issued media access layer identifier, 3 bits of the N bits indicate a type of the post-issued media access layer identifier, and so on.

[0443] S1302: The node G sends the message E; correspondingly, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 receive the message E from the node G.

[0444] It should be understood that after receiving the message E based on the broadcast network, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can parse the message E to obtain the specific content indicated by the message E.

[0445] Optionally, the node T2 determines to establish the unicast link #4 with the node T3 according to the message E.

[0446] Optionally, the node T3 determines to establish the unicast link #4 with the node T2 according to the message E.

[0447] Optionally, since the message E is used to indicate the establishment of the unicast link #4 between the node T2 and the node T3, after parsing the message E, the node T1 determines that the content of the message is irrelevant to itself, and then ignores the message E.

[0448] S1303: The node T2 and the node T3 establish the unicast link #4.

[0449] Specifically, the node T2 and the node T3 establish the unicast link #4 according to the message E.

[0450] It should be understood that the process of establishing a unicast link between two nodes can refer to the related content about the establishment of a unicast link in the prior art, and the present application does not limit this.

[0451] Optionally, after the node T2 and the node T3 establish the unicast link #4, the node T2 and the node T3 can perform data transmission on the unicast link #4.

[0452] It should be noted that the unicast link #4 and the broadcast network can exist at the same time, that is, while the node T2 and the node T3 perform data transmission on the unicast link #4, the node G, the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 can also perform data transmission on the broadcast network.

[0453] Optionally, the message E can also be used to indicate the establishment of multiple unicast links, and the message E can include multiple N-bit sequences (or at least multiple N-bit sequences in the same radio frame), wherein each N-bit sequence can be used to instruct multiple nodes in the broadcast network to establish unicast links. That is, the node G can simultaneously initiate the establishment of multiple GT links or TT links.

[0454] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a flow 1400 corresponding to a communication method 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0455] For ease of understanding, how the broadcast sending node G instructs the broadcast receiving nodes T2 and T3 to establish unicast links will be further described in conjunction with FIG. 14.

[0456] The node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 have all joined the broadcast network of the node G, the node G is a broadcast sending node, and the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 are broadcast receiving nodes. The broadcast sending node broadcasts in each broadcast period, and the broadcast receiving nodes periodically monitor broadcast messages on the broadcast network.

[0457] In the broadcast period #2, the node G sends a broadcast message E at the start of the broadcast period #2 to instruct the node T2 and the node T3 to establish a unicast link #4. After receiving the message E, the member nodes of the broadcast network respectively parse the content of the message E.

[0458] It should be noted that the specific fields carried by the message E can refer to the fields carried by the message E in step S1301 in FIG. 13, and the present application will not be described here.

[0459] Optionally, the message E can be expressed in the form of an index.

[0460] Since the content indicated by the message E is irrelevant to the node T1, the node T1 ignores the message E after parsing the message E.

[0461] The node T2 determines to establish a unicast link with the node T3 according to the message E, and the node T3 determines to establish a unicast link with the node T2 according to the message E. Thus, the node T2 and the node T3 will establish a unicast link #4 on a corresponding frequency point at a corresponding time (determined according to the event group start offset time slot in the message E) according to the content of the message E. The specific establishment process of the unicast link can refer to the related description in the prior art, and the present application will not be described here.

[0462] In the process of establishing the unicast link #4 by the node T2 and the node T3 and performing data transmission on the unicast link #4, the node G can still initiate broadcasting on the broadcast network to the node T1, the node T2 and the node T3 (as shown in the broadcast periods #3-5 in FIG. 14).

[0463] It should be noted that after the link is established, if there is no need for the nodes to interact with each other in a period of time, the link can be kept alive to reduce power consumption. Similarly, if the node in the keep-alive state needs to interact with each other again, the keep-alive of the link can be cancelled.

[0464] For example, in the multicast network shown in FIG. 5, there can be other links between the group leader node and any member node. For example, in the multicast link (link #1) formed by the group leader node and the member nodes 1 to 3, the group leader node can also have a link #2 with the member node 1, a link #3 with the member node 2, and a link #4 with the member node 4. In this case, if the group leader node needs to keep all alive or cancel the keep-alive, four pieces of indication information need to be sent respectively to indicate the keep-alive or cancellation of the links #1-4, resulting in a large signaling overhead and low efficiency.

[0465] Therefore, the present application also provides a communication method, device and system, which can reduce the signaling indication overhead when keeping alive or cancelling the keep-alive of the link, and improve the efficiency. In addition, it should be noted that the communication method mainly relates to how to keep alive or cancel the keep-alive of the link, and does not limit the process of building a link between nodes. For example, the process of building a link between nodes can refer to the building method described in the related art, or the process of building a link between nodes can refer to the building method provided in the foregoing (e.g., FIG. 6) of the present application.

[0466] The technical solutions provided by the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0467] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 1500 suitable for an embodiment of the present application.

[0468] For ease of understanding, the method 1500 is described based on the scenario where the multicast link and the unicast link coexist.

[0469] Among them, the third multicast link exists between the sending node, the first node and the second node, wherein the sending node is a group leader node, and the first node and the second node are member nodes. The group leader node can be a G node, and the member node can be a T node, which are not limited by the present application. Both the G node and the T node support short-range wireless access technology, which can support the protocol architecture 200 shown in FIG. 2, such as SLE access technology. In addition, the sixth link exists between the sending node and the first node, which is a unicast link.

[0470] The method 1500 includes the following steps:

[0471] S1501: The sending node sends a second message through the third multicast link; correspondingly, the first node and the second node receive the second message on the third multicast link respectively.

[0472] Specifically, on the third multicast link, the group leader node can send a second message in its own sending time slot, the second message being used to instruct the group member node to start or stop the multicast-based low-power keep-alive mechanism.

[0473] Exemplarily, the second message carries the fields including but not limited to at least one of the following Table 5:

[0474] Table 5

[0475] It should be understood that the names of the above-mentioned fields are only used to indicate the corresponding functions, and the specific names of the above-mentioned fields and the specific forms of the indicated contents are not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0476] Optionally, the second message can be expressed in the form of index.

[0477] Exemplarily, the second message is a sequence of W bits, W being an integer greater than 1, Wi bit in the W bits being used to indicate the field with the serial number i shown in Table 1, Wi bit being the signaling bit width corresponding to the field with the serial number i, i being a positive integer.

[0478] S1502a: The first node keeps alive or cancels the keep-alive of the third multicast link and the sixth link in response to the second message.

[0479] It should be understood that after receiving the second message on the third multicast link, the first node can parse the second message to obtain the specific content indicated by the second message.

[0480] Specifically, the first node determines to keep alive or cancel the keep-alive of the link (such as the third multicast link and the sixth link) between itself and the sending node according to the second message.

[0481] S1502b: The second node keeps alive or cancels the keep-alive of the third multicast link in response to the second message.

[0482] It should be understood that after receiving the second message on the third multicast link, the first node can parse the second message to obtain the specific content indicated by the second message.

[0483] Specifically, the second node determines to keep alive or cancel the keep-alive of the link (such as the third multicast link) between itself and the sending node according to the second message.

[0484] In this case, based on the established multicast link, the keep-alive or cancel-keep-alive of the other links between the group member node and the group leader node can be batch implemented by sending only one message, which improves the efficiency of keep-alive or cancel-keep-alive while reducing signaling indication overhead and power consumption.

[0485] It should be noted that the application does not limit the execution timing of step S1502b. S1502b can be executed simultaneously with S1502a, or can be executed before or after S1502a.

[0486] In addition, after the first node and the second node receive the second information, the method 1500 can further include: the first node sending feedback information #15 to the sending node; and correspondingly, the sending node receiving the feedback information #15 from the first node.

[0487] Specifically, the feedback information #15 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the first node to the second message. The feedback information #15 is sent to the sending node on the third multicast link based on the sending timing of the first node in the third multicast link.

[0488] Optionally, the feedback information #15 can be a signaling rejected indication, and the first node can feed back the second message through the signaling rejected indication. The data type index of the signaling rejected indication can be 0x0003, and when the numerical content is set to 0, it means that the signaling is accepted.

[0489] Similarly, the method 1500 can further include: the second node sending feedback information #16 to the sending node; and correspondingly, the sending node receiving the feedback information #16 from the second node.

[0490] Specifically, the feedback information #16 is a response control frame, which is a response message of the second node to the second message. The feedback information #16 is sent to the sending node on the third multicast link based on the sending timing of the second node in the third multicast link.

[0491] Optionally, the feedback information #16 can be a signaling rejected indication, and the second node can feed back the second message through the signaling rejected indication. The data type index of the signaling rejected indication can be 0x0003, and when the numerical content is set to 0, it means that the signaling is accepted.

[0492] It should be understood that when the second message is used to indicate the keep-alive of the link, the sending node, the first node and the second node will periodically wake up for packet interaction to determine whether the link exists on both sides and whether the current link is valid, and perform time synchronization and other operations. The actions of the related nodes after the link keep-alive can refer to the related description in the prior art, which will not be described here.

[0493] In a possible implementation, the member nodes of the third multicast link further include a third node, and a fourth multicast link further exists between the sending node, the first node and the third node, the sending node being a group leader node, and the first node and the third node being group member nodes.

[0494] Therefore, the method 1500 further includes step S1503c: the third node activates or deactivates the third multicast link and the fourth multicast link in response to the second message.

[0495] Specifically, in the communication method shown in the method 1500, the other links of the group leader node and the group member nodes are a subset of the third multicast link. For example, when the sending node as the group leader node and the first node, the second node and the third node as the group member nodes constitute the third multicast link, the subset of the third multicast link includes: the unicast link between the first node and the sending node, the unicast link between the second node and the sending node, the unicast link between the third node and the sending node, the multicast link between the sending node as the group leader node and the first node and the second node as the group member nodes, the multicast link between the sending node as the group leader node and the first node and the third node as the group member nodes, and the multicast link between the sending node as the group leader node and the second node and the third node as the group member nodes.

[0496] In order to facilitate understanding of the above-mentioned embodiments provided in the present application, the following points are explained.

[0497] (1) In the embodiments of the present application, "indication" can include direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, and implicit indication. When it is described that certain indication information is used to indicate A, it can be understood that the indication information carries A, directly indicates A, or indirectly indicates A.

[0498] In the present application, the information indicated by the indication information is referred to as to-be-indicated information. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information, for example but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or an index of the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. The to-be-indicated information can also be indicated only by a part of the to-be-indicated information, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of a specific information can also be achieved by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, a protocol stipulates), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. In addition, the to-be-indicated information can be sent as a whole, or can be sent separately in multiple sub-information, and the sending period and / or sending time of the sub-information can be the same or different.

[0499] (2) In the present application, "sending" and "receiving" represent the direction of signal transmission. For example, "sending information to XX" can be understood as that the destination of the information is XX, which can include direct sending through the air interface, and also includes indirect sending through the air interface by other units or modules. "Receiving information from YY" can be understood as that the source of the information is YY, which can include direct receiving from YY through the air interface, and also includes indirect receiving from YY through the air interface by other units or modules. "Sending" can also be understood as the "output" of the chip interface, and "receiving" can also be understood as the "input" of the chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can be carried out between devices, such as between network devices and terminal devices, or can be carried out within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules or hardware modules within a device through a bus, wire or interface.

[0500] (3) In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0501] (4) In the present application, "first", "second" are only for convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. They are not used to describe the order or sequence of features. It should be understood that the objects thus described can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so as to describe solutions other than the embodiments of the present application.

[0502] (5) In the present application, "predefined" can be realized by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables or other means that can be used to indicate related information in the device, and the specific implementation manner of the present application is not limited.

[0503] (6) In the present application, "protocol" can refer to standard protocols in the field of communication, which can include long term evolution (LTE) protocol, new radio (NR) protocol and related protocols applied in future communication systems, and the present application does not limit this.

[0504] (7) In the present application, "example", "for example", "exemplarily", "as (another) example" and the like are used to represent as an example, illustration or description. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "example" in the present application should not be interpreted as more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes.

[0505] (8) In this application, "comprise", "contain", "have" and their conjugations mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise particularly emphasized. "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more.

[0506] (9) In this application, "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after it. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can represent: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c. Where a, b and c can be single or multiple.

[0507] (10) In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be referred to each other if there is no special description and logical conflict, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0508] (11) Some optional features in various embodiments of the present application can not depend on other features in some scenarios, or can be combined with other features in some scenarios, without limitation.

[0509] (12) In this application, the system time domain range can be divided into multiple time units. As an example but not limitation, in this application, the time unit can include a symbol, a slot, a mini-slot (or non-slot), a subframe, a transmission time interval or a short transmission time interval, which is not limited in the present application.

[0510] (13) In this application, the description related to the sending of messages, information or data from network element A to network element B, and the receiving of messages, information or data from network element A by network element B, is intended to indicate which network element the message, information or data is intended for, and does not limit whether they are sent directly or indirectly via other network elements. The descriptions such as "when", "in the case of", "if" and "if" all refer to the objective situation under which the device will make corresponding processing, and are not limited to the time, and do not require the device to have a judgment action when implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations.

[0511] In the above, the method of the embodiments of the present application is described in detail in combination with FIG. 6 to FIG. 15. In order to implement the functions in the method provided in the present application, the sending device and the receiving device can each include a hardware structure and / or a software module to implement the above functions in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module. Whether a certain function in the above functions is implemented in the form of hardware structure, software module, or hardware structure plus software module depends on the specific application of the technical solution and the design constraint conditions.

[0512] The communication apparatus of the embodiments of the present application is described below in combination with FIG. 16 to FIG. 18.

[0513] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 1600 suitable for the embodiments of the present application.

[0514] The apparatus 1600 includes a transceiver unit 1610 and a processing unit 1620. The transceiver unit 1610 can communicate with the outside, and the processing unit 1620 is configured to process data. The transceiver unit 1610 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0515] Optionally, the transceiver unit 1610 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit, and includes a sending unit and / or a receiving unit. The transceiver unit 1610 can be a transceiver (including a transmitter and / or a receiver), an input / output interface (including an input and / or an output interface), or a pin or a circuit, etc. The transceiver unit 1610 can be configured to perform the steps of sending and / or receiving in the above method embodiments.

[0516] Optionally, the processing unit 1620 can be a processor (which can include one or more processors) or a processing circuit having a processor function, etc., and can be configured to perform other steps in the above method embodiments other than sending and receiving.

[0517] Optionally, the apparatus 1600 further includes a storage unit, which can be a memory, an internal storage unit (such as a register or a cache, etc.), or an external storage unit (such as a read-only memory or a random access memory, etc.), etc. The storage unit is configured to store instructions, and the above processing unit 620 executes the instructions stored in the storage unit to enable the communication apparatus to perform the above method.

[0518] In addition, the above transceiver unit 1610 can also be a transceiver circuit (which can include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing unit 1620 can be a processing circuit.

[0519] It should be noted that the apparatus in FIG. 16 can also be a chip or chip system, e.g., system on a chip (SoC). In this case, the transceiver unit can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface, and the processing unit can be a processor or microprocessor integrated on the chip. The present application does not limit here.

[0520] In one design, the apparatus 1600 can be used to perform actions performed by a sending node in various method embodiments above, e.g., the apparatus 1600 can be used to perform actions performed by a sending node in method 600 above. For example, the apparatus 1600 can be a component of the sending node. The transceiver unit 1610 can be used to perform operations related to transceiving at the side of the sending node in various method embodiments above, and the processing unit 1620 can be used to perform operations related to processing at the side of the sending node in various method embodiments above.

[0521] For example, the processing unit 1620 can be configured to generate a first message, the first message being used to indicate the first node and the second node to establish a first link.

[0522] The transceiver unit 1610 can be configured to send the first message.

[0523] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 1610 and the processing unit 1620 can also perform other operations performed by the sending node in any of the methods 600, 700, 1100, 1300, or 1500 above, which are not repeated here.

[0524] More detailed descriptions of the transceiver unit 1610 and the processing unit 1620 can be directly obtained by referring to the descriptions in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 11, FIG. 13, or FIG. 15, which are not repeated here.

[0525] In one design, the apparatus 1600 can be used to perform actions performed by a first node in various method embodiments above, e.g., the apparatus 1600 can be used to perform actions performed by a first node in method 600 above. In this case, the apparatus 1600 can be a component of the first node, the transceiver unit 1610 can be used to perform operations related to transceiving at the side of the first node in various method embodiments above, and the processing unit 1620 can be used to perform operations related to processing at the side of the first node in various method embodiments above.

[0526] For example, the processing unit 1620 can be configured to establish, according to the first message, a first link with the second node.

[0527] The transceiver unit 1610 can be configured to receive a first message from a sending node, the first message being used to indicate the first node and the second node to establish a first link.

[0528] It is to be understood that the transceiver unit 1610 and the processing unit 1620 can further perform other operations performed by the transmitting node in any of the above-described methods 600, 700, 1100, 1300 or 1500, which are not repeated here.

[0529] More detailed description of the above-described transceiver unit 1610 and the processing unit 1620 can be directly obtained with reference to the relevant description in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 11, FIG. 13 or FIG. 15, which are not repeated here.

[0530] In one design, the apparatus 1600 can be configured to perform the actions performed by the second node in each of the above-described method embodiments, e.g., the apparatus 1600 can be configured to perform the actions performed by the second node in the method 600. In this case, the apparatus 1600 can be a component of the second node, the transceiver unit 1610 can be configured to perform the transceiver-related operations performed by the second node in each of the above-described method embodiments, and the processing unit 1620 can be configured to perform the processing-related operations performed by the second node in each of the above-described method embodiments.

[0531] For example, the processing unit 1620 is configured to establish a first link with the first node according to the first message.

[0532] The transceiver unit 1610 is configured to receive a first message from a transmitting node, the first message being used to indicate that a first node and a second node establish a first link.

[0533] It is to be understood that the transceiver unit 1610 and the processing unit 1620 can further perform other operations performed by the transmitting node in any of the above-described methods 600, 700, 1100, 1300 or 1500, which are not repeated here.

[0534] More detailed description of the above-described transceiver unit 1610 and the processing unit 1620 can be directly obtained with reference to the relevant description in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 11, FIG. 13 or FIG. 15, which are not repeated here.

[0535] In one design, the apparatus 1600 can be configured to perform the actions performed by the second node in each of the above-described method embodiments, e.g., the apparatus 1600 can be configured to perform the actions performed by the third node in the method 600. In this case, the apparatus 1600 can be a component of the second node, the transceiver unit 1610 can be configured to perform the transceiver-related operations performed by the third node in each of the above-described method embodiments, and the processing unit 1620 can be configured to perform the processing-related operations performed by the third node in each of the above-described method embodiments.

[0536] For example, the processing unit 1620 is configured to establish the second link with the first node according to the first message; or establish the first link with the first node and the second node.

[0537] The transceiver unit 1610 is configured to receive a first message from a sending node; the first message is used to indicate that a first node and a second node establish a first link, and the first node and a third node establish a second link, the first link being a first unicast link, and the second link being a second unicast link; or the first message is used to indicate that the first node, the second node and the third node establish a first link, the first link being a first groupcast link.

[0538] It should be understood that the transceiver unit 1610 and the processing unit 1620 can also perform other operations performed by the sending node in any of the above-mentioned methods 600, 700, 1100, 1300 or 1500, which will not be repeated here.

[0539] For more detailed description of the transceiver unit 1610 and the processing unit 1620, please refer to the relevant description in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 11, FIG. 13 or FIG. 15, which will not be repeated here.

[0540] The above-mentioned apparatus 1600 is embodied in the form of functional units. The term “unit” herein can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (for example, a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combination logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions.

[0541] The apparatus 1600 of each of the above-mentioned schemes has a function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the communication apparatus (such as a terminal device, and a network device) in the above-mentioned methods. The function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as the processing unit, can be replaced by a processor, which respectively performs the transceiver operation and the related processing operation in each method embodiment.

[0542] FIG. 17 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 1700 suitable for the embodiments of the present application.

[0543] As shown in FIG. 17, the apparatus 1700 includes a processor 1710 and a transceiver 1720. The processor 1710 and the transceiver 1720 communicate with each other through an internal connection path. The processor 1710 is configured to execute instructions to control the transceiver 1720 to transmit and / or receive signals.

[0544] Optionally, the apparatus 1700 can further include a memory 1730, which communicates with the processor 1710 and the transceiver 1720 through an internal connection path. The memory 1730 is configured to store instructions. The processor 1710 can execute the instructions stored in the memory 1730.

[0545] In a possible implementation, the apparatus 1700 is configured to implement the procedures and steps performed by the sending node in the above method embodiments. The apparatus 1700 can be the sending node in the above embodiments, or can be a chip or chip system configured in the sending node. In this case, the transceiver 1720 can be a transceiver circuit of the chip, which is not limited here.

[0546] In a possible implementation, the apparatus 1700 is configured to implement the procedures and steps performed by the second node in the above method embodiments. The apparatus 1700 can be the second node in the above embodiments, or can be a chip or chip system configured in the second node. In this case, the transceiver 1720 can be a transceiver circuit of the chip, which is not limited here.

[0547] In a possible implementation, the apparatus 1700 is configured to implement the procedures and steps performed by the third node in the above method embodiments. The apparatus 1700 can be the third node in the above embodiments, or can be a chip or chip system configured in the third node. In this case, the transceiver 1720 can be a transceiver circuit of the chip, which is not limited here.

[0548] Optionally, the memory 1730 can include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provide instructions and data for the processor. A part of the memory can also include a non-volatile random access memory. The processor 1710 can be configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 1710 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1710 is configured to perform the steps and / or processes performed by the network device or the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0549] In the implementation process, the steps of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or the instruction in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as hardware processor execution completion, or executed by the combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in the mature storage medium in the field, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory or register. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and combines the hardware to complete the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0550] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability. In the implementation process, the steps of the above method embodiments can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or the instruction in the form of software. The above processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component. The processor in the embodiments of the present application can realize or execute the disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as hardware decoding processor execution completion, or executed by the combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in the mature storage medium in the field, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, register. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and combines the hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0551] It can be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application 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 EPROM (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory, dynamic random access memory, synchronous dynamic random access memory, double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory, enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory, synchronous connection dynamic random access memory and direct memory bus random access memory. It should be noted that the memory of the system and method described herein is intended to include but not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0552] FIG. 18 is a structural schematic diagram of a chip system 1800 suitable for the embodiments of the present application.

[0553] As shown in FIG. 18, the chip system 1800 (or also can be referred to as a processing system) includes a logic circuit 1810 and an input / output interface 1820.

[0554] Among them, the logic circuit 1810 can be a processing circuit in the chip system 1800; the input / output interface 1820 can be an input / output circuit in the chip system 1800, which outputs the information processed by the chip system 1800 or inputs the data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system 1800 for processing, so that the chip system 1800 can realize the functions of the sending node, the first node, the second node or the third node in the embodiments of the present application. Alternatively, the logic circuit 1810 can be coupled to a storage unit to call instructions in the storage unit.

[0555] The present application also provides a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, which realizes the functions of the network device or the terminal device in any of the method embodiments described above when executed by a computer.

[0556] The present application also provides a computer program product, which realizes the functions of the sending node, the first node, the second node or the third node in any of the method embodiments described above when executed by a computer.

[0557] In the embodiments described above, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transferred from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber or digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless or microwave, etc.) manner. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media sets. The available media can be magnetic media (such as floppy disk, hard disk or magnetic tape), optical media (such as high-density digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD)), or semiconductor media (such as solid state disk (solid state disk, SSD)), etc.

[0558] Those skilled in the art can appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled professionals can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0559] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here.

[0560] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other manners. For example, the described device embodiments are merely schematic. The division of the units is merely logical function division. There can be another division manner for the actual implementation, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0561] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place, or can be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0562] In addition, each functional unit in the various embodiments of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can be a physically independent unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0563] If the functions are implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various program code storage media.

[0564] The above is merely specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method applied to a transmitting node, characterized in that, The method comprises: generating a first message, the first message being used to instruct a first node and a second node to establish a first link; sending the first message; wherein the first message comprises first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate a first node type of the first node and a second node type of the second node, and the second indication information being used to indicate a starting time for the first node and the second node to establish the first link; if the first link is a first unicast link, the first node type is a management G node or a terminal T node, and the second node type is a G node or a T node; if the first link is a first groupcast link, the first node type is a group leader node or a group member node, and the second node type is a group leader node or a group member node; the sending node, the first node and the second node are in a time synchronization state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, if the first link is a first unicast link, the first indication information is used to indicate the first node type of the first node and the second node type of the second node, comprising: the first indication information is used to indicate a first type of the first link, the first type indicating that the first node and the second node are both T nodes; or, the first indication information comprises first information and second information, the first information is used to indicate a second type of the first link, the second type indicating that one of the first node and the second node is a G node and the other is a T node, and the second information indicates that the first node is a G node and the second node is a T node, or the first node is a T node and the second node is a G node.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, if the first link is a first unicast link, the first message is further used to instruct the first node and a third node to establish a second link, the second link being a second unicast link.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, if the first link is a first groupcast link, the first message is used to instruct the first node and the second node to establish the first link, and further comprising: the first message is used to instruct the first node, the second node and a third node to establish the first link, the first indication information is further used to indicate a third node type of the third node, and the second indication information is further used to indicate a starting time for the first node and the third node to establish the third link, the third node type being a group leader node or a group member node.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, the first indication information is used to indicate the first node type, the second node type and the third node type, comprising: the first indication information is used to indicate that a first time is the earliest time among the first time, a second time and a third time, wherein the first time is a time at which the first node sends a packet on the first groupcast link, the second time is a time at which the second node sends a packet on the first groupcast link, and the third time is a time at which the third node sends a packet on the first groupcast link.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, the first message is further used to instruct the second node, a fourth node and a fifth node to establish a second groupcast link.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The second indication information is used for indicating a starting time for the first node and the second node to establish the first link, and further comprises: The second indication information is used for indicating an interval between a reference time and the starting time, The reference time is a time when the sending node sends the first message, and the starting time is a time when the first node or the second node sends a packet.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, If the first link is a first multicast link, the first message further comprises third indication information, and the third indication information is used for indicating a number of nodes participating in establishment of the first multicast link.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The first node is the same as the sending node. 10.A communication method applied to a second node, the method comprising: Comprising: receiving a first message from a sending node, the first message being used for indicating a first node and a second node to establish a first link; establishing the first link with the first node according to the first message; The first message comprises first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating a first node type of the first node and a second node type of the second node, and the second indication information is used for indicating a starting time for the first node and the second node to establish the first link; If the first link is a first unicast link, the first node type is a management G node or a terminal T node, and the second node type is a G node or a T node; If the first link is a first multicast link, the first node type is a group leader node or a group member node, and the second node type is a group leader node or a group member node; The sending node, the first node and the second node are in a time synchronization state. 11.A communication method applied to a third node, the method comprising: Comprising: receiving a first message from a sending node; The first message is used for indicating a first node and a second node to establish a first link, and a first node and a third node to establish a second link, the first link being a first unicast link, and the second link being a second unicast link; Or, the first message is used for indicating a first node, a second node and a third node to establish a first link, the first link being a first multicast link; establishing the second link with the first node according to the first message; Or, establishing the first link with the first node and the second node; The sending node, the first node, the second node and the third node are in a time synchronization state.

12. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises units for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

13. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises units for performing the method of claim 10 or 11.

14. A communication system, characterized by The communication apparatus of claim 12 and / or the communication apparatus of claim 13.

15. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises a processor coupled with a memory, the memory being used for storing a computer program or instructions, and the processor being used for executing the computer program or instructions in the memory, so that the apparatus performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 11.

16. A computer readable storage medium characterized by: The computer readable storage medium has stored thereon a computer program or instructions, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 11.

17. A chip or chip system, characterized by comprising a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, such that a communication device in which the chip system is installed performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 11.

18. A computer program product, characterised in that, when the computer program product is run on a computer, such that the computer performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 11.

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