Relay device discovery method in proximity communication scenario, and related device

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of wireless communication. Provided are a relay device discovery method in a proximity communication scenario, and a related device. The method comprises: receiving a relay discovery request message which is sent by a first terminal device and carries a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set, the first relay server code being used for determining at least one relay device to which the first terminal device can be connected; acquiring, on the basis of the first relay server code, at least one relay device to which the first terminal device can be connected, and selecting a target relay device from the at least one relay device; and sending to the target relay device a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and a second terminal device on the basis of identification information of the second terminal device. The present disclosure can reduce resource waste generated in a relay device discovery process between terminal devices in the proximity communication scenario.

Description

Relay device discovery method in near field communication scenario and related device

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] The present disclosure claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411237458.9, filed September 4, 2024, entitled “Relay device discovery method in near field communication scenario and related device,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and more particularly to a relay device discovery method in near field communication scenario and related device. BACKGROUND

[0004] Near field communication is a short-range high-frequency wireless communication technology that generally allows non-contact point-to-point data exchange between electronic devices. Near field service ProSe is a device-to-device (D2D) connection or direct communication between nearby mobile devices defined in R12 version of 3GPP TS23.303, in which a user equipment transmits and receives in the uplink spectrum.

[0005] In related technologies, there are two methods, mode A and mode B, for terminal-to-terminal relay discovery process under 5G ProSe. Specifically, the 5G ProSe UE-to-UE relay discovery process of mode A includes multiple UE-to-UE relays simultaneously sending an announcement message to a single endpoint UE, and the 5G ProSe UE-to-UE relay discovery process of mode B includes a discoverer endpoint UE simultaneously initiating a request message to multiple UE-to-UE relays, and then the multiple UE-to-UE relays initiate a request message to a discoveree endpoint UE, and the discoveree endpoint UE returns a response message to the discoverer endpoint UE according to the above path. The relay discovery process of the above two modes often has the problem of resource waste due to the terminal device simultaneously initiating multiple communication paths.

[0006] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above BACKGROUND section is only used to strengthen the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and therefore can include information that does not constitute prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art. SUMMARY

[0007] The present disclosure provides a relay device discovery method in near field communication scenario and related device, which at least partially overcomes the problem of resource waste due to the terminal device simultaneously initiating multiple communication paths in related technologies.

[0008] Other characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or will be learned by practice of the present disclosure.

[0009] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a relay device discovery method in a near field communication scenario is provided, comprising: receiving a relay discovery request message sent by a first terminal device, the relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device; obtaining at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screening a target relay device from the at least one relay device; and sending a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device, wherein the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0010] In some embodiments, before obtaining at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screening a target relay device from the at least one relay device, the method further comprises: storing a relay server code, a historical relay device discovery record, and security link information between each relay device and a terminal device of each relay device.

[0011] In some embodiments, obtaining at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screening a target relay device from the at least one relay device, comprises: matching the first relay server code with a pre-stored relay server code of each relay device to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device; and screening the target relay device from the at least one relay device through a pre-stored historical relay device discovery record or security link information between each relay device and a terminal device.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a relay device discovery method in a proximity communication scenario is also provided, comprising: sending, to a relay scheduling center, a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by a first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device, the relay scheduling center being configured to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and to select a target relay device from the at least one relay device; and receiving a relay discovery response message returned by the target relay device and carrying a second direct discovery set, wherein the second direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0013] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a relay device discovery method in a proximity communication scenario is also provided, comprising: receiving a relay discovery request message from a first terminal device forwarded by a target relay device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, the second direct discovery set comprising first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of a second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, and the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device; and returning, to the target relay device, a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device.

[0014] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a near field communication system is also provided, comprising: a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device; wherein the first terminal device is configured to send a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to a relay scheduling center, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of the second terminal device, the relay scheduling center is configured to obtain at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and to select a target relay device from the at least one relay device; the second terminal device is configured to receive a relay discovery request message forwarded by the target relay device from the first terminal device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, and the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device; the second terminal device is further configured to return a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and the first direct discovery set to the target relay device, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device; and wherein the first terminal device is further configured to receive the relay discovery response message carrying the second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a relay scheduling device is also provided, comprising: a first request message receiving module configured to receive a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set sent by a first terminal device, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, which is a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device; a target relay device screening module configured to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screen a target relay device from the at least one relay device; and a first request message sending module configured to send a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the second identification information of the second terminal device, wherein the second direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, which is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0016] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device is also provided, comprising: a second request message sending module configured to send a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to a relay scheduling center, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by a first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, which is a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device, and the relay scheduling center is configured to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screen a target relay device from the at least one relay device; and a response message receiving module configured to receive a relay discovery response message carrying a second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device, wherein the second direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, which is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0017] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device is also provided, comprising: a second request message receiving module configured to receive a relay discovery request message forwarded by a target relay device from a first terminal device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, and the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device; and a response message sending module configured to return a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the target relay device, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is also provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to execute the relay device discovery method in the near field communication scenario via execution of the executable instructions.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is also provided, having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program being executed by a processor to implement the relay device discovery method in the near field communication scenario.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is also provided, comprising a computer program, the computer program being executed by a processor to implement the relay device discovery method in the near field communication scenario.

[0021] The relay device discovery method in the near field communication scenario and the related device provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first terminal device sends a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to a relay scheduling center, so that the relay scheduling center obtains at least one relay device based on the first relay server code, and filters out a target relay device from the at least one relay device, and sends a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the second terminal device through the target relay device, after receiving the relay discovery request message, the second terminal device sends a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and the first direct discovery set to the target relay device, and the target relay device sends a relay discovery response message carrying the second direct discovery set to the first terminal device. The embodiments of the present disclosure can reduce the resource waste generated in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in the near field communication scenario.

[0022] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are only exemplary and explanatory, and cannot limit the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0023] The drawings herein are incorporated into the specification and form part of the specification, show embodiments consistent with the present disclosure, and together with the specification, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative labor for those skilled in the art.

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a relay discovery system structure diagram based on mode A in a near field scenario in the related art;

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a relay discovery method flow chart based on mode A in a near field scenario in the related art;

[0026] FIG. 3 shows a relay discovery system structure diagram based on mode B in a near field scenario in the related art;

[0027] FIG. 4 shows a relay discovery method flow chart based on mode B in a near field scenario in the related art;

[0028] FIG. 5 shows a relay discovery system structure diagram in a near field scenario;

[0029] FIG. 6 shows a relay device discovery method flow chart in a near field communication scenario in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 7 shows another relay device discovery method flow chart in a near field communication scenario in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0031] FIG. 8 shows another relay device discovery method flow chart in a near field communication scenario in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG. 9 shows a relay device discovery signaling flowchart in a proximity communication scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of a proximity communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a relay scheduling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] FIG. 12 shows a schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] FIG. 13 shows another schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Example implementations will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example implementations may, however, be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein; rather, these implementations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of example implementations to those skilled in the art. Features described in one implementation can be combined with features described in another implementation.

[0039] In addition, the drawings are to be considered in the illustrative mode only and not necessarily to scale. The same or similar reference indicators can be used in the drawings and the written description to refer to the same or similar parts, and thus a repeated description of the same or similar parts can be omitted. Some of the block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities, which do not necessarily have to correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities can be implemented in the form of software, or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0040] For ease of understanding, before introducing the embodiments of the present disclosure, first, several terms involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure are explained as follows:

[0041] ProSe (Proximity Service): is a device-to-device (D2D) connection or direct communication between nearby mobile devices defined in R12 version of 3GPP TS23.303, and a user equipment transmits and receives in uplink spectrum.

[0042] RSC (Relay Service Code): The relay service code is used to indicate the UE-to-network relay case and the UE-to-UE relay case. The UE-to-network relay is defined in TS 23.303 v18.3.0. For the UE-to-UE relay, the relay service code is used to identify the connected service provided by the 5G ProSe relay and the authorized user that the 5G ProSe relay will provide the service for.

[0043] The specific implementation of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0044] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a relay discovery system structure based on mode A in a near field scenario in the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, the system architecture can include a first terminal device 101, a second terminal device 103, a first relay device 1021, a second relay device 1022, and a third relay device 1023.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first relay device 1021, the second relay device 1022, and the third relay device 1023 have discovered other terminal devices in the vicinity, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1. At this time, the first terminal device 101 and the second terminal device 103 have been discovered by the first relay device 1021, the second relay device 1022, and / or the third relay device 1023, and therefore, the first relay device 1021, the second relay device 1022, and the third relay device 1023 each transmit a relay discovery announcement message to the first terminal device 101 and the second terminal device 103, respectively, to establish a communication connection between the first terminal device 101 and the second terminal device 103.

[0046] Those skilled in the art can know that the number of terminal devices and relay devices in FIG. 1 is only schematic, and according to actual needs, there can be any number of terminal devices and relay devices. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this.

[0047] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a relay discovery method based on mode A in a near field scenario in the related art. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes:

[0048] S201, at least one of the first relay device, the second relay device, and the third relay device discovers a connectable terminal device.

[0049] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay device discovers the first terminal device 101 and the second terminal device 103, and the relay device acquires a direct discovery set from the first terminal device 101 and the second terminal device 103 according to a relay server code (RSC) of the relay device, wherein the direct discovery set includes: user information ID of the first terminal device (i.e., terminal identifier of the first terminal device) and user information ID of the second terminal device (i.e., terminal identifier of the second terminal device).

[0050] S202, if the first relay device discovers connectable terminal devices (i.e., the first terminal device and the second terminal device), the first relay device sends a relay discovery announcement message to the first terminal device and the second terminal device respectively to establish a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0051] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay discovery announcement message carries the RSC of the first relay device and a direct discovery set list received from the first terminal device and the second terminal device supporting the RSC.

[0052] S203, if the second relay device discovers connectable terminal devices (i.e., the first terminal device and the second terminal device), the second relay device sends a relay discovery announcement message to the first terminal device and the second terminal device respectively to establish a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0053] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay discovery announcement message carries the RSC of the second relay device and a direct discovery set list received from the first terminal device and the second terminal device supporting the RSC.

[0054] S204, if the third relay device discovers connectable terminal devices (i.e., the first terminal device and the second terminal device), the third relay device sends a relay discovery announcement message to the first terminal device and the second terminal device respectively to establish a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0055] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay discovery announcement message carries the RSC of the third relay device and a direct discovery set list received from the first terminal device and the second terminal device supporting the RSC.

[0056] It should be noted that the above direct discovery set list can refer to a collection of direct discovery sets of each terminal device, and the content in the direct discovery set list is determined according to the direct discovery set acquired by the relay device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0057] It should be noted that the above S202, S203 and S204 can be executed simultaneously or in any order, or only any one or two of the above three steps can be executed, which is determined by the relay device sending the relay discovery announcement message to the terminal device according to the actual situation, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not make specific limitations.

[0058] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a mode B-based relay discovery system structure in a near field scenario in the related art. As shown in FIG. 3, the system architecture can include a first terminal device 101, a second terminal device 103, a first relay device 1021, a second relay device 1022 and a third relay device 1023.

[0059] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first terminal device 101 sends a relay discovery request message to the first relay device 1021, the second relay device 1022 and the third relay device 1023 respectively, and the discovery relay request message carries the RSC of the first terminal device and a direct discovery set including the terminal identifier of the first terminal device and the terminal identifier of the second terminal device.

[0060] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the RSC of the first terminal device included in the relay discovery request message is matched with the RSC of any relay device, and if they are consistent, the matching successful relay device will send a relay discovery request message to the second terminal device, and the sending relay discovery request message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier and RSC of the relay device sending the relay discovery request message.

[0061] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after receiving the relay discovery request message, the second terminal device matches the relay device RSC in the relay discovery request message with the RSC of the second terminal device, and at the same time, also needs to match the terminal identifier of the second terminal device in the relay discovery request message with the terminal identifier of the second terminal device. If the above matching results are consistent, the second terminal device sends a relay discovery response message to the relay device, and the relay discovery response message carries the RSC of the second terminal device and a direct discovery set including the terminal identifier of the first terminal device and the terminal identifier of the second terminal device.

[0062] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay device sends a relay discovery response message to the first terminal device, and the relay discovery response message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier and RSC of the relay device sending the relay discovery response message.

[0063] Those skilled in the art can know that the number of terminal devices and relay devices in FIG. 3 is only illustrative, and there can be any number of terminal devices and relay devices according to actual needs. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this.

[0064] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a mode B-based relay discovery method in a near field scenario in the related art. As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes:

[0065] S401, the first terminal device sends a first relay discovery request message to each relay device respectively, wherein the first relay discovery request message carries the RSC of the first terminal device and a direct discovery set, and the direct discovery set includes the terminal identifier of the first terminal device and the terminal identifier of the second terminal device.

[0066] S402, each relay device matches the RSC of the first terminal device carried in the first relay discovery request message with the RSC of each relay device, and if the matching result is consistent, the matching successful relay device will send a second relay discovery request message to the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery request message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier and RSC of the relay device sending the relay discovery request message.

[0067] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, if the RSC of the first terminal device matches the RSC of the first relay device, the first relay device sends a second relay discovery request message to the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery request message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier and RSC of the first relay device.

[0068] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, if the RSC of the first terminal device matches the RSC of the second relay device, the second relay device sends a second relay discovery request message to the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery request message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier and RSC of the second relay device.

[0069] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, if the RSC of the first terminal device matches the RSC of the third relay device, the third relay device sends a second relay discovery request message to the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery request message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier and RSC of the third relay device.

[0070] S403, after receiving the second relay discovery request message, the second terminal device sends a first relay discovery response message to each relay device, wherein the first relay discovery response message carries the RSC of the second terminal device and a direct discovery set, and the direct discovery set includes the terminal identifier of the first terminal device and the terminal identifier of the second terminal device.

[0071] S404, each relay device matches the terminal identifier of the second terminal device in the second relay request message with the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, and if the matching result is consistent, the relay device with the matching result sends a second relay discovery response message to the first terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery response message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier of the relay device sending the second relay discovery response message, and the RSC.

[0072] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the RSC of the second terminal device matches the RSC of the first relay device, the first relay device sends a second relay discovery response message to the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery response message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier of the first relay device, and the RSC.

[0073] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the RSC of the second terminal device matches the RSC of the second relay device, the second relay device sends a second relay discovery response message to the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery response message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier of the second relay device, and the RSC.

[0074] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the RSC of the second terminal device matches the RSC of the third relay device, the third relay device sends a second relay discovery response message to the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery response message carries the terminal identifier of the first terminal device, the terminal identifier of the second terminal device, the relay identifier of the third relay device, and the RSC.

[0075] FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a relay discovery system structure in a near field scenario. As shown in FIG. 5, the system architecture can include a first terminal device 101, a second terminal device 103, a relay scheduling center 104, a first relay device 1021, a second relay device 1022, and a third relay device 1023.

[0076] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay scheduling center 104 can pre-store the RSCs of all relay devices, historical relay discovery records, and the security PC5 connection information between each relay device and each terminal device.

[0077] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay scheduling center 104 is configured to find the most suitable target relay device from the adapted relay devices according to the RSC of the terminal device carried in the received relay discovery request message and through the historical relay discovery record or the security connection information.

[0078] Those skilled in the art can know that the number of terminal devices and relay devices in FIG. 5 is only illustrative, and any number of terminal devices and relay devices can be provided according to actual needs. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit this.

[0079] As shown in FIG. 1, the complexity of the relay discovery process based on mode A in the near field communication scenario is 2n, as shown in FIG. 3, the complexity of the relay discovery process based on mode B in the near field communication scenario is 4n, and as shown in FIG. 5, the complexity of the relay discovery process in the near field communication scenario in the embodiment of the present disclosure is only 5. Therefore, when the number of relay devices exceeds 2 in the relay discovery process in the near field scenario, the embodiments of the present disclosure can significantly reduce the complexity of the relay discovery process and effectively avoid resource waste. At the same time, the problem of resource waste caused by the device simultaneously initiating multiple communication paths can be avoided, and the relay scheduling center can select the best relay device, that is, the least resources are used to find the most suitable relay device.

[0080] FIG. 6 shows a relay device discovery method flowchart in a near field communication scenario in an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 6, the method includes the following steps:

[0081] S602, receiving a relay discovery request message sent by a first terminal device and carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through the relay device.

[0082] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the relay scheduling center receives a relay discovery request message sent by the first terminal device, the relay discovery request message carrying a relay service code (first relay server code) of the first terminal device, first identification information of the first terminal device, and second identification information of the second terminal device. The first relay service code can be used to match the relay server code of each relay device to obtain a relay device supporting the first terminal device. The first identification information of the first terminal device is used to enable the second terminal device to send a relay discovery response message to the first terminal device as a destination terminal device after receiving the relay discovery request message sent by the first terminal device. The second terminal identification of the second terminal device is used to enable the relay discovery request message sent by the first terminal device to reach the second terminal device, so that a communication connection is established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0083] In S604, at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device is obtained according to the first relay server code, and a target relay device is selected from the at least one relay device.

[0084] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first relay server code is matched with the relay server code of each relay device. If the matching is successful, a relay device connectable by the first terminal device is obtained. Then, according to the pre-stored information in the relay scheduling center, a target relay device is further selected from the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device.

[0085] In S606, a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set is sent to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device. The second direct discovery set includes: the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, the identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code. The second relay server code is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0086] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second identification information of the second terminal device in the direct discovery set can enable the target relay device to directly send a relay discovery request message to the second terminal device to establish a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

[0087] It should be noted that the above relay device can be a terminal relay device or a network relay device, and the embodiments of the present disclosure do not make specific limitations thereto.

[0088] As known from the above, in the embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving the relay discovery request message carrying the first relay server code and the first direct discovery set sent by the first terminal device, at least one relay device supporting the first terminal device is obtained according to the first relay server code, and the target relay device is screened out, and the relay discovery request message carrying the second direct discovery set is sent to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes the communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device. The embodiment of the disclosure can reduce the resource waste generated in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in the near field communication scenario.

[0089] In an embodiment of the disclosure, before S604, the method further comprises: storing the relay server code, the historical relay device discovery record and the security link information between each relay device and the terminal device.

[0090] In an embodiment of the disclosure, the historical relay device discovery record can specifically refer to the most suitable relay device used in the historical relay discovery process.

[0091] In an embodiment of the disclosure, S604 comprises: matching the first relay server code with the pre-stored relay server code of each relay device to obtain at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device; and screening out the target relay device from the at least one relay device through the pre-stored historical relay device discovery record or the security link information between each relay device and the terminal device.

[0092] In an embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving the second relay discovery request message, the second terminal device sends a first relay discovery response message to the target relay device, and the relay discovery response message can carry the RSC of the second terminal device, the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device, so that the target relay device further sends a second relay discovery response message to the first terminal device to complete the establishment of the communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery response message carries the second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, the RSC of the target relay device and the relay identification information of the target relay device.

[0093] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, in the 5G scenario, a 5G ProSe relay scheduling center is added at the terminal side, and all device-to-device relay RSCs are pre-stored therein, and the previous 5G ProSe device-to-device relay discovery and the secure PC5 connection information between the 5G ProSe U2U relay and the 5G ProSe endpoint UE. When starting the UE-to-UE relay discovery process, the 5G ProSe relay scheduling center finds the adaptive relay according to the RSC in the received 5G ProSe UE-to-UE relay discovery request message, and finds the most adaptive UE-to-UE relay through the previous 5G ProSe UE-to-UE relay discovery or through the strength of the secure PC5 connection signal between the 5G ProSe U2U relay and the 5G ProSe endpoint UE.

[0094] FIG. 7 shows a relay device discovery method flowchart in a near field communication scenario in an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 7, the method comprises the following steps:

[0095] S702, a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set is sent to a relay scheduling center, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device is a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device, and the relay scheduling center is used to obtain at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screen out a target relay device from the at least one relay device.

[0096] S704, a relay discovery response message carrying a second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device is received, wherein the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, the identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0097] As can be seen from the above, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first terminal device sends a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to a relay scheduling center, the target relay device is obtained by screening from a plurality of relay devices supporting the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and a relay discovery response message carrying a second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device is received, and a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device is established. The embodiment of the present disclosure can reduce the resource waste generated in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in the near field communication scenario.

[0098] FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method for relay device discovery in another near field communication scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, the method comprises the following steps:

[0099] S802, receiving a relay discovery request message forwarded by a target relay device from a first terminal device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of a second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, and the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0100] S804, returning a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the target relay device, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device.

[0101] As described above, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second terminal device receives a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set sent by a target relay device, wherein the target relay device is obtained from a plurality of relay devices supporting the first terminal device according to a first relay server code, and the second terminal device sends a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the target relay device, and establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The embodiment of the present disclosure can reduce resource waste in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in a near field communication scenario.

[0102] FIG. 9 shows a signaling flowchart of a method for relay device discovery in a near field communication scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, the method comprises the following steps:

[0103] S901, storing RSCs, historical relay discovery records, and security PC5 connection information between each relay device and a terminal device of all relay devices in a relay scheduling center in advance.

[0104] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the historical relay device discovery record can specifically refer to a most suitable relay device selected by a historical relay discovery process.

[0105] S902, a first terminal device sends a first relay discovery request message to a relay scheduling center, wherein the first relay discovery request message carries a relay server code of the first terminal device and a first direct discovery set, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device.

[0106] S903, the relay scheduling center matches the relay server code of the first terminal device carried in the received first relay discovery request message with the pre-stored relay server code of each relay device, obtains at least one relay device with which the matching is successful, and finds the most suitable relay device as the target relay device through the historical relay discovery record or the strength of the secure PC5 connection signal between each relay device and the terminal device.

[0107] S904, the relay scheduling center sends the first relay discovery request message to the target relay device (for example, the second relay device).

[0108] S905, after receiving the first relay discovery request message, the second relay device sends a second relay discovery request message to the second terminal device. The second relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, the relay server code of the second relay device and the relay identification information of the second relay device.

[0109] S906, after receiving the second relay discovery request message, the second terminal device sends a first relay discovery response message to the second relay device. The first relay discovery response message can carry the relay server code of the second terminal device and a first direct discovery set, and the first direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device.

[0110] S907, the second relay device sends a second relay discovery response message to the first terminal device to complete the establishment of the communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, wherein the second relay discovery response message carries a second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, the relay server code of the second relay device and the relay identification information of the second relay device.

[0111] From the above, in the embodiment of the disclosure, the first terminal device sends a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the relay scheduling center, so that the relay scheduling center obtains at least one relay device based on the first relay server code, and screens out a target relay device from the at least one relay device, and sends a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the second terminal device through the target relay device. After receiving the relay discovery request message, the second terminal device sends a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and the first direct discovery set to the target relay device, and the target relay device sends a relay discovery response message carrying the second direct discovery set to the first terminal device. The embodiment of the disclosure can reduce the resource waste generated in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in the near field communication scenario.

[0112] FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of a near field communication system in an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, the system can include a first terminal device 101 and a second terminal device 103.

[0113] The second terminal device 103 is a peer device of the first terminal device 101 for communication through a relay device.

[0114] The first terminal device 101 is configured to send a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the relay scheduling center, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device 101, and the first direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device 101 and second identification information of the second terminal device 103. The relay scheduling center is configured to obtain at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device 101 according to the first relay server code, and screen out a target relay device from the at least one relay device. The second terminal device 103 is configured to receive a relay discovery request message from the first terminal device forwarded by the target relay device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code. The second terminal device 103 is a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, and the second relay server code is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device. The second terminal device 103 is further configured to return a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and the first direct discovery set to the target relay device, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device 103. The first terminal device 101 is further configured to receive a relay discovery response message carrying the second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device.

[0115] As known from the above, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first terminal device sends a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the relay scheduling center, so that the relay scheduling center obtains at least one relay device based on the first relay server code, and screens a target relay device from the at least one relay device, and sends a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the second terminal device through the target relay device. After receiving the relay discovery request message, the second terminal device sends a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and the first direct discovery set to the target relay device, and the target relay device sends a relay discovery response message carrying the second direct discovery set to the first terminal device. The embodiment of the present disclosure can reduce the resource waste generated in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in the near field communication scenario.

[0116] It should be noted that the above "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish different terminal devices, and do not specifically refer to a certain terminal device. Any identifier distinguishing two terminal devices can be used, and the embodiment of the present disclosure does not make specific limitation.

[0117] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a relay scheduling device, as described in the following embodiments. Since the principle of solving the problem of the device embodiment is similar to that of the above-mentioned method embodiment, the implementation of the device embodiment can be referred to the implementation of the above-mentioned method embodiment, and the repeated parts will not be described here.

[0118] FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a relay scheduling device in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 11, the device includes a first request message receiving module 1101, a target relay device screening module 1102, and a first request message sending module 1103.

[0119] The first request message receiving module 1101 is configured to receive a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set sent by a first terminal device, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device; the target relay device screening module 1102 is configured to screen a target relay device from the at least one relay device according to the first relay server code to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device; and the first request message sending module 1103 is configured to send a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device, wherein the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0120] As known from the above, in the embodiment of the disclosure, after receiving the relay discovery request message carrying the first relay server code and the first direct discovery set sent by the first terminal device, at least one relay device supporting the first terminal device is obtained according to the first relay server code, and a target relay device is screened out, and a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set is sent to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device. The embodiment of the disclosure can reduce the resource waste generated in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in a near field communication scenario.

[0121] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the disclosure also provides a terminal device, as described in the following embodiments. Since the principle of solving the problem of the device embodiment is similar to that of the above-mentioned method embodiment, the implementation of the device embodiment can be referred to the implementation of the above-mentioned method embodiment, and the repeated parts will not be described here.

[0122] FIG. 12 shows a schematic diagram of a terminal device in an embodiment of the disclosure, as shown in FIG. 12, the device includes a second request message sending module 1201 and a response message receiving module 1202.

[0123] The second request message sending module 1201 is configured to send a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to a relay scheduling center, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through the relay device; the relay scheduling center is configured to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screen a target relay device from the at least one relay device; and the response message receiving module 1202 is configured to receive a relay discovery response message carrying a second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device, wherein the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0124] As known from the above, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first terminal device sends a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to a relay scheduling center, the target relay device is obtained by screening from a plurality of relay devices supporting the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and the relay discovery response message carrying a second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device is received to establish a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The embodiment of the present disclosure can reduce resource waste generated in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in a near field communication scenario.

[0125] FIG. 13 shows another terminal device schematic diagram in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 13, the device includes a second request message receiving module 1301 and a response message sending module 1302.

[0126] The second request message receiving module 1301 is configured to receive a relay discovery request message from the first terminal device forwarded by the target relay device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device is a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, and the second relay server code is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device; and the response message sending module 1302 is configured to return a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the target relay device, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device, and the first direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device.

[0127] As known from the above, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second terminal device receives a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set sent by a target relay device, wherein the target relay device is obtained from a plurality of relay devices supporting the first terminal device according to a first relay server code, and the second terminal device sends a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the target relay device, and establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device. The embodiment of the present disclosure can reduce the resource waste generated in the relay device discovery process between terminal devices in a near field communication scenario.

[0128] Those skilled in the art can understand that each aspect of the present disclosure can be implemented as a system, a method or a program product. Therefore, each aspect of the present disclosure can be embodied as a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects, which can be collectively referred to as "circuitry", "module" or "system" herein.

[0129] The electronic device 1400 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to FIG. 14. The electronic device 1400 shown in FIG. 14 is merely one example and should not bring any limitation to the functions and usage range of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0130] FIG. 14 shows a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device 1400 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to FIG. 14. The electronic device 1400 shown in FIG. 14 is merely one example and should not bring any limitation to the functions and usage range of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0131] As shown in FIG. 14, the electronic device 1400 is in the form of a general computing device. The components of the electronic device 1400 can include, but are not limited to, the at least one processing unit 1410 described above, the at least one storage unit 1420 described above, and a bus 1430 connecting different system components, including the storage unit 1420 and the processing unit 1410.

[0132] The storage unit stores program codes which can be executed by the processing unit 1410, so that the processing unit 1410 performs the steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above "Exemplary Method" section of the present specification.

[0133] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the electronic device 1400 is a relay scheduling device, the processing unit 1410 can perform the following steps of the above method embodiments: receiving a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set sent by a first terminal device, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device; obtaining at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screening a target relay device from the at least one relay device; and sending a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device, wherein the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0134] In an embodiment of the disclosure, when the electronic device 1400 is a terminal device, the processing unit 1410 can perform the following steps of the above-mentioned method embodiments: sending, to a relay scheduling center, a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, the first direct discovery set includes first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device is a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device, the relay scheduling center is used to obtain at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and to screen a target relay device from the at least one relay device; and receiving a relay discovery response message returned by the target relay device and carrying a second direct discovery set, wherein the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

[0135] In an embodiment of the disclosure, when the electronic device 1400 is a terminal device, the processing unit 1410 can further perform the following steps of the above-mentioned method embodiments: receiving a relay discovery request message from the first terminal device forwarded by the target relay device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, the second direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, the identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device is a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, and the second relay server code is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device; and returning, to the target relay device, a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device, and the first direct discovery set includes the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device.

[0136] The storage unit 1420 can include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as a random access memory (RAM) 14201 and / or a cache memory 14202, and can further include a read-only memory (ROM) 14203.

[0137] The storage unit 1420 can also include a program / utility 14204 having a set of programs / modules 14205, each of which performs one or more of the operations / acts detailed herein. These include an operating system, one or more applications, other program modules, and program data, each of which or a combination thereof, can include implementation of a networking environment.

[0138] The bus 1430 can represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a storage bus or bus for storage controller, peripheral bus, graphics bus, processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus structures.

[0139] The electronic device 1400 can also communicate with one or more external devices 1440 such as a keyboard or pointing device, a Bluetooth device, etc.; other devices that enable a user to interact with the electronic device 1400; and / or one or more devices that enable the electronic device 1400 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can be via an input / output (I / O) interface 1450. Further, the electronic device 1400 can communicate with one or more networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and / or the Internet, through a network adapter 1460. The network adapter 1460 can be any of a variety of modems, including cable modem, digital subscriber line (DSL), and / or the like. As shown, the network adapter 1460 is communicatively coupled to the other components of the electronic device 1400 through the bus 1430. It should be appreciated that the network adapter 1460 can be communicatively coupled to the other components of the electronic device 1400 in some other fashion, such as over a wireless connection, etc.

[0140] Those skilled in the art will readily understand that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software and / or by software in combination with the necessary hardware. Thus, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, a USB flash disk, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or a network, and includes a number of instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, a terminal device, or a network device, etc.) to perform the methods according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0141] Based on the same inventive concept, the present disclosure also provides a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of relay device discovery in a near field communication scenario according to any one of the above embodiments. Since the implementation of the computer readable storage medium embodiment can refer to the implementation of the above method embodiments, the repeated parts will not be described again.

[0142] More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium in the present disclosure can include, but are not limited to, an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any appropriate combination of the foregoing.

[0143] In the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium can include a data signal carrying the readable program code in a baseband or as a part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated data signal can take any of a variety of forms, including but not limited to electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable medium can also be any medium that can be read by a computer or a device that can be used to store, transmit or propagate the program.

[0144] In some embodiments, the program code contained on the computer readable storage medium can be transmitted by any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, RF, or the like, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0145] In practice, the program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, C++, and the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code can execute entirely on the user's computing device, partly on the user's device, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's device and partly on a remote computing device or entirely on the remote computing device or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's device through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection can be made to an external computing device, such as through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider.

[0146] Based on the same inventive concept, the present disclosure also provides a computer program product, including: a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implements the relay device discovery method in the near field communication scenario of any one of the above method embodiments. Since the problem-solving principle of this computer program product embodiment is similar to that of the above method embodiments, the implementation of this computer program product embodiment can be referred to the implementation of the above method embodiments, and the repeated parts will not be described here.

[0147] It should be noted that, although several modules or units of the devices for action execution are mentioned in the above detailed description, the division into such modules or units is not mandatory. Indeed, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, the features and functionalities of two or more of the above-described modules or units can be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functionalities of one of the above-described modules or units can be further divided into several modules or units.

[0148] Furthermore, although the various steps of the methods in the disclosure are described in a particular order in the drawings, this is not required or implied as to the order of the steps or that all of the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps can be omitted, multiple steps can be combined into one step, one step can be broken into multiple steps, etc.

[0149] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily perceive that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software and / or by software in combination with the necessary hardware. Thus, the technical solution according to the embodiments of the disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, U disk, mobile hard disk, etc.) or network, and includes several instructions to make a computing device (which can be a personal computer, server, mobile terminal, or network device, etc.) execute the method according to the embodiments of the disclosure.

[0150] Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. The disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following the general principles thereof and including such departures from the present disclosure that come within known use or custom in the art to which the disclosure pertains. The specification and examples are to be regarded as illustrative only, and the true scope and spirit of the disclosure are indicated by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for relay device discovery in a proximity communication scenario, comprising: receiving a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by a first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device; obtaining at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and selecting a target relay device from the at least one relay device; sending a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the second identification information of the second terminal device, wherein the second direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, Before obtaining at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and selecting a target relay device from the at least one relay device, the method further comprises: storing relay server codes of each relay device, historical relay device discovery records, and secure link information between each relay device and a terminal device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, Obtaining at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and selecting a target relay device from the at least one relay device, comprises: matching the first relay server code with pre-stored relay server codes of each relay device to obtain at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device; selecting a target relay device from the at least one relay device by using pre-stored historical relay device discovery records or secure link information between each relay device and a terminal device. 4.A method for relay device discovery in a proximity communication scenario, comprising: sending a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to a relay scheduling center, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by a first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device, and the relay scheduling center is used to obtain at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and select a target relay device from the at least one relay device; receiving a relay discovery response message carrying a second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device, wherein the second direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device.

5. A relay device discovery method in a proximity communication scenario, comprising: receiving a relay discovery request message from a first terminal device forwarded by a target relay device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, the second direct discovery set comprising first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of a second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device; returning, to the target relay device, a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device.

6. A near field communication system, comprising: a first terminal device and a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device; wherein the first terminal device is configured to send, to a relay scheduling center, a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of the second terminal device, the relay scheduling center being configured to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and to select a target relay device from the at least one relay device; the second terminal device is configured to receive a relay discovery request message from the first terminal device forwarded by a target relay device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, the second direct discovery set comprising first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device; The second terminal device is further configured to return a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the target relay device, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device; The first terminal device is further configured to receive a relay discovery response message carrying the second direct discovery set returned by the target relay device. 7.A relay scheduling device, comprising: a first request message receiving module configured to receive a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set sent by a first terminal device, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device; a target relay device screening module configured to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screen a target relay device from the at least one relay device; a first request message sending module configured to send a relay discovery request message carrying a second direct discovery set to the target relay device, so that the target relay device establishes a communication connection between the first terminal device and the second terminal device according to the identification information of the second terminal device, wherein the second direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device, the second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device. 8.A terminal device, comprising: a second request message sending module configured to send a relay discovery request message carrying a first relay server code and a first direct discovery set to a relay scheduling center, wherein the first relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by a first terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device and second identification information of a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication through a relay device, and the relay scheduling center is configured to obtain the at least one relay device connectable by the first terminal device according to the first relay server code, and screen a target relay device from the at least one relay device; The response message receiving module is configured to receive a relay discovery response message returned by the target relay device, the relay discovery response message carrying a second direct discovery set, wherein the second direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, and the second relay server code is used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device. 9.A terminal device, comprising: The second request message receiving module is configured to receive a relay discovery request message from the first terminal device forwarded by the target relay device, wherein the relay discovery request message carries a second direct discovery set, and the second direct discovery set comprises first identification information of the first terminal device, second identification information of the second terminal device, identification information of the target relay, and a second relay server code, the second terminal device being a peer device of the first terminal device for communication, and the second relay server code being used to determine a plurality of relay devices and / or terminal devices connectable by the target relay device. The response message sending module is configured to return a relay discovery response message carrying a third relay server code and a first direct discovery set to the target relay device, wherein the third relay server code is used to determine at least one relay device connectable by the second terminal device, and the first direct discovery set comprises the first identification information of the first terminal device and the second identification information of the second terminal device. 10.An electronic device, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to execute the method of any one of claims 1-5 for relay device discovery in a proximity communication scenario by executing the executable instructions.

11. A computer program product, comprising: A computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any one of claims 1-5 for relay device discovery in a proximity communication scenario.

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