CN114071456A

CN114071456A - Information sending method, receiving method and equipment

Info

Publication number: CN114071456A
Application number: CN202010760130.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张惠英; 赵亚利
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-31
Filing date: 2020-07-31
Publication date: 2022-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-31
Also published as: CN114071456B; WO2022022702A1

Abstract

The invention discloses an information sending method, an information receiving method and equipment, wherein the information sending method comprises the following steps: the base station sends first indication information to a core network, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the relay state of the first relay terminal and/or indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal. The embodiment of the invention can reduce or avoid the network releasing the network connection of the relay terminal under the condition that the relay terminal only provides the relay service for the remote terminal and does not have the service transmission per se, thereby improving the reliability of the data transmission of the relay terminal.

Description

Information sending method, receiving method and equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to an information sending method, an information receiving method, and an information sending device.

Background

As shown in fig. 1, a cellular Network communication mode is adopted for the conventional wireless communication, that is, the terminal and the Network side device transmit uplink and downlink data/control information through a User to Network interface (Uu) interface. The Uu interface is also called radio interface or air interface. Herein, the network side device may specifically be a base station. The base station may be a base station of 5G and later versions, such as a gNB, a 5G NR NB, or the like, or the base station may also be a base station in other communication systems, such as: an eNB, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point, or other access points, etc.). In addition, a Base Station may also be referred to as a node B, an evolved node B, an access point, a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a radio Base Station, a radio Transceiver, a Basic Service Set (BSS), an Extended Service Set (ESS), a node B, an evolved node B (eNB), a home node B, a home evolved node B, a WLAN access point, a WiFi node, or some other suitable terminology in the field, as long as the same technical effect is achieved, and the Base Station is not limited to a specific technical vocabulary. In addition, the base station is also used to refer to a network side device hereinafter.

As shown in fig. 2, direct communication refers to a manner in which nearby terminals can perform data transmission through a direct communication link (also referred to as Sidelink or PC5) in a short range. The wireless interface to which the Sidelink link corresponds is referred to as a direct communication interface (also referred to as the Sidelink interface or the PC5 interface).

In order to extend network coverage, the prior art introduces solutions for relaying. The relay may be a terminal having a relay function.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a Relay method (UE-to-Network Relay) from a terminal to a Network. For UE-to-Network Relay, the interface between the Relay and the Network uses the Uu interface, and the interface between the relayed terminals uses the PC5 interface (also called direct communication interface, described as sildelink in the protocol). The link between the relay and the network may be referred to as a Backhaul link for the relayed terminal.

As shown in fig. 4, an access network communication system architecture in the prior art, wherein an interface between an access network and a core network is defined as an NG interface. The access network comprises a set of base stations (gbbs) connected to a 5G Core network (5G Core, 5GC) via NG interfaces. The base station may have several NG access points towards 5 GC. At least each NG access point (in the base station or 5GC) should independently meet the requirements of the associated NG specification. NG is a logical interface.

There may be multiple Control Plane (NG-C) logical interfaces between the access network and the core network from any one base station node to the 5 GC. Selection of the NG-C interface is then determined by a non-access stratum (NAS) node selection function. There may be multiple User Plane (NG-U) logical interfaces between the access network and the core network from any one base station node to the 5 GC. The selection of the NG-U interface is done within 5GC and is informed to the base station by Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

Disclosure of Invention

At least one embodiment of the present invention provides an information sending method, an information receiving method, and an information sending device, which can reduce or avoid network release of a network connection of a relay terminal and improve reliability of data transmission of the relay terminal when the relay terminal provides only a relay service for a remote terminal without service transmission of the relay terminal.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an information sending method, including:

the base station sends first indication information to a core network, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the relay state of the first relay terminal and/or indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the relay state includes one of:

the relay function is not activated;

the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal;

the connection with the remote terminal is established, but the relay service transmission is not carried out;

relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal includes:

instructing to release at least one of the connection between the base station and the core network, the connection between the first relay terminal and the base station, and the connection between the first relay terminal and the core network, which are established for the first relay terminal;

or the like, or, alternatively,

indicating to maintain at least one of a connection of a base station and a core network established for the first relay terminal, a connection of the first relay terminal and a base station, and a connection of the first relay terminal and a core network.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, before sending the first indication information, the method further includes:

the base station detects a preset event;

and the base station sends the first indication information to a core network according to the trigger of the preset event.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the preset event includes at least one of:

the base station receives a first message which is sent by a core network and used for indicating the report of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal;

the base station determines that the relay state of the first relay terminal changes;

the base station receives a release message sent by a core network and used for releasing the network connection of the first relay terminal, and the first relay terminal is in a first relay state, where the first relay state is one of a first state set, and the first state set includes at least one of the following states: the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal; the connection with the remote terminal is established, but the relay service transmission is not carried out; relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the preset event is that the base station receives a first message, which is sent by a core network and used for indicating to report a relay state or a relay state change of the first relay terminal; after transmitting the first indication information, the method further comprises:

the base station receives a second message which is sent by a core network and used for indicating cancellation of reporting of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal;

and the base station stops sending the first indication information according to the second message.

and determining whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay state of the first relay terminal, and generating the first indication information for indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the determining whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay status of the first relay terminal includes:

determining to maintain the network connection of the first relay terminal when the first relay terminal is in a second relay state;

when the first relay terminal is in a third relay state, determining to release the network connection of the first relay terminal;

the second relay state is one state in a second state set, and the third relay state is one state in a third state set; the second set of states comprises at least one of: the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal; the connection with the remote terminal is established, but the relay service transmission is not carried out; relay service transmission is in progress; the third set of states comprises: all relay states remove the remaining relay states after the states in the second state set.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

acquiring a relay state of the first relay terminal by at least one of the following modes:

receiving a relay state reported by a first relay terminal through a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or a media access layer (MAC CE) control unit;

and acquiring the relay state of the first relay terminal based on the relay association relation among the terminals.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an information receiving method, including:

the core network equipment receives first indication information sent by a base station, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the relay state of a first relay terminal and/or indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the relay status includes one of:

the relay function is not activated;

relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal includes:

or the like, or, alternatively,

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, before receiving the first indication information, the method further includes:

and the core network equipment sends a release message for releasing the network connection of the first relay terminal to the base station.

and the core network equipment sends a first message for indicating the report of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal to the base station.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes:

the core network equipment determines whether the relay state of the first relay terminal needs to be acquired or not according to the connection state and the relay capability of the first relay terminal and whether the first relay terminal is authorized to be used as the relay terminal or not;

and when the relay state of the first relay terminal needs to be acquired, sending the first message to the base station.

and when the relay state of the first relay terminal does not need to be acquired, sending a second message for indicating cancellation of reporting of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal to the base station.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, after receiving the first indication information, the method further includes:

and the core network equipment determines whether to initiate a release process of the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the first indication information.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an information sending apparatus, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

the memory for storing a computer program;

the transceiver is used for transceiving data under the control of the processor;

the processor is used for reading the computer program in the memory and executing the following operations:

and sending first indication information to a core network, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the relay state of the first relay terminal and/or indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

prior to the transmission of the first indication information,

detecting a preset event;

and sending the first indication information to a core network according to the trigger of the preset event.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the preset event includes at least one of:

receiving a first message which is sent by a core network and used for indicating the report of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal;

determining that the relay state of the first relay terminal changes;

receiving a release message sent by a core network and used for releasing the network connection of the first relay terminal, where the first relay terminal is in a first relay state, the first relay state is one of a first state set, and the first state set includes at least one of the following states: the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal; the connection with the remote terminal is established, but the relay service transmission is not carried out; relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the preset event is that the base station receives a first message, which is sent by a core network and used for indicating to report a relay state or a relay state change of the first relay terminal; the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

after the first indication information is sent, receiving a second message which is sent by a core network and used for indicating to cancel reporting of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal;

and stopping sending the first indication information according to the second message.

before the first indication information is sent, determining whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay state of the first relay terminal, and generating the first indication information for indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation manners of the third aspect, the determining whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay state of the first relay terminal specifically includes:

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an information sending apparatus, including:

a sending module, configured to send first indication information to a core network, where the first indication information is used to indicate a relay state of a first relay terminal and/or indicate whether to release a network connection of the first relay terminal.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an information receiving apparatus, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

the memory for storing a computer program;

receiving first indication information sent by a base station, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the relay state of a first relay terminal and/or indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

transmitting a release message for releasing the network connection of the first relay terminal to the base station before receiving the first indication information.

and before receiving the first indication information, sending a first message for indicating to report the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal to the base station.

and determining whether the relay state of the first relay terminal needs to be acquired or not according to the connection state and the relay capability of the first relay terminal and whether the first relay terminal is authorized to be used as the relay terminal.

after receiving the first indication information, determining whether to initiate a release process of the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the first indication information.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an information receiving apparatus, including:

the receiving module is configured to receive first indication information sent by a base station, where the first indication information is used to indicate a relay state of a first relay terminal and/or indicate whether to release network connection of the first relay terminal.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions for causing a processor to perform the method as described above.

The embodiment of the invention has the beneficial effects that:

in the embodiment of the invention, the base station sends the first information and/or the second information to the core network, so that the core network can acquire the relay state of the first relay terminal or the request information whether the base station requests the network connection of the first relay terminal, and the core network can keep the network connection of the first relay terminal under the condition that the first relay terminal does not perform self service transmission but performs relay service transmission according to the relay state of the first relay terminal or the request information of the base station, thereby providing information support for making a proper decision for the core network, further reducing or avoiding the occurrence of relay service interruption and improving the reliability of relay service transmission.

Drawings

Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Also, like reference numerals are used to refer to like parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic view of a communication method for network centralized control in an LTE system in the prior art;

fig. 2 is a prior art D2D discovery/communication diagram;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a prior art terminal-to-network relay;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an access network communication system architecture of the prior art;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method for sending information slowly provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of an information receiving method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is an exemplary diagram of information interaction between a base station and a core network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a diagram of another example of information interaction between a base station and a core network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a diagram of another example of information interaction between a base station and a core network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of an information sending apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is another structural diagram of an information transmitting terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a structural view of an information receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is another structural diagram of an information receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the invention can be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims of the present application are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used is interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the application described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. "and/or" in the description and claims means at least one of the connected objects

The following description provides examples and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration set forth in the claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the described methods may be performed in an order different than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. In addition, features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

As described in the background, in order to extend Network coverage, the related art introduces a terminal-to-Network Relay scheme as shown in fig. 3. In a scenario where the terminal is used as a relay, the AMFs of the relay terminal and the remote terminal may be the same or different. The relay UE may or may not have traffic transmission itself. When the relay terminal does not have its own traffic transmission but only provides the relay service to the remote terminal, the AMF of the relay terminal may not know the working condition of the relay terminal. At this time, according to the existing mechanism, the AMF may think that the relay terminal has no service transmission, so as to initiate a connection release procedure of the relay terminal, resulting in interruption of transmission of the relay service, which affects reliability of relay transmission.

In order to solve at least one of the above problems, embodiments of the present invention provide an information sending method and an information receiving method, which are applied to a scenario in which a remote terminal performs communication through a relay terminal, and can avoid or reduce a problem that a network releases a network connection of the relay terminal under the above circumstances, thereby improving reliability of relay service transmission.

As shown in fig. 5, the method, when applied to the base station, includes:

step 51, the base station sends first indication information to the core network, where the first indication information is used to indicate the relay state of the first relay terminal and/or indicate whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

Here, the first relay terminal is a relay terminal that accesses the base station, and for example, the first relay terminal is in a connected state. The first indication information may include first information indicating a relay status of the first relay terminal and/or second information indicating whether to release a network connection of the first relay terminal. In this embodiment of the present invention, the relay status may specifically include any one of the following:

state a: the relay function is not activated.

In the state a, the relay function is not activated, which means that the terminal has the relay function but does not turn on the relay function.

State b: the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal.

In the state b, the relay function is activated, but the relay terminal has not established a connection with any remote terminal, that is, the relay terminal opens the relay function at this time, but has not accessed the remote terminal.

And c, state c: a connection with the remote terminal is established but no relay traffic is transmitted.

In the state c, the relay function is activated, and a remote terminal has access to the relay terminal, but the relay terminal does not forward the relay service currently.

And a state d: relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

In the state d, the relay function is activated, and the remote terminal has access to the relay terminal, and the relay terminal is currently forwarding the relay service.

The second information is used to indicate whether to request to release the network connection of the first relay terminal, that is, to indicate that the network connection of the first relay terminal is requested to be released, or to indicate that the network connection of the first relay terminal is requested to be maintained.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the instructing to request to release the network connection of the first relay terminal may specifically include: and indicating to request to release at least one of the connection between the base station and the core network, the connection between the first relay terminal and the base station, and the connection between the first relay terminal and the core network, which are established for the first relay terminal. The indicating to request to maintain the network connection of the first relay terminal may specifically include: and indicating at least one of a request for maintaining the connection between the base station and the core network, the connection between the first relay terminal and the base station, and the connection between the first relay terminal and the core network, which are established for the first relay terminal.

The base station sends the first information and/or the second information to the core network, so that the core network can acquire the relay state of the first relay terminal or request information whether the base station requests network connection of the first relay terminal, and the core network can keep the network connection of the first relay terminal under the condition that the first relay terminal does not perform self service transmission but performs relay service transmission according to the relay state of the first relay terminal or the request information of the base station, so that information support is provided for the core network to make a proper decision, the occurrence of relay service interruption can be reduced or avoided, and the reliability of relay service transmission is improved.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the base station may execute step 51 according to a trigger of a preset event, and specifically, when detecting the preset event, the base station sends the first information and/or the second information to a core network. Specifically, the preset event may include at least one of the following:

1) and the base station receives a first message which is sent by a core network and used for indicating the report of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal.

Here, the core network may actively instruct the base station to transmit the relay status or the relay status change of the first relay terminal. For example, the core network sends the first message to acquire the relay state of the first relay terminal when the connection timer of the first relay terminal is timed out or close to being timed out. And when the first message indicates to report the relay state, the base station sends the first information and/or the second information after receiving the first message. When the first message indicates that the reported relay state changes, the base station sends the first information and/or the second information after receiving the first message and if detecting that the relay state of the first relay terminal changes.

2) And the base station determines that the relay state of the first relay terminal is changed.

Here, when the base station detects that the relay status of the first relay terminal changes, for example, from status a to status b in the foregoing, it will trigger the execution of step 51.

3) The base station receives a release message sent by a core network and used for releasing the network connection of the first relay terminal, and the first relay terminal is in a first relay state, where the first relay state is one of a first state set, and the first state set includes at least one of the following states: the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal; the connection with the remote terminal is established, but the relay service transmission is not carried out; relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

When the base station receives the release message, if the first relay terminal is in the first relay state, the base station may suspend the release message, and execute step 51, and send information such as the relay state of the first relay terminal to the core network, so that the base station may determine whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal to the core network based on the information. After the step 51, if the base station releases the message again, the network connection of the first relay terminal will be released. For example, after the step 51 is executed, the base station starts a timer, and releases the network connection of the first relay terminal when the release message is received again before the timer expires; if the timer is expired, the base station does not receive the release message again, and the release message can be discarded.

The base station may execute the step 51 based on the trigger of the preset event, specifically, in the step 51, the base station may send the first information and/or the second information to the core network only once. Alternatively, in step 51, the base station periodically sends the first information and/or the second information to a core network. For example, after receiving a first message sent by a core network to indicate reporting of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal, the base station may send the first information and/or the second information periodically. Further, if the base station receives a second message sent by the core network to instruct cancellation of reporting of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal, the base station may stop sending the first instruction information according to the second message.

In addition, in step 51, the base station may transmit only the first information, only the second information, or both the first information and the second information. Specifically, the base station may obtain the relay state of the first relay terminal through at least one of the following manners, so as to obtain the first information:

1) receiving a relay state reported by a first relay terminal through a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or a media access control (MAC CE) unit;

2) and acquiring the relay state of the first relay terminal based on the relay association relation between the terminals.

Here, the relay association relationship refers to an association relationship between a relay terminal and a remote terminal, and may specifically include: whether the relay function of the relay terminal is activated, whether the relay terminal establishes a connection with a remote relay, whether the relay terminal is performing relay service transmission, and the like. Based on the relay association, the base station may determine a relay status of the first relay terminal.

Before transmitting the second information, the base station may further determine whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay status of the first relay terminal, thereby generating the second information indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal. Specifically, the base station may determine whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the following manner:

1) determining to maintain the network connection of the first relay terminal while the first relay terminal is in a second relay state.

2) And when the first relay terminal is in a third relay state, determining to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

Wherein the second relay state is one state in a second state set, and the third relay state is one state in a third state set; the second set of states comprises at least one of: the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal; the connection with the remote terminal is established, but the relay service transmission is not carried out; relay service transmission is in progress; the third set of states comprises: all relay states remove the remaining relay states after the states in the second state set.

For example, the second relay state set may only include ongoing relay traffic transmissions, and the third state set includes: the relay function is not activated; the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal; and the connection with the remote terminal is established but relay service transmission is not carried out. In this way, when the first relay terminal is in the relay state of "relaying traffic transmission", it is determined that the network connection of the first relay terminal is maintained. And when the first relay terminal is in a relay state of 'relay function is not activated' or 'relay function is activated but connection with a remote terminal is not established' or 'connection with the remote terminal is established but relay service transmission is not performed', determining to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

For another example, the second set of states may include only: relay service transmission is in progress; and the connection with the remote terminal is established but relay service transmission is not carried out. The third set of states at this time includes: the relay function is not activated; the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal. In this way, when the first relay terminal is in a relay state of "relaying traffic transmission" or "connection with a remote terminal is established but not relaying traffic transmission", it is determined that the network connection of the first relay terminal is maintained. And when the first relay terminal is in a relay state of 'relay function not activated' or 'relay function activated but connection with a remote terminal is not established', determining to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

The information sending method and the information receiving method according to the embodiments of the present invention are introduced from the base station side, and are further described from the core network side.

Referring to fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention provides an information receiving method, which is applied to a core network device, where the core network device may be one or more network elements on a core network side, such as an AMF or an MME. As shown in fig. 6, the method includes:

step 61, the core network device receives first indication information sent by the base station, where the first indication information is used to indicate a relay state of the first relay terminal and/or indicate whether to release network connection of the first relay terminal.

Here, the first indication information may include first information indicating a relay status of the first relay terminal and/or second information indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal. In this embodiment of the present invention, the first information is used to indicate a relay status of the first relay terminal, and the relay status may specifically include any one of:

state a: the relay function is not activated.

And a state d: relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

The second information is used to indicate whether to request to release the network connection of the first relay terminal, that is, to request to release the network connection of the first relay terminal, or to request to maintain the network connection of the first relay terminal. The network connection may specifically include at least one of a connection between the base station and the core network, the connection between the first relay terminal and the base station, and the connection between the first relay terminal and the core network, which are established by the first relay terminal.

Through the above steps, the core network device may obtain information such as the relay state of the first relay terminal, so as to provide reference information for the core network device to make a decision to release or maintain the network connection of the first relay terminal based on the information, so that when the first relay terminal has relay service transmission, connection release caused by the fact that the core network does not know the relay state of the relay terminal is reduced or avoided, and further reliability of relay transmission may be improved.

Optionally, before step 61, the core network device may send a release message for releasing the network connection of the first relay terminal to the base station. The release message triggers the base station to send the first information and/or the second information. Specifically, the core network device may send the release message when a connection timer of the first relay terminal expires.

Optionally, before step 61, the core network device may send, to the base station, a first message for indicating to report the relay state or the change of the relay state of the first relay terminal. For example, the core network device may send the first message when a connection timer of the first relay terminal expires, so as to obtain information such as a relay state of the first relay terminal.

Further, the core network device may determine whether the relay state of the first relay terminal needs to be acquired according to the connection state of the first relay terminal, the relay capability, and whether the first relay terminal is authorized to serve as the relay terminal. And when the relay state of the first relay terminal needs to be acquired, sending the first message to the base station. Specifically, the core network device may determine that the relay state of the first relay terminal needs to be acquired when the first relay terminal is in a connected state, has a relay capability, and is authorized to be used as a relay terminal, and otherwise, determine that the relay state of the first relay terminal does not need to be acquired. For example, when the relay state of the first relay terminal does not need to be acquired, the core network device may further send, to the base station, a second message for instructing to cancel reporting of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal.

After step 61, the core network device may determine whether to initiate a release procedure of the network connection to the first relay terminal according to the first indication information.

For example, when the first information indicates that the relay state of the first relay terminal is the state d, determining not to initiate a release procedure of the network connection to the first relay terminal; and when the first information indicates that the relay state of the first relay terminal is the state a, b or c, determining to initiate a release process of the network connection to the first relay terminal.

For another example, when the first information indicates that the relay state of the first relay terminal is the state c or d, it is determined not to initiate a release procedure of the network connection to the first relay terminal; and when the first information indicates that the relay state of the first relay terminal is the state a or b, determining to initiate a release process of the network connection to the first relay terminal.

Of course, the core network device may also refer to more information to determine whether to initiate the release procedure, for example, may also refer to a timeout condition of a connection timer of the terminal. For example, when the connection timer is overtime and the first information indicates that the relay state of the first relay terminal is the state d, it is determined not to initiate a release procedure of the network connection to the first relay terminal; and when the connection timer is overtime but the first information indicates that the relay state of the first relay terminal is the state a, b or c, determining to initiate a release process of the network connection of the first relay terminal, and the like.

The method of the embodiment of the present invention is explained above from the base station and the core network side, respectively. In order to better understand the above, the following will be further explained by a more specific interaction example. In the following example, the core network device (also referred to as a core network element) is described by taking an AMF as an example.

Example 1:

referring to fig. 7, in example 1, after receiving an indication message sent by a core network element and indicating that a base station reports a change of a relay state of a relay terminal, the base station reports the relay state of the relay terminal.

Step 71: and the AMF determines to send an indication message for requesting to report the relay state change of the relay terminal to the base station based on the relay capability of the relay terminal, whether the relay terminal is authorized to be used as a relay and other information.

Step 72: and the AMF sends an indication message for requesting to report the relay state change of the relay terminal, wherein the indication message is the message sent to the base station by the AMF.

Step 73: the base station determines a relay state of the relay terminal based on whether the relay terminal activates a relay function and whether a relay service is being provided to the remote terminal.

Step 74: the base station sends the relay status of the relay terminal to the AMF, for example, the base station sends a UE context modification response (UEContextModificationResponse) message to the AMF, where the message carries the relay status of the relay terminal. For example, an Information Element (IE) such as "Relay State" may be added to the message to indicate the Relay status of the Relay terminal. The specific relay status is as described above, and is not described herein again.

Example 2:

referring to fig. 8, when the relay state of the relay terminal changes, the base station reports the relay state of the relay terminal to the core network element.

Step 81: the link information of the remote terminal is interacted between the relay terminal and the base station, and the scenario may be as follows:

1) a connection establishment procedure of a remote terminal;

2) connection release procedure of remote terminal.

Therefore, the base station can acquire the relay state of the relay terminal changed and can acquire the changed relay state.

Step 82: the base station determines that the relay state of the relay terminal has changed.

Step 83: the base station sends the relay status of the relay terminal to the AMF, for example, the base station sends a UE context modification response (UEContextModificationResponse) message to the AMF, where the message carries the relay status of the relay terminal. For example, an IE, such as "Relay State", may be added to the message to indicate the Relay status of the Relay terminal.

Example 3:

referring to fig. 9, after receiving a context release message for a relay terminal sent by an AMF, a base station reports a relay state of the relay terminal.

Step 91: the AMF determines to initiate a context release process for the relay terminal based on the service condition of the relay terminal (no service transmission, timeout of a timer, etc.).

And step 92: the AMF transmits a UE context RELEASE COMMAND (UE context RELEASE COMMAND) for the relay terminal to the base station.

Step 93: the base station determines that the relay terminal is providing a relay service as a relay for the remote terminal.

Step 94: the base station sends the relay status of the relay terminal to the AMF, for example, the base station sends a UE context modification response (UEContextModificationResponse) message to the AMF, where the message carries the relay status of the relay terminal. For example, an IE, such as "Relay State", may be added to the message to indicate the Relay status of the Relay terminal. .

Step 95: and the AMF determines whether to release the connection and the context of the relay terminal or not based on the relay state of the relay terminal reported by the base station.

In the above examples, the message for reporting the relay state of the relay terminal by the base station may specifically be an existing UE context modification response message, and it should be noted that the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to using the message to carry the relay state.

An example of using an existing UE context modification response message to carry the relay status is given below, the direction of the message being NG-RAN node to AMF. For example, an IE, such as "Relay State", may be added to the UE context modification response message to indicate the Relay status of the Relay terminal. For another example, an IE, such as "Release Indication," may be added to the UE context modification response message to indicate whether to Release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

Various methods of embodiments of the present invention have been described above. An apparatus for carrying out the above method is further provided below.

Referring to fig. 10, an embodiment of the present invention provides an information sending apparatus 100, including:

a sending module 101, configured to send first indication information to a core network, where the first indication information is used to indicate a relay state of a first relay terminal and/or indicate whether to release a network connection of the first relay terminal.

Through the modules, the embodiment of the invention can realize that the base station sends information such as relay state and the like to the core network, and assists the core network to decide whether the connection of the relay terminal is needed or not, thereby improving the reliability of data transmission of the relay terminal.

Optionally, the relay status includes one of the following statuses:

the relay function is not activated;

relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

Optionally, the indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal includes:

or the like, or, alternatively,

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

the detection module is used for detecting a preset event before the first indication information is sent; and triggering the sending module to send the first indication information to a core network according to the preset event.

Optionally, the preset event includes at least one of the following:

Optionally, the preset event is that the base station receives a first message sent by a core network and used for indicating to report a relay state or a relay state change of the first relay terminal; the device further comprises:

a receiving module, configured to receive, after sending the first indication information, a second message sent by a core network and used to indicate to cancel reporting of the relay state or the change of the relay state of the first relay terminal;

the sending module is further configured to stop sending the first indication information according to the second message.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a generating module, configured to determine whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay state of the first relay terminal before sending the first indication information, and generate the first indication information indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal.

Optionally, the generating module is further configured to:

the second relay state is one state in a second state set, and the third relay state is one state in a third state set; the second set of states comprises at least one of: the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal; the connection with the remote terminal is established, but the relay service transmission is not carried out; relay service transmission is in progress; the third set of relay states comprises: all relay states remove the remaining relay states after the states in the second state set.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a state obtaining module, configured to obtain a relay state of the first relay terminal in at least one of the following manners:

and acquiring the relay state of the first relay terminal based on the relay association relation between the terminals.

It should be noted that the apparatus in this embodiment is an apparatus corresponding to the method shown in fig. 5, and the implementation manners in the above embodiments are all applicable to the embodiment of the apparatus, and the same technical effects can be achieved. The apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as the method embodiment in this embodiment are not repeated here.

Referring to fig. 11, another schematic structural diagram of an information sending apparatus 1100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided, as shown in fig. 11, the information sending apparatus 1100 includes: a processor 1101, a transceiver 1102, a memory 1103, and a bus interface, wherein:

in this embodiment of the present invention, the relay terminal 1100 further includes: program instructions stored on the memory 1103 and executable on the processor 1101, the program instructions when executed by the processor 1101 performing the steps of:

Optionally, the relay status includes one of the following statuses:

the relay function is not activated;

relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

or the like, or, alternatively,

Optionally, the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following operations:

prior to the transmission of the first indication information,

detecting a preset event;

and entering a step of sending the first indication information to a core network according to the trigger of the preset event.

Optionally, the preset event includes at least one of the following:

determining that the relay state of the first relay terminal changes;

Optionally, the preset event is that the base station receives a first message sent by a core network and used for indicating to report a relay state or a relay state change of the first relay terminal; the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

Optionally, the determining whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay state of the first relay terminal specifically includes:

the second relay state is one state in a second state set, and the third relay state is one state in a third state set; the second set of states comprises at least one of: the relay function is activated but no connection is established with the remote terminal; the connection with the remote terminal is established, but the relay service transmission is not carried out; relay service transmission is in progress; the third set of relay states comprises: all relay states remove the remaining relay states after the states in the second state set. Optionally, the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following operations:

In fig. 11, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 1101, and various circuits, represented by memory 1103, 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 1102 may be a plurality of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium.

The processor 1101 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1103 may store data used by the processor 1101 in performing operations.

It should be noted that the relay terminal in this embodiment is a relay terminal corresponding to the method shown in fig. 5, and the implementation manners in the above embodiments are all applied to the embodiment of this terminal, and the same technical effects can be achieved. In the relay terminal, the transceiver 1102 and the memory 1103, and the transceiver 1102 and the processor 1101 may be communicatively connected by a bus interface, and the function of the processor 1101 may be implemented by the transceiver 1102, and the function of the transceiver 1102 may be implemented by the processor 1101. It should be noted that, the relay terminal provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the foregoing method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and details of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in this embodiment are not described herein again.

In some embodiments of the present invention, there is also provided a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon program instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of:

When executed by the processor, the program instructions can implement all the implementation manners of the above-described information sending method applied to the base station side, and can achieve the same technical effect, and are not described herein again to avoid repetition.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an information receiving apparatus shown in fig. 12, and referring to fig. 12, an information receiving apparatus 120 provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes:

a receiving module 121, configured to receive first indication information sent by a base station, where the first indication information is used to indicate a relay state of a first relay terminal and/or indicate whether to release a network connection of the first relay terminal.

Optionally, the relay status includes one of the following statuses:

the relay function is not activated;

relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

or the like, or, alternatively,

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a first sending module, configured to send, to the base station, a release message for releasing the network connection of the first relay terminal before receiving the first indication information.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a second sending module, configured to send, to the base station, a first message for indicating to report the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal before receiving the first indication information.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

the first determining module is used for determining whether the relay state of the first relay terminal needs to be acquired according to the connection state and the relay capability of the first relay terminal and whether the first relay terminal is authorized to be used as the relay terminal; and when the relay state of the first relay terminal needs to be acquired, triggering the second sending module to send the first message.

Optionally, the first determining module is further configured to send, to the base station, a second message for indicating to cancel reporting of the relay status or the relay status change of the first relay terminal when the relay status of the first relay terminal does not need to be acquired.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

and a second determining module, configured to determine, after receiving the first indication information, whether to initiate a release procedure of the network connection to the first relay terminal according to the first indication information.

The apparatus in this embodiment is an apparatus corresponding to the method shown in fig. 6, and the implementation manners in the above embodiments are all applied to the embodiment of the apparatus, and the same technical effects can be achieved. It should be noted that, the apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted here.

Referring to fig. 13, an embodiment of the present invention provides a schematic structural diagram of a first device 1300, where the first device sends data to a second device via a relay terminal, and as shown in fig. 13, the first device includes: a processor 1301, a transceiver 1302, a memory 1303 and a bus interface, wherein:

in an embodiment of the present invention, the first device 1300 further comprises: program instructions stored on the memory 1303 and executable on the processor 1301, which when executed by the processor 1301, perform the steps of:

Optionally, the relay status includes one of the following statuses:

the relay function is not activated;

relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

or the like, or, alternatively,

In fig. 13, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by processor 1301 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 1303 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 1302 may be a plurality of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium.

The processor 1301 is responsible for managing a bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1303 may store data used by the processor 1301 in performing operations.

It should be noted that the terminal in this embodiment is a device corresponding to the method shown in fig. 6, and the implementation manners in the above embodiments are all applied to the embodiment of the terminal, and the same technical effects can be achieved. In the terminal, the transceiver 1302 and the memory 1303, and the transceiver 1302 and the processor 1301 may be communicatively connected through a bus interface, the function of the processor 1301 may be implemented by the transceiver 1302, and the function of the transceiver 1302 may be implemented by the processor 1301. It should be noted that, the terminal provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted here.

When executed by the processor, the program instructions can implement all the implementation manners in the information receiving method applied to the core network device, and can achieve the same technical effect, and are not described herein again to avoid repetition.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

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

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention 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 (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An information transmission method, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the relay state comprises one of:

the relay function is not activated;

relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal comprises:

or the like, or, alternatively,

4. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to sending the first indication information, the method further comprises:

the base station detects a preset event;

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the preset event comprises at least one of:

6. The method of claim 5,

the preset event is that the base station receives a first message which is sent by a core network and used for indicating the report of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal; after transmitting the first indication information, the method further comprises:

7. The method of claim 2, wherein prior to sending the first indication information, the method further comprises:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the determining whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay status of the first relay terminal comprises:

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

10. An information receiving method, comprising:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the relay state comprises one of:

the relay function is not activated;

relay traffic transmission is ongoing.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the indicating whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal comprises:

or the like, or, alternatively,

13. The method of claim 10, wherein prior to receiving the first indication information, the method further comprises:

14. The method of claim 10, wherein prior to receiving the first indication information, the method further comprises:

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

17. The method of claim 10, wherein after receiving the first indication information, the method further comprises:

18. An information transmitting apparatus comprising a memory, a transceiver and a processor;

the memory for storing a computer program;

19. The apparatus of claim 18,

the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

prior to the transmission of the first indication information,

detecting a preset event;

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the preset event comprises at least one of:

determining that the relay state of the first relay terminal changes;

21. The apparatus of claim 20,

the preset event is that the base station receives a first message which is sent by a core network and used for indicating the report of the relay state or the relay state change of the first relay terminal; the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

22. The apparatus of claim 19,

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the determining whether to release the network connection of the first relay terminal according to the relay status of the first relay terminal specifically includes:

24. The apparatus of claim 19,

25. An information transmission apparatus, comprising:

26. An information receiving apparatus comprising a memory, a transceiver and a processor;

the memory for storing a computer program;

27. The apparatus of claim 26,

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

determining whether the relay state of a first relay terminal needs to be acquired according to the connection state and the relay capability of the first relay terminal and whether the first relay terminal is authorized to be used as the relay terminal;

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the processor, when reading the computer program in the memory, further performs the following:

31. The apparatus of claim 26,

32. An information receiving apparatus, comprising:

33. A processor-readable storage medium, characterized in that the processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing a processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 17.