CN112752239B

CN112752239B - Direct connection communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN112752239B
Application number: CN201911040368.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邓强; 侯云静
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-29
Filing date: 2019-10-29
Publication date: 2022-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 2039-10-29
Also published as: WO2021083156A1; CN112752239A

Abstract

The application discloses a direct connection communication method and device, which are used for realizing direct connection communication by using less signaling. The method comprises the steps that terminal equipment sends a direct connection communication request message to relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment and service information supported by the relay equipment; the terminal equipment receives a direct connection communication response message returned by the relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises an application layer identifier of the relay equipment and an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment; and the terminal equipment and the relay equipment establish direct connection communication connection.

Description

Direct connection communication method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to a direct connection communication method and device.

Background

Device-to-Device (D2D) technology, i.e., two terminal devices communicate directly without going through a network Device, is one of the technologies that improve network capacity and spectral efficiency.

One way of D2D communication, for example, D2D communication, introduces a relay technology, i.e., a terminal device at a far end (i.e., a terminal device out of the coverage of a network device) establishes a connection with the network device through a relay device. The relay device may be directly connected to the network device, and the terminal device at the far end is connected to the relay device, so that the terminal device at the far end may be connected to the network device.

There is at least one relay device, and the connection between the terminal device at the far end and one relay device includes two procedures, which are a discovery procedure and a connection procedure, respectively. The discovery process is a process in which the terminal device determines a relay device to be connected, and the connection process is a process in which the terminal device connects to the discovered relay device.

The current Discovery process includes a first mode and a second mode, where the first mode is that a terminal device broadcasts a Relay Discovery message (Relay Discovery notification) message, where the Relay Discovery message includes information such as an ID (prose Relay UE ID) of a neighboring service Relay UE, and a Relay device matching the ID in a plurality of Relay devices sends a response message of the Relay Discovery message to the terminal device, so as to implement Discovery of the Relay device by the terminal device; the second method is that the terminal device broadcasts a Relay Discovery request (Relay Discovery request) message, where the Relay Discovery request message includes Service information supported by the Relay device, such as a Relay Service Code (Relay Service Code), and the Relay device matching the Relay Service Code sends a response message of the Relay Discovery request message to the terminal device, thereby implementing the terminal device discovering the Relay device.

The terminal device finds the relay device and requests to establish unicast connection with the relay device. It can be seen that, at present, when a terminal device establishes a connection with a relay device, a discovery process and a unicast connection establishment process need to be performed, and a large number of signaling are used.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and equipment for direct communication, which are used for realizing the direct communication by using less signaling.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for direct communication, where the method includes:

the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment sends a direct connection communication request message to relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment and service information supported by the relay equipment;

the terminal equipment receives a direct connection communication response message returned by the relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises an application layer identifier of the relay equipment and an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment;

and the terminal equipment and the relay equipment establish direct connection communication connection.

Optionally, the direct connection communication request message further includes a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device, where the first link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to service information supported by the relay device.

Optionally, the direct connection communication response message further includes a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a second link layer identifier of the relay device, where the second link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the application layer identifier of the relay device.

Optionally, the direct connection communication request message further includes an application layer identifier of the relay device.

Optionally, the direct connection communication request message is a broadcast message, and the direct connection communication response message is a unicast message.

Optionally, the method further includes:

the terminal device receives a policy parameter sent by a network device, wherein the policy parameter includes service information supported by the relay device and a mapping relationship between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for direct communication, where the method includes:

the method comprises the steps that the relay equipment receives a direct connection communication request message from the terminal equipment, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment and service information supported by the relay equipment;

and the relay equipment returns a direct connection communication response message to the terminal equipment, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises the application layer identification of the relay equipment and the application layer identification of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the method further includes:

the relay device receives a policy parameter sent by a network device, where the policy parameter includes service information supported by the relay device and a mapping relationship between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device.

Optionally, the method further includes:

the relay device determines whether to support service information supported by the relay device in the direct communication request message;

and the relay equipment determines to support the service information supported by the relay equipment in the direct connection communication request message, and sends the direct connection communication response message to the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the method further includes:

the relay device determines whether an application layer identifier of the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported;

and the relay equipment determines to support the application layer identification of the relay equipment in the direct connection communication request message, and sends the direct connection communication response message to the terminal equipment.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes:

a sending module, configured to send a direct connection communication request message to a relay device, where the direct connection communication request message includes an application layer identifier of the terminal device and service information supported by the relay device;

a receiving module, configured to receive a direct communication response message returned by the relay device, where the direct communication response message includes an application layer identifier of the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device;

and the processing module is used for establishing direct connection communication connection with the relay equipment.

Optionally, the receiving module is further configured to:

and receiving a policy parameter sent by a network device, wherein the policy parameter comprises service information supported by the relay device and a mapping relation between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a relay device, where the relay device includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive a direct communication request message from a terminal device, where the direct communication request message includes an application layer identifier of the terminal device and service information supported by the relay device;

and the sending module is used for returning a direct connection communication response message to the terminal equipment, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises the application layer identifier of the relay equipment and the application layer identifier of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the receiving module is further configured to:

Optionally, the relay device further includes a processing module; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the processing module is configured to determine whether service information supported by the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported;

and when determining that the service information supported by the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported, controlling the sending module to send the direct communication response message to the terminal device.

Optionally, the processing module is further configured to:

determining whether an application layer identification of the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported;

and when determining that the application layer identifier of the relay device in the direct connection communication request message is supported, controlling the sending module to send the direct connection communication response message to the terminal device.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes:

a memory to store instructions;

a processor for reading the instructions in the memory, performing the following processes:

controlling a transceiver to send a direct communication request message to a relay device, wherein the direct communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal device and service information supported by the relay device, and receiving a direct communication response message returned by the relay device, wherein the direct communication response message comprises the application layer identifier of the relay device and the application layer identifier of the terminal device;

and establishing direct connection communication connection with the relay equipment.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a relay device, where the relay device includes:

a memory to store instructions;

the control transceiver receives a direct communication request message from a terminal device, the direct communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal device and service information supported by the relay device, and returns a direct communication response message to the terminal device, and the direct communication response message comprises the application layer identifier of the relay device and the application layer identifier of the terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

determining whether to support service information supported by the relay device in the direct communication request message;

and when the processing module determines that the service information supported by the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported, controlling the transceiver to send the direct communication response message to the terminal device.

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

and when the processing module determines that the application layer identifier of the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported, controlling the transceiver to send the direct communication response message to the terminal device.

In a seventh aspect, this application embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of the first aspect or the second aspect.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment directly sends the direct connection communication request message to the relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises the service information supported by the relay equipment, so that the relay equipment receives the instruction communication request message and can judge whether the relay equipment supports the service information, and if the relay equipment supports the service information, the relay equipment feeds back a direct connection communication response message to the terminal equipment to inform the terminal equipment of establishing connection. In the direct connection communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the process of the terminal device connecting to the relay device includes a process of the terminal device discovering the relay device, and compared with the current process of establishing connection between the terminal device and the relay device, which requires a discovery process and a unicast connection establishment process, obviously fewer signaling are used, and signaling is saved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a direct communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a direct communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a direct communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of configuring policy parameters of a terminal device by a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a relay device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is another schematic structural diagram of a relay device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clearly and completely understood, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

At present, a terminal device and a relay device need to establish a connection, a discovery process and a unicast connection establishment process are required, and more signaling is used.

In view of this, an embodiment of the present application provides a direct communication method, in which a process of a terminal device connecting to a relay device includes a process of the terminal device discovering the relay device, and compared with a process of establishing a connection between the terminal device and the relay device at present, which requires a discovery process and a unicast connection establishment process, obviously, fewer signaling are used, and signaling is saved.

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 1, an embodiment of the present application provides a direct communication method, and a flow of the method is described as follows. Since the direct communication method involves an interaction process between the relay device and the terminal device, in the following description of the flow, the processes performed by the relay device and the terminal device will be described together.

S101, the terminal equipment sends a direct connection communication request message to the relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises application layer identification information of the terminal equipment and service information supported by the relay equipment.

S102, the relay device sends a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises an application layer identifier of the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device.

S103, the terminal equipment and the relay equipment establish direct connection communication connection.

In the embodiment of the application, a plurality of relay devices exist, and if a terminal device needs to be connected with a certain relay device, the relay device needing to be connected can be determined firstly.

As a possible implementation manner, in S101, the terminal device may broadcast a direct connection communication request message, where the direct connection communication request message may carry service information supported by the relay device. Some or all of the relay devices receive the direct connection communication request message, for example, it may be determined whether service information included in the direct connection communication request message is service information that can be supported by the relay device itself, so as to determine whether the relay device itself is a relay device to which the terminal device needs to be connected.

In this way, the network device may configure the policy parameter for each relay device, which may include at least one of an application layer identifier of the relay device, service information supported by the relay device, and a link layer identifier of the relay device, for example, although the policy parameter may also include other possible information, such as quality of service information. The application layer identifier of the Relay device may also be considered as application layer identifier information, which may be, for example, User information, which may be represented as "Relay UE User Info". The Service information supported by the Relay device may be considered as a Service Code supported by the Relay device, and may be represented as "Relay Service Code", for example. The link Layer identity of the Relay device may be denoted as "Relay UE Layer-2 ID", for example. In the embodiment of the present application, the application layer id of the relay device may also be regarded as information indicating the application layer id of the relay device, and may be referred to as application layer id information of the relay device, for example. Similarly, the link layer identifier of the relay device may also be considered as information indicating the link layer identifier of the relay device, and may be referred to as link layer identifier information of the relay device, for example.

Each relay device receives the direct connection communication request message, and can determine whether the relay device supports the service information included in the direct connection communication request message. If a certain relay device determines that the service information supported by the relay device is consistent with the service information in the received direct connection communication request message, the relay device determines to support the service information in the received direct connection communication request message, that is, the relay device is a device that the terminal device needs to be connected directly. At this time, the relay device may feed back a response message to the direct connection communication request message, which may also be referred to as a direct connection communication response message, to the terminal device, where the direct connection communication response message may be regarded as an acknowledgement message. Conversely, if a certain relay device determines that the service information supported by the relay device is inconsistent with the service information in the received direct connection communication request message, the relay device determines that the relay device is not a device to which the terminal device needs to be directly connected, and at this time, the direct connection communication response message fed back to the terminal device by the relay device may be regarded as a rejection message. In a possible implementation manner, the acknowledgement message and the rejection message are opposite, and the direct communication response message may carry indication information, where different contents indicated by the indication information indicate that the direct communication response message is the acknowledgement message or the rejection message.

The service information that may be supported by at least one relay device in the plurality of relay devices is consistent with the service information in the direct communication request. For each relay device possibly receiving direct connection communication request messages from a plurality of terminal devices, the relay device feeds back a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device, and needs to definitely feed back the direct connection communication response message to which terminal device, so as to avoid that the terminal device cannot receive the direct connection communication response message or mistakenly connects the direct connection communication response message.

Therefore, in some embodiments, the direct connection communication request message may further include an application layer identifier of the terminal device. Therefore, the relay device can determine the corresponding terminal device according to the direct connection communication request message. Similarly, for a terminal device, it may receive direct communication feedback information from multiple relay devices, and then the terminal device needs to determine which relay device is needed, and for this reason, the direct communication response message sent by the relay device may include an application layer identifier of the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device. Therefore, each terminal device receives the direct communication response message according to the application layer identification of the terminal device in the direct communication response message, or receives a plurality of direct communication response messages and only analyzes the direct communication response message of the application layer identification corresponding to the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the direct communication request message may further include a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a link layer identifier of the relay device.

In this embodiment, the network device may configure the policy parameters of each relay device for the terminal device, that is, the policy parameters of each relay device may be configured in the terminal device. The policy parameter may include, in addition to the service information supported by the relay device, a mapping relationship between the service information supported by the relay device and the link layer identification information of the relay device. Therefore, the terminal equipment can determine the link layer identification of the relay equipment according to the service information supported by the relay equipment needing to be directly connected.

Correspondingly, the direct connection communication response message may further include a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a link layer identifier of the relay device. For convenience of differentiation, the link layer identifier of the relay device in the direct connection communication request message is hereinafter referred to as a first link identifier, and the link layer identifier of the relay device in the direct connection communication response message is hereinafter referred to as a second link identifier. In some embodiments, the relay device may determine the second link layer identification of the relay device from the application layer identification of the relay device.

In some embodiments, the direct communication request message may also include an application layer identification of the relay device. In this case, the relay device may determine whether the application layer identifier of the relay device is consistent with the application layer identifier of the relay device in the received direct connection communication request message, so as to determine whether the relay device is a device that the terminal device needs to be directly connected.

The terminal device receives a direct connection communication response message from at least one relay device in the plurality of relay devices, and can select one relay device from the at least one relay device to establish a direct connection communication connection.

As another possible implementation manner, in S101, the terminal device may determine a relay device to be directly connected, for example, a first relay device in the multiple relay devices, so that the terminal device may send a direct connection communication request message to the first relay device. The direct communication request message may include an application layer identifier of the terminal device and service information supported by the first relay device.

The first relay device receives the direct connection communication request message, and can judge whether the service information supported by the first relay device is consistent with the service information supported by the first relay device and included in the direct connection communication request message. If the first relay device determines that the service information supported by itself is consistent with the service information supported by the first relay device included in the direct connection communication request message, a direct connection communication response message may be sent to the first relay device, where the direct connection communication response message represents a direct connection communication confirmation message. If the first relay device determines that the service information supported by itself is inconsistent with the service information supported by the first relay device included in the direct connection communication request message, a direct connection communication response message indicating rejection of direct connection communication may be sent to the first relay device.

Similar to the above one possible implementation manner, the direct connection communication request message may further include at least one information or a combination of multiple information in an application layer identifier of the terminal device, a link layer identifier of the terminal device, a first link layer identifier of the relay device, and an application layer identifier of the relay device. When the direct connection communication request message includes the application layer identifier of the relay device, the first relay device receives the direct connection communication request message from the terminal device, and determines whether the terminal device needs to be connected according to the application layer identifier of the relay device included in the direct connection communication request message. That is, if the first relay device determines that the application layer identifier of the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported, the first relay device sends a direct communication response message indicating confirmation to the terminal device. On the contrary, if the first relay device determines that the application layer identifier of the relay device in the direct communication request message is not supported, the first relay device sends a direct communication response message indicating rejection to the terminal device.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal device directly sends a direct communication request message to the relay device, wherein the direct communication request message comprises service information supported by the relay device, so that the relay device receives the instruction communication request message and can judge whether the relay device supports the service information, and if the relay device supports the service information, the relay device feeds back a direct communication response message to the terminal device to inform the terminal device that the connection can be established. In the direct connection communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the process of the terminal device connecting to the relay device includes a process of the terminal device discovering the relay device, and compared with the current process of establishing connection between the terminal device and the relay device, which requires a discovery process and a unicast connection establishment process, obviously fewer signaling are used, and signaling is saved.

In order to facilitate understanding of the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application, the direct connection communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described below with specific examples.

Please refer to fig. 2, which is another example of a direct connection communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the example takes a network device as a terminal device to configure policy parameters of each relay device, that is, the terminal device provides the policy parameters of each relay device as an example, and a flow of the example is described as follows.

S201, the terminal device determines a first relay device needing direct connection.

The terminal device provides the policy parameters of each relay device, and the terminal device may determine which relay device needs to be directly connected, for example, the first relay device.

S202, the terminal device sends a direct connection communication request message to the first relay device, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises service information supported by the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device.

The terminal device may send a direct connection communication request message to the first relay device, where the direct connection communication request message may include service information supported by the first relay device, so that the first relay device may determine, according to the direct connection communication request message, whether the service information of the relay device in the direct connection communication request message is supported by the first relay device, and further determine whether the relay device needs to be directly connected to the terminal device. Certainly, the terminal device may also broadcast the direct connection communication request message, and fig. 2 illustrates that the terminal device broadcasts the direct connection communication request message, there are 3 relay devices, and the relay device 1 is the first relay device as an example.

In a possible embodiment, the direct communication request message may further include a link Layer identifier of the terminal device (for example, indicated by "Remote UE Layer-2 ID") and a link Layer identifier of the Relay device (for example, indicated by "Relay UE Layer-2 ID").

For example, the source address of the direct communication request message is Remote UE Layer-2 ID, and the destination address of the direct communication request message is Relay UE Layer-2 ID.

In some embodiments, the direct communication request message may also include an application layer identification of the relay device, quality of service parameters, and the like.

And S203, the first relay device sends a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises an application layer identifier of the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device, so that the terminal device receives the direct connection communication response message and establishes direct connection communication connection with the first relay device.

If the first relay device determines to support the service information of the relay device in the direct communication request message, the first relay device may send a direct communication response message to the terminal device. Specifically, the first relay device may determine the identity information of the terminal device according to the application layer identifier of the terminal device in the direct connection communication request message, so as to send a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the direct communication request message includes a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a link layer identifier of the relay device, and the direct communication response message may include a link layer identifier of the relay device and a link layer identifier of the terminal device. For example, the source address of the direct communication request message is Remote UE Layer-2 ID, the destination address of the direct communication request message is Remote UE Layer-2 ID, correspondingly, the source address of the direct communication response message is Remote UE Layer-2 ID, and the destination address of the direct communication request message is Remote UE Layer-2 ID.

In some embodiments, the direct communication request message may further include one or more of an application layer identification of the relay device, service information of the relay device, or a quality of service parameter.

Please refer to fig. 3, which is an example of a direct connection communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the example takes a case where a network device configures policy parameters for each relay device, that is, a terminal device does not provide the policy parameters of each relay device, and a flow of the example is described as follows.

S301, the terminal device determines the service information supported by the relay device.

The terminal device does not know which relay devices need to be directly connected, and the terminal device needs to confirm the relay devices which can be directly connected. Illustratively, the terminal device may search for the relay device that needs to be directly connected according to the service information of the relay device that needs to be directly connected. In this case, the terminal device provides the policy parameter of each relay device, so that the service information supported by each relay device can be acquired, and the required service information is selected from the acquired service information, so as to search the corresponding relay device according to the service information.

S302, the terminal equipment broadcasts a direct connection communication request message, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises service information supported by the relay equipment and an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment.

The terminal device may broadcast the direct connection communication request message, where the direct connection communication request message may include service information supported by the relay device, so that the relay device receiving the direct connection communication request message may determine whether the service information of the relay device in the direct connection communication request message is supported by the relay device itself, and then determine whether the relay device needs to be directly connected to the terminal device.

Further, the direct communication request message may further include a link Layer identity of the terminal device (e.g., denoted by "Remote UE Layer-2 ID") and a link Layer identity of the Relay device (e.g., denoted by "Relay UE Layer-2 ID"). For example, the source address of the direct communication request message is Remote UE Layer-2 ID, and the destination address of the direct communication request message is Relay UE Layer-2 ID.

S303, the at least one relay device sends a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device, where the direct connection communication response message includes an application layer identifier of the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device.

The plurality of relay devices receive the direct connection communication request message, and can determine whether the service information of the relay devices in the direct connection communication request message is supported by the relay devices. Fig. 3 exemplifies that the plurality of relay apparatuses are 3 relay apparatuses, and the 3 relay apparatuses are relay apparatus 1, relay apparatus 2, and relay apparatus 3, respectively. If at least one of the plurality of relay devices determines to support the service information of the relay device in the direct connection communication request message, the at least one relay device may respectively send a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device. Specifically, at least one relay device may determine the identity information of the terminal device according to the application layer identifier of the terminal device in the direct communication request message, so as to send a direct communication response message to the terminal device. Fig. 3 takes 2 relay devices in the 3 relay devices as an example, where the relay devices are relay devices that the terminal device needs to be directly connected.

S304, the terminal device selects a first relay device from at least one relay device to establish direct connection communication connection.

The terminal device may arbitrarily select one relay device from at least one relay device to establish the direct connection communication connection, or may arbitrarily select one relay device from at least one relay device to establish the direct connection communication connection according to a preset rule, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

As can be seen from fig. 2 and fig. 3, in the direct connection communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the process of connecting the terminal device to the relay device includes a process of discovering the relay device by the terminal device, and compared with the current process of establishing a connection between the terminal device and the relay device, which requires a discovery process and a unicast connection establishment process, obviously, fewer signaling are used, and signaling is saved.

Referring to fig. 4, an example of policy parameters of a relay device provided by a network side device to a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The network side device may include an Access and Mobility Management FunctIon (AMF) and a Policy Control FunctIon (PCF). The flow of this example is described below.

S401, the device (UE) sends a Registration Request (Registration Request) message to the AMF, where the message may include a terminal device Policy Container (UE Policy Container). The Registration Request message may be used to Request the PCF to provide proximity services (ProSe) policy information. Meanwhile, the UE may also indicate to the PCF that the UE is a terminal equipment (Remote UE) or a Relay equipment (Relay UE).

S402, after finishing the Registration process, the AMF returns a Registration response (Registration Accept) message to the UE.

S403, the AMF sends a request message to the PCF, where the request message includes first indication information and second indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating a ProSe policy, and the second indication information is used for indicating a Remote UE or a Relay UE.

S404, PCF returns response message to AMF.

S405, PCF sends transmission message to AMF, the transmission message includes UE Policy Container, the UE Policy Container is used to provide ProSe Policy parameter to UE. It should be noted that the UE Policy Container here has the same name as the UE Policy Container in S401, but the content is different. The UE Policy Container is used for information interaction between the UE and the PCF and is transparent to the AMF. The UE Policy Container sent by the UE to the PCF includes information to be requested by the UE and UE capability information, such as Remote UE/Relay UE, and the Container sent by the PCF to the UE includes specific Policy parameter information, such as Relay service code. The UE Policy Container carried by the transmission message sent by the PCF to the AMF indicates the ProSe Policy parameters. For Remote UE, the ProSe strategy parameters comprise Remote UE User Info, Relay UE Layer-2 ID, Relay Service Code, QoS parameters, Relay Service Code and target Layer-2 ID mapping relation. For Relay UE, the ProSe strategy parameters comprise Relay UE User Info, Relay Service Code, QoS parameters, Relay Service Code and Layer-2 ID mapping relation.

S406, the AMF sends the ProSe policy parameters to the device (UE).

S407, the UE returns a result of the Policy delivery of the device (UE) to the AMF, where the result of the Policy delivery indicates information included in the UE Policy holder in S405.

S408, the AMF returns a result message of the strategy issue of the equipment (UE) to the PCF, so that the equipment (UE) can provide corresponding strategy parameters.

As described above, the direct connection communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced from the perspective of interaction between the terminal device and the relay device, and the device provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced below with reference to the drawings of the specification.

Referring to fig. 5, based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal device, which includes a memory 501, a processor 502 and a transceiver 503. The memory 501 and the transceiver 503 may be connected to the processor 502 through a bus interface (fig. 5 is taken as an example), or may be connected to the processor 502 through a dedicated connection line. The transceiver 503 is used for transceiving information under the control of the processor 502. The memory 501 may be used to store programs, among other things. The processor 502 may be configured to read the program in the memory 501 and execute the following processes:

sending a direct connection communication request message to the relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment and service information supported by the relay equipment;

receiving a direct connection communication response message returned by the relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises an application layer identifier of the relay equipment and an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment;

Optionally, the direct connection communication request message further includes a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device, where the first link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the service information supported by the relay device.

Optionally, the transceiver 503 may also be configured to:

and receiving the strategy parameters sent by the network equipment, wherein the strategy parameters comprise service information supported by the relay equipment and a mapping relation between the service information supported by the relay equipment and the first link layer identification information of the relay equipment.

Where in fig. 5 the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, in particular one or more processors represented by processor 502 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 501 are linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 503 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a transceiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 502 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 501 may store data used by the processor 502 in performing operations.

Referring to fig. 6, based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes a sending module 601, a receiving module 602, and a processing module 603, where the sending module 601 may be configured to send a direct connection communication request message to a relay device, where the direct connection communication request message includes an application layer identifier of the terminal device and service information supported by the relay device; the receiving module 602 may be configured to receive a direct connection communication response message returned by the relay device, where the direct connection communication response message includes an application layer identifier of the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device; the processing module 603 is configured to establish a direct communication connection with the relay device.

Optionally, the sending module 601 may further be configured to:

The entity devices of the sending module 601, the receiving module 602, and the processing module 603 in the terminal device may correspond to the processor 502 or the transceiver 503 in fig. 5, and the terminal device may be configured to execute the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and therefore, for functions and the like that can be realized by each functional module of the device, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment of the present application, which is not repeated.

Referring to fig. 7, based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes a memory 701, a processor 702, and a transceiver 703. The memory 701 and the transceiver 703 may be connected to the processor 702 through a bus interface (as shown in fig. 7 for example), or may be connected to the processor 702 through a dedicated connection line. The transceiver 703 is used for transceiving information under the control of the processor 702. Memory 701 may be used to store programs, among other things. The processor 702 may be configured to read the program in the memory 701 and execute the following processes:

the control transceiver 703 receives a direct communication request message from the terminal device, where the direct communication request message includes an application layer identifier of the terminal device and service information supported by the relay device;

the control transceiver 703 returns a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device, where the direct connection communication response message includes an application layer identifier of the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver 703 may be further configured to:

and receiving the strategy parameters sent by the network equipment, wherein the strategy parameters comprise service information supported by the relay equipment and a mapping relation between the service information supported by the relay equipment and the first link layer identification of the relay equipment.

Optionally, the processor 702 may be further configured to:

determining whether to support service information supported by the relay device in the direct connection communication request message;

and when the processing module determines that the service information supported by the relay equipment in the direct connection communication request message is supported, controlling the transceiver to send a direct connection communication response message to the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the processor 702 may be further configured to:

determining whether an application layer identifier of the relay device in the direct connection communication request message is supported;

and when the processing module determines that the application layer identification of the relay equipment in the direct connection communication request message is supported, controlling the transceiver to send a direct connection communication response message to the terminal equipment.

Wherein in fig. 7, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 702, and various circuits, represented by memory 701, being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 703 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a transceiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 702 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 701 may store data used by the processor 702 in performing operations.

Referring to fig. 8, based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, which includes a receiving module 801, a sending module 802, and a processing module 803. The receiving module 801 may be configured to receive a direct connection communication request message from a terminal device, where the direct connection communication request message includes an application layer identifier of the terminal device and service information supported by the relay device; the sending module 802 may be configured to return a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device, where the direct connection communication response message includes an application layer identifier of the relay device and an application layer identifier of the terminal device.

Optionally, the receiving module 801 may further be configured to:

Optionally, the relay device further includes a processing module 803, and the processing module 803 may be configured to:

when determining that the service information supported by the relay device in the direct connection communication request message is supported, the control sending module 802 sends a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device.

Optionally, the processing module 803 may further be configured to:

when determining that the application layer identifier of the relay device in the direct connection communication request message is supported, the control sending module 802 sends a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device.

The entity devices of the receiving module 801, the sending module 802, and the processing module 803 in the terminal device may correspond to the processor 702 or the transceiver 703 in fig. 7, and the terminal device may be configured to execute the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and therefore, for functions and the like that can be implemented by each functional module of the device, reference may be made to the description of the embodiment of the present application, which is not repeated here.

Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method provided by the embodiments of the present application.

In particular implementations, the computer-readable storage medium includes: various storage media capable of storing program codes, such as a Universal Serial Bus flash drive (USB), a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, and an optical disk.

In the embodiments of the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described embodiments of the apparatus are merely illustrative, and for example, the described unit or division of units is only one division of logical functions, and there may be other divisions when actually implemented, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between each other may be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units, and may be in an electrical or other form.

The functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may be a separate physical module.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, all or part of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device, such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device, or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a universal serial bus flash drive (usb flash drive), a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above embodiments are only used to describe the technical solutions of the present application in detail, but the above embodiments are only used to help understanding the method of the embodiments of the present application, and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present application. Modifications and substitutions that may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of direct communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives strategy parameters sent by a network device, wherein the strategy parameters comprise service information supported by a relay device and a mapping relation between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device, and the first link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the service information supported by the relay device;

the terminal equipment sends a direct connection communication request message to the relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal equipment, service information supported by the relay equipment, a link layer identifier of the terminal equipment and a first link layer identifier of the relay equipment;

the terminal equipment receives a direct connection communication response message returned by the relay equipment, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises an application layer identifier of the relay equipment, the application layer identifier of the terminal equipment, a link layer identifier of the terminal equipment and a second link layer identifier of the relay equipment, and the second link layer identifier of the relay equipment is determined according to the application layer identifier of the relay equipment;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the direct communication request message further comprises an application layer identification of the relay device.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the direct communication request message is a broadcast message and the direct communication response message is a unicast message.

4. A method of direct communication, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a relay device receives strategy parameters sent by a network device, wherein the strategy parameters comprise service information supported by the relay device and a mapping relation between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device, and the first link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the service information supported by the relay device;

the relay device receives a direct connection communication request message from a terminal device, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal device, service information supported by the relay device, a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device;

the relay device returns a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device, wherein the direct connection communication response message comprises an application layer identifier of the relay device, an application layer identifier of the terminal device, a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a second link layer identifier of the relay device, and the second link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the application layer identifier of the relay device;

and the relay equipment and the terminal equipment establish direct connection communication connection.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the direct communication request message further comprises an application layer identification of the relay device.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the direct communication request message is a broadcast message and the direct communication response message is a unicast message.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

9. A terminal device, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive a policy parameter sent by a network device, where the policy parameter includes service information supported by a relay device and a mapping relationship between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device, and the first link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the service information supported by the relay device;

a sending module, configured to send a direct communication request message to the relay device, where the direct communication request message includes an application layer identifier of the terminal device, service information supported by the relay device, a link layer identifier of the terminal device, and a first link layer identifier of the relay device;

the receiving module is further configured to receive a direct communication response message returned by the relay device, where the direct communication response message includes an application layer identifier of the relay device, an application layer identifier of the terminal device, a link layer identifier of the terminal device, and a second link layer identifier of the relay device, and the second link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the application layer identifier of the relay device;

10. The terminal device of claim 9, wherein the direct communication request message further comprises an application layer identification of the relay device.

11. The terminal device according to any of claims 9 or 10, wherein the direct communication request message is a broadcast message and the direct communication response message is a unicast message.

12. A relay device, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive a policy parameter sent by a network device, where the policy parameter includes service information supported by the relay device and a mapping relationship between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device, and the first link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the service information supported by the relay device; receiving a direct connection communication request message from a terminal device, wherein the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal device, service information supported by the relay device, a link layer identifier of the terminal device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device;

a sending module, configured to return a direct communication response message to the terminal device, where the direct communication response message includes an application layer identifier of the relay device, an application layer identifier of the terminal device, a link layer identifier of the terminal device, and a second link layer identifier of the relay device, and the second link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the application layer identifier of the relay device;

and the processing module is used for establishing direct connection communication connection with the terminal equipment.

13. The relay device of claim 12, wherein the direct communication request message further comprises an application layer identification of the relay device.

14. The relay device of any of claims 12 or 13, wherein the direct connection communication request message is a broadcast message and the direct connection communication response message is a unicast message.

15. The relay device of claim 12, wherein the relay device further comprises a processing module; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

16. The relay device of claim 15, wherein the processing module is further to:

17. A terminal device, comprising:

a memory to store instructions;

the method comprises the steps of controlling a transceiver to receive strategy parameters sent by a network device, wherein the strategy parameters comprise service information supported by a relay device and a mapping relation between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device, the first link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the service information supported by the relay device, sending a direct connection communication request message to the relay device, the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal device, the service information supported by the relay device, the link layer identifier of the terminal device and the first link layer identifier of the relay device, and receiving a direct connection communication response message returned by the relay device, and the direct connection communication response message comprises the application layer identifier of the relay device, the application layer identifier of the terminal device, the link layer identifier of the terminal device and a second link layer identifier of the relay device, the second link layer identification of the relay equipment is determined according to the application layer identification of the relay equipment;

18. The terminal device of claim 17, wherein the direct communication request message further comprises an application layer identification of the relay device.

19. The terminal device according to any of claims 17 or 18, wherein the direct communication request message is a broadcast message and the direct communication response message is a unicast message.

20. A relay device, comprising:

a memory to store instructions;

the method comprises the steps of controlling a transceiver to receive strategy parameters sent by a network device, wherein the strategy parameters comprise service information supported by the relay device and a mapping relation between the service information supported by the relay device and a first link layer identifier of the relay device, the first link layer identifier of the relay device is determined according to the service information supported by the relay device, receiving a direct connection communication request message from a terminal device, the direct connection communication request message comprises an application layer identifier of the terminal device, the service information supported by the relay device, the link layer identifier of the terminal device and the first link layer identifier of the relay device, and returning a direct connection communication response message to the terminal device, and the direct connection communication response message comprises the application layer identifier of the relay device, the application layer identifier of the terminal device, the link layer identifier of the terminal device and a second link layer identifier of the relay device, the second link layer identification of the relay equipment is determined according to the application layer identification of the relay equipment;

and establishing direct connection communication connection with the terminal equipment.

21. The relay device of claim 20, wherein the direct communication request message further comprises an application layer identification of the relay device.

22. The relay device according to any of claims 20 or 21, wherein the direct communication request message is a broadcast message and the direct communication response message is a unicast message.

23. The relay device of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and when the processor determines that the service information supported by the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported, controlling the transceiver to send the direct communication response message to the terminal device.

24. The relay device of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to:

and when the processor determines that the application layer identifier of the relay device in the direct communication request message is supported, controlling the transceiver to send the direct communication response message to the terminal device.

25. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-3 or 4-8.