Terminal-terminal link recovery method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, in particular to a T-T link recovery method and an apparatus. The present application can support IEEE protocols such as the IEEE 802.11be / Wi-Fi 7 / EHT protocol, the IEEE 802.11bn / UHR / Wi-Fi 8 protocol, the IEEE 802.15 / UWB protocol, the IEEE 802.11bf / sensing protocol and the integrated millimeter wave (IMMW) protocol, or the Nearlink protocol. When T-T link establishment has failed, a requesting node may send a T-T link establishment request to a G node, and, upon receiving the T-T link establishment request, the G node may know that the T-T link establishment has failed, so that the G node can perform T-T link recovery in a timely manner, for example, the G node can again send a T-T link establishment indication and the like, thereby effectively improving the T-T link recovery efficiency and improving the T-T link establishment efficiency.

Description

Method and apparatus for restoring direct links of terminal nodes

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410791272.1, filed on June 18, 2024, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Restoring Direct Link of Terminal Node", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and apparatus for restoring a direct link between a terminal node. Background Technology

[0003] With the continuous development of communication technology, intelligent application scenarios such as smart homes, smart cockpits, autonomous driving, smart manufacturing, and smart transportation have emerged, enabling communication systems with diverse business functions, improving productivity, and bringing convenience and enjoyment to people's lives. People's demands for the functionality of communication systems are also increasing, leading to a continuous increase in the number and types of nodes in these systems. In most communication systems involving multiple nodes, the identities and communication capabilities of the nodes typically vary significantly. This is partly for ease of managing multi-node systems and partly to ensure compatibility between nodes with different computing and communication capabilities. However, these differences between nodes also indirectly limit the connections between them.

[0004] Some communication systems include master nodes and slave nodes. The master node has strong communication capabilities and the ability to manage slave nodes. It can establish links with multiple slave nodes, enabling communication between the master and slave nodes to achieve various functions. The master node can also establish TT links for multiple slave nodes.

[0005] Therefore, how to establish a TT link is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides a method and apparatus for restoring a terminal-terminal (TT) link. After a TT link establishment failure, the TT link can be restored in a timely manner, improving the TT link restoration efficiency and thus improving the TT link establishment efficiency.

[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a method for establishing a direct TT link between a terminal node and a management (grant, G) node. The G node may include a wireless local area network (WLAN) device (including Wi-Fi devices, etc.) or other devices (such as those involved in the StarSpark protocol), or may be a chip, functional module, processing system, or communication component disposed within the device. The method includes:

[0008] Node G sends a first TT link establishment instruction to a first terminal (T) node and a second TT link establishment instruction to a second T node. The first and second TT link establishment instructions are used to establish a TT link between the first T node and the second T node. In the event of a TT link establishment failure, Node G receives a TT link establishment request from the first T node. This TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment or to request the establishment of a new TT link.

[0009] In this embodiment, the TT link establishment process may include initial TT link establishment and link establishment recovery. The interaction between the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication, as described above, can be considered the initial TT link establishment. If the first T node attempts to establish a link based on the first TT link establishment indication or the second T node attempts to establish a link based on the second TT link establishment indication but the establishment fails, the subsequent process can be the link establishment recovery process. The initial TT link establishment and link establishment recovery described above are relative to the same TT link.

[0010] In this embodiment of the application, after the TT link establishment fails, the first T node, as the requesting node, can send a TT link establishment request. On the one hand, it can promptly notify the G node of the TT link establishment failure, and on the other hand, it can enable the G node to promptly execute the TT link establishment recovery process, such as re-initiating the TT link establishment instruction according to the link parameters, so that the first T node and the second T node can promptly restore the TT link, thereby improving the TT link establishment recovery efficiency and thus improving the TT link establishment efficiency.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication each include first failure handling indication information, which is used to indicate the handling method after the TT link establishment fails, and the handling method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link.

[0012] In this embodiment, when the failure handling indication information in the TT link establishment indication indicates that the processing method is to restore the establishment of the TT link, the requesting node can send a TT link establishment request after the TT link establishment fails. This allows the G node to send the TT link establishment indication in a timely manner, improving the recovery efficiency of the TT link. The requesting node is the node indicated in the TT link establishment indication. This embodiment uses the first node as an example, but it is not intended to limit the scope of this embodiment.

[0013] In this embodiment of the application, when the failure handling indication information in the TT link establishment indication indicates that the handling method is not to handle, the TT link establishment process ends after the failure.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication each include the identifier of the first T node, and the identifier of the first T node indicates that the first T node initiates the TT link establishment request.

[0015] In this embodiment, the TT link establishment indication includes an identifier of the requesting node, which enables the T node to effectively identify which node is requesting link establishment and recovery, thereby effectively improving communication efficiency and TT link recovery efficiency.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the identifier of the first T node includes the logical link identifier or media access layer identifier (layer 2 ID, L2ID) of the first T node.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication each include information about a first timeout period, which is used to indicate the deadline for establishing the TT link.

[0018] For example, the first timeout period can also be used to indicate the validity period of link parameters (such as the first link parameter) or the validity duration of the link establishment and recovery process.

[0019] In this embodiment of the application, the TT link establishment indication, by including timeout information, can, on the one hand, ensure that the link parameters (such as the first link parameter) have a certain validity period, saving the signaling overhead of the T node reporting the link parameters of the T node, and on the other hand, avoid excessive cache overhead of the G node. For example, after the timeout period, the G node can clear the cache in time and release the cache space.

[0020] In this embodiment of the application, when the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication do not include information about the first timeout period, the validity period of the link parameter (such as the first link parameter) can be a fixed duration, which can be defined by a standard, etc.; or, the validity period of the link parameter (such as the first link parameter) can be greater than a duration threshold, the specific duration of which is not limited in this embodiment of the application. For example, the link parameter (such as the first link parameter) can remain valid until the current TT link establishment process is completed.

[0021] In one possible implementation, within the first timeout period, the TT link establishment request is used to request the resumption of TT link establishment; or, outside the first timeout period, the TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link. Of course, within the first timeout period, the TT link establishment request can also be used to request the establishment of a new TT link.

[0022] In this embodiment, when a TT link establishment request is used to request the resumption of TT link establishment, the TT link establishment request may not include the link parameters of the requesting node. In this case, the G node can resend the TT link establishment indication based on its cached and valid link parameters. When a TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link, the TT link establishment request may include the link parameters of the requesting node, enabling the G node to send the TT link establishment indication based on the link parameters of the requesting node. This ensures that the link parameters in the TT link establishment indication match the first T node and the second T node, maximizing the success rate and efficiency of establishing the new TT link. The link parameters cached by the G node may include at least one of the following: the link parameters of the TT link, the link parameters of the first T node, or the link parameters of the second T node. The link parameters of the TT link may be the final link parameters determined based on the link parameters of the first T node and the second T node, or the link parameters in the TT link establishment indication.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication are determined based on the first link parameters. When the TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment, the method further includes: the G node sending a third TT link establishment indication to the first T node based on the first link parameters, and sending a fourth TT link establishment indication to the second T node.

[0024] In this embodiment, when a TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of TT link establishment, the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication can still be determined based on the first link parameters. Optionally, if the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication include information about a first timeout period, then within the validity period of the first link parameters, when a TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of TT link establishment, the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication can still be determined based on the first link parameters.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication each include second failure handling indication information, which is used to indicate the handling method after the TT link establishment fails. The handling method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link or not handling it.

[0026] In this embodiment, the processing method indicated by the second failure processing indication information can be the same as or different from the processing method indicated by the first failure processing indication information. This improves the flexibility of the TT link establishment and recovery process.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication each include the identifier of the first T node; or, the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication each include the identifier of the second T node.

[0028] In this embodiment, the requesting node indicated by the first TT link establishment indication (or the second TT link establishment indication) may be the same as or different from the requesting node indicated by the third TT link establishment indication (or the fourth TT link establishment indication). This improves the flexibility of the TT link establishment and recovery process.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication each include information about a second timeout period, which is used to indicate the deadline for establishing the TT link.

[0030] For an explanation of the second timeout period, please refer to the description of the first timeout period; it will not be elaborated upon here.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the G node sending a TT link establishment response, the TT link establishment response including recovery failure indication information, the recovery failure indication information being used to indicate that the TT link establishment failed.

[0032] In this embodiment, the G node can send a TT link establishment response to the node that sent the TT link establishment request; that is, the TT link establishment response can be a response to the TT link establishment request. By sending the TT link establishment response, the G node enables the T node to effectively understand the specific reason for the TT link establishment failure, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the recovery failure indication information includes the reason for the TT link establishment failure, which includes at least one of the following: the link parameters used to establish the TT link are invalid, the link establishment request conflicts, or the second T node is not within the communication range.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the reasons mentioned above also include at least one of the following: the second T node does not accept the establishment of the TT link, the second T node does not exist, the air interface resources of the first T node and the second T node do not match, or the link parameters of the second T node cannot be obtained.

[0035] In one possible implementation, when a TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link, the TT link establishment request includes a second link parameter, which is used to establish a new TT link.

[0036] In this embodiment, when a TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link, the TT link establishment process corresponding to the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication ends. The G node can send a TT link establishment indication according to the second link parameters, and this TT link establishment indication can be considered as a new TT link establishment process.

[0037] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a method for restoring a TT link. This method can be applied to a first terminal (T) node, which may include a WLAN device (including Wi-Fi devices, etc.) or other devices (such as those involved in the StarSpark protocol), or may be a chip, functional module, processing system, or communication component disposed within the device. The method includes:

[0038] The first T node receives a first TT link establishment instruction from the G node. The first TT link establishment instruction is used to establish a TT link between the first T node and the second T node. In the event that the TT link establishment fails, the first T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node. The TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment or to request the establishment of a new TT link.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the first TT link establishment indication includes first failure handling indication information, which is used to indicate the handling method after the TT link establishment fails, and the handling method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the first TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the first T node, which indicates that the first T node initiates the TT link establishment request.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the identifier of the first T node includes the logical link identifier or the media access layer identifier of the first T node.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the first TT link establishment indication includes information about a first timeout period, which indicates the deadline for establishing the TT link.

[0043] In one possible implementation, within the first timeout period, the TT link establishment request is used to request the resumption of TT link establishment; or, outside the first timeout period, the TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link. Of course, within the first timeout period, the TT link establishment request can also be used to request the establishment of a new TT link.

[0044] In one possible implementation, where the first TT link establishment indication is determined based on the first link parameters, and the TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment, the method further includes: the first T node receiving a third TT link establishment indication from the G node, the third TT link establishment indication being determined based on the first link parameters.

[0045] In one possible implementation, the third TT link establishment indication includes second failure handling indication information, which indicates the handling method after the TT link establishment fails. The handling method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link or not handling it.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the third TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the first T node; or, the third TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the second T node.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the third TT link establishment indication includes information about a second timeout period, which indicates the deadline for establishing the TT link.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: a first T node receiving a TT link establishment response from a G node, the TT link establishment response including recovery failure indication information, the recovery failure indication information being used to indicate that the TT link establishment failed.

[0049] In one possible implementation, the recovery failure indication information includes the reason for the TT link establishment failure, which includes at least one of the following: the link parameters used to establish the TT link are invalid, or the second T node is not within the communication range.

[0050] In one possible implementation, the reasons mentioned above also include at least one of the following: the second T node does not accept the establishment of the TT link, the second T node does not exist, the air interface resources of the first T node and the second T node do not match, or the link parameters of the second T node cannot be obtained.

[0051] In one possible implementation, when a TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link, the TT link establishment request includes a second link parameter, which is used to establish a new TT link.

[0052] Further explanations regarding the second aspect can be found in the first aspect, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0053] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a method for restoring a direct TT link of a terminal node. This method can be applied to a second terminal (T) node, which may include WLAN devices (including Wi-Fi devices, etc.) or other devices (such as those involved in the StarSpark protocol), or may be chips, functional modules, processing systems, or communication components disposed within the device. The method includes:

[0054] The second terminal T node receives a second TT link establishment instruction from the management G node. The second TT link establishment instruction is used to establish a TT link between the first T node and the second T node. The second T node determines at least one of the following information based on the second TT link establishment instruction: the handling method after TT link establishment failure, the node that initiated the TT link establishment request, and the timeout information.

[0055] In this embodiment of the application, the information determined by the second T node may be included in the second TT link establishment indication, or the second TT link establishment indication may not include the processing method or timeout information after the TT link establishment failure, and the second TT link establishment indication implicitly indicates the above processing method and timeout information.

[0056] In one possible implementation, the second TT link establishment indication includes first failure handling indication information, which is used to indicate the handling method after the TT link establishment fails, and the handling method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link.

[0057] In one possible implementation, the second TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the first T node, which indicates that the first T node initiates the TT link establishment request.

[0058] In one possible implementation, the identifier of the first T node includes the logical link identifier or the media access layer identifier of the first T node.

[0059] In one possible implementation, the second TT link establishment indication includes information about a first timeout period, which indicates the deadline for establishing the TT link.

[0060] In one possible implementation, the first TT link establishment indication is determined based on the first link parameters, and the method further includes: the second T node receiving a fourth TT link establishment indication from the G node, the fourth TT link establishment indication being determined based on the first link parameters.

[0061] In one possible implementation, the fourth TT link establishment indication includes second failure handling indication information, which indicates the handling method after the TT link establishment fails. The handling method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link or not handling it.

[0062] In one possible implementation, the fourth TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the first T node; or, the fourth TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the second T node.

[0063] In one possible implementation, the fourth TT link establishment indication includes information about a second timeout period, which is used to indicate the deadline for establishing the TT link.

[0064] In one possible implementation, if the TT link establishment fails, the second T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node. The TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment or to request the establishment of a new TT link.

[0065] In one possible implementation, when the TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment, the method further includes: the second T node receiving a TT link establishment response from the G node, the TT link establishment response including restoration failure indication information, the restoration failure indication information indicating that the TT link establishment failed, the restoration failure indication information including the reason for the TT link establishment failure, the reason including a link establishment request conflict.

[0066] In one possible implementation, when a TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link, the TT link establishment request includes a second link parameter, which is used to establish a new TT link.

[0067] Further explanations regarding the third aspect can be found in the first or second aspects, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0068] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device for executing the methods in any one of the first to third aspects or any possible implementations thereof. The first communication device includes a module having the capability to execute the methods in any one of the first to third aspects or any possible implementations thereof.

[0069] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device including a processor for executing the methods shown in any one of the first to third aspects or any possible implementations thereof. The processor executes a program stored in a memory, and when the program is executed, the methods shown in any one of the first to third aspects or any possible implementations thereof are executed.

[0070] In one possible implementation, the memory is located outside the aforementioned communication device.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the memory is located within the aforementioned communication device.

[0072] In this embodiment, the processor and memory can also be integrated into a single device, that is, the processor and memory can be integrated together. For example, the communication device can be a chip.

[0073] In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver for receiving or sending information.

[0074] In a sixth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes a logic circuit and an interface, the logic circuit and the interface being coupled; the interface is used for inputting and / or outputting information, and the logic circuit is used for performing the method described in any one of the first to third aspects or any possible implementation thereof.

[0075] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the methods shown in any of the first to third aspects or any possible implementation thereof to be executed.

[0076] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product that, when run on a computer, causes the methods shown in any of the first to third aspects or any possible implementations described above to be executed.

[0077] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication system comprising a G node and a T node. The G node is used to execute the method shown in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, and the T node is used to execute the method shown in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or the T node may be used to execute the method shown in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof. The communication system may include at least one of a first T node or a second T node. Attached Figure Description

[0078] Figure 1a is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0079] Figure 1b is a schematic diagram of another architecture of the communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0080] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for establishing a TT link according to an embodiment of this application;

[0081] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating the TT link recovery method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0082] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a scenario where no processing is performed according to the embodiments of this application;

[0083] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0084] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0085] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0086] Figure 8a is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0087] Figure 8b is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0088] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0089] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another structure of the communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0090] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another structure of the communication device provided in the embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0091] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of this application, the application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0092] The terms "first" and "second," etc., used in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used only to distinguish different objects and not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatuses.

[0093] The term "embodiment" as used herein means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0094] In this application, "at least one (item)" refers to one or more, "more than one" refers to two or more, "at least two (items)" refers to two or three or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and both A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be singular or plural. "Or" indicates that there can be two relationships, such as only A exists or only B exists; when A and B are not mutually exclusive, it can also mean that there are three relationships, such as only A exists, only B exists, or both A and B exist simultaneously. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item) of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items. For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c".

[0095] In this application, "instruction" can include direct instruction, indirect instruction, explicit instruction, and implicit instruction. When describing a certain instruction information for the purpose of instructing A, it can be understood that the instruction information carries A, directly instructs A, or indirectly instructs A.

[0096] In this application, "send" and "receive" indicate the direction of signal transmission. For example, "send information to XX" can be understood as the destination of the information being XX, which can include direct transmission via the air interface or indirect transmission by other units or modules via the air interface. "Receive information from YY" can be understood as the source of the information being YY, which can include direct reception from YY via the air interface or indirect reception from YY by other units or modules via the air interface. "Send" can also be understood as the "output" of a chip interface, and "receive" can also be understood as the "input" of a chip interface. In other words, sending and receiving can occur between devices, such as between G nodes and T nodes, or within a device, such as between components, modules, chips, software modules, or hardware modules within the device via buses, traces, or interfaces.

[0097] The following describes the nodes and systems involved in this application.

[0098] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to wireless local area network (WLAN) systems, such as SparkLink (or NearLink) or Wi-Fi. For example, the technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to SparkLink (or NearLink) standard protocols, such as SparkLink Low Energy (SLE) wireless communication systems. Furthermore, the technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 series protocols (or standards), such as the 802.11be protocol, the 802.11bn protocol (or Wi-Fi 8, also known as Ultra High Reliability (UHR) or Ultra High Reliability and Throughput (UHRT)), or next-generation protocols of the 802.11bn protocol, or protocols supporting ambient power (AMP), etc., and will not be listed exhaustively. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to wireless personal area networks (WPANs) based on millimeter wave (MMW) technologies, such as integrated millimeter wave (IMMW) and ultra-wideband (UWB) technologies. For example, the technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to IEEE 802.15 series protocols, such as 802.15.4a, 802.15.4z, or 802.15.4ab, or a future generation of UWB WPAN protocols, etc., and will not be listed exhaustively. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to the following communication systems, such as Internet of Things (IoT) systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X, where X can represent anything), device-to-device (D2D), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, 5th generation (5G) communication systems, and other new communication systems that will emerge in the future development of communication.For example, V2X can include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), or vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication.

[0099] The node involved in this application is a device with communication capabilities, which may include, but is not limited to, at least one of user equipment, network equipment, industrial equipment, etc., or the device may be a chip or functional module supporting the above-mentioned devices. For example, user equipment includes at least one of the following: handheld terminal, wearable terminal, vehicle, in-vehicle equipment, sensing device, smart home device, or leisure and entertainment device. Handheld terminals include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, tablets, or laptops; wearable devices include, but are not limited to, headphones, smart bracelets, smartwatches, or smart glasses; transportation vehicles include, but are not limited to, vehicles, ships, aircraft, rail transit (such as subways, high-speed trains), or logistics robots (such as automated guided vehicles, AGVs); in-vehicle equipment includes, but is not limited to, domain controllers (DCs), screens, microphones, speakers, electronic keys, keyless entry, start system controllers, battery management systems (BMS), battery packs, or battery cells; sensing devices include, but are not limited to, cameras, radar, lidar, light sensors, temperature sensors, or humidity sensors; smart home devices include, but are not limited to, projectors, smart TVs, smart refrigerators, smart home gateways, or security equipment; leisure and entertainment devices include, but are not limited to, virtual reality (VR) devices, mixed reality (MR) devices, massage chairs, home theaters, game controllers, or 4D cinema cabins; network equipment includes, but is not limited to, routers, switches, or base stations; and industrial equipment includes, but is not limited to, industrial robots or robotic arms. Of course, in addition to the various types of devices mentioned above, nodes can also be chips, functional modules, or processing systems that can be set in the aforementioned devices.

[0100] Nodes can be applied in various scenarios such as smart cars, smart homes, smart terminals, smart manufacturing, smart showrooms, mobile internet (MI), industrial control, self-driving, transportation safety, and the Internet of Things (IoT). In some application scenarios or network types, devices with communication capabilities may not be called nodes, but for ease of description, devices with communication capabilities are collectively referred to as nodes in this application embodiment.

[0101] A communication system is a system that transmits information using electrical or optical signals, typically comprising multiple nodes that can communicate with each other. Nodes in a communication system may have different identities or different capabilities. Generally, in most communication systems, nodes are distinguished as master nodes and slave nodes. Master nodes can communicate with each other and with slave nodes to achieve various functions. A master node may also be called a management node (G node), access point (AP), authorized node, or master control node, etc., while a slave node may be called a terminal node (T node) or station (STA), etc. The specific names of G nodes and T nodes are not limited in the embodiments of this application. For ease of description, this application uses G nodes and T nodes as examples for illustration.

[0102] For example, a G node can have communication and management capabilities. Management capabilities include communication management, such as connection management, resource scheduling, or information security management. For instance, a G node can send resource management information or data scheduling information, such as access layer resource management information.

[0103] For example, a T-node can have communication capabilities and can transmit services with a G-node. For example, a T-node is a node that receives resource management information (such as access layer resource management information) or data scheduling information and sends data according to the resource management information or data scheduling information. For example, a T-node may include barcodes, radio frequency identification (RFID), sensors, global positioning systems (GPS), lidar, battery cells, etc.

[0104] It's understandable that the roles of G and T nodes are relative. For example, in one network topology, node A can be a G node, but in another network topology, node A might be a T node. In other words, when a node belongs to two or more network topologies simultaneously, this node can be a T node in some network topologies and a G node in others.

[0105] In this embodiment of the application, the communication system may include one or more G nodes and one or more T nodes.

[0106] Figure 1a is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1a exemplarily shows one G node and two T nodes. The G node can initiate the establishment of a TT link for the two T nodes.

[0107] Figure 1b is a schematic diagram of another architecture of the communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1b exemplarily shows one G node and three T nodes. The G node can initiate the establishment of TT links for these three T nodes.

[0108] In Figures 1a and 1b, a T node can be connected to a G node, and T nodes can also be connected to each other. A network consisting of a G node and multiple T nodes connected to that G node can be called a star network or a piconet, etc. The solution provided in this application embodiment can be applied to piconet or other networks, etc., and this application embodiment does not limit it in this way.

[0109] A direct link between T-nodes can be called a TT link. This TT link can be used for communication between T-nodes, or for measurement between T-nodes, etc., and its function is not limited. For example, when a TT link is used for communication, it can also be called a direct communication link. Similarly, when a TT link is used for measurement, it can also be called a direct measurement link or a TT measurement link, etc. This application does not limit the specific name of the TT link. The aforementioned measurements may include, but are not limited to, sensing measurements or ranging measurements.

[0110] The link between node G and node T can be called a GT link. The GT link can be used for communication between node G and node T, or for measurement between node G and node T, etc. The function of the GT link is not limited.

[0111] For example, with respect to Figure 1b, the TT link can also be called the TT multicast link, etc. The specific name of the TT link is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0112] The number of G nodes and the number of T nodes shown in Figures 1a and 1b are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of this application.

[0113] The methods involved in this application are described below.

[0114] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for establishing a TT link according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 2, the G node can send TT link establishment instructions to two T nodes respectively. The TT link establishment instruction can be used for: establishing a TT link; in other words, initiating the TT link establishment process; or in other words, triggering the establishment of a TT link. The content of the TT link establishment instruction can be found in Table 1.

[0115] When the TT link establishment indicator is used to establish a TT link between two T nodes, it can also be called an asynchronous TT link establishment indicator, etc., which will not be listed here. When the TT link establishment indicator is used to establish a TT link between three or more T nodes, it can also be called a TT multicast link establishment indicator.

[0116] For ease of description, the following description uses the TT link establishment instruction as an example. It is understood that the names of the various information or signaling shown in this application are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of this application.

[0117] TT link establishment indications can be transmitted via unicast. For example, the TT link establishment indication may include the receiver's identifier, which can be a logical link identifier or a media access identifier, or the identifier may be determined based on the logical link identifier or the media access identifier. For instance, the receiver's identifier and the sender's identifier can be carried in a synchronization signal, which can be contained in the physical layer header of the TT link establishment indication. Of course, TT link establishment indications can also be transmitted via broadcast or multicast. For example, the receiver's identifier in the TT link establishment indication may be an invalid identifier or a special identifier, etc.

[0118] Upon receiving a TT link establishment instruction, a T node can establish a TT link according to the instruction. For example, taking a first T node and a second T node as examples, in the first event, a message is sent to the second T node. If the second T node successfully receives the message and sends an acknowledgment message, or if the first T node successfully receives the acknowledgment message sent by the second T node, the TT link is successfully established. If, in the first event and subsequent events, the second T node fails to receive the aforementioned message, or if the first T node fails to receive the aforementioned acknowledgment message, the TT link establishment fails. This example illustrates the establishment process of a TT link for communication. The success or failure of a TT link establishment for measurement can be determined by the measurement result or measurement value. For example, a normal measurement value indicates successful establishment; an abnormal measurement value indicates establishment failure. Similarly, an accurate measurement result or an accuracy less than or equal to a threshold indicates successful establishment; an inaccurate measurement result or an accuracy greater than the threshold indicates establishment failure. The explanation here regarding establishing TT links between T nodes also applies to the following text. For the TT link establishment failure scenarios described below, please refer to the content shown here.

[0119] Table 1 provides an example of the contents of the TT link establishment instruction. For further explanation of Table 1, please refer to relevant standards or protocols, which will not be detailed here. The link parameters in the TT link establishment instruction can be considered as suitable link parameters for the TT link, or the final link parameters for the TT link, or link parameters that match at least two of the aforementioned T nodes. The first TT link establishment instruction and the second TT link establishment instruction shown below can also be referenced in Table 1.

[0120] Table 1

[0121] In this embodiment of the application, as a possible implementation method 1, the TT link establishment request may include the link parameters of the T node. These link parameters may include at least one of the following: event group start offset time, event group period, event period, intra-event interval, inter-event interval and inter-event group interval, total number of events, radio frame type indication, CRC type, feedback type indication, system scheduling time slot, bandwidth indication, pilot density indication, maximum value of protocol data unit, maximum time offset, initial CRC value, delay period, timeout period, encryption algorithm indication, integrity protection algorithm indication, encryption key indication, integrity protection key indication, encryption and integrity protection indication, initialization vector base value, sleep clock precision, and first-to-last-send indication. A description of the link parameters of the T node can be found in Table 1 above, and will not be detailed here.

[0122] As another possible implementation 2, the TT link establishment request can include link parameters of the T node, which can include at least one of the following: TT link enable, link establishment start position, link establishment end position, maximum duty cycle, event group period, delay period, timeout time, and system scheduling time slot. For example, the TT link establishment request is sent by the first T node, and this TT link establishment request can include the link parameters of the first T node. TT link enable can be used to indicate whether the first T node accepts a new TT link. That is, by enabling the TT link, the first T node can indicate to the G node whether it accepts the establishment of a new TT link. Maximum duty cycle can be used to indicate the maximum value of the ratio of air interface usage time and event group period within each event group period. Link establishment start position can be used to indicate the earliest time to establish the TT link, or in other words, the system basic time slot sequence number corresponding to the earliest time to establish the link. Link establishment end position can be used to indicate the latest time to establish the TT link, or in other words, the system basic time slot sequence number corresponding to the latest time to establish the link. Event group period can be used to indicate the time difference between the start time of two adjacent event groups, or the time difference between their end time. The delay period can be used to indicate that after the previous event group ends, starting from the next event group, the first T node will receive or transmit after the number of delay periods. System scheduling time slots can be used to indicate the time unit in link parameters. Timeout periods can be used to indicate the maximum duration of interruption during communication (or measurement).

[0123] As another possible implementation 3, the link parameters of the T node can combine those of implementation 1 and implementation 2. The link parameters of the T node can include at least one of implementation 1 and implementation 2. For example, the link parameters of the T node can include link establishment start position, link establishment end position, event group start offset time, event group period, event period, intra-event interval, inter-event interval and inter-event group interval, total number of events, radio frame type indication, CRC type, feedback type indication, system scheduling time slot, bandwidth indication, pilot density indication, maximum value of protocol data unit, maximum time offset, initial CRC value, delay period, timeout period, encryption algorithm indication, integrity protection algorithm indication, encryption key indication, integrity protection key indication, encryption and integrity protection indication, initialization vector base value, sleep clock precision, and first-to-last-transmission indication.

[0124] The description of the link parameters for node T here also applies to the description of the link parameters for the first node T or the second node T below, and will not be elaborated further. Of course, the above description of the link parameters for node T can also be applied to the description of the link parameters cached by node G.

[0125] If the TT link establishment fails, the G node cannot effectively know whether the establishment of the TT link it initiated was successful. Therefore, the G node may not re-initiate the establishment of the TT link, resulting in low efficiency in re-establishing the TT link.

[0126] Therefore, this application also provides a method and apparatus for restoring a TT link. After a TT link establishment failure, the TT link can be restored promptly, improving restoration efficiency and the efficiency of re-establishing the TT link. A TT link establishment failure may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: a TT link was not successfully established between T nodes, or a TT link was successfully established between T nodes, but the link was abnormally disconnected.

[0127] In this embodiment, the TT link establishment process can include two parts: initial TT link establishment and link establishment recovery. The link establishment recovery process is optional and occurs when: the processing method indicated by the G node is to restore the establishment of the TT link, and the TT link establishment fails. The duration of the link establishment recovery process can be defined as a protection window, within which the G node can cache the link parameters of the TT link. Within this protection window, when the T node requests link recovery, the link establishment request may not include the T node's link parameters. Optionally, since the G node has already cached the TT link parameters, the T node may not need to save its own link parameters. When the protection window expires, the G node may discard the aforementioned TT link parameters. Optionally, the G node may specify that the T node requests link recovery within the protection window. When the protection window expires, the current TT link establishment process ends, and subsequent TT link establishments are considered new TT link establishment processes.

[0128] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating the TT link recovery method provided in this application embodiment. The descriptions of the G nodes and T nodes involved in this method can be found above and will not be detailed here. The first T node and the second T node in this method can be two T nodes involved in the TT link. Alternatively, the first T node and the second T node can be two T nodes out of three or more T nodes involved in the TT link. As shown in Figure 3, the method includes:

[0129] 301. Node G sends a first TT link establishment instruction to Node T, and Node T receives the first TT link establishment instruction.

[0130] The first TT link establishment instruction can be used to establish a TT link, or in other words, it can instruct the first T node to establish a TT link. After receiving the first TT link establishment instruction, the first T node can interact with the second T node to establish a TT link. The interaction process between the first T node and the second T node can refer to the method shown in Figure 2 above, and this embodiment of the application does not limit it.

[0131] 302. Node G sends a second TT link establishment instruction to node T, and node T receives the second TT link establishment instruction.

[0132] The explanation of step 302 can be found in step 301, and will not be detailed here. The order of steps 301 and 302 is not limited in this embodiment. For example, the interval between the transmission time of the first TT link establishment indication and the transmission time of the second TT link establishment indication can be less than an interval threshold. The specific duration of this interval threshold is not limited in this embodiment. Of course, the transmission time of the first TT link establishment indication or the transmission time of the second TT link establishment indication can be earlier than the link establishment start position or the link establishment end position.

[0133] As one possible implementation, a G node can establish a TT link for two T nodes. For example, the G node can send a first TT link establishment instruction to the first T node and a second TT link establishment instruction to the second T node.

[0134] As another possible implementation, the G node can also establish TT links for three or more T nodes, for example, the G node sends TT link establishment instructions to the aforementioned T nodes respectively.

[0135] The number of T nodes involved in a TT link is not limited in the embodiments of this application. For ease of description, the following example uses two T nodes, but it should not be construed as a limitation on the embodiments of this application.

[0136] The following details the parameters in the TT link establishment indication. The descriptions of the TT link establishment indication below apply to both the first and second TT link establishment indications. The names of the parameters shown in the embodiments of this application are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0137] The TT link establishment indication may include at least one of the TT link parameters or failure handling indication information.

[0138] As one possible implementation, the parameters in the TT link establishment indication may include the content shown in Table 1. In this case, the TT link establishment indication implicitly indicates that the handling method after a TT link establishment failure is to restore the TT link establishment. As shown in Table 1, the content in the second TT link establishment indication can also refer to Table 1. The aforementioned handling method after a TT link establishment failure can be defined by the standard or indicated by the G node to the T node through other signaling.

[0139] In this implementation, although the TT link establishment indication does not include the handling method after TT link establishment failure, the T node, upon receiving the TT link establishment indication, can know that the handling method after TT link establishment failure is to restore the establishment of the TT link. Therefore, the signaling overhead of the TT link establishment indication can be effectively saved.

[0140] As another possible implementation, 2, the TT link establishment indication includes failure handling indication information, which can be used to indicate how to handle a TT link establishment failure. By including failure handling indication information, the T node can be clearly instructed on how to handle a TT link establishment failure, thereby improving communication efficiency.

[0141] As an example 1, the above processing method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link.

[0142] The TT link establishment instruction, through a process that includes restoring the establishment of the TT link, enables the T node to promptly send a TT link establishment request after a TT link establishment failure. This allows the G node to execute the TT link restoration process, improving the efficiency of TT link restoration and reconstruction.

[0143] Optionally, the TT link establishment indication may include an identifier of a T node, which indicates that the T node initiates the TT link establishment request. That is, the identifier can be used to indicate the T node requesting link restoration. The T node can determine whether it is its own identifier based on this identifier; if it is its own identifier, it can send a TT link establishment request. The T node indicated in the TT link establishment indication can be called the requesting node, which can request the TT link establishment from the G node. For ease of description, step 303 below will be explained using the requesting node as the first T node as an example.

[0144] For example, the identifier of node T may include, but is not limited to, the logical link identifier of node T, or the media access layer identifier (layer 2 ID, L2ID) of node T. For example, the L2ID may be pre-assigned, and the logical link identifier may be generated by node G. The specific form of the identifier is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0145] Optionally, the TT link establishment indication includes timeout information, which indicates the deadline for establishing the TT link. Alternatively, the timeout can indicate the deadline for restoring the TT link. Or, the timeout can indicate the validity period of the link parameters cached by the G node to the T node. Alternatively, the timeout can indicate the length of the protection window for the link parameters. Or, the timeout can indicate the effective duration of the link establishment and recovery process. In this embodiment, the timeout duration and the protection window length can be the same, meaning the timeout and the protection window can be interchanged.

[0146] Within the timeout period, the link parameters cached by the G node remain valid; that is, the validity period of the link parameters is within the timeout period. Outside the timeout period (e.g., after the timeout period), the G node may discard its cached link parameters, or use new link parameters to establish the TT link. The link parameters cached by the G node may include at least one of the following: TT link parameters, link parameters of the first T node, and link parameters of the second T node. The TT link parameters may be the final link parameters determined based on the link parameters of the first T node and the second T node; or, in other words, the final link parameters determined for establishing the TT link.

[0147] Within the timeout period, a TT link establishment request can be used to request the restoration of a TT link. Alternatively, outside the timeout period, a TT link establishment request can be used to request the establishment of a new TT link. Of course, within the timeout period, a TT link establishment request can also be used to request the establishment of a new TT link. However, once the aforementioned timeout period has elapsed, it indicates that the deadline for restoring the TT link has been exceeded; therefore, a TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link. Outside the timeout period, a TT link establishment request can be sent by either the requesting node or a non-requesting node.

[0148] As an example, the start time of the timeout period can be the time when node G sends the TT link establishment indication. After node G sends the TT link establishment indication, it can start a timer whose duration is the timeout period. As another example, the start time of the timeout period can be the time when node T receives the TT link establishment indication. After node T receives the TT link establishment indication, it can start a timer whose duration is the timeout period.

[0149] For example, the timeout information may include start time and end time information, or end time information, or duration information. This duration can be used to indicate the length of time from the start time to the end time. The specific method of indicating the timeout is not limited in this embodiment. The end time indicated by the timeout in the first TT link establishment indication can be the same as the end time indicated by the timeout in the second TT link establishment indication. Whether the duration of the timeout in the first TT link establishment indication is the same as the duration of the timeout in the second TT link establishment indication is not limited in this embodiment.

[0150] In this embodiment, the TT link establishment indication includes a timeout period. This ensures the link parameters have a certain validity period, saving signaling overhead for T nodes reporting link parameters. Furthermore, it avoids excessive caching overhead for G nodes, allowing G nodes to clear their cache and release cache space after the timeout period. The cache shown in this embodiment can also be replaced with storage; this embodiment does not limit this approach.

[0151] For example, the TT link establishment indication may not include timeout information. The start time is the time when the G node sends the TT link establishment indication, or the time when the T node receives the TT link establishment indication, and the duration can be a fixed duration. This duration can be defined by a standard, or indicated by the G node to the T node through other signaling, etc. This application embodiment does not limit the method for setting the duration.

[0152] For example, when the TT link establishment indication includes at least one of the T node's identifier or the timeout period, the TT link establishment indication may not include failure handling indication information. In this case, the TT link establishment indication implicitly indicates, by including at least one of the T node's identifier or the timeout period, that the handling method after the TT link establishment failure is to restore the establishment of the TT link.

[0153] The specific form of the aforementioned failure handling indication information, the T-node identifier, or the timeout period in the TT link establishment indication is not limited in the embodiments of this application. For example, the aforementioned information can be carried in a single field. Alternatively, the T-node identifier and the timeout period can each be carried in a single field, and these two fields can indicate the failure handling indication information.

[0154] As another example 2, the above processing method includes no processing. In this case, after the TT link establishment fails, the T node does not initiate the link recovery process, and the TT link establishment process ends. When the processing method includes no processing, the T node's identifier and timeout period may not be included in the TT link establishment indication.

[0155] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a scenario where the processing method provided in this application embodiment is no processing. As shown in Figure 4, when node G initiates TT link establishment, the failure handling method in the TT link establishment indication is no processing. Therefore, after the TT link establishment (as shown in the initial link establishment above) fails, all T nodes do not perform the link recovery process, and the current TT link establishment process ends.

[0156] Table 2 exemplarily illustrates the failure handling method fields in the TT link establishment instruction. The field names and lengths in Table 2 are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of this application. For example, the identifier field of the T node in Table 2 can also be called the identifier field of the requesting node, or the logical link identifier field of the requesting node, etc.

[0157] Table 2

[0158] For other parameters in the TT link establishment instruction, please refer to Table 1, which will not be detailed here.

[0159] The descriptions of TT link establishment indications in Implementation Method 1 and Implementation Method 2 above apply to the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication, and similarly, also apply to the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication mentioned below.

[0160] As an example, the parameters in the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication are the same. However, some parts of the physical layer header of the first TT link establishment indication and the physical layer header of the second TT link establishment indication may differ. For instance, the sender of the first TT link establishment indication and the sender of the second TT link establishment indication may be the same, but the receiver of the first TT link establishment indication and the receiver of the second TT link establishment indication may be different.

[0161] As another example, some parameters in the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication may differ. For instance, the TT link establishment indication corresponding to the requesting node may include failure handling indication information, while the TT link establishment indication corresponding to a non-requesting node may not include failure handling indication information. Furthermore, the parameters shown in Table 1 in the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication may differ, and so on. These will not be listed exhaustively here.

[0162] The above descriptions of the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication also apply to the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication.

[0163] Steps 301 and 302 above are illustrated using the T node as the receiving end of the TT link establishment indication. In specific implementations, the G node can also send the TT link establishment indication via broadcast or multicast, etc., which will not be detailed here. In the above case, the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication can be the same TT link establishment indication.

[0164] As one possible implementation, if the processing mode indicated by the TT link establishment indication is no processing, it means that the TT link establishment process involved by the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication has ended.

[0165] As another possible implementation, when the processing method indicated by the TT link establishment instruction is to restore the establishment of the TT link, the method shown in Figure 3 may also include step 303:

[0166] 303. TT link establishment fails. The first T node sends a TT link establishment request, and the corresponding G node receives the TT link establishment request. This TT link establishment request can be used to request the resumption of TT link establishment or to request the establishment of a new TT link.

[0167] The requesting node indicated in the TT link establishment instruction is the first T node, which can send TT link establishment requests.

[0168] A request to resume TT link establishment indicates that this request is a recovery phase of an existing TT link establishment process. This TT link establishment request may not include link parameters; the G node can instruct the T node to re-attempt link establishment based on its cached link parameters, for example, the G node can resend the TT link establishment instruction.

[0169] A request to establish a new TT link can indicate that the request is for a new TT link establishment process. Optionally, the TT link establishment request may include the link parameters of the first T node. The G node can initiate the establishment of the TT link based on the link parameters of the first T node, or in other words, the TT link establishment indication can be determined based on the link parameters of the first T node. Generating the TT link establishment indication based on the link parameters sent by the first T node can effectively improve the success rate of TT link establishment.

[0170] For example, the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication are determined based on the first link parameters. When a TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of a TT link, the G node can still determine the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication based on these first link parameters. Of course, the G node needs to determine the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication within the validity period of the first link parameters. The validity period of these first link parameters can be determined by a timeout period (as shown below as the first timeout period).

[0171] For example, the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication are determined based on the first link parameters. When a TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link, the G node can determine the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication based on the second link parameters. In this case, the first link parameters may still be valid, or the first link parameters may have expired; this embodiment does not limit this. The first link parameters may be link parameters cached by the G node; a description of the first link parameters can be found in the description of cached link parameters of the G node. The second link parameters may be link parameters used to establish a new TT link. These second link parameters may be the final link parameters of the TT link, or the link parameters of the first T node and / or the link parameters of the second T node.

[0172] As an example, the link parameters of node T can be carried by node T through a TT link establishment request. As another example, the link parameters of node T can also be reported to node G by node T through a link parameter report. As yet another example, node G can send a link parameter request to node T, and node T can reply to node G with a link parameter response, which may include node T's link parameters. The specific method by which node G obtains the link parameters of node T is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0173] For example, a TT link establishment request may include a link establishment context field, which can be used to indicate whether the purpose of the TT link establishment request is to request the resumption of TT link establishment or to request the establishment of a new TT link.

[0174] Table 3 illustrates the link establishment context fields exemplarily. The field names and lengths shown in Table 3 are merely examples and are not intended to limit the embodiments of this application.

[0175] Table 3

[0176] Table 4 provides an example of the link parameters for a T node. When a TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link, the link parameters in this request may include some or all of the parameters in Table 4. Further explanation of Table 4 can be found in Table 1 above or in relevant standards or protocols, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0177] Table 4

[0178] In one possible implementation, the method shown in Figure 3 may further include steps 304 and 305:

[0179] 304. Node G sends a third TT link establishment instruction to Node T, and Node T receives the third TT link establishment instruction.

[0180] 305. Node G sends a fourth TT link establishment instruction to Node T, and Node T receives the fourth TT link establishment instruction.

[0181] The following explains the differences between the first TT link establishment indication and the third TT link establishment indication, as well as the differences between the second TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication. These differences may include at least one of the following examples.

[0182] As an example, the requesting node indicated in the first TT link establishment instruction may be the same as or different from the requesting node indicated in the third TT link establishment instruction. For example, the first TT link establishment instruction may include the identifier of the first T node, while the third TT link establishment instruction may include the identifier of the first T node or the identifier of the second T node.

[0183] In other words, a G node can specify different T nodes as requesting nodes. For example, for the same TT link establishment process, a G node can specify different T nodes as requesting nodes.

[0184] As another example, the failure handling indication information in the first TT link establishment indication may be different from or the same as the failure handling indication information in the third TT link establishment indication. The first TT link establishment indication includes first failure handling indication information, and the third TT link establishment indication includes second failure handling indication information.

[0185] For example, the first failure handling instruction indicates that the processing method is to restore the establishment of the TT link, while the second failure handling instruction indicates that the processing method can be no processing. In this case, if the first T node fails to establish a link according to the third TT link establishment instruction or the second T node fails to establish a link according to the fourth TT link establishment instruction, the current TT link establishment process ends. If the first T node successfully establishes a link according to the third TT link establishment instruction or the second T node successfully establishes a link according to the fourth TT link establishment instruction, the first T node and the second T node can interact, such as executing measurement procedures or communication procedures.

[0186] For example, the first failure handling instruction indicates that the processing method is to restore the establishment of the TT link, and the second failure handling instruction indicates that the processing method can also be to restore the establishment of the TT link. In this case, if the first T node fails to establish a link according to the third TT link establishment instruction or the second T node fails to establish a link according to the fourth TT link establishment instruction, the requesting node can resend the TT link establishment request. The TT link establishment request corresponding to the third TT link establishment instruction (e.g., referred to as the second TT link establishment request) can have the same or different value in the link establishment context field as the TT link establishment request corresponding to the first TT link establishment instruction (e.g., referred to as the first TT link establishment request). For example, the first TT link establishment request can be used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment, and the second TT link establishment request can also be used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment. Alternatively, the second TT link establishment request can also be used to request a new TT link, such as the second TT link establishment request including the link parameters of the T node. After receiving the second TT link establishment request, the G node can update its cached link parameters. The validity period of the updated link parameters can be determined by the timeout period (e.g., the second timeout period) in the third TT link establishment instruction. Alternatively, the validity period of the updated link parameters can still be determined by the first timeout period; for example, the expiration time of the updated link parameters could be the same as the expiration time indicated by the first timeout period. In this case, the third TT link establishment instruction may not include information about the second timeout period. For a more detailed explanation of TT link establishment requests, please refer to the above text; further details will not be provided here.

[0187] As another example, the timeout period in the first TT link establishment indication can be different from the timeout period in the third TT link establishment indication. The first TT link establishment indication includes a first timeout period, and the third TT link establishment indication includes a second timeout period. The duration of the first timeout period can be greater than the duration of the second timeout period, or the duration of the first timeout period can be less than the duration of the second timeout period, or the duration of the first timeout period can be equal to the duration of the second timeout period. When the deadline of the first timeout period is the same as the deadline of the second timeout period, the value of the field used to carry the second timeout period in the second TT link establishment request can be an invalid value (or a special value). An invalid value can be used to indicate that the deadline of the second timeout period is the same as the deadline of the first timeout period.

[0188] That is, multiple TT link establishments can be performed during the link establishment and recovery phase. The G node can use the TT link establishment instruction to update the timeout period, update the request node, or update the processing method, at least one of these.

[0189] As yet another example, the system base time slot sequence number in the first TT link establishment instruction can be different from the system base time slot sequence number in the third TT link establishment instruction.

[0190] As yet another example, the event group start offset time in the first TT link establishment indication can be different from the event group start offset time in the third TT link establishment indication.

[0191] The differences between the second TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication can be found in the descriptions of the first TT link establishment indication and the third TT link establishment indication above, and will not be elaborated upon here. Explanations of the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication are also provided above, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0192] As one possible implementation, if the G node determines that it can execute the TT link establishment recovery process based on the TT link establishment request, the G node may not send a TT link establishment response. That is, if the G node can resend the TT link establishment indication based on the TT link establishment request, the G node may not send a TT link establishment response.

[0193] As another possible implementation, if the G node determines that the TT link establishment recovery has failed based on the TT link establishment request, the G node can send a TT link establishment response. In one possible implementation, the method shown in Figure 3 may further include step 306:

[0194] 306. Node G sends a TT link establishment response, which includes recovery failure indication information, used to indicate that the TT link establishment has failed.

[0195] The TT link establishment response can be a response from the G node to the TT link establishment recovery process. Alternatively, the TT link establishment response can be a response to a TT link establishment request. For example, as shown in step 303, when the requesting node is the first T node, the G node can send a TT link establishment response to the first T node. Of course, this application embodiment also provides a method where, when a non-requesting node sends a TT link establishment request, the G node can also respond with a TT link establishment response. A detailed description of this method can be found in Figure 6 below, and will not be elaborated here.

[0196] The aforementioned recovery failure indication information may include the reasons for the failure of TT link establishment, which may include at least one of the following: the link parameters used to establish the TT link are invalid, the link establishment request conflicts, the peer T node is not within the communication range, the peer T node does not exist, the air interface resources of the first T node and the second T node are mismatched, the peer T node does not accept the establishment of the TT link, or the link parameters of the T node cannot be obtained.

[0197] Link parameter failure refers to a situation where a G node receives a TT link establishment request, and the link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates link recovery, but the link parameters in the G node have become invalid. For example, the link parameters in the G node become invalid outside the timeout period (or outside the protection window).

[0198] A link establishment request conflict refers to a situation where, within the protection window, node G receives a link establishment request for the TT link from a non-requesting node T.

[0199] "Peer node T is not in communication range" refers to a situation where the GT link between node G and peer node T is broken, or a communication anomaly occurs. For example, during this TT link establishment process, multiple attempts to establish and restore the link have failed. Alternatively, if the link between peer node T and node G is broken, it indicates that peer node T does not exist, or that peer node T is not in communication range. The peer node T mentioned here can be a non-requesting node relative to the requesting node.

[0200] The air interface resource mismatch between the first T node and the second T node refers to the mismatch in air interface resources between the two T nodes, as determined by the G node based on the link parameters of the first and second T nodes, making it impossible to effectively establish a TT link. Optionally, the TT link establishment response may also include additional information, which can indicate the link parameters of the target T node. The length of this additional information is fixed and can be determined by the reason for failure. After obtaining this additional information, the requesting node can subsequently re-initiate the TT link establishment request based on this additional information; that is, the first T node can carry the optimized link parameters in the TT link establishment request. The aforementioned target T node is relative to the requesting node. For example, if the requesting node can be the first T node, the target T node can be the second T node. This target T node can also be called the peer T node. The first T node can continuously adjust the link parameters, thereby quickly converging the link parameters and improving the success rate of subsequent TT link establishment requests.

[0201] For example, recovery failure indication information can be carried in the failure reason field. Table 5 illustrates the correspondence between the values ​​and meanings of the failure reason fields. The failure reason field can implicitly indicate TT link establishment failure by carrying the reasons shown in Table 5. For example, the TT link establishment response can include N failure reason fields, each corresponding to a failure reason. Optionally, the TT link establishment response can also include a quantity field, which can be used to indicate N. N is a positive integer.

[0202] Table 5 also provides examples of: (1) additional information included in the TT link establishment response when the failure reason is a mismatch in the link establishment start position, which can be the TT link establishment start position of the peer node. (2) additional information included in the TT link establishment response when the failure reason is a mismatch in the link establishment end position, which can be the TT link establishment end position of the peer node. (3) additional information included in the TT link establishment response when the failure reason is a mismatch in air interface resources, which can be the event group period, delay period, and maximum duty cycle of the peer node. At least one of the following parameters can be used to determine the available air interface resources: link establishment start position, link establishment end position, event group period, maximum duty cycle, and delay period.

[0203] Table 5

[0204] The various implementation methods shown above can be combined with each other, or the various examples can be combined, etc.

[0205] In some embodiments of this application, the method shown in FIG3 may include steps 301 and 302. In this embodiment, the failure handling indication information in the TT link establishment indication indicates that the processing mode is to restore the establishment of the TT link, or not to process it, but the TT link establishment is successful. For example, in the method shown in steps 301 and 302, the failure handling indication information in the TT link establishment indication indicates that the processing mode is not to process it, the TT link establishment is successful or the TT link establishment fails.

[0206] In some other embodiments of this application, the method shown in FIG3 may include steps 301, 302, and 303. In this embodiment, the TT link establishment request can be used to request the establishment of a new TT link. At this point, the current TT link establishment process ends.

[0207] In some other embodiments of this application, the method shown in FIG3 may include steps 301 to 305. In this embodiment, if the first T node can successfully establish a TT link according to the third TT link establishment instruction, or the second T node can successfully establish a TT link according to the fourth TT link establishment instruction, or if the TT link establishment fails, the requesting node may also send a TT link establishment request.

[0208] In some other embodiments of this application, the method shown in FIG3 may include steps 301, 302, 303 and 306.

[0209] In some other embodiments of this application, the method shown in FIG3 may further include steps 301 to 306. For example, the first T node, as the requesting node, may send a TT link establishment request after receiving the third TT link establishment instruction if the TT link establishment fails.

[0210] The specific ways in which the above steps are combined will not be listed here.

[0211] In this embodiment, after the TT link establishment fails, the first T node, as the requesting node, can send a TT link establishment request. On the one hand, it can promptly notify the G node of the TT link establishment failure. On the other hand, it can enable the G node to execute the TT link establishment recovery process, such as re-initiating the TT link establishment instruction according to the link parameters, so that the first T node and the second T node can promptly restore the TT link, thereby improving the TT link establishment recovery efficiency and thus improving the TT link establishment efficiency.

[0212] The method shown in Figure 3 is illustrated below with examples. In the methods described below, the request node is always described using the first T node as an example, but this is not intended to limit the embodiments of this application.

[0213] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a scenario for the TT link recovery method provided in an embodiment of this application. The descriptions of the G node and T node involved in Figure 5 can be found above and will not be detailed here. As shown in Figure 5, the method includes:

[0214] 501. Node G sends a first TT link establishment instruction to Node T, and Node T receives the first TT link establishment instruction.

[0215] The first TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of the first T node and the first timeout period. Other explanations regarding the first TT link establishment indication can be found above, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, and will not be elaborated here.

[0216] 502. Node G sends a second TT link establishment instruction to node T, and correspondingly, node T receives the second TT link establishment instruction.

[0217] The second TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of the first T node and the first timeout period. Other explanations regarding the second TT link establishment indication can be found above, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, and will not be elaborated here.

[0218] 503. TT link establishment failed. The first T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node, and the corresponding G node receives the TT link establishment request. The link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates link recovery.

[0219] For further instructions on TT link establishment requests, please refer to the above text, such as the description in step 303, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0220] 504. Node G sends a third TT link establishment indication to Node T, and Node T receives the third TT link establishment indication. The third TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of Node T and a second timeout period.

[0221] For further explanation of the third TT link establishment instruction, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 304 and 305, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0222] 505. Node G sends a fourth TT link establishment indication to Node B, and Node B receives the fourth TT link establishment indication. The fourth TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of Node B and a second timeout period.

[0223] For further explanation of the fourth TT link establishment instruction, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 304 and 305, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0224] In Figure 5, since the G node receives the TT link establishment request within the protection window, it can determine the third and fourth TT link establishment indications based on its cached link parameters. Similarly, the first and second TT link establishment indications are also determined based on the aforementioned link parameters.

[0225] For example, the first T node can successfully establish a TT link based on the third TT link establishment instruction, and the second T node can successfully establish a TT link based on the fourth TT link establishment instruction.

[0226] In this embodiment, after the TT link establishment fails, the first T node, as the requesting node, can send a TT link establishment request. On the one hand, it can promptly notify the G node of the TT link establishment failure. On the other hand, it can enable the G node to execute the TT link establishment recovery process and re-initiate the TT link establishment instruction according to the link parameters. This allows the first T node and the second T node to restore the TT link in a timely manner, improving the recovery efficiency of the TT link establishment and thus improving the establishment efficiency of the TT link.

[0227] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in this application embodiment. This method mainly introduces the conflict handling during the TT link recovery process. The descriptions of the G node and T node involved in Figure 6 can be found above and will not be detailed here. As shown in Figure 6, the method includes:

[0228] 601. Node G sends a first TT link establishment indication to Node T, and Node T receives the first TT link establishment indication. The first TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of Node T and a first timeout period.

[0229] For other explanations regarding the first TT link establishment instruction, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0230] 602. Node G sends a second TT link establishment indication to node T, and node T receives the second TT link establishment indication. The second TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of node T and a first timeout period.

[0231] For other instructions regarding the second TT link establishment, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0232] 603. TT link establishment fails. The second T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node, and the G node receives the TT link establishment request. The link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates whether to restore the link or establish a new link.

[0233] For further instructions on TT link establishment requests, please refer to the above text, such as the description in step 303, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0234] 604. Node G sends a TT link establishment response to the second T node, and the second T node receives the TT link establishment response. The failure reason field in the TT link establishment response is link request conflict.

[0235] For further explanation of the TT link establishment response, please refer to the above text, such as the description of step 306, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0236] As shown in Figure 6, even though the interaction between the TT link establishment request and the TT link establishment response is within the protection window, the failure reason indicated by the TT link establishment response sent by the G node is a link request conflict because the first TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the first T node.

[0237] In one possible implementation, in addition to the protected window, the method shown in Figure 6 may also include:

[0238] 605. The first T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node, and the corresponding G node receives the TT link establishment request. The link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates the new link.

[0239] The TT link establishment request may include link parameters of the first T node, which can be used to determine the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication. Of course, the G node can also obtain the link parameters of the second T node before determining the third TT link establishment indication or the fourth TT link establishment indication.

[0240] Outside the protection window, Figure 6 shows an example of the first T node initiating a TT link establishment request. In a specific implementation, the second T node can also initiate a TT link establishment request. The link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates the new link.

[0241] When the protection window ends, meaning the entire TT link establishment process concludes and the TT link fails to be re-established, either the first T node or the second T node can send a TT link establishment request to request the establishment of a new link.

[0242] 606. Node G sends a third TT link establishment indication to Node T, and Node T receives the third TT link establishment indication. The third TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of Node T and a second timeout period.

[0243] For further explanation of the third TT link establishment instruction, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 304 and 305, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0244] 607. Node G sends a fourth TT link establishment indication to Node B, and Node B receives the fourth TT link establishment indication. The fourth TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of Node B and a second timeout period.

[0245] For further explanation of the fourth TT link establishment instruction, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 304 and 305, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0246] The third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication shown in steps 606 and 607 are different TT link establishment processes from the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication in steps 601 and 602 above.

[0247] In this embodiment, if a TT link establishment fails and a non-requesting node sends a TT link establishment request, the G node can respond with a TT link establishment response indicating a link request conflict as the cause of failure. This clearly informs the second T node that, within the timeout period (i.e., within the protection window), it cannot initiate the TT link recovery process because it is not a requesting node, thus improving communication efficiency. After the timeout period, or outside the protection window, the second T node can initiate a TT link establishment request, enabling the G node to establish a new TT link in a timely manner, further improving the TT link establishment efficiency. Of course, the first T node can also initiate a TT link establishment request after the timeout period or outside the protection window.

[0248] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in this application embodiment. This method mainly introduces the handling of link parameter failures. The descriptions of the G node and T node involved in Figure 7 can be found above and will not be detailed here. As shown in Figure 7, the method includes:

[0249] 701. Node G sends a first TT link establishment indication to Node T, and Node T receives the first TT link establishment indication. The first TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of Node T and a first timeout period.

[0250] For other explanations regarding the first TT link establishment instruction, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0251] 702. Node G sends a second TT link establishment indication to node T, and node T receives the second TT link establishment indication. The second TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of node T and a first timeout period.

[0252] For other instructions regarding the second TT link establishment, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0253] 703. TT link establishment fails, and after the protection window ends, the first T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node, which in turn receives the TT link establishment request. The link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates link recovery.

[0254] 704. Node G sends a TT link establishment response to Node T, and Node T receives the TT link establishment response. The failure reason field in the TT link establishment response indicates that the link parameter has failed.

[0255] For further explanation of the TT link establishment response, please refer to the description in step 306 of the above text, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0256] In this embodiment, if node T initiates a TT link establishment request outside the protection window, and the link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates a link recovery, since the previous TT link establishment process has ended and the link parameters corresponding to the previous TT link establishment process have expired, node G should reply with a TT link establishment response indicating link parameter failure in the failure reason field. This allows node G to promptly inform node T that its link parameters have expired. Furthermore, if node T needs to establish a TT link, it can promptly send a TT link establishment request with a new link in the link establishment context field, improving communication efficiency and the efficiency of TT link establishment.

[0257] Figure 8a is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in the embodiments of this application. The descriptions of the G node and T node involved in Figure 8a can be found above and will not be detailed here. As shown in Figure 8a, the method includes:

[0258] 801. Node G sends a first TT link establishment indication to Node T, and Node T receives the first TT link establishment indication. The first TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of Node T and a first timeout period.

[0259] For other explanations regarding the first TT link establishment instruction, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0260] 802. Node G sends a second TT link establishment indication to node T, and node T receives the second TT link establishment indication. The second TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of node T and a first timeout period.

[0261] For other instructions regarding the second TT link establishment, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0262] 803. TT link establishment fails. The first T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node, and the corresponding G node receives the TT link establishment request. The link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates whether to restore the link or establish a new link.

[0263] For further instructions on TT link establishment requests, please refer to the above text, such as the description in step 303, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0264] After receiving a TT link establishment request, the G node can attempt to restore the TT link multiple times.

[0265] 804. After multiple attempts to establish or restore a TT link fail, the first T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node, which in turn receives the request. The link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates whether to restore the link or establish a new link.

[0266] 805. Node G sends a TT link establishment response to Node T, and Node T receives the TT link establishment response. The failure reason field in the TT link establishment response indicates that Node T is not within communication range.

[0267] In this embodiment, if multiple attempts to establish a TT link fail during the TT link recovery process, the G node can reply with a TT link establishment response stating that the failure was due to the peer T node being out of communication range when it receives the next TT link establishment request from the T node. This promptly informs the T node that the current TT link establishment process has ended, effectively reducing the signaling overhead caused by the T nodes re-attempting the TT link recovery process.

[0268] Figure 8b is a schematic diagram of another scenario of the TT link recovery method provided in the embodiments of this application. The descriptions of the G node and T node involved in Figure 8b can be found above and will not be detailed here. As shown in Figure 8b, the method includes:

[0269] 811. Node G sends a first TT link establishment indication to Node T, and Node T receives the first TT link establishment indication. The first TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of Node T and a first timeout period.

[0270] For other explanations regarding the first TT link establishment instruction, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0271] 812. Node G sends a second TT link establishment indication to node T, and node T receives the second TT link establishment indication. The second TT link establishment indication includes the logical link identifier of node T and a first timeout period.

[0272] For other instructions regarding the second TT link establishment, please refer to the above text, such as the descriptions in steps 301 and 302, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0273] 813. If TT link establishment fails, the first T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node, and the corresponding G node receives the TT link establishment request. The link establishment context field in the TT link establishment request indicates whether to restore the link or establish a new link.

[0274] For further instructions on TT link establishment requests, please refer to the above text, such as the description in step 303, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0275] 814. Node G determines that its GT link with the second T node is broken. Node G sends a TT link establishment response to the first T node, and the first T node receives the TT link establishment response. The failure reason field in the TT link establishment response indicates that the peer T node does not exist.

[0276] In this embodiment, during the TT link recovery process, if the link between the peer node T and node G is lost, when node G receives the TT link establishment request from node T, it replies with a TT link establishment response stating that the peer device does not exist. This promptly informs node T that the current TT link establishment process has ended, effectively reducing the signaling overhead caused by nodes T attempting the TT link recovery process again.

[0277] Figures 8a and 8b mainly illustrate the situation where an anomaly occurs during the TT link recovery process, leading to premature termination.

[0278] Figures 5 to 8b illustrate specific scenarios involved in Figure 3. These scenarios are merely examples and are not intended to limit the embodiments of this application.

[0279] In the embodiments of this application, the dashed lines in the drawings can indicate that the steps or devices corresponding to the dashed lines are optional.

[0280] The following describes the communication device provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0281] This application divides the communication device into functional modules according to the above-described method embodiments. For example, each function can be divided into its own functional modules, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated modules can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules. It should be noted that the module division in this application is illustrative and represents only one logical functional division; in actual implementation, other division methods may be used. The communication device of this application embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 9 to 11.

[0282] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 9, the communication device includes a processing module 901 and a transceiver module 902. The transceiver module 902 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing module 901 is used to implement corresponding processing functions. For example, the transceiver module 902 can also be called an interface, a communication interface, or a communication module, etc.

[0283] In some embodiments of this application, the communication device can be used to perform the actions performed by the G node in the above method embodiments. In this case, the G node can be the device itself or a chip or functional module configurable in the device. The transceiver module 902 is used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the G node in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 901 is used to perform the processing-related operations of the G node in the above method embodiments.

[0284] The transceiver module 902 is used to send or output a first TT link establishment indication and a second TT link establishment indication. For example, the transceiver module 902 can be used to send the first TT link establishment indication to a first T node and the second TT link establishment indication to a second T node. Alternatively, the transceiver module 902 can also be used to output the first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication generated by the processor. The description of sending or output here also applies to the following text, and will not be detailed further.

[0285] The transceiver module 902 can also be used to receive or input TT link establishment requests. For example, the transceiver module 902 can be used to receive TT link establishment requests. Alternatively, after receiving a TT link establishment request through the radio frequency module and antenna module, the transceiver module 902 can input the TT link establishment request to the processing module, so that the processing module can process the TT link establishment request. The description of receiving or inputting requests here also applies to the following text, and will not be detailed further.

[0286] For example, processing module 901 is used to generate a first TT link establishment indication and a second TT link establishment indication. Processing module 901 can also be used to parse TT link establishment requests.

[0287] For example, the transceiver module 902 can also be used to send or output a third TT link establishment indication and a fourth TT link establishment indication.

[0288] The processing module 901 can also be used to generate the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication.

[0289] The transceiver module 902 can also be used to send or output a TT link establishment response. The processing module 901 is used to generate the TT link establishment response.

[0290] For example, transceiver module 902 may include a radio frequency module, an antenna module, etc. For instance, the transmitting or receiving steps described above can be implemented by the radio frequency module and the antenna module. For example, transceiver module 902 may include an input / output module, etc. For instance, the output or input steps described above can be implemented by the input / output module.

[0291] Reusing Figure 9, in some other embodiments of this application, the communication device can be used to perform the actions performed by the first T node in the above method embodiments. In this case, the first T node can be the device itself or a chip or functional module configurable in the device. The transceiver module 902 is used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the first T node in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 901 is used to perform the processing-related operations of the first T node in the above method embodiments.

[0292] The transceiver module 902 can be used to receive or input a first TT link establishment instruction; and to send or output a TT link establishment request in the event of a TT link establishment failure. The processing module 901 can be used to establish a TT link according to the first TT link establishment instruction.

[0293] The transceiver module 902 can also be used to receive or input a third TT link establishment instruction. The processing module 901 can be used to establish a TT link according to the third TT link establishment instruction.

[0294] The transceiver module 902 can also be used to receive or input TT link establishment responses.

[0295] Reusing Figure 9, in some other embodiments of this application, the communication device can be used to perform the actions performed by the second T node in the above method embodiments. In this case, the second T node can be the device itself or a chip or functional module configurable in the device. The transceiver module 902 is used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the second T node in the above method embodiments, and the processing module 901 is used to perform the processing-related operations of the second T node in the above method embodiments.

[0296] The transceiver module 902 can be used to receive or input a second TT link establishment instruction. The processing module 901 can be used to establish a TT link according to the first TT link establishment instruction.

[0297] The transceiver module 902 can also be used to receive or input a fourth TT link establishment instruction. The processing module 901 can be used to establish a TT link according to the third TT link establishment instruction.

[0298] The transceiver module 902 can also be used to send or output TT link establishment requests, and to receive or input TT link establishment responses.

[0299] For example, transceiver module 902 may include a radio frequency module, an antenna module, etc. For instance, the transmitting or receiving steps described above can be implemented by the radio frequency module and the antenna module. For example, transceiver module 902 may include an input / output module, etc. For instance, the output or input steps described above can be implemented by the input / output module.

[0300] Optionally, in the above embodiments, the communication device may further include a storage module, which can be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 901 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage module so that the communication device can implement the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0301] For details regarding the specific explanations of each term, noun, or step in the above embodiments, please refer to the descriptions in the above method embodiments; they will not be detailed here.

[0302] The specific descriptions of the transceiver module and processing module shown in the above embodiments are merely examples. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver module and processing module, please refer to the above method embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0303] The communication device of this application embodiment has been described above. The following describes possible product forms of the communication device. Any product possessing the functions of the communication device described in FIG9 above falls within the protection scope of this application embodiment. The following description is merely illustrative and does not limit the product form of the communication device of this application embodiment to this.

[0304] In one possible implementation, in the communication device shown in FIG9, the processing module 901 can be one or more processors, and the transceiver module 902 can be a transceiver, or the transceiver module 902 can also be a transmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting module can be a transmitter, and the receiving module can be a receiver. The transmitting module and the receiving module are integrated into one device, such as a transceiver. In the embodiments of this application, the processor and the transceiver can be coupled, etc., and the connection method of the processor and the transceiver is not limited in the embodiments of this application. In the process of executing the above method, the process of sending information in the above method can be the process of the processor outputting the above information. When outputting the above information, the processor outputs the above information to the transceiver so that the transceiver can transmit it. After the above information is output by the processor, it may need to undergo other processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information in the above method can be the process of the processor receiving the input above information. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the above information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above information, the above information may need to undergo other processing before being input into the processor.

[0305] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another structure of the communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 10, the communication device 100 includes one or more processors 1020 and transceivers 1010.

[0306] In some embodiments of this application, the communication device can be used to execute the steps, methods, or functions executed by the G node. For example, the processor 1020 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the processing module 901 shown in FIG. 9, and the transceiver 1010 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the transceiver module 902 shown in FIG. 9. For a detailed description of the processor 1020 and the transceiver 1010, please refer to FIG. 9 or the method embodiments shown above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0307] In other embodiments of this application, the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions performed by the T node. For example, the processor 1020 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the processing module 901 shown in FIG. 9, and the transceiver 1010 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the transceiver module 902 shown in FIG. 9. Detailed descriptions of the processor 1020 and the transceiver 1010 can be found in FIG. 9 or the method embodiments shown above, and will not be elaborated further here.

[0308] In various implementations of the communication device shown in Figure 10, the transceiver may include a receiver for performing a receiving function (or operation) and a transmitter for performing a transmitting function (or operation). The transceiver is also used to communicate with other devices / appliances via a transmission medium.

[0309] Optionally, the communication device 100 may further include one or more memories 1030 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memories 1030 are coupled to the processor 1020. The coupling in this embodiment is an indirect coupling or communication connection between communication devices, units, or modules, and can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, used for information exchange between the communication devices, units, or modules. The processor 1020 may operate in conjunction with the memories 1030. The processor 1020 may execute program instructions stored in the memories 1030. Optionally, at least one of the aforementioned memories may be included in the processor.

[0310] This application embodiment does not limit the specific connection medium between the transceiver 1010, processor 1020, and memory 1030. In Figure 10, the memory 1030, processor 1020, and transceiver 1010 are connected via a bus 1040, which is represented by a thick line in Figure 10. The connection methods between other components are only illustrative and are not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in Figure 10, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0311] In the embodiments of this application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc., and can implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly manifested as being executed by a hardware processor, or being executed by a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor.

[0312] In this application embodiment, the memory may include, but is not limited to, non-volatile memory such as hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), read-only memory (ROM), or compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), etc. Memory is any storage medium capable of carrying or storing program code having instruction or data structure forms, and capable of being read and / or written by a computer (such as the communication device shown in this application), but is not limited to this. The memory in this application embodiment may also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing storage functions, used to store program instructions and / or data.

[0313] The processor 1020 is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process the data of the software programs. The memory 1030 is mainly used to store software programs and data. The transceiver 1010 may include control circuitry and an antenna. The control circuitry is mainly used for converting baseband signals to radio frequency signals and processing radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input / output devices, such as touchscreens, displays, and keyboards, are mainly used to receive user input data and output data to the user.

[0314] When the communication device is powered on, the processor 1020 can read the software program in the memory 1030, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor 1020 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency (RF) circuit. The RF circuit then performs RF processing on the baseband signal and transmits the RF signal outward in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal through the antenna, converts the RF signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1020. The processor 1020 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0315] In another implementation, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna can be set up independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna can be arranged remotely, independent of the communication device.

[0316] The communication device shown in this application embodiment may have more components than those in Figure 10, and this application embodiment does not limit this. The methods executed by the processor and transceiver shown above are only examples, and the specific steps executed by the processor and transceiver can be referred to the methods described above. The dashed lines in Figure 10 indicate optional parts.

[0317] In another possible implementation, in the communication device shown in Figure 9, the processing module 901 can be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver module 902 can be an input / output interface, or a communication interface, or an interface circuit, or an interface, etc. Alternatively, the transceiver module 902 can also be a transmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting module can be an output interface, and the receiving module can be an input interface. The transmitting module and the receiving module are integrated into one module, such as an input / output interface.

[0318] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another structure of the communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 11, the communication device includes a logic circuit 1101 and an interface 1102. That is, the processing module 901 can be implemented using the logic circuit 1101, and the transceiver module 902 can be implemented using the interface 1102. The logic circuit 1101 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 1102 can be a communication interface, an input / output interface, pins, etc. For example, Figure 11 illustrates the communication device as a chip, which includes the logic circuit 1101 and the interface 1102.

[0319] In this embodiment, the logic circuit and the interface can also be coupled to each other. The specific connection method of the logic circuit and the interface is not limited in this embodiment. For example, the logic circuit 1101 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the processing module 901 shown in FIG. 9, and the interface 1102 can be used to execute the functions or steps implemented by the transceiver module 902 shown in FIG. 9. For a detailed description of the logic circuit 1101 and the interface 1102, please refer to FIG. 9 or the method embodiment shown above, which will not be detailed here.

[0320] The communication device shown in the embodiments of this application can implement the method provided in the embodiments of this application in hardware form, or it can implement the method provided in the embodiments of this application in software form, etc., and the embodiments of this application do not limit it in this way.

[0321] Furthermore, this application also provides a communication system including a G node and a T node, which can be used to execute the methods in any of the foregoing embodiments. The T node may include at least one of the following: a first T node or a second T node, etc.

[0322] This application also provides a computer program for implementing the operations and / or processes performed by various nodes in the method provided in this application.

[0323] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer code that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the operations and / or processes performed by various communication devices in the methods provided in this application.

[0324] This application also provides a computer program product comprising computer code or a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the operations and / or processes performed by various entities in the method provided in this application to be executed.

[0325] In the embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, communication devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the communication device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For instance, the division of modules is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple modules or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, communication devices, or modules, or it may be an electrical, mechanical, or other form of connection.

[0326] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the solutions provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0327] Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing module, or each module can exist physically separately, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module. The integrated modules described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules.

[0328] If the integrated module is implemented as a software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned readable storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0329] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for restoring a direct TT link between a terminal node, characterized in that, The method includes: The management G node sends a first TT link establishment instruction to the first terminal T node and a second TT link establishment instruction to the second T node. The first TT link establishment instruction and the second TT link establishment instruction are used to establish a TT link between the first T node and the second T node. In the event that the TT link establishment fails, the G node receives a TT link establishment request from the first T node. The TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment or to request the establishment of a new TT link.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication each include first failure handling indication information. The first failure handling indication information is used to indicate the handling method after the TT link establishment fails, and the handling method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication each include the identifier of the first T node, and the identifier of the first T node indicates that the TT link establishment request is initiated by the first T node.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication each include information about a first timeout period, which is used to indicate the deadline for establishing the TT link.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Within the first timeout period, the TT link establishment request is used to request the resumption of the TT link establishment; or, outside the first timeout period, the TT link establishment request is used to request the establishment of a new TT link.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The first TT link establishment indication and the second TT link establishment indication are determined based on the first link parameters. When the TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment, the method further includes: The G node sends a third TT link establishment instruction to the first T node and a fourth TT link establishment instruction to the second T node according to the first link parameters.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication each include second failure handling indication information. The second failure handling indication information is used to indicate the handling method after the TT link establishment fails. The handling method includes restoring the establishment of the TT link or not handling it.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication each include the identifier of the first T node; or, the third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication each include the identifier of the second T node.

9. The method according to any one of claims 6-8, characterized in that, The third TT link establishment indication and the fourth TT link establishment indication each include information about a second timeout period, which is used to indicate the deadline for establishing the TT link.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The method further includes: The G node sends a TT link establishment response, which includes recovery failure indication information, indicating that the TT link establishment has failed.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The recovery failure indication information includes the reason for the failure of the TT link establishment, which includes at least one of the following: the link parameters used to establish the TT link are invalid, the link establishment request conflicts, or the second T node is not within the communication range.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The TT link establishment request is used when requesting the establishment of a new TT link. The TT link establishment request includes a second link parameter, which is used to establish the new TT link.

13. A method for restoring a direct TT link of a terminal node, characterized in that, The method includes: The first terminal T node receives a first TT link establishment instruction from the management G node. The first TT link establishment instruction is used to establish a TT link between the first T node and the second T node. In the event that the TT link establishment fails, the first T node sends a TT link establishment request to the G node. The TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment or to request the establishment of a new TT link.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, The first TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the first T node, and the identifier of the first T node indicates that the TT link establishment request was initiated by the first T node.

15. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, The first TT link establishment indication is determined based on the first link parameters. When the TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment, the method further includes: The first T node receives a third TT link establishment indication from the G node, the third TT link establishment indication being determined based on the first link parameters.

16. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, The method further includes: The first T node receives a TT link establishment response from the G node. The TT link establishment response includes recovery failure indication information, which is used to indicate that the TT link establishment has failed.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The recovery failure indication information includes the reason for the failure of the TT link establishment, and the reason includes at least one of the following: the link parameters used to establish the TT link are invalid, or the second T node is not within the communication range.

18. A method for restoring a direct TT link of a terminal node, characterized in that, The method includes: The second terminal T node receives a second TT link establishment instruction from the management G node. The second TT link establishment instruction is used to establish a TT link between the first T node and the second T node. In the event that the TT link establishment fails, a TT link establishment request is sent to the G node. The TT link establishment request is used to request the restoration of the TT link establishment or to request the establishment of a new TT link.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The second TT link establishment indication includes the identifier of the first T node, and the identifier of the first T node indicates that the TT link establishment request was initiated by the first T node.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second T node receives a TT link establishment response from the G node. The TT link establishment response includes recovery failure indication information, which is used to indicate that the TT link establishment has failed.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The recovery failure indication information includes the reason for the failure of the TT link establishment, which includes a link establishment request conflict.

22. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-12; or, it includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 13-17; or, it includes a module for performing the method as described in any one of claims 18-21.

23. A communication device, characterized in that, The method includes a processor configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-12; or, the processor configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 13-17; or, the processor configured to perform the method as described in any one of claims 18-21.

24. A communication device, characterized in that, Includes logic circuits and interfaces, wherein the logic circuits and interfaces are coupled; The interface is used for inputting and / or outputting information, and the logic circuit is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-12; or, the logic circuit is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 13-17; or, the logic circuit is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 18-21.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program, which, when executed, performs the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-12; or the method as claimed in any one of claims 13-17; or the method as claimed in any one of claims 18-21.

26. A computer program product, characterized in that, When the computer program product is executed, the method as described in any one of claims 1-12 is executed; or the method as described in any one of claims 13-17 is executed; or the method as described in any one of claims 18-21 is executed.

27. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a management G node and a first terminal T node, wherein the G node is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-12, and the first T node is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 13-17.

28. The system according to claim 27, characterized in that, The system further includes a second T node, which is used to perform the method as described in any one of claims 18-21.

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