CN104168629A

CN104168629A - Proximity-based service relay node discovering method, terminal and proximity-based service communication system

Info

Publication number: CN104168629A
Application number: CN201310184709.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 康艳超; 侯云静
Original assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT
Current assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT; Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-05-17
Filing date: 2013-05-17
Publication date: 2014-11-26
Anticipated expiration: 2033-05-17
Also published as: CN104168629B

Abstract

The invention discloses a proximity-based service relay node discovering method, a terminal and a proximity-based service communication system. The method comprises the following steps: a terminal serving as a central control point obtains identification information of a terminal which can serve as a proximity-based service relay node, the terminal which can serve as the proximity-based service relay node is determined by the terminal serving as the central control point according to terminal-reported relaying capability information, and the terminal serving as the central control point sends the obtained identification information of the terminal which can serve as the proximity-based service relay node. Proximity-based service relay node discovering is realized through the method provided by an embodiment of the proximity-based service relay node discovering method, the terminal and the proximity-based service communication system.

Description

Discovery method of proximity service relay node, terminal and proximity service communication system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method for discovering a proximity service relay node, a terminal, and a proximity service communication system.

Background

Currently, The 3GPP (3 GPP) Proximity-based Services (ProSe) working group is studying Proximity-based communication technology between devices applied to both business and public safety scenarios.

In the united states, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is selected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a public safety network technology. In europe, the relevant organizations are discussing how to select broadband public safety spectrum.

The consensus that has been reached about proximity communication in public safety scenarios includes the following aspects:

the public safety terminal can work in a public safety spectrum to use public safety services, and can also work in a commercial spectrum of an operator to obtain general services. But only public safety spectrum is used for public safety ProSe. The public safety terminal refers to a terminal authorized to use a public safety spectrum.

Proximity communication may also be performed between public safety terminals belonging to different Home Public Land Mobile Networks (HPLMNs).

The public safety terminal can automatically use the ProSe under the condition of no network coverage, or a user can manually set the public safety terminal to directly discover and carry out proximity communication under the condition of network coverage;

all public safety terminals have a proximity communication function.

For proximity communication, there are several possible control plane implementations:

when a User Equipment (UE) participating in proximity communication is within network coverage and served by the same base station, the system may decide to implement control of the proximity communication through a control information exchange procedure (e.g., session management, authorization, security authentication, etc.) among the UE, the base station, and a core network node. In addition, signaling may also be exchanged directly between UEs.

When participating in proximity communication to a UE that is within network coverage but not served by the same base station, the system may decide to implement control of proximity communication through control information exchange procedures (e.g., session management, authorization, security authentication, etc.) between the UE, the base station, and the core network node. In addition, signaling may also be exchanged directly between UEs.

For proximity communication in a public safety scenario, when only a part of UEs participating in the proximity communication are within the network coverage, at least one public safety UE in the part of UEs may relay radio resource management control signaling for other UEs participating in the proximity communication that are not under the network coverage.

For the proximity communication under the public safety scene, if the public safety UE is not in the network coverage range, the UE can directly carry out the communication of the control plane. Public safety UEs can establish and maintain proximity communication through pre-configured radio resources. In addition, if the public safety UE supports the public safety radio resource management function, it is also possible to directly manage radio resource allocation for public safety proximity communication.

It can be seen that there is a need for proximity services relay (ProSe relay) for proximity communication in public safety scenarios, i.e. the capability requirement that one public safety terminal has a proximity services relay node that can act as other public safety terminals.

The requirements for ProSe relay include the following:

for a public safety terminal supporting ProSe relay (i.e. a public safety terminal with proximity service relay node capability), a user or a system can enable/disable the capability of the public safety terminal as a proximity service relay node;

the communication of public safety terminals as proximity service relay nodes is not affected by the relay.

For a terminal that needs proximity communication using ProSe relay, how to discover the proximity service relay node is the first step in ProSe relay. The prior art has not found an implementation of a proximity service relay node.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a method, a terminal and a proximity service communication system for discovering a proximity service relay node, so as to solve the problem of how to discover the proximity service relay node.

The purpose of the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

a method of discovery of a proximity service relay node, the method comprising:

a terminal serving as a central control point acquires identification information of a terminal serving as a proximity service relay node, wherein the terminal serving as the proximity service relay node is determined by the terminal serving as the central control point according to relay capacity information reported by the terminal;

and the terminal serving as the central control point sends the acquired identification information of the terminal serving as the adjacent service relay node.

A method of discovery of a proximity service relay node, comprising:

receiving identification information of a terminal which can be used as a neighbor service relay node and is sent by a terminal which is used as a central control point;

and storing the received identification information of the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node.

A terminal, the terminal acting as a central control point, comprising:

a relay node identifier obtaining module, configured to obtain identifier information of a terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node, where the terminal that can serve as the proximity service relay node is determined by the terminal that serves as a central control point according to relay capability information reported by the terminal;

and the relay node identification sending module is used for sending the identification information of the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node.

A terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to a correspondent node through a proximity service relay node, the terminal comprising:

the relay node identification receiving module is used for receiving identification information of a terminal which can serve as a proximity service relay node and is sent by the terminal which serves as a central control point;

and the relay node identification storage module is used for storing the identification information of the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node and is received by the relay node identification receiving module.

A proximity services communication system, comprising:

the terminal as the central control point and the terminal receiving the identification information of the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node and is sent by the terminal as the central control point.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, each terminal reports relay capacity information to the terminal serving as the central control point, the terminal serving as the central control point determines the terminal capable of serving as the adjacent service relay node according to the relay capacity information reported by each terminal, and then the terminal serving as the central control point acquires and sends identification information of the terminal capable of serving as the adjacent service relay node. After the terminal receives and stores the identification information of the terminal which can be used as the proximity service relay node, when the relay communication needs to be initiated to the communication opposite terminal through the proximity service relay node, the used proximity service relay node can be selected according to the stored identification information of the terminal which can be used as the proximity service relay node. The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention realizes the discovery of the adjacent service relay node.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a method for discovering a neighboring service relay node according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of another method for discovering a neighboring service relay node according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a proximity service network structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to solve the problem of how to discover a neighboring service relay node, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention is as follows: each terminal reports relay capability information to a terminal serving as a central control point (in the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal serving as the central control point is referred to as UE _ con), UE _ con determines a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node according to the relay capability information reported by each terminal, and then UE _ con acquires and sends identification information of the terminal that can serve as the neighboring service relay node. The terminal other than UE _ con receives and stores the identification information of the terminal that can serve as the proximity service relay node, and when it is necessary to initiate relay communication to the correspondent node through the proximity service relay node, the terminal that can serve as the proximity service relay node can select the used proximity service relay node according to the stored identification information of the terminal that can serve as the proximity service relay node.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention is particularly suitable for the field of public safety, but is not limited to be applied to the field of public safety.

In addition, the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention can be applied to the proximity service communication scene without network coverage and can also be applied to the proximity service communication scene with network coverage.

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description, the implementation of the UE _ con and the non-UE _ con terminal will be described first, and the implementation of the UE _ con and the non-UE _ con terminal will be described last. In fact, when the UE _ con side and the non-UE _ con terminal side are implemented separately, the problems of the UE _ con side and the non-UE _ con terminal side are solved, and when the UE _ con side and the non-UE _ con terminal side are used in combination, a better technical effect is obtained.

Fig. 1 shows a method for discovering a neighboring service relay node according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the method specifically includes the following operations:

step 100, UE _ con obtains identification information of a terminal that can serve as a neighbor serving relay node, where the terminal that can serve as the neighbor serving relay node is determined by UE _ con according to relay capability information reported by the terminal.

Among them, if a terminal supports ProSe relay and its ProSe relay function is enabled (enabled, i.e., turned on), the terminal can act as a proximity service relay node.

If UE _ con itself can serve as a neighboring relay node, the UE _ con may obtain the identification information of the terminal that can serve as the neighboring relay node.

In step 110, UE _ con sends the acquired identification information of the terminal that can be used as the neighbor serving relay node.

In application, UE _ con may continuously receive relay capability information reported by each terminal, and when receiving relay capability information reported by one terminal, determine whether the terminal reporting the relay capability information can be used as a neighboring service relay node according to the relay capability information. Accordingly, UE _ con maintains identification information of terminals that can serve as a neighbor serving relay node, and particularly, but not exclusively, may maintain identification information of terminals that can serve as a neighbor serving relay node in a list form. If UE _ con can serve as a neighboring serving relay node, the identification information that can serve as a neighboring serving relay node maintained by UE _ con includes the identification information of UE _ con. In the embodiment of the present invention, the maintenance at least includes the following two meanings: (1) UE _ con stores the determined identification information of the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node; (2) and when the deletion condition is met, the UE _ con deletes the stored identification information of the terminal.

The specific content of the deleting condition is set according to the actual requirement. For example: assuming that the terminal reports the relay capability information indicating that the terminal can serve as the neighbor relay node when the terminal can serve as the neighbor relay node, and reports the relay capability information indicating that the terminal cannot serve as the neighbor relay node when the terminal cannot serve as the neighbor relay node, when the UE _ con learns that the relay capability of the terminal serving as the neighbor relay node changes according to the relay capability information reported by the terminal (that is, the terminal cannot serve as the neighbor relay node), the UE _ con may be considered to satisfy the deletion condition. Assuming that the terminal only reports the relay capability information indicating that it can serve as the neighbor relay node, but does not report the relay capability information indicating that it cannot serve as the neighbor relay node when it cannot serve as the neighbor relay node, UE _ con may set a timer for the stored identification information of each terminal that can serve as the neighbor relay node, and when the timer is overtime, it is considered that the deletion condition is satisfied.

The relay capability of the terminal refers to whether the terminal can be used as a proximity service relay node.

Accordingly, in step 100, UE _ con specifically acquires all or part of the maintained identification information of the terminal that can be used as the neighboring serving relay node.

Based on the processing flow shown in fig. 1, UE _ con may passively receive the relay capability information reported by the terminal, or may instruct the terminal to report the relay capability information. If the UE _ con indicates the terminal to report the relay capability information, the UE _ con may periodically indicate the terminal to report the relay capability information. The following are exemplified in two preferred implementations:

and (I) the UE _ con periodically broadcasts a relay capability information reporting instruction so that the terminal receiving the relay capability information reporting instruction reports the relay capability information to the UE _ con.

That is, the UE _ con explicitly informs the terminal to report the relay capability information thereof through the relay capability information reporting instruction, and the embodiment of the present invention does not limit the specific signaling format carrying the relay capability information reporting instruction.

And secondly, the UE _ con broadcasts the identification information of the central control point regularly or irregularly so that the terminal receiving the identification information of the central control point reports the relay capability information of the terminal to the UE _ con.

That is, UE _ con implicitly informs the terminal to report its relay capability information through the central control point identifier information, and the embodiment of the present invention does not limit the specific signaling format carrying the central control point identifier information, and in implementation, the central control point identifier information can be carried in any broadcast message. In this implementation manner, the relay capability information is configured or agreed in advance, so that the terminal reports the relay capability information to the UE _ con indicated by the central control point identifier information after receiving the central control point identifier information.

It should be noted that, the above merely illustrates the implementation manner in which the UE _ con acquires the relay capability information of each terminal, but is not limited to the above illustrated implementation manner.

Based on any of the above embodiments of the UE _ con side method, there are various specific implementations of the processing flow shown in fig. 1, and some of them are listed below:

after receiving the relay node identification request information, UE _ con obtains and sends identification information of a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, specifically:

after receiving the relay node identification request information sent by the request terminal, UE _ con obtains identification information of all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminals that report the relay capability information, and sends the obtained identification information of the terminals that can serve as the neighboring service relay nodes to the request terminal.

In the embodiments of the present invention, a so-called request terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to a correspondent node through a proximity service relay node.

As described above, UE _ con determines a terminal that can serve as a neighbor relay node according to the relay capability information reported by the terminal, and maintains identification information of the terminal that can serve as the neighbor relay node. Therefore, the "acquiring identification information of all terminals capable of serving as the neighbor relay node in the terminals reporting the relay capability information" is to obtain the maintained identification information of all terminals capable of serving as the neighbor relay node.

(ii) after receiving the relay capability request information for the specific terminal, UE _ con acquires and sends identification information of a terminal that can serve as a relay node in the specific terminal, specifically:

after receiving the relay capability request information for the specific terminal sent by the request terminal, the UE _ con obtains the identification information of the specific terminal that can be used as the neighboring service relay node in the at least one specific terminal according to the identification information of the at least one specific terminal carried in the relay capability request information for the specific terminal, and sends the obtained identification information of the specific terminal that can be used as the neighboring service relay node to the request terminal.

The UE _ con may compare the identifier information of the specific terminal carried in the relay capability request information with the identifier information of the maintained terminal that can serve as the neighboring service relay node, so as to determine whether there is the specific terminal in the terminals that can serve as the neighboring service relay node, and obtain the identifier information of the specific terminal in the maintained terminals that can serve as the neighboring service relay node.

(iii) UE _ con may actively acquire and send identification information of a terminal that may serve as a neighboring service relay node, specifically:

when the ratio of the number of terminals reporting relay capacity information to the number of neighboring terminals of UE _ con reaches a ratio threshold, UE _ con obtains identification information of all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminals reporting relay capacity information, and broadcasts the obtained identification information of the terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes.

The value of the proportional threshold may be set according to a specific communication scenario, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, on the premise that the ratio of the number of terminals reporting relay capability information to the number of neighboring terminals of UE _ con reaches a ratio threshold, UE _ con may periodically or aperiodically acquire and broadcast identification information of all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminals reporting relay capability information.

(iv) UE _ con may actively acquire and send identification information of a terminal that may serve as a neighboring service relay node, specifically:

when the number of the terminals reporting the relay capability information reaches a terminal number threshold, the UE _ con acquires the identification information of all the terminals capable of being used as the neighbor service relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information, and broadcasts the acquired identification information of the terminals capable of being used as the neighbor service relay nodes.

The value of the terminal number threshold may be set according to a specific communication scenario, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, on the premise that the number of terminals reporting the relay capability information reaches the threshold of the number of terminals, the UE _ con may periodically or aperiodically acquire and broadcast the identification information of all terminals serving as the neighboring service relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information.

(v) UE _ con may actively acquire and send identification information of a terminal that may serve as a neighboring service relay node, specifically:

and the UE _ con periodically acquires the identification information of all terminals which can be used as the adjacent service relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information, and broadcasts the identification information of the terminals which can be used as the adjacent service relay nodes and acquired in each period.

That is, the UE _ con periodically acquires the identification information of all the maintained terminals that can serve as the neighbor serving relay node and broadcasts the identification information of the terminals that can serve as the neighbor serving relay node acquired every period without considering whether a certain condition is satisfied.

In the third, fourth, and fifth implementation manners, optionally, when the UE _ con broadcasts the obtained identification information of the terminal that can be used as the neighboring service relay node, the UE _ con carries a relay capability information reporting instruction in the same broadcast message, so that after receiving the message, the UE _ con not only obtains the identification information of the terminal that can be used as the neighboring service relay node but also reports the relay capability information according to the relay capability information reporting instruction carried in the message.

UE _ con may also maintain proximity relation information for each terminal. The UE _ con may passively receive the identification information of the neighboring node reported by each terminal, or may periodically broadcast the neighboring relationship reporting instruction, so that the terminal receiving the neighboring relationship reporting instruction reports the identification information of its neighboring node to the UE _ con.

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the UE _ con may send the relay capability information reporting instruction and the proximity relation reporting instruction through one broadcast message.

Accordingly, there may be the following (sixth) or (seventh) implementation.

(sixth) UE _ con acquires and sends identification information of a terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node in combination with the proximity relation information, specifically:

after UE _ con receives the relay node identification request information and the identification information of the communication opposite end sent by the request terminal, if the communication opposite end is determined to be a terminal according to the identification information of the communication opposite end and the request terminal and the communication opposite end both report the identification information of the adjacent node, UE _ con judges whether the adjacent node common to the request terminal and the communication opposite end exists in the terminal capable of being used as the adjacent service relay node, if so, UE _ con obtains the identification information of the adjacent node common to the request terminal and the communication opposite end in the terminal capable of being used as the adjacent service relay node and sends the identification information to the request terminal, and if not, UE _ con obtains the identification information of the adjacent terminal of the request terminal in the terminal capable of being used as the adjacent service relay node and sends the identification information to the concurrent request terminal.

If there is no neighboring node common to the requesting terminal and the correspondent node among the terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes, there may be a case: if there is no neighboring node of the requesting terminal among the terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes, UE _ con may be processed according to the first implementation manner described above.

After receiving the relay node identification request information and the identification information of the communication opposite end sent by the request terminal, the UE _ con obtains the identification information of the adjacent node of the request terminal in the terminal capable of serving as the adjacent service relay node and sends the identification information to the request terminal if the communication opposite end is determined to be the terminal according to the identification information of the communication opposite end, and the request terminal reports the identification information of the adjacent node and the identification information of the adjacent node which is not reported by the communication opposite end.

There may also be a case where: if there is no neighboring node of the requesting terminal among the terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes, UE _ con may be processed according to the first implementation manner described above.

(seventh) UE _ con acquires and sends the identification information of the terminal that can be used as the proximity service relay node in combination with the proximity relation information, specifically:

after receiving the relay node identification request information and the identification information of the communication opposite end sent by the request terminal, if the communication opposite end is determined to be a network according to the identification information of the communication opposite end and the request terminal reports the identification information of the adjacent node, the UE _ con judges whether the terminal capable of serving as the adjacent service relay node exists in the terminal within the coverage range of the network according to whether the identification information of the adjacent node reported by the terminal capable of serving as the adjacent service relay node includes the identification information of the network, if the terminal capable of serving as the adjacent service relay node exists, the UE _ con obtains the identification information of the terminal capable of serving as the adjacent service relay node in the coverage range of the network and sends the identification information to the request terminal, and if the terminal does not exist, the UE _ con obtains the identification information of the adjacent node of the request terminal in the terminal capable of serving as the adjacent service relay node and sends the identification information to the request.

The UE _ con may determine whether the terminal that may serve as the neighboring service relay node is within the coverage of the network according to the identifier information of the neighboring node reported by the terminal that may serve as the neighboring service relay node. If the identification information of the adjacent node reported by the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node comprises the identification information of the network, the terminal is judged to be adjacent to the network node; if the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node does not report the identification information of the adjacent node, or the reported identification information of the adjacent node does not include the identification information of the network, the terminal is judged not to be in the coverage range of the network node.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the identification information of the neighboring node reported by the terminal may be identification information of the terminal (i.e., a neighboring terminal), or may be identification information of a network. The identification information of the network may be at the base station level, that is, the identification information of the base station is used as the identification information of the network; the identification information of the network may also be carrier-level, that is, identification information of one network is allocated to the network of each carrier; the network can be divided according to the area, and the same identification information can be distributed to the networks corresponding to the same divided area; etc., as the present invention is not limited in this regard.

The communication opposite end of the terminal can be the terminal or the network.

And if the identification information of the adjacent node reported by the terminal is the identification information of the network, the terminal is in the coverage range of the network. Therefore, if the communication opposite end of the request terminal is a network, the UE _ con determines whether the terminal capable of serving as the neighbor service relay node exists in the terminals capable of serving as the neighbor service relay node within the coverage of the network according to whether the identification information of the neighbor node, which is reported by the terminal capable of serving as the neighbor service relay node, includes the identification information of the network, if the terminal capable of serving as the neighbor service relay node exists, the UE _ con sends the identification information of the terminal capable of serving as the neighbor service relay node to the request terminal, and the request terminal can initiate relay communication to the network through the terminal communication capable of serving as the neighbor service relay node. If not, the UE _ con acquires the identification information of the neighbor node of the requesting terminal among the terminals that can serve as neighbor serving relay nodes, and transmits the identification information to the requesting terminal.

In any of the above embodiments of the present invention, UE _ con may be a pre-configured terminal or a terminal selected according to a predetermined rule.

If the terminal is configured in advance, the terminal can be configured in advance by the network side or the user. For example, in a group scene of proximity communication, a user configures a terminal as a group leader (group owner) as a central control point. For another example, in a proximity communication scenario in the public safety domain, a group of users are equipped with public safety terminals, and a terminal equipped by a certain user may be configured as a central control point.

If the UE is selected according to the predetermined rule, there may be a plurality of predetermined rules for selecting UE _ con, for example: the predetermined rule indicates that the terminal with the largest number of neighboring terminals in a group of terminals communicating in proximity is always selected as the central control point. Another example is: the predetermined rule indicates that when a terminal designated by the user as the central control point is failed or the number of neighboring terminals is lower than a threshold value, the terminal with the largest number of neighboring terminals is selected as the central control point, otherwise, the terminal designated by the user is selected as the central control point.

Fig. 2 shows another method for discovering a neighboring service relay node according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the method specifically includes the following operations:

and step 200, receiving the identification information of the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node and is sent by the UE _ con.

Step 210, storing the received identification information of the terminal which can be used as the proximity service relay node.

In the embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 shows a processing flow of a UE _ con neighboring terminal. In the UE _ con-adjacent terminal side method embodiment, as to the same technical features as the UE _ con side, the detailed description thereof may refer to the UE _ con side method embodiment.

Based on the processing flow of fig. 2, the terminal adjacent to UE _ con may also report its relay capability information to UE _ con.

If the terminal adjacent to UE _ con knows in advance which terminal is UE _ con, the relay capability information may be actively reported to UE _ con.

If the requesting terminal cannot know which terminal is UE _ con in advance, the requesting terminal may report the relay capability information to UE _ con after receiving a relay capability information reporting instruction or central control point identifier information sent by UE _ con. Specifically, after receiving a relay capability information reporting instruction sent by UE _ con, a terminal adjacent to UE _ con reports the relay capability information to UE _ con, or after receiving central control point identification information sent by UE _ con, a terminal adjacent to UE _ con reports the relay capability information to UE _ con.

After receiving the relay capability information reporting instruction or the central control point identification information sent by the UE _ con, the terminal adjacent to the UE _ con may report the relay capability information directly, or may report the relay capability information after determining that a predetermined condition is satisfied.

And if the relay capacity information meets the preset condition, reporting the relay capacity information. Specifically, whether the terminal receives a relay capability information reporting instruction for the first time or whether the relay capability of the terminal changes after the relay capability information is reported for the last time is judged, if the relay capability information reporting instruction is received for the first time or the relay capability of the terminal changes after the relay capability information is reported for the last time, the relay capability information is reported to the UE _ con, and if not, the relay capability information is not reported.

In the embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the terminal only reports the relay capability information indicating that the terminal can be used as the relay node, but does not report the relay capability information indicating that the terminal cannot be used as the neighbor relay node when the terminal cannot be used as the neighbor relay node. Then, based on any implementation manner of reporting relay capability information, a terminal adjacent to UE _ con reports relay capability information to UE _ con on the premise that it can serve as a neighboring serving relay node.

Based on any of the above-described terminal side method embodiments adjacent to UE _ con, the terminal adjacent to UE _ con may also transmit relay node identification request information to UE _ con before receiving the identification information of the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node transmitted by UE _ con.

Further, when the relay node identification request information is transmitted to UE _ con, the relay capability request information for a specific terminal may also be transmitted to UE _ con; and/or sending the identification information of the communication opposite end to the UE _ con.

Optionally, the relay node identifier request information, the relay capability request information for the specific terminal, and the identifier information of the communication peer may be carried in the same message and sent to the UE _ con.

Accordingly, if a message carries relay capability request information but does not carry relay capability request information for a specific terminal, UE _ con may send all maintained identification information of terminals that can serve as neighbor serving relay nodes to the terminal that sent the message. If the same message carries the relay node identification request information and the relay capability request information for a specific terminal, the UE _ con sends the maintained identification information of the specific terminal in the terminals that can serve as the neighboring service relay node to the terminal.

Based on the above-mentioned method embodiment of any requesting terminal side, when the terminal adjacent to UE _ con reports the relay capability information to UE _ con, the terminal may also report the identification information of the adjacent node to UE _ con.

Optionally, the relay capability information and the identification information of the neighboring node may be carried in the same message.

The method provided by the embodiment of the invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific application scenarios.

As shown in fig. 6, the proximity relationship between UE _ A, UE _ B, UE _ C, UE _ D, UE _ E, UE _ F, UE _ G is represented by solid line connection, and each terminal can be a proximity service relay node. UE _ con is adjacent to each terminal.

And the UE _ con periodically broadcasts a relay capability information reporting instruction or central control point identification information. And each terminal which receives the broadcast reports respective relay capability information.

UE _ con maintains identification information of terminals that can serve as a neighbor serving relay node according to the received relay capability information. Since UE _ con may also serve as a neighbor serving relay node, the identification information of the UE _ con, which is maintained by the UE _ con and can serve as a neighbor serving relay node, also includes its own identification information.

When UE _ A needs to initiate proximity communication to UE _ B through a proximity service relay node, UE _ A sends relay node identification request information to UE _ con, UE _ A can also request relay capability of its neighboring terminals UE _ C, UE _ D, UE _ E and UE _ F from UE _ con, and then sends relay capability request information for specific terminals (UE _ C, UE _ D, UE _ E and UE _ F) to UE _ con.

If UE _ A sends the relay node identification request information to UE _ con, UE _ con acquires the identification information of all the terminals which can be served as the neighboring service relay nodes (i.e. the identification information of UE _ B, UE _ C, UE _ D, UE _ E, UE _ F, UE _ G and UE _ con) and sends the identification information to UE _ A; if the UE _ A transmits relay capability request information for specific terminals (UE _ C, UE _ D, UE _ E and UE _ F) to the UE _ con, the UE _ con acquires identification information of the specific terminals maintained as a proximity service relay node (i.e., identification information of the UE _ C, UE _ D, UE _ E and UE _ F) and identification information of the UE _ con and transmits to the UE _ A.

UE _ a obtains the identification information of the terminals that can serve as the neighbor serving relay node from UE _ con, and then selects a terminal from the obtained identification information according to a certain criterion (for example, according to signal strength or random selection), through which the UE _ B initiates the neighbor communication.

If UE _ con also maintains the adjacent relation information of each terminal, when each terminal receiving the broadcast reports the respective relay capability information, the UE _ con also reports the identification information of the respective adjacent node. Correspondingly, when UE _ a needs to initiate relay communication to UE _ B through a neighboring serving relay node, UE _ a also carries identification information of UE _ B (i.e., a communication peer) when sending relay node identification request information to UE _ con. If the UE _ con determines that there are neighboring nodes (UE _ C, UE _ D, UE _ E and UE _ con) common to UE _ a and UE _ B in the maintained identification information that can be served as the neighboring relay node, the UE _ con obtains the maintained identification information of the neighboring nodes (i.e., the identification information of UE _ C, UE _ D, UE _ E and UE _ con) common to UE _ a and UE _ B in the terminal that can be served as the neighboring relay node and sends the obtained identification information to UE _ a.

When UE _ A needs to initiate relay communication to the network through the adjacent service relay node, UE _ A sends the relay node identification request information and the identification information of the network to UE _ con, UE _ con judges whether a terminal in the coverage of the network exists in the maintained terminals which can be used as the corresponding identification information of the adjacent service relay node, and if the terminal identification information is returned to UE _ A, the UE _ A sends the identification request information of the relay node and the identification information of the network to UE _ con. UE _ A initiates relay communication to the network through the terminal.

It should be noted that the present invention may also be applied to a proximity services group (ProSe group) communication scenario. Then the information/instructions broadcasted or transmitted by UE _ con will only be received by terminals belonging to the same ProSe group. And the identification information of the terminal that can be the neighbor serving relay node, which is sent by UE _ con to the terminal, is the identification information of the terminal that can be the neighbor serving relay node belonging to the same ProSe group.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal, where the terminal is used as a central control point, and a structure of the terminal is shown in fig. 3, and the terminal specifically includes:

a relay node identifier obtaining module 301, configured to obtain identifier information of a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, where the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node is determined by the terminal that serves as a central control point according to relay capability information reported by the terminal;

a relay node identifier sending module 302, configured to send identifier information of a terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node.

Preferably, the system further comprises an instruction broadcasting module, configured to:

periodically broadcasting a relay capacity information reporting instruction so that a terminal receiving the relay capacity information reporting instruction reports relay capacity information of the terminal to the terminal serving as the central control point; or,

and periodically broadcasting the identification information of the central control point so that the terminal receiving the identification information of the central control point reports the relay capacity information of the terminal serving as the central control point to the terminal serving as the central control point.

Based on any embodiment shown in fig. 3, there are various signaling interaction modes and working modes between the relay node identifier obtaining module 301 and the relay node identifier sending module 302. Several of which are exemplified below:

the relay node identifier obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to, after receiving relay node identifier request information sent by a request terminal, obtain all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in terminals that report relay capability information;

the relay node identifier sending module 302 is specifically configured to send the obtained identifier information of the terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node to the request terminal, where the request terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to a communication peer through the proximity service relay node.

The relay node identifier obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to, after receiving relay capability request information for a specific terminal sent by a requesting terminal, obtain, according to identifier information of at least one specific terminal carried in the relay capability request information for the specific terminal, identifier information of a specific terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node in the at least one specific terminal;

the relay node identifier sending module 302 is specifically configured to send the obtained identifier information of the specific terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node to the requesting terminal, where the requesting terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to a communication peer through the proximity service relay node.

The relay node identifier obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to, when a ratio of the number of terminals reporting the relay capability information to the number of neighboring terminals of the terminal serving as the central control point reaches a ratio threshold, obtain identifier information of all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information;

the relay node identifier sending module 302 is specifically configured to broadcast the obtained identifier information of the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node.

The relay node identifier obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to, when the number of terminals reporting the relay capability information reaches a terminal number threshold, obtain identifier information of all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information;

The relay node identifier obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to periodically obtain identifier information of all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminal that reports the relay capability information;

the relay node identifier sending module 302 is specifically configured to broadcast identifier information of a terminal that can be used as a neighboring service relay node and is acquired in each period.

The relay node identifier obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to, after receiving relay node identifier request information and identifier information of a communication peer sent by a request terminal, determine, according to the identifier information of the communication peer, that the communication peer is a terminal, and that the request terminal and the communication peer both report identifier information of neighboring nodes, determine whether a neighboring node common to the request terminal and the communication peer exists in a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, if so, obtain identifier information of a neighboring node common to the request terminal and the communication peer in a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, and if not, obtain identifier information of a neighboring node of the request terminal in a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node; after receiving relay node identification request information and identification information of a communication opposite terminal sent by a request terminal, if the communication opposite terminal is determined to be a terminal according to the identification information of the communication opposite terminal, the request terminal reports the identification information of a neighboring terminal, and the communication opposite terminal does not report the identification information of the neighboring node, the identification information of the neighboring node of the request terminal in the terminal capable of serving as a neighboring service relay node is obtained;

the relay node identifier sending module 302 is specifically configured to send, to the requesting terminal, the obtained identifier information of a neighboring node that is common to the requesting terminal and the correspondent node in the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, or send, to the requesting terminal, the obtained identifier information of a neighboring node that is common to the requesting terminal in the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, where the requesting terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to the correspondent node through the neighboring service relay node.

(VII), the relay node identifier obtaining module 301 is specifically configured to, after receiving the relay node identifier request information and the identifier information of the correspondent node sent by the requesting terminal, if it is determined that the correspondent node is a network according to the identifier information of the correspondent node and the requesting terminal reports the identifier information of the neighboring node, determine whether a terminal within the coverage of the network exists in the terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes according to whether the identifier information of the neighboring node reported by the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node includes the identifier information of the network, if so, obtain the identifier information of the terminal within the coverage of the network in the terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes, and if not, obtain the identifier information of the neighboring node of the requesting terminal in the terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes, the request terminal is a terminal which needs to initiate relay communication to a communication opposite terminal through a neighboring service relay node;

the relay node identifier sending module 302 is specifically configured to send, to the requesting terminal, the obtained identifier information of a terminal within the network coverage range in the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, or send, to the requesting terminal, the obtained identifier information of a neighboring node of the requesting terminal in the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node.

Based on the sixth or seventh aspect, the instruction broadcasting module may be further configured to periodically broadcast a proximity relation reporting instruction, so that a terminal that receives the proximity relation reporting instruction reports identification information of its neighboring node to the terminal serving as the central control point.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal, where the terminal is adjacent to UE _ con, and the structure of the terminal is shown in fig. 4, and specifically includes:

a relay node identifier receiving module 401, configured to receive identifier information of a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node and is sent by a terminal that serves as a central control point;

a relay node identifier storage module 402, configured to store the identifier information of the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node and is received by the relay node identifier receiving module.

Preferably, the terminal further includes a relay capability reporting module, configured to:

after receiving a relay capacity information reporting instruction sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, reporting relay capacity information to the terminal serving as the central control point, wherein the relay capacity information is used for indicating whether the terminal can serve as a neighboring service relay node; or,

and after receiving the identification information of the central control point sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, reporting relay capacity information to the terminal serving as the central control point, wherein the relay capacity information is used for indicating whether the terminal can be used as a neighboring service relay node.

Preferably, the relay capability reporting module is specifically configured to:

after receiving a relay capacity information reporting instruction sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, if the relay capacity of the terminal is judged to be changed after the relay capacity information reporting instruction is received last time or the terminal receives the relay capacity information reporting instruction for the first time, reporting relay capacity information to the terminal serving as the central control point, wherein the relay capacity information is used for indicating whether the terminal can serve as a neighboring service relay node or not; or,

after receiving the central control point identification information sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, if it is determined that the relay capacity of the terminal changes after the central control point identification information is received last time or the terminal receives the central control point identification information for the first time, reporting relay capacity information to the terminal serving as the central control point, wherein the relay capacity information is used for indicating whether the terminal can serve as a proximity service relay node or not.

Based on any embodiment shown in fig. 4, preferably, the terminal needs to initiate proximity communication to the correspondent node through the proximity service relay node, and the terminal further includes a relay node identifier request module, before the relay node identifier receiving module receives the identifier information of the terminal that can serve as the proximity service relay node and is sent by the terminal that serves as the central control point, the relay node identifier request module is configured to:

and sending the relay node identification request information to the terminal serving as the central control point.

Further, the relay node identifier request module may be further configured to send relay capability request information for a specific terminal to the terminal serving as the central control point, and/or send identifier information of a communication peer to the terminal serving as the central control point.

Based on any of the embodiments shown in fig. 4, preferably, the relay capability reporting module is further configured to report the identification information of the neighboring node to the terminal serving as the central control point.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a proximity service communication system, including a terminal that is described as a central control point based on any embodiment shown in fig. 3, and a terminal that is described based on any embodiment shown in fig. 4.

The following describes the structure and processing method of the terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention with reference to a specific hardware structure.

As shown in fig. 5, the terminal includes at least: memory 501, processor 502, and antenna 503.

The terminal serving as the central control point receives the relay capability information reported by other terminals through the antenna 503 and stores the relay capability information in the memory 501, the processor 502 determines the terminal capable of serving as the neighbor relay node according to the relay capability information reported by the terminal and stores the identification information of the terminal capable of serving as the neighbor relay node in the memory 501, and the processor 502 also maintains the identification information of the terminal capable of serving as the neighbor relay node stored in the memory 501.

When a terminal, which is a central control point, needs to transmit identification information of a terminal, which can serve as a proximity service relay node, the processor 502 acquires the identification information of the terminal, which can serve as the proximity service relay node, from the memory 501 and transmits the identification information of the terminal, which can serve as the proximity service relay node, through the antenna.

When a terminal as a central control point needs to send a relay capability information reporting instruction or central control point identification information, the relay capability information reporting instruction or the central control point identification information is sent by the processor 502 through the antenna 503. Specifically, the processor 502 periodically broadcasts the relay capability information reporting instruction through the antenna 503, or the processor 502 periodically broadcasts the central control point identification information through the antenna 503.

If the terminal as the central control point also maintains the proximity relationship information of each terminal, the identification information of the neighboring node reported by the terminal is also stored in the memory 501 of the terminal as the central control point. When necessary, the processor 502 reads the identification information of the neighboring node from the memory 501 for corresponding processing.

There are various ways for the processor 502 of the terminal serving as the central control point to transmit the identification information of the terminal serving as the proximity service relay node through the antenna 503, and the following examples include:

after receiving the relay node identifier request information sent by the request terminal through the antenna 503, the processor 502 acquires all terminals capable of serving as proximity service relay nodes from the memory 501, and sends the acquired identifier information capable of serving as the proximity service relay nodes to the request terminal through the antenna 503, where the request terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to a communication peer through the proximity service relay nodes.

After receiving, by the antenna 503, relay capability request information for a specific terminal sent by a requesting terminal, the processor 502 obtains, from the memory 501, identification information of a specific terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node in at least one specific terminal according to identification information of the at least one specific terminal carried in the relay capability request information for the specific terminal, and sends, by the antenna 503, the obtained identification information of the specific terminal that can serve as the proximity service relay node to the requesting terminal, where the requesting terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to a communication peer through the proximity service relay node.

And thirdly, when the processor 502 judges that the ratio of the number of the terminals reporting the relay capability information to the number of the neighboring terminals of the terminal serving as the central control point reaches a ratio threshold, acquiring all the identification information of the terminals serving as the neighboring service relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information from the memory 501, and broadcasting the acquired identification information of the terminals serving as the neighboring service relay nodes through the antenna 503.

And (IV) when the processor 502 judges that the number of the terminals reporting the relay capability information reaches the terminal number threshold, acquiring all the identification information of the terminals capable of being used as the neighbor service relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information from the memory 501, and broadcasting the acquired identification information of the terminals capable of being used as the neighbor service relay nodes through the antenna 503.

And (v) the processor 502 periodically acquires, from the memory 501, identification information of all terminals that can serve as neighbor relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information, and broadcasts, through the antenna 503, the identification information of the terminals that can serve as neighbor relay nodes acquired in each period.

After receiving relay node identification request information and identification information of a communication opposite terminal sent by a request terminal through an antenna 503, if the processor 502 determines that the communication opposite terminal is a terminal according to the identification information of the communication opposite terminal and determines that the request terminal and the communication opposite terminal both report the identification information of adjacent nodes, it is determined whether the adjacent node common to the request terminal and the communication opposite terminal exists in a terminal capable of serving as an adjacent service relay node, if so, the identification information of the adjacent node common to the request terminal and the communication opposite terminal in the terminal capable of serving as an adjacent service relay node is obtained from a memory 501, and if not, the identification information of the adjacent node of the request terminal in the terminal capable of serving as an adjacent service relay node is obtained from the memory 501; after receiving, through an antenna 503, relay node identification request information and identification information of a communication peer sent by a request terminal, if the processor 502 determines that the communication peer is a terminal according to the identification information of the communication peer, determines that the request terminal reports identification information of a neighboring terminal, and determines that the communication peer does not report identification information of a neighboring node, the processor obtains the identification information of the neighboring node of the request terminal in a terminal capable of serving as a neighboring service relay node from a memory 501;

the processor 502 sends, to the requesting terminal through the antenna 503, the obtained identification information of the neighboring node that is common to the requesting terminal and the correspondent node in the terminal that can serve as the proximity service relay node, or sends, to the requesting terminal through the antenna 503, the obtained identification information of the neighboring node of the requesting terminal in the terminal that can serve as the proximity service relay node, where the requesting terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to the correspondent node through the proximity service relay node.

(VII) after receiving the relay node identification request information sent by the request terminal and the identification information of the communication opposite terminal through the antenna 503, if the processor 502 determines that the communication opposite terminal is a network and determines that the request terminal reports the identification information of the adjacent node according to the identification information of the communication opposite terminal, the processor 502 judges whether the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node exists in the terminal covered by the network according to whether the identification information of the adjacent node reported by the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node includes the identification information of the network, if so, the identification information of the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node in the terminal covered by the network is obtained from the memory 501, if not, the identification information of the adjacent node of the request terminal in the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node is obtained from the memory 501, the request terminal is a terminal which needs to initiate relay communication to a communication opposite terminal through a neighboring service relay node;

and sending the acquired identification information of the terminals in the network coverage range in the terminals capable of serving as the proximity service relay nodes to the request terminal through the antenna 503, or sending the acquired identification information of the proximity nodes of the request terminal in the terminals capable of serving as the proximity service relay nodes to the request terminal through the antenna 503.

Based on the sixth or seventh criterion, the processor 502 further broadcasts a proximity relation reporting instruction periodically through the antenna 503, so that the terminal receiving the proximity relation reporting instruction reports the identification information of the neighboring node to the terminal serving as the central control point.

As a terminal adjacent to the central control point, identification information of a terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node and is transmitted by the central control point is received through an antenna 503 and stored in a memory 501.

In addition, the terminal reports the relay capability information to the central control point through the antenna 503. Optionally, the identification information of the neighboring node is also reported to the central control point through the antenna 503, where the identification information of the neighboring node is stored in the memory 501. Specifically, the method comprises the following steps:

after determining that the antenna 503 receives the relay capability information reporting instruction sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, the processor 502 reports the relay capability information to the terminal serving as the central control point through the antenna 503. Optionally, while reporting the relay capability information, the processor 502 obtains the identification information of the neighboring node from the memory 501, and reports the identification information of the neighboring node to the terminal serving as the central control point through the antenna 503. Or,

after determining that the antenna 503 receives the identification information of the central control point sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, the processor 502 reports the relay capability information to the terminal serving as the central control point through the antenna 503. Optionally, while reporting the identification information of the central control point, the processor 502 obtains the identification information of the neighboring node from the memory 501, and reports the identification information of the neighboring node to the terminal serving as the central control point through the antenna 503.

In addition, after receiving a relay capability information reporting instruction sent by the terminal serving as the central control point through the antenna 503, if the processor 502 determines that the relay capability of the terminal changes after the relay capability information reporting instruction is received last time or the terminal receives the relay capability information reporting instruction for the first time, the relay capability information is reported to the terminal serving as the central control point through the antenna 503, and the relay capability information is used for indicating whether the terminal can serve as a neighboring service relay node; or,

after receiving the identification information of the central control point sent by the terminal serving as the central control point through the antenna 503, if the processor 502 determines that the relay capability of the terminal has changed after the central control point identification information is received last time or the terminal receives the central control point identification information for the first time, the relay capability information is reported to the terminal serving as the central control point through the antenna 503, and the relay capability information is used for indicating whether the terminal can be used as a neighboring service relay node.

When a terminal needs to initiate proximity communication to a communication peer through a proximity service relay node, before receiving, by an antenna 503 receiving module, identification information of a terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node and is sent by a terminal that serves as a central control point, the processor 502 sends relay node identification request information to the terminal that serves as the central control point through the antenna 503.

Further, relay capability request information for a specific terminal is transmitted to the terminal as the central control point through the antenna 503, and/or identification information of a communication counterpart terminal is transmitted to the terminal as the central control point through the antenna 503.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for discovering a proximity service relay node, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the terminal serving as the central control point periodically broadcasts a relay capacity information reporting instruction so that the terminal receiving the relay capacity information reporting instruction reports the relay capacity information of the terminal serving as the central control point to the terminal serving as the central control point.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the terminal as a central control point acquires identification information of a terminal that can be served as a neighboring service relay node, and the sending of the identification information of the terminal that can be served as a relay node comprises:

the terminal serving as the central control point acquires identification information of all terminals capable of serving as neighbor service relay nodes in the terminals reporting relay capability information after receiving the relay node identification request information sent by the request terminal, and sends the acquired identification information of the terminals capable of serving as the neighbor service relay nodes to the request terminal, wherein the request terminal is a terminal which needs to initiate relay communication to a communication opposite terminal through the neighbor service relay nodes.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the terminal as the central control point acquires identification information of a terminal that can serve as a neighbor relay node, and the sending the acquired identification information of the terminal that can serve as the neighbor relay node comprises:

after receiving relay capacity request information aiming at a specific terminal sent by a request terminal, the terminal serving as a central control point acquires identification information of the specific terminal which can be used as a proximity service relay node in at least one specific terminal according to identification information of at least one specific terminal carried in the relay capacity request information aiming at the specific terminal, and sends the acquired identification information of the specific terminal which can be used as a proximity service relay node to the request terminal, wherein the request terminal is a terminal which needs to initiate relay communication to a communication opposite terminal through the proximity service relay node.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the terminal as the central control point acquires identification information of a terminal that can serve as a neighbor relay node, and the sending the acquired identification information of the terminal that can serve as the neighbor relay node comprises:

when the ratio of the number of terminals reporting relay capacity information to the number of adjacent terminals of the terminal serving as the central control point reaches a ratio threshold or the number of terminals reporting relay capacity information reaches a terminal number threshold, the terminal serving as the central control point acquires identification information of all terminals capable of serving as adjacent service relay nodes in the terminal reporting relay capacity information, and broadcasts the acquired identification information of the terminals capable of serving as the adjacent service relay nodes; or,

the terminal serving as the central control point periodically acquires identification information of all terminals capable of serving as the neighbor service relay nodes in the terminals reporting the relay capability information, and broadcasts the identification information of the terminals capable of serving as the neighbor service relay nodes acquired in each period.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the terminal as the central control point acquires identification information of a terminal that can be used as a relay node, and the sending of the identification information of the terminal that can be used as the relay node comprises:

after a terminal serving as a central control point receives relay node identification request information and identification information of a communication opposite end sent by a request terminal, if the communication opposite end is determined to be a terminal according to the identification information of the communication opposite end and the request terminal and the communication opposite end both report the identification information of adjacent nodes, the terminal serving as the central control point judges whether the adjacent node common to the request terminal and the communication opposite end exists in the terminal serving as an adjacent service relay node, if so, the terminal serving as the central control point obtains the identification information of the adjacent node common to the request terminal and the communication opposite end in the terminal serving as the adjacent service relay node and sends the identification information to the request terminal, and if not, the terminal serving as the central control point obtains the identification information of the adjacent terminal of the request terminal in the terminal serving as the adjacent service relay node, and sending to the request terminal;

after receiving relay node identification request information and identification information of a communication opposite terminal sent by a request terminal, a terminal serving as a central control point acquires the identification information of the adjacent node of the request terminal in terminals serving as adjacent service relay nodes and sends the identification information to the request terminal if the communication opposite terminal is determined to be the terminal according to the identification information of the communication opposite terminal, the identification information of the adjacent node of the request terminal is reported by the request terminal, and the identification information of the adjacent node is not reported by the communication opposite terminal, wherein the request terminal is a terminal needing to initiate relay communication to the communication opposite terminal through the adjacent service relay nodes.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the terminal as the central control point acquires identification information of a terminal that can be used as a neighbor relay node, and sends the identification information of the terminal that can be used as the neighbor relay node, and the method comprises:

after a terminal serving as a central control point receives relay node identification request information and identification information of a communication opposite end sent by a request terminal, if the communication opposite end is determined to be a network according to the identification information of the communication opposite end and the identification information of a neighboring node reported by the request terminal is determined, the terminal serving as the central control point judges whether a terminal in a network coverage range exists in the terminals serving as the neighboring service relay nodes according to whether the identification information of the neighboring node reported by the terminal serving as the neighboring service relay node includes the identification information of the network, if so, the terminal serving as the central control point obtains the identification information of the terminal in the network coverage range in the terminals serving as the neighboring service relay nodes and sends the identification information to the request terminal, and if not, the terminal serving as the central control point obtains an identifier of the neighboring node of the request terminal in the terminals serving as the neighboring service relay nodes And identifying information and sending the information to the request terminal, wherein the request terminal is a terminal which needs to initiate relay communication to a communication opposite terminal through a neighboring service relay node.

8. The method of claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

the terminal serving as the central control point periodically broadcasts a proximity relation reporting instruction so that the terminal receiving the proximity relation reporting instruction reports the identification information of the neighboring node to the terminal serving as the central control point.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the terminal as the central control point is a pre-configured terminal or the terminal as the central control point is a terminal selected according to a predetermined rule.

10. A method for discovering a proximity service relay node, the method comprising:

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

and after receiving a relay capacity information reporting instruction sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, reporting relay capacity information to the terminal serving as the central control point, wherein the relay capacity information is used for indicating whether the terminal can be used as a neighboring service relay node.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein after receiving the relay capability information reporting instruction sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, and before reporting the relay capability information to the terminal serving as the central control point, the method further comprises:

judging whether a relay capacity information reporting instruction is received for the first time or whether the relay capacity of the terminal is changed after the relay capacity information is reported for the last time;

reporting the relay capability information to the terminal serving as the central control point, wherein the reporting comprises:

and if the relay capacity information reporting instruction is received for the first time or the relay capacity of the terminal is changed after the relay capacity information is reported for the last time, reporting the relay capacity information to the terminal serving as the central control point.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein before receiving the identification information of the terminal that can act as the proximity service relay node sent by the terminal that acts as the central control point, the method further comprises:

14. The method of claim 13, wherein when the relay node identification request information is transmitted to the terminal as the central control point, the method further comprises:

transmitting relay capability request information for a specific terminal to the terminal as the central control point; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

and sending the identification information of the communication opposite end to the terminal serving as the central control point.

15. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein when reporting the relay capability information to the terminal as the central control point, the method further comprises:

and reporting the identification information of the adjacent nodes to a terminal serving as a central control point.

16. A terminal, wherein the terminal serves as a central control point, comprising:

17. The terminal of claim 16, further comprising an instruction broadcasting module configured to:

and periodically broadcasting a relay capacity information reporting instruction so that the terminal receiving the relay capacity information reporting instruction reports the relay capacity information of the terminal to the terminal serving as the central control point.

18. The terminal according to claim 17, wherein the relay node identifier obtaining module is specifically configured to, after receiving the relay node identifier request information sent by the request terminal, obtain all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminals that report the relay capability information;

the relay node identifier sending module is specifically configured to send the obtained identifier information of the terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node to the request terminal, where the request terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to a communication peer through the proximity service relay node.

19. The terminal according to claim 17, wherein the relay node identifier obtaining module is specifically configured to, after receiving relay capability request information for a specific terminal sent by a requesting terminal, obtain, according to identifier information of at least one specific terminal carried in the relay capability request information for the specific terminal, identifier information of a specific terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node in the at least one specific terminal;

the relay node identifier sending module is specifically configured to send the obtained identifier information of the specific terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node to the request terminal, where the request terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to a communication peer through the proximity service relay node.

20. The terminal according to claim 17, wherein the relay node identifier obtaining module is specifically configured to, when a ratio of the number of terminals reporting the relay capability information to the number of neighboring terminals of the terminal serving as the central control point reaches a ratio threshold or the number of terminals reporting the relay capability information reaches a terminal number threshold, obtain identifier information of all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminal reporting the relay capability information; the relay node identification sending module is specifically used for broadcasting the acquired identification information of the terminal which can be used as the adjacent service relay node;

or, the relay node identifier obtaining module is specifically configured to periodically obtain identifier information of all terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes in the terminal that reports the relay capability information; the relay node identifier sending module is specifically configured to broadcast identifier information, which is acquired in each period and can be used as a terminal of a neighboring service relay node.

21. The terminal according to claim 17, wherein the relay node identifier obtaining module is specifically configured to, after receiving relay node identifier request information and identifier information of a communication peer sent by a requesting terminal, determine, according to the identifier information of the communication peer, that the communication peer is a terminal, and that the requesting terminal and the communication peer both report identifier information of neighboring nodes, determine whether a neighboring node common to the requesting terminal and the communication peer exists in a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, if so, obtain identifier information of a neighboring node common to the requesting terminal and the communication peer in a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, and if not, obtain identifier information of a neighboring node of the requesting terminal in a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node; after receiving relay node identification request information and identification information of a communication opposite terminal sent by a request terminal, if the communication opposite terminal is determined to be a terminal according to the identification information of the communication opposite terminal, the request terminal reports the identification information of a neighboring terminal, and the communication opposite terminal does not report the identification information of the neighboring node, the identification information of the neighboring node of the request terminal in the terminal capable of serving as a neighboring service relay node is obtained;

the relay node identifier sending module is specifically configured to send, to the request terminal, acquired identifier information of a neighboring node that is common to the request terminal and the communication peer in a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, or send, to the request terminal, acquired identifier information of a neighboring node that is adjacent to the request terminal in a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, where the request terminal is a terminal that needs to initiate relay communication to the communication peer through the neighboring service relay node.

22. The terminal according to claim 17, wherein the relay node identifier obtaining module is specifically configured to, after receiving relay node identifier request information and identifier information of a correspondent node sent by a requesting terminal, determine, according to the identifier information of the correspondent node, that the correspondent node is a network and that the requesting terminal reports identifier information of neighboring nodes, determine, according to whether the identifier information of the neighboring nodes reported by a terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node includes the identifier information of the network, whether a terminal within a coverage area of the network exists among terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes, if so, obtain the identifier information of a terminal within the coverage area of the network among terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes, if not, obtain the identifier information of the neighboring node of the requesting terminal among terminals that can serve as neighboring service relay nodes, the request terminal is a terminal which needs to initiate relay communication to a communication opposite terminal through a neighboring service relay node;

the relay node identifier sending module is specifically configured to send, to the requesting terminal, the obtained identifier information of a terminal within the network coverage range in the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node, or send, to the requesting terminal, the obtained identifier information of a neighboring node of the requesting terminal in the terminal that can serve as a neighboring service relay node.

23. The terminal according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the instruction broadcasting module is further configured to broadcast a proximity relation reporting instruction periodically, so that the terminal receiving the proximity relation reporting instruction reports identification information of its neighboring node to the terminal serving as the central control point.

24. A terminal, characterized in that the terminal comprises:

25. The terminal of claim 24, further comprising a relay capability reporting module configured to:

26. The terminal of claim 25, wherein the relay capability reporting module is specifically configured to:

after receiving the relay capacity information reporting instruction sent by the terminal serving as the central control point, if the relay capacity of the terminal is judged to be changed after the relay capacity information is reported last time or the terminal receives the relay capacity information reporting instruction for the first time, reporting the relay capacity information to the terminal serving as the central control point, wherein the relay capacity information is used for indicating whether the terminal can be used as a neighboring service relay node or not.

27. The terminal according to claim 24, wherein the terminal needs to initiate proximity communication to a correspondent node through a proximity service relay node, the terminal further comprises a relay node identifier request module, before the relay node identifier receiving module receives identifier information of a terminal that can serve as a proximity service relay node and is sent by the terminal that serves as a central control point, the relay node identifier request module is configured to:

28. The terminal according to claim 27, wherein the relay node identification request module is further configured to send relay capability request information for a specific terminal to the terminal as the central control point, and/or send identification information of a correspondent node to the terminal as the central control point.

29. The terminal according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the relay capability reporting module is further configured to report identification information of neighboring nodes to the terminal serving as a central control point.

30. A proximity services communication system, comprising:

a terminal as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 23 as a central control point, and a terminal as claimed in any one of claims 24 to 29.